Thanks to its early digital release, I finally got to watch Spider-Man: No Way Home yesterday. Feels nice to be able to google Spidey again!
Overall, I thought it was one of the best live-action Spidey movies to date, and certainly one of the most ambitious and entertaining entries in the MCU. I feel like Tom Holland's Spidey has completed one of the better superhero character arcs in recent years, benefitting from more noticeable development and growth than many of his long-serving comrades. He's now in a perfect position to pay forward what Tony Stark taught him, and become a background mentor figure to the next Spider-Man, which I'm really hoping will be a live-action Miles Morales. I think some of Mr. Holland's recent interview comments would suggest that this could be the most likely future for the character.
The whole thing looked and sounded spectacular, particularly thanks to Dr. Strange's involvement in the ensuing chaos, and I'm glad that the digital de-ageing of Willem Dafoe and Alfred Molina was subtle, to keep them from falling into the Uncanny Valley during their pleasingly substantial screentime. I haven't felt the urge to rush out and buy the soundtrack, but it's only a matter of time, as I've been humming Michael Giacchino's Spidey theme all morning, and I adored all of the musical references he managed to make throughout (although I'm sure some of them will be absent from the album).
Because yes, it goes without saying that the return of both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield was an unmitigated triumph. Despite their presence transforming a promising popcorn flick into a pop culture event, they didn't detract from this ultimately being Peter One's story, and ended up aiding his development whilst being treated with the time, attention and respect they deserve. I also thought that giving Mr. Garfield that all-important MJ save was a beautiful touch, and that his immediate reaction to it was heartbreakingly heartwarming. Part of me hopes that there's some truth to the rumours of Spider-Man 4 and The Amazing Spider-Man 3 being in the works now, but another part of me dreads that, as this was almost too perfect of a coda for both of them, and anything further might risk wrecking all of its hard work.
Anyway, long story short? Loved it, a lot. Am gonna go order the Blu-Ray and look forward to a re-watch!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger Glad to see you enjoyed No Way Home. I’m looking forward to watching it again, because a lot of my first viewing was hampered by having to pick my jaw up off the floor time after time. Not having been exposed to any spoilers really made for some shocking reveals.
Dr Stange and the Multiverse of Madness will be interesting. With the show Loki, What If…, and other multiverse installments, starting with Into the Spiderverse, I’m concerned that the novelty will eventually wear off and/or the one-upsmanship of subsequent films and shows will turn the narrative strategy into progressive ridiculousness. So far it’s all been brilliantly done though.
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Also, a few completely separate Marvel thoughts and observations:
I haven’t heard much chatter about Moon Knight. I have absolutely no background knowledge of the character. I don’t think I’ve even heard of him. The trailer looks great though. It’s set to drop soon, and I’m surprised there hasn’t been more advertising for it. (Although it might be out there and I just don’t watch enough television to have been exposed)
Also, I noticed that thankfully the Netflix Marvel shows have immediately dropped onto Disney+. I thought I heard there might be some delay, but at least in the US, they all appear to be there now from Daredevil to The Punisher and everything in between. And as a result, it looks like (at least in the US) I had to re-login with my password and attest that I wanted to show content rated MA. Kinda surprised that Disney is doubling down on mature content, but glad that they are. The value of D+ has really gone up for me now since I never took the time to watch the Netflix shows, and it’s nice to have all the Marvel shows and movies in one place.
@Th3solution Yeah, I was similarly too busy gasping, laughing or blinking through misty eyes to fully absorb every detail of the movie, so am looking forward to a more level-headed viewing. I'd heard some rumours and watched the trailers, so I knew there'd be a certain degree of that kinda stuff, but... well, yeah. Full credit to Marvel and Sony for managing to keep such a tight lid on some things.
I share your concerns about escalation, but am encouraged by the deft touch displayed thusfar. As long as things continue to feel special and magical, then they'll work. I think if there is gonna be an issue, it's gonna be with audience expectation. I'm sure every future project will be well-written, well-acted and well-presented but, if it doesn't do what the fans want it to do, none of that'll matter, and everything will get torn apart as "bad" or "a failure" by the court of online opinion. For that reason alone, it might be wise for these major events to be a little more infrequent, just so that everybody's got time to calm down.
