Inhumans Episode 3, "Divide and Conquer" EXPECTATIONS

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Note: I'm sorry for the late upload; we have not had internet in a week, so I'm doing internet stuff very infrequently, and only when I'm somewhere with internet.

Marvel’s Inhumans continues tonight with “Divide and Conquer” (1x03) at 9:00 PM Eastern/Pacific.  What do we expect from tonight's episode?

The Gifted Series Premiere, "eXposed," REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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I haven’t watched a lot of FOX’s Marvel content recently.  In fact, apart from the “old” Fantastic Four movies, the original X-Men trilogy, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I actually haven’t watched any of their most recent offerings.  In part that is because I got into the MCU movies and didn’t particularly feel like adding another massive universe on top of that.  In part, I just wasn’t interested in the X-Men.  When FOX announced Legion on FXX, I decided not to watch—mostly because we don’t actually receive FXX!  When FOX announced another X-Men-related TV series I kind of shrugged it off until they announced Matt Nix as the showrunner.  I really liked his work on Burn Notice, but I hadn’t heard his name in years since that show ended, so I decided to give The Gifted a chance.

And I’m glad that I did.

The Gifted Series Premiere, "eXposed" EXPECTATIONS

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FOX’s new Marvel series The Gifted makes its TV premiere tonight.  What are we expecting from this show?

Marvel's Inhumans Pilot Episodes ("Behold... The Inhumans" and "Those Who Would Destroy Us") REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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One unfortunate result of Inhumans’ Friday night time slot is that there are so many things that happen on Friday nights.  I don’t know about you, but my wife and I often go out for dinner on Friday nights, which would conflict with trying to watch this show when it initially airs.  Fortunately, we bought a VCR a couple years ago to record Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. when we couldn’t watch it on Tuesday night.  So instead of Friday night, I watched Inhumans on Saturday.  For as long as there is MCU TV content on Friday nights, I think I will plan to review it the following Monday.

With all of that out of the way, let’s talk about the TV Inhumans premiere.  If you remember my “review” of the IMAX premiere, it really wasn’t that great in terms of IMAX content.  A lot of the effects looked horrendously computer-generated, the camera work wasn’t that much different from a normal TV show, and it just didn’t feel like it fit on that medium.  However, I have been adamant for an entire month in stating that we need to actually see what it looks like on TV before sounding the death knell for this show.

So does it redeem itself on the small screen?

(Belated) Weekly MCU Review for September 30

Another week, and more MCU news!  Internet is down in town, so I wasn’t able to do this yesterday.  Also, Inhumans premiered on ABC this Friday, and The Gifted will premiere tomorrow night.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Marvel's Inhumans Pilot Episodes (TV Premiere) EXPECTATIONS (Minor SPOILERS from the IMAX Release)

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After a… less-than-impressive IMAX run earlier this month, Marvel’s Inhumans will finally arrive on ABC tonight at 8:00 PM ET, as the first two episodes (the same ones cut for the “movie”) make their small-screen premiere.  After seeing this earlier this month in theaters (or, more likely, not seeing it in theaters!), what are we expecting tonight?

Note that a lot of this will be adapted from my Expectations for the “movie.”  You have been warned.

Weekly MCU Review for September 23

Another week, and more MCU news!  Pretty light week, but Thor: Ragnarok’s premiere date is approaching, and Inhumans premieres on ABC this Friday.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Weekly MCU Review for September 16

Another week, and more MCU news!  Not much going on, but Inhumans debuts on TV in under 2 weeks.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

How I Would Have Made the "Inhumans" Movie BETTER

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As I stated in my previous article about Marvel’s Inhumans and why it’s not worth seeing in theaters when you can see it on ABC in a few weeks on September 29, Inhumans fails to deliver on the IMAX experience.  There are a few nice shots of Hawaii and a couple cool uses of effects, but that’s about it.  Not enough to justify seeing it in theaters.

Of course, it’s not enough for me to leave it there.  No sooner had I started on my “review” when I started wondering what I would have done differently to take advantage of the IMAX experience with regard to Inhumans.  So that’s what I want to do today, is take the Inhumans movie as Marvel TV and showrunner Scott Buck appear to have positioned it, and look at how this IMAX premier could have been done differently (read: “better”).

The Defenders Season 1, Episode 4, "Royal Dragon" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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This is going to be a really quick review since I have so much more I need to be doing today and I didn’t get a chance to write this before today.

