Daredevil Season 2 Follow-Up: Foggy Nelson

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Continuing my series on Daredevil season 2, here are my thoughts on Foggy’s role moving forward.  I would have put this under last week’s article on “Team Daredevil,” but I really wanted to be able to go into as much detail as necessary on this one.  Considering where his arc left off, there are a number of exciting possibilities for him moving forward!

Captain America: The First Avenger RETRO-REVIEW

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I have to admit, Captain America: The First Avenger is not my favorite pre-Avengers movie.  I like it less than Thor.  It is easily the worst of the Captain America trilogy, and probably the worst movie with Captain America in it.  Now, considering the competition there, that’s not a knock on this movie by any stretch of the imagination:  The Winter Soldier was an absolute masterpiece as a political thriller, and Civil War was amazing in its own right.  None of this should be taken as me necessarily “bashing” on this movie.

That being said, it has some definite flaws.

Weekly MCU Review for 6/25

Another week, and more MCU news!  Some new Spider-Man: Homecoming news, a lot of new Star Trek stuff, and a little other stuff to tide us over.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Daredevil Season 2 Follow-Up: Heroes and Supporting Characters

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This Monday I finished up my review series on Daredevil season 2.  Conveniently, I also finished up my series of Captain America: Civil War follow-up articles last week.  I’m already planning out articles for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. looking ahead to season 4, as well as at least a couple of articles about the upcoming Cloak and Dagger series, but before getting into those Marvel TV shows, let’s talk a little more about this Marvel TV show!

We’re going to start off this week with the possibilities for some of the Daredevil characters moving forward.  Like I did with the Captain America: Civil War series that just concluded, I am breaking this up into three articles.  This week we will talk about the heroes and supporting characters.  Next week I’m going to single out Foggy because I think he needs a little more than just a passing mention with several others.  Finally the week after will be all the villains.

Obviously this will have spoilers for Daredevil season 2.

Thor RETRO-REVIEW

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You know, I’m kind of surprised that people don’t like Thor more than they do.  This is actually one of my favorite MCU solo movies, and only third after The Avengers and Iron Man in Phase 1.  It has easily the most interesting and dynamic villain and gives both the hero and villain satisfying arcs.  Plus, this movie sets an incredible tone for an entire new alien race and their society.  All this, and it brings a form of magic into the MCU (which up to this point was exclusively the domain of science.

This movie certainly has its flaws, but I still think it deserves more credit than it gets.

Daredevil Season 2, Episode 13, "A Cold Day in Hell's Kitchen" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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So here it is:  the season 2 finale of Daredevil.  It’s been over 3 months since it first premiered, so I’m probably the only reviewer still talking about this who started when it premiered!  Season 1 gave us a great origin story for Daredevil himself.  Season 2 gave us a great origin for the Punisher, introduced Elektra, and gave us an interesting development on the front of Daredevil turning into a serious loner who pushes away anyone who gets too close to him.  While there are some things that cause questions, I really like this second season, and I really like its finale.

Weekly MCU Review for 6/18

Another week, and more MCU news!  Guardians wrapped filming, Spider-Man cast a half-dozen more actors, and we’re a little closer to Comic-Con.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Captain America: Civil War Follow-Up: Zemo

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When I was originally putting together this series of articles, I intended to include Zemo in the previous article with “The Rest.”  However, as I considered further, I realized that there is so much more to talk about with regard to Zemo, particularly because I think he will come back to become a major player several years down the line in Phase 4.

After watching Captain America: Civil War, we now have a very good idea exactly where this thing is going to be going over the next few years as the MCU ramps up for the Infinity War in 2018 and 2019.  Each hero who appeared in Civil War received a satisfying arc, and at the end of the movie each of them had a definite trajectory of where their next appearances will come from.  However, the presumptive villain, Helmut Zemo, did not get to do quite as much in this movie as the heroes did—even if he did exactly as much as he needed to do!

Over the last four weeks, I talked about the members of the “Secret Avengers” and “Mighty Avengers,” as well as Captain America’s abandoned shield and the other heroes who do not fit into the other categories and a replacement Captain America.  This time around, I will talk about Zemo and how I think he fits into Marvel’s larger plans moving forward.

This is my last planned article for Captain America: Civil War; next week we’ll get into Daredevil season 2 and how it sets up future Netflix series.

Iron Man 2 RETRO-REVIEW

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Like I said in last week’s “Retro-Review” regarding The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2 is also considered to be one of the three worst MCU movies.  That assessment is indeed valid, but I do not think that it tells the whole story.  Without going into all the numbers I included last week, Iron Man 2 has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 72%, with an audience rating that is also 72%.  This is the third-lowest of all the MCU movies to-date (ahead of The Incredible Hulk and Thor: The Dark World).  However, even though that isn’t a great rating, it’s still considered “Fresh.”  It’s in the same range as The Wolverine (70%), The Amazing Spider-Man (73%), and Michael Keaton’s Batman (72%).  And you can look at all the movies with lower ratings that I mentioned last week.

