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 May 6

Another week, and more MCU news!  Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 came out this week in the U.S., and three different Marvel TV series released trailers.  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.

Image Courtesy www.ign.com

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 March 11

Another week, and more MCU news!  We’re only a week away from Iron Fist, Thor: Ragnarok is ramping up its marketing, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is only 2 months away!  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Sorry I haven’t posted anything but MCU Reviews for a while.  I’ll try to get a “Too Long; Didn’t Watch” article on Iron Fist published early in the week, and then post expectations for it on Thursday.

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 Review for February 4

Another week, and more MCU news!  Just like that, we've got all kinds of news about The Runaways and Cloak and Dagger, just ahead of their scheduled filming this month.  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. 4x12, “Hot Potato Soup”

MCU News

Links to news articles and blog posts about the MCU

Cloak and Dagger officially has its leads:  Aubrey Joseph as Cloak, and Olivia Holt as Dagger.

Only a matter of days after announcing the cast of Cloak and Dagger, Marvel also announced the cast of its “sister show” (because, come on, they’re both about teams of misfit runaway kids with superpowers) The Runaways:

Rhenzy Feliz (Teen Wolf) as Alex Wilder

Lyrica Okano (The Affair) as Nico Minoru

Virginia Gardner (Goat) as Karolina Dean

Ariela Barer (New Girl) as Gert Yorkes

Gregg Sulkin (Faking It) as Chase Stein

Allegra Acosta (100 Things to Do Before High School) as Molly Hernandez

At some point we will find out more about the show, but knowing the cast does raise at least 1 interesting point.  The obvious change is from the original cast is the final member listed:  Molly Hernandez.  To me it’s pretty obvious that she is replacing Molly Hayes, the mutant member of the team.  However, it is (slightly) less clear why.  It could be a diversity decision, but the most likely reason is that Molly, as a mutant, has her rights tied up somewhere between Marvel Studios and FOX, and Marvel decided not to even mess with them.  So given that this is a totally new character who isn’t at all based on a pre-existing mutant character, how are they going to explain her superpowers?  Smart money says that she’s an Inhuman.

News from Around Geekdom

Anything not related to the MCU that I find interesting

DC is really killing it on TV with the DCTVU on the CW.  It’s up to four shows running simultaneously in 2 different universes (I assume Supergirl is still in a parallel universe), and it will reportedly expand with Black Lightning.  I have to say, the CW is really putting Marvel to shame on the small screen, at least from a shared-universe standpoint.  The closest Marvel has is on Netflix, but the Netflix shows do not air new episodes concurrently.  Of course, this could change if Marvel, ABC, Freeform, and Hulu find a way for The Runaways and Cloak and Dagger to share a lot of interconnectivity (which would be a nightmare to plan but seriously worth it).

The Han Solo spinoff movie started filming this week.

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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 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!

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!

Weekly MCU Review for 8/27

Another week, and more MCU news!  Not a ton of stuff, but there are a few movie-related things this week.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

The Runaways are coming to Hulu

Image Courtesy en.wikipedia.org

This week news broke that Marvel and Hulu are teaming up for a Runaways TV series.  As of now they have a showrunner lined up and they are going to shoot a pilot as well as write scripts for several additional episodes.  Just about all of this sounds really exciting—the only thing I’m not as excited about is the prospect of it airing on Hulu Plus rather than a network which I already get, or even on Freeform, which is already going to be home to a Marvel TV series.  Hopefully it will be available a week later on regular Hulu or something…

In any event, the Runaways are a property which Marvel has expressed interest in adapting into the MCU for quite some time.  They were originally planned to hit the big screen in 2012 alongside The Avengers, but that never happened.  Since then the movie has been stuck in development hell.

Now, however, it looks like it has found a home with Hulu.  This could be a great decision for them, but I think the ideal situation with it would be to connect it in some way with the recently-announced upcoming Cloak and Dagger series.  When I originally wrote this article, I was suggesting it as a potential spinoff to that show; while that is probably not going to be the case, I still think there should be some connections between the two shows, considering that they represent two of Marvel’s first three forays into the “teen superhero” demographic (alongside Spider-Man).

Weekly MCU Review for 8/20

Another week, and more MCU news!  A bunch of little bits of news for everything, along with the major bomb that The Runaways is coming to Hulu.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Marvel's Ultimate Cloak and Dagger and Freeform

Image Courtesy marvel.wikia.com

Note:  I was originally going to publish this article in 3 weeks after talking about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spinoff possibilities.  However, the recent news that Marvel and Hulu are teaming up for The Runaways TV series pushed this article ahead to this week.

A while back when it was first announced that the Freeform network had ordered a Cloak and Dagger series, I wrote an article with some thoughts of how such a series could go in terms of characters and plots.  And since we still haven’t heard anything new about that series, everything I said in that article is still valid.

So what changed to warrant this follow-up article?

I subscribed to Marvel Unlimited and spent about an entire weekend reading Miles Morales’ entire comic history up until the beginning of Secret Wars.

Whoa, that’s a lot of reading for a single weekend!  In fact, that’s only been outdone by the time I read the entire Civil War arc in 3 days!

Ahem.  [puts head back together]  Moving on.

As part of that sequence of comics, I also came across Cloak and Dagger’s Ultimate Universe origin, something which I already knew but hadn’t given much thought to.  However, after reading their Ultimate Universe origins—as well as knowing where their story goes from there—I have some new thoughts as far as where this Freeform show could go.