If there was an olympics for cheap bastard streaming strategy you would want both of us on team USA.
Marvel Cinematic Universe
- Thread starter Triggermv
- Start date
If there was an olympics for cheap bastard streaming strategy you would want both of us on team USA.
If there was an olympics for cheap bastard streaming strategy you would want both of us on team USA.
No doubt. I'm going on 12 years right now of cutting my cord (right after I graduated college) and haven't looked back. Over time, you only get better at it too. Its laughable remembering the early days now when WatchESPN was actually completely free depending on who your internet provider was and the only way to stream it to my TV was constantly hooking up my computer to the TV via an HDMI cord. Boy, those were the glitchy, jumpy, buffering, hazy days of watching ISU sports, but sometimes cheapness has no limits.
And Michelle Williams is returning for the sequel as well
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment...dding-ending-equal-pay-venom-2-140549592.html
One of my biggest knocks on Venom was how big a waste Michelle Williams character was for an actress of her caliber. Regardless, glad to hear she is returning.
https://deadline.com/2019/08/spider...miller-phil-lord-sony-pictures-tv-1202663810/
Here is an interview with Lord and Miller where they talk a bit about their upcoming Marvel Spidey spin-off live-action TV projects they are overseeing. Apparently, they've got a "handful" of them in the works. It will be interesting if or how much these tie into their movie slate like Venom, Morbius, or even the MCU's Spider-Man. I honestly have zero idea what characters they may choose from their catalog that is available to them.
Here is an interview with Lord and Miller where they talk a bit about their upcoming Marvel Spidey spin-off live-action TV projects they are overseeing. Apparently, they've got a "handful" of them in the works. It will be interesting if or how much these tie into their movie slate like Venom, Morbius, or even the MCU's Spider-Man. I honestly have zero idea what characters they may choose from their catalog that is available to them.
Really enjoyed Jessica Jones season 3. It meandered a bit for a couple episodes but that is kind of a chronic problem with the Netflix Marvel stuff. Thought it was better than season 2 and almost as good as season 1.
Overall I'm really going to miss the Netflix Marvel Universe. The Punisher and Daredevil were fantastic. Jessica Jones was always good. Luke Cage was up and down but had some great moments. And even Iron Fist improved in the 2nd season.
Overall I'm really going to miss the Netflix Marvel Universe. The Punisher and Daredevil were fantastic. Jessica Jones was always good. Luke Cage was up and down but had some great moments. And even Iron Fist improved in the 2nd season.
I was really looking forward to what theyd do with a season 3
(Non-Spoiler Review) I finally finished up Cloak and Dagger (Season 2), so I figured I'd post my usual review for those interested. In general, I enjoyed this season. Season 2 is coming after a Season 1 in which I really enjoyed its first 8 episodes, only to really falter in its last two episodes, to leave me pretty disappointed in the ending. It just couldn't stick the landing. Now, with Season 2, I'm not sure that any of it quite equaled out to those first 8 episodes of S1, but at the same time, I found myself decently more satisfied enough with the ending. I don't know that I'd go as far as saying it stuck the landing, but it wrapped things up good enough I'd say.
Going a bit deeper, I still really like the two main leads, I ended really eventually buying into the Brigid O'Reilly/Mayhem character, and I thought the villain of the series was decent enough (I'll not name the villain to avoid spoilers). The series has some fun twists, some good drama, and also some good storytelling. I also really like how they stepped up the action of this series in its second season, especially with Tyrone. Once he starts to master his powers, it really gets fun with him at times, and how they handle the smoke and effects with it is superb in my mind. There are times where he goes full-out X2 Nightcrawler, and it really looks just as good, and is also nearly just as fun too. What they do with Tandy's powers and how they handle her effects are pretty good too.
With all this said, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my biggest negative of the season, which really held the series back from a love to a like, and that would be how inter-dimensional trippy it got. I get that the dark force dimension is a very big part of Cloak and Dagger, their powers, and their story. However, this season spent A LOT of time there and really leaned into it a bunch. How hard it leaned into the trippiness of it really reminded me quite a bit of Legion and what they've done there, which also happens to be my least favorite part of Legion. I also get that this season's villain of Cloak and Dagger is part of why they leaned so heavy into it. Regardless, I still think they could have spent less time there and more time in the real world with the same effect, and then I would have enjoyed it more. A really got redundant and repetitive too.
