She-Hulk, Story - Oct 13

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, so let us talk about the ‘She-Hulk’ S1 finale instead.

…Actually, the ‘She-Hulk’ S1 finale – ‘Whose Story?’ – is not that much an improvement, either. Instead of returning ‘She-Hulk’ to the series’ MCU roots, the storywriters took the series in a weird direction. Pause.

Let us try again. With ‘She-Hulk’, the MCU tried to do something different from its’ previous installments – a rom-com TV series, just as the ‘Werewolf by Night’ special was supposed to take MCU into the horror genre area. This is not a bad concept, but the thing is that MCU, such as it is, does not fall into the ‘fit one, fit all’ area. Marvel comics are, well, action comics, and action-driven comics, and without that action drive, they… stagnate. Or, at least, they do not go anywhere – hence, the ‘She-Hulk’ series, (so far, but I am not being optimistic by now), which almost didn’t do anything to promote the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe further. Almost, because at the end of this episode the Marvel Cinematic Universe does go further – the actual Hulk returns, Titania seems to be a halfway decent individual after all, Blonsky is morally ambiguous instead of being a straightforward good guy, and so on.

Actually, about Blonsky – Wong does take him back to Kamar-Taj after all; given how neither of them were this season’s ‘Big Bad’, this does raise an interesting question: now what? What will this unlikely male duo do next? In addition, where does Madisynn fit into this?

Another pause. Here is the thing. The ‘She-Hulk’ S1 finale almost redeems itself; almost, because the middle five episodes of S1 had not much to do with either the first two or the last two episodes. These four eps actually have some of the ‘mainstream’ Marvel feel, and they work – more or less. The middle five – not so much. So what?

That is the tough one. On one hand, Disney/MCU can do whatever they want to do at this point – unlike the SW aspect of this juggernaut, the majority of their fans will swallow anything; on the other extremity – Disney/MCU has announced that they’re delaying a lot of their releases not too long after their official proclamation of the schedule, so, clearly, something isn’t going according to the grand plan. Consequently, Disney/MCU can diminish ‘She-Hulk’ to a nearly stationary rom-com; on the other, they may not be able to afford this, as when you think about it, any TV series, (or a movie, or a book, a magazine, etc.), is just a product that its’ maker must sell – to their audience.

…Here is not quite a pause, but more of an admittance: the above statement applies to fiction. In case of non-fiction, the situation is slightly different, as fiction applies to the audience in general, while non-fiction has a more specific, a more defined audience. However, since ‘She-Hulk’ is fiction, it is supposed to be sold to everyone, who cares about MCU…and maybe a few other folks. Instead, it appeared to have become not as successful as ‘Werewolf by Night’ was, implying that Disney/MCU is not as good at playing the market, as it would like to pretend.

This brings us back to ‘She-Hulk’. As an MCU rom-com, it was something of an experiment, here, and as such, it was expected to bring in success if it were to continue. So far, it did not do as well as Disney/MCU expected it to, and the more successful parts were the more old-fashioned and less experimental ones. Consequently, it is anyone’s guess as to where the future will take ‘She-Hulk’, and the rest of MCU, given that there already are delays and what else have you.

(Oh, wait, there is the ‘Wakanda Forever’ film coming in November 2022, but I am not holding my breath about it either, but let us wait for it to come out before we make any judgements).

…Therefore, for now, this is it. See you all soon, instead!

She-Hulk, Ribbit - Oct 7

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, so let us talk about this week’s ‘She-Hulk’ episode, ‘Ribbit’, since it is the penultimate one in ‘She-Hulk’ S1.

What is there to say? Let us talk about the ‘Devil’ in the room – a while back, MCU and its’ related/connected press services proclaimed that this will not be a sequel/direct continuation of the Netflix’s ‘Daredevil’ series, but rather a straightforward restart – and so it is. Somehow, Murdoch made his way from the East Coast, (Tom Holland’s third Spider-Man movie, remember?), to the West Coast, (‘She-Hulk’ takes place in MCU’s L.A.), in order to have a relationship with the She-Hulk, apparently… Pause.

