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!

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!

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!

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!

Weekly MCU Review for April 22

Another week, and more MCU news!  There’s all kinds of news about movies wrapping production and scheduling the start of their production, plus a whole bunch of TV news.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Weekly MCU Review for April 1 (April Fools' Day)

Another week, and more MCU news!  Sony is still moving forward with their Venom and Black Cat/Silver Sable movies (and that's not an April Fools' joke).  But on the bright side, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns this Tuesday!  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Weekly MCU Review for February 11

Another week, and more MCU news!  There’s a whole bunch of TV news, along with confirmation of some expected actors for the movies.  Oh, and there’s a Super Bowl trailer or two.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Weekly MCU Review for 1/28

Another week, and more MCU news!  Black Panther is filming, and a whole bunch of upcoming MCU shows are moving closer to filming.  We also got some episode titles for Iron Fist.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Mostly MCU Reviews

My articles from the week

Expectations and Review for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s “Wake Up” (4x11)

MCU News

Links to news articles and blog posts about the MCU

Black Panther has begun filming, and we have our first confirmation that Martin Freeman will be in the movie.  It was already assumed he would appear, but this makes it certain.

Here is the first synopsis for Black Panther:

“Black Panther” follows T’Challa who, after the events of “Captain America: Civil War,” returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to take his place as King. However, when an old enemy reappears on the radar, T’Challa’s mettle as King and Black Panther is tested when he is drawn into a conflict that puts the entire fate of Wakanda and the world at risk.

It looks pretty cool.  There’s no mention of Klaue (the “old enemy” is probably Erick Killmonger), but that doesn’t mean he won’t appear anyways.

Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4 started filming this past Monday.  That means we should start getting all kinds of additional news and photos any time now…

The Inhumans will reportedly film in Hawaii in June.

Cloak and Dagger has a director for the pilot.  And it *may* also have stars in Noah Gray-Cabey and Debby Ryan.  Oh, and according to that last report Runaways may be close to casting its leads.

Check out these character breakdowns for Cloak and Dagger.  They look pretty close to the main universe versions of the characters (as opposed to the Ultimate Universe).

Here are the episode titles and directors for almost all episodes of Iron Fist season 1.

News from Around Geekdom

Anything not related to the MCU that I find interesting

So this week’s big Marvel announcement was a collaboration between Marvel and Square Enix to produce a video game franchise based on Marvel characters.

The upcoming X-Men series helmed by Matt Nix has been ordered to pilot by FOX.  As a huge Burn Notice fan, I am excited to see what this will look like.  I actually thought he would have been a brilliant showrunner for Marvel’s Most Wanted.  But, alas.

The Flash has a new writer coming in to do rewrites.  Is the DCEU ever going to get an unqualified success?

Star Wars Episode VIII has received a title:  Star Wars: The Last Jedi.  Thoughts?

Here is the recently-released synopsis for the upcoming Star Wars: Thrawn novel, set to be released April 11:

One of the most cunning and ruthless warriors in the history of the Galactic Empire, Grand Admiral Thrawn is also one of the most captivating characters in the Star Wars universe. From his introduction in bestselling author Timothy Zahn’s classic Heir to the Empire, through his continuing adventures in Dark Force Rising, The Last Command, and beyond, Grand Admiral Thrawn has earned an iconic status among Star Wars’ greatest villains. But Thrawn’s origins and the story of his rise in the Imperial ranks have remained mysterious. Now, in Star Wars: Thrawn, Timothy Zahn chronicles the fateful events that launched the blue-skinned, red-eyed master of military strategy and lethal warfare into the highest realms of power—and infamy.

After Thrawn is rescued from exile by Imperial soldiers, his deadly ingenuity and keen tactical abilities swiftly capture the attention of Emperor Palpatine. And just as quickly, Thrawn proves to be as indispensable to the Empire as he is ambitious; as devoted as its most loyal servant, Darth Vader; and a brilliant warrior never to be underestimated. On missions to rout smugglers, snare spies, and defeat pirates, he triumphs time and again—even as his renegade methods infuriate superiors while inspiring ever greater admiration from the Empire. As one promotion follows another in his rapid ascension to greater power, he schools his trusted aide, Ensign Eli Vanto, in the arts of combat and leadership, and the secrets of claiming victory. But even though Thrawn dominates the battlefield, he has much to learn in the arena of politics where ruthless administrator Arihnda Pryce holds the power to be a potent ally or a brutal enemy.

