Topic: The Marvel Thread

@JohnnyShoulder A fair criticism. I'll be watching Boba Fett weekly, so can let you know how it goes, and whether that approach continues or not (spoiler-free, of course).

Binged Hawkeye earlier in the week. It was a fun time, but between setting up Kate, following up on Black Widow's post credit scene, and finally deciding to recognize the Netflix shows in some capacity (without getting too spoilery), it seemed to have a lot going on for it's runtime.

Sorry for the double post, but I just finished binging the back half of What If?.

I had procrastinated on watching this one (started last weekend), but I'm glad I got around to it. The first couple episodes were a bit slow, but I thought it picked up by episode 3, and then by episode 4 (the Doctor Strange one) it was absolutely fire. There were some ups & downs after that, but the last few were absolutely amazing.

A couple notes:

• I was surprised to see Spider-Man show up given the whole rights juggling act. I assume that since it's a TV series instead of a movie (and animated) that it lets them bypass whatever rights Sony has? It certainly wasn't Tom Holland voicing him, that's for sure.
• It would be an absolute shame if the show's events (or at least some of it's universes) weren't at least referenced in Multiverse of Madness. I think a version of "Evil" Strange is confirmed to appear, so here's hoping.
• Just a neat observation. Under the tab where they list all the MCU movies/series in timeline order, they have What If? listed right after Loki, which is neat given that the latter ends with the multiverse being unleashed.

@RR529 Darn, I really need to finish What If...? but I'm still grateful for your thoughts. Funnily enough, the last episode I watched was that Doctor Strange one, which everybody (rightly) raves about, but I just haven't had the motivation to return for whatever reason.

What's worse is that lately, I've been watching the old '95 Spidey cartoon whilst I eat, so it's not like I'm avoiding Disney+ or anything at the moment! Will get around to it eventually, I'm sure.

Watched Eternals this morning.

Certainly very visually accomplished and the fight scenes could definitely be kinetic, but it felt a little slow & bloated (and I don't think any of them really stood out in terms of personality other than Kingo).

I feel like if you're the kind of person to really like the first two Thor movies, you'd probably like this. More of an epic/drama feel without much of the trademark MCU humor/quips (though there is some).

Gave Eternals another go since it was added to Disney+. It was a little better on second viewing but still kinda rubbish. Overly bloated with exposition (a title crawl these days is laughable) and the high concept nature makes it all feel a bit like a Syfy Channel made-for-TV movie. I wouldn’t even say that the actors did anything wrong, they were all pretty decent but it was more just fundamental issues with the structure, the expendable nature of newly-introduced characters and the messy writing.

@RR529 @nessisonett Mediocre as it sounds, I think I’ll try to watch Eternals this weekend if I get the time. Obviously not because of the glowing praise I’ve seen, but rather because it’s an MCU movie and I’m a fan of the franchise. Hopefully Disney/Marvel isn’t getting lazy with their output since they know there are millions of us that will watch it just on the affiliation of the MCU. Thankfully the movies before it (Shang-Chi) and after (No Way Home) were both excellent so maybe this is an aberration.

I have started Hawkeye, and watched two episodes so far. It much better than I was led to believe. It captures the Marvel fun and personality much better than Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I like Kate Bishop a lot more than I thought I would. Why they used that font for the title and branding I’ll never know. It’s a subconscious (or in my case, a conscious) turn-off.

Yeah, I dunno. As much as I'm trying to keep current with the MCU now, there's something about Eternals which makes me think I'll leave it 'til I absolutely have to watch it (in other words, when its storyline or characters become significant crossovers in something I actually care about).

@Th3solution The Hawkeye font and marketing is lifted from the comics it was based on!

@nessisonett Ah, well I guess that at least makes some sense. I’d thought Disney had lost their branding and artistic edge with this one. I can respect that they are trying to stay true to the comics then.

It’s just that it looks like the art design you’d see for a kids show on Nickelodeon or the packaging on the Barbie Playhouse box. Hawkeye is supposed to be this Ronin badass, not some cosmopolitan softie.

Perhaps back in the day, there was only so many fonts to choose from 😛

@Th3solution See, this is where the problem lies. Hawkeye shouldn’t be a ‘badass’ at all really, and any sort of characterisation along those lines is misguided. He’s too silly to be played straight. He’s basically an idiot who runs around with a bow because that’s the only thing he knows how to do. He’s absolutely better as a Spider-Man like hero with mundane problems and no money than a SHIELD agent which robs him of all personality.

@nessisonett Was his Ronin persona just a complete fabrication unique to the MCU?

And having only seen a couple episodes, it sounds like Kate Bishop fits the description of what Hawkeye was in the comics. Good with a bow, but a bit of a socially awkward and goofy character.

