Coming out at the end of January, the first trailer for Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man is here!
And please note that this is gonna be some non-MCU related Spider-Man unfortunately, or fortunately. We'll see depending on the roster.
I'm getting a pretty big Hi-Fi Rush vibe from the animation style, pretty cool.
And the way those night time scenes are lit, reminds me of MTV's TNAS show.
The official trailer for Daredevil: Born Again is finally out!
Looks fuckin' great, like a direct continuation of the Netflix series! Also very violent from the looks of things and so much CRONCH too. Very much looking forward to this, especially after the production reboot that lit a fire under Marvel's ass.
I watched the first two episodes of Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man and I think it's pretty solid so far. It's kind of a weird remix of the MCU with a vintage comic dressing over it. Voice acting's good so far, as well as the writing. It does a good job with Peter's characterisation without making him nervous or anxious like Tom Holland's take on the character. He's a little awkward but overall fairly confident as a person. The animation is also solid though at times it definitely looks kind of floaty or a little off. I do find it a bit strange that Marvel Studios is so afraid of using any of Peter's already established cast of supporting characters outside of Harry and Norman.
Overall I'm liking what I've seen so far. Nothing groundbreaking but it's certainly entertaining and I'm looking forward to seeing how things play out. Disney seems fairly confident in the series since it's already been renewed for up to 3 seasons.
Episode 3, 4, and 5 of Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man are out and I've gotta say, they're really good! It's very much doing it's own thing, but it's the closest any Spidey series has gotten to the general feel and vibe of Spectacular Spider-Man. Characters are likeable and have got their own agency outside Peter Parker, the show deals with some fairly serious topics, the animation and voice acting is super solid, and overall I'm really loving the lower stakes. Lonnie Lincoln is the standout character of the series in my opinion, I'm really enjoying what they're doing with him.
Really digging the series so far! Looking forward to seeing what happens next.
It looks really good! Marvel Studios has been doing really well with their past few trailers.
Only issue I have is...
They are doing a terrible job of not making people think that Taskmaster is gonna eat it within the first 10 minutes of the movie lmao 😭
She's totally gonna be the Slipknot of this movie.
I watched Captain America: Brave New World and I thought it was a pretty solid, albeit messy movie. The movie acts as a follow-up to The Incredible Hulk, The Eternals, and Falcon and The Winter Soldier all at once, and all these storylines don't always mesh well together. Tonally it's very similar to The Winter Soldier, with the movie keeping a fairly grounded tone up until about the last quarter of the movie for obvious reasons if you've seen the trailer.
In terms of action, the hand-to-hand fight scenes unfortunately are more often than not overly edited, shaky, and underlit, which made it difficult to make out who's who and what's going on. However, there is a "dogfight" in the movie with Sam and Torres that is legitimately fantastic. Usually whenever the wings are on is when the action is actually fun to watch as they're usually quite creative with how they work during fights.
As for the characters, Sam is great and probably my favourite part of the movie. Brave New World does a great job of cementing why Sam is the right person to carry on the mantle of Captain America. This might be the best Anthony Mackie has been in the MCU so far. Speaking of carrying on a role, Harrison Ford is very good as Thunderbolt Ross. He's definitely doing his own spin on the character from William Hurt, but one that makes him someone you can both kind of hate and empathise with. The antagonist of the movie is... fine. I do actually really like what his plans are, but ultimately he's another villain to add to the pile of mediocre MCU villains.
Joaquin Torres from Falcon and The Winter Soldier makes his debut as the new Falcon, and while I enjoyed his presence, it honestly felt like he didn't really have much going for him and by the end of the movie we barely know anything about him. Hopefully, that changes in the future, but I do wish he had more going on in this. Isaiah Bradley also makes his return, and I really like what they did with him. I keep on hoping that they'll one day directly adapt Truth: Red, White & Black, but I honestly don't think they have the balls to do so if the politics in Brave New World is anything to go by.
Overall, while the plot and messaging might be on the thin side in comparison to the original Captain America trilogy and even Falcon and The Winter Soldier, it's still got the heart of its predecessors and I'm looking forward to seeing more of Sam Wilson as Captain America.
Also there's a single after credits scene at the very ass end of everything, but it's honestly not that important and I'd advise just looking it up online lol.
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man season 1 has ended and it's great, far better than I was expecting. It's easily the best Spider-Man series since Spectacular. Lore-wise it's probably the least accurate adaptation of the character so far (lol), but hot damn do they nail the tone, story, and characters. It kinda makes me wish the MCU had taken this kind of route with Tom Holland's take after Homecoming.
I do have some complaints of course, but they're things that could be improved upon or added later on. I like all the characters, I think the writing and dialogue are super solid, and in my opinion it's an aesthetically pleasing to look at. I still think it's strange that the show isn't using any of Peter's usual cast of characters outside of Harry and Norman, Aunt May is also fairly underutilised this season, and the animations sometimes looks a little wonky or "laggy." But again, these are things that can be improved upon with later seasons.
Overall, it's great! I had a really good time with the show and I'm looking forward to the next couple seasons. Maybe if it does well enough it could even go beyond that, that'd be neat having a Spidey series that continues on past highschool.
A Punisher 'Special Presentation' has been revealed to be in the works with Jon Bernthal set to co-write alongside director Reinaldo Marcus Green, who he previously worked with on the tv series, We Own This City.
”It’s like a shotgun blast of a story but also has all the pathos and emotion that you want out of a Frank Castle story. It’s so exciting,” shared Marvel Television and Marvel Animation head Brad Winderbaum.