So in conclusion, I ended up enjoying Season 2 of Cloak and Dagger, but not necessarily loving it. I found it at least to be more consistent than S1, but at the same time, I also don't think they matched its same highs. Thus, the net effect of both series is probably pretty similar. Outside of the story, watching Cloak jump around like Nighcrawler is almost worth watching the series alone for anybody who might be on the fence.
Look for me to update my MCU and superhero rankings to include this season soon.
P.S. there is some really fun MCU crossovers in Cloak and Dagger S2 to look out for throughout the season
Going a bit deeper, I still really like the two main leads, I ended really eventually buying into the Brigid O'Reilly/Mayhem character, and I thought the villain of the series was decent enough (I'll not name the villain to avoid spoilers). The series has some fun twists, some good drama, and also some good storytelling. I also really like how they stepped up the action of this series in its second season, especially with Tyrone. Once he starts to master his powers, it really gets fun with him at times, and how they handle the smoke and effects with it is superb in my mind. There are times where he goes full-out X2 Nightcrawler, and it really looks just as good, and is also nearly just as fun too. What they do with Tandy's powers and how they handle her effects are pretty good too.
With all this said, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my biggest negative of the season, which really held the series back from a love to a like, and that would be how inter-dimensional trippy it got. I get that the dark force dimension is a very big part of Cloak and Dagger, their powers, and their story. However, this season spent A LOT of time there and really leaned into it a bunch. How hard it leaned into the trippiness of it really reminded me quite a bit of Legion and what they've done there, which also happens to be my least favorite part of Legion. I also get that this season's villain of Cloak and Dagger is part of why they leaned so heavy into it. Regardless, I still think they could have spent less time there and more time in the real world with the same effect, and then I would have enjoyed it more. A really got redundant and repetitive too.
So in conclusion, I ended up enjoying Season 2 of Cloak and Dagger, but not necessarily loving it. I found it at least to be more consistent than S1, but at the same time, I also don't think they matched its same highs. Thus, the net effect of both series is probably pretty similar. Outside of the story, watching Cloak jump around like Nighcrawler is almost worth watching the series alone for anybody who might be on the fence.
Look for me to update my MCU and superhero rankings to include this season soon.
P.S. there is some really fun MCU crossovers in Cloak and Dagger S2 to look out for throughout the season
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After posting my Cloak and Dagger S2 review, the following is my updated MCU rankings to include it:
- Avengers: Engame - The perfect culmination of 10 years of storytelling helped along by an amazing script, which gave fans everything they could have ever wanted and more
- 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.
- 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 movie, produced the best action sequences, had some of the best character moments, and showcased the best balancing act of so many characters. Biggest weakness was having a very good, but not amazing story.
- Avengers: Infinity War - Amazing put together culmination of all the movies and characters so far. While it suffered at times from that weight, maybe Marvel's best villain help to pull everything together.
- Daredevil: Season 3 - Tremendous long-form storytelling with two amazing villains and the perfect crescendo ending. One of the best seasons of television in all of TV.
- 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. Had a fairly generic villain though.
- The Punisher: Season 1 - Very complete Marvel series with great pacing, great story, superb casting, and amazing acting. Ben Barnes as Billy Russo is now one of my favorite actors and one of the best Marvel villains. Very stand-alone series with not enough crossovers.
- Daredevil: Season 2 - The introduction of 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 improved all the characters within it from Season 1. Didn't love Elektra stuff.
- Spider-Man: Homecoming - Amazing casting on this movie with Tom Holland being the best Spider-Man yet. Also featured one of the greatest villains in the MCU in Michael Keaton, with one of the best scenes and best twists.
- Agents of Shield: Season 5 - Overall good season wrapped up by spectacular ending, which tied together all the character arcs as good as any series out there. Sticking the landing is what ranks this season so high.
- Daredevil: Season 1 – Loved the street-level and darker tone of this show. Also contains probably the second best villain in the MCU. Being on Netflix is a great way to remove 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 as a fan.
