Marvel Cinematic Universe
- Thread starter Triggermv
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(Non-Spoiler Review) So, I finally finished up Runaways last night, which actually makes me officially all caught up on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, minus a Black Panther prelude comic I haven't quite read yet. With that said, the following is my non-spoiler review of Runaways for anyone interested. Overall, I enjoyed the show, but didn't find it great. Truthfully, based on the positive rumblings I heard prior to watching it, I thought it might be better than it was. In the end, there were things I liked and other things I didn't so much.
Lets start with the positives. For the most part, I thought the casting was pretty solid. Of the kids, I thought the casting and acting was great for 4 of the 6. The actor they chose for Alex in particular I thought was by far the best. Not only is he a spitting image of his comic counterpart, but he was a stellar acting lead as well. Next in order of best to good was Chase, Karolina, then Nico. Nico was by far the weakest of the best. Obviously, Gert and Molly missed the cut here. Another positive I took away from the series was the overall tone, which was kind of a teeny "Perks of being a Wallflower" tone. This tone led to some great dialogue and character work throughout that really was some of the best stuff of the entire series and where it excelled. If you can appreciate teenage coming of age stories, this one mostly hits the mark. Thus, this series is by far more of a teen and family drama than an action series. Lastly, I've got to give a shout out to Old Lace the dinosaur. Truthfully, I thought the series actually pulled him off pretty well. Not only did they somewhat work him naturally into the series, but I thought he looked pretty good for the most part, especially considering the lower TV budget. What I really liked was how much they mixed in practical effects with the CG effects. However, in the end, the dinosaur doesn't exactly do much in this season, so don't expect him to. It is also pretty obvious that the reason he doesn't do much is because it costs a lot of money for him to do anything.
Now, we move on to the negatives. On the casting and acting side, I thought both Gert and Molly were major misses. Gert at least had her moments, but Molly was just outright a terrible actress. She was almost painful to watch, which really dragged down the dynamic of the group and really placed her as an awkward outsider. Another downside I found was just the story overall, particularly the anti-climatic ending. Sure, there were parts, particularly in the beginning and middle that I liked, but it just didn't stick the ending in my mind. I just wanted more from the ending I guess. This then leads me into the lackluster fight scene in the end, which also contributed to the poor landing. There was just nothing to it and it was pretty much over before it even started. In my mind, if the series is going to be light on the action, at least give me some really good action scenes for what we get, which I didn't feel they did at all. Lastly, a few other pitfalls of the series was it getting a little heavy on the cheese at times, a so-so confusing villain/villains, and a major lack of connectivity with anything else in the MCU. In fact, while it doesn't mostly contradict anything else that is happening in the MCU, it does absolutely nothing to connect with anything. In fact, it duplicates the Staff of One, wielded by Tina Minoru, with the seemingly same Staff of One we see in the Doctor Strange bonus scenes on the blu ray. This seems to just be a mistake on Marvel's part overall, not to mention how they change the Staff from a magic one to simply a scientific one created by Tina's company in the series. Why can't it just be magic??? I found that change to be really stupid.
Anyway, those are my thoughts on the series. In the end, I did overall like the series, but just didn't love it. Maybe I had too high of expectations coming in. Regardless, I'd be lying if I said I didn't walk away a little disappointed, particularly with the ending. However, at least I won't call it a Marvel miss and I do think it did a decent job of faithfully adapting the comic book to the bigger screen. I'd also say that after watching both this series, The Punisher and Agents of Shield, I'd say that Marvel is at least finally back on more of an upward trajectory than a downward one (Iron Fist, Defenders and Inhumans). I just wish they were a bit more consistent and connective still with the movies.
What are your thoughts? Did anyone else see Runaways yet? Look for me to update my MCU rankings as well as Superhero TV rankings soon to include this series.
Lets start with the positives. For the most part, I thought the casting was pretty solid. Of the kids, I thought the casting and acting was great for 4 of the 6. The actor they chose for Alex in particular I thought was by far the best. Not only is he a spitting image of his comic counterpart, but he was a stellar acting lead as well. Next in order of best to good was Chase, Karolina, then Nico. Nico was by far the weakest of the best. Obviously, Gert and Molly missed the cut here. Another positive I took away from the series was the overall tone, which was kind of a teeny "Perks of being a Wallflower" tone. This tone led to some great dialogue and character work throughout that really was some of the best stuff of the entire series and where it excelled. If you can appreciate teenage coming of age stories, this one mostly hits the mark. Thus, this series is by far more of a teen and family drama than an action series. Lastly, I've got to give a shout out to Old Lace the dinosaur. Truthfully, I thought the series actually pulled him off pretty well. Not only did they somewhat work him naturally into the series, but I thought he looked pretty good for the most part, especially considering the lower TV budget. What I really liked was how much they mixed in practical effects with the CG effects. However, in the end, the dinosaur doesn't exactly do much in this season, so don't expect him to. It is also pretty obvious that the reason he doesn't do much is because it costs a lot of money for him to do anything.