”Bernthal is a generational actor. He’s incredible what he brings to all the roles he plays, but particularly Frank Castle. And he’s a great writer. He knows the character inside and out…Also, I love Punisher, but I love Jon’s Punisher in particular. The idea that he’s in the MCU and can bring that to the greater universe, especially the more grounded street-level stuff, is a huge opportunity and, as a fan, the greatest thing ever.”
I thought I heard rumors they were gonna drop the Special Presentation titles, since they weren't panning out..!
But this is great news, whoa yeah!!
(Also, currently rewatching Daredevil in prep for Born Again. Gosh, so dark and actiony but good. Never saw Season 3 so it'll be good to get around to that.)
I still haven't seen What If S3 (I've heard it's quite divisive unfortunately), the new Spider-Man show (had low expectations but heard great things even if non-MCU connected anymore) and haven't checked out Echo (also heard mixed things.)
Gosh there's just so much TV and games out there, I only got so much time in my life! 😆
A Punisher 'Special Presentation' has been revealed to be in the works with Jon Bernthal set to co-write alongside director Reinaldo Marcus … moreGreen, who he previously worked with on the tv series, We Own This City.
”It’s like a shotgun blast of a story but also has all the pathos and emotion that you want out of a Frank Castle story. It’s so exciting,” shared Marvel Television and Marvel Animation head Brad Winderbaum.
”Bernthal is a generational actor. He’s incredible what he brings to all the roles he plays, but particularly Frank Castle. And he’s a great writer. He knows the character inside and out…Also, I love Punisher, but I love Jon’s Punisher in particular. The idea that he’s in the MCU and can bring that to the greater universe, especially the more grounded street-level stuff, is a huge opportunity and, as a fan, the greatest thing ever.”
We've never been more back.
Well I just got back from watching the new Captain America: Brave New World.
It was fun. I had fun.
Was it a good movie? Uhhhm no. It was... pretty messy.
There were good ideas and details and themes in this movie, but yeah from what I've heard the movie was shredded in the editing room. Fully cast, filmed characters/actors not appearing at all. Character design changes in reshoots (for the worst according to fans idk)
Lingering loose ends, inconsistencies, or just strange exposition blunders permeate this film.
Gosh, yeah, I had a good time. I came for the Red Hulk fight and cool Falcon flying fights and Giancarlo Esposito, aaaand... yeah we got that. Those were in the trailers. C'mon, they knew you and I wanted that and I got it and I had fun.
(I think it's hilarious the marketing team had such a "fuck it" energy after the first teaser, just... putting the whole "Harrison-Ford-Red-Hulk" climax teases in every trailer and poster. Like, the IMAX poster is legit just Cap vs. Looming Red Ford-Hulk. No secrecy or anything.)
Ford may have no interest or care for this movie at all given the press interviews. He's just here for the paycheck, that's fair. But I'd say he earned his paycheck! I liked his performance and dialogue, and he was cool!
Was it... good cinema though? Meeehhh no I don't think so.
The beginning had some great camera angles and framing. Cool, cool. Then they didn't really have anything eye-catching in the middle IMO.
However, I thought the Red Hulk climax was very fun in a silly "oh boy The President is a Hulk!" goofy way. The shot of Ford-Hulk standing over the President's Seal Podium and then doing a King Kong rampage across the White House with American Flags behind him was fun to watch.
(...Probably because of IRL America being run currently by an idiotic President with many malicious Right-Hand-Men and it's SO mind-boggling how much they've metaphorically destroyed in just 2 months -- there's some fun I guess in seeing "Hey, at least the MCU now has to deal with a Hulk President Rampage!" Wow!)
...anyway probably wait for streaming/yo-ho-ho-ing. Or if you can save money with gift cards or points or whatever, it's a fun watch for pretty cheap if you have no better plans.
I'm still excited for Thunderbolts* though.
That movie at least looks very fun in a clearly "this is a big action movie with lots of action" kind of film. You aren't here for the interesting narrative. You're here for the stunts.
I'm probably missing some thoughts on stuff in the movie. If lupin or anyone has any questions for me, you can always shoot. 👍
Daredevil: Born Again has released it's first two episodes and I am happy to say that they're good lmao. It's a strong, albeit a little messy start to the series. If anyone's worried about the universe it takes place in or the level of maturity, you can all breathe easy. It very much is a continuation of the Netflix universe in almost every way, while fully merging itself into the MCU. It's a little less grounded cause the show doesn't feel like it's embarrassed of the magic and mysticism of the wider world, but it's still bloody and violent while keeping up with the themes of the original series. Born Again actually goes a little further with its maturity by actually letting characters say "fuck" which is a surprise.
I know Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio have appeared in a handful of projects since their re-introduction but this series really lets them shine. They are fully back in as their respective roles and they are brilliant. Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson also return as Karen and Foggy, and despite not being in it that much at the moment, they continue to be very good. The show also introduces a few new side characters and while we don't know too much about them so far, I'm enjoying what they're bringing in, especially the characters Cherry and BB.
An addition to the show I'm liking a lot so far is the inclusion of these little snippets of vox pop interviews with random citizens in New York and their opinions on the events going on in the city. In general you hear a lot from the people of the city which I think is a nice touch. It helps to keep the world feeling alive and active, rather than just a backdrop.
