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Post by Merv on Feb 1, 2022 18:07:12 GMT 1
What If...
Episode 5...Zombies...I really enjoyed the oddball group dynamic here. It was a cool mixture of characters that you probably never see teamed up. I dug the zombie stuff too...as a horror fan this was right up my alley. The Ant-Head dad joke stuff didn't really land for me though. I don't need every moment to be serious but i definitely thought the poorly timed jokes didn't really fit the situation often. Also as one of the more ridiculous scenarios, the longer you look at it the less sense it makes. For example, Wasp used bugs to devour several zombies in a matter of seconds early in the episode but never does this again. Why? Because it's too convenient. I tried not to let that stuff bother me but its still there. But whatevs...its mostly a fun ride.
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Post by Merv on Feb 2, 2022 0:12:32 GMT 1
What If...
Episode 6...Killmonger saves Tony...Or rather Killmonger finds the fast track to world domination. This one didn't do too much for me outside of the Killmonger character, which is an entertaining one. I dug the action sequence in Wakanda but this feels a lot like the Hank Pym one to me in that if you derail those initial 6 Avengers things turn out worse. So in a lot of ways it feels like a been there done that despite it being centered on Killmonger. Nice action...wasn't really invested otherwise.
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Post by Merv on Feb 2, 2022 17:48:42 GMT 1
What If...
Episode 7...Thor were an only child...I loved this one. I thought it was hilarious. I love seeing all these characters, from Nebula and Drax to the Skrulls and the Grandmaster, come together for something so laid back as a frat party essentially. You get the Thor vs Captain Marvel action. You also get Thor and Loki as 'brothers from another mother' and I thought that was great! Really this one was just loads of fun that never really tried to change up tones on me and I appreciated that. Then the end leads into Ultron which is great.
Episode 8...Ultron wins...Ive always loved Ultron as a character. I particularly enjoy the odd love hate relationships between all the people and synthetics involved...like Hank creates Ultron, Ultron rebels, Ultron creates Vision, Vision rebels, Ultron creates Jocasta, Jocasta becomes a hero but still loves Ultron...its all so weird and complex. But in this what if he creates his Vision, who annihilates everyone including Thanos, gains the power of the infinity stones and sets out upon interdimensional domination. Wonderful. I could watch Ultron tearing apart worlds all day and I particularly enjoyed that this is starting to take shape as connected episodes and an actual storyline as opposed to random one offs. It wasn't lost on me that we had a reversal of the soul stone where Clint fell to his death for Natasha. That was a cool scene. Watcher going to Evil Strange for help just feels like its bringing this whole series full circle and I love it.
Episode 9....Watcher breaks his oath...Im a sucker for a good team and this one bringing in characters from all these other what if stories is a really cool idea to me. I will admit that right out of the gate I didn't know why they brought in villainous Killmonger or what story Gamora had come from, but I just let myself go along for the ride and it was loads of fun. As the fight goes on and its revealed that the Watcher chose these characters for certain reasons...even in order to doublecross everyone...I dug it. I was happy Natasha got a happy ending and Evil Strange had a bit of redemption. This version of Ultron is great too. Felt more menacing to me than Thanos actually.
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Post by Grandmaster on Feb 2, 2022 17:54:18 GMT 1
The Gamora story was scrapped from season 1 and will be in season 2
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Post by Merv on Feb 2, 2022 18:03:53 GMT 1
What If...The biggest problem with a show like this is it's mixed bag. That also may be its greatest strength. But inevitable when it comes to anthology series they will be inconsistent. That's what we have here. Although for the record the animation and artistic styles, the voice work, etc. All the technical stuff was fine and even the episodes I didn't particularly enjoy were still watchable from that context. The lack of a real storyline focus along with some of the what ifs just not being that interesting to me made this one a real rollercoaster who's highlight for me was the last few episodes where it kind of tied a lot of things together and entered this multiversal battle, which now that i take a step back seems to be a major focus on the majority of these phase 4 projects. I can dig it and I definitely enjoyed enough of this to like it...but unlike most of the MCU Im not itching for a rewatch of this right away.
MCU Rankings
1. Avengers: Infinity War 2. Captain America: Civil War 3. Guardians of the Galaxy 4. The Avengers 5. Avengers: Endgame 6. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 7. Thor: Ragnarok 8. Black Widow 9. WandaVision 10. Captain America: The First Avenger 11. Avengers: Age of Ultron 12. Iron Man 13. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 14. Loki 15. Black Panther 16. Thor: The Dark World 17. The Incredible Hulk 18. Ant-Man 19. Ant-Man and the Wasp 20. Doctor Strange 21. Falcon and The Winter Soldier 22. Thor 23. Iron Man 3 24. Captain Marvel 25. What If...? 26. Iron Man 2
*Tv shows in blue
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Post by Merv on Feb 2, 2022 18:06:20 GMT 1
The Gamora story was scrapped from season 1 and will be in season 2 Gotcha. I went back and looked at all the titles trying to figure out which one had her and Stark on the moon or whatever and I couldnt think of one so I just shrugged my shoulders. Interesting that she has Thanos sword.
