The Multiverse Saga
Rating: TBA
Phase 4
24. WandaVision
Rating: 9/10
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Ep. 5 - Even Peter's Initial Guest Appearance As Pietro
2. Ep. 6 - Comic Book Accurate Costume Easter Eggs (Scarlet Witch, Vision, Quicksilver, Wiccan)
3. Various MCU References
-Solid Character Design
1. Vision
2. Ep. 9 - Scarlet Witch Outfit
-Overall Solid Production Values (CGI & Practical FX)
-Decent Romantic Component
-Solid Performance
1. Kathryn Hahn As Agatha Harkness
-Solid Dramatic Character Interactions
-Solid Character Debut
1. Agatha Harkness
-Entertaining Character
1. Agatha Harkness
-Solid Villain
1. Agatha Harkness
Major Positives:
-Soundtrack
-Creative Visual Direction
1. Sitcom TV Visual Influences
-Creative Battle
1. Ep. 9 - Vision Vs. White Vision
-Impactful Dramatic Character Interactions
1. Ep. 8 - Wanda and Vision Talk About Grief
-Excellent Character Writing
1. Ep. 8 - Wanda's Journey Towards Becoming The Scarlet Witch
-Strong Storytelling Elements
1. Ep. 8 - Wanda's Journey Towards Becoming The Scarlet Witch
-Creative Writing
1. Sitcom TV Influence Parallels
2. TV Commercials That Insert Hidden Narrative Meanings
3. Ep. 5 - Agatha Asking Wanda If She Wants To Redo A Scene
4. Ep. 5 - Wanda Using Closing Credits To Avoid An Argument With Vision
5. Ep. 9 - Vision Vs. White Vision
-Gold Standard Episode of Comic Book TV Series
1. Ep. 8
Minor Negatives:
-Questionable Fan Service
1. Pietro Casting Twist Eventually Being A Simple Comedic Subversion Gag
-Slightly Wasted Potential
1. Injecting More Horror Into The Series Via Cthon Or Any Other Evil Entity From Marvel Comics
Major Negatives:
-Disappointing Fight Scene
1. Ep. 9 - Wanda Vs. Agatha
-Questionable Storytelling Elements
1. Ep. 9 - Wanda Leaving The Town That She Brainwashed With A Lacking Sense of Consequence
25. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Rating: 9/10
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Ep. 3 - Zemo Briefly Wearing His Comic Book Mask
-Soundtrack
1. "You're Free"
-Solid Character Design
1. Ep. 3 - Zemo's Full Masked Attire
2. Ep. 6 - Sam's Captain America Suit
-Overall Solid Production Values (CGI & Practical FX)
-Solid Comedic Character Interactions
-Solid Villain
1. Baron Zemo
Major Positives:
-Highly Entertaining Action
-Impactful Dramatic Character Interactions
-Excellent Character Writing
1. Sam Wilson
2. Bucky Barnes
-Strong Storytelling Elements
1. The Legacy of Captain America's Shield & The Super Soldier Serum
Minor Negatives:
-Slightly Underwhelming Villain
1. The Flag Smashers
2. John Walker
-Questionable Tonal Direction
1. A Few Scenes Where The Comedic Banter Felt Forced In
Major Negatives:
-Disorderly Storytelling Direction
1. The Flag Smasher's Agenda & Power Broker Narrative
26. Loki Season 1
Rating: 9/10
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service
1. All Comic Book Easter Eggs Showing Up In The Void
-Solid Character Design
1. Loki Variants
2. Miss Minutes
-Overall Solid Action
Major Positives:
-Soundtrack
-Strong Production Values (CGI & Practical FX)
-Strong Cinematic Direction
-Creative Visual Direction
1. TVA Design
-Sci-Fi Fantasy Visual Direction
-Standout Performance
1. Tom Hiddleston As Loki
-Entertaining Comedic Character Interactions
-Impactful Dramatic Character Interactions
-Excellent Character Writing
1. Loki
-Character Writing Honors Previous Movies
-World Building
-Strong Storytelling Elements
-Creative Writing
1. Loki & Mobius's Deep Discussions About His Character
-Highly Climactic Ending
1. Ep. 6
-Gold Standard Episode of Comic Book TV Series
1. Ep. 1
Minor Negatives:
-Shaky Production Values
1. Timekeepers Interaction Scene
-Questionable Performance
1. Jonathan Majors As He Who Remains
Major Negatives:
N/A
27. Black Widow
Rating: 8/10
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Taskmaster's Mimicry of Avengers-Related Moves
-Solid Character Design
1. Taskmaster
-Overall Solid Action
-Decent Comedy
-Solid Comedic Character Interactions
-Solid Character Debut
1. Red Guardian
2. Yelena
Major Positives:
N/A
Minor Negatives:
-Lackluster Action
-Underwhelming Villain
1. Taskmaster
-Terrible Villain
1. General Dreykov
-Forgettable
Major Negatives:
-Questionably Handled Adaptation Of The Source Material
1. Taskmaster's Characterization
-Monumentally Wasted Potential
1. Taskmaster Is Never Fully Utilized To Their Full Potential Ability-Wise For Action Scenes
2. The Black Widow Program Lore & Family Circle History Felt Watered Down
28. What If...? Season 1
Rating: 9/10
Minor Positives:
-Solid Character Design
1. Ep. 1 - Captain Carter
2. Ep. 1 - Hydra Stomper
3. Ep. 2 - The Collector
4. Ep. 4 - Mystical Creatures That Strange Supreme Absorbs
5. Ep. 5 - Zombie Thanos
6. Ep. 9 - Gamora
-Occasionally Strong Cinematic Direction
-Overall Solid Action
-Solid Character Debut
1. Captain Carter
2. Strange Supreme
-Solid Villain
1. Ep. 2 - Collector
2. Ep. 3 - Hank Pym
3. Ep. 8-9 - Infinity Ultron
Major Positives:
-Fan Service
1. All MCU Canon References & Multiversal Twists
-Exceptional Character Design
1. Ep. 4 - Strange Supreme's Final Form
2. Ep. 5 - Zombie Captain America
3. Ep. 8-9 - Infinity Ultron
4. Ep. 9 - Sakarr Ironman
-Sci-Fi Fantasy Visual Direction
-Highly Climactic Final Battle
1. Ep. 9 - Guardians of the Multiverse Vs. Infinity Ultron
-Character Writing Honors Previous Movies
-World Building
-Creative Writing
1. Ep. 3 - Murder Plot
2. Ep. 4 - Doctor Strange Split Timeline Villain Arc
3. Ep. 5 - Zombie Virus Apocalypse Concept
4. Ep. 6 - Rewrite of Ironman 1 To Create A Killmonger Villain Story
-Highly Climactic Ending
1. Ep. 4 - Strange Supreme Ending
2. Ep. 7 - Ultron Infinity Ending Tease
3. Ep. 8 - Ultron's Victory Over The Watcher Forcing The Watcher To Seek Strange Supreme's Help
Minor Negatives:
-Hit Or Miss Comedy
-Underwhelming Fight Scene
1. Ep. 8 - Ultron & Thanos' Encounter
-Episode(s) Cut Too Short
Major Negatives:
-Questionable Tonal Direction
1. Ep. 5 - Comedy Clashing With Compelling Zombie Horror Story
-Lacking In Dramatic Impact
1. Ep. 4 - Strange's Relationship With Christine
-Monumentally Wasted Potential
1. Ep. 9 - The villain betrayal plot twists feels like a downgrade to what could've been an exciting continuation of Ultron Infinity
29. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Rating: 9/10
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Abomination Cameo
2. Wong Cameo
-Solid Character Design
1. Abomination's New Design
2. Mystical Creatures In Ta Lo
-Solid Comedic Character Interactions
-World Building
Major Positives:
-Strong Production Values (CGI & Practical FX)
-Sci-Fi Fantasy Visual Direction
-Highly Entertaining Action
-Exceptional Villain
1. Wenwu
Minor Negatives:
-Hit Or Miss Comedy
-Questionably Handled Adaptation Of The Source Material
1. The Ten Rings Artifacts
-Hurts A Previous Movie/TV Series
1. Wenwu's exceptional character, as presented in this movie, highlights the disappointment of Ironman 3's villain twist and the fact that Tony Stark will never get to encounter the real "Mandarin"
Major Negatives:
-Monumentally Wasted Potential
1. A dramatically lacking CGI kaiju battle takes the place of what could've been an extensive, emotionally powerful father-son conflict in the end.
30. Eternals
Rating: 8/10
Minor Positives:
-Solid Character Design
1. Celestials
2. The Eternals' Attire
-Overall Solid Action
Major Positives:
-Strong Cinematic Direction
-World Building
-Creative Writing
1. A story of cosmic beings facing existential conflicts about their objectives
Minor Negatives:
-Questionable Character Design
1. Deviants
-Slightly Wasted Potential
1. The Eternals' history could have been fleshed out more
Major Negatives:
-Forceful Romance
1. Ikaris and Sersie’s romantic build up scenes
31. Hawkeye
Rating: 9/10
Minor Positives:
-Solid Character Design
1. Ronin
-Overall Solid Action
-Solid Character Debut
1. Kate Bishop
Major Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Ep. 1 - Rogers Musical
2. Ep. 3 - Pym Tech Arrow
3. Vincent D'Onofrio Casted As Kingpin
-Strong Production Values (CGI & Practical FX)
-Entertaining Comedic Character Interactions
-Excellent Character Writing
1. Clint Barton/Hawkeye
-Character Writing Honors Previous Movies
-World Building
Minor Negatives:
-Slightly Wasted Potential
1. Not enough Kingpin scenes such as him commentating on the Avengers, MCU events, and/or at the very least having an encounter with Hawkeye. The fact that your titular hero has zero interactions with the main villain (especially when it's a huge fan desired casting/character debut for the villain) is a bit of a waste.
Major Negatives:
N/A
32. Spider-Man: No Way Home
Rating: 9/10
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Thomas Haden Church's Sandman Appearance
2. Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock/Venom Cameo
3. Rhys Ifans's Lizard Appearance
4. Electro's Comic Book Mask Easter Egg
-Solid Character Design
1. Iron Spider Suit
2. Green Goblin's Initial Full Armor & Final Design
-Creative Battle
1. Mirror Dimension Chase
-Strong Cast Overall
-Solid Villain
1. Green Goblin
Major Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Toby McGuire's Spider-Man Appearance
2. Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man Appearance
3. Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin Appearance
4. Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus Appearance
5. Jamie Foxx's Improved Version of Electro Appearance
6. Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock Cameo
7. Nods To Previous Spider-Man Movies
8. Spider-Men Interactions & Team-Ups
-Strong Production Values (CGI & Practical FX)
-Creative Visual Direction
1. Peter's Spider Sense During Apartment Scene
2. Mirror Dimension Imagery
-Sci-Fi Fantasy Visual Direction
-Highly Entertaining Action
-Highly Climactic Final Battle
1. Spider-Man Vs. Green Goblin
-Standout Performance
1. Willem Dafoe As Green Goblin
-Entertaining Comedic Character Interactions
-Impactful Dramatic Character Interactions
-Character Writing Honors Previous Movies
-Exceeding Expectations
1. Spider-Man Movie Crossover Elements
Minor Negatives:
-Underwhelming Villain
1. The Lizard
2. Sandman
-Slightly Wasted Potential
1. There is a lack of any connectivity towards the finale of Loki setting the foundation for the multiversal events of No Way Home. Having a moment where Doctor Strange realizes that something has happened to the cosmic order of things being the flow of time or the universe during the movie would've been an effective way to tie in He Who Remains's death in Loki unraveling the multiverse.