I of course have some issues. The CGI is pretty bad lmao, but thankfully it's only ever really used in the prologue of episode 1. After that it's all fairly practical. The pacing, especially in episode one is also a little rough especially with the amount of time that passes. You can also kind of tell that the episodes are a bit of a patchwork with the new creative team having to work with the old stuff that was too far ahead in completion to be scrapped, specifically in terms of writing. At least it's nice knowing season 2 won't have these kinds of issues with them knowing ahead of time what they want exactly.
Overall I'm pretty happy so far. It definitely has its issues, but I'm really liking what I'm seeing so far. I'm really looking forward to seeing how things play out!
Episode 3 of Born Again is out and it's fantastic! Straight up felt like an episode of the Netflix series without having that stitched together feeling from the premiere episodes. It's near entirely set within the confines of a courtroom, so action is kept to a minimum, and it's easily some of the best courtroom drama we've had from all of Daredevil. It's in no small part due to the dialogue, characters, and acting, especially from Charlie Cox and Kamar de los Reyes, who unfortunately passed away in late 2023 from a battle with cancer. Not to mention an absolute wallop of an ending that opens the series up to its next story arc.
Really enjoyed the episode. Very excited for next week!
Marvel Studios released a promo for the Thunderbolts focusing on Florence Pugh jumping from the Merdeka 118 building, which is especially cool to me since they actually filmed in Malaysia, which is where I'm from! Nice to see my home country make its way into a big budget film.
Also how the fuck did they blow up that building for real lmao
Daredevil: Born Again has ended its first season and I really liked it! By comparison it is the weakest season of Daredevil, but it does have moments of greatness that measure up to the original series, especially with the last two episodes. The biggest issue by far is that it's very evident that this is two different shows that were stitched together to make something else, but with season 2 being entirely new content I'm fairly confident it'll be much more focused and a better season overall. Not to say that all the old stuff was bad, there was some really great and fun stuff from the original cut of the series like the White Tiger and the bank robbery episodes, which I believe were the only two episodes from the first version of the show that were left entirely untouched.
Another issue I have is that most of the new characters are unfortunately very underdeveloped. In particular Cherry, Kim, and Heather who is Matt's love interest this season. Cherry and Kim really don't do anything particularly newsworthy and it feels like they could have been cut out entirely and everything would stay about the same. Heather while she gets a lot more screen time and does have some really great moments, unfortunately I just don't feel she has that much chemistry with Matt, though that might've been done on purpose since there is a big focus on Matt avoiding his trauma and pretending everything is alright. As for BB and Daniel, I really like them. I think they're great additions, I just wish they were in it more.
As for what I liked. I really like the inclusion of swearing in the show, every episode except one has a handful of fucks. I always found it weird with how dark the original Netflix show was, that no one really said anything worse than "shit." Matt himself gets a couple incredible needle drops. Another is the violence, they absolutely do not hold back and at points even surpass the Netflix series. There's one moment in particular that had me go "JEEZUS." Matt and Fisk are absolutely fantastic, they fall right back into their roles and I loved the direction that the characters went. Vanessa also gets to do a lot more in here than in the original series. Born Again fully establishes why her and Fisk are perfect for each other.
I really enjoyed the season overall and I consider it one of the MCU's best shows. They go places you wouldn't expect the MCU to go and I'm fully expecting the second season to up the ante if the last two episodes are anything to go by.
A teaser for the Spider-Noir series starring Nicholas Cage is out!
Honestly it looks like it could be a fun time, plus I do like me some Cage. I'm surprised they actually stuck with the black and white visuals, but it is a nice way to stand out from the crowd.
Oh yeah I never put my thoughts about Thunderbolts here didn't I (even though I have them written out and everything lol) Anyway yeah it's probably an instant Marvel classic, great concept, characters, scope, and style!
...
Thunderbolts*
with specific emphasis on the Asterisk, too!...
(Though in some parts of the USA might find that changing soon, for some reason) 🤔
Yes, while a whole lot of the marketing, trailers, and even the posters themselves make a point to show off the asterisk, it in and of itself doesn't really play a part in the film. Like, no one writes down Thunderbolts and puts an asterisk over it. They kind of just disagree on forming a team with that name. But yes I liked the mystery behind why and its weird Marvel is seemingly abandoning it with a new marketing push not even a week after it's out.
The film itself was great!
I thought it was really fun to see all these side-characters from different films and movies come together in their own starring ensemble film.
The humour is great, awkward at times, and the fun comes from seeing how they bicker or bounce off each others' wild personalities.
Boy, US Agent/Walker is still such a jerk with a hair-pin trigger finger. (Been seeing a lot of online love and support for the character being a better Cap than Sam right now, but honestly dude still needs more redemption and self-care to be worthy IMO. Maybe I need a second watch but it didn't really feel like his character, morally, grew by the end to be considered "good").
It also has a nice central theme of mental health and depression, even finding an interesting way to show off some of the characters' internal struggles and pasts (though I wish we got more from the whole group than we did)
It was very touching, and I also appreciated the father-daughter moments between Yelena and Alexei when they occured. It's only been a year since they last saw each other, but for us it's been like... 4 years if you're just counting the movies? and 7 for Ghost. My god...
The action was fun. It was great not to have even someone with a super flying jetpack or magic high-tech that can stop or do anything.
Like, this movie's action is literally just fisticuffs and guns. Which feels fresh for Marvel!
I also really enjoyed the 3rd act confrontation, it does some weird camera stuff and cool scene changes that I always eat up. Not specifying due to spoilers.
