Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

I'm going to save my usual pre-amble nonsense and just jump into my review of the movie while it's fresh in my mind. Did I love the movie? Yes! Was it better than the first one? Well, no, but that's not a bad thing. It's different. I would give it a 9/10 if we want to put numbers on things. That first movie was fueled by the unmistakable charisma of the late Chadwick Boseman.

We are at a unique moment right now. I've never recalled an actor being so closely tied to a character that his actual death was tied into a movie that felt like a loving eulogy. Chadwick Boseman is clearly missed and this movie does not shy away from it. There is such a palpable sadness in the beginning of this movie that is really a gut punch. There is a long moment of silence for when the Marvel logo pops up and I want you to pay attention to it because it is different. 

Let this be a warning to you, there is a lot of emotional, gut punches in this movie. Did I cry a bit? I would be lying if I said I didn't. Beneath this sadness, there is a beautiful movie with a lot of poignant touches. I re-watched the first Black Panther movie before this and I forgot how many themes were running through it. In this movie, that trend continues. This movie has something to say and it is way more than just a super hero movie to some of us. I can't properly express the depth of sadness we feel watching this movie that almost becomes too much at times. It is painful to watch our people suffer because we know that suffering. We feel what the actors feel in this one.

In the story, we have two uniquely ancient and powerful nations that come to odds with each other. I LOVED what they did with Namor and his origin here. Tying him to Aztec culture and history makes him more relatable and gives another chance for marginalized people to see themselves represented in a big budget movie. There is a rich and sad history for Namor's people and you will empathize with him. This movie is secretly a Namor origin story and launch point. Tenoch Huerta is a delight on the screen. Equally charming and menacing.

My hope is that indigenous people have a chance to see themselves represented on screen the way we as black people did in the first movie. Also, each of us have our own signature greeting we can use in real life.

This movie deals with loss and how one can rise above it. All the characters deal with it in their own way. Wakanda and the newly introduced city of Talokan, Namor's city. Each setting is beautifully rendered and represented.

I would be remiss if I didn't call out the outwardly strong, black female cast in this movie. They all get to shine and it was one of my more favorite aspects. Angela Bassett is still out here doing her thing and reminding you who she is. She is fantastic and a force to be reckoned with. You can not take your eyes off her when she is on the screen and seeing her go toe to toe with many different invading nations, on the battle field or in a political setting. The movie is also about Shuri's arc, as she deals with the death of her brother. Then we have Okoye and Nakia, not to be outdone but also get a chance to truly shine in this movie. Last, but certainly not least. The Dora Milaje. A fighting force like none other. The Black Women are front and center here and all the men are pushed to the back and it is refreshing. M'Baku is fantastic as usual, but he is more of an advisor to Shuri as she goes on her journey.

There is so much more I want to say, but I want to keep this as short as possible so that you all get to see it. The battle scenes are sweeping and beautifully shot. I'm deliberately ignoring all the extra characters we get introduced, not because they're not important, but I don't want to color your opinion. This is another cultural moment and Ryan Coogler should be celebrated as a genius for the way he respectfully shows each of these cultures, giving them proper space to breathe and bringing up different topics that can lead to poignant discussions. It opens the door for more characters to be birthed from this rich tapestry he's created. This man deserves his props and so much more.

Black Panther (Vol. 9) - What is this?!?

Y'all know I'm a die hard Black Panther fan. I own almost 90% of his solo stuff that's ever been released. I've read some great stories and some not so great stories. Through it all, I never felt the way I do now. A few months ago I shared my thoughts on the first issue of this new run. Has it gotten better? No. Instead of giving this blanket statement, let me share my reasons why.

Over the past year or two, they've transformed Wakanda into a democracy. A modern take on an old comic book mythos is okay. I don't mind this. I've been reading comics for a while and something is going to happen where this is going to revert back. It's just the nature of the beast, so I don't sweat changes like this.

Where I have a problem is with the writing. I get that Marvel wants synergy between the comics and the movies. Black Panther was a C List character at best about fifteen years ago. Now he's become more prominent and is among the A-Listers. To try and build on the momentum of the movies (and let's be real here, Chadwick Boseman's portrayal), they keep trying to put non comic book talent on the books. Someone that is known in the mainstream and done influential work in black literature or television. I can only speculate that is why they had Ta'Nehisi Coates on here for a few years. 

My first problem is getting non-comic book writers writing comic books. Marvel is trying to bring in a new audience by bringing in someone with a built in audience. The cynic in me will tell you that those same fans are not comic book readers and most likely are not going to follow them around. Writing comics is flexing different muscles than writing a novel and for new writers, it shows. These books tend to be overwritten, with a million speech bubbles. 

I said all that to set up my next couple of points. They picked John Ridley, an academy award winning writer. That last part is important. What did he win for? 12 Years a Slave. He's also been a writer of a few episodes of Martin, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and some other stuff you may have seen. My problem is that Marvel sees this and think this is the black writer we need on Black Panther. I applaud their effort to get black writers on this book over the past few years, but I don't think they've gone deeper than that. 

My problem is everything about this run feels way off. I attribute part of it to Ridley being an American trying to write an African character. The voice doesn't feel right. T'Challa sounds too American, when he should in the very least sound like a king. Too many American idioms makes it's way into his speech. You could argue that maybe being around so many Americans has changed him, but that feels like nonsense. Ridley also writes the most asshole-ish version of Captain America I have ever seen. Cap is always condescending to T'Challa, chastising him for not focusing on his role in the Avengers when he knows damn well this brother was running an entire nation. A job he started to fail at because he was serving the Avengers. And now his country wants to be a democracy. Steve Rogers cares nothing about that and that is completely inauthentic to who he is supposed to be. Even worse, T'Challa just takes it.

Black Panther shows up in the Avengers books and does his super hero stuff there. I do not think his solo title should be a watered down version of that. Instead, they pair him up with some second tier Avengers to pal around in this book, when really we should be focused on Wakanda and Black Panther's role in it. The problem is, even the super hero stuff isn't good either. So this book is failing on multiple fronts. It doesn't know what it wants to be.

The most recent storyline that concluded involved T'Challa having a network of spies that was revealed to his country and that caused tension. This feels like an also ran story and also doesn't feel right. Trying to be a watered down spy thriller is not what this book should be.

I've spent a lot of time complaining about what this book is, but haven't said how I would personally fix it. Clearly, I'm very opinionated and I do have my own answers. First of all, there is plenty of talented African writers out there. I've read some work at Marvel, Image, DC and other independent companies. This book needs to be handed over to one of them. Black Panther's voice would be well served to be guided by someone that is actually African. This way the portrayals would feel more authentic. There are nuances that Americans will miss or think they know that causes this problem. Marvel is so focused on getting a big name to move books, that they are missing an opportunity to make a start out of someone that is relatively unknown. I doubt Ridley's name is really moving units. In fact, I would argue that the way comics are today, writers will not move that many more units.

Another fix, base the book in Wakanda. We don't need to see T'Challa globetrotting. His country is in peril and he seems inclined to do nothing about it. He says he's for Wakanda and then leaves them at the drop of a hat. Making him face his consequences and trying to earn back his peoples' trust is what they should be doing. A new writer could try to build a new rogue's gallery for him. Writers tend to put their political views into their work, I would love to see that put into effect here.

I mentioned an African writer, that goes double for the art. I think this book could use a new look and a new style to it. Lately it's been traditional comic book art, but I think this title needs to go in a different direction.

If I were an editor at Marvel, this is where I would put my focus to breathe some new life into this book. I hate that I feel this way about the book, but it is just not good. Something needs to be done.

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.