Marvel Cinematic Universe

[brewcity77]

She-Hulk was pleasant.   A breezy 40 minutes setting up the rest.

Tatiana Maslany is so good. Feels like a fun window to a more regular side of the MCU.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

I finally finished Ms. Marvel last week.  I was skeptical after the first episode, but I ended up really liking the series.  It had Spiderman: Homecoming vibes of a kid just trying to find her way in high school  tied in with her Pakistani heritage.  My wife was loving the music and I caught her adding a 1/2 dozen Pakistani rap songs to her Playlist as the episodes progressed.  And somehow they worked in the Multiverse, Captain Marvel and the first mention of X-Men. 

We'll start watching She-Hulk after dropping daughter #2 off at UVM this weekend.

[brewcity77]

Very interesting She-Hulk. Blonsky teasing Thunderbolts, where is Bruce headed (family reunion?), and a pretty clear Wolverine reference? Fun ride and dropping lots of future hints. Plus Larry Appleton!

[tower912]

Fun so far.

[tower912]

I want a Hulk multi-verse mash up with Ed Norton and  Eric Bana.

[brewcity77]

While I appreciate the She-Hulk nods to the old John Byrne fourth wall breaking in the finale, it was a bit much for me. The show had its highs and lows. I liked the humor and different tone, but the facial CGI for Jen wasn't great and as much as I liked Maslany and the guest of the week approach, it was probably the weakest MCU TV outing so far. Particularly disappointing on the heels of Ms Marvel, which I felt was the best.

That said, Werewolf by Night was fantastic. They absolutely killed it. Just the right mix of horror, camp, gore, humor, and all with a Marvel touch. If you haven't watched it, definitely do. It's really good.

[Uncle Rico]

While I appreciate the She-Hulk nods to the old John Byrne fourth wall breaking in the finale, it was a bit much for me. The show had its highs and lows. I liked the humor and different tone, but the facial CGI for Jen wasn't great and as much as I liked Maslany and the guest of the week approach, it was probably the weakest MCU TV outing so far. Particularly disappointing on the heels of Ms Marvel, which I felt was the best.

That said, Werewolf by Night was fantastic. They absolutely killed it. Just the right mix of horror, camp, gore, humor, and all with a Marvel touch. If you haven't watched it, definitely do. It's really good.

Laura Donnelly nailed the horror/noir femme fatale perfectly as Elsa Bloodstone.  It might be their best TV product.

[tower912]

I thought She-Hulk succeeded in what it was trying to be.  A sit com.  A break from the norm.  A story aimed at women.  My wife laughed more at it than any other sit com recently.  The final episode's self deprecation was awesome.   

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

While I appreciate the She-Hulk nods to the old John Byrne fourth wall breaking in the finale, it was a bit much for me. The show had its highs and lows. I liked the humor and different tone, but the facial CGI for Jen wasn't great and as much as I liked Maslany and the guest of the week approach, it was probably the weakest MCU TV outing so far. Particularly disappointing on the heels of Ms Marvel, which I felt was the best.

That said, Werewolf by Night was fantastic. They absolutely killed it. Just the right mix of horror, camp, gore, humor, and all with a Marvel touch. If you haven't watched it, definitely do. It's really good.

Given She-Hulk's history of breaking the fourth wall throughout the comics, I enjoyed the show. Thought it was a nice tribute to the original character and liked that they switched things up from the typical marvel show. I didn't love the finale, the conversation with KEVIN was great, but I don't like how they cleaned up everything off camera. All in all I enjoyed it and would like another season. Wished they did more after credits scenes because the first couple were gold.

Interestingly, I didn't love Ms. Marvel. It was fine but a good superhero show is driven by the quality of its villain and neither the Clandestines nor Damage Control really did it for me. She-Hulk didn't have a strong villain either but it's not really a superhero show.

[jesmu84]

Finally watched Dr. Strange 2 on a flight.

Wtf was that?

[brewcity77]

Interestingly, I didn't love Ms. Marvel. It was fine but a good superhero show is driven by the quality of its villain and neither the Clandestines nor Damage Control really did it for me. She-Hulk didn't have a strong villain either but it's not really a superhero show.

I agree when it comes to movies, but when it comes to the shows, it's the strength of the protagonist's journey in my opinion. Especially when some of these villains like Agatha, Sharon Carter, Zemo, Kingpin, and Kang only show up for parts of 1-2 episodes or don't play an antagonistic role for much of the series. The combination of Iman Vellani's palpable joy in the role and what I felt was the best and most unique hero's journey so far is what put Ms. Marvel over the top. As an old school Buffy fan, I also particularly loved the combination of a Scooby gang with family drama having just as much importance as superhero stuff did to the story.

[jesmu84]

Watched Thor love and thunder as well.

Eh

[Uncle Rico]

Watched Thor love and thunder as well.

Eh

It was quite pedestrian.  Not sure the motivation of any of the characters

[brewcity77]

Wakanda Forever was very good. They really handled Chadwick's death well. Tenoch Huerta was awesome as Namor. Just the right mix of power and arrogance. The way they modernized his character (particularly the origin of his name) was fantastic. Set up the future of the MCU very well.

[brewcity77]

Guardians holiday special is fun. Entirely predictable, but love the characters and the franchise. Really too bad that the next Guardians will likely be it for James Gunn in the MCU.

[PGsHeroes32]

New Antman is getting absolutely raked over the coals.

I keep saying it but Marvel died with endgame.

All the alt reality stuff. Time travel. Deus ex machina. New characters. It just aint it. Its too much. Over saturated.

The characters and stories are gone and its just CGI madness.