(Heheh but I will say one of the VERY first scenes of the movie has a top-down shot with a bunch of guards casting LONG dark shadows, and I specifically remember that being really fun foreshadowing for The Void)
Great performances all around, though some characters get the spotlight a whole lot more.
Plus I was surprised by the "main villain" they have to stop in the film. I'm glad I didn't watch any press material for this since that really would have given it away.
This film at the least feels like the MCU is back. It has nice connections to other properties that it doesn't need to explain too hard or just leave viewers confused (at least from my parents' reactions)
(Like, this connects to Cap 4 by mentioning the Red Hulk incident at the start, and at the very end, we see it connect to Fantastic 4 with their ship! Good bookends.
Meanwhile something like Cap 4 has major plot beats connects to Incredible Hulk from over 15 years earlier, and Eternals from 4 years ago... and if ya havent seen a recap, catch up fool.)
So anyway, really enjoyable film. Good change of pace in the MCU, its as grounded a squad as you can get, it's fun and it's touching.
Ending thoughts
Spoilers spoilers for the final scene of the movie!
Yeah, this team will always be known as Thunderbolts to me. Despite the final title card and Disney pushing some weird new marketing.
Like, they all still only punch and shoot and lift heavy things. Sure, the one guy can fly and do extra superhuman things, so long as he doesn't let depression take over, but damn, they do not hold a candle to the original Avg squad... or whatever that other new squad FalCap is making...
Keep the name, and the movie title dangit!! It's got a cute meaning behind it rather than corporate nostalgia...
Oh yeah and also I've been catching up on What If Season 3 and WOW I was completely expecting the "What If Howard the Duck got Hitched?" episode to be a complete dud. It's an episode about Howard and Darcy raising a damn baby egg and also a sequel to the Party Thor episode in S1 which was weird.
But it was incredibly ridiculous and fun, since they go all-out with a whole bunch of MCU villain cameos, because they're all looking to claim this "powerful egg/creature" for themselves. It's just SO silly and self-aware enough about its own premise that I think it's one of the better episodes of the show despite the lack of a real tie to an existing MCU film.
Jake Schreier will be directing the MCU's X-Men movie which is a great choice since Thunderbolts* ended up being so good! We already know the man knows how to write some good depression and camaraderie.
And Jon Bernthal has been cast as the Punisher in Spider-Man: Brand New Day!
I started watching Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spiderman, and it's been way more enjoyable than I expected!
The animation is very expressive and action scenes are fluid, the art style is KILLER!, the show has tons of heart and it's wonderful to finally see a young Spidey focused on helping out his local community. Also it touches on lots of modern social topics with it's side characters which I found unexpected and sweet! (And really makes the main VO's comments around when the shoe came out about hoping its not "too woke" really baffling. This show is quite woke already.
Seen 3 episodes so far, really enjoying it. Really really
And really makes the main VO's comments around when the shoe came out about hoping its not "too woke" really baffling. This show is quite woke already.
This is the wokest Spider-Man show, what was that man on about lmao
I started watching Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spiderman, and it's been way more enjoyable than I expected!
The animation is very express… moreive and action scenes are fluid, the art style is KILLER!, the show has tons of heart and it's wonderful to finally see a young Spidey focused on helping out his local community. Also it touches on lots of modern social topics with it's side characters which I found unexpected and sweet! (And really makes the main VO's comments around when the shoe came out about hoping its not "too woke" really baffling. This show is quite woke already.
Seen 3 episodes so far, really enjoying it. Really really
It really is! It's awesome how they're dedicating an entire side-plot to Lonnie the school football star.
First episode, he's getting racial profiled while walking home, and by episode 4 he's deep into a gang debt that looks really hard to get out of.
I'm also really enjoying so far the relationship between Norman and Peter. Colman Domingo has a wonderful soothing voice, and his character is written so genuinely helpful and happy to work with Peter. It doesn't seem like there's any underlying motive yet, but I really hope he doesn't turn Goblin against him, that'd be truly heartbreaking.
Interesting to see some MCU events on the side like Civil War or talks of Avengers 1.
I wonder how far the show will get before it diverges completely since I thought the whole MCU connection was scrapped other than just the start point.
And really makes the main VO's comments around when the shoe came out about hoping its not "too woke" really baffling. This show is quite woke already.
This is the wokest Spider-Man show, what was that man on about lmao
I know it's not a low bar but this is easily the best Fantastic Four movie so far. I know people were apprehensive with Pedro Pascal, claiming that Marvel was just stuntcasting, but he is excellent as Reed Richards, and it's not just him. Venessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach all feel like the definite versions of the characters, at least in live action. Everyone gets their time in the spotlight and it's glorious. Their chemistry is undeniable and the movie does a great job of really showcasing their family dynamic. Sure, sometimes they'll argue and get on each others nerves, but it's clear they all love each other.
My big surprise of the movie was Julia Gardner as Shallal-Bal/Silver Surfer, I absolutely loved this depiction of the Surfer and I wish she was in it for more than she is. A very layered and tragic character dressed up with some exceptional CG. Ralph Ineson is also great of Galactus. Truly a formidable antagonist, and very reminiscent of the Celestials from The Eternals. I also loved the world they live in. Setting the movie in an idealistic retro-futuristic 1960's America was a genius move by Marvel and I honestly kind of dread the Four having to eventually make their way to the MCU, just because I want to see more of the world. The Jetsons feel really helps it stand out from the other movies.
Now my gripes about the movie.