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Post by Merv on Feb 3, 2022 15:27:06 GMT 1
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings...I'll start by saying I really had no idea what this movie was gonna be coming in. Another character Im pretty unfamiliar with and because of that I had a general lack of interest when the trailers started popping up so I never really bothered looking into it. So when it turned out to be more along the lines of House of Flying Daggers rather than standard superhero affair, I was pleasantly surprised. As a lover of many of the Chinese kung fu fantasies of the 2000s especially it was fun to see that style plastered all over this film. The flip between that and a Jackie Chan esque flick depending on whether theyre in Ta Lo versus San Francisco was a smooth choice. Stylistically, storyline and action sequences were all positives for me. Some of the acting was a bit off. Mostly from Awkwafina and mostly early on. I get that she was supposed to be comedic relief but too many of her scenes just felt more awkward than funny. Awkwardfina, am i right? I also didn't get a whole lot of charisma from Simu Liu or Meng'er Zhang as Shang Chi and Xu Xialing. I definitely think it showed that they don't have a lot of acting experience and it happens to be our main 3 characters. Counter to that I thought Tony Leung and Fala Chen were great and as real comic relief Ben Kingsley had me laughing as Trevor again. Visually the film was great to look at...I enjoyed how much is welcomed its fantasy aspects. Most of the cgi looked fine. Morris was super cute and I thought it tied together with the rest of the mcu nicely in the end. Oh and it was great to see Blonsky fight Wu in a cage fight. That came out of left field and I clapped out loud when i saw Abomination there. It's those little spots that always make these movies feel naturally interconnected. Keep those up. I just want to say again how much I appreciated that this film felt so different than anything I have watched in the MCU up to this point. You can see a lot of the influence in many films but this was the first one that gave me these kung fu fantasy high wire vibes.
MCU Rankings
1. Avengers: Infinity War 2. Captain America: Civil War 3. Guardians of the Galaxy 4. The Avengers 5. Avengers: Endgame 6. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 7. Thor: Ragnarok 8. Black Widow 9. WandaVision 10. Captain America: The First Avenger 11. Avengers: Age of Ultron 12. Iron Man 13. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 14. Loki 15. Black Panther 16. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 17. Thor: The Dark World 18. The Incredible Hulk 19. Ant-Man 20. Ant-Man and the Wasp 21. Doctor Strange 22. Falcon and The Winter Soldier 23. Thor 24. Iron Man 3 25. Captain Marvel 26. What If...? 27. Iron Man 2
*Tv shows in blue
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Post by ArArArchStanton on Feb 3, 2022 21:20:22 GMT 1
You guys are killing me on these rewatches, making me want to do one so bad. I have not done one in a long long time, and never for the entire saga. I did a Black Widow rewatch once, which was actually a really experience. I recommend trying a character rewatch, especially for the mostly side characters. It’ll change your perspective a bit
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Post by Merv on Feb 3, 2022 21:35:57 GMT 1
You guys are killing me on these rewatches, making me want to do one so bad. I have not done one in a long long time, and never for the entire saga. I did a Black Widow rewatch once, which was actually a really experience. I recommend trying a character rewatch, especially for the mostly side characters. It’ll change your perspective a bit What do you mean? Trim it down to just the movies those characters are in?
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Post by Merv on Feb 4, 2022 20:19:15 GMT 1
It's a little out of order but I got a chance to watch Spiderman Homecoming so Im throwing that into the mix now. Better late than never.
Spiderman: Homecoming...First off Im a big Michael Keaton fan. Not only was he a staple in so many films growing up (Batman, Beetlejuice, Gung Ho, etc.) but he's from my area and as meaningless as it is to actually put important behind where your mom poops you out, I can't help but add that to the things I like about Michael Keaton. So him being Vulture here is an instant win for me. I like the modified origins being based around financial struggles in the aftermath of the Avengers going through ruining cities and then not even paying the people who live there to clean it up but outsourcing that from them. Its something that is so simple and easy to understand and here it looks like the last straw for Toomes. I also really enjoy how he's not actually a total bad guy. He'll do bad things and he's a criminal, but he still has some decency that's mostly reserved for his family. I generally enjoy the arc of Parker in the wake of Civil War struggling with the idea that he shouldn't jump into the deep end right away. I understand where he's coming from and I understand Tony's want to constant keep him back from it. I do think a lot of the issues could have been resolved if Tony had just come to NY and had an actual human conversation with Peter. The whole thing has 'part time dad' vibes where the kid gets taken to an amusement park and then the dad drops the kid off with mom and doesn't call for a month. So it's predictable when Peter starts just doing what he wants because he feels shafted and it's predictable when Tony comes down on him and takes away his toys. Still entertaining mind you, and a lot of growth for Peter in this film. You get a taste of perpetual conflict in Spidermans life where he cannot manage to balance his personal life with crime fighting. He gets better at it but it is still sad to see him basically ruin his relationship with Liz before it even gets going. Zendaya is funny as MJ here. I forgot how little she does here. Shes really just random comic relief. Ned is probably the best sidekick. He reacts the way any of us nerds would in these situations. I love the small nods or cameo characters even though theyre different from their comic book counterpart...Shocker, Scorpion and Prowler. Spidermans rogues gallery is ridiculously deep so any time they throw more characters at a project Im happy. The action sequences were all pretty great. The Washington monument one was memorable and didn't even have a villain...Spiderman vs Vulture at the end was solid...great costume again for the Vulture. The combination of tech gear and a bomber jacket worked for me. Anyhow I think this set a solid baseline for the Spiderman solo films to come.