- 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.
- Black Panther - Very good movie with great characters, superb character development, a good story arc, and a top 3 Marvel villain. However, its biggest downfall is some very poor action and CGI work.
- Agents of Shield: Season 4 - Awesome season with a very good two-part story line. Ghost Rider was movie quality all around (casting, acting, visuals, story) and fit perfectly into the story. Tons of fun with a lot of great emotion.
- Thor: Ragnarok - While I still find this movie to be a bit too much of a Taika Waititi film and not enough an MCU film, I've grown to like this movie more over time. Yes, it does go too comedy heavy, but I appreciate Marvel trying something new.
- Spider-Man: Far From Home - Fun unique movie with an amazing cast and lots of twists. While Mysterio was well-acted and fun, his start-end motivations fell short a bit.
- Ant-Man and the Wasp - Fun, hilarious smaller-stakes movie that is truly enjoyable to watch. However, the villains are forgettable and I found myself wishing for more emotional depth. Not quite as good as the first one.
- Luke Cage: Season 2 - Awesome season with lots of emotional depth, great story-telling, superb multi-dimensional villains and improved action. It also greatly improved upon many so-so characters from S1.
- 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 campy. Characters were more fun than story.
- Jessica Jones: Season 1- Series filled with great actors, great drama, and one of the best villains in the MCU (Kilgrave). Series suffered most from having 3-4 too many episodes, poor pacing, and not enough ties to the overall MCU.
- Iron Man 2 – Many will mock me, but I really enjoyed this movie and actually enjoyed it more than Iron Man 3. Make fun of me all you want, but I thought Whiplash was alright. I think this movie gets unfairly criticized.
- Doctor Strange - This was a Marvel formulaic origin story with some ground-breaking visual effects, a mediocre villain, an innovative ending, and some great characters. However, its biggest problem was probably how they introduced magic and the limiting weird rules around it.
- Avengers: Age of Ultron – Fun movie, but suffered from too much CGI action, too many characters, and too many storylines.
- Iron Man 3 – Just never really got into this one, and it probably had something to do with the big Mandarin villain twist. 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
- Captain Marvel - Decent origin story that fit well into MCU canon, but lacked the charisma, vulnerabilities, and charm I wanted from its main character
- Agent Carter: Season 1 – Loved the period timepiece aspect of this. Great show with good movie tie-ins.
- Luke Cage: Season 1 - Loved the music angle, Cottonmouth was great, loved the first 4 episodes. However, after the big twist, the second half of the season really went downhill.
- 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.
- Runaways: Season 2 - Much improved from S1 with more action, more suspense, better budget, and better writing. Still suffers from some weak-link child actors.
- 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.
- The Incredible Hulk – Good movie, but not great. Never liked Norton for the role or the look they gave Hulk, so I was glad when the switch was made and they remade the Hulk's appearance.
- Iron Fist: Season 2 - Good. Much better story, acting, villains and fighting than S1, but still suffers greatly from Finn Jones being miscast as Iron Fist
- Jessica Jones: Season 2 - Had some great character moments that draw you in as well as some decent pacing, but overall struggles mightily from being a really slow burn. Didn't love villain.
- Cloak and Dagger: Season 1 - Slower at times, but also very good at times. Overall, this was a good season that just didn't stick the landing. Loved how they developed Cloak and Daggers powers.
- Cloak and Dagger: Season 2 - More consistent than S1, but with lower highs. Villain was just alright, but the effects and action for Cloak were spectacular.
- The Punisher: Season 2 - Amazing amped-up action sequences throughout (some of the best in the MCU), but weighed down by poor writing and dialogue of certain characters.
- Runways: Season 1 - Had a good tone as well as some good character work throughout. However, the series lacked action, didn't have great action for what it had, and didn't really stick the landing.
- 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.
- Agents of Shield: Season 3 - Was VERY up and down throughout. There was times I really liked what they were doing, whereas other times I didn't. Overall, the series got a little tired, too many forced fistfights, and still too high on the cheese factor.
