Eyes of Wakanda

Here's the show you probably haven't heard about because now Disney wants to act like they don't want to talk about any of the non-white shows that they have. If that above sentence triggered you in some way, you haven't paying attention how some big companies bury mention of their content to stay off the radar of the current administration. Never mind that the use of the word "woke" is been completely co-opted in the wrong way. 

They also moved up the original release date without any warning. Ryan Coogler is big time now and if you want to make money, you announce his projects. After the next Black Panther movie, if I was him, I'd be done with the Marvel business. You were mutually beneficial to each other for a hot minute, but that time has passed.

My bad, I got on my soap box, but this is my blog and I do what I want! Anyways! Eyes of Wakanda. It's a wonderfully short 4 episode series. It doesn't overstay it's welcome and there is rich, fertile ground for this franchise as a whole. Let's get to my review:

• I was not a fan of this animation style at first. It had to grow on me.
• With the above being said, it was very stylized and beautiful.
• Each episode is self contained, which is always welcomed. I'm a much bigger fan of episodic story telling.
• My favorite episode was the third one by far. It had a prior version of Iron Fist.
• The voice acting in each episode was very good. 
• I can't harp on it enough that I loved the episodic nature. The only through line is, Wakanda has had spies around the world forever in order to protect their secrets. Don't need more than that.
• Each episode is about 25 minutes, so you could watch it in one sitting if you choose.

There's really not much else I can say, since the series was so short. I highly recommend watching it. Side note, if you like the African nature of this show, I also suggest checking out "Iyanu" on HBO Max. They are completely unrelated, other than it has Africans in it. I'm just using Eyes of Wakanda as a gateway to another black, animated show. I'm nothing if not transparent.

I hope the powers that be give this show more episodes. 

Ironheart: Season One

In an effort to at least be relevant, I watched this show as quickly as my time would allow, so I could finish before it was spoiled for me. Unfortunately, it WAS, so I won't do that to you. But you come here, my tens of fans, to see what I think. I'll get right to it.

I loved this show. The episodes stuck with me long after they were over and that is a rarity with these shows. This was such a black show and that is probably why. There's unsaid things that we as a people just get when watching something like this. The fact that they got Disney money to do it makes it even sweeter. Per my new format, let me give you my bullet point notes:

• The Ironheart effects looked REALLY good. Most of these Marvel shows try to go above what their SFX budget allows (**cough** She-Hulk **cough** ), but that was not the case here. I was legitimately surprised.
• Riri was complicated and they delve as much as they can within six episodes. I don't feel like she made any moves that were inconsistent with her character. She is handling her grief throughout all of the episodes and you can see that manifest in ALL her choices.
• I loved the unique personalities of the Hood's crew. It was an "anti-woke" person's worst nightmare and I love it. I wish them a terrible day for eternity.
• At it's core in the comics, I think the Hood is a completely stupid character. They tried to ram him down our throats in the comics in the early 00's. He just doesn't work. Here, on a smaller scale he was alright. I liked him as the choice of villain because it sets up this magic versus tech confrontation.
• Picking up on the above point, I liked this magic versus tech throughline. Lord knows, I did not want to see two different people in iron man suits fighting each other again.  Normally I'll bitch about a difference in power sets (re: Captain America: Brave New World), but here I was surprisingly okay with it. Maybe it had something to do with them fleshing out the characters enough to know that their contention was personal, not simply good versus evil.
• The character of Natalie is fantastic and credit to the actress. Her and Riri put in a lot of emotional work.
• I don't know Chicago at all, but I feel like they showed you the black side of Chicago in this show and dealt with it with respect. The city felt like it's own character. 
• As is the way with these kind of stories, the heroes inadvertantly make villains out of friends. I'm not going to defend Riri, her ego set up one of her villains.
• LOVED seeing how they introduced Zora Stanton and I love seeing Cree Summer appearing in this even more. 
• I'm glad the Marvel cinematic universe got over their whole ethos of trying to make things realistic and finally embracing the magic side. I know that WandaVision and Doctor Strange crawled so that Ironheart could walk. I didn't say Agatha because this show was technically filmed long before that, so it couldn't reference anything there. 
• I do enjoy that we get a callback to the very first Iron Man by having another Stane in the show. What do I Mean? Watch to find out!
• I loved the fun way they showed the title card with each episode.

The final point I want to make and I wanted to break it out is the one negative thing about this show. It is not anything that is the show's fault. Everytime a show like Ironheart comes along (Black Female Lead, Black Female Directed, Black Female writers, hell, anyone not a straight white guy), the worst of the worst of the fandom come out to bash a show they didn't even watch. If you ever thought your fandom was free of racism, a show like this is the litmus test. 

In case you missed it, this show was review bombed before it was even released. People that never watched the show were giving it a 1 out of ten across the board and talking about how "woke" it was. First of all, some of these are fake fans. Ironheart has been around for almost a decade now, so it's not like she manifested out of nothing. 

Then there are the toxic-ass comic fans talking about how it's not accurate because she didn't have an A.I. of Tony in her suit, or Tony was able to build his armor in a cave as a way to dismiss what she accomplished. These type of people piss me off because they want their movies/tv shows to be EXACTLY like the comic book source material. I'm here to tell you, 75% of the time, that source material is shit and these shows are fixing some bad choices made back then because the showrunners have the benefit of perspective. I'll come out and say it, Riri is almost unlikeable in the comics. This show goes a long way to giving her some depth. Probably because they finally had a Black person writing for her. But I digress.

I said it before and I'll say it again, I think this show is legitimately good. It accomplishes what it needs to in a nice and tight six episode arc. It's layered, the characters are believable and are not perfect. The season ends on a cliffhanger and I pray to the old gods and the new, that she gets a follow up season. Strong recommendation to watch!

Daredevil: Born Again

Wow, it's been two months since I posted? Life has been lifing hard, so it has taken this series, to break me out of my slumber. Let me tell you, this took me back to those Netflix Marvel days in a good way. Daredevil was always the strongest show of that bunch and seeing the majority of the cast back has filled me with joy.

Before you go any further, yes, I loved the show. Now, let's get into the reasons as to why. I'm going to do this a little differently. I tend to ramble and I want to at least break out my points so you can take them in bite sized chunks, my tens of readers. 

Also, these are my OPINIONS. I want to be clear about that. But if you want to argue with me about any of this, my watch says I always have time. This should be easy to follow, so let's go.

The GOOD (or what I loved)

• The hand to hand fighting in this series has always been unrivaled. Even with all these shows that Marvel has done since going to Disney plus, this series beats all of them hands down. 
• The acting is always top tier. Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio are acting as if this is the last time they'll ever work. They're leaving it all out there. I know Kingpin's verbal ticks and mannerisms are always mocked, but if you watch the show, you know how unhinged and calculating he is.
• I can't explain it, but I've always loved the gritty look of the show. The production values are slick and even though I don't know anything about New York, it feels to me like this is authentic.
• Admittedly, the slow burn this show takes in ramping up, but man does it pay off. I also like that this season is the first arc of a larger story, so they didn't wrap things up quickly. I was afraid they would once we got to episode 8.
• There is something to the chemistry that Matt Murdock and Karen Page has that shows they are so good together. AS FRIENDS. Because Jesus, a man can be a friend to a woman without wanting to get in her pants.
• I liked the new supporting cast (for the most part) In this show. Specific shout out to "Cherry", the guy that knew Matt's double life and was a sounding board and moral compass for him.
• Geniune shocking moments. 
• Part of me wanted more of Muse, but I also am glad they wrapped him up pretty quick. He was a terrifying villain but doesn't have staying power.
• Bullseye is a menace. That fight in the first episode between him and Daredevil is what I'm talking about with my very first bulllet point. 
• They finally just call him Daredevil and not "The Vigilante". Cause seriously, New York is flush with Vigilantes. You need to be spceific!
• Even if it was short, I loved seeing a reference to White Tiger in this show and setting the stage for more. (I'm purposely being vague)

The BAD (what I didn't like)

• I love the Punisher in this show and I'm happy when he shows up as a foil to Daredevil. But damn, cartoony, excessive violence follows him and it is too much.
• Characters like Cole North, Krysten McDuffie are name checked for long time fans, but they serve no purpose here.
• Matt's relationship with Heather just felt off. I was never buying it or fully invested. She makes some questionable ass choices.
• For a show called Daredevil, we sure did have to wait a long time to see him in costume. There is a tipping point for how long you can draw out "anticipation" for a thing. This show crossed that line. 
• To follow up on the above point, I KNOW the point of the show is for him to get back after an extended time. They did a full year time jump, that's good enough. You don't have to make the audience suffer TOO.
• I've watched a lot of violent stuff over the years and to an extent, I'm desensitized. But this show (episode 9 in particular), when it wants to go hard, it goes way over the top. The fact that I mentioned the specific episode, you know what I mean. Gruesome, yes. But come on. I don't want to see that.

