Marvel Media (Spoiler Thread)

It's up there with Falcon and the Winter Soldier as the weakest of the Marvel TV shows to me; it reminded me of Loki just in the sense it had a far more unique feel and aesthetic, and that alone kept me intrigued. A huge part of the success was having Oscar Isaacs, who could actually pull off arguing with himself and genuinely feel like different people. Parts were rushed, and:

Spoiler:

Yes, I do think having the villain defeated off-screen was asinine and stupid and maybe that's an important thing to show.

But, in the end, it was another swing at something a bit different, and that made it worthwhile. Moon Knight has always had one of the best costumes around, and the limited amount we saw it confirmed that to me, and the other character's costume from the last episode 6 was also pretty great.

Finally, and I don't think this counts as a spoiler, but I would like to see any and all enthusiastically perky and optimistic hippo deities at every opportunity in the future, because she was hilarious.

I knew that was a Sam Raimi movie going into it, but I was surprised by how MUCH of a Sam Raimi movie it was.

It's been a hell of a couple of days for...

Spoiler:

Patrick Stewart and Anson Mount, hasn't it?

Just got back from Strange 2 and I'm not sure what to think.
It's definitely a hell of a ride and as deftly says, it's Raimi all the way.
But I'm not sure it's a good movie/story/whatever.

I liked Moon Knight a lot, but it's a fair complaint that parts of it weren't great or kinda rushed. The comic version of the "is it real or is he in a mental institution" was a lot better done, but primarily because it had already established a lot of stuff beforehand and Moon Knight was already somewhat separate from the rest of the Marvel stuff, so the thought that all the prior stuff was just in his head wasn't as hard a sell. Plus the comic Steven Grant was a lot different (basically the Bruce Wayne to Marc's Batman) and all the aspects of Marc were somewhat aware of each other.
I get why they wanted to include it, it's probably the best of Moon Knight's solo stuff, but I think it'd have been better executed if they saved it for later and the 1st season was just the buddy cop stuff without examining Marc's childhood trauma and where Steven came from.

For me I think MK ties with Loki for best of the MCU shows and now that it’s wrapped I’m eager to watch it again straight through to see stuff I might have missed.
I am somewhat conflicted about the fight resolution though. It was necessary but yeah, it felt like a budgetary cop out in the moment. Maybe if they had taken a second to foreshadow it earlier in the episode itself rather than just the two times in prior episodes. Maybe while escaping the afterlife instead of a big sand wave it was just a lone shadowed figure running towards them and making Marc irrationally scared while Steven drags him away.

lunchbox12682 wrote:

Just got back from Strange 2 and I'm not sure what to think.
It's definitely a hell of a ride and as deftly says, it's Raimi all the way.
But I'm not sure it's a good movie/story/whatever.

I'm cheap and I'm waiting for Spiderman No Way Home to come out on Disney+. Do I need to watch that prior to Strange 2?

Nevin73 wrote:
lunchbox12682 wrote:

Just got back from Strange 2 and I'm not sure what to think.
It's definitely a hell of a ride and as deftly says, it's Raimi all the way.
But I'm not sure it's a good movie/story/whatever.

I'm cheap and I'm waiting for Spiderman No Way Home to come out on Disney+. Do I need to watch that prior to Strange 2?

Probably.

Nevin73 wrote:
lunchbox12682 wrote:

Just got back from Strange 2 and I'm not sure what to think.
It's definitely a hell of a ride and as deftly says, it's Raimi all the way.
But I'm not sure it's a good movie/story/whatever.

I'm cheap and I'm waiting for Spiderman No Way Home to come out on Disney+. Do I need to watch that prior to Strange 2?

No. There's some exposition around NWH, but not significant.

However, Wandavision is required viewing. It's a direct setup of her role in Strange 2.

And the Whatif series provides relevant backstory and context, too.

I enjoyed it. I'm a Sam Raimi fan. Wish there was more Bruce Campbell.

Nevin73 wrote:
lunchbox12682 wrote:

Just got back from Strange 2 and I'm not sure what to think.
It's definitely a hell of a ride and as deftly says, it's Raimi all the way.
But I'm not sure it's a good movie/story/whatever.

I'm cheap and I'm waiting for Spiderman No Way Home to come out on Disney+. Do I need to watch that prior to Strange 2?

It looks like it won't be hitting until July 2023, so you have a bit of a wait. (Not being snarky, I just didn't want you waiting forever and to plan accordingly)

Hey everyone, finally on to last episode of WandaVision. What should I watch next?

Loki
Or
Falcon/Winter Soldier?

Loki! It's different and weird and a bit of an experiment.

Mixolyde wrote:

Loki! It's different and weird and a bit of an experiment.

Agreed. It ends on a pretty amazing note. Falcon & Winter Soldier started off pretty interesting (for me at least), but it became mind-numbingly dumb in record time.

Garth wrote:
Mixolyde wrote:

Loki! It's different and weird and a bit of an experiment.

Agreed. It ends on a pretty amazing note. Falcon & Winter Soldier started off pretty interesting (for me at least), but it became mind-numbingly dumb in record time.

It bounces back some.

lunchbox12682 wrote:
Garth wrote:
Mixolyde wrote:

Loki! It's different and weird and a bit of an experiment.

Agreed. It ends on a pretty amazing note. Falcon & Winter Soldier started off pretty interesting (for me at least), but it became mind-numbingly dumb in record time.

It bounces back some.