Now, again, I have no problem with the two of them being in a relationship. First, Cox and Maslany really manifest chemistry between their characters… plus they have the entire red/green contrast thing going.

Second, Marvel has already done this thing with the relationships – I am talking about Matt’s relationship with Jessica Jones back when they were featured on Netflix series instead. The fact that there was no mention of her, or any other ‘Defenders’ made on ‘She-Hulk’ (so far), doesn’t matter – it only means that their fates are up in the air for Disney/MCU to decide upon, that’s all. As for Matt and Jennifer, I am reminded of the Marvel comics’ Avengers: at first, they were going to set-up Robbie Reyes, (one of the Ghost Riders), with Carol ‘Captain Marvel’ Danvers. (Yes, that one).

…And then, abruptly, Robbie/Carol ship disappeared; now, Danvers seems to be mending fences with Tony, (who isn’t dead in the comics, BTW), while Robbie is hanging around Echo, who is now the host of the Phoenix force in the comics and is about to get her own show in the MCU. (Hint-hint). What’s more, Keanu Reeves is openly hinting that he is open to becoming MCU’s next Ghost Rider. Pause.

Now, MCU already has a Ghost Rider – Robbie Reyes, played by Gabriel Luna, who appeared in AoS’ S4, and who was supposed to have his own TV show, but that failed, and he vanished from MCU after AoS’ S4 finale. That said, there was another Ghost Rider – one who turned Robbie into a Ghost Rider in his backstory, so there is room for John Wick to enter MCU. In addition, yes, there were several Ghost Rider films in the past that featured Johnny Blaze, but they are not part of MCU, so no problem from this part either. Back to the ‘She-Hulk’?

…There isn’t much left to say, actually – somehow MCU tried to turn ‘She-Hulk’ around at the 11^th hour, by having the Intelligentsia, (yet another super-secret super-villain cabal, sigh), attack her when she was receiving some sort of an award, causing her to freak out, and allowing the Damage Control people to step in, suggesting that the show might be stepping away from its’ previous rom-com incarnation. Since ‘She-Hulk’ S1 has only one last episode left, I’m not feeling too overwhelmed here, not to mention that as far as power groups go, Damage Control is just a surrogate S.H.I.E.L.D. – and we’ve discussed both it and S.W.O.R.D. in the current MCU before, so, uh, excuse me if I’m underwhelmed; the fact that the titular character here is one of the least sympathetic and popular MCU super-heroes so far doesn’t help either, (no offence to Ms. Maslany intended). As such, I won’t be holding my breath to wait and see as to how J.W. gets out of this one, as both she and Damage Control people are flat-out lackluster, and we have to wait and see as to how the new Daredevil version fares. Is that it?

Well, no, there is also the ‘Werewolf by Night’ TV special, but first – a shout-out to the upcoming ‘Wakanda Forever’ movie for its’ line that Namor is ‘Kukulcan, the earth-shaker god’. Whoever came up with that line is a moron, because Kukulcan was a different name for Quetzalcoatl – the god, the pterosaur is called Quetzalcoatlus instead – and regardless of the name, he was not a sea or an underground deity, no, he was a sky deity instead. Earthshaker is a moniker that is, or was, associated with Poseidon/Neptune instead, a much more appropriate deity to Namor, what with the trident and all, but because he is Old World and all, the movie’s scriptwriters pulled Kukulcan out of their… orifices instead.

Keep in mind, that Disney is associated with Kukulcan already – via Mr. Riordan and a certain Ms. Cervantes, who’s YA novels deal precisely with this mythology. First ‘The Moon Knight’, and now this. No wonder that Mr. Riordan appears to become done with this universe and is writing straight-out YA novels instead that have nothing to do with myths or with Disney. Well, kudos for him, ‘because his PJ is going to be a Disney+ TV series soon, it seems.