Agatha All Along

I have no good reason for not talking about this show sooner. So I will spare you my life details, that's not what you're here for! Agatha All Along, the series no one asked for, but Marvel being Marvel, had a whole in their schedule that needed to be filled.

Let me make an admission. I didn't really love Wandavision. So the fact we have a follow up to that didn't feel my heart with joy.

Well let me tell you, I loved this series. I wish Marvel would make more like these. It was very straightforward, didn't rely on a bunch of CG that it didn't have the budget for and it had characters that you could love. The scope of the story remained contained and intimate, something I want from my TV shows. Not everything has to be world ending.

I'm a Kathryn Hahn fan, so when this was announced, that's the only reason I paid attention. I was glad she got a bigger portion of the Marvel sandbox, even if for a minute. Also, this show coming out around Halloween is genius. If you don't do something with witches around Halloween, you missed the boat.

What I did not expect was the level of singing we got in this show and I mean that in a good way. That Witches Road song lived rent free in my head for weeks. All the actresses were great and I'm glad that for the MOST part, they were devoid of Marvel Cinematic Universe ties, except for the Scarlet Witch. All of that stuff is still hanging around.

This show had me in a chokehold. I eagerly anticipated each episode, to see what the next Witches trial would be and what wacky costumes they'd wear. I was not prepared for the reveals that happen in the back half of the show, but I thought they were handled well.

Before I go, I have to say that episode seven, "Death's Hand in Mine" was one of the finest episodes I've seen in a long time. I love a good non-linear story when done correctly. Think of everytime you've ever seen Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen and you'll get the idea.

Sorry I don't have much more to say, but I wrote this review way too long after I actually watched the show. I would highly recommend it though. 

Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994)

After watching the X-Men: Animated series, I figured, "What the hell, I'll watch that Spider-Man: Animated Series from the same era." This decision was also supported by a blink and you'll miss it cameo of Spider-Man from X-Men '97. I read speculation that seeing Peter and Mary Jane meant that Peter had found "the real MJ." I read that and was like, "What are people talking about? I don't remember that at all." I think it was because by the time the late 90's came around, I had jumped off the bandwagon for that show.

I can say now that I have watched all five seasons in it's entirety, I made the right call. For as much shit as I gave X-Men, that pales in comparison to this show. This show is remarkably bad. I'll get into my reasons for thinking that of course, but I didn't want to waste too much time before I got into my feelings on it. I will inevitably pull in comparisons to the X-Men show to prove my point. 

One thing I distinctly remember as a teenager when both this and X-Men were on is that X-Men had a Y7 rating and Spider-Man had a Y. I didn't fact check that, but my point is that the X-Men was the mature show and Spider-Man was for younger audiences. That is stark in the action that is presented. There's less hand to hand stuff and more laser guns misfiring like it was a GI Joe cartoon. X-Men sometimes stumbled into some cool action sequences, whereas all of Spider-Man's action sequences feel very boring. Spidey leaps out of the way of stuff, that's expected, but he plays so much defense, we don't see a lot of good offense. 

I was annoyed at the amount of stuff he literally threw. Either tossing bad guys or tossing stuff at the bad guys. Never any hand to hand combat, my bread and butter. To make things worse, throughout it's five seasons, this show repeatedly uses the same couple of clips of explosions, generic web swinging or Spidey shooting his web. They could be in the forest, something explodes and it's a shot of a city building having an explosion pop out. Maybe all the money in their animation went into the 3D backgrounds they tried to deploy. Even in 1994, those 3D backgrounds looked astonishingly bad.

While I'm railing on this show, let's talk about the animation a little more. This was some of the most safe and boring animation style that I've seen. It's colorful, but it doesn't feel colorful. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense, so what I'm trying to say is the coloring wasn't dynamic. This lead to some weird character design choices like Venom, who had a blue and red hue to him at all times. I get that if he is all black, it's hard to shape him and his movement, but it just looked so weird. When they bring in other characters such as the X-Men, Daredevil, the Fantastic Four, Doom, etc. they all just look bland and simple. X-Men at least used shadowing at times. I don't think this show ever heard of shadows.

There were also wild character choices made for this show. I feel like Spider-Man has a wide enough gallery of characters that he didn't have to stray too far out of his comfort zone, but they tried to anyway. They brought in the Punisher, Morbius, Blade and even the X-Men from the superior show as guest stars. Each appearance was watered down versions of these characters.  Again, I know it's a kid's show, but maybe you don't shoe horn in more violent characters into this show and sanitize them to the point where they don't feel like a threat. Also, Black Cat's origin is truly bizzare as it is fueled by Super Soldier serum and the ability to just...change at wll.

One thing I can't harp on enough. Spider-Man/Peter Parker is a real asshole through the majority of this show. He constantly whines about the state of his life, is rude to fellow heroes, blows off friends in weird ways and does this while constatnly chirping to himself and to anyone that listens. Spidey's whole thing is how much he jokes, but a lot of it is very annoying here. Marvel has put Peter Parker through the ringer, but I don't remember him whining about it as much as he did in this show. 

This show is caught between being a kid's show, but trying to have adult themes. I think it failed at both. His relationships with Felicia Hardy and Mary Jane felt weird and forced and I don't see what they want with the guy. There's cringeworthy plots with Hydro-Man, MJ's ex showing up and being super possessive and jealous. 

A final note. The stories this show tells. Boring. There's a watered down Secret Wars, there's some stuff with Golden Age heroes, Carnage shows up and a lot of Kingpin and Alastair Smythe stuff. Oh! Hobgoblin shows up before Green Goblin and Green Gobline is only Spider-Man's greatest archvillain. But no, let's shove Venom in here. The only thing I will respect about the show is each season had an arc that they stuck to. I can admire that kind of commitment to an idea, even if it's a bad one.

All in all, this show was an absolute chore to watch. I did it because I'm a masochist. Do I recommend anyone else watch this? Hell no. But if you're like me, you're going to do it anyway.

X-Men '97 Season 1 Review

Even after my blistering review of X-Men the Animated series, I was still excited for this show. I just didn't want it to be ANYTHING like the previous one that was fraught with so many issues. My feelings were relieved after the first episode, but then I thought, "Can they sustain this though?" The answer to that is an unequivocal yes. I will have specific thoughts at the last part of this review, but I wanted to give my quick thoughts on each episode.

Episode 1 - "To Me, My X-Men" - This episode went out of it's way to establish how a bitch-ass like Cyclops could lead the X-Men. He answered the call and I like how this show isn't trying to make you hate him like the previous one did. The action was top notch and did things in animation the old show could never dare to do. Peep Cyclops super hero landing and the team take downs of sentinels. The action here gives you hope that this show is not going to be playing around.

Episode 2 - "Mutant Liberation Begins" - In the first of many episodes that will hurt your soul, we have this episode. They ratcheted up the drama. This show is quickly establishing that it is not for kids. It's not afraid to tackle the theme of racism head on and it doesn't feel like it is bashing you in the face. My heart hurt for Storm, as she details her connection to the weather and how much it means when it is lost. Also, Magento was dropping bars.

Episode 3 - "Fire Made Flesh" - What I'm starting to really appreciate with this show is that each episode is self contained in that you get the beginning, middle and end of a story with no lollygagging. They took a years long plot of the Goblin Queen and condensed it down to ONE episode. I'm not a fan of that era and it really made Cyclops look like a heel. Here they humanize him. What is he supposed to do? Things get resolved and we move on. They don't draw it out for a few more episodes.

Episode 4 - "Motendo; Lifedeath Part 1" - This felt like a filler episode and in retrospect, the weakest episode of the season. I like the pairing of Roberto DiCosta and Jubilee, but I tepidly enjoyed this. They just threw away the rest of the team for a solo adventure with the youngest characters. Furthermore, they were caught in a video game created by Mojo. I would have loved to see everyone go against Mojo again, but it is what it is. Cool touch to have the original Jubilee voice actor appear. The other part of the episode let's us check in on Storm and Forge. After episode 2, I thought we wouldn't see Storm again until the finale.