While the CG for the most part is legitimately good. There is one unfortunate wrinkle that's present throughout most of the movie, and that is Franklin Richards. Half the time he's played by a real baby, but the other half it's clearly a CGI baby, like why. Again, he doesn't look bad all the time, there are a bunch of scenes where he's clearly a real baby and things are fine, but other times it's hard not to get an uncanny valley feeling from him. Aside from the fake baby, the CG in the rest of the movie is actually pretty great. My other issue is that it's very clear that they cut out a solid 15 or so minutes out of the movie to keep the runtime under 2 hours. There's some rushed character development for the side characters and the pacing towards the end of the movie is a little wack.
Overall, I really enjoyed it. A super solid entry to the MCU and the best Fantastic Four movie so far (fourth time's the charm!).
Comments
Coming out at the end of January, the first trailer for Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man is here!
And please note that this is gonna be some non-MCU related Spider-Man unfortunately, or fortunately. We'll see depending on the roster.
I'm getting a pretty big Hi-Fi Rush vibe from the animation style, pretty cool.
And the way those night time scenes are lit, reminds me of MTV's TNAS show.
The official trailer for Daredevil: Born Again is finally out!
Looks fuckin' great, like a direct continuation of the Netflix series! Also very violent from the looks of things and so much CRONCH too. Very much looking forward to this, especially after the production reboot that lit a fire under Marvel's ass.
I watched the first two episodes of Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man and I think it's pretty solid so far. It's kind of a weird remix of the MCU with a vintage comic dressing over it. Voice acting's good so far, as well as the writing. It does a good job with Peter's characterisation without making him nervous or anxious like Tom Holland's take on the character. He's a little awkward but overall fairly confident as a person. The animation is also solid though at times it definitely looks kind of floaty or a little off. I do find it a bit strange that Marvel Studios is so afraid of using any of Peter's already established cast of supporting characters outside of Harry and Norman.
Overall I'm liking what I've seen so far. Nothing groundbreaking but it's certainly entertaining and I'm looking forward to seeing how things play out. Disney seems fairly confident in the series since it's already been renewed for up to 3 seasons.
The Fantastic Four teaser trailer is out!
Gotta say, it's fantastic!
Episode 3, 4, and 5 of Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man are out and I've gotta say, they're really good! It's very much doing it's own thing, but it's the closest any Spidey series has gotten to the general feel and vibe of Spectacular Spider-Man. Characters are likeable and have got their own agency outside Peter Parker, the show deals with some fairly serious topics, the animation and voice acting is super solid, and overall I'm really loving the lower stakes. Lonnie Lincoln is the standout character of the series in my opinion, I'm really enjoying what they're doing with him.
Really digging the series so far! Looking forward to seeing what happens next.
A new trailer for Thunderbolts has released!
It looks really good! Marvel Studios has been doing really well with their past few trailers.
Only issue I have is...
They are doing a terrible job of not making people think that Taskmaster is gonna eat it within the first 10 minutes of the movie lmao 😭
She's totally gonna be the Slipknot of this movie.
Episodes 6, 7, and 8 of Friendly Neighbourhood are out and this show just keeps getting better and better! Episode 7 especially was a big highlight.
Only two episodes left for this season. Very excited to see how this story arc concludes!
I saw Captain America: Brave New World. It was great.
I watched Captain America: Brave New World and I thought it was a pretty solid, albeit messy movie. The movie acts as a follow-up to The Incredible Hulk, The Eternals, and Falcon and The Winter Soldier all at once, and all these storylines don't always mesh well together. Tonally it's very similar to The Winter Soldier, with the movie keeping a fairly grounded tone up until about the last quarter of the movie for obvious reasons if you've seen the trailer.
In terms of action, the hand-to-hand fight scenes unfortunately are more often than not overly edited, shaky, and underlit, which made it difficult to make out who's who and what's going on. However, there is a "dogfight" in the movie with Sam and Torres that is legitimately fantastic. Usually whenever the wings are on is when the action is actually fun to watch as they're usually quite creative with how they work during fights.
As for the characters, Sam is great and probably my favourite part of the movie. Brave New World does a great job of cementing why Sam is the right person to carry on the mantle of Captain America. This might be the best Anthony Mackie has been in the MCU so far. Speaking of carrying on a role, Harrison Ford is very good as Thunderbolt Ross. He's definitely doing his own spin on the character from William Hurt, but one that makes him someone you can both kind of hate and empathise with. The antagonist of the movie is... fine. I do actually really like what his plans are, but ultimately he's another villain to add to the pile of mediocre MCU villains.
Joaquin Torres from Falcon and The Winter Soldier makes his debut as the new Falcon, and while I enjoyed his presence, it honestly felt like he didn't really have much going for him and by the end of the movie we barely know anything about him. Hopefully, that changes in the future, but I do wish he had more going on in this. Isaiah Bradley also makes his return, and I really like what they did with him. I keep on hoping that they'll one day directly adapt Truth: Red, White & Black, but I honestly don't think they have the balls to do so if the politics in Brave New World is anything to go by.
Overall, while the plot and messaging might be on the thin side in comparison to the original Captain America trilogy and even Falcon and The Winter Soldier, it's still got the heart of its predecessors and I'm looking forward to seeing more of Sam Wilson as Captain America.
Also there's a single after credits scene at the very ass end of everything, but it's honestly not that important and I'd advise just looking it up online lol.
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man season 1 has ended and it's great, far better than I was expecting. It's easily the best Spider-Man series since Spectacular. Lore-wise it's probably the least accurate adaptation of the character so far (lol), but hot damn do they nail the tone, story, and characters. It kinda makes me wish the MCU had taken this kind of route with Tom Holland's take after Homecoming.