So even when Marvel makes a bad movie, it’s really not that bad!

Side Note:  I realize that there’s a lot of variance when it comes to Rotten Tomatoes ratings.  The two reasons that I use Rotten Tomatoes for this are because they compile a ton of different reviews for their ratings and because it’s a quick and easy way to compare how different movies were received.

Daredevil Season 2, Episode 12, "The Dark at the End of the Tunnel" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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It’s the penultimate episode of Daredevil season 2, and we finally get a whole lot of origin story for Elektra.  We really haven’t gotten a ton of background on her previously beyond her relationship with Matt and the fact that she has been a long-time agent of Stick.   Now we actually get to see what all of that means—both in the past and in the present.

Weekly MCU Review for June 11

Another week, and more MCU news!  More casting news for Spider-Man: Homecoming, plus new information about Thor: Ragnarok and Black Panther.  Oh, and some Marvel TV stuff, too.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Captain America: Civil War Follow-Up: The Rest

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After watching Captain America: Civil War, we now have a very good idea exactly where this thing is going to be going over the next few years as the MCU ramps up for the Infinity War in 2018 and 2019.  Each hero who appeared in Civil War received a satisfying arc, and at the end of the movie each of them had a definite trajectory of where their next appearances will come from.  So let’s talk about where these heroes will be going from here!

I’m going to break this down into three articles based on the teams that we see established by the end of the movie.  First I talked about the “Secret Avengers.”  Next was the “Mighty Avengers,” followed by what could happen with Captain America’s shield.  This week we will continue this series by discussing the heroes that don’t fit into either category.  Next week I have another article lined up to talk about Baron Zemo and his presumptive role in the MCU going forward.

Without further ado, let’s get started!

The Incredible Hulk RETRO-REVIEW

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In continuing our review series on the MCU movies, we come to the other 2008 Marvel movie.  Just two months after Marvel kicked off its Cinematic Universe with Iron Man, they expanded their roster with The Incredible Hulk.  This movie is largely considered to be among the worst MCU movies—which based on the Rotten Tomatoes score is accurate—but that only tells part of the story.  The Incredible Hulk currently has a 67% critical score and 71% audience score; the next-lowest is Thor: The Dark World, which also has a 67% critical score but a higher audience score at 78%.  Iron Man 2 comes in next with 72% both critically and from audiences.  These are the three lowest-scoring movies based on Rotten Tomatoes.

However, a comparison with other Marvel movies (outside the MCU) paints a different picture.  The 2003 Ang Lee Hulk movie starring Eric Bana received a 61% score from critics and a painful 29% from audiences.  None of FOX’s Fantastic Four movies have rated higher than 37% critically (Rise of the Silver Surfer rates highest, with the most-recent movie rating just a mind-boggling 9%).  The three lowest-rated X-Men movies are X-Men Origins: Wolverine (38%), X-Men: Apocalypse (48%), and X-Men: The Last Stand (58%).  The two lowest-rated Spider-Man movies are The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (53%) and Spider-Man 3 (63%).  Daredevil, Elektra, and even all three Blade movies have lower ratings.  One more:  both Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman are lower.  So even when Marvel Studios makes a bad movie, it’s still better than everyone else’s bad movies!

And with that out of the way, we can get down to business.

Daredevil Season 2, Episode 11, ".380" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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Things are really starting to heat up on Daredevil season 2.  It’s pretty clear that the system as it stands is broken, since the Punisher’s killing spree has had the best track record of actually punishing criminals for their crimes.  The D.A.’s office has been revealed to be corrupt.  The prison system has been completely bought and paid for.  What is a humble vigilante to do?

Of course, when the episode opens, Daredevil has more important things on his mind!

Weekly MCU Review for 6/4

Another week, and more MCU news!  Again there isn’t a ton of news, though X-Men: Apocalypse came out last weekend and TMNT 2: Out of the Shadows is coming out this weekend.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Captain America: Civil War Follow-Up: Captain America's Shield

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This was originally included in last week’s article about the Mighty Avengers, but I realized that it needs to be separated out as its own thing.

After watching Captain America: Civil War, we now have a very good idea exactly where this thing is going to be going over the next few years as the MCU ramps up for the Infinity War in 2018 and 2019.  Each hero who appeared in Civil War received a satisfying arc, and at the end of the movie each of them had a definite trajectory of where their next appearances will come from.  So let’s talk about where these heroes will be going from here!

I’m going to break this down into three articles based on the teams that we see established by the end of the movie, with an additional two added to deal with extra concepts which deserve further consideration.  First I talked about the members of the “Secret Avengers.”  Last week’s subject was the members of the “Mighty Avengers.”  Next week I will discuss the heroes that don’t fit into either category.  The week after that we will conclude with Zemo.  But this week, we’re focusing in on something that deals with both the Secret Avengers and the Mighty Avengers:  Captain America’s shield.

Without further ado, let’s get started talking about Captain America!