Episode 5 - "Remember It" - This is the episode when shit got real. I was wrecked after this. There is so much drama and tension packed into one episode and it is masterfully done. We see the mutant dream of mutant Utopia in Genosha realized and the mounting drama in the unexpected love triangle of Gambit/Rogue/Magneto that comes to the most tragic of ends. I don't want to spoil it, but there will be tears shed. The destruction that happens is truly heartbreaking.

Episode 6 - "Lifedeath Part 2" - Interlude as we join the Shi'ar. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Mild spoiler, we find out that Professor Xavier isn't really dead. He's just been chilling with his alien girlfriend on her planet. Seeing Charles' anguish over his "children" and choosing between them and the love of his life was heartbreaking. You also find out that the Shi'ar are not as benevolent as you thought. We also get the other half of Storm's story. I'm glad they broke it up because it wasn't as interesting as I was hoping it would be.

Episode 7 - "Bright Eyes" - We finally see Rogue dealing with her grief and she is coming in hot on everyone. Her encounter with Cap was everything. It was good to see Rogue cut loose and then the moment when she lets herself feel her grief is also heartbreaking. I'm also so glad they properly brought Nightcrawler into this show.

Episode 8 - "Tolerance is Extinction, Part 1" - The start of the final three eps and it is a doozy. Once again, we get more great action and the threats are now real. The villain, Bastion, was revealed a few episodes ago and we're now seeing the fruits of his labor with his human sentinel hybrids. I was delighted by the tag team of Wolverine/Nightcrawler duo on the screen. The Wolverine POV of how Nightcrawler teleports was masterfully done. The return of a character we thought was dead makes a huge impact here. Now it's on.

Episode 9 - "Tolerance is Extinction, Part 2" - If you didn't think shit was getting real before, it is now. I read that the former showrunner referenced the Fatal Attractions storyline from the 90's in reference to this show. I knew exactly what that meant, but still wanted to see how they get there. One thing this show has that the previous one didn't? Balls. I hate that I'm trying not to be spoiler-y, but I will say that Xavier has returned (not who I mean in the previous episode that returned) and we now see a division in the team as it truly becomes Xavier vs. Magneto. This has been building all season and there is no shortage of fireworks. The battle becomes deadly.

Episode 10 - "Tolerance is Extinction, Part 3" - Thankfully, this show stuck the landing. This episode tied up a few threads from throughout the season and from the old show, while also bringing in something new. There was tension all over the place as the Xavier vs. Magneto rivalry took center stage once more. I love how complicated their relationship is and they explore that more here. Also, there were cameos aplenty! At the end of this episode, I was left wanting more. This means the show has done it's job. I finished my plate and I wanted seconds.

Now to get into my overall thoughts of the show. It exceeded all my expectations and is legitimately the best thing Marvel has put out in cartoons for years, except for one Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. Nostalgia is what pulled people like me in, but they KEPT me here with intricate, well thought out storylines that doesn't shy away from realistic issues. This show was not treated as something for kids and it was the best representation of the X-Men comics we have ever seen on TV or in the movies. I don't say this lightly.

I also want to get on my soapbox and address a few things. First off, Morph. When it was revealed that they were non-binary and using they/them pronouns, certain neckbeardy comic people took umbrage and talked about how being "woke" was ruining the X-Men. Number one, they're a shape shifter going between genders all the time, so this only makes sense if you think about it. How this was never a thing before blows my mind. Oh, I know why. Cowardice. Years ago they didn't want to offend people, but we're past that now. This only makes sense for their character and it's never an issue in the show. It's blown way out of proportion. 

Another thing I want to speak on: the issue of X-Men now being too "woke." Anyone saying this has never read an X-Men comic in their lives and it shows. Since Chris Claremont began writing them, that's all they've ever been. They were a diverse teams with different backgrounds dealing with prejudice against their ethnicities and layered on top of that, being a mutant. That has only been more enriched over the years. If you're wondering why I didn't credit Stan Lee, his original creations were five white people with powers and he said he made them mutants so he didn't have to explain how someone else got doused in radioactive waste or bitten by radioactive spiders. He created the X-Men, but he's not the reason they became who they are.

Anyway, complaints about the X-Men being socially conscious is both dumb, ignorant and dumb again. Shut the hell up. Moving on to another fake controversy. Gambit. In an early episode he is seen hanging out in the kitchen in a crop top and pony tail. Again, cries rang out that they were making Gambit, "gay". I guess those people never saw how people dressed in the 90's. Also, I don't think it matters if he was gay. Doesn't diminish his character in any way. Just more fake outrage that I wanted to address.

The voice acting is top notch and I was happy for the returning voice actors that still got it after 30 years. Beast sounded older, but mostly the same. That goes for the voice actors for Rogue, Nightcrawler, Storm and Wolverine. Special shout out to Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm. She is THE definitive voice of Storm. No one brings the gravitas and compassion that she does. It's that voice acting that made what happens in episode 2 so damn sad.

Matthew Waterson as Magneto is especially fantastic and about every line he delivers carries weight. Let's say it together y'all, Magneto was right.

There were a lot of cool little things that this show did to go that extra mile in making it great. If you're paying attention, the cast in the title sequence changes almost every episode depending on who is still around and who has left us. It's a small nod, but the fact they did it is amazing. Also, I read this and didn't realize it, but if you hear one of the character's voice actors read the "Previously, on X-Men" something bad is about to happen to them. So buckle up.

When I saw the initial character designs, I thought they were too simplistic. As I read, this was done to help make the animation smoother and I have never been more wrong in my life. The style was perfect, allowing for some top notch animation while also keeping the look of the 90's version. Even when the characters don their older costumes, they look amazing as hell. The fight scenes are also top notch and inventive.

Look, we all hated Cyclops in the original series and that series is a big reason we all hated him for decades. I'm here to tell you, I've come around on Cyclops the last few years and this show almost breaks it's back making you do the same. Some will argue with me, but I think they succeed. In the original series, he was the boy scout in the worst way. That arrogance is what made you hate him. Here, they explain the heavy burden he carries as a leader and WHY he acts the way he does. He thinks that's what Xavier would want and he doesn't want to fail in carrying on the dream. Then he gets thrown a curveball with Jean Grey and Madalyn Pryor. In the books, he handled it poorly and made you hate him. Here, you feel for the guy because what in the world would you do in this case? They also give him a lot of cool fight scenes and ups his competency with them. Now you get why they would follow him.

I loved the true sisterhood we see between Jean Grey and Storm. In the original series, it's like they didn't interact at all. The fact that they confide in each other and support each other was truly beautiful to see. Also, their exchange they before their last battle is fantastic. Jean: "Make them mind your weather." Storm: "And make them weather your mind."

I was surprised at how little we see Wolverine in this show. He's my favorite X-Man, followed by Storm, so it sucked to see him used so little. I also think the show figured out that in a show full of people that have ranged powers, having one brawler with a long claws isn't very useful from long distances. I was relieved that he wasn't getting beat up all the damn time like the old show, so I can forgive this. He gets a few moments here and there, but I feel like season 2 will spend more time with him given what happened at the end of this season.

This show was an absolute emotional rollercoaster and I'm sad that it is over already. I'm also glad they stuck to 10 episodes so that they don't overstay their welcome. It also keeps the storytellers locked into their story without straying too much. It kept things tighter for sure. 

I would recommend the original X-Men series to no one. I would recommend X-Men '97 to anyone. It's that great. Those high scores you may have seen with reviews are valid. This show went above and beyond and it's disheartening to know that Marvel fired the showrunner before this aired. He at least mapped out the second season, but we'll see what happens from there. I better start seeing a lot more X-Men merch and Marvel better get their asses in gear to bring them to the movie. The world is ready to embrace them again.

X-Men: The Animated Series

Like many of you, I grew up with the X-Men cartoon in the 90's. Well, technically I was 12 when the show started, but those were my formative nerd years. Surprisingly it was THIS show and not Batman: The Animated Series that was the full blown start of my relationship with comic books. I had dabbled before but it was X-Men that birthed the interests I still have to day. I saw the premier "Night of the Sentinels" in the US, just before we moved to Germany, where I lived for the majority of the show's run. I watched the first two seasons via the color coded VHS tapes I bought from the BX or by watching them on British cable. My relatives proved unreliable in recording me anything, so when we had a brief return to the US, I made sure to record a few episodes on tape.