Major Negatives:
-Terrible Storytelling Elements
1. Having the foundation for which this epic multiverse story takes place be a simple case of Peter messing up Doctor Strange's spell by talking too much was terribly underwhelming. This is especially due to the fact that you had a clear connection to the events of Loki's finale that you could have utilized in some manner as the reason for other universes merging in catching Strange by surprise and messing up his initial spell.
33. Moon Knight
Rating: 9/10
Minor Positives:
-Solid Character Design
1. Marc and Steven's Moon Knight Suits
2. Khonshu
3. Ammit
4. Taweret
5. Layla's Avatar Suit
-Overall Solid Production Values (CGI & Practical FX)
-Sci-Fi Fantasy Visual Direction
-Horror Visual Direction
1. Ep. 4 - Mummy Horror Segments
-Overall Solid Action
-Solid Villain
1. Harrow
-World Building
Major Positives:
-Highly Climactic Final Battle
1. Ep. 6 - Moon Knight Vs. Harrow & His Group
-Creative Battle
1. Ep. 6 - Moon Knight Vs. Harrow & His Group
-Standout Performance
1. Oscar Issac As Marc Specter & Steven Grant
-Impactful Dramatic Character Interactions
-Excellent Character Writing
1. Marc Specter
-Exceptional Superhero Origin Storytelling
-Strong Storytelling Elements
-Creative Writing
1. Ep. 5 - Marc & Steven's Origins
-Highly Climactic Ending
1. Ep. 5
-Gold Standard Episode of Comic Book TV Series
1. Ep. 5
Minor Negatives:
-Shaky Production Values
1. Just A Couple of Episodes Had This Issue
-Lackluster Action
1. Just A Couple of Episodes Had This Issue
-Questionable Tonal Direction
1. A Few Scenes Where I Felt The Comedic Inserts Should've Been Replaced With More Dramatic Beats
-Slightly Wasted Potential
1. Khonshu & Ammit's Interactions About Their History/Lore Could Have Been Fleshed Out More
Major Negatives:
N/A
34. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Rating: 8/10
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Ultron Bots
2. An Alternate Thanos Death on Titan
-Soundtrack
1. "A Cup of Tea"
-Solid Character Design
1. Scarlet Witch
2. Captain Carter
3. Main Doctor Strange Attire
4. Gargantos
-Overall Solid Production Values (CGI & Practical FX)
-Occasionally Strong Cinematic Direction
-Horror Visual Direction
-Solid Performance
1. Elizabeth Olsen As The Scarlet Witch
-Entertaining Character
1. The Scarlet Witch
-Solid Villain
1. The Scarlet Witch
Major Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Captain Carter
2. Patrick Stewart As Professor X
3. Anson Mount As Black Bolt
4. John Krasinski As Mr. Fantastic
5. WandaVision Musical Cue
6. 90s X-Men Theme Musical Cue
7. Bruce Campbell's Cameo & Post Credit Scene
8. Professor X's Psychic Wave Effect
-Exceptional Character Design
1. Doctor Strange's Possessed Corpse Form With Demon Forged Cape
-Creative Visual Direction
1. Wanda Being Trapped In The Mirror Dimension
2. Doctor Strange's Multiversal Hopping Scene
3. Sinister Strange's Obliterated World
4. Professor X Entering Into Wanda's Mind
5. Doctor Strange's Possessed Corpse Form With Demon Cape
-Sci-Fi Fantasy Visual Direction
-Highly Entertaining Action
-Creative Battle
1. Strange Trapping Wanda In The Mirror Dimension
2. Doctor Strange Vs. Sinister Strange
-World Building
Minor Negatives:
-Shaky Production Values
1. Wanda Crawling Out of the Mirror Looks A Bit Shaky CGI-Wise
-Occasionally Weak Visual Direction
1. Some of the Opening Monster Battle Looked A Little Overly Saturated In Its Color Scheme & Direction
2. The Transition Editing From Wanda's Dream Walking Scene To Wong Walking Into Frame
-Slightly Underwhelming Character Debut
1. Reed Richards
2. Black Bolt
-Questionable Character Absence
1. Vision
2. Mordo From The Mainline MCU Universe
-Slightly Underwhelming Villain
1. Sinister Strange
-Slightly Wasted Potential
1. Instead of the dull love story that we focused on in the movie, Stephen Strange's arc could've leaned on his sister's death driving his ambitious to desperately fix things resulting in his tendency to reach moral shattering heights
2. Sinister Strange's Narrative Longevity
Major Negatives:
-Problematically Fast Pacing
-Lacking In Dramatic Impact
1. Doctor Strange's Conflict of Happiness & Shoddy Sense of An Arc Didn't Land Too Strongly
-Monumentally Wasted Potential
1. This movie was narratively questionable as a connective sequel to WandaVision's conclusion and could've leaned heavier on its possession horror themes with the Darkhold being the real antagonist.
2. Multiverse of Madness could have been two separate movies with one being a Doctor Strange sequel leaning on Sinister Strange as the main villain as we get a deeper character analyzing view of Stephen's sensibilities. The other movie could've been a supernatural horror with Wanda following WandaVision called The Scarlet Witch. This could've acted as a direct sequel to the Disney+ series where Wanda fights with her psychological inner demons losing her family while fighting with her literal inner demons with the Darkhold trying to fully possess her.
35. Ms. Marvel
Rating: 8/10
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Ep. 6. - The Lamp Post Sitting Shot Mirroring The Comic Book Cover Art
2. Kamala's Comic Accurate Costume In The End
-Solid Character Debut
1. Kamala Kahn
Major Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Ep. 1 - AvengerCon Easter Eggs
2. Ep. 6 - 90s X-Men Theme Musical Cue After The Word "Mutants" Is Mentioned
-Creative Visual Direction
1. Ep. 1 - Animated Premiere Opening Detailing Avengers Endgame Events
2. Blending of Animation Into Live Action To Express Kamala's Mindset
-Entertaining Comedic Character Interactions
-Creative Writing
1. Ep. 5 - Period Piece Sci-Fi Origin Love Story
-Gold Standard Episode of Comic Book TV Series
1. Ep. 5
Minor Negatives:
-Slightly Lackluster Storytelling
-Questionably Handled Adaptation Of The Source Material
1. Ms. Marvel's Body Stretching Ability
Major Negatives:
-Terrible Villain
1. Najma
2. Sadie Deever
36. Thor: Love and Thunder
Rating: 7/10
Minor Positives:
-Solid Character Design
1. Thor's Fur Cape Suit
2. Thor's New Gold & Blue Armor Without Helmet
3. Amatsu-Mikaboshi
-Overall Solid Production Values (CGI & Practical FX)
-Overall Solid Action
-Solid Comedic Character Interactions
-Sci-Fi Fantasy World Building
Major Positives:
-Exceptional Character Design
1. Falligar the Behemoth
2. Bast
3. Ninny of the Nonny
4. Aztec God
5. Isis
6. Celestials
7. Eternity
-Strong Cinematic Direction
-Creative Visual Direction
1. The Shadow Realm's Imagery
-Sci-Fi Fantasy Visual Direction
Minor Negatives:
-Shaky Production Values
1. The CGI occasionally ranges from below average to laughably terrible
-Slightly Underwhelming Villain
1. Gorr
-Underwhelming Villain
1. Zeus
Major Negatives:
-Questionable Tonal Direction
1. The movie shifts back and forth between a fully comedic narrative of Thor and his team's interactions to an emotional, dramatic cancer narrative with Jane to a fantasy/horror tale with Gorr. It struggles to balance the tones thereby making certain scenes feel either jarring or watered down due to the tonal sensibilities clashing.
-Monumentally Wasted Potential
1. Thor: Love & Thunder could have been two separate movies with one being a horror centric sci-fi/fantasy drama sequel leaning on Gorr's existential killing of the Gods alongside Jane's cancer dilemma & Thor's identity crisis. The other movie could've been a Disney+ movie short chronicling the fun and vibrant Asgardians of the Galaxy ventures prior to Thor's departure into his darkest chapter yet.
2. Since Love & Thunder tried to juggle so much while having tonal issues, Gorr's tragic villain origin story centering on rejection towards the Gods for abandoning him leading to his galactic killing spree felt severely watered down. You also have Thor being a God that feels hollow inside struggling to find himself which also felt watered down in its narrative and character development potential due to the movie's clashing comedic sensibilities.
37. I Am Groot Season 1
Rating: 8/10
Minor Positives:
N/A
Major Positives:
N/A
Minor Negatives:
N/A
Major Negatives:
N/A
38. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
Rating: 8/10
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Ep. 2 - Potential Wolverine Easter Egg Via News Article
2. Ep. 2 - Eternals Easter Egg Via Frozen Celestial News Article
3. Ep. 9 - Clever Black Panther Music Cue
4. Ep. 9 - X-Men Namedrop
5. Wong's Guest Star Appearance
6. Tim Roth Returns As Abomination
-Solid Character Design
1. Abomination
-Solid Comedic Character Interactions
Major Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Ep. 8 - Daredevil Guest Appearance
2. Ep. 9 - Opening Scene Homage To The Classic Incredible Hulk TV Series
-Creative Visual Direction
1. Ep. 9 - Opening Scene Homage To The Classic Incredible Hulk TV Series
-Creative Writing
1. Ep. 6 - Jennifer breaks the fourth wall inserting commentary on wedding episodes feeling inconvenient which parallels her feelings towards the actual episode's wedding being an inconvenience to her
2. Ep. 9 - Jennifer breaks the 4th wall frustratingly commenting on the distractingly absurd spectacle & cliches of the episode's final battle. She then exits her series by breaking through the Disney+ menu screen and decides to enter into a behind the scenes documentary series to confront the writers. She then meets K.E.V.I.N. who is an in-universe robotic personification of Marvel president Kevin Fiege and gives clever self aware commentary on the fandom's perspective towards the MCU's formulaic creative sensibilities. Afterwards, she decides to make changes to the episode's storyline in order to fit what she believes should be the focus counteracting fan complaints.
Minor Negatives:
-Shaky Production Values
1. She-Hulk's CGI Character Model Looked Off At Times
-Hit Or Miss Comedy
-Questionable Storytelling Elements
1. Abomination Revealed To Be A Motivational Speaker Doing Gigs For Money
2. The Finale's Story Conclusion Felt Rushed To The Side After The Fourth Wall Break
-Questionably Handled Adaptation Of The Source Material
1. Intelligencia
-Slightly Wasted Potential
1. The series could've included a larger focus on entertaining and compelling court cases involving various characters that connects to the MCU's established world building.
Major Negatives:
-Terrible Villain
1. Todd
39. Werewolf By Night
Rating: 8/10
Minor Positives:
-Creative Visual Direction
1. I appreciated the mostly white and black color palette and film grain aesthetic to imbue elements of classic horror cinema. This is accompanied by a creative choice to use color sparingly to invoke the likes of Wizard of Oz (another artistic choice that I enjoyed).
-Solid Character Debut
1. Elsa Bloodstone
2. Jack Russel
-World Building
-Solid Enough Storytelling Elements
-Creative Writing
1. The main narrative surrounds a well intentioned “monster” (our werewolf) hiding amongst monster hunters in order to rescue another creature. Only, once he succeeds, he himself gets trapped and forcefully transformed leading to an inventible carnage and escape. It's a nice twist on what you'd expect from the story initially.