However, what about ‘Werewolf by Night’? Succinctly, it works because, firstly, it was short, compact, and precise, and Disney/MCU did not stuff it full of their Easter eggs and co. as they tend to do. (In addition, such approach works best in MCU – just look at the AC TV series). Second, it works because it is only barely connected to Marvel – it might be just your typical horror mini-movie for all that it is so no problems there. Third, the same can be said about characters – they may be from Marvel originally, but so far there’s no indication that they’re a part – that their world is a part – of the greater MCU universe, and given how MCU has been playing with the concept of the multiverse, this might be the start of something new entirely – we’ll just have to wait and see.

…Otherwise, for now, this is it. See you all soon!

Hocus Pocus 2 - Oct 3

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, so let us talk about the ‘Hocus Pocus 2’ film. Why? ‘Cause I have actually enjoyed watching it, unlike the ‘She-Hulk’ series.

Now, some of you have taken objections regarding her latest episode, ‘The Retreat’ and claim that J.W. is not a Mary-Sue here. To which, I reply: she is an only woman in an episode, surrounded by a bevy of men. Of course, she is a Mary-Sue; this is one of the telling marks of a M.-S. Character in fiction, (regardless of gender), but…

…But the men in ‘The Retreat’ were underwhelming, meaning that J.W. isn’t a ‘typical’ M.-S., but more of a ‘pathetic’, ‘underwhelming’ one; I never thought that a M.-S. Character could have such adjectives, but MCU managed to achieve that regardless – congrats to them! Not, and what about ‘Hocus Pocus 2’?

‘Hocus Pocus 2’ is something different, less like MCU, and more like ‘Frozen 2’. Why?

Because almost like the ‘Frozen 2’ film, ‘Hocus Pocus 2’ lacks a ‘typical’ antagonist; the Sanderson sisters – in the first film – certainly were that: unabashedly evil. The main protagonists of the first film – several plucky kids and one special cat – had to go unbelievable lengths to defeat them, (which they did). More importantly, while the Sanderson sisters had magical powers, (and some serious singing skills, let us be honest), the children – or the cat – did not.

In ‘Hocus Pocus 2’, the situation is different: practically everybody is a witch here, save for a certain cranky zombie, cough. Now the playing field is much more level, everyone can relate to each other better, and the secondary conflicts between the new children characters feel rather forced and, well, secondary.

Yes, aside from the Sanderson sisters, none of the characters from the first film appear; instead, we get a brand-new cast. This also connects ‘Hocus Pocus 2’ to ‘Frozen 2’, where the franchise had a complete remake and went in a completely new direction from where the first film (we’re talking ‘Frozen’ here) had gone. That said, the films in both ‘Frozen’ and ‘Hocus Pocus’ franchises were excellently made and fun to watch, plus…

…Plus whereas ‘Frozen 2’ went in the ‘green energy’ direction, (and we will talk about it at another time), ‘Hocus Pocus 2’ – not so much. Here, the issue was with the concept of witchcraft – no duh: from the old stereotype that we had during the release of the first film, now the witchcraft became a part of U.S.’ cultural history, and must be dealt with differently – which ‘Hocus Pocus 2’ did. Quite successfully too, given the movie’s reviews: it worked.

Why, again? Because it did not go too deep into various RL issues, but instead sought to entertain its’ audiences, which was a children’s/YA’s movie is supposed to do. Both the children and the Sanderson sisters were zany and fun to watch…and nothing else, actually: somehow, the stakes in this film feel lower than how they were in ‘Hocus Pocus 1’, but that’s ok: this franchise is just small enough, and compact enough, to endure this without much ado… and so they had. MCU, conversely, is much larger and more overblown than this, and so it is not doing as well: ‘She-Hulk’ is not bad, it is just flawed – but we have talked about this show before.

Therefore, for now, this is it. See you all soon!