Those first two seasons, I watched multiple times and I can quote most of them and remember very specific musical cues and scenes. I was all in on this show and have nothing but fond memories.

When Disney Plus started, I started a slow rewatch of the series. When X-Men 97' was announced and with it coming out tomorrow, I accelerated my consumption of the show's five seasons. It was then I was met with a harsh truth... this show is bad. Real bad. Our collective childhood have warped this show into something that it isn't. Good.

Let me elaborate. This show had a particular style that worked when it wasn't moving. Everything was covered in shadows, even when they are standing in the light of day. Batman: The Animated series came out a year before this and looks so much better by leaps and bounds. They clearly had the money that X-Men did not have. There are so many animation gaffes and while the characters move okay some of the time, the backgrounds are laughable. In later seasons (ALL of season 5), the animation is downright offensive. I didn't do any research, but they clearly started using other studios of lesser quality for the animation and it is painfully obvious. Our first exposure to this is the first two episodes of Season 3, "Out of the Past" that features Lady Deathstrike. Another example is "Cold Comfort" that is a clunky episode that introduces us to Iceman. There are so many more misses than hits in the last three seasons. 

The X-Men had a rich history up to this point and I understand why they would want to adapt so many of their stories, including the grand daddy of them all, the Phoenix Saga. The problem is they have to sanitize it so much for a kids show that it feels hollow. This is the same for any other major story that they had to adapt. I know this is a kids show, but even though you are lowering the violence, you don't have to insult our intelligence. I hate to compare back to Batman, but that show had smart storytelling and they did not box themselves into adapting every Batman story under the sun.

I want to take a quick pause from pouring out my disgust by offering some praise. The voice acting on this show is top notch. The performances here set in our minds how these characters actually sounded and they did a remarkable job matching up everyone. With all the bad things that I will lay out about this show, the acting is a saving grace. If you close your eyes, you can be introduced to a wonderful radio drama. Maybe that's the way you should watch this show, honestly.

Now, back on my soapbox. This show is guilty of single handedly ruining our perception of Cyclops for at least twenty years. Before this show, in the comics, Cyclops could stand toe to toe with Captain America as a battle strategist and tactician. In this show, he is whiny with the most punchable face you've ever seen. Wolverine especially punks him and dismisses him so much, you wonder how he could ever lead anyone. This show also makes the mistake of giving us numerous solo episodes featuring Cyclops. Taking the least interesting character and devoting entire episodes to him was a bad move. On the flip side, I think the solo episodes with Wolverine is when the show was at its best.

Speaking of uninteresting characters, I like Beast. But I don't LOVE him. He also gets a lot of solo episodes and he is probably the second least interesting character. That's not fair. Morph is the second least interesting character. So Beast is the third. Every team needs the smart guy though, so he fits the bill. Unfortunately for us, when they pair the team down for some episodes, he seems to always find his way in. In later seasons, they give him a deus ex machina backpack and then that is when the fun truly begins. To be fair, I don't think they knew what to do with him.

By the way, Jean Grey. The most useless character in this show. She is an omega level threat in the comic books, but she's relegated to being the object of affection between Scott and Wolverine. And a daughter figure to Professor X. The Phoenix Saga doesn't really work because we're not invested in her at all, so when she does a heel turn, we don't care. We know how it goes in the comics, but if you're watching this show without knowing any of the comics, it feels strange and that's the lens I'm viewing this through.

My final gripe with the show and my biggest one, is Wolverine. They have to nerf him so bad that whenever he acts like a threat, you don't believe him. In the comic books, he was FEARED. He was the prototypical loose cannon that could go off the rails at any moment. With that, he also got respect because he was willing to do what no one else would. Given his power set, he is the character that constantly gets dunked on, because he can take it. But by being the punching bag, as a viewer, you can't take him seriously. I get it. A dude with metal claws that cut through everything can't be slicing up people. So he only truly unleashes when he has to fight robots or chop up weapons.

I know you may have fond memories of this show. I did. You may think, "But Kevin, there are a lot of great episodes that I love, what are you TALKING about. You're such a hater." Yeah, I thought that too. And yes, I am. There is way more bad than good. Do yourself a favor. Remember this show how it was cause if you watch it now, the warts on this thing are going to show. If you ARE going to watch it, stop after season two.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur - Season 1

If I had been on top of my shit, I would have had this out during Black History Month. But I don't, so I didn't. Don't let my tardiness take away from what I'm about to say about this show. For those that want to know what they're getting into, this will be a glowing review. 

Before I get there, I feel it is important to mention how this show differs from the comic book series of the same name, which I also read avidly.

In the book, Lunella Lafayette (Moon Girl) is borderline unlikeable with no redeeming qualities. She's a super genius, with all the personality quirks that comes with someone that is genius level. Egotistical, prickly, feeling no need to have any friendships. Throughout her series, she gets by without truly making friends and doesn't seem to have an arc where she improves. As much as I wanted to always recommend it, that made it a tough read.

Thankfully, the show does away with that. Lunella is still a super genius, but she is trying to fit into a world that she is smarter than. They rightfully root her in her family and she has a best friend that also serves an important role in her crime fighting with her double life. Not to mention, Devil Dinosaur is more of a character here and you have the makings of a very fun kids show.

Going deeper into what I love about this show is the animation style which has a graffiti look and is gorgeous to look at. Everything pops and they make stylistic choices throughout the show during action scenes or to convey different moods to match what is happening on screen. The consistency of the animation and specific look of this show makes it the best looking Marvel animated show in easily the last decade. I tried to watch their Avengers, Hulk, Guardians of the Galaxy shows the past few years and they were all bad and looked cheap as hell. This is why DC consistently kicks their ass on the animation front. This show is the only one I would add to an argument of "Hey, Marvel has good animated shows! There's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur..." and then stop right there.

The other thing that is great about this show is the soundtrack. After the first episode, I went out and bought the soundtrack and I was not sorry. It is amazing. Raphael Saadiq was in his bag. There's even a track with Laurence Fishburne singing, which is fantastic.

The voice talent assembled on this show is top notch. The aforementioned Laurence Fishburne was an executive producer on the show and lent his voice to the Beyonder character that shows up. Alfre Woodard also has a role here as the grandmother and she is also a steadying voice within the cast. I don't know who Diamond White is, but she's perfect as Lunella and is also instantly likeable. Hell, they got Wesley Snipes as a guest voice. Clearly everyone enjoyed taking part in this project on the voice cast side and it shows.

I loved how this series is based around life in the Bronx and the Lafayette family owning a skate rink, so there's a lot of skate rink stuff sprinkled throughout the series. Like a kids show, there are little lessons taught in each episode and it pays off on a big mystery that had driven the story. The cliffhanger is also very good!

Everyone is extremely likeable and a lot of fun. The villains are throwaways, but that is beside the point. HIGHLY recommend watching this and now that season two has dropped, go watch that too. If you got Disney+, you have something new to binge to hold you over until X-Men '97.

Echo

My only regret about this show is that I didn't write about it immediately after watching. Unfortunately for me, that was a few weeks ago, so details are going to be hazy, so I'll speak in broad strokes. 

First off, I liked it. It harkened back to the days of Netflix Marvel, when things were gritty and grimy and self contained. Those shows I felt gave us New York as one of the characters, displaying the different boroughs. Here, we spend most of our time in Oklahoma of all places and the setting also feels like a character. And like those Netflix series, I liked that you get time to breathe within that environment. UNLIKE those Netflix series, they didn't stretch this out into 13 episodes. They kept it a nice and tight five episodes. And most of those episodes weren't even close to an hour. Just another small thing I appreciate. Know your story and be concise. 

I'll ignore how Marvel is trying to do mental gymnastics to back into having Kingpin and all of this tie into their cinematic universe, after going out of their way to make sure the properties never meet. It's good to have Kingpin back, they just need to make sure he stays in his lane. He is a crime lord, but he is not a super villain on the level of Thanos, let's pump our breaks.

Anyways, back to my main point. I thought this show was good. I love that we're finally getting more Native American representation in our media as they have been long overlooked. Admittedly, this also shows Marvel's lack of representation on this front. Outside of Forge, Thunderbird and Warpath from the X-Men and Shaman from Alpha Flight, you would be hard pressed to think of any other Native American characters outside of Echo. 