We’ve hit the midway point in The Defenders with episode 4—which seems weird to say, considering that every other Marvel Netflix show is 5 episodes longer than this one!  And it’s in this middle episode that we really get a chance to see all of the cool character interactions we have been looking forward to in this series.  Episode 3 ended with the four main heroes teaming up to take out a small army of Hand ninjas; Episode 4 is the follow-up as they get to know each other and figure out their next moves.

Weekly MCU Review for September 9

Another week, and more MCU news!  Still not all that much news to report since Inhumans will not begin on ABC for another few weeks and we still have a couple months until Thor: Ragnarok.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

The Defenders Season 1, Episode 3, "Worst Behavior" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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Three episodes in, and The Defenders is finally starting to bring together the super-team and ramp up the plot.  This is when all of the heroes finally meet and team up to fight against the villains—and it’s also when the villains of the season start to get fleshed out.

An Open Letter to the Powers Behind Marvel's Inhumans

Note:  When I published my “review” of Marvel’s Inhumans, I fully intended my next article on the movie to be a proposal for a better way they could have done it.  However, after I finished writing that article it occurred to me that with the projected box office for Inhumans plummeting like a rock since Friday, Marvel, ABC, and IMAX are probably (justifiably so) concerned about the future of Inhumans as a TV series.  So I decided to put the other article on hold in favor of this open letter to Marvel, ABC, and IMAX.

Note 2:  There will be a couple of minor spoilers for the movie/pilot, but nothing major.

Weekly MCU Review for September 2

Another week, and more MCU news!  Not much going on this week, though Marvel’s Inhumans is in theaters for the next couple weeks (read my “review” before running out to see it).  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Marvel's Inhumans IMAX "Movie"—Is It Worth Seeing It in Theaters?

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I don’t really want to spend a lot of time on this mini-review, so I’m just going to cut to the chase.  I just finished watching Marvel’s Inhumans in our “local” IMAX theater.  This was a time commitment of around two-and-a-half hours because this “local” theater is 30 minutes away and Inhumans is 75 minutes long (plus previews).  Further, an IMAX ticket at this theater costs just under $14.  So in other words I spent an hour in the car and $14 dollars to watch something which I can see (with 9 minutes of additional footage) for free 4 weeks from today (Marvel’s Inhumans debuts on ABC on Friday, September 29).

This is my basis for answering the following question:  Is it worth it for you to go see Inhumans in theaters these next 2 weeks?

In a word?  No.  It’s not worth it.

Marvel's Inhumans IMAX "Movie" EXPECTATIONS

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Marvel’s Inhumans will invade IMAX theaters tomorrow as the first two episodes of the season premiere in theaters before making their broadcast debut at the end of September.  What do we expect from this “movie”?

The Defenders Season 1, Episode 2, "Mean Right Hook" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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This review is coming out later in the day because I have been really busy the last week or more with school starting up again.  Hopefully I will get back to my usual schedule next week.  Also, hopefully I will get to see Inhumans and review it this weekend, as well!

The Defenders might be the most fun MCU TV series yet, simply because we are finally seeing what this whole MCU “experiment” can really do.  DC has already been doing this same thing over on the CW with the Arrowverse shows, which (to the best of my knowledge) are doing great things.  But Marvel and Netflix are going beyond that by placing their shows within the universe of the movies, which gives both properties greater depth.

All of that serves as a long way of saying that this second episode of The Defenders is the biggest test case of why it is so important that these shows are all set in the same universe and in the same city:  this is when the universe narrows.

Weekly MCU Review for August 26

Another week, and more MCU news!  Not much to say this week, except that The Defenders came out last Friday, and Inhumans premieres on IMAX this Friday.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

The Defenders Season 1, Episode 1, "The H Word" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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The Defenders brings together four different heroes and their supporting casts into a single miniseries (only 8 episodes) in order to deal with a threat larger than any of them.  The parallels between The Defenders and The Avengers are obvious, and I will try to avoid harping on them during my reviews, but there are at least a few things that need to be said.  First, The Defenders includes two less heroes (depending on whether or not you want to include Colleen and Misty in the team) but close to four times the runtime, allowing for greater character interaction and more buildup as the characters are introduced and allowed to come together naturally.  Second, while The Avengers pulled all of the heroes out of their own series and away from their supporting casts and plopped them all down into an entirely new setting with a new cast of supporting characters, The Defenders merges the settings of all four constituent series together and draws the casts of the four series together, allowing for the supporting characters to interact in interesting ways.

