Secret Invasion: Another Act Of MCU Self Harm

Summary

Nick Fury, played by Samuel. L. Jackson returns to earth to try and stop a Skrull terrorist network. This will be an overview of the series.

Deary me, after all the talk of Marvel’s decline they decide to bring this out. Now I am not one for saying that if you adapt a comic storyline you have to do so faithfully and with due reverence, however, this feels like spitting on the face of the comic and replacing it with something that can only be described as hot and steaming.

I think my major issue with this is that rather than be a big epic event like in the comics it is so small scale that you question the budget for the show. One has to ask could they not afford Brie Larson’s salary to get her to appear, as Captain Marvel is deeply tied to the Skrulls. They dredge out the idea that this is person for Fury and this is his last go around, and then are too afraid to kill him off, making it all null.

The new characters added are pretty rancid, I will give the show that I am interested to see more of Olivia Colman’s British secret agent character only really because I am a fan of Colman and also I hope it leads to Excalibur. However, outside of Colman the rest are non-entities. We have a new American president, who is an obvious Trump parallel, because that is what the MCU really needed, another group of terrorists where the show tries to be sympathetic and goes oh but actually they were let down by an MCU hero so that makes them complex and nuanced, when they are just terrorists. Then there is Emilia Clarke’s G’iah, yet another overly power CGI hero because we don’t already have enough of them, there is nothing likeable or interesting about her character, hopefully she will be one that Marvel just lets drop off the grid and quietly die.

Overall, another milestone in the decline and death of the MCU.

1/5

Pros.

Colman

Cons.

It ruins Nick Fury in a pretty big way

It spits on the comics storyline

It is boring and awfully paced

The budgeting concerns were readily apparent

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Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3: And You Thought Toy Story 3 Was Sad, You Haven’t Seen Anything Yet

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The Guardian’s gather for one final journey together.

Buckle up this is going to be a long one. To give you a peak behind the curtain usually the first thing I do when writing a review is to decide on a score, but this is the first film where even as I am writing this sentence I am not quite sure what I want to give the film.

In one regard, this film gave us conclusions to some of the best character arcs in the MCU and did the best character work I have ever seen in one of these films. It was perfectly balanced in terms of every character having their moment to shine and each one had a satisfying ending, be that retirement or new calls to leadership. Moreover, I thought this film perfectly encapsulated the family bond of the Guardians as a team and showed in a very earnest way just how much they care about each other.

I must say before going further I was very surprised no one died and that instead the characters were just retired, as I thought for sure someone was going to die. I think in a sense if someone had died the film would have been more effecting, but I think the reason no one did is because the film couldn’t take any more darkness, I’ll get to that in a minute.

Also I enjoyed how Adam Warlock, played by Will Poulter, was done. Yes I know I am in the minority on that but I thought it was a different side to him then what the comics usually show and had him instead be more vulnerable. He definitely needs to come back in the future especially if it is a space bound story. Although I will say that I thought it was a little contrived how they switched Adam from being a baddie to a goodie, and I thought that the Sovereign were largely wasted. It would have been very interesting to have seen their society realise the man they thought was a God was in fact a monster.

Now back to the other regard, in many ways I didn’t enjoy this film. I thought it was a good character piece but not a fun time at the cinema or a film I would ever want to watch again. When I next do my Marvel rewatch this film will be left out. The reason for that is because of the bleak, distressing and deeply upsetting scenes of animal abuse that pepper the film. Yes, I know that a, they are not real animals and that it is just CGI and b, that Rocket’s backstory from the comics is twisted and depressing so they had to do the adaption justice. However, my counter to both of those points would be that it doesn’t make the film any less depressing and unhappy of a watch. They could have shown Rocket’s backstory without going as hard as they did, even if it was just off screen or implied, they didn’t need to show some of the things they did. I think the perfect encapsulation of what I am talking about comes during the destruction of Counter-Earth, in which Adam Warlock’s pet urinates in fear as it thinks it is going to die on the Guardian’s ship. Perhaps to some that scene may have been a joke, but to me I found it to be the icing on the cake of horrible treatment towards animals which I found very distressing. Also don’t get me started on the Holocaust parallels in the final section of the film wherein the children on the ship are about to be killed before being liberated by the Guardians.