Now, we move on to the negatives. On the casting and acting side, I thought both Gert and Molly were major misses. Gert at least had her moments, but Molly was just outright a terrible actress. She was almost painful to watch, which really dragged down the dynamic of the group and really placed her as an awkward outsider. Another downside I found was just the story overall, particularly the anti-climatic ending. Sure, there were parts, particularly in the beginning and middle that I liked, but it just didn't stick the ending in my mind. I just wanted more from the ending I guess. This then leads me into the lackluster fight scene in the end, which also contributed to the poor landing. There was just nothing to it and it was pretty much over before it even started. In my mind, if the series is going to be light on the action, at least give me some really good action scenes for what we get, which I didn't feel they did at all. Lastly, a few other pitfalls of the series was it getting a little heavy on the cheese at times, a so-so confusing villain/villains, and a major lack of connectivity with anything else in the MCU. In fact, while it doesn't mostly contradict anything else that is happening in the MCU, it does absolutely nothing to connect with anything. In fact, it duplicates the Staff of One, wielded by Tina Minoru, with the seemingly same Staff of One we see in the Doctor Strange bonus scenes on the blu ray. This seems to just be a mistake on Marvel's part overall, not to mention how they change the Staff from a magic one to simply a scientific one created by Tina's company in the series. Why can't it just be magic??? I found that change to be really stupid.
Anyway, those are my thoughts on the series. In the end, I did overall like the series, but just didn't love it. Maybe I had too high of expectations coming in. Regardless, I'd be lying if I said I didn't walk away a little disappointed, particularly with the ending. However, at least I won't call it a Marvel miss and I do think it did a decent job of faithfully adapting the comic book to the bigger screen. I'd also say that after watching both this series, The Punisher and Agents of Shield, I'd say that Marvel is at least finally back on more of an upward trajectory than a downward one (Iron Fist, Defenders and Inhumans). I just wish they were a bit more consistent and connective still with the movies.
What are your thoughts? Did anyone else see Runaways yet? Look for me to update my MCU rankings as well as Superhero TV rankings soon to include this series.
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As per usual, after posting my full-out review above for Marvel's Runaways: Season 1, I figure it is about time to update my MCU rankings to include it. As you can see, I liked Runaways, but didn't exactly love it.
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Thought this movie had the best drama and best writing and story line of all the movies. Its action sequences were probably only second to Civil War as well.
- Marvel’s The Avengers – Iconic way to pull everything together with the best villain in the MCU. The final battle was so epic and unlike anything we had ever seen up until that point.
- Captain America: Civil War - Most fun and one of the funniest movies on the list. Also produced the best action sequences, had some of the best character moments, and showcased the best balancing act of so many characters. Biggest downfall was having a very good, but not great story line, which kept it from topping my list.
- Iron Man – Epic way to start the Universe with an unbelievable star for a headliner. Never got into the Iron Monger villain though.
- Guardians of the Galaxy – Best space epic since the original Star Wars movies. Also was probably the funniest movie of the MCU so far.
- Marvel's The Punisher: Season 1 - Most complete Marvel TV series so far with great pacing, great story, superb casting, and amazing acting. Ben Barnes as Billy Russo is now not only one of my favorite actors, but he is up there as one of the best Marvel villains. Very stand-alone series, but I wish there were a few more crossovers.
- Marvel's Daredevil: Season 2 - The introduction of Jon Bernthal's Punisher in Season 2 was what truly made this season great and better than Season 2. Had a few pacing issues, but overall, the series only improved all the characters within it from Season 1, but I'm still so-so on all the Electra stuff. Still needs a few more crossovers, but had a few.
- Marvel’s Daredevil: Season 1 – Loved the street-level more-adult-themed tone of this show. Also contains probably the second best villain in the MCU. Being on Netflix is a great way to un-cuff all the normal problems of making a TV show for network viewing.
- Ant-Man - Had super-low expectations, but walked away pleasantly surprised. Yet another weak villain, but contained some great comedy with some great actors. Paul Rudd won me over when I once was really skeptical of him.
- Captain America: The First Avenger – Epic first-half of the movie with Cap’s origin story, but believe it or not, I found Red Skull a little underdeveloped. Loved the WWII time period aspect of this one.
- Spider-Man: Homecoming - Amazing casting on this movie throughout, with Tom Holland being the best Spider-Man yet. Also featured one of the greatest villains in the MCU yet with Michael Keaton, with one of the best scenes and best twists. Movie just lacked the music score and emotional weight of some of its predecessors.