The Defenders NON-SPOILER REVIEW

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I just finished watching The Defenders yesterday evening—all 8 episodes of it.  There are a lot of things that need to be said about this series, but since this is a spoiler-free review, most of them have to wait.  For now it’s enough to say that The Defenders offers an excellent conclusion to the first “phase” of the Marvel Netflix shows and offers a few clues of what we should look for when the characters return, starting with The Punisher in November.

Weekly MCU Review for August 19

Another week, and more MCU news!  The Defenders arrived on Netflix yesterday, but I still haven’t seen any of it.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

The Defenders EXPECTATIONS

Marvel and Netflix’s heroes join forces tomorrow as they become The Defenders!  The series will be available some time tomorrow.  What are our expectations?

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance REVIEW

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This isn’t going to be a particularly long review.  Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance isn’t the best or most exciting of movies out there.  It has a lot of interesting characters, and the story is engaging, but there’s also a lot that just doesn’t work.

Weekly MCU Review for August 12

Another week, and more MCU news!  Not much going on right now, but Inhumans hits theaters in about 3 weeks, and The Defenders will be released on Netflix next week.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Ghost Rider (2007) REVIEW

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So after a couple weeks of vacillating, I’m finally writing my review of the Nicholas Cage Ghost Rider movie from 2007.  I’ve been putting it off for a few weeks, but not because it’s a bad movie—it’s a bad movie, but I’ve been really busy.  As it is I’m still really busy, so this will probably be a very brief review.

Weekly MCU Review for August 5

Another week, and more MCU news!  Not much going on, but there’s some more news about Captain Marvel.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Weekly MCU Review for July 29

Another week, and more MCU news!  There’s still some stuff out of SDCC to go through, and Marvel has lifted the veil on its next 4 movies a little more.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Spider-Man: Homecoming SPOILER REVIEW

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Unfortunately this week has been insanely busy.  I was planning to publish this review yesterday and then my review of Ghost Rider (in which Nicholas Cage answers the question "What if Nicholas Cage were a really good motorcyclist and accidentally sold his soul to the devil?").  Unfortunately that didn't happen.  Then I was going to publish this tomorrow and Ghost Rider today, but I realized that I never actually finished writing that review!  So now this is getting published today, and hopefully Ghost Rider will come tomorrow.  I'm sure you're all waiting with bated breath for it...

Spider-Man: Homecoming has been out for a few weeks already, but I was on vacation the week after it came out and busy recovering last week, so this is the first chance I’ve gotten to finally sit down and write a full review (spoilers and all).  There really isn’t much more to add about the movie, but there are a few things I wanted to say in the previous review and couldn’t.

Obviously there will be spoilers this time around, so you’ve been warned.  Although if you haven’t seen this movie by now, you really need to get out from in front of the computer screen, and get yourself in front of a theater screen!

Weekly MCU Review for July 22

Another week, and more MCU news!  There’s a lot of stuff going on, what with San Diego Comic-Con going on this weekend.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Elektra REVIEW

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You know, if anyone ever complains about Elodie Yung’s portrayal of Elektra—or about any female superhero, for that matter—I’ll just send them this movie anonymously.  And I really wouldn’t feel bad about giving it away, either.  This is one of those movies that I bought on clearance when our local Hastings closed, and I’m pretty sure I still got cheated!  Of course, I’m pretty sure any deal in which you pay for this movie is a rip-off…

Let’s just get this thing over with.

Daredevil (film) REVIEW

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I have just one thing to say to all those people who think the Daredevil Netflix series falls flat in season 2:  “Have you seen the 2003 movie???”

The Daredevil movie isn’t exactly bad per se.  It certainly has some neat and interesting moments, and several good action scenes.  At least some of the actors are clearly having fun with their roles, and they fit in some neat Easter eggs.  However, I don’t know whether the writers just didn’t understand the source material or whether they didn’t care, because this movie isn’t quite there to the comic book characters.

Weekly MCU Review for July 8

Another week, and more MCU news!  Spider-Man: Homecoming is finally out, so go see that!  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Spider-Man: Homecoming NON-SPOILER REVIEW

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Considering that Spider-Man: Homecoming seems poised for a $100 million-plus opening weekend, I doubt I need to publish a non-spoiler review for it!  However, for those few people who have something to do and are waiting until after the weekend to see it, here you go.