PS. If you are considering taking your kids to see this then hear me now, don’t do it this isn’t a happy go lucky Marvel romp this film goes to incredibly dark places and frankly I don’t think it is suitable for kids

Overall, great character work but honestly a very miserable film to watch.

3/5

Pros.

The ending

The character work

It perfectly balances every character and gives everyone their moment

Cons.

It isn’t a fun watch and is deeply depressing and upsetting at times

It has major pacing issues

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Marvel’s Week From Hell

Written by Luke Barnes

I want to use this piece to talk about Marvel’s week from hell, with Victoria Alonso being fired and Jonathan Majors being accused of domestic violence.

An argument could be made that Marvel has been circling the drain for some time now, things have been getting worse and worse over the last phase as we know because Marvel Studios has been favouring quantity over quality, supposedly on the orders of the former Disney CEO. However, this week the drama has seemingly really intensified and I want to give my take on it, what it means for Marvel and what I think they should do going forward.

Regarding the situation with Alonso, I would argue they made the right call, she is threatening to take Disney to court now so it may continue to be a headache but no doubt it will be easily snuffed out. However, I think removing Alonso was a good call as she has said some culture war type tripe before, see her comments about the X-Men, and could be seen to be one of the main voices, allegedly, pushing for wider social commentary and identity politics in the films. More of that is not what the MCU needs right now, it needs to bring back audiences from both sides of the political divide. In addition there is the talk of Alonso, again allegedly, being a highly toxic force when it came to the VFX departments as she seemed to be a cruel boss who would favour those loyal to her and punish the rest, now this is unsubstantiated beyond a few people’s alleged first person accounts but if true its probably why the VFX work of late has been so bad within the MCU.

Regarding the Majors situation, everything is still quite up in the air but things don’t look good and it looks like Majors may have done some bad stuff, again all alleged at this moment. They are trying to paint it as the accuser was having some sort of break and that’s what happened and Majors is innocent, but I smell trash and think far more likely Majors and his team are trying to destroy the credibility of the witness in order to get him off and that the alleged retraction she has written is most likely being done after she has received a pay out or possibly something stronger, a court battle she probably can’t afford. Again all alleged and my opinion. I think this proves that movie studios need to better vet their actors, especially as a history of violence is starting to emerge online with regard to Majors’ past. I think regardless of where the arrest goes Marvel Studios and or Disney should conduct their own investigation and if this story is even slightly true, then Majors should be fired and the role of Kang recast.

I really think and have said many times before on social media that I think the best thing for the MCU right now would be for them to step back, delay all their productions, except maybe Guardians,into next year and rework things. Go back to the basis and quality check every project, cancel somethings that don’t need to be there and course correct as currently the MCU seems to be in freefall. I would still imagine that Guardians will do well in the coming months, but I think the Marvels much like the recent Ant-Man will do terribly for Marvel Studios and push the need for change.

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A Comic Readers Guide To The MCU: Where Are The Inhumans?

Written by Luke Barnes

Hi folks, in this new series of articles I am trying to merge two of my main passions into one easy to read piece, a true labor of love. I am currently in my mid-twenties and have been reading Marvel comics since I was young, I have read others besides but I know Marvel well and so decided to make a series of posts wherein I talk about concepts, ideas, and possibly upcoming stuff from or to the MCU and try and give you a bit of a comics background and explain my own thoughts on where these things are going. I hope you enjoy.

Where are the Inhumans?

Within the pages of Marvel comics the Inhumans are second only to Mutants in terms of importance, remember that as it will come back around later. The Inhumans and the Royal Family in particular have featured in a number of different stories and runs over the years, some incredibly important to the comics that are inspiring where the MCU is heading, so the question I want to explore today is where are they in the MCU? Are they coming or have they been replaced?