MCU Rankings
1. Avengers: Infinity War 2. Captain America: Civil War 3. Guardians of the Galaxy 4. The Avengers 5. Avengers: Endgame 6. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 7. Thor: Ragnarok 8. Black Widow 9. WandaVision 10. Captain America: The First Avenger 11. Avengers: Age of Ultron 12. Iron Man 13. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 14. Spiderman: Homecoming 15. Loki 16. Black Panther 17. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 18. Thor: The Dark World 19. The Incredible Hulk 20. Ant-Man 21. Ant-Man and the Wasp 22. Doctor Strange 23. Falcon and The Winter Soldier 24. Thor 25. Iron Man 3 26. Captain Marvel 27. What If...? 28. Iron Man 2
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Post by Merv on Feb 6, 2022 1:48:47 GMT 1
Eternals...Where to start? I had a lot of fun watching this movie. I thought the variety of characters and set pieces provided a ton of variety and enjoyment. Visually the film was entertaining as hell. The cgi and combat scenes were amazing. The various set pieces were all colorful and vibrant and different. If nothing else this is a fun movie to just watch. I think the idea of pairing a lot of them off in a way worked out tremendously. With a cast this big it's a lot easier to develop characters if we're associating them with other characters and their storylines can build off one another. I thought the big plot of Celestials using planets and life as an incubator for more Celestials is a great idea and them being behind both the deviants and the eternals creation without either side really knowing about it was good conflict. I also really liked the one deviant evolving throughout and going on a sort of vendetta against the Eternals and the Celestials. I like all that stuff on surface level but I can't help but feel like by involving so many parts I wasn't able to get as invested in any particular story as much as I wanted to. I do think it feels kind of spread thin in parts and some aspects don't make up for it. Others do though. For example it was like 40 minutes in or something before I even noticed Kingo was a character. I never expected him to be at all fleshed out or entertaining but in the next scene they track him down and him and his valet turn into the best comic relief since Korg. I loved them and in regards to his character in particular I don't think much more needed to be said. He felt complete. But other characters couldve used either a bit more polish or a bit more attention. Maybe it's best if i just go through them real quick. Ajak....perfect. Smaller role but you feel the weight of it and it's essentially the catalyst for a lot of the film. I don't think you needed more from her than what we got. Ikarus...Very solid. Obviously one of our main eternals turned antagonist then turned conflicted by the end. I got his character. I think I wouldve preferred him to come clean to Sersi alone first though and really gave them that emotional heartbreak together before the rest of the team knows. We spent so much time seeing them fall for each other in flashbacks that when it came time for his villainous reveal it lacked that punch for me. Sersi....See Ikarus above. Other than that I got the impression she was kind of the audience surrogate here. Which is fine but doesn't give her as fleshed out a character as most of the others. She's just kind of the heart of the group. We don't really get to see her wonder or struggle with the idea that Ajak chose her to lead rather than Ikarus and she has both her ex husband and the closest thing she has to a sister both betray her and I didn't feel the weight of that for her. Theres just so much to get through that we don't really get to spend time on these (what should be) emotional beats. Kingo...loved him. Great comic relief, showed a good amount of perception when necessary proving that he's not totally vain and I actually enjoyed that he remained loyal to the Celestial cause despite clearly having a strong connection to humanity. It provided his character plenty of shades of gray without having to dwell on it. Sprite...I wish this one wouldve gotten off the fence one way or the other. Like let her fully buy in to the destruction of the world so that she can be recreated and maybe next time she'll be made into adulthood or let her align with her family for the greater good sacrificing her own happiness. The weird in between that she wound up in the end didn't work for me. Right away when its revealed shes upset because she always looks like a child I thought 'oh no, its Claudia from Interview with the Vampire. Shes gonna go the evil route because of this.' But then the movie progresses and it's clear she's unhappy but good natured. But when she stabs Sersi I thought what is this? But ok, she's full on bad...then she's not and she's a human now? Ok. Not my favorite character arc. Gilgamesh and Thena....great together. Without Gilgamesh, Thena felt off though. Kind of wished theyd have either had them both die together or live to the end. Phastos...probably coulda cut his whole A Bomb scene. We couldve gotten that in a conversation easy. Other than that I enjoyed the character. Makarri...loved her combat and relationship with Druig. Not much else to her tho. Druig...Loved his moral dilemma in the flashbacks. He had chemistry with Makarri and I liked that. Kind of wish they were together when they get regrouped rather than having spent thousands of years apart. Couldve just saved some time and furthered development a bit. Deviant Kro....Loved the idea that this deviant is evolving throughout gaining intelligence and powers and is on a warpath to avenge his people. Honestly kind of hated how fast he was dropped by Thena though. I know that ultimately this was a B problem disguised as an A problem but the B problem still managed to kill 2 Eternals. I would've liked a bit more of an impactful finale...or some storyline beats crossing over. Like maybe he wants to help the Eternals destroy the Celestial so long as he can live on this planet with whatever is left of his people or whatever...I dunno it just felt like it was building up awesomely and then just scrapped as a diversion. I guess thats about it really. The cameos and hints toward other characters and stuff...Black Knight, Starfox, was that Blades voice at the end? I had to look it up because I couldn't tell who it was but apparently that was the Blade cameo. Like a lot of phase 4 so far I love the ground that is set here even if I think the story isn't everything it could be...yet.