- The Defenders: Season 1: Started out alright including a great hallway fight scene, but then everything fell apart from there, mostly dragged down by Iron Fist being Iron Fist, poor storytelling, and really poor dialogue.
- Agent Carter: Season 2 - Great actors and characters combined with a poor stand-alone story, which lacked substance and true stakes to the MCU
- Iron Fist: Season 1 - A combination of terrible casting/acting from Danny Rand, boring story, poor fight sequences, and too low a budget resulted in Marvel's first major dud for a TV show. Back half of season was slightly better than front half.
- Inhumans - Garbage TV show all around. Bad acting, costumes, sets, directing, characterizations, special effects, and storytelling. This TV show was intentionally made fast and cheap as a money-grab and it shows.
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You can read my review above, but did you think watching Cloak's powers at full-go was as cool as I thought it was??
Legion is about to have their series finale this week and I am interested in what you will think of that. They have a few moments including a full episode of what I think we both hated about the show where they diverge into a trippy side story of strangeness that only moves the story a tad if at all but much less than the last 2 seasons. I am interested in what you think of their portrayal of a much more toned down and naive Charles Xavier. Legion did make me want to see his character crossover somewhere down the line (doesn’t have to be this portrayal) in future x-men/marvel. Such potential with his character as good and evil.
I just realized how low the punisher season 2 was on your list, agree to disagree there lol. I thought your review was pretty spot on. I loved the Brigit/Mayhem character but the trippy darkness realm was exhausting and frankly boring to me. Just seemed to drag on while the finale just went pop, all done. Overall a solid couple seasons but ended when it needed to.
I've given in to the fact that I will eventually watch S3 of Legion, likely once it all becomes available on Hulu, which likely won't be for a while. You've got me interested enough to want to finish it, not to mention the fact that I am enough of a completionist where I want to finish it our for finishing it out sake. I hope you are right that it limits the tripiness for tripiness sake to an episode or two because S2 was just too much for me to handle.
Yeah, Punisher S2 had some AMAZING action and a few really good highs, but man that story line was all over the place and really bad at times.
https://deadline.com/2019/08/marvel...-ghost-rider-howard-the-duck-hulu-1202666578/
Here is a decently long interview worth a read with head of Marvel TV Jeph Loeb, where he talks about everything from being blindsided by the Netflix cancellations, to the upcoming Offenders shared animated universe on Hulu, to their future with Disney+, to their upcoming shared fearverse on Hulu which contains Ghostrider, Helstrom, and apparently other shows as well. There is no doubt Marvel TV is in need of a reinvention with the ending of all the Netflix shows, The Gifted, Legion, and soon to be ending AOS, which really only leaves them with Runaways and Cloak and Dagger remaining. To add to this, they are really in danger of becoming irrelevant with Marvel Studios jumping into the TV realm now as well. However, if it means anything, I think going in the direction of the Fearverse on Hulu seems to be a good interesting direction to go. That more mature corner of the Marvel universe seems to get a great fit for Marvel TV right now, especially with using Hulu. Also, now that the Netflix deal is done, Disney+ is soon to be a reality, and with Disney now owning 100% of Hulu and FX, Marvel TV now has all the in-house resources to not have to partner at all with outside platforms and relieve all the shackles that come with those.
I'm also guessing Marvel TV is anxiously awaiting the introduction of the X-Men and Mutants into the MCU as that would suddenly open the gateway to a plethora of new characters I'm sure they could have access to now within the MCU realm.
Here is a decently long interview worth a read with head of Marvel TV Jeph Loeb, where he talks about everything from being blindsided by the Netflix cancellations, to the upcoming Offenders shared animated universe on Hulu, to their future with Disney+, to their upcoming shared fearverse on Hulu which contains Ghostrider, Helstrom, and apparently other shows as well. There is no doubt Marvel TV is in need of a reinvention with the ending of all the Netflix shows, The Gifted, Legion, and soon to be ending AOS, which really only leaves them with Runaways and Cloak and Dagger remaining. To add to this, they are really in danger of becoming irrelevant with Marvel Studios jumping into the TV realm now as well. However, if it means anything, I think going in the direction of the Fearverse on Hulu seems to be a good interesting direction to go. That more mature corner of the Marvel universe seems to get a great fit for Marvel TV right now, especially with using Hulu. Also, now that the Netflix deal is done, Disney+ is soon to be a reality, and with Disney now owning 100% of Hulu and FX, Marvel TV now has all the in-house resources to not have to partner at all with outside platforms and relieve all the shackles that come with those.