As it stands a number of elements which would seemingly herald the arrival of the Inhumans are set up in the MCU, namely the Kree, and Black Bolt, played by Anson Mount, did appear in last year’s Doctor Strange film as a member of the Illuminati before getting offed. However, Kamala Khan, played by Iman Vellani, a key Inhuman figure in the comics was made a mutant for her show so this then begs the question are the Inhumans being replaced by mutants within the MCU? This wouldn’t be outside of the realms of possibilities as one of the main reasons the Inhumans have been pushed so much in the comics over the last decade was as a replacement to the X-Men due to Marvel not wanting to push properties they didn’t own, bar Spider-Man, too much in the comics department, allegedly. I also think the creatives at Marvel are still keenly aware of how much of a disaster the Inhumans show was for them and are wanting to distance themselves from it, but with the return of Mount’s Black Bolt this suggests that maybe the door is open to the Inhumans in the future. I think it would be very foolish to not have the Inhumans show up somewhere down the line, be that for the eventual main timeline Illuminati or for Secret Wars. If I am being real with you I think the Inhumans could be said to be existing in the world of the MCU currently but just that we don’t find out about them till later. So to sum up the question I think they will come eventually but that for now mutants are the MCU’s main focus.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this third edition of the Comic Readers Guide To The MCU if you have any suggestions for future topics then please get in touch.

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A Comic Readers Guide To The MCU: Exploring The Unknown Regions

Written by Luke Barnes

Unexplored Locations In The MCU

I was recently watching a Youtube video about the MCU and it struck me that it is very America centric. Yes there has been some recent exploration, with Wakanda, Talokan and London, but for the most part there are a lot of well known comic locations that still remain undiscovered in the MCU and this article of the Comic Readers Guide To The MCU wants to be the first to plant their flag in these locations and talk about how they may come into the MCU in the near future. For the most part this will be specific to the Earth of Marvel comics and not talk about space stuff and different dimensions.

The first two locations I want to talk about are tied into the Fantastic Four and will likely arrive along with them, the first is Ancient Egypt, which we have a link to through the Moon Knight show, but we haven’t seen a film set there yet or dealing with those sort of characters. This is where I think the Fantastic Four film will be set, I think it will have the team travel back in time to Ancient Egypt, with their powers as it isn’t an origin movie, and fight Rama-Tut, the Kang variant, no doubt beating him but also somehow getting stuck there which will then provide a reason for their absence thus far.

The next location is Latveria, which as many of you will know is the homeland of Victor Von Doom. Now we know that Doom is coming to the MCU as he kind of has to if the Fantastic Four exist and everything is building to battleworld as seems to be the hinted destination. Latveria is a nation ruled for vast points in the comics by Doom as a sort of God Emperor/protector somewhat like Black Adam in DC comics, and it is a very important location for the MCU to include. I would guess that Latveria will either appear as a sort of neighbour to Sokovia or perhaps it will be ignored entirely and Sokovia will become a direct stand-in for Latveria, though I don’t think this would be a popular choice.

Our next stop is The Savage Lands, which for those unaware is somewhat of a land time forget in Marvel comics. It has dinosaurs and the people who reside there have a caveman/cave woman sort of dress sense. Famously it is the domain of Ka-Zar, the Tarzan of Marvel comics, and has links to the Eternals. There are rumours that the Thunderbolts film next year may take place, at least partially, there and may introduce this location into the MCU but as for now its dinosaurs remain undiscovered.

Finally there is Arthurian Britain. Yes, I will be the first to admit this is somewhat of a deep cut and I only decided to include it as I am a big fan of Black Knight and Captain Britain. This one is the most obvious and the one that will require the least description as most of you reading this will have seen at least one King Arthur film in your time. Anyway, if the MCU decides to give Dane Whitman’s Black Knight his own spinoff series, as it should, then it may be interested in showing the origins of his sword The Ebony Blade which was forged by Merlin out of a meteorite and was wielded by the original Black Knight from Arthurian legend.

So there we have it four possible Marvel comics locations that may soon be coming to the movies. I hope you have enjoyed reading this second edition of the Comic Readers Guide To The MCU if you have any suggestions for future topics then please get in touch.