MCU Rankings
1. Avengers: Infinity War
2. Captain America: Civil War
3. Guardians of the Galaxy
4. The Avengers
5. Avengers: Endgame
6. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
7. Thor: Ragnarok
8. Black Widow
9. WandaVision
10. Captain America: The First Avenger
11. Avengers: Age of Ultron
12. Iron Man
13. Eternals
14. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
15. Spiderman: Homecoming
16. Loki
17. Black Panther
18. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
19. Thor: The Dark World
20. The Incredible Hulk
21. Ant-Man
22. Ant-Man and the Wasp
23. Doctor Strange
24. Falcon and The Winter Soldier
25. Thor
26. Iron Man 3
27. Captain Marvel
28. What If...?
29. Iron Man 2
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Post by Merv on Feb 6, 2022 2:33:01 GMT 1
^Sorry for the rambling above. It was a long movie with a lot of characters and I just started typing. Lol
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2022 4:43:42 GMT 1
You guys are killing me on these rewatches, making me want to do one so bad. I have not done one in a long long time, and never for the entire saga. I did a Black Widow rewatch once, which was actually a really experience. I recommend trying a character rewatch, especially for the mostly side characters. It’ll change your perspective a bit I really enjoy doing this. I’ve done a Thor rewatch, a Cap rewatch and an Iron Man rewatch. It does change your perspective a little when watching the Avengers movies- I’m always a bit more invested in the character I’m “following”. Im not sure how it would work with side characters though. Wouldn’t a “Black Widow” rewatch essentially just be an Avengers rewatch plus one solo film?
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Post by Merv on Feb 6, 2022 4:55:56 GMT 1
You guys are killing me on these rewatches, making me want to do one so bad. I have not done one in a long long time, and never for the entire saga. I did a Black Widow rewatch once, which was actually a really experience. I recommend trying a character rewatch, especially for the mostly side characters. It’ll change your perspective a bit I really enjoy doing this. I’ve done a Thor rewatch, a Cap rewatch and an Iron Man rewatch. It does change your perspective a little when watching the Avengers movies- I’m always a bit more invested in the character I’m “following”. Im not sure how it would work with side characters though. Wouldn’t a “Black Widow” rewatch essentially just be an Avengers rewatch plus one solo film? Iron Man 2 - The Avengers - Winter Soldier - Age of Ultron - Civil War - Black Widow - Infinity War - Endgame
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Post by ArArArchStanton on Feb 6, 2022 5:22:12 GMT 1
You guys are killing me on these rewatches, making me want to do one so bad. I have not done one in a long long time, and never for the entire saga. I did a Black Widow rewatch once, which was actually a really experience. I recommend trying a character rewatch, especially for the mostly side characters. It’ll change your perspective a bit I really enjoy doing this. I’ve done a Thor rewatch, a Cap rewatch and an Iron Man rewatch. It does change your perspective a little when watching the Avengers movies- I’m always a bit more invested in the character I’m “following”. Im not sure how it would work with side characters though. Wouldn’t a “Black Widow” rewatch essentially just be an Avengers rewatch plus one solo film? close, but you’ve got her early appearances in the Iron Man and Cap sequels as well
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2022 18:12:30 GMT 1
I really enjoy doing this. I’ve done a Thor rewatch, a Cap rewatch and an Iron Man rewatch. It does change your perspective a little when watching the Avengers movies- I’m always a bit more invested in the character I’m “following”. Im not sure how it would work with side characters though. Wouldn’t a “Black Widow” rewatch essentially just be an Avengers rewatch plus one solo film? close, but you’ve got her early appearances in the Iron Man and Cap sequels as well Oh! Of course. I don’t know why I forgot those. I suppose it could work with Widow then. I should try it. Ever tried it with one of the big three? I recommend it.
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Post by ArArArchStanton on Feb 6, 2022 19:14:49 GMT 1
close, but you’ve got her early appearances in the Iron Man and Cap sequels as well Oh! Of course. I don’t know why I forgot those. I suppose it could work with Widow then. I should try it. Ever tried it with one of the big three? I recommend it. I haven’t tried that. I was hoping to do it with more of the B characters if possible. But Widow seemed to have the best crossover appeal
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2022 22:06:20 GMT 1
Oh! Of course. I don’t know why I forgot those. I suppose it could work with Widow then. I should try it. Ever tried it with one of the big three? I recommend it. I haven’t tried that. I was hoping to do it with more of the B characters if possible. But Widow seemed to have the best crossover appeal It’s especially fun to do with Iron Man because you can really appreciate his individual arc over all appearances.