The bad guys win, so that's a fun change.

Do you like Doctor Who? Which is to say, incoherent, thematically muddled, and profoundly dumb space-magic time travel bullsh*t and unearned soap opera romance only partially redeemed by the sheer charisma of its cast? If so, then Loki.

Are you a right-thinking individual who recognizes Captain America and the Winter Soldier as the best Marvel movie? Would you like more of that, only not quite as good? Are you interested in seeing Marvel tackle some heavy social issues and, because it is still at the end of the day a big dumb comic book spectacle, not quite stick the landing despite good intentions? Are you willing to forgive a plot that was very obviously hastily retooled due to COVID and thus glosses over some gaping holes? If so, then Falcon and Winter Soldier.

Mixolyde wrote:
lunchbox12682 wrote:
Garth wrote:
Mixolyde wrote:

Loki! It's different and weird and a bit of an experiment.

Agreed. It ends on a pretty amazing note. Falcon & Winter Soldier started off pretty interesting (for me at least), but it became mind-numbingly dumb in record time.

It bounces back some.

The bad guys win, so that's a fun change.

That's at least 3 of the Marvel shows.

lunchbox12682 wrote:
Mixolyde wrote:
lunchbox12682 wrote:
Garth wrote:
Mixolyde wrote:

Loki! It's different and weird and a bit of an experiment.

Agreed. It ends on a pretty amazing note. Falcon & Winter Soldier started off pretty interesting (for me at least), but it became mind-numbingly dumb in record time.

It bounces back some.

The bad guys win, so that's a fun change.

That's at least 3 of the Marvel shows.

Depending on how one defines "bad guys."

hbi2k wrote:

Do you like Doctor Who? Which is to say, incoherent, thematically muddled, and profoundly dumb space-magic time travel bullsh*t and unearned soap opera romance only partially redeemed by the sheer charisma of its cast? If so, then Loki.

Are you a right-thinking individual who recognizes Captain America and the Winter Soldier as the best Marvel movie? Would you like more of that, only not quite as good? Are you interested in seeing Marvel tackle some heavy social issues and, because it is still at the end of the day a big dumb comic book spectacle, not quite stick the landing despite good intentions? Are you willing to forgive a plot that was very obviously hastily retooled due to COVID and thus glosses over some gaping holes? If so, then Falcon and Winter Soldier.

I hate Doctor Who!

I'm a right thinking individual who knows the best Marvel movie is Civil War!

Going with TFATWS!

Just got back myself from Dr Strange. It was fun to see a dark fantasy/horror movie but wish it was in an original IP. And as a big Wanda fan, I feel they did her super dirty. But still worth seeing opening weekend.

They Sharon Carter'd my Wanda.

Spoiler:

Total moral turn with insufficient justification. Yeah, the Dark Hold, but still, she was in a much better place at the end of Wandavison.

Overall was good. Great moments. But not the overall end to end great movie that No Way Home was.

I'm going with family on a Disney Cuise, so will probably see it again on the ship. Will see it it grows on me.

Did everyone miss the end stinger of Wandavision?
It was utterly unsurprising that she was going dark. How dark they went, sure.

lunchbox12682 wrote:

Did everyone miss the end stinger of Wandavision?
It was utterly unsurprising that she was going dark. How dark they went, sure.

Nope. Didn't miss it. Still think she showed growth not apparent here.

DS2 baddy:

Spoiler:

I think they did enough to show the Darkhold as being addictive and corrupting. I also think it's a shame that the grief she battled through got consumed by that, but it made for the strongest MCU villain I can remember with the clearest motivation.

Watched Dr. Strange's Mountainous Mom. Whatever else it was, it certainly was a Raimi movie. It kinda lost control of itself in the final act, but it was fun getting there.

Moon Knight thought
Interesting that in the last scenes with the bad dude a orderly was killed. The bird god is all about not killing people that haven't did anything yet but I guess he was okay killing a orderly just doing his job.

Story wise, I felt that Dr. Strange 2 was really a continuation of Wandavision. Strange may have had the leading hero role, but the movie didn't follow up on any of first Dr. Strange's story threads, but was entirely driven by the events of Wandavision and by the power of fan service.

It was a fun movie to watch.

I enjoyed Dr. Strange 2. While I certainly enjoy straight hero vs villain such as the stand alone Iron man stuff, etc, I think a movie like Strange 2 adds SO much flavor and world building to the MCU. There are so many locales, people and things that instantly broaden the back ground and that is something that makes me enjoy a movie a lot.

I felt Wanda had an acceptable turn to heel that was earned in previous series. Doing bad stuff while still having the viewer saying "Wanda, no, you can still turn back!".

Great scenes with the Illuminati. Some gruesome stuff in line with that time travel X-men movie I forget the name of.

I did finish watching the last couple eps of Moon Knight. I enjoyed it overall but can definitely say it is not at the top of my MCU stuff. Again, great world building but I think some of these series are affected negatively by the week to week format. Last ep was the best for me - really enjoyed that Egyptian superhero moment.

Oof. That was straight-up bad. Probably bottom 5 of anything Marvel has done for me. I’m shocked that The Eternals got shellacked and that got such high critical scores.

I enjoyed it, but largely in the way I enjoy campy horror movies (ie, the sort of thing thing Raimi made his bones on).

Almost certainly a lot more fun than good, but still plenty fun.

Spoiler:

However, I will be upset if this and What If are the only Captain Carter we get.