I'm also guessing Marvel TV is anxiously awaiting the introduction of the X-Men and Mutants into the MCU as that would suddenly open the gateway to a plethora of new characters I'm sure they could have access to now within the MCU realm.
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Apparently Fox is "unimpressed" with what they have for New Mutants
https://variety.com/2019/film/featu...phoenix-stuber-racing-in-the-rain-1203300260/
https://variety.com/2019/film/featu...phoenix-stuber-racing-in-the-rain-1203300260/
So I've seen all of the Marvel films, but I haven't delved into any series yet. Where's the best place to start? Is any series chronologically important before another? I rarely take time to watch more than an hour a night, so I'm the worst binge-watcher ever.
Agents of Shield
Jessica Jones
Luke Cage
Daredevil
Runaways
Cloak and Dagger
Defenders
Iron Fist
Based on opinions here, I'm guessing I should stay away from Inhumans altogether
Agents of Shield
Jessica Jones
Luke Cage
Daredevil
Runaways
Cloak and Dagger
Defenders
Iron Fist
Based on opinions here, I'm guessing I should stay away from Inhumans altogether
Depends what you are looking for. Agents of Shield is the series that ties most closely to the movies, but while the seasons in general get better further into the series, they also tie less and less into the movies as it goes. It is definitely the one that shares the most movie characters with appearances by Coulson, Lady Sif, Maria Hill, Nick Fury, Gideon Malick and a few others. Don't forget about Agent Carter either as I'd throw that show into into a group along with AOS as a show that ties most closely with the movies and shares a lot of movie characters.
Then I'd group Jessica Jones, The Punisher, Luke Cage, Daredevil, Iron Fist and The Defenders all into one kind of mature shared universe with fairly limited ties to the movies. So, if you are looking for shows with less powers, more violence, more mature themes, taking place more on the street level, then that is the direction to go. While not necessary, it helps if you are going this direction if you watch all of the series chronologically. The Defenders series is the one that then brings them all together.
Then lastly, Cloak and Dagger and Runaways is Marvel TVs attempt at reaching the young adult audiences with all high school age characters. I get that this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I'd say it spans out further than you might think to a broader audience. With those two, while they are not necessarily connected at the moment, the next season of the Runaways will be bringing them all together.
So, of all the shows, I'd say there is really about 3 groupings that I'd work within that kind of target three different types of audiences. My best advice is to choose one of the groups and just slowly work your way all the way through. Its hard to say one group is drastically better than the others too as all of them very much so have their ups and downs. Just know you need to ride through some of those valleys to get back to the peaks, which in the end make it worth it. The most consistently good individual show throughout is without a doubt the 3 seasons of Daredevil.
Oh yeah, and as for the Inhumans, you are 100% right. Avoid them at all costs, and all the rest of MCU fandom just pretends like they don't exist. It helps that there is minimal tie-ins to anything so it is really easy to just pretend like it never happened.
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Thanks. I was leaning towards AOS or the Jessica Jones/Punisher/Luke Cage/Daredevil/Iron Fist/Defenders route. I figured there would be a lull after Endgame and was planning on catching up on some of the series.
My three personal favorites are the Daredevil, Punisher and Agents of Shield series. The biggest issues you'll run into there are that the first couple seasons of Agents of Shield are a little rough (especially first half of 1st season), so you've got to do some trudging, and then The Punisher S2 isn't super great, even though the action is amazing. Don't discount Agent Carter as a little fun historical sidebar. Not only are the seasons short for Agent Carter, but the first season delves deep into the history of the Black Widow program, which will likely tie nicely with the upcoming Black Widow movie.
And yes, we've got a serous MCU lull ahead of us, not only with the movies, but also with new TV seasons. In fact, I don't think there is one single new MCU anything between now and Black Widow coming out on May 1st. That is pretty unprecedented.
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