@Th3solution Ronin was a thing and did directly lead to Kate Bishop taking on the Hawkeye mantle but it was the result of an extended ‘grimdark’ influence on the comics which all seems a bit silly looking back on it. The MCU is primarily influenced by the Ultimate universe iterations of the characters which again has aged incredibly badly. In that, Hawkeye is the whole stoic agent with zero personality which he is in the MCU but then his family were slaughtered due to Black Widow betraying them so there’s that. Hawkeye as a character was just done dirty by Whedon and there wasn’t really a clear way back from the damage he did without extensive retcons.

Also caught the original X Men film on TV the other night. Definitely showing it's age, but still an interesting look back on how far we've come (also reminded me how much I loved watching X Men Evolution as a kid).

Since (most) of the X Men films are on Disney+, I'll probably start watching through them since there doesn't seem to be much Marvel content releasing on the service in the first half of the year other than She Hulk sometime in the spring. Since No Way Home is likely skipping D+ until sometime next year, the next movie will probably be Multiverse of Madness sometime in the summer after it's may theatrical release.

@RR529 I suspect No Way Home won’t come to Disney+ given the weird Spider-Man franchise rights. Homecoming and Far From Home aren’t on it.

There are some good X-Men movies (and some bad ones). I think they are all good except for X3 The Last Stand, which although bad, is actually not as much a travesty as the internet makes it to be, and Dark Phoenix, which is as bad as it’s made out to be. Oh, and X-Men Origins Wolverine is supposed to be bad but I never took the time to find out firsthand.

@Th3solution, I did read an article this past week that Sony did reach a deal with Disney to have some of their films on Disney+ in the US (primarily the Spider Man movies I'd imagine), but that Starz & Netflix have "Pay Window 1" rights (meaning they'll get them first, for up to possibly 18 months before they can go anywhere else), while Disney signed on for "Pay Window 2" rights (meaning they'll get them after the previous window is finished).

It said that while the older (and legacy) Spider Man films might be added this year, No Way Home probably won't be available until 2023 (or even 2024).

That said, my parents sub to Netflix, so if it does show up there sometime this year, I can probably just watch it there now that I think about it.

EDIT: As for the X Men (& related) films I think I've seen them all at some point or another, but haven't watched the original trilogy (except for my mentioned rewatch of the first) or Origins Wolverine since they originally released in the 00's, so it'll be fun rewatching them since I don't have much recollection of them.

I do have a soft spot for First Class, Days of Future Past, & Apocalypse due to the period piece nature of them (but they kind of run together for me as I usually catch bits & pieces of them on TV), so it'll probably do good to actually watch them in full sittings. I actually got the Wolverine on BD (though just because it's set in Japan, lol).

Unfortunately Logan probably isn't on D+ as it's "R" rated (it's the only one I haven't yet seen), and the Deadpool movies are almost certainly absent as well for this reason.

@RR529 Yeah, I’m not sure if Disney+ has a hard line on rated ‘R’ films never coming to the service, but it seems so.

Many people feel Logan is the best of the bunch, although I thought it was merely good, not great. But I’m an anomaly there. I really liked Hugh Jackman in it and what was done with the character, but he’s probably one of my top 5 favorite actors so I like nearly all his performances. What I didn’t care for in Logan was some of the other elements involved and the story and other characters were actually a bit of a letdown, for me personally. It’s hard to put my finger on it, especially without spoilers, but I’m sure you’ll like it, because everyone does. I probably need to watch it again since I’ve only seen it once. Sometimes movies are better the second time.

I’ll be curious how you like your revisit of the franchise.

@RR529 I was about to assure you that Logan, as well as the Deadpool movies, are in fact available on Disney+ but then I noticed your geographical location, and remembered that Disney+ isn't a single, unified service in its home country. It looks like Logan is on Hulu, which you might have access to, depending on your level of Disney+ subscription. Worth checking, just in case.

@RogerRoger, yeah, I just have the base subscription. I thought about upgrading to the bundle quite awhile ago, but I subscribe through Amazon as an intermediary, and while you're allowed to subscribe to D+ & Hulu individually that way, for whatever reason you can't bundle them together through that method.

I mean, it probably wouldn't be hard at all to cancel through Amazon & then simply sign up directly with Disney, though I'm not sure if it would be recognized as the same account & would probably lose my watch history (and that of the other family members' profiles).

I’m hoping Oscar Isaac’s truly terrible English accent is on purpose in Moon Knight, due to it being a whole split personality deal. Otherwise they really heard that and thought, ‘that’ll do’. Sounds like Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins and Keanu Reeves in Dracula had an ungodly baby.