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Post by Merv on Feb 7, 2022 0:39:10 GMT 1
Spiderman: Far From Home....First time view here but I really enjoyed this one. I feel like you can see the small steps in maturity for Peter in both his superhero life and his personal life. I really enjoyed the 'next Iron Man' weight to a lot of the scenes in a post Iron Man world. I felt as wrapped up in the Peter-MJ love story as I was in the whole Mysterio-Elementals one. I think the chemistry between Holland and Zendaya is fantastic and really gets a chance to show here whereas Zendaya felt like a tertiary character in Homecoming. The Ned-Betty relationship was cute and funny. I loved the entire look of Mysterio, though Ive always loved his look in comics so Im glad they got it right. The action scenes with the elementals were fine, I liked all the different locations...but the best fight in the film was the first Mysterio Spiderman one with all the weird visuals and projections. I loved that scene so much and really wish I had the chance to see it on a big screen now. Their final fight was ok but I wouldve liked Mysterio at least in his proper armor for it...though i really did like the deception and how Peter used his tingles to defeat him. Having seen No Way Home before this I already knew how this one would end but I did like the rather happy ending first off...then the Jameson reveal...kinda wish I had No Way Home to throw on right after since it leads right in but all in due time i guess. Anyhow I just thought this one was a lot of fun start to finish that successfully balances Peters romantic life with his superhero duties and I enjoyed the decisions they made with it.
MCU Rankings
1. Avengers: Infinity War 2. Captain America: Civil War 3. Guardians of the Galaxy 4. The Avengers 5. Avengers: Endgame 6. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 7. Thor: Ragnarok 8. Black Widow 9. WandaVision 10. Captain America: The First Avenger 11. Avengers: Age of Ultron 12. Spiderman: Far From Home 13. Iron Man 14. Eternals 15. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 16. Spiderman: Homecoming 17. Loki 18. Black Panther 19. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 20. Thor: The Dark World 21. The Incredible Hulk 22. Ant-Man 23. Ant-Man and the Wasp 24. Doctor Strange 25. Falcon and The Winter Soldier 26. Thor 27. Iron Man 3 28. Captain Marvel 29. What If...? 30. Iron Man 2
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Post by Merv on Feb 8, 2022 3:01:20 GMT 1
Hawkeye...
Episode 1...Solid start. I like that the focus right outta the gate is more on Kate Bishop rather than Clint. Makes sense if she's gonna be his successor in the end, which is where many of these shows seem to be going. I like her spunk. Clint has some ptsd, particularly over Nat. Makes sense. They clearly had a long personal relationship. I enjoyed the play. The Tracksuit Mafia is hilarious to me. As goons they feel perfect. I don't know what to make of Kates stepfather Jack. I know he's the Swordsman character, who has in comics played both sides of the fence. He feels like a red herring already in this. I guess Ill find out sooner or later.
Episode 2...Like the banter between Clint and Kate. Wasn't sure if they were gonna try to make Kate a teen but she says shes 22 so that's good. Im enjoying the Christmas theme...it probably wouldve been even nicer if Id watched it back then eh? The dog is cute too. I like that they've already shown Kates quick decision making, even if it doesnt work out like with the fire extinguisher. Im also glad they didn't plan on her wearing the Ronin suit the whole series because she didn't fit it. Again I love the Tracksuit Mafia as bumbling goons. Their dialog is cracking me up. When they have Clint 'prisoner' and Kate drops in out of the skylight and the one guy goes 'Bro, I found her.' I nearly spit out my coffee. Enter Echo. I know the character but not a lot but she already seems pretty cool here. Cool song to introduce her with.
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Post by Merv on Feb 11, 2022 0:59:57 GMT 1
So I had a headache and stomachache today so I just kinda layed on the couch trying to sleep and failed...but I did binge through all of the Hawkeye series, but because I watched them all back to back to back to back I kind of can't separate episodes in my head so I'll just review it all.
Hawkeye...I loved it. The end. Seriously though I didn't expect to love this one as much as I did Especially when i realized it was only 6 episodes. But I'll say that this show as a whole felt the most like a feature film out of any of the disney + marvel shows ive watched. To me it really felt like it carried the pacing very well and somehow managed to involve several storylines and interweave them all together fairly seemlessly. This is really a Kate Bishop origin story and it works perfectly for that naturally incorporating Clint as a reluctant tutor at first. I also really liked that as an origin...Kate moving forward now has connections everywhere. Having her character be this really nice conversationalist at heart opened so many doors for her already in this series. She's shown the ability to even befriend the Tracksuit Mafia members who stop during a fight to thank her for relationship advice and I absolutely loved that! I just think having her be this social person who people enjoy provided twofold...it contrasts with Barton quite a bit making for an entertaining relationship and it also grants her immediate connection in her newfound crimefighting career. I also loved where this took Clint in the end. Still reeling from Natasha and just general ptsd it looked like...to give him closure here and allow him to finally relax, felt nice. I dare say Yelena is my favorite MCU character now. I mean Florence Pugh is amazing in this role. Shes great in other things too...watch Midsommar if you have not. But she gives Yelena such a quirkiness and an almost laissez faire attitude while also showing an ease with kicking peoples asses...shes the total package for me right now in the MCU. If that character is in something I'm gonna be all over it. And I don't know if theyre planning on bringing these 'new' characters to a big Avenger level movie in the future but they should definitely have Kate and Yelena in things moving forward. They both had such great chemistry and just bounced off each other perfectly. I've already mentioned my love with the Tracksuit Mafia. This is my favorite type of henchman and I loved how they came across in this show. Bumbling and endearing and only really dangerous because they have numbers. I would watch a Tracksuit Mafia spinoff. Echo...i liked her origin and character in general. I'll admit that Im not overly interested in a spinoff series from her tho. To me she's probably best left in small doses to keep that aura of mysterious danger. Like I don't need to see everything about her but if she shows up in Moon Knight or something fighting Kingpins men as a female vigilante that would make sense. Speaking of Kingpin...I did kind of have it spoiled seeing No Way Home first...but it's still awesome to see D'onofrio back in that role. He is amazing...and theres no way hes dead. The main mystery plot i kind of guessed early on once I got the feeling Jack was a red herring and it was clear that Kates mom was having side conversations with Armand. But it was still entertaining to watch...and I really liked Jacks character. I think I caught all the big point. Like i said overall this one gave me more movie vibes than any of the other mcu tv shows. The short episode count probably helped that...and the pacing felt nice. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am glad that shows like Loki and Wandavision are dealing with more grandiose potential problems, Hawkeye feels like its focused on street level and i think thats very important not to forget. Not every issue has to be world ending and I enjoyed the more down to earth vibes this one gave. The christmas theme was nice too.