I do have some complaints of course, but they're things that could be improved upon or added later on. I like all the characters, I think the writing and dialogue are super solid, and in my opinion it's an aesthetically pleasing to look at. I still think it's strange that the show isn't using any of Peter's usual cast of characters outside of Harry and Norman, Aunt May is also fairly underutilised this season, and the animations sometimes looks a little wonky or "laggy." But again, these are things that can be improved upon with later seasons.
Overall, it's great! I had a really good time with the show and I'm looking forward to the next couple seasons. Maybe if it does well enough it could even go beyond that, that'd be neat having a Spidey series that continues on past highschool.
A Punisher 'Special Presentation' has been revealed to be in the works with Jon Bernthal set to co-write alongside director Reinaldo Marcus Green, who he previously worked with on the tv series, We Own This City.
We've never been more back.
I thought I heard rumors they were gonna drop the Special Presentation titles, since they weren't panning out..!
But this is great news, whoa yeah!!
(Also, currently rewatching Daredevil in prep for Born Again. Gosh, so dark and actiony but good. Never saw Season 3 so it'll be good to get around to that.)
I still haven't seen What If S3 (I've heard it's quite divisive unfortunately), the new Spider-Man show (had low expectations but heard great things even if non-MCU connected anymore) and haven't checked out Echo (also heard mixed things.)
Gosh there's just so much TV and games out there, I only got so much time in my life! 😆
Well I just got back from watching the new Captain America: Brave New World.
It was fun. I had fun.
Was it a good movie? Uhhhm no. It was... pretty messy.
There were good ideas and details and themes in this movie, but yeah from what I've heard the movie was shredded in the editing room. Fully cast, filmed characters/actors not appearing at all. Character design changes in reshoots (for the worst according to fans idk)
Lingering loose ends, inconsistencies, or just strange exposition blunders permeate this film.
Gosh, yeah, I had a good time. I came for the Red Hulk fight and cool Falcon flying fights and Giancarlo Esposito, aaaand... yeah we got that. Those were in the trailers. C'mon, they knew you and I wanted that and I got it and I had fun.
(I think it's hilarious the marketing team had such a "fuck it" energy after the first teaser, just... putting the whole "Harrison-Ford-Red-Hulk" climax teases in every trailer and poster. Like, the IMAX poster is legit just Cap vs. Looming Red Ford-Hulk. No secrecy or anything.)
Ford may have no interest or care for this movie at all given the press interviews. He's just here for the paycheck, that's fair. But I'd say he earned his paycheck! I liked his performance and dialogue, and he was cool!
Was it... good cinema though? Meeehhh no I don't think so.
The beginning had some great camera angles and framing. Cool, cool. Then they didn't really have anything eye-catching in the middle IMO.
However, I thought the Red Hulk climax was very fun in a silly "oh boy The President is a Hulk!" goofy way. The shot of Ford-Hulk standing over the President's Seal Podium and then doing a King Kong rampage across the White House with American Flags behind him was fun to watch.
(...Probably because of IRL America being run currently by an idiotic President with many malicious Right-Hand-Men and it's SO mind-boggling how much they've metaphorically destroyed in just 2 months -- there's some fun I guess in seeing "Hey, at least the MCU now has to deal with a Hulk President Rampage!" Wow!)
...anyway probably wait for streaming/yo-ho-ho-ing. Or if you can save money with gift cards or points or whatever, it's a fun watch for pretty cheap if you have no better plans.
I'm still excited for Thunderbolts* though.
That movie at least looks very fun in a clearly "this is a big action movie with lots of action" kind of film. You aren't here for the interesting narrative. You're here for the stunts.
I'm probably missing some thoughts on stuff in the movie. If lupin or anyone has any questions for me, you can always shoot. 👍
LONG HAVE I WAITED
Daredevil: Born Again has released it's first two episodes and I am happy to say that they're good lmao. It's a strong, albeit a little messy start to the series. If anyone's worried about the universe it takes place in or the level of maturity, you can all breathe easy. It very much is a continuation of the Netflix universe in almost every way, while fully merging itself into the MCU. It's a little less grounded cause the show doesn't feel like it's embarrassed of the magic and mysticism of the wider world, but it's still bloody and violent while keeping up with the themes of the original series. Born Again actually goes a little further with its maturity by actually letting characters say "fuck" which is a surprise.
I know Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio have appeared in a handful of projects since their re-introduction but this series really lets them shine. They are fully back in as their respective roles and they are brilliant. Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson also return as Karen and Foggy, and despite not being in it that much at the moment, they continue to be very good. The show also introduces a few new side characters and while we don't know too much about them so far, I'm enjoying what they're bringing in, especially the characters Cherry and BB.
An addition to the show I'm liking a lot so far is the inclusion of these little snippets of vox pop interviews with random citizens in New York and their opinions on the events going on in the city. In general you hear a lot from the people of the city which I think is a nice touch. It helps to keep the world feeling alive and active, rather than just a backdrop.
I of course have some issues. The CGI is pretty bad lmao, but thankfully it's only ever really used in the prologue of episode 1. After that it's all fairly practical. The pacing, especially in episode one is also a little rough especially with the amount of time that passes. You can also kind of tell that the episodes are a bit of a patchwork with the new creative team having to work with the old stuff that was too far ahead in completion to be scrapped, specifically in terms of writing. At least it's nice knowing season 2 won't have these kinds of issues with them knowing ahead of time what they want exactly.