If you just want the executive summary of the review, here you go:  It’s great, probably one of the best Marvel movies ever made (which is saying something), and if you aren’t fanboying over the Sam Raimi movies it’s probably about the best Spider-Man movie yet.

Obviously there’s a little bias in that statement since I just got out of the theater about an hour ago and the last movie I watched was Daredevil (and Elektra is the next on my radar *shudder*).  However, having watching the previous five Spider-Man movies recently, I don’t think it’s out of place to say that this is the best one out of the six.  I will go into that more *eventually*, but for now here’s the non-spoiler review.

Spider-Man: Homecoming EXPECTATIONS

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Spider-Man: Homecoming is making its much-hyped United States premiere today!  What do we expect from this movie?

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 REVIEW

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Well, it was going to happen.  I watched The Amazing Spider-Man 2 again, so I’m going to review it.  And you’re going to read about it (maybe).  At least the next review I publish will be for Spider-Man: Homecoming, which *should* be better than at least the last 3 Spider-Man movies I reviewed!

This is one of those movies that has a number of good points, but each of those good points comes with a major caveat.  And then there are a whole bunch of other issues with it.  So this movie really does deserve all the hate it receives.

Weekly MCU Review for July 1

Another week, and more MCU news!  Only 1 week until Spider-Man: Homecoming is released!  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

The Amazing Spider-Man REVIEW

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The Amazing Spider-Man series has been maligned in popular culture as little more than a by-the-numbers rights-retaining cash grab.  And to some degree this is true:  The Amazing Spider-Man had to come out when it did because it had been five years since Spider-Man 3 came out, and if Sony didn’t produce another movie soon (say within five years or so), the rights would revert to Marvel Studios, which could then have worked the character into the nascent Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Amazing Spider-Man, however, does not deserve all of the abuse that it receives.  Though it is not a perfect movie by any stretch of the imagination, The Amazing Spider-Man is an enjoyable watch (for the most part).  They make some confusing decisions and butcher a few characters, but there is some great character development and a lot of fun action.

Of course, just about every good thing you can say about this movie comes with some sort of qualification.

Weekly MCU Review for June 24

Another week, and more MCU news!  This thing with the Sony Spidey Spinoffs is getting a little more entertaining, but nothing yet.  Fortunately, Spider-Man: Homecoming is only a couple weeks away now!  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Spider-Man 3 REVIEW

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After reviewing the first two Spider-Man movies the last two weeks, I guess it’s time for the much-maligned Spider-Man 3.  Unfortunately, I think this is the beginning of a long summer of mediocre movies.  Fortunately, however, Spider-Man 3 isn’t actually as bad as I thought it would be.  It’s certainly not a particularly good movie, but it doesn’t ruin the Spider-Man trilogy as badly as I thought it did.

But let’s get into the movie itself.

Weekly MCU Review for June 17

Another week, and more MCU news!  Not too much excitement this week, but Spider-Man: Homecoming is only a few weeks away!  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Spider-Man 2 REVIEW

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Spider-Man 2 has been referred to as one of the best superhero movies ever produced.  It has been called the best Spider-Man movie to-date (which isn’t much of a compliment, considering the competition!).  And both of those statements are true.  However, there’s a little more to it than that.

Spider-Man 2 is certainly a good movie—one of the few comic book movie sequels to actually improve on the original.  However, after watching it again, particularly in light of the much more serious modern comic book movies, it is eminently clear that this is a spectacularly campy movie.

Wonder Woman REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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Considering that Green Lantern (the anticipated beginning of DC’s movie universe) was Dead-On-Arrival, Man of Steel was only a qualified success, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice collapsed under the weight of its own self-importance, Suicide Squad’s marketing made promises the movie didn’t deliver, and the trailer for Justice League attached to Wonder Woman needs the subtitle “Attack of the Bloat,” Warner Bros. and DC really needed to hit it out of the park with Wonder Woman. And considering their last female-led superhero movie was Catwoman, a lot of execs’ chairs must have been feeling pretty warm the last few months…

Good thing Wonder Woman is a winner!