Major Positives:
-Strong Cast Overall
Minor Negatives:
-Questionable Character Design
1. The titular werewolf itself (was kinda hoping for something more frightening or beastly)
-Shaky Production Values
1. Some of the CGI FX work on the creatures looked a little off.
-Occasionally Weak Visual Direction
1. Despite the clear inspiration of classic films being present, I do wish that more attention was given to the visual details and FX work of certain creatures perhaps leaning on a more practical style as opposed to shoddy CGI. It almost feels like a film that wants to look and feel like a monster movie from the classic Universal Monsters golden age and yet still wants to utilize glaringly modern filmmaking components. I personally would’ve liked for them to lean more heavily on the retro aesthetics (a practical costume or animatronics for all creature scenes)
Major Negatives:
N/A
40. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Rating: 9/10
Minor Positives:
-Soundtrack
-Solid Character Design
1. Attuma
2. Namora
3. Shuri's Black Panther Suit
-Occasionally Strong Cinematic Direction
-Overall Solid Action
-Solid Character Debut
1. Namor
-Solid Villain
1. Namor
-Solid Ending
-Meeting Expectations
Major Positives:
-Exceptional Character Design
1. Wakandan Resident Outfits
-Sci-Fi Fantasy Visual Direction
-Standout Performance
1. Angela Bassett As Queen Ramonda
2. Letitia Wright As Shuri
-Impactful Dramatic Character Interactions
-World Building
-Strong Storytelling Elements
Minor Negatives:
-Questionable Character Design
1. Namor
Although I was completely sold on how the movie took his classic look from the comics and made it work naturally overall, I still think they should've opted for the more armored up aesthetic from his later comic book appearances.
-Underwhelming Fight Scene
1. There’s your traditional superhero movie final battle set piece that takes place here that honestly didn’t have the impact that it should've. It’s a solid scene overall, but considering how Coogler and the production team built up the action elements prior with some great individual fight scenes and atmospheric elements, I was expecting something much more memorable and spectacular with the final action heavy set piece.
-Underwhelming Character Debut
1. Ironheart
-Questionable Storytelling Elements
1. Scenes like an ex couple having awkward comedic exchanges or a new supporting hero reacting to her current situation just stood out as feeling like less of a Black Panther addition and more like an obligatory MCU franchise advertisement.
-Slightly Wasted Potential
1. This one's a bit of a complex situation since I completely understand the challenge faced by the studio having to make a tough decision with the passing of its main star. However, in hindsight, I must say that I'm very disappointed that we didn't just recast T'Challa instead of killing the character off considering the pivotal role that Black Panther has in the MCU. Remember, T'Challa was a recent king of a nation that was living in secrecy for generations that is now more public while simultaneously being an Avenger on call. To see this character continue on with unique challenges (like an adversary king of another nation) that the other heroes wouldn't have to face would've been compelling.
Unfortunately, we lost all of those potentially gripping stories since he's been killed off and replaced by another character.
Major Negatives:
N/A
41. Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special
Rating: 8/10
Minor Positives:
N/A
Major Positives:
N/A
Minor Negatives:
N/A
Major Negatives:
N/A
Phase 5
42. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Rating: 8/10
Minor Positives:
-Solid Character Design
1. Xolum
2. Veb
3. Floating Electrical Creature
4. Giant Sentient Towers
5. Broccoli Head Creature
6. Kang's Suit (Unmasked)
-Overall Solid Production Values (CGI & Practical FX)
-Occasionally Strong Cinematic Direction
-Overall Solid Action
-Solid Performance
1. Jonathan Majors As Kang The Conqueror
-Solid Villain
1. Kang The Conqueror
-World Building
-Solid Enough Storytelling Elements
Major Positives:
-Creative Visual Direction
-Sci-Fi Fantasy Visual Direction
-Creative Battle
1. Scott Undergoing A Probability Storm During A Heist
Minor Negatives:
-Questionable Character Design
1. Kang's Holographic Blue Mask
-Shaky Production Values
-Hit Or Miss Comedy
-Questionable Performance
1. Jonathan Majors As The Council of Kangs
-Underwhelming Conclusion To A Character
1. Kang's Defeat
-Slightly Wasted Potential
1. You don't actually get to see what the Quantum Realm's world was like for the rebellious inhabitants before Kang arrived which would have given us a deeper context as to what these people are fighting to take back. This is one of those situations where "show and tell" should've been implemented rather than just speaking about it.
2. Quantummania would have been more dramatically rich in its family themes had it contained more tender scenes with Scott trying his earnest to be a good parental/mentor figure to Cassie.
3. A scene with Janet just before the quantum realm adventure struggling with an unspoken internal trauma would have ramped up the sense of stakes with Kang's reveal in addition to an extensive flashback showing just how the Quantum Realm got "conquered".
4. Kang has such a rich backstory of taking over and wiping out entire worlds and timelines for ages while also fighting with multiversal doppelgängers. Unfortunately, most of what we see of Kang in Quantumania is just his time with Janet building a battery in the past and threatening our heroes to obtain and fix said battery in the present before he eventually has to fight them. Everything that's immensely compelling about him is presented through a piece of dialogue which feels a bit watered down. Another example in the movie where a "show and tell" approach should've been extensively implemented.
5. A much more interesting and entertaining sequel that would've better served both Kang as well as the Ant-Man franchise's identity could've been to have Kang as a background piece of mythology for the Quantum Realm. Have it be that when Scott and the crew get there, Kang already left with most of his army to wreak havoc elsewhere leaving an entire world in disarray with a current rebellion and a power vacuum conflict. This is where Bill Murray could be your corrupted politician figure trying to take over with remaining Kang soldiers that he bribed into being his security force. Having a rebel organization working to take him down in order to brings things back to a more peaceful and harmonious place could've been a more fun and focused storyline with time to flesh out characters and the world building aspects.
You can have your entertaining comedic villain with Bill Murray's politician (and even throw M.O.D.O.K. in the mix who would tonally fit better minus the terrible CGI face) while also teasing the mythology of the outsider that came, conquered, and left on a mysterious mission. You could've used visual storytelling with statues of Kang just as we saw at the end of Loki Season 1 in addition to characters speaking of the "all powerful terrifying conqueror". Scott and his family would have this mysterious threat to worry about needing to warn the Avengers while dealing with the chaotic aftermath of said apparent conqueror's escape. With this acting as your foundation, you can now go as crazy as you want with the sci-fi/comedic elements without compromising Kang's presence since he's not actually in the movie while also effectively building up his threat for future movies.
Major Negatives:
-Terrible Character Design
1. M.O.D.O.K. (Unmasked)
-Terrible Character Debut
1. M.O.D.O.K.
-Terrible Villain
1. M.O.D.O.K.
-Questionable Storytelling Elements
1. M.O.D.O.K. offers absolutely nothing substantial and was a character insert that felt completely unnecessary to the grander narrative. It annoyingly took up time that could’ve been spent on diving deeper into Kang’s character or even the rebellion story.
-Questionable Tonal Direction
1. M.O.D.O.K. scenes that are clearly played for draw out comedy gags distractingly contrasts with the dramatic stakes of the larger story at hand.
43. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Rating: 9/10
Minor Positives:
-Solid Character Design
1. Rocket Raccoon
2. Ayesha
-Solid Performance
1. Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon
-Solid Villain
1. The High Evolutionary
Major Positives:
-Strong Production Values (CGI & Practical FX)
-Strong Cinematic Direction
-Sci-Fi Fantasy Visual Direction
-Highly Entertaining Action
-Impactful Dramatic Character Interactions
-World Building
-Exceptional Superhero Origin Storytelling
1. Rocket Raccoon
-Strong Storytelling Elements
1. Rocket Raccoon's Origins Connecting To The High Evolutionary's Agenda
Minor Negatives:
-Questionable Character Design
1. The High Evolutionary
I thought the stretched back face idea, although kinda interesting thematically with his egotistical nature, wasn't a really good choice visually as far as adaptation goes. Considering how the character looks in the comics, you really could've stuck to the source material a little bit more closely and skip the stretchy face aesthetic as I just thought it looked weird and kinda silly.
-Slightly Underwhelming Character Debut
1. Adam Warlock
-Questionable Storytelling Elements
1. On one end, you have a well constructed and meticulously handled character journey with the Rocket Raccoon flashback story. On other end, you have the present day Guardians of the Galaxy story which mostly felt like vibrantly displayed noise half of the time with some great character beats occasionally sprinkled in. Feels like two movies of competing tones and direction competing against each other.
-Slightly Wasted Potential
1. Fans expected something special to be revealed after Vol. 2 teased Adam Warlock’s cocoon in the Sovereign’s lair. An although he's not necessarily a bad character in his debut here, he's certainly a little disappointing considering the potential built up. It honestly felt like the MCU didn’t really know what to do with him and just turned him into a recurring gag in the movie as opposed to making him something more substantial and interesting with his "early birth" characterization.
For a movie revolving around experimental beings dealing with existential crises of sorts, Adam Warlock could've been a compelling character study being this "genetically perfect being" that ended up birthing too soon and having defects. How such an outcome could affect this character's sense of identity would've been interesting to explore alongside Rocket's story and the High Evolutionary's agenda. Instead, they made him a simple minded buffoon as if we didn't already have one with Drax.
Major Negatives:
-Forceful Dramatic Character Interactions
1. Scenes of characters constantly yelling at each other with insults and complaints got exhausting pretty quickly. You could’ve easily conveyed the idea of this dysfunctional family with individual emotional baggage overlapping each other with less amped up verbal assaults through screaming and instead more thoughtful and clever dialogue.
44. Secret Invasion
Rating: 8/10
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Ep. 6 - Multiple Character Easter Eggs From The "Harvest" Project In The Final Battle
-Overall Solid Production Values (CGI & Practical FX)
-Solid Dramatic Character Interactions
-Creative Writing
1. Secret Invasion gives the Skrulls a strong sense of identity and purpose within the MCU's history by linking their species's time on Earth with Nick Fury's rise to power in SHIELD as the perfect covert operatives.
2. The series introduces an intriguing idea of a secret program called "The Harvest" initiated by Nick Fury that involved the gathering of DNA of both superheroes and villains after the final battle in Endgame. Having this program be one of his previous Skrull operations coming back to haunt him through the main villain was a pretty solid concept. It cleverly shines a spotlight on the fact that all of these giant battles and spectacles that we see throughout the years have ramifications if something were to get left behind in the aftermath and placed into the wrong hands.
Major Positives:
-Strong Cast Overall
Minor Negatives:
-Shaky Production Values
1. Ep. 6 - G'iah Vs. Gravik
Some of the green screen work and CGI FX surrounding the body morphing abilities looked a little shoddy.
-Lackluster Action
-Underwhelming Fight Scene
1. Ep. 6 - G'iah Vs. Gravik
-Terrible Villain
1. Gravik
-Below Expectations
Major Negatives:
-Underwhelming Villain
1. The Skrulls
-Lackluster Storytelling
-Monumentally Wasted Potential
1. A Better Final Battle
Instead of the show leading up to some cheap, generic CGI battle between two Super Skrulls where our villain just gets taken out unceremoniously and disregarded by an equally overpowered side character, we could've had something more interesting and engaging to watch. You could have easily just made Gravik be the only Super Skrull present unleashing a disastrous wave of carnage in a crowded area in America once the secret of the Skrulls being amongst humans was starting to get leaked out escalating their invasion.
This would've made the idea of a Super Skrull feel much more unique to the villain and made for an even more compelling and scary confrontation. The final battle wouldn't be a moment of typical explosive superhero spectacle but instead Nick Fury having to rely solely on his ingenuity as a non-powered Avenger taking on arguably the most powerful villain to date. The concept of Gravik having the culmination of all the powers of the very same superhero team that Fury created (the Avengers) as well as being a villain in his own making due to past mistakes would've been both dramatically poetic, tension packed, and highly entertaining.