Moon Knight is a weird one. You know I'm hardly a Marvel expert, nor do I roam the internet all that widely, but I've still heard multiple people call the character one of the most underrated superheroes of all time, and that he's a favourite of hardcore comic aficionados, so I figure that there's got to be something special there. The trailer impressed me, but I'm not exactly counting the days and you're right, without the big "Coming Soon!" tile on Disney+ I'm not entirely sure I'd even know of the show's existence.
Hope you enjoy those Netflix shows, if and when you get around to 'em!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger Yeah, not sure when I’ll get around to the Netflix-now-Disney+ TV shows, but after Matt Murdock / Daredevil from the TV show showed up in No Way Home, I figure I better get up to speed with them as it appears they are beginning to interconnect characters from them into the MCU. That may have been the first proper jaw-dropping moment in the movie when he does the cameo as the consulting attorney. I just grinned from ear to ear and nudged my friend next to me. “That’s Davedevil!” I whispered excitedly, and then he rolled his eyes and said, “I know.”
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solutionYeah, despite not knowing a thing about the Netflix shows, I figured he was somebody important thanks to his scene's construction, and deduced his origins. Also, I apologise because I almost never point out a person's typos, but calling him "Davedevil" is genius! Sounds like the blandest superhero ever created (and certainly would explain why I didn't recognise him)! "Who's that over there, standing between Iron Mike and the Incredible Hank?" "Oh, that's just Davedevil."
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger 😂 I just saw that. I rely too much on autocorrect. That is pretty funny though. We could create a whole series based on off-brand superheroes. 🤣
Ah well, my inaccurate thumbs have a mind and wit all their own.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
The Ms. Marvel trailer dropped a few days ago, it looks pretty good! I don't really like the way they've changed Kamala's powers was a bit weird, even though her creator literally said that Kamala's powers wouldn't work well in live action, which I have to agree with. I know Marvel has a big VFX budget but Kamala's stretchy limbs would look a bit odd. I do love that we have a Muslim-American MCU character. I'm not one of the people she represents but I'm happy for all of the people that she does represent. I've always liked Kamala and I'm excited to see what they do with this show!
Finally finished Marvel What If? It's taken me some months to get through it. Even if I was a bit lukewarm to certain aspects of the whole show, the final episode was really cool. Loved the Captain Carter and Alt-Widow double shield team up!
@ralphdibny I really liked almost the entire show except for the finale. It just kinda seemed like Marvel has no clue how to make singular stories that don't relate to each other. Strange Supreme just acted completely normal even though his entire world was destroyed because of him, and it just kinda felt a bit rushed. I'm glad you enjoyed it and the Captain Carter and Black Widow team-up was really cool. I'm pretty excited for season 2 to incorporate some Phase 4 stuff like the Eternals and Shang Chi!
@ralphdibny i was surprised about the finish of "What if?" As well. I didn't realize they would all tie together and now even used in Marvel movies. Looking forward to Dr. Strange 2. He was always my favorite to read, probably due to the combination of magic in a super hero world.
As for games, while guardians of the galaxy was great I would really like a true marvel rpg. The closest I've seen was Marvel ultimate Alliance back on ps2 I think? The gear and leveling up was quite fun. Maybe they could do something like DC online only make it a single player story. As much money as the they are making you would think more quality marvel games would be out. Maybe Wolverine will be a great one.
@Jackpaza0508 haha nice so the opposite to me! That's fair enough!
I think I may have been more into What If? when I was younger. I quite liked all the Marvel Zombies, Red Son, Elseworlds style stories but yeah think it may have been because it was an easy self contained "in" to what seemed like an impenetrable continuity of both DC and Marvel.
I've followed MCU since the beginning and I've enjoyed like 95% of it. I think there have been a few decent self contained things, including The Runaways which is actually one of my favourite Marvel shows. I know it had a brief crossover with Cloak & Dagger but it was more like they did it because they could and not to lead into some overarching event crossover.
I wasn't big on the animation style of What If? unfortunately. I will always love any Captain Carter design though, it's just a really cool concept even if I felt a bit bored during that episode. I was lukewarm to the MCU-ified Marvel Zombies adaptation and Party Thor. I sort of quite liked the Doc Strange episode, I think that's when the series started picking up for me.