I also think the character (and outstanding actress Alaqua Cox) fare much better here than in the comics. I ranted at my spouse about how this character is created in the comics. They out out of their way to say that she is deaf, but can read lips to understand people. Then damn near every artist shows her standing off to the side, behind, below, above, etc. and NOT IN EYELINE of everyone she talks to and they have regular conversations. I know it's asking a lot of an artist, but I have seen nary a one try to draw ASL. So the fact in this show they took great pains to be aware of all of these details was refreshing. I hate that my bar was so low. I think it had more to do with the actress as in they just COULDN'T do that. 

Sorry, I got off my main point yet again. I thought it was shot well, it moved with minimal slow down (there was some) and I loved all the supporting characters. I'm going to ignore the powers they gave her because it seems that Marvel can't help itself. You can't just have a regular ass character anymore (outside of Hawkeye). That comes with the territory. The hand to hand action also harkens back to those Daredevil days, which is what I'm sure they were going for. Hell, the action in that Hawkeye series wasn't bad either. So keep that up. My only complaint is that there wasn't more of it.

In the end, I think it is worth a watch. I hope this is a formula that Marvel uses with their other shows from now on (five to six episodes max, concise storytelling).

Loki: Season 2

Although I finished this weeks ago, I'm just now getting around to writing about it. What you can take about that is my "meh" feeling with Marvel shows that leaves me ready to move past them, rather than talk about them. But then I'm not doing my duty for YOU dear reader, so let me give you my thoughts.

Like the first season of Loki, I thought this was okay. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. What I respect about it, unlike the other shows, is it has this water cooler effect to it that I can't explain. To be more specific, it feels like appointment viewing and then you want to talk about it with your friends or co-workers and then guess about what happens next. Out of ALLLLLLLLLLLL the shows that Marvel has done, this show and Wandavision are the only ones I felt this with. It probably has something to do with the fact that these shows usually have the potential to change the overarching narrative of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

So does this show do that? Well, yes and no. The series has done a great job of creating a redemption arc for this version of Loki and we've watched him struggle with trying to be better from the first episode of the series. In this season, he makes the ultimate sacrifice and although I won't say what that was, this MIGHT have implications for the larger MCU. I say might because I have zero faith in Marvel and what they are doing right now. They have been stumbling into good content. Phase 5 has been a nightmare, with no real direction.

So let me start with what I didn't like. This show is six episodes, but there are long stretches that it feels middling. This show wants to go go go because there is a big crisis coming, but it takes it's time getting there and makes us sit in their character moments for too long. I like character development as much as the next guy, but this show didn't add a whole lot of new stuff to them. I know we had questions about what Mobius and the rest of the TVA were up to before they "joined" the TVA, but I don't think we needed to see it. When Mobius kept talking about water skis, I didn't WANT to see why. It's an interesting quirk, but I don't need it explained like we got. It is okay to leave stuff to our imagination.

Also, some of the situations just felt contrived. The major issue of the season is solving how to fix the time stream going through a time loom. Something that took up about three episodes. I think the problem with a show like this, with the stakes being as high as they are, you know it's going to get fixed, so the sense of drama isn't really there like they think. The only thing you're wondering is what lengths Loki is going to go to in order to fix it. After all this, it's not like he's NOT going to fix it. The search for Sylvie, really didn't affect too much in the end. At least that's what I remember. Gimme a break, it's been a few weeks. For me, that might as well be years. I watch a lot of shit. What also irks me is that at times, Loki acts as a regular dude, then remembers he has powers. The show found a way to nerf him in weird ways. 

One of the things I've liked about this show, although it makes no sense, is this weird, 50's aesthetic everything has. You don't normally see that with any sci-fi show when time travel is involved, but they have their own unique style and they stick to it, never wavering. I can respect that.

The strongest part of the show that I liked, were the actors. This is a great cast and they all play well off each other. Tom Hiddleston has been putting on a clinic in this series and with his time playing Loki coming to an end, it's been a fun journey and he has easily been Marvel's best villain (turned hero). Jonathan Majors is back in dual roles, playing Victor Timely and then Kang. The stark difference between their portrayal really shows his range and I hope he gets to stick around. Yes, I know he's in legal trouble, so we'll wait for that to play out. I will also keep my thoughts to myself.

I've never liked Owen Wilson more than I do here. He is as understated as can be and that's a good thing. And no, please don't point me to other stuff he's done, I don't care THAT much. Let me just have this show. 

The other thing I liked, even though I complained about how contrived some of the situations are, I'm a sucker for time travel story and that is here as well. It's really used to good effect in the last episode. Even though it's been weeks, I'm not going to reveal any of the twists. I'm not a monster.

Like the first season, I kept waiting for something big that effects the entire MCU. Although something big does happen, it's not what I was expecting. Let me say this though, folks. The multi-verse is here to say, whether we want it or not. 

Would I recommend this? Eh, it's definitely not the worst thing in the Marvel. This has been one of the more bright spots in the million TV shows that Marvel has put out because this one actually means something in the larger universe right now, doesn't go outside of it's budget and has wonderful acting. 

My Adventures with Superman

My poor, beleaguered blog. I swear one day I'll consistently post to you. And post on timely topics. Today is not that day for ONE of these items. 

It is no secret that DC has been destroying Marvel when it comes to animated features. I mean, does Marvel even make them anymore? Other than this year's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (which I will talk about soon) I can't even think of anything. While there is adult fare, like Harley Quinn, we skew in the other direction with this new show on HBO Max. Well, it's not new anymore by the time I got around to reviewing this, but whatever. You get my drift.

We've been subjected to many different versions of Lois and Clark over the years. This show has to be the most wholesome thing I have ever seen. It has an anime look and some of the anime sensibilities, but when you get past all that, you have a wholesome versions of the early days of Superman that you will ever get.

Some may be upset at how they play fast and loose with the character designs by making Jimmy Olsen and Perry White black. If that stuff still bothers you, I don't know what to tell you. It's a small thing, but I like the design of giving Lois more of a pixie cut than the long hair we're used to. Also, Superman isn't some barrel chested brute who acts nice. Here, he is legitimately trying to find his place in the world and how to use his powers.

This show makes it fun to watch him try and figure it all out, while trying to lead dual lives. We also get to see him act like a news reporter, which you would be surprised how little you see that these days. The voice acting is very good and I love the redesign of lower tier Superman villains like Livewire and Parasite. If you want to argue that Parasite is top tier....come on. Superman has one of the weaker rogues galleries, so they picked the best of them without reverting to using Lex Luthor right away.

I thought this season was paced very well and I like the conceit we're getting with American animated series like this were you get ten episodes in a season and that is it. Story threads like, will Lois find out Superman's secret identity are resolved quickly. Real quick, on that note. It was both a fun and heartwarming reveal when Lois discovers who Superman is.

The trio of Lois, Clark and Jimmy are a lot of fun and I can't wait to see them on more adventures. Each of them brought a little something to the table, so Jimmy and Lois don't seem completely useless. It helps that all the voice acting is completely endearing. If you're a Superman fan or just want a light hearted, not anime to watch, I highly recommend this. 

Secret Invasion

He looks as bored as I was watching this show

I finished this about a week ago and I Just haven't gotten around to doing it, so here we are. I thought those days in between would help me cool off, but as I started writing, all that vitriol came back and then some. You know all that hate I typically save for DC movies. Buckle up, because that energy is being redirected to this show. Normally I am even keeled when it comes to my beloved Marvel. This was a show that I tried to force myself to like and I just. COULD. NOT. DO.IT. Beware, I'm going to have to do some spoilers here, there's no avoiding it this time.

I like spy dramas, but I've never been so bored by a spy story in all my life. Whatever magic spell Marvel used to have on me did not work this time. This show is beyond underwhelming, I was invested in literally no one and we get to see a lot of great actors get wasted. 

Now that I've let that out, let me get into more specifics about what I didn't like in this show. First of all, this is a show we should have gotten like five years ago, at the height of Marvel's powers and when we were clamoring for more Nick Fury. Now, they trotted this show out to fill a hole in the schedule. Marvel, we're okay if we get 0-1 shows a year at this point. We've gone past the point of oversaturation.

This show made me question if I was too hard on past shows like Loki or Moon Knight. Both of which I nitpicked, but I would gladly take either of those a second time over having watched this.

When Skrulls showed up in Captain Marvel, I was excited. You all know your boy is a fan of the Fantastic Four, so this felt like a precursor to them showing up. They were excellently used in that movie. Then we never really see them again until this show. A show that while expensive, seemed to follow TV show budget rules. This is a show about shape shifting Skrulls infiltrating the world's governments and there was probably 20 minutes of actual Skrull footage out of about 3 and a half hours of show. 