Remember that throughout the series, everyone kept telling Fury that he wasn't the competent spy and fighter that he used to be? Well, this could've been the big confrontation that was necessary for him to fully re-establish his position using his skills of exploitation and spy trickery to strategically defeat a seemingly impossibly powerful antagonist.
2. A Better Secret Invasion
The episodes building up to the big climactic finale could've been the invasion slowly escalating as Skrulls are being gradually established into places of power successfully setting up strategic movements of mass manipulation and global conflicts. You could have the first 3-4 episodes of Fury and his team struggling to keep up with what's going on as wars are being broken out around the world due to peace treaties being crushed uncharacteristically by certain politicians while certain organizations are rising up in power bizarrely fast.
That feeling of something being amidst due to the type of world events all of a sudden sequentially taking place in rapid motion as if everything is ramping up to something massive. That could've been at the heart of your Secret Invasion build up. A conspiracy, mystery, sci-fi thriller with strong cinematic direction surrounding our heroes trying to follow a bread crumb trail of national paranoia that leads them to shocking identity swapping revelations. Later on, prior to the finale, you could have the Skrulls be exposed due to a news leak about ship shifting aliens being amongst us leading to widespread conspiracy and pandemonium where no one knows who to trust anymore leading to thrilling scenes of explosive vigilante shootouts and explosions in government places.
This would have forced Gravik to acquire the "Harvest" Super Skrull DNA collection sooner transforming himself into the only Super Skrull since Fury and his team was able to stop him from getting enough to build an army. Cue your terrifying Super Skrull final confrontation scene after all of the edge of your seat build up from the identity swapping conspiracies and global conflicts. This could've been the MCU Secret Invasion narrative as opposed to the highly forgettable version that we got.
-Forgettable
45. I Am Groot Season 2
Rating: 8/10
Minor Positives:
N/A
Major Positives:
N/A
Minor Negatives:
N/A
Major Negatives:
N/A
46. Loki Season 2
Rating: 9/10
Minor Positives:
-Solid Character Design
1. Miss Minutes
2. Ep. 6 - Loki's Final Form
-Solid Performance
1. Jonathan Majors As He Who Remains
Major Positives:
-Soundtrack
-Strong Production Values (CGI & Practical FX)
-Strong Cinematic Direction
-Creative Visual Direction
1. TVA Design
2. Ep. 6 - Loki Creating A New Loom With His Powers
-Sci-Fi Fantasy Visual Direction
-Entertaining Comedic Character Interactions
-Impactful Dramatic Character Interactions
-Excellent Character Writing
1. Loki
-World Building
-Strong Storytelling Elements
-Creative Writing
1. Ep. 6 - Loki Travels Back To Get Advice From Mobius About Burdens
-Highly Climactic Ending
Minor Negatives:
-Questionable Performance
1. Jonathan Majors As Victor Timely
Major Negatives:
N/A
47. The Marvels
Rating: 7/10
Minor Positives:
-Overall Solid Production Values (CGI & Practical FX)
-Occasionally Strong Cinematic Direction
-Sci-Fi Fantasy Visual Direction
-Overall Solid Action
-Decent Comedy
Major Positives:
-Creative Visual Direction
1. Opening Kamala Animated Sequence
-Creative Battle
1. Every Fight Scene Involving The Marvels Position Swapping
-Entertaining Comedic Character Interactions
-Character Writing Honors Previous Movies/Shows
-World Building
-Creative Writing
1. Connecting the larger franchise's history of space travel to Ms. Marvel's source of power is one of the coolest things that they've done character-wise in the new Phases.
Minor Negatives:
-Forgettable
Major Negatives:
-Terrible Performance
1. Zawe Ashton as Dar-Benn
-Terrible Villain
1. Dar-Benn
48. What If...? Season 2
Rating: 8/10
Minor Positives:
-Solid Character Design
1. Captain Carter
2. Ep. 4 - Gamora
3. Ep. 5 - Hydra Stomper
4. Ep. 7 - Odin
5. Ep. 7 - Hela
6. Ep. 8 - Captain Carter Armor
7. Ep. 8 - Rogers Hood
8. Ep. 8 - Bucky
9. Ep. 8 - Ant-Man
10. Ep. 9 - Captain Carter Upgraded Arsenal Form
-Occasionally Strong Cinematic Direction
-Overall Solid Action
-Solid Comedic Character Interactions
-Solid Villain
1. Ep. 5 - Hydra Stomper
Major Positives:
-Fan Service
1. All MCU Canon References & Multiversal Twists
-Exceptional Character Design
1. Ep. 8 - King Thor Odinson
2. Ep. 8 - Wanda Merlin
3. Ep. 8 - The Royal Yellow Jackets
4. Ep. 8 - Destroyer
5. Ep. 9 - Upgraded Rocket Raccoon
6. Ep. 9 - Hulk-Thor Combination
7. Ep. 9 - Strange Supreme's Final Form
-Sci-Fi Fantasy Visual Direction
-Highly Entertaining Action
-Highly Climactic Final Battle
1. Ep. 5 - Captain Carter Vs. Hydra Stomper w/ Black Widow Fighting Widow Operatives
2. Ep. 7 - Hela & Wenwu Vs. Odin
3. Ep. 9 - Captain Carter & Kahhori Vs. Strange Supreme
-Character Writing Honors Previous Movies/Shows
-World Building
-Creative Writing
1. Ep. 8 - Creative Medieval Spin On The MCU’s World Via An Infinity Stone Incident
Minor Negatives:
-Hit Or Miss Comedy
-Questionable Storytelling Elements
1. Multiple Instances of Killing Thanos In Anti-Climactic Ways
Major Negatives:
N/A
49. Echo
Rating: 9/10
Minor Positives:
-Overall Solid Action
Major Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Ep. 1 - Daredevil Cameo
-Standout Performance
1. Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin
-Exceptional Villain
1. Wilson Fisk/Kingpin
-Strong Storytelling Elements
1. The manner in which Maya's origins and story arc is dramatically woven into Wilson Fisk's character was very well orchestrated.
Minor Negatives:
-Questionable Storytelling Elements
1. The supernatural angle, although does work in the show's family culture sections, felt a little jarring as it contrasted the overall refreshingly grounded and gritty narrative direction.
Major Negatives:
N/A
50. Deadpool & Wolverine
Rating: 9/10
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Tyler Mane's Sabertooth Cameo
2. Toad Cameo
3. Azazel Cameo
4. Jennifer Garner's Elektra Cameo
5. Wolverine Comic Book Adapted Variants
6. Dafne Keen's X-23 Cameo
7. Deadpool Corp
8. Ant-Man's Corpse Easter Egg
9. The Punisher Name Drop
10. Daredevil Name Drop
-Solid Character Design
1. Main Wolverine's Costume
2. Main Deadpool's Costume
3. Zenpool
-Creative Visual Direction
1. Cassandra Nova's Mind Infiltration Powers
Major Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Henry Cavil Wolverine Variant
2. Wesley Snipes' Blade Cameo
3. Channing Tatum's Gambit Cameo
4. Chris Evans Human Torch Cameo
5. The TVA & The Void
6. Wolverine Finally Getting The Yellow & Blue Costume
-Strong Production Values (Stunt Work, Fight Choreography)
-Highly Entertaining Action
-Highly Comedic
-Standout Performance
1. Ryan Reynolds' Performance As Deadpool
2. Hugh Jackman's Performance As Wolverine
Minor Negatives:
Underwhelming Villain
1. Cassandra Nova
2. Paradox
Major Negatives:
N/A
51. Agatha All Along
Rating: 9/10
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Ep. 3 - Mephisto Namedrop
2. Ep. 6 -Avengers Namedrop
3. Ep. 6 -Ralph Bohner Cameo
4. Ep. 7 -Ralph Bohner CameoDisney Witch Inspired Character Design Transformations
5. Ep. 9 - Ending Credits Footage of Classic Witch Related Movies & Shows
6. WandaVision Easter Eggs
-Soundtrack
-Occasionally Strong Cinematic Direction
-Creative Visual Direction
1. Billy's Sigil Spell
-Sci-Fi Fantasy Visual Direction
-Horror Visual Direction
1. Ep. 2 - The Salem Seven Being Teased Through Animals Then Attacking The House
2. Ep. 3 - Death Appearing Behind The Maestra's Corpse In Lilia's Hallucination
3. Ep. 4 - Subtle Appearing & Disappearing Eyes Inside of A Hanging Mask
-Decent Comedy
-Solid Comedic Character Interactions
-Solid Dramatic Character Interactions
-Solid Character Debut
1. Death
2. Wiccan
-Improves A Previous Movie/TV Series
1. Ep. 6
Ralph's perspective of what happened inside of Wanda's hex and the conspiracy speculations surrounding Vision's body and the twins' whereabouts helps to emphasize the impact of Wanda's actions. Doing this shines a much needed light on the citizens of Westview's traumatic experience and Wanda's crime during WandaVision which is something that the series had never fully confronted as much as it should've during its finale.
Major Positives:
-Exceptional Character Design
1. Death
-Strong Production Values
1. Ep. 4 - Set Design For House Setting
Standout Performance
1. Kathryn Hahn As Agatha Harkness
-Highly Entertaining Character
1. Agatha Harkness
-Excellent Character Writing
1. Lilia Calderu
-World Building
-Strong Storytelling Elements
1. Ep. 6 - William Kaplan's backstory reveals him to be Billy Maximoff after his soul was transferred from Wanda's Hex. This was a compelling way to follow up the WandaVision series with something surprising and thought provoking.
2. Ep. 7 - Lilian’s compelling time skipping journey leading to a full circle revelation about her previous outbursts as well as her conclusion. This was such a compelling individual character story that’s well thought out and beautifully presented.
3. Ep. 8 - Billy’s Revelation of the Witch’s Road Adventure Being His Reality Bending Creation
4. Ep. 9 - Agatha’s Backstory About Her Son & The Witch’s Road's Controversial Origins Leading To Her Revelation About Billy’s Powers
-Creative Writing
1. Ep. 7 - Lillian’s Time Skipping Journey
-Gold Standard Episode of Comic Book TV Series
1. Ep. 7
Minor Negatives:
-Shaky Production Values
1. Occasionally Shoddy Green Screen Work
-Questionable Performance
1. There are a few times throughout the series where Kathryn Hahn goes just a small touch too over the top in her performance during a couple of scenes.
Major Negatives:
N/A
52. What If...? Season 3
Rating: 9/10
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service:
1. Ep. 1 - Opening “Go Avenger Heroes of the Gamma War” Anime Sequence
2. Ep. 7 - X-Men Inclusion Via Storm & Foosball Game Visual Easter Eggs
-Solid Character Design
1. Ep. 2 - Agatha's Cosmic Queen Form
2. Ep. 2 - Arishem the Judge
3. Ep. 4 - Dormammu
4. Ep. 7 - Nebula (Nova Prime)
5. Ep. 7 - Captain Carter
6. Ep. 7 - Storm: Goddess of Thunder
-Occasionally Strong Cinematic Direction
-Sci-Fi Fantasy Visual Direction
-Overall Solid Action
-Solid Villain
1. Ep. 5 - Mysterio
2. Ep. 8 - The Order of the Watchers
-World Building
-Solid Enough Storytelling Elements
1. Ep. 2 - Agatha's agenda to use Hollywood production in order to guise a ritual that steals the cosmic powers of the Eternals and Tiamut.