[brewcity77]

New Guardians was excellent. All three movies are solid, I'd put 3 just behind the original. James Gunn will be missed, he is great at building a story & stakes.

Loki S2 coming October 6. Echo to follow November 29. Interestingly, all of Echo to drop that date. Never seen Marvel do that before.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Did some Marvel catching up this past weekend.

Watched Antman Quantumania on Disney+.  It was just OK.  "We have do something in the quantum realm, but what?"  Marvel is obviously going to be dumping a lot of Kang on us coming up.

Guardians of the Galaxy 3 was excellent!  They hit all the right notes with all the characters. 

So, I'm now caught up nd ready for the start of Secret Invasion next week.

[brewcity77]

First episode of Secret Invasion was good. Slow burn show, but stakes are raised high by the end.

[Uncle Rico]

First episode of Secret Invasion was good. Slow burn show, but stakes are raised high by the end.

Reviews have been brutal

[reinko]

Reviews have been brutal

Seem to be doing okay?

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/secret_invasion

[brewcity77]

I sought out a few negative reviews and some of the complaints were about "I have to remember the plot of Captain Marvel?" and other size of the MCU type complaints. I mean, Fury & Talos are coming directly out of Captain Marvel, so if your complaint is "you mean it helps to know the movie this spins off from" then that's specious at best.

[PGsHeroes32]

Seem to be doing okay?

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/secret_invasion

Brutal is extreme. But 66% for a tv show is pretty woooof

Since this show is more grounded and getting away from the multiverse trash and forced comedy ive been looking forward to it and will probably still enjoy it decently. But im waiting for all to air.

Marvel is in an absolute freefall post endgame/Spidey.

[brewcity77]

Marvel is in an absolute freefall post endgame/Spidey.

Shang Chi, No Way Home, Wakanda Forever, and Guardians 3 were all awesome. Widow & Eternals I wasn't as high on, but Love & Thunder, Multiverse of Madness, & Quantumania were all good. Not great, but good, and better than much of the IM/Thor Phase 1-2 offerings.

On the TV side, WandaVision, Loki, Hawkeye, and Moon Knight were all great. Falcon & She-Hulk I understand the mixed reviews on, but Ms Marvel is still the best thing they've done on the TV side (next level brilliant, IMO).

Not everything will be Infinity War in scope. Where I think they've come up short is the lack of a new team-up. The reason Phase 1 & 2 were awesome wasn't because all the movies were great, they weren't. It's because they built to Avengers & Ultron. If we had a small scale Avengers one-off, maybe Dr Strange leading a team of Captain America, Ant-Man, Shang Chi, Shuri, Kamala Khan, and Sersi against Dormammu or a similar big bad, it would up the stakes the way Loki and Ultron did. Doing all smaller scale pieces until we get to Secret Wars is just too long to wait, even with some great proprieties sprinkled in.

Edit: They could even split those to create multiple medium stakes movies. New Avengers with Captain America, Strange, Sersi, Shuri, Shang Chi, and Ant-Man. Young Avengers with Spider-Man, Hawkeye, Skaar, Wiccan, Speed, Stature, Patriot, and Ms Marvel. Then the Winter Soldier led Thunderbolts team. The problem is the stories are too isolated.

[PGsHeroes32]

Shang Chi, No Way Home, Wakanda Forever, and Guardians 3 were all awesome. Widow & Eternals I wasn't as high on, but Love & Thunder, Multiverse of Madness, & Quantumania were all good. Not great, but good, and better than much of the IM/Thor Phase 1-2 offerings.

On the TV side, WandaVision, Loki, Hawkeye, and Moon Knight were all great. Falcon & She-Hulk I understand the mixed reviews on, but Ms Marvel is still the best thing they've done on the TV side (next level brilliant, IMO).

Not everything will be Infinity War in scope. Where I think they've come up short is the lack of a new team-up. The reason Phase 1 & 2 were awesome wasn't because all the movies were great, they weren't. It's because they built to Avengers & Ultron. If we had a small scale Avengers one-off, maybe Dr Strange leading a team of Captain America, Ant-Man, Shang Chi, Shuri, Kamala Khan, and Sersi against Dormammu or a similar big bad, it would up the stakes the way Loki and Ultron did. Doing all smaller scale pieces until we get to Secret Wars is just too long to wait, even with some great proprieties sprinkled in.

Edit: They could even split those to create multiple medium stakes movies. New Avengers with Captain America, Strange, Sersi, Shuri, Shang Chi, and Ant-Man. Young Avengers with Spider-Man, Hawkeye, Skaar, Wiccan, Speed, Stature, Patriot, and Ms Marvel. Then the Winter Soldier led Thunderbolts team. The problem is the stories are too isolated.

You are wayyyyyy to generous

Love and Thunder and Quantummania were abominations. Like legitamately bad movies regardless of superhero scale, movie scale whatever.

Guardians I did like a lot for the most part. But like most movies in general these days and like all superhero movies it was blatantly like 35 minutes too long. Basically up to the Rocket resurrection it was a top 10 marvel for me though.

Shang Chi was solid. Black Panther was blaaaaaaaah but not terrible. No way home was where I said after it things got bad. But that one was actually kinda overhyped but still really enjoyable.

Eternals should just be scrapped forever. Totally forgot Strange til now.....wooooooooooooooof.

TV Loki was fantastic cant wait for S2. WandaVision mostly great, ended ok but overall a hit. Hawkeye enjoyable for getting back to the basics street level but not much to it. The rest legit sucked.

I am praying they dont mess up DD. I wont even watch the second captain marvel movie til sometime way down the line if it matters. First movie was trash and thats when Marvel was roaring.