All these lessons will be put to the ultimate test when Thrawn rises to admiral—and must pit all the knowledge, instincts, and battle forces at his command against an insurgent uprising that threatens not only innocent lives but also the Empire’s grip on the galaxy—and his own carefully laid plans for future ascendancy.

This certainly looks interesting, especially since it is being written by Timothy Zahn, the writer who created Thrawn in the first place.  I assume it is part of the new canon, but the article doesn’t confirm that.

In more interesting Star Wars novel news, there are two new books on their way fleshing out the back stories of Rogue One characters.  First is Guardians of the Whills about Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus.  Second is Star Wars: Rebel Rising about Jyn Erso’s history with Saw Gerrera.  Both look interesting.

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Weekly MCU Review for 10/29

Happy Halloween!  Another week, and more MCU news!  Not too much of note, though Thor: Ragnarok finished filming.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Weekly MCU Review for 10/22

Another week, and more MCU news!  We’re getting closer and closer to the Doctor Strange U.S. premiere, and more movies and Netflix shows are entering or nearing production.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Weekly MCU Review for 10/1

Another week, and more MCU news!  There's a new Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Luke Cage came out yesterday, too!  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Potential New Magic Users in the MCU

Image Courtesy www.twitter.com/
DrStrange

With Doctor Strange ushering a New Magical Age into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, suddenly a whole world of new possibilities opens up for our favorite movies and TV shows.  Now, it’s not as though we haven’t seen magic before in the MCU; Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has introduced (and promptly killed off) two separate Darkforce users (manipulators of extra-dimensional energy), and Agent Carter season 2 was all about the MCU’s first encounter with the Darkforce Dimension.  Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. Scarlet Witch, is (properly speaking) a magic user, though her powers have thus far been limited (for the most part) to mental manipulation and telekinesis.  However, all of these examples have been given scientific explanations (less so in the case of Scarlet Witch):  extra-dimensional energy and Mind Stone experimentation, respectively.

What Doctor Strange brings to the table is a form of magic we have not seen before, which will defy most scientific explanation.  I expect that characters will attempt to give it a scientific explanation (Strange is a doctor, after all!), but at some point they will just have to acknowledge that there are some things they will never fully comprehend.

Once Doctor Strange introduces magic in a big way, I expect that we will start to see a lot of magic users appear in various MCU offerings, a theory to which I alluded last week while talking about Tie-In possibilities between Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Doctor Strange.  This week I will expand on that by talking about magical characters who could appear in as many upcoming announced MCU offerings as I can.

Captain America: Civil War Follow-Up: Zemo

Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com

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.

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

Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com

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!

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

Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com

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!

Weekly MCU Review for 5/28

Another week, and more MCU news!  Not a ton happened this week, so the news is pretty light.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Weekly MCU Review for May 21

Another week, and more MCU news!  Civil War has passed the billion-dollar-mark, we're learning more about the upcoming movies, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 3 is officially in the books.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Captain America: Civil War Follow-Up: The Secret Avengers

Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com

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!

Obviously, there are spoilers ahead!

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 a couple extras thrown in for good measure.  First we will deal with the members of the “Secret Avengers” (more on the name in a bit).  Next week I will talk about the members of the “Mighty Avengers” (I’ll explain that name next week), followed by an article dealing with the special matter of the shield.  I will discuss the couple characters that don’t fit into either category the following week.  Finally this will conclude (maybe) the week after with an article about Zemo.

First up is Cap’s team of “Secret Avengers.”

Weekly MCU Review for 5/14

Another week, and more MCU news!  Captain America: Civil War has been out for a week, Black Panther has started casting, and we got some disappointing news on the TV side of things.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!