2. Ep. 5 - Mysterio becoming an Avengers level threat after the Celestial emergence by taking over Stark tech and ruling over the shattered remains of Earth through manipulation
3. Ep. 6 - Shang Chi and Kate Bishop pursues "the Hood" in a western tale of revenge only to find a surprising twist with the elusive villain's identity. Having the cape of "the Hood" never be explained but merely alluded to as being supernatural was a nice touch of subtle mystery.
-Creative Writing
1. Ep. 2
Having Agatha target Tiamut's celestial powers for herself by stealing the Eternals powers and enacting a big ritual through the guise of an old school Hollywood film production. This brilliantly merged Eternals lore with WandaVision's main villain, and a touch of Captain America: First Avenger's period piece elements.
Major Positives:
-Fan Service:
1. All MCU Canon References & Multiversal Twists
-Exceptional Character Design
1. Ep. 1 - Avenger Mechs
2. Ep. 1 - Sam Wilson's Pilot Suit
3. Ep. 7 - Infinity Ultron
4. Ep. 8 - The Order of the Watchers' Battle Armor
5. Ep. 8 - The Guardians of the Multiverse's Watcher Battle Armor
-Highly Climactic Final Battle
1. Ep. 8 - The Guardians of the Multiverse Vs. The Order of the Watchers
-Character Writing Honors Previous Movies/Shows
-Strong Storytelling Elements
1. Ep. 7 - The Guardians of the Multiverse attempts to rescue the Watcher by entrusting the help of another variant of Infinity Ultron.
2. Ep. 8 - The Guardians of the Multiverse teams up with Infinity Ultron to take on the Order of the Watchers then later becomes Watchers themselves through a desperate impromptu oath in order to level the playing field.
Minor Negatives:
-Hit Or Miss Comedy
Major Negatives:
N/A
53. Captain America: New World Order
Rating: 8/10
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service:
1. Celestial Island
2. The Black Widow Movie's Red Room Program Utilization
3. Bucky Cameo
4. Isaiah Bradley's Guest Star Appearance
5. Post Credit Scene: Potential Secret Wars Tease
-Solid Character Design:
1. Captain America
2. Red Hulk
-Overall Solid Production Values
-Overall Solid Action
-Strong Cast Overall
-Solid Character Debut
1. The Red Hulk
2. JoaquÃn Torres As The New Falcon
-Character Writing Honors Previous Movies
-World Building
1. The dead Celestial from the Eternals movie becoming the center of a worldwide resource claiming conflict between nations in addition to being the source of Adamantium.
-Engaging Enough Storytelling Elements
1. President Ross's misinformed use of gamma pills gradually poisoning him to become Red Hulk by the Leader
2. Celestial Island becoming a central landmark for a potential World War caused by the Leader due to resource mining and manipulated attacks
-Creative Storytelling
1. The dead Celestial from the Eternals movie becoming the center of a worldwide resource claiming conflict between nations in addition to being the source of Adamantium.
-Meeting Expectations
Major Positives:
-Fan Service:
1. Adamantium's Introduction To The MCU
2. Incredible Hulk Movie Tie-Ins (Betty Ross, Harlem Fight Scene Footage, Abomination Namedrop, The Leader, Mr. Blue Easter Egg Via Mind Control Music Choice, Hulk Hunter Label Given To Thaddeaus Ross)
-Highly Climactic Final Battle:
1. Captain America Vs. Red Hulk
Minor Negatives:
-Terrible Character Design:
1. The Leader
-Shaky Production Values
1. Occasionally shoddy green screen work, CGI (a couple shots of Red Hulk), and practical FX (The Leader's prosthetics)
-Weak Visual Direction
1. There's a great portion of this movie that looks like it would've fit better as a Disney+ series (a Season 2 of Falcon and the Winter Soldier) as opposed to a theatrically released MCU movie. There's just not a whole lot here that's worth seeing on the big screen cinematically speaking aside from the one big Red Hulk battle and maybe a few pieces of Captain America's aerial segments. For a premise as potential-filled as this, the semi-low scaled and slightly uninspired direction do a bit of a disservice to the story elements being explored.
-Questionable Character Absence
1. Bruce Banner is absent in a movie that is essentially acting as our first Incredible Hulk sequel.
Major Negatives:
-Underwhelming Villain:
1. The Leader
The Leader was a character that I was personally excited for the MCU to finally bring into the fold since 2008's Incredible Hulk movie. Although the character is used decently enough for the overall narrative, his presence and character interactions left a lot to be desired especially due to the awful design work and slightly minimalistic feeling approach to the overall movie's direction.
54. Daredevil: Born Again Season 1
Rating: 8/10
(As A Season 4 to Netflix's Daredevil)
Rating: 9/10
(By MCU TV Standards)
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Ep. 5 - Yusuf Khan Guest Appearance
2. Ep. 5 - Kamala/Ms. Marvel Namedrop (Costume Easter Egg Via Funko Pop)
3. Ep. 6 - Swordsman Easter Egg
4. Jacques "Jack" Duquesne Cameo
-Solid Character Design
1. Muse
-Overall Solid Action
-Creative Battle
1. Ep. 1 - Daredevil Vs. Bullseye:
There are some exceptional artistic intentions behind everything taking place onscreen such as Matt hearing Foggy’s heartbeat and Karen's anguish while fighting Bullseye, the show of tactical awareness between both fighters establishing their prior history, the brutality surrounding Bullseye's murderous rampage with the visual expression of his unhinged psyche being a close up shot of his piercing eyes, and the lead up to Matt almost killing him with the cowl being dropped into the opening credits after Foggy's death. From a creative standpoint, this is quite honestly one of the greatest fight scenes ever laid out for a comic book TV series to date.
-Solid Performance
1. Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk
-Solid Dramatic Character Interactions
-Solid Villain
1. Kingpin
2. Bullseye
-Solid Enough Storytelling Elements
1. Ep. 3 - The trial of Hector was engaging to watch and the ending with the death of White Tiger alongside Kingpin’s closing lines about law prevailing was a bit gut wrenching.
-Solid Ending
1. Ep. 3 - The death of White Tiger with Kingpin’s closing lines about law prevailing leads into the ending credits having the sounds of the beach and frogs that Hector was fantasizing about. This was quite the gut wrenching closer for an episode.
2. Ep. 7 - Fisk having Buck kill the gangster who was going to assassinate him at the restaurant.
Major Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Ep. 2 - Punisher Easter Eggs
2. Ep. 2 - Spider-Man Easter Egg
3. Jon Bernthal's Punisher Appearance & Eventual Team Up
-Soundtrack
-Standout Performance:
1. Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/The Punisher
2. Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil
Minor Negatives:
-Questionable Fan Service
1. Ep. 4 - Skrull Namedrop
-Shaky Production Values
1. Shoddy looking green screen work and CGI looking models of Daredevil and Bullseye can be notably observed during their first big action scene in the bar as well as a couple of other brief sections of Daredevil's acrobatics in the series. This is a major downgrade from the Marvel Netflix show’s practicality and incredible fight choreography in addition to the MCU’s incredible track record for visual FX spectacle and cinematic presentation.
-Occasionally Weak Visual Direction
-Disappointing Fight Scene
1. Ep. 1 - Daredevil Vs. Bullseye:
I'm honestly very torn on this scene since, conceptually speaking, it's the best that the Daredevil series as a whole (if we're including the Netflix run) has ever done, but the execution is what really matters at the end of the day. It baffles and pains me to say this about a Daredevil series fight scene, but I simply could not get pass some of the shoddy visual FX work presented during extensive segments of this battle. Just everything taking place inside of the bar looked like unfinished green screen and CGI work being shown off as a sample demo reel proof of concept of what the real fight would be.
Now, I will say that there are some exceptional artistic intentions and great visuals behind mostly everything taking place afterwards once we get to the staircase setting. This includes Matt hearing Foggy’s heartbeat and Karen's anguish while fighting Bullseye, the show of tactical awareness between both fighters establishing their prior history, the brutality surrounding Bullseye's murderous rampage, the chilling zoomed in shot of Bullseye's piercing eyes, and the lead up to Matt almost killing him prior to the cowl being dropped into the opening credits after Foggy's death.
It's such a jarring shift of quality being put onscreen from one setting to the next. This was clearly an action scene that needed much better production values to present its incredibly well thought out ideas.
-Underwhelming Conclusion To A Character
1. Ep. 1 - Foggy Nelson
This is primarily tied to the bigger issue of this series being that it's caught between a strange limbo state of acting a both a 4th season to the Netflix Daredevil series while also being a soft reboot for the MCU's iteration of the character. Because of this, it's challenging as an audience to see certain characters return or concluded while questioning what exactly we're supposed to consider as continuity for them. Foggy is the biggest victim of this getting killed off in the premiere since, as an MCU reboot, this character gets introduced without much to emotionally latch onto before getting killed off. As a 4th season, his death feels anti-climactic to the show. Kind of a lose-lose situation with Foggy here.
They should've given him more time onscreen as Matt's best friend before the big Bullseye moment allowing new fans who didn't watch the old show to connect with him while also allowing the old fanbase to be properly re-introduced. That being said, the weight of his death is eventually felt throughout the show later on.
-Slightly Lackluster Storytelling
1. There are a couple of storylines with this series that didn't quite hold up in the grand scheme of things for me given where the show eventually goes. Fisk and Vanessa's relationship issues and couple's therapy segments alongside the grocery thief who Matt was trying to help felt a little time consuming. Not that these ideas aren't important to some extent for the characters present, but I do feel that we could have easily cut those out to allow more time for other arcs to be deeply enriched.
I also didn't feel that some of the new side characters were anywhere as interesting to follow along as the Netflix series. And to top it off, the pacing and build up felt disjointed at times as if certain episodes were roughly chopped together in the edit.
-Slightly Wasted Potential
1. Ep. 6-7 - Daredevil's Battles With Muse:
I'm kinda torn on this just as I was with the Bullseye fight in the premiere. Whereas the Bullseye segment left me feeling mixed due to some production hi-cups despite loving the concept, the two fights that we get with Muse is more of a conceptual nitpick with solid production behind it. Given what we know of Muse in the comics as a super powered individual who can essentially absorb sensory information around him like a vacuum while also being slightly faster, stronger, and resilient to the average human being, I feel like Born Again questionably watered him down.
On the show, he's a normal (as far as having no superpowers that we know of) kid who is adept at taekwondo according to what the writing suggests in addition to being a deranged serial killer artist. Now, I do like the creepiness that surrounds the character when the show gets to present him as this unique dangerous serial killer due to this trademark artistic angle, but as an opponent to Daredevil, I just never bought him lasting more than 20 seconds against Matt. The "taekwondo proficiency" characterization just felt shoehorned in to give some excuse for a fight scene to drag out longer than it needed to as opposed to feeling like an organic bit of lore building.
They should've at least given him the sensory vortex ability making him hard for Matt to track giving the character an unnerving sinister edge during their confrontations. What if Muse was the first villain that gave Matt ("The Man Without Fear") actual fear because he's facing someone that he can't perceive and feels entirely disabled against. Meanwhile you can direct those segments almost as horror scenes with Muse stalking and slowly playing with his prey carefully attacking Matt while Matt struggles to trace where the threat is coming from.
This could've been a great MCU contribution to the Netflix franchise by having Matt face off against a scary super powered villain for a change. I also didn't feel that the character writing surrounding his motivation and identity reveal lived up to the strong build up that we had prior. So, despite liking some of the elements surrounding his presentation here (like the costume, art centric characterization, and villain lair), I thought the actor's performance, absence of supernatural abilities, and questionable longevity during fight scenes with Daredevil brought him down.