Overall I'm pretty happy so far. It definitely has its issues, but I'm really liking what I'm seeing so far. I'm really looking forward to seeing how things play out!
Episode 3 of Born Again is out and it's fantastic! Straight up felt like an episode of the Netflix series without having that stitched together feeling from the premiere episodes. It's near entirely set within the confines of a courtroom, so action is kept to a minimum, and it's easily some of the best courtroom drama we've had from all of Daredevil. It's in no small part due to the dialogue, characters, and acting, especially from Charlie Cox and Kamar de los Reyes, who unfortunately passed away in late 2023 from a battle with cancer. Not to mention an absolute wallop of an ending that opens the series up to its next story arc.
Really enjoyed the episode. Very excited for next week!
Daredevil: Born Again episode 4
Episodes 5 and 6
Some Spider-Man news today!
Spider-Man 4 is officially titled Spider-Man: Brand New Day!
And we finally get our first look at Beyond the Spider-Verse which will be releasing on June 4, 2027!
Episode 8 of Born Again, which is the first episode of the season to not use any old content from the original version of the show.
Marvel Studios released a promo for the Thunderbolts focusing on Florence Pugh jumping from the Merdeka 118 building, which is especially cool to me since they actually filmed in Malaysia, which is where I'm from! Nice to see my home country make its way into a big budget film.
Also how the fuck did they blow up that building for real lmao
Daredevil: Born Again has ended its first season and I really liked it! By comparison it is the weakest season of Daredevil, but it does have moments of greatness that measure up to the original series, especially with the last two episodes. The biggest issue by far is that it's very evident that this is two different shows that were stitched together to make something else, but with season 2 being entirely new content I'm fairly confident it'll be much more focused and a better season overall. Not to say that all the old stuff was bad, there was some really great and fun stuff from the original cut of the series like the White Tiger and the bank robbery episodes, which I believe were the only two episodes from the first version of the show that were left entirely untouched.
Another issue I have is that most of the new characters are unfortunately very underdeveloped. In particular Cherry, Kim, and Heather who is Matt's love interest this season. Cherry and Kim really don't do anything particularly newsworthy and it feels like they could have been cut out entirely and everything would stay about the same. Heather while she gets a lot more screen time and does have some really great moments, unfortunately I just don't feel she has that much chemistry with Matt, though that might've been done on purpose since there is a big focus on Matt avoiding his trauma and pretending everything is alright. As for BB and Daniel, I really like them. I think they're great additions, I just wish they were in it more.
As for what I liked. I really like the inclusion of swearing in the show, every episode except one has a handful of fucks. I always found it weird with how dark the original Netflix show was, that no one really said anything worse than "shit." Matt himself gets a couple incredible needle drops. Another is the violence, they absolutely do not hold back and at points even surpass the Netflix series. There's one moment in particular that had me go "JEEZUS." Matt and Fisk are absolutely fantastic, they fall right back into their roles and I loved the direction that the characters went. Vanessa also gets to do a lot more in here than in the original series. Born Again fully establishes why her and Fisk are perfect for each other.
I really enjoyed the season overall and I consider it one of the MCU's best shows. They go places you wouldn't expect the MCU to go and I'm fully expecting the second season to up the ante if the last two episodes are anything to go by.
A full trailer for Fantastic Four: First Steps has been released!
I've gotta say, it's fantastic!
Yeah it might be fantastic, but here’s the thing:
...
A teaser for the Spider-Noir series starring Nicholas Cage is out!
Honestly it looks like it could be a fun time, plus I do like me some Cage. I'm surprised they actually stuck with the black and white visuals, but it is a nice way to stand out from the crowd.
Some MCU news today!
Oh yeah I never put my thoughts about Thunderbolts here didn't I (even though I have them written out and everything lol) Anyway yeah it's probably an instant Marvel classic, great concept, characters, scope, and style!
...
Thunderbolts*
with specific emphasis on the Asterisk, too!...
(Though in some parts of the USA might find that changing soon, for some reason) 🤔
Yes, while a whole lot of the marketing, trailers, and even the posters themselves make a point to show off the asterisk, it in and of itself doesn't really play a part in the film. Like, no one writes down Thunderbolts and puts an asterisk over it. They kind of just disagree on forming a team with that name. But yes I liked the mystery behind why and its weird Marvel is seemingly abandoning it with a new marketing push not even a week after it's out.
The film itself was great!
I thought it was really fun to see all these side-characters from different films and movies come together in their own starring ensemble film.
The humour is great, awkward at times, and the fun comes from seeing how they bicker or bounce off each others' wild personalities.
Boy, US Agent/Walker is still such a jerk with a hair-pin trigger finger. (Been seeing a lot of online love and support for the character being a better Cap than Sam right now, but honestly dude still needs more redemption and self-care to be worthy IMO. Maybe I need a second watch but it didn't really feel like his character, morally, grew by the end to be considered "good").
It also has a nice central theme of mental health and depression, even finding an interesting way to show off some of the characters' internal struggles and pasts (though I wish we got more from the whole group than we did)
It was very touching, and I also appreciated the father-daughter moments between Yelena and Alexei when they occured. It's only been a year since they last saw each other, but for us it's been like... 4 years if you're just counting the movies? and 7 for Ghost. My god...
The action was fun. It was great not to have even someone with a super flying jetpack or magic high-tech that can stop or do anything.
Like, this movie's action is literally just fisticuffs and guns. Which feels fresh for Marvel!