MCU Rankings
1. Avengers: Infinity War 2. Captain America: Civil War 3. Guardians of the Galaxy 4. The Avengers 5. Avengers: Endgame 6. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 7. Thor: Ragnarok 8. Black Widow 9. WandaVision 10. Hawkeye 11. Captain America: The First Avenger 12. Avengers: Age of Ultron 13. Spiderman: Far From Home 14. Iron Man 15. Eternals 16. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 17. Spiderman: Homecoming 18. Loki 19. Black Panther 20. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 21. Thor: The Dark World 22. The Incredible Hulk 23. Ant-Man 24. Ant-Man and the Wasp 25. Doctor Strange 26. Falcon and The Winter Soldier 27. Thor 28. Iron Man 3 29. Captain Marvel 30. What If...? 31. Iron Man 2
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Post by Merv on Feb 11, 2022 1:34:50 GMT 1
Spiderman No Way Home...I havent watched since its initial release so this isn't a fresh review but I figured I'd throw it on there to officially nail the rewatch down. Going off month old memories...I loved this film. I thought it managed to successfully stand on the foundation of 3 separate series and 2 decades of films. I geeked out over pretty much all the returning characters and felt that in some cases this film made them more interesting or concluded their storyline in a satisfying manner. Even as a Holland story alone i enjoyed it immensely even though it ends on a fairly downbeat moment. I don't expect that to last assuming they move forward with more films. Anywho just going off what i recall I dont have many negative thoughts but I really enjoyed doing this full MCU rewatch so im sure once NWH is readily available and i can rewatch it I may have more to say.
MCU Rankings
1. Avengers: Infinity War 2. Captain America: Civil War 3. Guardians of the Galaxy 4. The Avengers 5. Avengers: Endgame 6. Spiderman No Way Home 7. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 8. Thor: Ragnarok 9. Black Widow 10. WandaVision 11. Hawkeye 12. Captain America: The First Avenger 13. Avengers: Age of Ultron 14. Spiderman: Far From Home 15. Iron Man 16. Eternals 17. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 18. Spiderman: Homecoming 19. Loki 20. Black Panther 21. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 22. Thor: The Dark World 23. The Incredible Hulk 24. Ant-Man 25. Ant-Man and the Wasp 26. Doctor Strange 27. Falcon and The Winter Soldier 28. Thor 29. Iron Man 3 30. Captain Marvel 31. What If...? 32. Iron Man 2
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Post by Merv on Feb 11, 2022 1:46:40 GMT 1
Mervs MCU rewatch complete. Well there it is. Took me about 45 days to plow through 26 movies and 5 television series...and I went to the Bahamas for a week. I really have to get more hobbies. I didn't actually hate any of these...as you can tell from each individual review. Even Iron Man 2 I enjoyed for what it was...the bar just continually kept getting raised and that's really evident when you're watching them in order. Captain America was my biggest phase one surprise...historically he'd have been at least below Iron Man and Hulk but this go around i really loved it. Phase Two Guardians and Winter Soldier have always been my favorites and they remain so...although I forgot how enjoyable Dark World was. It has this weird stigma around it that I guess I bought into and since I hadn't rewatched it in a while I just let myself believe it was trash when it was far from it. Phase 3 I will say I think Endgame moved up from where it was in my head. It's probably the one who's scenes Ive rewatched the most after too. I had that 'on your left' moment in my queue for like a week after I saw it. Still gives me chills. Phase Four has been an absolute delight and the most first time viewings by far. Up to this rewatch I hadn't seen any of the tv shows, Eternals, Black Widow, or Shang CHi. My first dip into the MCU since Endgame was No Way Home and I was pleasantly surprised by what i watched. I'd like to thank Grandmaster for doing his which in turn inspired me to do mine. Let me know when we're organizing our next binge.