@Elodin I'm looking forward to Doc Strange 2 as well. Should be good! Quite excited to see what universes they depict and pass through and what it will mean for the MCU going forward.
Unsure what to think of Moon Knight. I think I enjoyed it despite that accent. It’s hard to describe it as a slow first episode as stuff did happen, just that nothing particularly understandable happened.
@nessisonett totally agree, but I guess they needed some background in a rather obscure character from Marvel (never heard of it before, TBH). Still, Oscar Isaac's performance in the Star Wars movies makes me believe at least the actor deserves more shots in fictional characters.
I just watched the first episode of Moon Knight and I liked it. I don't know anything about the character as I also never heard of it before they announced the TV show.
It was definitely a "more questions than answers" kinda episode but I think that's a good way to start and I thought Isaac was very good - though it probably helps that I'm not British and I couldn't tell there was anything wrong with the accent
Approaching this one with a lot of trepidation. I absolutely love "Spider-Man" but I think that most of the post "Infinity War" MCU content has been complete and utter garbage.
@LN78 I’ll be curious what your thoughts are on NWH. If you’ve been able to avoid spoilers (unlikely given the ubiquitous popularity of the movie) then it will probably resonate better. The reception has been mainly positive from the masses, but I suggest you set your expectations low (as it appears you have). Just a hunch. 😄
Personally I really liked it, but I need to see it again to get a firmer opinion about where it sits in the ranking of MCU movies. I really liked Shang-Chi and Far From Home, but otherwise the post-Infinity movies (Black Widow and Eternals) have been below MCU average for me too (although I still enjoy them). Dr. Strange is looking good though.
Have you kept up with all the Marvel TV shows? They aren’t essential but I think they serve to augment the movies a little bit.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution I liked the first few episodes of "Wandavision" but for the life of me I could not make it through the entirety of "Loki" or "Falcon and the Winter Soldier" so I never even bothered with "Hawkeye". In terms of spoilers for "No Way Home" I've picked up the generalities if not the specifics through everyday cultural osmosis but if it leans as heavily into the "member-berries" as I suspect that it might, then I'm not going to be impressed - I'm sick to the back teeth of nostalgia bating in franchise flicks. As for "Dr.Strange" - it's a Sam Raimi directed CBM with (reportedly) a heavy horror vibe (whatever that means in the context of a Disney product) so I'll give it a chance on thst basis alone but in my opinion the introduction of the multiverse neccesarily means the subtraction of any real stakes or consequences and that can't be good in terms of the drama.
@LN78 So far Loki seems to have the least amount of tangible cross-over so far, other than this concept of the multiverse which it introduced. However there is some late season shenanigans that make me suspect we’ll see more overt cross-over eventually.
WandaVision does appear ro have some direct background to the new Dr Strange movie, Scarlet Witch is looking to play a prominent role. The episodes of WandaVision are only 30 minutes, if memory serves, so might be worth getting through for you before seeing Dr Strange. I’m not sure.
Falcon and the Winter Soldier was the hardest for me to make it through. The series creeped along and had a forgettable antagonist, but unfortunately it looks to have some significance in the incoming movies. Nevertheless, I can’t really recommend pushing through it because although I liked it by the end, it was still probably my least favorite of the TV shows.
Hawkeye has a similar slow development, but it picks up after a couple episodes and the writing is much more charming. If you’ve seen Black Widow, then you know there’s overlap there with character and mild narrative cross-over. I also suspect Kate Bishop will reappear in the movies eventually, so seeing her origin story is a nice background. I actually was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the Kate Bishop character.
The last one not mentioned is What If… and that is mostly just another foray into multiverse confusion, which sounds like that won’t sit well with you. Nevertheless, the episodes are short and a couple of them are entertaining enough. Probably watching the first episode would be good just to see what the concepts are and then skipping to watch the Dr Strange episode (it seems like it was about the 3rd or 4th episode) as it appears to have some bearing on the upcoming movie.
The multiverse concepts definitely are running rampant, but thankfully Disney has handled them well so far, but you’re right - it does rob the franchise of some of the previous stakes and drama, in a way. Mostly it works though.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
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