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A Comic Readers Guide To The MCU: The Council Of Kangs

Written by Luke Barnes

Spoilers for the end of Ant Man and The Wasp Quantomania

Okay so at the end of the film we see a lot of different variants of Jonathan Majors’ Kang, in what comics readers will know as the Council of Kangs, these are a group of different Kang variants that work together and that at least in the comics was lead by Prime Kang, though really it was Immortus who was calling the shots, having Prime Kang kill off all the divergent versions of Kang so that he would become Immortus down the line. Fairly confusing time travel nonsense. As it pertains to the MCU the Council of Kangs will effectively be a source of villains for the various upcoming films and will no doubt be further explored and have its origins and members better explained as time goes on. It is important to note that not all of the Kangs are alike and also that they don’t always work together, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see one break off and help out the Avengers a little down the line.

Some fairly big questions and theories for the MCU going forward.

Now we know that the Council Of Kangs is the direction the MCU is heading in a few things are fairly certain. One, Iron Lad the kid version of Kang that doesn’t want to grow up to be a villain and who is a member of the Young Avengers in the comics is a lock. Two, I would not be surprised to see Rama-Tut, the ancient Egyptian Kang, be the villain for the upcoming Fantastic Four film. It would make sense to kick Doctor Doom down the road for a sequel, especially as we know the film won’t be an origin for the group so he doesn’t need to feature.

My question for you all that I will leave this article on is how do the Council of Kangs and Victor Timely, another version of Kang, relate to He Who Remains, who many people thought was Immortus, and why didn’t he mention the Council to Sylvie or Loki in that show. Was he another rogue variant on the run from the council?

I hope you enjoyed this new idea for my blog that mixes my twin muses of films and comics together, if you have any ideas for future topics or things you would like me to talk about please do write to me and let me know.

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Ant Man And The Wasp Quantumania: The Train-wreck You Heard It To Be?

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Antman, played by Paul Rudd, heads off to the Quantum Realm.

So I went into this film with incredibly low expectations, a lot of the bad reviews had got to me and I was going in expecting a trainwreck from start to finish, but, and I don’t know whether this was just because I went in with low expectations, I ended up enjoying it far more than I thought I would.

So first off let’s talk about what doesn’t work. Cassie, played by Kathryn Newton, is a deeply underdeveloped character and to make matters worse she is quite annoying. I don’t know what they were going for with making her an activist and having the cringey line ‘just because it is not happening to you doesn’t mean it isn’t happening’ but honestly it made her scenes ones where I tuned out. People don’t want to be preached to in a superhero film.

Other less appealing aspects of the film come from Corey Stroll’s Modok, and how they change him fairly drastically from the comics and then kill him off, wasting all of his in universe potential, though I suppose he could always come back at some point. The Modok CGI is horrible by the way, but you already knew that. Finally I will add that this film did make me miss the more street level Marvel fare as I am starting to get sick of these big CGI movies that all end up feeling the same.

Now into the positives. I thought both Michelle Phifer and Michael Douglas had really great moments here I enjoyed learning about Janet’s past and I thought Hank bringing the advanced ant civilisation to save the day at the last minute was both quite smart and also funny. I also really liked his line about socialism.

The new characters, bar Bill Murray’s Krylar, were very welcome I thought both Katy O’Brian and William Harper Jackson did a great job and I hope their characters come back in future sequels if they manage to find a way out of the Quantum realm. Of course in this regard I would be remiss to not talk about Jonathan Major’s Kang, who whilst not new as he appeared in Loki, is new in this variant. I thought Major’s was terrific and did a lot to make Kang feel like a serious threat in the MCU, I would argue he still has further to go to feel Thanos level, but I did really like seeing the Council of Kangs at the end of the film and think the MCU is going to have a lot of fun with him.

Finally, though it is a bit soppy I wanted to say that I enjoyed that the film continued the wholesome romance between Hope, played by Evangeline Lilly, and Scott, it is a nice throughline in these films and I was very worried that they were going to kill Ant-Man off and end it, I am glad they didn’t. The scene towards the end of the film wherein Hope saves Scott’s life during a fight with Kang and they hold each other after defeating him is probably my favourite of the whole film.

Overall, fairly enjoyable Marvel fare and better than most are saying.

3.5/5

Pros.

Douglas and Pfeiffer

The new characters

Kang

The romance

Cons.