The whole, "we have to stay in human form so you can get used to it" conceit was such bullshit. To me that screams, "Look, the Skrull make up is super expensive, so let's just save it for brief moments and we'll get the most out of it."

Our guy Talos, from Captain Marvel movie spent the majority of his time as a Skrull in that film. So much so, I didn't know what the actual actor looked like. Here, he's just straight up playing himself. The only time we see him in his true form is when he is killed. Pretty unceremoniously. Speaking of unceremonious deaths, they straight up fridged Maria Hill. I was happy to see her back, but it doesn't matter because she doesn't make it out of the first episode. A death that was meaningless. Someone better than me can go into depth of how they did her dirty.

I'm leading up to Nick Fury, but before I get there, let's talk about the main bad guy, Gravik. I swear every third Marvel property has a bad guy who's sole motivation is, "You lied to me or treated me badly, now the whole world must pay." It was straight up mustache twirling villainy in this show. A more sophisticated story about Skrull spies turning the world against itself is instead reduced to standard comic book fare. Furthermore, we finally get a version of the Super Skrull and it is completely wasted. 

Almost to Nick Fury. I want to touch on Emila Clarke being pretty wasted in this show as well. She's Talos's daughter and they are estranged when we start. There was a lot of family drama to unpack here, but we don't spend a lot of time because I guess it doesn't serve the story. It's also some flimsy ass motivations as well. Her story doesn't come to a satisfying conclusion.

Alright, Nick Fury. The main character of the show. They spend so much time showing Nick being a step behind on everything. They talk about how great he used to be and we know it cause we've seen it. You spend five of the six episodes waiting for him to get back to peak Fury and get his iconic look. When you finally get it, you're not excited. You're more like, "It's about damn time!" only for the show to end. I don't know what it was, but Samuel L. Jackson's portrayal felt off this time. He was a lot more jokey than he ever was. It didn't feel right. Also, we have to admit that he's literally in old man, so you can't hide his old man walk anymore.

This whole show spends it's time showing how sneaky the Skrulls are, but it's never established how any of our heroes could even spot one if they tried. As if Fury didn't have some Skrull locator cooked up at some point. So there is fake tension on who's a Skrull versus who isn't. Furthermore, with a literal Super Skrull roaming around, you're telling me not ONE of those planet's heroes could show up to help out. This whole "Fury wants to do it alone" is also nonsense. You can't afford the movie actors showing up in this show is what it is. Sorry Marvel, you can't build how this is a connected universe and then conveniently exclude people when there's a world threatening event. Pick a lane. Make this story about the Skrulls JUST going after Fury then.

This show had the most whole unsatisfying ending of a show I can ever remember. Keep in mind people were upset about She-Hulk's meta ending. We get essentially a big battle between two super skrulls and I was so thoroughly unimpressed and downright bored. When it was over, I was like, "Wait, THAT was the big ending fight?" Nick Fury wins the day through a proxy, who he barely collaborated with. Good riddance.

The final thing that infuriated me about this show. In episode two, we get one of the single best conversations in MCU history (in my opinion) between James Rhodes and Nick Fury. I say one of the best because it's two black men in the mist of all this super hero stuff being real with each other in the way two black people would be. All of that is completely undercut, when you find out Rhodey has been a Skrull this whole show and potentially even as far back as the Captain America: Civil War. They leave his when that switch would have happened open to interpretation. They only say it's been for a long time.

This plot point is what I hated about the comics version of Secret Invasion. You find out that characters you invested in for years are not really who you liked after all. In the comics, they at least kept that contained to C List characters. Rhodes is an A-Tier character by default right now. This shit feels like Spider-Man's clone war back in the mid 90's that caused me to stop by Spiderman Comics for at least a decade, out of spite. 

Marvel needs to right their ship and pronto. They built up all this good will in us with their execution up to Avengers: End Game. Since then, they've been coasting on that and now that's run out. I WANTED to be excited about "The Marvels" or "Loki" season 2, but at this point, I watch Marvel stuff out of my own internal obligation versus being excited. Trust me, you can pass on this one and it pains me to say it. Find better uses for your time. Go take up art. Go watch literally any move in the world. Your time would be better spent.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special

Hi there. It's that friend you have that is in to comics. I know this blog should talk more comic stuff, but there's SO MANY SHOWS based on comics, my focus has shifted a little. So the topic of this post is that Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday special that popped up on Disney+ a week ago. What I am going to say is independent of this review, but I gotta say it. I don't love the exponential increase in Marvel content Disney has been pushing out. This is going to accelerate people's super hero burnout. We have long ago reached a oversaturation point. Have they been good? Mostly, yeah, but they have not paced themselves. By the time they get to the bottom of the vast list of characters, no one is going to care anymore.

Sorry. This special. James Gunn has been hit or miss for me. I loved Guardians of the Galaxy and Peacemaker. I hated Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 and The Suicide Squad. What did I think of this? I think it falls in the middle. It was fun and I liked it a little bit, but I definitely didn't love it. 

There are some good music numbers here and sorry if this is a spoiler, but we get Kevin Bacon, a fun payoff to a joke way back in the first movie. 

My issue with this special is it feels like they didn't have the actors' schedules lined up, so it was mostly a "Who's available and let's push a thing out." kind of thing. Unfortunately for me, that meant spending time with two of my least favorite members of the team, Mantis and Drax. Peter Quill, Nebula, Rocket and Groot make what feels like cameo appearances in something that should have had more of them. 

Also, Drax and Mantis feel like an odd pairing. They did what they could, but I found myself trying to make myself like this more than I actually did. That told me how I really felt. I think they could have gone with a fun, "Previously on Guardians of the Galaxy" to get us up to speed at the beginning because it has been a long time since we've seen this group on their own. I know they appeared in Thor: Love and Thunder, but here they are on Nowhere, set up as leaders, etc. and I don't remember ANY of that happening before. They don't mention any adventures with Thor either, so where in the timeline does this even sit?

I mean, I really don't have much else to say about this, other than the song about Christmas by this band, 'The Old 97's' that plays over the credits. I have high hopes that they will be on track for the third movie, then they lose James Gunn to DC for the foreseeable future. A loss for Marvel, because he fits their aesthetic to a T and now he is going to bring that humor to DC, where it is sorely needed. It's Christmas time, so get your Christmas fix.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Season 1

I put season one, because there is no way this doesn't get a second season. It is more than deserving. Oh, hello. Welcome to my review of the recently finished She-Hulk series on Disney+. Another in an exponentially growing list of Marvel properties getting TV shows. The money train left the station a long time ago and it seems just about any and everything is getting green-lit. Fortunately, they have all mostly been successful in one way or another. I think this show falls in the success category.

I will put this out here. I'm a little biased. I've been reading every iteration of She-Hulk for almost the last twenty years. She does the fourth wall breaking that Deadpool does, but less annoying. Correction, Deadpool does the fourth wall breaking SHE does. It's just his property got released into the public first. Anyways, I was excited for this show when I heard it was happening. I was even more excited when I heard that the talented Tatiana Maslany was cast as the titular character. I didn't need to hear anything else to get me on board. They did tease that Mark Ruffalo would be returning as the Hulk as well. So I knew they would at least treat this right.

With all this being said, I truly enjoyed this show. It was a delight for me. With nine, thirty minute episodes, it was the right amount of show. I'm sure money is the reason, but I appreciate that Marvel keeps their shows short. They also get the right showrunners who have a vision that is unique to them (re: Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel). In this case it was Jessica Gao. So glad they continue to get female showrunners to run shows about their female characters. Shocking, I know. 

Let's talk about the amount of money spent on this show, real quick. With the initial trailers, I was very worried about the special effects. Behemoths like She-Hulk, The Hulk and Abomination need a big budget behind them to pull them off. So is that possible in a TV show? Eh, well they tried their best. They tried to write around She-Hulk not appearing ALL the time, but her CG was shaky at best. Not terrible in small doses, but the cracks would start to show the longer she appeared on screen.

Fortunately, I thought the writing was good. The humor hit all the right notes for me. There were a lot of deep cut jokes or Marvel Characters (El Aguila?! The Porcupine?! Mr. Immortal?!?!) that tickled me. I also loved the way the fourth wall breaking aspect of the character was worked in. Tatiana delivered them perfectly. I mean they just go and name drop the X-Men? Loved Jen's sidekick, Nikki and their interplay

For a Hulk show, some won't be happy that this show is lacking in the action department. I'm completely okay with that. I feel like it would expose the budget this show didn't have. I liked the focus on the seemingly normal problems for Jen as she navigated the world through herself or her alter-ego. 