- Marvel's Agents of Shield: Season 4 - Best season of AOS so far with a very good two-part story line. Ghost Rider was amazing movie quality all around (casting, acting, visuals, story) and fit perfectly into the story, as well as tying the series to the Doctor Strange multi-verse/mystical/inter-dimensional world. Tons of fun with a lot of great emotion.
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - Huge on the laughs, fun and heart, but a little mediocre on the story and substance. Also, went a little overboard at times where things got a bit too campy. Characters were probably more fun than story.
- Marvel's Jessica Jones - Series filled with great actors, great drama, good diversity to what we are used to, and one of the best villains in the MCU (Kilgrave). Series suffered most from having probably 3-4 too many episodes, poor pacing, and not enough ties to the overall MCU.
- Iron Man 2 – Many will mock me, but I actually really enjoyed this movie and actually enjoyed it more than Iron Man 3. Make fun of me all you want, but I didn’t think Whiplash was that bad. I think this movie gets unfairly criticized.
- Doctor Strange - This was a fairly Marvel formulaic origin story with some ground-breaking visual effects, a mediocre villain, an innovative ending, and some great characters. However, its biggest problem for me is that it was probably just a bit too out there on the magic side to fully be my cup of tea, which is okay. I still enjoyed it.
- Avengers: Age of Ultron – Fun movie, but suffered from too much CGI action, too many characters, and too many storylines.
- Iron Man 3 – Don’t know what it is, but I just never really got into this one, and it probably had something to do with the big Mandarin villain twist towards the end. Also never really liked Killian either. Again, I surprisingly like Iron Man 2 better
- Thor– Don’t know what it is, but I just never got into this storyline or villains as much as the others. However, it is growing on me over time and I now like this more than Thor: The Dark World
- Thor: Ragnarok - I appreciate them trying to go in a creative new direction on this movie, but it ultimately felt too much like a quirky improv comedy (how he shot it) to me. Went a little too heavy on the comedy, which ultimately offset and mitigated the substance, scale, and weight of the movie. Hela was great villain though.
- Marvel's Luke Cage: Season 1 - Loved the music angle, loved Cottonmouth as the villain, loved the first 4 episodes. However, this was another Netflix series that really lost its way somewhere in the middle, and I really didn't care for any of the Diamondback stuff. Still enjoyed it, but definitely the worst Netflix series yet.
- Thor: The Dark World – Criticize me if you will, but I actually liked this movie more than probably most, but after re-watching it recently, it did fall some in my rankings. I now have the origin Thor above it.
- Marvel’s Agents of Shield: Season 2 – Liked the less cheese and more serious tone than the first season. Also, loved the Inhuman’s storyline. Used to hate Skye, but now don’t mind her.
- Marvel’s Agent Carter – Loved the period timepiece aspect of this. Great show with good movie tie-ins.
- The Incredible Hulk – Good movie, but not great. Never was into Norton for the role or the look they gave theHulk, so I was super glad when the switch was made and they remade the Hulk's appearance.
- Marvel's Runways: Season 1 - Had a good tone as well as some good character work throughout. However, there was very little action and what action we got was really lackluster. Also, its biggest problem was that it didn't exactly stick the landing at the end. This was a decent series overall, but not great by any means.
- Marvel’s Agents of Shield: Season 1 – Struggled hardcore in the first half-dozen episodes, but then finally picked up when Winter Soldier story line set in and the cheese started to fade. Overall, ended up really enjoying this.
- Marvel's Agents of Shield: Season 3 - Was VERY up and down throughout. There was times I really liked what they were doing, whereas other times where I really did not like what they were doing. Overall, the series is getting a little tired, too many forced fistfights, and still too high on the cheese factor. Still fun at times though.
- Marvel's The Defenders: Season 1: Started out alright including a great hallway fight scene earlier on, but then everything fell apart from there in the back half of the season, mostly dragged down by Iron Fist being Iron Fist, poor storytelling, and really poor dialogue. This series was a big let-down for me.
- Marvel's Agent Carter: Season 2 - Great actors and characters combined with a poor stand-alone story, which lacked substance and true stakes to the MCU
- Marvel's Iron Fist: Season 1 - A combination of terrible casting/acting from Danny Rand, terrible boring story, poor fight sequences, and too low a budget resulted in Marvel's first major dud for a TV show. At least the back half of the season was much better than the front half.
- Marvel's Inhumans - Garbage TV show all around. Bad acting, costumes, sets, directing, characterizations, special effects, and storytelling. This TV show was intentionally made fast and on the cheap as a money-grab and it totally shows through.
To go along with my MCU rankings (see above), I thought I might also throw up an update of my Superhero TV rankings to include Runaways (Season 1), but also some other ones like The Punisher (Season 1) and The Gifted (Season 1):
Has anyone finished either Runaways, The Punisher or The Gifted recently too? If so, what are your thoughts??