-Below Expectations
1. Daredevil: Born Again unfortunately does not live up to the high standards that the Netflix series established years prior. Not in its action, cinematic direction, consistent tone, pacing, editing, character writing, or storytelling. Although it does have its high points that are worth admiring and enjoying, it's just not quite on the level that it should've been. What's even more crazy is that the Netflix series supposedly would've had a much lower budget and yet was able to deliver something of glaringly higher quality. Theoretically, Born Again, with Disney's financial backing, should be quite the spectacle to behold if it continued what the Netflix show did but with more visual flare and yet...it doesn't even come close to fulfilling that idea.
Major Negatives:
N/A
55. Thunderbolts
Rating: 8/10
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Sam Wilson Namedrop
2. Red Hulk Easter egg
3. Fantastic Four Easter Egg
-Solid Character Design
1. Taskmaster
2. Ghost
-Overall Solid Action
-Solid Comedic Character Interactions
-Character Writing Honors Previous Movies/Shows
-Solid Enough Storytelling Elements
1. I quite admired the recurring theme surrounding these anti-heroes feeling empty and unfulfilled inside with their various mission objectives struggling to find a new meaning in life. I thought this was a refreshing direction to take in a superhero movie today stepping away from the vibrant costumed heroics and exploring something much more emotionally deeper and layered.
Major Positives:
N/A
Minor Negatives:
-Slightly Underwhelming Character Debut
1. Sentry
Although there are some interesting things surrounding the character, the movie doesn't do the strongest job at building those elements up revolving around who and why he is the way that he is. It just feels like a quickly brushed to the side explanation for what is essentially one of the MCU's most powerful characters yet who was apparently made in a lab. It would've been great if we could've at least gotten some piece of lore regarding where exactly his powers came from.
-Underwhelming Villain
1. The Void
This is largely due to the movie never explaining to any satisfying degree whatsoever where this entity comes from and why it's here. There's just a general idea that Bob seemingly always had it...and that's about it. For something as mythically powerful as this being, you'd think there would be a little more explained than just "it's Bob's darker side".
-Questionable Storytelling Elements
1. The Thunderbolts are able to somehow enter into the void, find each other, then team up to find Yelena. It's never explained how they were able to navigate this shadow realm of sorts that's completely new for everyone though the emotional payoff is decent.
-Slightly Wasted Potential
1. Taskmaster dies without any character building, standout action scene showing off her unique ability, or dramatic payoff. There's not even any hints of perhaps a more true to source material version of the character appearing to take the mantle which would've satisfied disappointed fans of the Black Widow movie's version of the character. They literally treat Taskmaster as a sidelined waste of time which is sad, but perhaps this could open the door to a better version down the line.
2. As much as I enjoyed the characters overall, I do wish each Thunderbolts member's current lives and sensibilities were dove into a bit more extensively. We do get scenes of this happening but to a smaller extent than I would've liked. I think using the Void's realm and exploring Ghost and Red Guardian here a little would've been beneficial. Some flashbacks to Red Guardian's Soviet Union super soldier years where he made mistakes for the sake of fame or Ghost taking assignments that were morally questionable which psychologically ate at her consciousness for a while.
I think, where the movie does a solid job fleshing out Yelena, we could've used the Void to give the same treatment to the other characters (with the exception of Bucky who's had quite a bit of set up in prior movies and series).
-Forgettable
-Below Expectations
1. I'm actually not sure if I want to leave this negative highlight here anymore having now watched the movie a 3rd time. It's actually gotten a little better overtime as I've already warmed up to some of its shortcomings however I still feel like we were a few scenes of character/lore development away from this being a much greater movie and what I was hoping for going in.
Major Negatives:
N/A
56. Ironheart
Rating: 6/10
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Ep. 1 - Thor Namedrop
2. Ep. 1 - Pym Tech Namedrop
3. Ep. 4 - Doctor Strange Namedrop
4. Ep. 4 - Kamar Taj Namedrop
5. Ep. 4 - Doctor Strange Movie Tie-In Via Kaecilius/Dormammu Explanations
6. Ep. 6 - Mephisto Comic Book Design Easter Egg
7. Tony Stark/Stark Industries Namedrops
8. Ironman Movie Tie-In Via Obadiah Stane’s Son
-Overall Solid Production Values (CGI & Practical FX)
-Solid Performance
1. Sacha Baron Cohen as Mephisto
-Solid Character Debut
1. Mephisto
Major Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Ep. 9 - Mephisto Cameo
Minor Negatives:
-Lackluster Action
-Slightly Underwhelming Villain
1. The Hood
I do have to point out that although I did find the Hood to be slightly underwhelming by the end of the series, I did feel as though he instantly became the only interesting character on the show. This is largely due to the fact that he brought in an intriguing mysterious dark magic element to a sci-fi heist series. And once they revealed the Mephisto connection to his powers and rise to riches, the character felt as though he deserved a far better series to develop him than some low scale, forgettable Iron Heart entry. So him being slightly underwhelming isn't the character itself but the show's utilization of him.
-Underwhelming Villain
1. Ezekiel Stane
-Terrible Villain
1. Main Gang of Criminals That Riri Has To Eventually Fight
-Questionable Storytelling Elements
1. Riri's Character Journey
-Forgettable
Major Negatives:
-Lackluster Storytelling
Phase 6
56. Eyes of Wakanda
Rating: 8/10
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Ep. 3 - Ironfist Guest Appearance
-Overall Solid Production Values (Animation)
-Occasionally Strong Cinematic Direction
-Overall Solid Action
-World Building
1. Fleshing out Wakanda's war dog history
-Solid Enough Storytelling Elements
1. Ep. 4
Great tie-in to the first Black Panther movie’s villain storyline giving Killmonger’s actions in Wakanda an unintentionally prominent position for the MCU’s fate against a future alien invasion.
Major Positives:
N/A
Minor Negatives:
N/A
Major Negatives:
N/A
57. The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Rating: 9/10
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Latveria Easter Egg During the United Nations Committee
-Soundtrack
-Solid Character Design
1. The Thing
2. Galactus
-Overall Solid Production Values (CGI & Practical FX)
-Overall Solid Action
-Solid Performance
1. The Fantastic Four Ensemble
-Solid Superhero Origin Storytelling
1. The Fantastic Four
We get a great set up for the Fantastic Four's origins through the prism of a news documentary chronicling their venture into space as astronauts and back as eventually well renowned and respected superheroes. This was so refreshing to see compared to your typical modern superhero origin story movies. As a matter of fact I really enjoyed how our superheroes in this story are public celebrity figures turning some of their personal plot lines into announcements for news outlets.
-Meeting Expectations
Major Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Post Credit Scene: Doctor Doom Cameo
-Strong Cinematic Direction
-Sci-Fi Fantasy Visual Direction
1. I absolutely loved the retro futuristic design of the world and costumes in this movie allowing it to stand out from most of the other MCU properties. I also loved some of the cosmic imagery elements once our characters venture into space.
-Well Executed Romantic Component
1. Reed Richards & Sue Storm's Relationship
-Impactful Dramatic Character Interactions
1. The family dynamic elements with a spotlight on Reed and Sue's parental conundrums were done incredibly well
-Exceptional Character Debut
1. The Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four team actually feels like a family which is exactly what I’d hoped for. A strong family dynamic and a brilliant team of scientific minds who just so happen to be celebrity superheroes has always been the image that I've had in mind of this team as a kid. I think the MCU's take on them was pitch perfect in that regard. The characterizations were spot on for each individual member and the charming interactions between them and utilization of super powers were enjoyable to watch.
-World Building
-Strong Storytelling Elements
1. The idea of the Fantastic Four being the world's celebrated protectors with a strongly positive track record now facing an existential crisis that they might not be able to fend off against was such a gripping one to experience. I thought they did a really good job at showing the struggle of this team (especially Reed who puts the weight of everyone and everything on his shoulders) during this crisis event. By having that play alongside an already shaky period with Reed and Sue's baby entering into the world and how both plot lines connect somehow was very intriguing. There's some great dramatic tension all around with a fun sense of cosmic exploration involved.
-Creative Writing
1. The chase scene with the Fantastic Four trying to escape the Silver Surfer while Sue is forcefully having a baby one of the most gripping sequences that I've seen in a comic book superhero movie from a conceptual level. The way that they connected dazzling visuals from the cosmic imagery surrounding the setting, the scientific elements of the team trying to find ways to use the physics of space to evade the Surfer, and the emotional tension building surrounding Sue having to give birth through the entire ordeal was absolutely insane and I loved it. It perfectly connects the major threat of Galactus's relentlessness as well as the intimate scope of the family themes that lie at the center for our heroes all in one chase scene.
Minor Negatives:
-Shaky Production Values
1. Both Silver Surfer and Galactus’s CGI sometimes looks a little bit off but not in anyway that’s entirely immersion breaking. The same can be said for Franklin Richards as a baby.
2. There are a few shots where the green screen looked a little noticeable but forgivable.
-Slightly Wasted Potential
1. Galactus does feel like both an existential force of nature threat and a character in of himself which is exactly what I wanted to see however I did feel like the movie should've went into his mythos a bit more. Galactus is quite the intriguing character so taking a little bit more time to flesh him out more regarding the reasoning for his agenda and existence would've been much appreciated and added more dimension to him.
2. I felt that we could've dove into Silver Surfer's character a little bit more in terms of her enslavement to Galactus and how she emotionally responds to her moral dilemma working with him for as long as she has. It just felt like the movie rushed this section of the story with Johnny Storm's interaction with her. In addition to this, one thing that the 2007 movie did well with the Surfer was having him display his immense cosmic power in awe inspiring ways yet this iteration doesn't really do much with her power set beyond navigational feats. I think a couple of action scenes with her showing how formidable she is as a threat would've been great.
Major Negatives:
N/A
58. Marvel Zombies
Rating: 9/10
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service:
1. All MCU Canon References & Multiversal Twists
-Soundtrack
1. Opening Credits Music
-Solid Character Design
1. Ep. 3 - Zombie Thanos
-Solid Dramatic Character Interactions
-Solid Villain
1. Ep. 2 - Zombie Namor
-Creative Writing
1. Ep. 2 - Connecting the Ant-Man and the Wasp and Shan Chi movies by using San Francisco as the origin point of the quantum virus outbreak. Showcasing the apocalypse from Shang-Chi and Katy's perspective as valet drivers running through a chaotic crowd of horrifying chaos eventually weaving in the Ten Rings military, Agent Woo, and utilizing out of control pym particles to create random giant items in the environment was a brilliant way of merging the two movies at the right point in their respective continuities.
2. Ep. 3 - Connecting Infinity War and Multiverse of Madness in a fashion that thematically ties in with the mainline continuity of movies. With the MCU, after Thanos was defeated, our next major movie threat was Scarlet Witch who traversed the multiverse seeking America Chavez's power for her own reality changing desire after Thanos's attack resulted in Vision's death and her grief. With Marvel Zombies, they've made the defeat of Zombie Thanos be the catalyst that leads to a new power (the infinity stones held all in one place) that Wanda is controversially and destructively seeking after in order to warp reality.
Having this visualized in the same episode with the battle in Wakanda against Zombie Thanos referencing Infinity War's final act with Thor and the remaining Guardians shifting right into the sorcerers from Multiverse of Madness in Kamar-Taj focusing on Scarlet Witch's agenda was a brilliant way of jumping through both movie events in quick succession for this narrative. There's even a nod to Thor being broken in Avengers Endgame here by having him be defeated by Zombie Thanos and emotionally shutting down as a fallen king before eventually getting back on his feet to fight again.