Weekly MCU Review for June 10

Another week, and more MCU news!  Not a ton this week, but we got some news about Black Panther.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Spider-Man (2002) REVIEW

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This summer Peter Parker is making his second MCU appearance in his first MCU solo movie.  This has really been a long time coming, considering Spider-Man’s place in Marvel Comics:  even if Spider-Man isn’t the greatest comic book superhero ever, he is certainly the most bankable one!  When Marvel sold off the rights to many of their characters back in the ‘90s, Sony grabbed up the rights to Spider-Man and turned them into five different movies.  In the 5 weeks before Spider-Man: Homecoming is released in July, I am going to go through those five movies and review them.  I’ve seen all of these movies before (maybe just bits and pieces of Spider-Man 2 and 3), but I’m going to rewatch them all to give my thoughts.

Today, we are kicking it off with the original Spider-Man.

Weekly MCU Review for June 3

Another week, and more MCU news!  Not much to talk about this week, though Wonder Woman is now out.  I haven’t seen it yet, but it’s on my to-do list.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Two Ideas for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5

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As I’ve talked about previously, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been renewed for season 5.  Last week’s article went into detail on everything we know so far.  This week, I’m going to play the “wild speculation game” and try to guess at what might be happening during this next season.

I actually have a couple different thoughts on how this can play out.  First, we’re going to talk about the potential of completely changing the format of the series.  Then, we’re going to talk about a hybrid format which retains the “pods” from season 4 but incorporates some elements of my new format idea.

Before we get started, there is one assumption I am making:  Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is going to take at least 3 Fridays off next season.  Given that the show is going to be on Friday nights, it would not make sense for them to air episodes on the U.S. release dates of Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War since they would be in direct competition with their own studio’s movie (and they would lose).  Likewise, I hope/expect that they will skip Good Friday.  So based on this assumption, the season would last until June 22 if they air all single episodes.  But note the “if.”

Weekly MCU Review for May 27

Another week, and more MCU news!  This week is a bit light since Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is already out and Spider-Man: Homecoming is still over a month away, but we did get a new trailer for the latter.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Introduction to the Original Guardians of the Galaxy

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** Minor SPOILERS for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 **

As I stated in last week’s article the original 1969 Guardians of the Galaxy team gets a couple of nods in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, though with substantial reimagining.  Instead of being former heroes and protectors of the Galaxy, these characters are instead the captains of the various Ravager factions, who worked together as a team at some point in their past.  Though the team broke up years before the first Guardians of the Galaxy, at the end of the second movie the original team appears back together once more, inspired by the events of the movie.

The post-credits scene in which they all appear together (after only a couple of them appeared during the movie itself) suggests that these characters have a future ahead of them in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though what that future is remains to be seen.  So to prepare for this future (and because I want to), here is my introduction to the original Guardians of the Galaxy team and how I expect their origins to be tweaked for the MCU.

  

Hints at Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5

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Last week’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season finale certainly ended on a few twists and surprises as it wrapped up the Darkhold, LMD, and Framework storylines in a rather satisfying manner.  However, now that season 4 is over, there’s no time like the present to start thinking about season 5, which they announced just in time for the season finale.

There are a couple tidbits from the season finale which hint at what is in store in season 5, but let’s start off by talking about the things which we absolutely know for certain.  Ready?

Season 5 will have 22 episodes starting in January 2018 and airing without breaks (we will talk a little more about that next week, but for now we will leave it alone).

With that out of the way, let’s talk about the hints in the season finale and what we can infer from them.

Obviously, there will be spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the season finale, GO WATCH IT, ALREADY!

The Future of Iron Fist

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Back in March, Iron Fist season 1 was made available on Netflix.  Since then I’ve talked about various aspects of the show and how they work out.  There are definitely some elements of this series that did not work out at all; there are definitely some other elements that work out very well.  I think all of the Marvel Netflix series have been subject to this same criticism, but Iron Fist has definitely received it much more.

But with all that behind us, it’s time to talk about what may happen moving forward with these characters!  There are some obvious plot threads which can be explored, either in an unannounced Iron Fist season 2 or in The Defenders this August.  Unfortunately, we do not know enough about The Defenders say definitively what may appear in each series.

But that’s never stopped me before!

Weekly MCU Review for May 20

Another week, and more MCU news!  We got new synopses for two movies, the Venom movie is moving forward, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ended, and now we know more about AoS season 5 as well as Inhumans.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Post-Credits Scenes

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This article is going to be fairly brief.  Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 includes no less than five post-credits scenes, all of which contribute something to our understanding of where the MCU is going to go in the future, particularly as things start turning in a more cosmic direction.  In this article I will look at the five post-credits scenes (something that’s already been done a few times) and what they may mean for both Avengers: Infinity War and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, as well as any other upcoming cosmic adventures.

Obviously there are spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.