Cassie

Modok

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The Current State Of The MCU: The Wheels Are Coming Off

Written by Luke Barnes

I want to use this piece to talk about the current state of the MCU in the post-Endgame landscape. Right from the off I will say that I have seen everything the MCU has ever put out, I am due to see Ant-Man and The Wasp Quantomania in the coming days and it is because of that that I am writing this piece. As it stands the third Ant-Man film has some of the worst reviews of any MCU Marvel film, at least from critics and is being torn apart for its terrible VFX work, as such the point of this piece is how did we get here from the heights of Endgame? Is it a one off or part of a larger pattern? I have broken down what I think are the current issues killing the MCU into 5 key areas, that are all fairly minor on their own but that when combined create a lethal cocktail for the future success of the MCU as a franchise.

Firstly, and most obviously there is the glaring issues with VFX. VFX artists have been coming out and talking about how bad they have it over at Disney/Marvel studios and how they are been rushed and forced into crunch time hours in order to get films ready in time for release. This is bad both as a means of how to treat your employees but also as it effects the final quality of the project, who remembers Heimdall’s son from Love and Thunder or the recent stills of Modok from Quantomania. Forcing out unfished and poor VFX work makes both your film look bad and also taints your brands reputation for quality.

However, quality leads into the second issue with the current MCU the idea of quantity becoming more important than quality. This can be seen with the amount of MCU content that is released and the time frame in which it comes out, we are getting north of 5 MCU projects a year and that is a lot to turn around in such a short space of time so it is no wonder they are clearly cutting corners. This is likely done on a mandate from Disney to prop up Disney + with content but make no mistake it is killing Marvel in the long run.

This constant need for more content is also leading to more and more people starting to be put off by the Marvel formula, which is readily apparent no matter how many different genres they try and adapt their films into, because the creative confines of what one can do and still have it be a Marvel film are incredibly limited. Yes, there are some films like the coming Deadpool film that have enough of a fanbase that the higher ups at Marvel Studios and Disney can justify it breaking formula, but even then I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t get the R rating everyone thinks it is going to get. Moreover, this is also feeding into the homework problem that has plagued the MCU for some time and is getting worse with the introduction of the Disney + shows, this is the idea that to understand what is happening in the MCU at current moment you need to have seen tons of films and TV shows to be able to get into the wider narrative, this was inevitable as an issue for the interconnected world, but it will put more casual audiences off for sure.

Another issue with the current slate of Marvel content, especially the Disney + shows is the pushing off smaller characters at the expense of killing off or retiring older characters. You can have She-Hulk and Hulk together you don’t need to retire one to have the other, the same concept applies for Iron Man, Captain America and Hawkeye, all of these characters have been replaced. In the comics Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson both existed at the same time, especially when the latter was Captain America, but the MCU doesn’t work like that. There is a school of thought that suggests that the MCU is getting rid of its classic heroes to make audiences care about the new ones, and this does have some merit. One has to ask why is Echo, a minor character at the best of times, getting a show before Punisher or Ghost Rider?

The answer to that question leads into my final issue with the MCU and the one that I think in the end will be the death nail for it and that is pushing a political message and focusing on being as diverse as possible rather than in telling good stories any more. I will add that many properties can do both, and that diversity and representation is important, my argument is that when you achieve this by dragging down or removing pre-established and well liked characters that this is not the way. Look at She-Hulk again, which in my mind was the lowest ebb yet of the MCU, the show as a whole went out of its way to drag down the Hulk and show how Jessica Walters was easily so much better than him. Why did you need to introduce a character in this way? Lots of fans like the Hulk as a character so to see both the character and the show completely disrespect him is a bitter pill to a lot of fans. If you want to introduce a diverse array of new characters then focus on making them likable and important in their own right, the MCU did this perfectly with Miss Marvel, rather than having them exist as a character to put the pre-established characters down. All this does is make your new heroes unlikeable.

I recently saw an article in which Kevin Feige said he thought the MCU could be around for many more decades yet, but I think this argument ignores the declining box office and the subscriber problem with Disney +, I think Feige response is in denial. Yes the X-Men and The Fantastic Four will bring some audiences back whenever they are introduced, but that won’t change any of these issues, and it is these issues that I believe will see the MCU either rebooted or retired within the next decade.

