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.

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!

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?

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!

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!

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!

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!

Iron Fist REVIEW Part 2: In Defense of Colleen Wing

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When I was thinking about my review series looking at Iron Fist, an article discussing the character of Colleen Wing seemed like a no-brainer.  After all, she is one of the main characters and a love interest.  Additionally, she is based on a character with a long and interesting history in the comic books.  And it doesn’t hurt that she is already confirmed for an appearance in The Defenders.

However, those were not the primary reasons why I decided that I wanted to write this article. In reality, this originated as a reaction to a couple negative reviews I read shortly after the series premiered in which the reviewers noted their dislike for Colleen’s character in this series.  However, any more than that will risk spoiling elements of the series.

At the outset, it should be enough to say that I really like Colleen’s character arc in this season and think that it is setting up a strong future for her in the Marvel Netflix series.

Weekly MCU Review for April 8

Another week, and more MCU news!  Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is back, we know when The Defenders will be released, and there’s all kinds of other news from Marvel TV!  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Weekly MCU Review for March 25

Another week, and more MCU news!  Iron Fist is out now and The Defenders finished filming.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Iron Fist TL;DW

I have written these “Too Long; Didn’t Watch” articles before for upcoming movies, but this is the first time I’ve felt the need to write one for a television series.  However, with the TV corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe continuing to expand, I feel like it’s only faith that I put together a “Too Long; Didn’t Watch” article to anticipate the Netflix release of Iron Fist later this week.  The “TL;DW” articles for the movies have offered viewing suggestions, but I don’t think I can really do that here.  For one thing, it’s only 3 days until Iron Fist comes out; for another, there is so much TV to wade through, and it’s pretty much impossible to pick and choose which episode to watch, at least with the Netflix series.

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For the sake of brevity, this “TL;DW” will ignore everything happening in the movies (apart from acknowledging Doctor Strange), as well as Agent Carter, which takes place in 1946-47 and probably won’t be much of a factor on Iron Fist.  Of course, just because I said that, Peggy Carter will find a way to appear on Iron Fist, just to make me look stupid.  I will deal with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. first, and then take the Netflix seasons in order of release.  At the end I will note the other upcoming TV series, though I doubt there will be much connection to Iron Fist.

Note:  Here is your (inevitable) SPOILER warning:  from here on out, this article contains major spoilers for everything having to do with Marvel TV!  You have been warned…

Weekly MCU Review for January 14

Another week, and more MCU news!  Someone turned on the spigot; there's a ton of new information on Marvel movies, network, and Netflix!  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!