- The Punisher (Season 1)
- The Flash (Season 1)
- Daredevil (Season 2)
- Daredevil (Season 1)
- Agents of Shield (Season 4)
- Arrow (Season 2)
- Arrow (Season 1)
- The Gifted (Season 1)
- Legion (Season 1)
- Arrow (Season 5)
- The Flash (Season 2)
- Supergirl (Season 1)
- Jessica Jones (Season 1)
- Supergirl (Season 2)
- Luke Cage (Season 1)
- Agents of Shield (Season 2)
- Agent Carter (Season 1)
- Runaways (Season 1)
- The Flash (Season 3)
- Powerless (Season 1)
- Agents of Shield (Season 1)
- Agents of Shield (Season 3)
- Agent Carter (Season 2)
- Iron Fist (Season 1)
- Preacher (Season 1)
- Arrow (Season 3)
- Constantine (Season 1)
- Arrow (Season 4)
- Legends of Tomorrow (Season 1)
- Legends of Tomorrow (Season 2)
- Inhumans (Season 1)
Has anyone finished either Runaways, The Punisher or The Gifted recently too? If so, what are your thoughts??
World premiere of Black Panther was last night. Here are some of the initial reactions:
More tweets can be found at this link:
https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-first-reactions-to-black-panther-sound-like-marvel-1822541168
More tweets can be found at this link:
https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-first-reactions-to-black-panther-sound-like-marvel-1822541168
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Ant-Man and the Wasp first trailer is officially out as well.
Chances Marvel crushes it this year?
High.
High.
Its hard to believe how much the Marvel Cinematic Universe is everything I dreamed of as a kid happening, but never thought it would. It truly is the comic books come to life, all happening in the same world, just like they should be. Now, Marvel will own both the X-Men and Fantastic 4 again. Nerd tears.......
As for you Disney.....
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I am excited for this movie but I am tempering my expectations until I am certain the reviews are not agenda driven. There is a lot riding on this movie in regards to social diversity with a lot of people making statements with their reviews. These reviews are an example of what worries me. Please keep your BS out of my movies
This looks great. With Ant man, I always just expect a fun, comedic semi-serious movie and Rudd always delivers.
I completely agree with you on Ant-Man. That was a film that I didn't really expect much from, but it has ended up being the MCU movie I re-watch the most. It reminds me of those cheesy B-movies that would be on network TV on a Saturday/Sunday afternoon back when I was a kid.
I'm getting pretty excited but also tempering them a bit too. I'm still a little snake-bitten from my whole Star Wars: The Last Jedi experience. Based on reviews, I was completely amped for that movie, only to be super disappointed upon seeing it myself. I do agree that Hollywood can sometimes laud the inclusion of their progressive themes and agendas so much so that it sometimes makes them not look further into the actual story. I think The Last Jedi had at least a bit of that going on. We'll see. I really hope it is good.
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I totally agree that Ant-Man is super re-watchable. Not a whole lot of thinking required either, which can be good sometimes. Just sit back and be entertained.
Speaking of Star Wars, and I don't want to derail this thread into a total Star Wars discussion, but isn't it weird that we have a trailer for Ant-Man & The Wasp, which releases in theaters in July, but not even a teaser trailer for the Han Solo movie which is out this May? I think that speaks volumes of Kevin Feige's role as a producer that he is able to give his directors creative freedom, while still able to release multiple films every year.
Kathleen Kennedy keeps proving to me more and more each day that she is NOT Kevin Feige. As for DC and Warner Bros, don't even get me started.
https://screenrant.com/kevin-feige-disney-fox-marvel-movies-changes/
Kevin Feige talks in here about how the Disney-Fox deal won't affect any MCU films already in the works.
Kevin Feige talks in here about how the Disney-Fox deal won't affect any MCU films already in the works.
Is anyone out there watching the current season of Agents of Shield on TV???? If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts on how it is going so far. I absolutely LOVED the last season.
People are sleeping on animated Enter the Spider-verse movie as well. Trust me.
I’m guessing you’ve seen some of the marketing materials for it - is that a movie that can do well with a theatrical release? It just seems really difficult for animated superhero movies to do well at the box office, despite having lower production costs to live-action. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm was well received by critics, but didn’t really make a lot at the box office. Any idea why they went this route rather than do what DC does and just go straight-to-market with their animated films?
Yeah, I tend to agree that I'm always skeptical on those animated theatrical releases. That doesn't mean that the movie won't be really good at all. I just don't know how much it will take off regardless. Superhero animated features still seem just like a niche market to me that struggles to break through into the general public, especially when the general public has so much great live-action superheroes to watch. Shoot, I'm not even sure if I'll make it to this one in theaters as the only thing that really intrigues me about it is the Miles Morales angle. However, one exception I might throw out is if Disney were to really get behind one of them with their marketing power, then I could see one make waves, kind of like they did with Big Hero 6.
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