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The Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special: Family Is The Reason For The Season

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

In order to try and cheer up Star-Lord, played by Chris Pratt, Mantis, played by Pom Klementieff, and Drax, played by Dave Bautista, head to Earth in order to kidnap the great hero Kevin Bacon.

This special works for one reason and one reason only Pom Klementieff. She gives one of the best most heart warming performances I have ever seen in a Marvel movie, she is the heart and soul of this piece and if she is even half as good in Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 then she is going to steal every scene she is in and probably the whole film. I really liked the decision to have Mantis be Quills half-sister, I thought it added a whole new emotional layer not just to the film but to the wider team that is really appreciated.

Something I didn’t personally mind but might bother some is the fact that the wider Guardians team are mostly absent, yes they get a look in every now and again but these basically amount to cameo roles this is Mantis and Drax’s film. They do introduce Cosmo the Spacedog, voiced by Maria Bakalova, who has a few funny lines and will clearly be a foil for Rocket, voiced by Bradley Cooper come the next movie, but for the most part her introduction is only brief.

There are some animated sequences at the start and the end of the special that talk more about the Quill/ Yondu, played by Michael Rooker, relationship that also add to the wider theme of emotion, love and family in this feature and really help to nicely book end the bittersweet feeling of the special more broadly.

Kevin Bacon is Kevin Bacon which to me is a good thing as the man is an icon, but to others the bit might be annoying.

Overall, a sweet memorable Christmas Special, give Klementieff a bigger part and more money for the sequel she deserves it.

Pros.

Mantis being Peter’s half-sister

The emotion

It feels like Christmas

Gunn’s understanding of these characters

Cosmo

Cons.

The wider Guardians team isn’t given much to do

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Black Panther Wakanda Forever: The King Is Dead And The Seat Is Empty

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Wakanda copes with the death of its King.

In many senses this is a depressing film, it doesn’t just address the real world passing of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman this film lives it and throughout the film Boseman’s death is never too far away, we are given many reminders of it.

However, I did enjoy for the most part that this film has a serious tone, too many of Marvel’s Phase 4 projects have really leant hard on the humour and it has hurt them. This for the most part plays everything very seriously and that is good and helps the film to feel impactful and maintain stakes. Although, an issue to this is the inclusion of Riri Williams, played by Dominque Thorne, who for the most part is annoying and forces in a lot of corny jokes where they just aren’t needed. Moreover, Williams is never specifically said to be the Iron Man replacement of the MCU but it feels like she is being pushed that way, and boy does she feel like a off brand version of the character.

I really liked that this film finally introduced Namor, played by Tenoch Huerta Mejia, into the MCU I think he is easily the best thing about this film and certainly is a scene stealer. A lot of the underwater scenes with him and his people are really cool and interesting and for the most part the effects hold. However, the CGI does prove to be glaringly bad on a few occasions which is quite poor when you think about how much money was pumped into this film.

The cast for the most part are a mixed bag Danai Gurira and Angela Basset give stirring performances and are very deserving of praise, but Winston Duke is mostly passed over and ignored and Letitia Wright is noticeably bad and clearly finds it hard to emote as throughout Shuri’s ride in this film her face barely changes scene to scene be it happy, angry or sad. Another thing that bugged me about Shuri in this film is that all of a sudden she can fight and it makes no sense, she becomes Black Panther and then whoops Namor despite being tactical support in the last film and for the early parts of this one. Where did this sudden training come from? It would have taken one line to have tied this off and not have it be an issue, but no, to me it reeks of the writers thinking that the audiences are too dumb to pick up on it. Another dumb plot whole is why does Wakanda not just tell the world about Namor and his people and how they are responsible for all the attacks rather than taking the blame themselves? It makes no sense and the film does not address it.

Overall, slightly worse than the first film but it does introduce Namor to the MCU so that’s pretty cool.

Pros.

Namor

The mature tone

The ending

Cons.

Riri is annoying and breaks a lot of the tension with dumb jokes

Wright can’t act and Shuri develops all these fighting skills out of nowhere

The poor CGI and plot holes

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