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Post by Grandmaster on Feb 11, 2022 15:42:26 GMT 1
Mervs MCU rewatch complete. Well there it is. Took me about 45 days to plow through 26 movies and 5 television series...and I went to the Bahamas for a week. I really have to get more hobbies. I didn't actually hate any of these...as you can tell from each individual review. Even Iron Man 2 I enjoyed for what it was...the bar just continually kept getting raised and that's really evident when you're watching them in order. Captain America was my biggest phase one surprise...historically he'd have been at least below Iron Man and Hulk but this go around i really loved it. Phase Two Guardians and Winter Soldier have always been my favorites and they remain so...although I forgot how enjoyable Dark World was. It has this weird stigma around it that I guess I bought into and since I hadn't rewatched it in a while I just let myself believe it was trash when it was far from it. Phase 3 I will say I think Endgame moved up from where it was in my head. It's probably the one who's scenes Ive rewatched the most after too. I had that 'on your left' moment in my queue for like a week after I saw it. Still gives me chills. Phase Four has been an absolute delight and the most first time viewings by far. Up to this rewatch I hadn't seen any of the tv shows, Eternals, Black Widow, or Shang CHi. My first dip into the MCU since Endgame was No Way Home and I was pleasantly surprised by what i watched. I'd like to thank Grandmaster for doing his which in turn inspired me to do mine. Let me know when we're organizing our next binge. Well since its highly likely the Netflix shows are moving to Disney+/Hulu and they cpuld be canonized and renewed.... Pretty damn soon...
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Post by ArArArchStanton on Feb 11, 2022 20:51:41 GMT 1
Mervs MCU rewatch complete. Well there it is. Took me about 45 days to plow through 26 movies and 5 television series...and I went to the Bahamas for a week. I really have to get more hobbies. I didn't actually hate any of these...as you can tell from each individual review. Even Iron Man 2 I enjoyed for what it was...the bar just continually kept getting raised and that's really evident when you're watching them in order. Captain America was my biggest phase one surprise...historically he'd have been at least below Iron Man and Hulk but this go around i really loved it. Phase Two Guardians and Winter Soldier have always been my favorites and they remain so...although I forgot how enjoyable Dark World was. It has this weird stigma around it that I guess I bought into and since I hadn't rewatched it in a while I just let myself believe it was trash when it was far from it. Phase 3 I will say I think Endgame moved up from where it was in my head. It's probably the one who's scenes Ive rewatched the most after too. I had that 'on your left' moment in my queue for like a week after I saw it. Still gives me chills. Phase Four has been an absolute delight and the most first time viewings by far. Up to this rewatch I hadn't seen any of the tv shows, Eternals, Black Widow, or Shang CHi. My first dip into the MCU since Endgame was No Way Home and I was pleasantly surprised by what i watched. I'd like to thank Grandmaster for doing his which in turn inspired me to do mine. Let me know when we're organizing our next binge. Well since its highly likely the Netflix shows are moving to Disney+/Hulu and they cpuld be canonized and renewed.... Pretty damn soon... Interesting. Will they and can they move them? I still say they’ve been canon all along but regardless, I’m curious what they do with them.
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Post by Merv on May 13, 2022 22:48:40 GMT 1
Updated as per Moon Knight and Doctor Strange 2. I placed them as best I could at the moment.
MCU Rankings
1. Avengers: Infinity War 2. Captain America: Civil War 3. Guardians of the Galaxy 4. The Avengers 5. Avengers: Endgame 6. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness 7. Spiderman No Way Home 8. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 9. Thor: Ragnarok 10. Black Widow 11. WandaVision 12. Hawkeye 13. Captain America: The First Avenger 14. Avengers: Age of Ultron 15. Spiderman: Far From Home 16. Iron Man 17. Moon Knight 18. Eternals 19. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 20. Spiderman: Homecoming 21. Loki 22. Black Panther 23. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 24. Thor: The Dark World 25. The Incredible Hulk 26. Ant-Man 27. Ant-Man and the Wasp 28. Doctor Strange 29. Falcon and The Winter Soldier 30. Thor 31. Iron Man 3 32. Captain Marvel 33. What If...? 34. Iron Man 2
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Post by Merv on Jul 17, 2022 22:02:31 GMT 1
Updated as per Ms. Marvel
MCU Rankings
1. Avengers: Infinity War 2. Captain America: Civil War 3. Guardians of the Galaxy 4. The Avengers 5. Avengers: Endgame 6. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness 7. Spiderman No Way Home 8. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 9. Thor: Ragnarok 10. Black Widow 11. WandaVision 12. Hawkeye 13. Captain America: The First Avenger 14. Avengers: Age of Ultron 15. Spiderman: Far From Home 16. Iron Man 17. Moon Knight 18. Eternals 19. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 20. Spiderman: Homecoming 21. Loki 22. Black Panther 23. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 24. Thor: The Dark World 25. Ms. Marvel 26. The Incredible Hulk 27. Ant-Man 28. Ant-Man and the Wasp 29. Doctor Strange 30. Falcon and The Winter Soldier 31. Thor 32. Iron Man 3 33. Captain Marvel 34. What If...? 35. Iron Man 2
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Post by Merv on Jul 18, 2022 3:17:35 GMT 1
Updated as per Thor Love and Thunder...fresh out of the theatre.