I also loved that this show continued to poke the bear that is the white male dominated comic book fandom. This show exists to piss off fanboys like that and I am here for it. So much material can be provided to a show like this by them. With the penchant for fourth wall breaking and working it into the plot itself, they were able to poke at it. 

Finally, the cameos. I know it can play like a who's who of who do we have available, but I loved the choices here. Seeing Wong is ALWAYS a delight. I also loved seeing Tim Roth re-emerge as the Abomination. Then we get to see Charlie Cox return as Daredevil, with the red and yellow costume. The difference here is we get wise cracking Daredevil, not tortured soul, lapsed Catholic Daredevil. Thank god for that. There was just a different, fun energy about him. We're not used to seeing him ACTUALLY smile. Loved his involvement in the show. Oh, let's not forget to mention Madisynn. Spelled with two n's and one y and not where you think. It was a show stealing turn and I liked her unlikely friendship with Wong. Also, thankfully, they didn't go back to that well again THIS season.

Oh! One more thing! We need to talk about Larry from Perfect Strangers being in this show! Good for him finding work. Maybe he has been working steadily, I don't know. Doesn't matter.

This show was a lot of fun, didn't overstay it's welcome and I thought it brought She-Hulk into the Marvel Universe in a fun way. I can't wait to see other cameos at some point in future seasons. It has to happen. 

Werewolf By Night

Sneaky Marvel. This just snuck out to Disney+ with little fanfare, but what a nice surprise it was. I remember seeing a trailer for this a while back and then instantly forgot about it. Being as we're in Halloween season, it's perfect timing. Let me get right to it.

This is the Marvel short we didn't know we needed. It was a lot of fun. It harkens back to the old days of monster films. It's in black and white for the most part, with pops of color here and there to accentuate things. There's the cigarettes burns in the top right corner of the screen as if it was on a projector. The way some of the shots are framed and just the general vibe of it had an old monster feel. However, the action and special effects were not. There was some great hand to hand action mixed in here and that kind of stuff is my bread and butter. There were legitimate moments that made me go, "Oh SHIT", which is the space I like to be in when I see some cool martial arts moves come out of nowhere.

The horror side of Marvel I know very little about. It's not my cup of tea, but I can appreciate some aspects of it from afar. I didn't know anything about the Werewolf by night character, nor did I care. You get what you get here and I thought it was great. I know just a little more about Elsa Bloodstone because they've been trying to give her a push the past few years, including her in video games and more appearances in the comics. She's a certifiable bad ass and shows that here. All of the actors are perfectly mysterious and acted well.

We also get a very cool appearance by Man-Thing, the not Swamp Thing of the Marvel Universe. He looks really good here and I liked that he is used sparingly. Just enough that it makes you want more in the future. I just hope he doesn't get overused like Groot. 

What I really appreciate about this short is that they drop you in the action and you find out a few pieces about the characters as you go. Really it's about a game to win a prize and how cutthroat everyone is in getting it. That's it. For something like this, it is perfect. The musical score is also very appropriate. There's a bit with a tuba and flames to announce when a participant has entered the maze that I loved. Chilling! I highly recommend checking this out for Halloween. At just under an hour, it is the perfect bite sized chunk of content we all need. I wish more things were presented and wrapped up so neatly like this. 

My hope is that this is opening the door to some form of Midnight Suns. A team of Elsa, Man-Thing and Werewolf by Night is a good start. Perhaps Blade can be added at some point and a version of Ghost Rider. We'll see, but if Marvel wants to start dipping into the horror side of their catalog, I'm here for it. 

Ms. Marvel - Season One

I finished up Ms. Marvel a few days ago and what a delight it was. I have so many things to say about this show, so I will just jump right in. I'll spare you the requisite "I've read the character since she came out, blah blah blah".

Before I dive into other stuff, I really like how Marvel is getting creators from the ethnic backgrounds their shows are representing. Furthermore, we get to spend times in those locations as opposed to New York. For Moon Knight, it was Egypt with an Egyptian showrunner. For Ms. Marvel, we spend time in Pakistan with actors and directors from Pakistan. Furthermore, it delves into the everyday life of a Muslim. Portrayed in a positive light, which as you can imagine in America, is not common. Let's be honest about that. Each of these shows had a unique, authenticity that is new for main stream TV. I'm glad that a wide audience will be able to watch these shows and potentially learn something.

If Marvel plays it's cards right, it still has many more teen super heroes they can follow and how they exist in their own spaces. Anyone can relate to a coming of age story, even if the ethnic background does not match your own. This show followed Kamala Khan as she gets new powers and learns how to use them while also trying to be a teenager. The main cast is all likeable and for a while, it was hard to determine who would be the villain because everyone had their own level of goodness about them. Fortunately we get, "the man" as a villain to allow some faceless soldiers to be punching bags. 

I'll say again, the cast is very likeable. Iman Vellani is instantly charming as Kamala Kahn. She has an infectious energy about her and everything about her feels authentic. You can almost feel how she is enjoying the role. I can imagine that there is a lot of weight on her shoulders carrying the culture of South East Asia.

In the trailers and in the first episode, I was afraid that all the cutesy writing on the screen would appear throughout the show. Thankfully, they rein it in. It's fun at first, but it is something that was going to get old real quick. 

I also thought the pace of the show was good. Like all Marvel shows, you won't see the character in their uniform until the very end, but the journey to get there was fun. Also, the costume looks pretty good. They also restrained themselves and didn't have any cutesy cameos show up. There were also no other Marvel characters really getting introduced here outside of Kamala. This way the focus stayed squarely on her.

The big thing they changed here was her origin. At first I didn't like it, but as it went on, it made way more sense in the context of this story. To summarize for those that don't know. In the comics, Kamala is revealed to be an "Inhuman". What's an Inhuman? The poor man's X-Men. Or "The X-Men type of characters when we don't have rights to the X-Men.". Anyways, when a specific (called "terrigen") mist hits an inhuman, they get special, random powers. That is where Kamala's stretchiness comes from in the comics. 

Here, they do away with all that Inhuman nonsense and just give her a magical item. I initially didn't like that her powers come from an item, but they explain that only SHE can really use it like that, so I can forgive it. They also find a way to approximate her powers to look like the comics, but use it in ways that make it smart for the story. Again, I'm completely okay with it. If you rolled your eyes through her original origin above, you are right to. When I say it out loud, it sounds real dumb. Welcome to comics. I'm glad they tie this into the Djinn and explore that here. This is something we never see in American shows. A very different take than what we get in anything Marvel and I welcome it.

The fighting isn't great in this show, but that is not it's strength. The interpersonal relationships are what shine here and that is a good thing. If we didn't care about the characters, none of this would work.

I think the other thing this show secretly teaches us about is the partition that happened between Pakistan and India. I will be honest that I was never aware of it before a Doctor Who episode a couple of years ago. It is an event we should talk about more in history class and this show doesn't shy away about how harrowing it was. They don't go into the finer details, but you get enough to feel it.

I'm so glad that even though Marvel is stumbling around in the dark on all their phase 4 stuff, good stuff is coming out of it like this show. We know we'll see more of Kamala Kahn and that is a good thing. Here's hoping that will spill into a second season. They have it all set up to do so. 

I highly recommend watching this show!

Moon Knight - Season One

Even though I finished this show weeks ago, I haven't gotten around until writing about it until now. At first, it was to search my feelings. Did I like the show? Am I only liking it because it's a Marvel product and I'm such a fanboy? Then it turned into, "Man, I don't want to talk about this, I don't remember anything."

However, I have an obligation as "that guy that loves comics" that you know, so here we are. Ultimately, this show is kind of a mess. Before I go further (and I will probably say this a lot), Oscar Isaac is fantastic. He and he alone is the reason to even give this show a chance.

I'll spare you my thoughts on what I know about Moon Knight. Like most of the audience, barely enough. He has always had a cool look, but in the Marvel Universe, there is a glut of characters all based out of New York, fighting crime. Not all of them are winners. Marvel has spent a lot of time trying to get a guy over that has a cool look, but not much else. They have even leaned into his multiple personalities as a way to freshen up his character. The fact that he has multiple volumes of a series, but never a sustained run in the past twenty years should tell you everything.