-Solid Ending
-Improves A Previous Movie/TV Series
1. What If...? Season 1 Episode 5
Major Positives:
-Fan Service:
1. All MCU Character Appearances
-Exceptional Character Design
1. Blade Knight
-Strong Cinematic Direction
-Horror Visual Direction
-Highly Entertaining Action
-Exceptional Character Debut
1. Blade Knight
-Character Writing Honors Previous Movies/Shows
-World Building
-Strong Storytelling Elements
-Exceeding Expectations
1. I was disappointed that Marvel didn’t try something different with the animation style and instead opted for the What If series visual direction. However, I got used to it pretty quickly and was actually very impressed by some of the cinematic art direction utilized throughout the series. The action was a lot more exciting than I anticipated, the overall world building was intriguing, and there were multiple character moments and reveals that kept me constantly engaged eagerly awaiting to see what comes next.
Minor Negatives:
-Weak Performance
1. Ep. 1 - Dominique Thorne As Riri Williams/Ironheart
To be fair, some of the young avengers character interactions in this particular episode are rather weak and dull. So this is both a writing and direction problem. There's a couple of moments in future episodes where even Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan (who's done great in previous MCU projects) sounds like she's struggling to emote during certain scenes. Thankfully, these are just very small and insignificant minor bits and nothing that brings down the episode.
-Slightly Underwhelming Villain
1. Ep. 3 - Zombie Thanos
This a tough one because I actually really like what they did with him in this series to an extent and this is more of an underutilized nitpick than anything. I love the fact that they followed up directly after the What If Zombies episode with the Zombie Thanos cliffhanger and we get to see what that scene actually was. It was refreshing and satisfying to see the MCU finally take a Thanos variant seriously while finding an interesting way to utilize the zombie virus uniquely for him. Having him be a zombie that’s gradually learning about the abilities of the infinity gauntlet yet still struggling with the limitations of a zombified brain was a fascinating concept and made him arguably slightly more scarier.
He gets a solid fight scene with some of our remaining heroes and is shown to be formidable by killing off Rocket, Groot, severely damaging Thor, and forcing T'Challa/Black Panther to sacrifice himself by redirecting his suit's built up energy to tackle him into a Vibranium core. Overall, I think it's a great concept. My one adn only nitpick that makes him slightly underwhelming is that we sadly don't get to see enough of him after a great build up. It would've been far more exciting to see him summoning armies of zombie chitauri or Black Order members to attack and kill off other heroes and civilians while killing a few more Avengers himself before the final sacrificial moment from T'Challa.
2. Wanda Maximoff/Queen of the Dead
I'm reminded of how I felt about the Scarlet Witch in the Multiverse of Madness movie with this version of Wanda. Lots of awesome supernatural horror visual elements and carnage to enjoy with a strong performance behind it all, but questionable narrative elements propelling the character. I really enjoyed the Zombie Scarlet Witch stuff in this series from a surface level perspective quite a bit. The issue however comes with the fact that I'm still not entirely sure what her objective is and whether she's still zombified in her mind somehow or is she fully self aware Wanda that's just sinister at her core.
The fact that the series' primary threat is one that I'm scratching my head over what they're all about is bit of an issue. I'm not sure what the end goal is supposed to be here with her putting the world in her own illusion and whether or not it's Wanda or a broken minded Wanda due to the virus.
Major Negatives:
N/A
59. Wonder Man
Rating: 9/10
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service:
1. Ep. 2 - Ironman 3 Mandarin Footage
2. Ep. 6 - Character Photo Easter Egg: Captain America's Suit & Shield from Captain America Winter Soldier
3. Ep. 6 - Character Photo Easter Egg: Thor’s Suit From Thor: Love & Thunder
4. Ep. 6 - Character Photo Easter Egg: Black Panther's Mask From The First Black Panther Movie
5. Ep. 6 - Character Photo Easter Egg: One of the Iron Legion Suits From Ironman 3
6. Ep. 6 - Character Photo Easter Egg: Skrull From WandaVision Finale or Secret Invasion
7. Ep. 6 - Character Photo Easter Egg: Shuri’s Black Panther Mask From Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever
8. Ep. 6 - Christopher Nolan Namedrop (Director of The Dark Knight Trilogy)
-Overall Solid Production Values (CGI & Practical FX)
-Occasionally Strong Cinematic Direction
-Solid Character Debut
1. Simon Williams
-Character Writing Honors Previous Movies
1. Trevor Slattery From Ironman 3
-World Building
1. Ep. 4
An interesting concept with a club bouncer gaining dimensional super powers, later becoming a hit in Hollywood as a result of said powers, then becoming a washed up actor due to being type casted was an intriguing side plot in of itself. What I liked about it even more so is the fact that said actor receives another big shot in the movies but accidentally becomes a liability due to his powers which becomes the catalyst for a new law against super powered people in the entertainment industry. This idea of just one guy having a power malfunction leading to a liability clause in acting gigs is brilliant world building for the MCU. It also adds onto the Sokovia Accords painting the MCU as a place where super powered people are becoming more gradually frowned upon or cautionary tales.
-Solid Enough Storytelling Elements
1. I enjoyed the overarching idea behind the protagonist, Simon, being a super powerful individual that Damage Control is spying on, but who is really just a struggling actor trying to catch a big break for a successful career while keeping his abilities hidden. The journey of Simon trying to get this life changing Wonder Man role with all his personal baggage of being different from everyone and not being able to truly be himself which is then paralleled through the acting process and struggles is an intriguing narrative to follow along.
2. Ep. 8 - There's a great plot twist with Trevor Slattery utilizing his Mandarin role to take the fall for Simon’s explosive accident. It's a nice bit of character redemption and it also helps add a new layer to an otherwise questionable and controversial plot point in Ironman 3. To then have Simon, who is now a superstar now thanks to the Wonder Man movie, using his stardom to help break Trevor out of the raft by pretending to do research for a fake role with one of the Raft's employees was brilliant.
-Improves A Previous Movie/TV Series
1. Ironman 3
Wonder Man takes the questionably utilized Trevor Slattery character from Ironman 3 and gives him more of a layered background as a prior struggling actor desperately taking a role (which lead him to becoming the Mandarin) as well as someone who later finds redemption by using said role to save Simon. So now, when I look back at Ironman 3, I can see the desperate artist who needed the role of a lifetime becoming the Mandarin not realizing what he was getting himself into. Even through Ironman 3 does give you the bullet point version of that concept, the execution was tonally crushing in its goofiness in that movie whereas Wonder Man allows it to be a little bit more grounded. Trevor, to an extent, is now redeemed as a character thanks to this show.
Major Positives:
N/A
Minor Negatives:
N/A
Major Negatives:
N/A
60. Daredevil: Born Again Season 2
Rating: 9/10
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service:
1. Ep. 5 - Flashbacks To Matt & Foggy's past as attorneys in addition to Fisk and Wesley's business arrangements in the cinematic style of the Netflix Daredevil series.
2. Ep. 6 - Jessica Jones Series Theme Song Musical Cue
3. Ep. 7 - Luke Cage Namedrop
4. Ep. 7-8 - Brett Mahoney Cameo
5. Ep. 8 - Alias Investigations Door Sign
-Solid Character Design
1. Ep. 5-8 - Daredevil’s Paint Shredded Black & Red Suit
-Overall Solid Production Values (CGI & Practical FX)
-Overall Solid Action
-Decent Romantic Component
1. Matt & Karen's Relationship
-Solid Performance
1. Wilson Bethel As Benjamin Pointdexter/Bullseye
-Entertaining Character
1. Benjamin Pointdexter/Bullseye
This season has done an amazing job at displaying Bullseye's abilities in such a visually entertaining fashion. Every time he shows up on the scene to take out multiple targets, it's an absolute treat to see the level of accuracy and utilization of environment on display.
-Solid Villain
1. Benjamin Pointdexter/Bullseye
I thought they did a great job with developing Bullseye to be this chaotic variable in both the lives of Daredevil and Fisk. Giving Pointdexter this new focus to do one good deed to atone for killing Foggy by killing the Fisks (and by extension, the AVTF) as his twisted way to "balance the scales" was great. I quite enjoyed the idea of having this psychotic villain actually believe that he's on an arc of redemption while, in reality, he's just finding the means to justify scratching his murderous "itch" and getting revenge.
It's an interesting character to follow along due to the fact that we never quite know what he's thinking or going to do next, yet having fun along the way.
2. Wilson Fisk/Kingpin
I quite enjoyed Kingpin a little bit more this time around as we get to see him gradually losing his grip as a political figure throughout the season and veering into his true monstrous criminal persona towards the end. This story arc also gave us a great moment of terror and spectacle with Kingpin massacring costumed Daredevil sympathizers with his bare hands which was amazing and by far the most spectacular villainous moment that we've seen of this adaptation of the character.
-Character Writing Honors Previous Movies/Shows
1. The various callbacks to the previous Netflix run of MCU properties was effectively utilized to tie into the current storylines. The flashbacks of Matt & Foggy's relationship as attorneys dealing with criminal lives back then is used as the morality source for Matt saving Bullseye now to honor his late friend's merciful sensibilities. Fisk and Vanessa's first meeting flashbacks emphasizes their bond during the Daredevil Season 1's era before he loses her in this series.
Wesley being revealed as the one who hired Buck for Kingpin in the past ties into why Fisk holds Buck to such high esteem now. Jessica Jones' unspoken past connection to Matt with the Defenders series connects to her immediate partnership with him against the AVTF and Fisks's destructive reign over New York while also implementing Luke Cage into Mr. Charles' secretive operations.
-Solid Enough Storytelling Elements
1. Matt and Karen's mission to take down Fisk as fugitives while a rebellion forms against his reign over New York. During this arc, you also had surprisingly engaging side character conflicts within Fisks's own regime such as Daniel's suspicions and later clashing with BB's behind the scenes anti-Mayor Fisk exposure videos.
-Solid Ending
1. Ep. 5
Vanessa starts to show signs of brain damage which leads to her eventual death as Fisk is left in volatile emotional state.
2. Ep. 7
Matt's prayer carries over a montage of characters currently in times of struggle which leads to Jessica Jones showing up to him as an answer to his prayers and Buck killing Daniel after a long period of hesitation.
3. Ep. 8
Matt accepts police arrest and imprisonment due to his public outing as Daredevil, some of the AVTF officers are shown to be also imprisoned, Luke Cage comes back home to Jessica Jones stating that his work with Mr. Charles is finished, Bullseye is revealed to be Mr. Charles' new asset for his sketchy operations, BB gets her late uncle's old office at the Bulletin, Kingpin gets to be on his previously mentioned island but without Vanessa now. The only weak part of this ending montage is Heather putting on Muse's mask.
Meeting Expectations
1. Season 2 of Born Again had a little bit of an uphill battle with trying to improve from the issues of its prior season while proving on its own that it is indeed a return to form for the Netflix series. I felt that it did exactly that for the most part in its production values, storytelling direction, overall consistency, and pacing which was a major sigh of relief for me.