MCU Rankings
1. Avengers: Infinity War 2. Captain America: Civil War 3. Guardians of the Galaxy 4. The Avengers 5. Avengers: Endgame 6. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness 7. Spiderman No Way Home 8. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 9. Thor: Ragnarok 10. Black Widow 11. Thor: Love and Thunder 12. WandaVision 13. Hawkeye 14. Captain America: The First Avenger 15. Avengers: Age of Ultron 16. Spiderman: Far From Home 17. Iron Man 18. Moon Knight 19. Eternals 20. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 21. Spiderman: Homecoming 22. Loki 23. Black Panther 24. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 25. Thor: The Dark World 26. Ms. Marvel 27. The Incredible Hulk 28. Ant-Man 29. Ant-Man and the Wasp 30. Doctor Strange 31. Falcon and The Winter Soldier 32. Thor 33. Iron Man 3 34. Captain Marvel 35. What If...? 36. Iron Man 2
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Post by Merv on Oct 24, 2022 6:30:18 GMT 1
*Adding She Hulk and Werewolf By Night...separating movies and tv shows because my brain hurt trying to figure out where to put Werewolf by Night
MCU Rankings
1. Avengers: Infinity War 2. Captain America: Civil War 3. Guardians of the Galaxy 4. The Avengers 5. Avengers: Endgame 6. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness 7. Spiderman No Way Home 8. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 9. Thor: Ragnarok 10. Black Widow 11. Thor: Love and Thunder 12. Captain America: The First Avenger 13. Avengers: Age of Ultron 14. Spiderman: Far From Home 15. Iron Man 16. Eternals 17. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 18. Spiderman: Homecoming 19. Black Panther 20. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 21. Thor: The Dark World 22. The Incredible Hulk 23. Ant-Man 24. Ant-Man and the Wasp 25. Doctor Strange 26. Thor 27. Iron Man 3 28. Captain Marvel 29. Iron Man 2
1. WandaVision 2. Hawkeye 3. Werewolf By Night 4. Moon Knight 5. Loki 6. Ms. Marvel 7. Falcon and Winter Soldier 8. What If? 9. She Hulk
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Post by AQUA CAT! on Nov 25, 2022 2:07:10 GMT 1
Avengers: Infinity War...Top notch superhero epic! A wonderfully woven tale that brings all our heroes together to face off against a truly formidable opponent. Thanos is my favorite MCU villain and it's because you can understand where he's coming from. He has logic behind his decision to slaughter half of humanity and he really leans into that. He's driven by more than just evil notions. I love the balancing again. I loved that they were able to feature so many characters and give most of them at least a moment or two to shine without any of them feeling tacked on or forced into the story. Where the characters are all makes sense. The constant dick measuring between Stark-Strange, Thor-Quill, Stark-Quill, etc. was all loads of fun too. Put all the main characters together and who's in charge? Well they all want to be, lol. The only notch against this film I have really is that everyone knew the snap would be reversed. Even if you came into this not knowing there were follow up films...to snap away so many of the newer and fresher characters and to leave alive all the original Avengers told me easily that things were gonna be reversed in the sequel...but it also sets the stakes for that movie because I also assumed that the ones who were left alive were gonna have to be the real sacrifice, at least some of them. So it works both ways I guess. Anyhow I love this film. Its probably the one, aside from the original Avengers, that ive rewatched the most at this point. MCU Rankings 1. Avengers: Infinity War 2. Captain America: Civil War 3. Guardians of the Galaxy 4. The Avengers 5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 6. Thor: Ragnarok 7. Captain America: The First Avenger 8. Avengers: Age of Ultron 9. Iron Man 10. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 11. Black Panther 12. Thor: The Dark World 13. The Incredible Hulk 14. Ant-Man 15. Doctor Strange 16. Thor 17. Iron Man 3 18. Iron Man 2 I really liked Infinity War as well. It hit the ground running and was essentially a Thanos movie. He drives the action. I really believe he thought deeply about what it's going to mean to shoulder the burden of this decision. He's smart. He's also one of the best hand-to-hand fighters in the MCU, I think. He's built like a Hulk but he fights like a tiger. A dream match would actually be Thanos v Captain America w Tony's nano suit + the hammer. And he bleeds too. Thanos had the decency to bleed on Titan. But really though, I enjoyed all the interactions between characters who don't share onscreen time. I loved seeing Doctor Strange wile out with his powers. Thanos too, for that matter. I've always loved creative user of powers in superhero stuff and Thanos wore those rings; they didn't wear him. What he did to Mantis and Drax was savage, and using the reality stone to trick Gamora into killing him just to mess with her mind was rude. I'd hoped for one or more of the Guardians to survive the snap, but the fact its sole survivor was Rocket just makes who was pruned and who not seem less like a money-ball decision. If Quill survived, which I'd hoped for an expected, it would have been predictable.
I don't know the story before the movie. There was a time when although it seemed most likely they'd undo the snap, it wasn't clear to me that they would, nor was it clear how. Even the end-scene when Fury's phone sent the message to... who was that? I didn't know. That could be anybody. He could have been texting Luke Skywalker. At the time, I also thought only Thanos or a comparable being could undo the snap. The nearest available option was Thanos. Maybe they'd reason with him. When you're a omnipotent demigod with rings that control reality, knocking on the door might be better than kicking it down.
Eventually it became not a matter of if, but how the snap would be reversed, but I also enjoyed thinking not undoing the snap would be bold AF. I'm not a shareholder. I don't care if they "bye Felicia" all their viewers. The risk would be worth it, or says the imagination of a bygone era...2018 to 2019. And yeah, you can already see the makings of a snap where the ones who died were the lucky ones.
So yeah, hit the ground running, never lost its footing; character-piece plus split chase and race against time. Liked it a lot. Saw it twice in theaters, and then Deadpool 2 twice in theaters. What a time to be alive.
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