I also really enjoyed the 3rd act confrontation, it does some weird camera stuff and cool scene changes that I always eat up. Not specifying due to spoilers.
(Heheh but I will say one of the VERY first scenes of the movie has a top-down shot with a bunch of guards casting LONG dark shadows, and I specifically remember that being really fun foreshadowing for The Void)
Great performances all around, though some characters get the spotlight a whole lot more.
This film at the least feels like the MCU is back. It has nice connections to other properties that it doesn't need to explain too hard or just leave viewers confused (at least from my parents' reactions)
(Like, this connects to Cap 4 by mentioning the Red Hulk incident at the start, and at the very end, we see it connect to Fantastic 4 with their ship! Good bookends.
Meanwhile something like Cap 4 has major plot beats connects to Incredible Hulk from over 15 years earlier, and Eternals from 4 years ago... and if ya havent seen a recap, catch up fool.)
So anyway, really enjoyable film. Good change of pace in the MCU, its as grounded a squad as you can get, it's fun and it's touching.
Ending thoughts
Spoilers spoilers for the final scene of the movie!
Yeah, this team will always be known as Thunderbolts to me. Despite the final title card and Disney pushing some weird new marketing.
Like, they all still only punch and shoot and lift heavy things. Sure, the one guy can fly and do extra superhuman things, so long as he doesn't let depression take over, but damn, they do not hold a candle to the original Avg squad... or whatever that other new squad FalCap is making...
Keep the name, and the movie title dangit!! It's got a cute meaning behind it rather than corporate nostalgia...
Oh yeah and also I've been catching up on What If Season 3 and WOW I was completely expecting the "What If Howard the Duck got Hitched?" episode to be a complete dud. It's an episode about Howard and Darcy raising a damn baby egg and also a sequel to the Party Thor episode in S1 which was weird.
But it was incredibly ridiculous and fun, since they go all-out with a whole bunch of MCU villain cameos, because they're all looking to claim this "powerful egg/creature" for themselves. It's just SO silly and self-aware enough about its own premise that I think it's one of the better episodes of the show despite the lack of a real tie to an existing MCU film.
Some big news!
Jake Schreier will be directing the MCU's X-Men movie which is a great choice since Thunderbolts* ended up being so good! We already know the man knows how to write some good depression and camaraderie.
And Jon Bernthal has been cast as the Punisher in Spider-Man: Brand New Day!
I started watching Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spiderman, and it's been way more enjoyable than I expected!
The animation is very expressive and action scenes are fluid, the art style is KILLER!, the show has tons of heart and it's wonderful to finally see a young Spidey focused on helping out his local community. Also it touches on lots of modern social topics with it's side characters which I found unexpected and sweet! (And really makes the main VO's comments around when the shoe came out about hoping its not "too woke" really baffling. This show is quite woke already.
Seen 3 episodes so far, really enjoying it. Really really
This is the wokest Spider-Man show, what was that man on about lmao
It really is! It's awesome how they're dedicating an entire side-plot to Lonnie the school football star.
First episode, he's getting racial profiled while walking home, and by episode 4 he's deep into a gang debt that looks really hard to get out of.
I'm also really enjoying so far the relationship between Norman and Peter. Colman Domingo has a wonderful soothing voice, and his character is written so genuinely helpful and happy to work with Peter. It doesn't seem like there's any underlying motive yet, but I really hope he doesn't turn Goblin against him, that'd be truly heartbreaking.
Interesting to see some MCU events on the side like Civil War or talks of Avengers 1.
I wonder how far the show will get before it diverges completely since I thought the whole MCU connection was scrapped other than just the start point.
I watched Fantastic Four: First Steps.
I know it's not a low bar but this is easily the best Fantastic Four movie so far. I know people were apprehensive with Pedro Pascal, claiming that Marvel was just stuntcasting, but he is excellent as Reed Richards, and it's not just him. Venessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach all feel like the definite versions of the characters, at least in live action. Everyone gets their time in the spotlight and it's glorious. Their chemistry is undeniable and the movie does a great job of really showcasing their family dynamic. Sure, sometimes they'll argue and get on each others nerves, but it's clear they all love each other.
My big surprise of the movie was Julia Gardner as Shallal-Bal/Silver Surfer, I absolutely loved this depiction of the Surfer and I wish she was in it for more than she is. A very layered and tragic character dressed up with some exceptional CG. Ralph Ineson is also great of Galactus. Truly a formidable antagonist, and very reminiscent of the Celestials from The Eternals. I also loved the world they live in. Setting the movie in an idealistic retro-futuristic 1960's America was a genius move by Marvel and I honestly kind of dread the Four having to eventually make their way to the MCU, just because I want to see more of the world. The Jetsons feel really helps it stand out from the other movies.
Now my gripes about the movie.
While the CG for the most part is legitimately good. There is one unfortunate wrinkle that's present throughout most of the movie, and that is Franklin Richards. Half the time he's played by a real baby, but the other half it's clearly a CGI baby, like why. Again, he doesn't look bad all the time, there are a bunch of scenes where he's clearly a real baby and things are fine, but other times it's hard not to get an uncanny valley feeling from him. Aside from the fake baby, the CG in the rest of the movie is actually pretty great. My other issue is that it's very clear that they cut out a solid 15 or so minutes out of the movie to keep the runtime under 2 hours. There's some rushed character development for the side characters and the pacing towards the end of the movie is a little wack.
Overall, I really enjoyed it. A super solid entry to the MCU and the best Fantastic Four movie so far (fourth time's the charm!).