Major Positives:
-Fan Service:
1. Ep. 6-8 - Jessica Jones Guest Appearance
2. Ep. 6-8 - Brief Defenders Reunion with Jessica Jones & Daredevil Fighting the AVTF
3. Ep. 8 - Luke Cage Cameo
-Standout Performance
1. Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil
2. Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk
-Impactful Dramatic Character Interactions
1. Ep. 5
Fisk's Emotional Turmoil Surrounding Vanessa's Medical Crisis
2. Ep. 6
Matt and Karen’s Dramatic Conflict Regarding Killing Bullseye and Fisk
-Strong Storytelling Elements
1. Ep. 8
Matt uses the justice system to face Kingpin in court by publicly revealing himself as Daredevil as a means to use himself as the key witness to pin Wilson Fisk to the illegal smuggling of weapons in the harbor and saving Karen from being criminalized as a vigilante. This was an awesome way to both out Matt as Daredevil in a way that's dramatically compelling while also allowing Matt to uniquely fight Kingpin as a lawyer ultimately defeating him through the justice system. The conclusion with Matt convincing Fisk to leave in order to give New York peace as a show of grace was an impactful way to conclude their conflict this time around.
Minor Negatives:
-Underwhelming Character Debut
Angela Del Toro/White Tiger
Although I do feel the character works well enough conceptually speaking as a freedom fighter of sorts taking up the vigilante mantle of her late uncle who was killed by the AVTF, I'm just not feeling the overall behavior, performance, or even the choice of age here. Angela would've worked a lot better to me as someone a bit more older and mature who could get more organically involved in the story as a new vigilante powered by her mysterious amulet aiding in the uprising against the AVTF behind the scenes while also being a public figure rallying against their controversial actions that the residents could take seriously.
Thankfully, the character isn't featured in an overbearing amount, but from the brief tidbits that we did get, it just felt like Marvel was forcing in a new potential Young Avengers member for a specific demographic to hopefully connect to. Some of the teenage angst personality felt a bit cringeworthy to me and it doesn't help that her brief moments of action looked a little bit silly. I'll just have to say for now, this character isn't working for me onscreen though I do believe there is a natural place for her behind the scenes as a New York vigilante fighting against crime in her neighborhood. Maybe we'll see an older version of her down the road that's a bit more interesting to watch in terms of performance, character development, and action.
Major Negatives:
-Terrible Storytelling Elements
1. Heather's Character Arc
The therapist character, Heather, after her encounter with Muse and becoming in league with the Fisks was a bit of a questionable side plot that I wasn't too sure what direction Season 2 was gonna go. Unfortunately, despite how much of an improvement this season was as a whole in its storytelling, I'd say that Heather was a glaring error in creative judgement throughout most of her screen time. This whole idea of her gradually becoming more unhinged due to her experience with Muse having a psychological effect on her didn't work for me in the slightest once I realized how empty the idea felt.
There's a couple of ways that you could've taken this character and it just felt to me that they took the most forceful villain arc route that they could've possibly taken in a season that already had a strong enough offering of villainy to go around. There's just nothing here that feels organic as to why this celebrated therapist would become so attached to the Muse persona to the point of literally becoming her own version of him. Instead, what's much more reasonable, and would've made for a better story, would be the fact that she's so deeply psychologically affected by the attack, that she goes the extreme route in her sneaky character assassinations of masked vigilantes/criminals.
Her public reputation is one of a celebrated therapists who is used for court cases against vigilantes in identifying them more deeply through professional psychoanalysis. Behind the scenes however, she's a victimized person with a strong bias against anyone with a mask engaging in unlawful activities and is using her profession to put the power into her own hands to destroy these people's lives. This would've made for an interesting villain to have for Matt as a legal threat when defending certain people and the perfect weapon for Kingpin to use against vigilantes. All without the need to literally turn her into Muse.
Another direction, albeit very bold and admittedly questionably ambitious is to take the idea of her becoming Muse and going the supernatural route. And I'm only saying this to entertain her becoming Muse in the only way that I could see being interesting enough at the very least. That is to go heavier on her feeling his presence and seeing him in reflections (doing more visual creative things with him following her in different environmental manners) building up to the reveal that he's quite literally influencing her from beyond. You could lean into the supernatural here and say that Muse is something much more demonic in nature possessing her slowly as she becomes more cold hearted and numb seeing the world with a darker perspective regarding human life.
Have her scenes during Season 2 being one of investigation whenever she's not being used for character assassination against vigilantes as she dives into Muse's artwork and discovered journals. You can have this element of occultism in his work that ties into something demonic (perhaps even inhuman) which causes her to slowly lose her mind as she loses herself into his work. We see that Muse wasn't just some serial killer making art from victims' blood, but instead someone who was into some seriously dark and twisted stuff that essentially possessed him. Then, and only then, would I buy into her eventually going down some dark path into becoming a version of Muse herself depending on how they play that concept out.
Unfortunately, what we got in the show instead, is just some therapist with an apparent great reputation getting traumatized and going crazy until she becomes the person that attacked her simply because...it would give us another masked villain to deal with. Honestly, I don't know if they can redeem this character for me. I find her kind of annoying to watch now, so Season 3 will certainly have an uphill battle to deal with when it comes to me trying to enjoy her time on the show.
61. The Punisher: One Last Kill
Rating: 9/10
Minor Positives:
-Overall Solid Action
-Solid Dramatic Character Interactions
1. Frank's dramatic interactions with his imagined peers and family showed just how truly broken this character is deep down inside and I'm glad this movie didn't shy away from it. The idea of his hallucinations either talking down to him or reminding him of his pain, emptiness, or current aimlessness alongside Jon Bernthal's powerful performance really pulled on all the right heart strings.
-Character Writing Honors Previous Movies
-Solid Enough Storytelling Elements
1. I like the idea of the Punisher not having anymore targets to "punish" which puts him in a limbo state of dealing with his trauma without the emotional release of killing. Seeing Frank being forced to fight his inner demons via hallucinations of his past friends and family mocking him almost to the point of suicide only to then find his way back to a point of rebirth as a new kind of antihero was great. I thought they did a great job weaving in his daughter's presence as a beacon of hope in his life with a girl that he meets who thanks him for rescuing her and her family via "punishing" criminals.
This was a great character transition storyline showing Frank Castle in a uniquely low point in his life where he's aimless without a person to go after and kill now finding new purpose as a hero for a crime-torn neighborhood of his own making.
Major Positives:
-Standout Performance
1. Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/The Punisher
Minor Negatives:
-Slightly Underwhelming Villain
1. Ma Gnucci
This is one of those villains that I can't necessarily call bad by any means but rather just dull and forgettable in the grand scheme of things. She's someone who wants revenge against Frank for killing off her family who were all part of a criminal empire. I think the storytelling is perfectly fine surrounding her motivations to target Frank as well as her position as a powerful mafia queen of sorts being an interesting threat to have for a Punisher series. Unfortunately, I don't think the performance, directing, and writing of her one interaction with Frank was anywhere near as engaging to watch as the concept is on paper.
I'm just not sure if Judith Light was the right casting choice here for this role or if the direction and dialogue was simply not strong enough for her to really shine onscreen. Unless they decide to bring her back in some fashion to send more people after Frank in the future, I'm just not sure that I really care about this villain moving forward. That being said, I do think the idea of a powerful crime family's surviving member being alive out there with the Punisher in her sights is a cool concept for potential "surprise gang attacks on Frank" action segments.
Major Negatives:
N/A
62. Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Rating: 9/10
Minor Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Comic Book Cover Visual Easter Eggs
2. Tombstone Cameo
3. Scorpion Guest Appearance
4. The Hand Guest Appearance
5. Yelena Belova Guest Appearance
-Overall Solid Production Values (CGI & Practical FX)
-Occasionally Strong Cinematic Direction
-Creative Visual Direction
1. Spider-Man's first person POV shots swinging brings to mind the Andrew Garfield Spider-Man movies and does a great job at putting the audience's in the goggles of Peter. Speaking of which, there's a great shot that take place within the goggles themselves showing Peter's eyes reflecting the hud display as he's diving down that's pretty great.
2. Peter's Spidey Sense activating inside of his mind with Jean due to the Punisher firing a bullet towards them. This is visualized in the form of a dark endless void appearing in his mind scape's bedroom setting with the echo of a bullet being loaded and fired.
-Sci-Fi Fantasy Visual Direction
1. Jean Grey's
-Overall Solid Action
-Decent Romantic Component
1. Peter's Complicated Love For MJ Throughout The Movie
-Solid Performance
1. Tom Holland As Peter Parker/Spider-Man
-Solid Dramatic Character Interactions
-Solid Character Debut
1. Jean Grey
-Entertaining Character
1. Frank Castle/The Punisher
-Character Writing Honors Previous Movies
-Solid Enough Storytelling Elements
1. Peter's loneliness and complicated emotions turmoil as a lonely superhero is met with a new physiological transformation which brings new complexities to his character. This made for an interesting new arc for Spider-Man to tackle.
Major Positives:
-Fan Service
1. Bruce Banner/Hulk Guest Appearance
2. Frank Castle/The Punisher Guest Appearance
Minor Negatives:
-Hit Or Miss Comedy
1. I absolutely loved the idea of the Punisher wearing Spider-Man's mask and waving by the hospital window to distract the crowd so that Peter could escape. It's funny knowing how much he isn't a fan of masked superheroes and yet disguising himself as one of the most famous ones for a crowd. However, there was a weird and downright cringeworthy brief insert of him doing his Punisher "roar" (that's usually saved for intense action scenes) while swinging his arms around. It felt completely out of character and just a strange creative choice that I'm not sure what the intent was behind it.
-Underwhelming Villain
1. Bill Metzger
-Questionable Storytelling Elements
1. The Hand joining Damage Control is one of the weirdest creative choices that I've seen and one that felt completely out of left field. There is absolutely no way that I could see the Hand, as they were canonically established in the Daredevil series and The Defenders, just working for this government organization as extra muscle. Not at least without some additional scenes showing the Hand making some shadowy deals with Damage Control for military grade anti-superhero tech in return for having some of their soldiers act as protection.
But since we don't see or hear any of that happening, the way that it's displayed is that Spider-Man briefly fights the Hand as part of a slow-mo montage of villain fights, then the next thing you know, they act like normal employees for Damage Control. It just felt like some bizarrely shoehorned in villain guest appearance that had no real thought put into it merely having them for the sake of having a visually cool fight scene later on in the movie.
2. The effects of Doctor Strange's memory spell doesn't seem to be as concrete as it was displayed in No Way Home considering that both Ned and MJ show signs of gradual remembering after Peter nudges them.
Slightly Wasted Potential
1. Utilizing the Hand's presence in New York as a way tie in a perfectly suitable Matt Murdock cameo since Daredevil is the number one character who has major ties with them. He also so happens to be in New York and imprisoned which could've made for a great crossover conversation scene between Peter and Matt talking about both the Hand's agendas and the drawbacks and significance of having secret identities.
2. From the trailers, I was getting a strong vibe that Frank Castle was going to play the role of the unexpected mentor figure to Peter talking about the embracing of his inner monster and the morality conflicts that would come from that. However, in the actual movie, Frank feels just a tad bit wasted. I do like some of his scenes interacting with Spider-Man and it's awesome getting to finally see this version of the Punisher brought into the MCU's theatrical corner, but I did kinda feel as though his character wasn't given the well thought out utilization that I hoped for.
3. Peter's physiological transformation could've been slightly taken up another notch in its storytelling impact as the movie never really does anything substantial with it beyond organic web shooters. I think this would've been a great opportunity to implement a little bit of body horror into the mix (keeping it PG-13 of course). Diving into the arachnid DNA element even if it's just for a few nightmare sequences would've really displayed how scary this transformation is for Peter.
4. The villain cameo montage could've easily been a little bit more extensive in their individual confrontations and could've offered some great action scenes. Sadly, these cameos are just 5-second, mostly slow-motion, shots more than anything else which is kinda disappointing. I think giving each of these villains at least 30 seconds of dialogue interaction and/or action would've been highly satisfying and geek out worthy.
Major Negatives:
N/A
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