When it was announced they were making a show, it was one of those moments where I was like, "Cool! I don't care for him THAT much, but glad he's getting a shot." Disney is clearly digging deeper into that Marvel toybox to see what sticks. I can applaud that.

I will say that I appreciated that this show takes place in London and then Egypt, fully moving the character out of New York. All these shows are dead set on using new locales and I love that. It at least makes the shows feel fresh. I even love that they got an Egyptian director to add Egyptian representation to the entire show. That was obvious in watching it and I'm a big fan of that component. It makes it feel more diverse and different.

Unfortunately, here is where most of my praise will end. I wrestled with this and I don't think this show is particularly good. It's not bad, per se. It's just boring. Outside of Oscar Isaac playing essentially dual roles and infusing each character with a lot of differences, there's not much else going on. The show tries to be smarter than it needs to be with a lot of misdirection. It tells you, but doesn't show you. For example, the bulk of the show bounces between Moon Knight's multiple personalities. It cuts away when action is about to happen and then cuts back to the aftermath. As a storytelling device, it is cool AT FIRST. The fact they keep doing it and don't reveal to us what happens in between the spaces by the end of the series is annoying. We are told many times that the Marc Spector personality is a bad ass, but we rarely see it represented so we can believe it. The rest of the events are fine, but not particularly exciting.

So the show gets away with not showing us a lot of action. There's some cool hand to hand moments spread throughout, but it's not enough to make this show a joy to watch. I shouldn't have to wait 5 episodes to see a cool fight. I also want to add, the pacing on this show is really weird. Additionally, there are some real TV quality special effects here. I know Marvel puts some money behind these shows and probably why they are only six episodes each, but they didn't stick the landing on this one. There's a lot of digital stunt work with Moon Knight. Most of the time it didn't look like an actual human doing anything, which is unfortunate. It takes you out of the action.

I'm also being on the record of saying I like smaller stories that don't have world ending implications. This story grows in scope to have Egyptian gods fighting each other and I didn't like that at all. I got major "Mortal Kombat: Annihilation" vibes at the end. Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. I'll use one word. Animalities. Anyway, in a Cinematic Universe where we see large villains fighting the Avengers, it is weird to see one guy protecting the world like this. Moon Knight has a lane and it needs to stay in it. Small stories for a small character.

I also had trouble imagining where Moon Knight even fits into Marvel's larger tapestry. You know they can't resist bringing everyone together, so where will this guy even fit in thematically. I don't know. We deserve more Oscar Isaac and I love what he brings to the show. I just think this project failed him in a way.

Out of all the Marvel Disney Plus offerings we've gotten (and there has been a lot), this was by far my least favorite. Would I watch another season? Of course, because I'm a fan boy. They leave enough of a mystery at the end, but I don't think that means it will be great. This show is and always will be powered by the brilliance of Oscar Isaac.

Peacemaker - Season 1

Wow. I didn't realize I hadn't written about this yet. The Peacemaker show on HBO Max. The show I didn't ask for, but didn't know I needed. After his appearance in THAT Suicide Squad movie last year, more of anything related to that movie is the last thing I wanted. However, like some invisible rope tied to me, I feel obligated to watch any comic book related thing. So I watched this show.

I have never been more wrong about my pre-conceived notions. I like James Gunn's sense of style and jokes in his movies. With Suicide Squad, I felt like it was a lot of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Too much James Gunn and too cute for it's own good.

Here, it feels like he's more restrained, oddly enough. Maybe because of budget reasons he couldn't film big sweeping battles with CG everywhere. I don't know. He found the right tone with this show.

There are so many genuine, laugh out loud moments. This is a band of regular people who are screw ups, not the super powered ones we saw in the Suicide Squad. I also can't put my finger on what didn't click with me and John Cena in the Suicide Squad movie, but I loved him here. Maybe because he got to be goofy and tap into some real emotions. Whatever it was, this was the perfect vehicle for him.

Before I go any further, if you have never seen just the opening to this show, go do that and come back. I love choregraphed dance numbers and to know that the cast went all in can only bring you joy.

Let's go a little deeper. Why did I love this show so much? Gunn's style of irreverent humor hits all the notes for me. I can't explain it. It's just the jokes really hit home for me. I am a sucker for a bunch of losers that try their best. Vigilante is completely hysterical here. I could watch him and Peacemaker bounce off each other all day. Their goofiness starts to infect the rest of the cast and it gets even better.

This invasion of the body snatchers thing I was okay with to a point. I wanted them to take on just regular people, not try to stop an alien invasion, but whatever. I was here for the jokes.

Normally I would go on and on, but I'm trying to restrain myself more with my little reviews. So I'll end with this. The cast is all great and perfect for the roles they play. I hope to get more of this show's aesthetic and humor in the second season. I hope they don't get a bigger budget which I feel would make them get lazy (re: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2). 

Also, ten episodes is about the appropriate maximum length for any comic book based show. I hope this becomes the new standard. If you haven't already checked this out, I recommend it. DC is starting to find that Marvel magic in their more lighthearted shows. Keep it up and maybe we'll get some different, weird stuff when we get fully done with Marvel.

Hawkeye

Read past this point at your own peril. There will be spoilers

When this show got announced, I was like, "Okay. Thanks Marvel. Give us a series that literally no one asked for." I like Hawkeye in the comics just fine. I hate him in the movies. He's just this bland ass, flat character and Jeremy Renner's performance hadn't changed my opinion. I also feel like Marvel has, to use wrestling terms, tried to get him over. "Look, he's got a FAMILY. He's a family man." "Look, he's lost his family and now he is RONIN". Side note, Ronin is a character only the most hardcore of fans would even know or care about. So using him seemed to be throwing a bone to fans or something. In Avengers: End Game, when it came down to him and Natasha, I was actively mad it wasn't HIM that died. So yeah, not a fan of this guy. I was not excited about this series, but I am resigned to my fate to watch every Marvel Cinematic Universe offering. I'm flawed in that way.

All that being said, I loved THIS show. If I'm being honest, it's because of all the characters around Hawkeye, not Clint Barton himself. Haliee Stenfield's Kate Bishop's enthusiasm for everything was infectious and was the engine that drove this show. This is more about her journey than Clint's, mercifully. I was completely invested in her journey to try and do right. Just like many other well-meaning young characters, she always thought she had the best idea and ability.

I think this show had the best title sequence I've ever seen. I say this because they blow through Kate's origin to prepare us for the rest of the show. We don't need to see training montages, flashbacks, etc.  Her hero worship of Hawkeye also makes sense and they lean into that throughout the show. 

Another thing I liked about this show, was the scale. It was over a few days period, centered around a couple of crimes in the city and lost items. No world ending threat. No plot to take over the city. Just a threat central to our characters. There was not an abundance of stuff blowing up all over the place. I said an abundance, I didn't say there wasn't stuff that doesn't get blown up.

This show also goes deep into Marvel's cast of characters to pull out Maya Lopez, aka Echo. She's become more prominent lately, so I won't act like this wasn't a strategic move. They even stayed true to most of her origin by even bring in a surprise character from another Marvel show. So those Netflix shows now matter! Woo hoo!

Anyway, Maya. I like that they have her communicate using sign language here and is mute. In the comics, she's also deaf, but can read people's lips and talk to them. It is a conceit that is completely stupid in the comic books. People don't write her like she can't read lips, so she is chatting up people like it is completely normal. Only when she says a line like, "I can't read your lips to know what you are saying, but...". It personally annoys me. Make the artist learn sign language and have her do it in the books. It is also a visual medium, you know.

I also loved that we get some payoff to what we saw in the Black Widow movie, with Florence Pugh's Helena. She was the best part of that movie and her appearance for a few episodes here also elevates the show. She is fantastic and I am happy to see her take on the Black Widow role going forward. Every scene she is in, you worry for the other character in what she is about to do. I can't wait to see more of her going forward.

Finally, we get the return of the Kingpin by Vincent D'Onofrio who showed up in the Daredevil Netflix series. I'm so glad that they are bringing back characters and actors from some of the shows. While I am glad, he felt like an odd fit here. He is clearly powered up here versus how he was in Daredevil. I read that he is now up to his levels in the comic book, so it was a deliberate choice. It does make him too overpowered for the heroes in this show. He'll be back, so I will hold my judgement.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this show. The more grounded nature made me like it more and it is why I personally put it over WandaVision and Loki, if I am mapping out my ranking of the Marvel TV shows this year. It felt less like a set up for another movie and more like a setup for future seasons. This grounded sensibility is more of what I want from these shows.