Marvel Secret Warriors - Aug 27

Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks. On the other side, I found a… probably bootleg version of Marvel’s Kamala Khan animated movie – ‘Secret Warriors’ (2018). And?

MNW is voicing Hala the Accuser, firstly. I must admit that it was interesting to hear her voice someone else other than agent May, in a freaky way – this must be what it is like breaking the mold, (though yeah, I am not sure fully that this is what it means). There is a reason as to why Wen is in a good mood lately – she is leaving Melinda May behind, while staying on one hand in the Marvel Universe, (Hala is supposed to re-appear in at least one another ‘Marvel Rising’ movie), and coming to the SW universe on the other, (she’s playing some character in the ‘Mandalorian’, but so far details aren’t available). Go, Wen!

(Yes, Jon Favreau, aka Happy Hogan, from Disney/Marvel is also working on the ‘Mandalorian’. Disney is running a tight ship with all of its’ franchises, it seems. Hah.)

And go Chloe, who voiced herself… ok, Quake, in the same movie. Apparently, that woman is here to stay, and in this particular universe, she is partnered with Patriot, who is Rayshaun Lucas, aka a protégé of Captain America himself, in this corner of Marvel. As people can remember, MCU already had its’ patriot, Jeffrey Mace, in the S4, but that went nowhere fast, as this version of the Patriot didn’t survive AoS’ S4. Pity, but on the other hand, Mace is deceased in the Marvel comics proper, so Lucas can be the new Patriot without any copyright conflict. …Yes, a point is that Marvel continues to reboot its’ ideas, there was once a potential Quake & Patriot couple in a live action Marvel TV series…and now there’s a new potential Quake & Patriot couple in a Marvel animated movie series. 

Unlike Hala, who got her premiere in the Marvel animated movie in question, Quake is a well-established Disney/Marvel character by now, quite beloved, (regardless of what the fans think of the actual AoS TV series themselves), and ‘Secret Warriors’ 2018 didn’t really do anything other than to reboot her character – quite slightly – again. Chloe’s character Skye/Daisy/Quake/etc. had been rebooted a few times in AoS over the seasons, FYI, so ‘Secret Warriors’ 2018 don’t give any new twists in this aspect either. Ergo, go Chloe regardless! May you live long and prosper! Anything else?

Just wondering, how much the cast juggling had been influenced by Marvel’s approval and disapproval as the months, show’s seasons, and years went by? The critics loved the later seasons moreso than the initial ones, the audiences – otherwise, but Disney/Marvel itself? The Mouse is keeping mum, (at least until 2020, maybe moreso), but you cannot help but to wonder if Disney itself didn’t have a hand in making AoS the broken and re-set mess that it has ended-up at.

…There is another aspect to this situation – ‘Spider-Man’ the franchise. People are reckoning that AoS got cancelled at last for the same reason as to why Disney/Marvel is letting SM franchise going – they are no longer necessary. AoS had been the ‘proper’ Disney/Marvel toe- or fingerhold in the TV land, (even though not everyone in MCU proper thought that that was necessary, and as a result there were – and are – times, when AoS seems to exist in a slightly difference universe from the MCU one), but now that the Disney+ is launching properly, it is unnecessary, (and maybe also embarrassing) instead, and so they are getting rid of it.

With ‘Spider-Man’ the franchise it is more complex; ‘Far From Home’ (2019) set-up Tom Holland’s version of Peter Parker to be an important part of the MCU phase 4, and as we’ve discussed earlier, with him apparently gone, (and now it sounds like a done deal, Spider-Man is out of MCU for good for now), it will cause quite a bit of rebooting and redesigning to minimize the ripple effect; MCU has done it in AoS, and to a lesser extent – with Agent Carter both in regards to her own TV show and to her role in MCU proper – but it is a hit and miss thing. Does not mean that that fact will stop Disney/Marvel from doing that now that Spider-Man is gone, but Ms. Marvel, the Moon Knight, and the She-Hulk are in, (among other characters, new and old). Someone different will take over Peter Parker’s role, somehow, and we will only be able to wonder as to how Phase 4 was supposed to have been. Disney/Marvel will survive, somehow; Sony was able to hurt it quite painfully by standing its’ ground and not rolling over in submission, but nothing more. Now that it has acquired both the ‘X-Men’ and the ‘Fantastic 4’ franchises, Disney/Marvel has an even bigger range of options as to how to fix the damage its’ rift with Sony has caused. The fans, of course, are the true losers in this clash of corporate megafauna, but it’s real life. Did I not mention in the opening that it sucks? I believe that I have, but if you have forgotten, feel free to consider this a repetition of this mantra, period.

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

S.H.I.E.L.D., The Team - April 19

And so, lo and behold – the revenge of Grant Ward from beyond the grave, bitches! Coulson had killed him – and Hive took over from where he had left off and delivered in style. Last episode, he had Guyerra beat the shite out of everyone, including Mack and May and Coulson; in this episode, he uses Daisy/Skye to do the same thing to S.H.I.E.L.D. Go Hive! The next promo shows him alongside Daisy, while Lincoln is intent on getting her back, so odds are that within the last four episodes of S3 Lincoln will do this – just in time. He has already showed quite a bit of character growth, staying with S.H.I.E.L.D. (though he had zapped the shite out of Coulson, so the two of them may be good because of that too) despite Daisy’s seductions, and-

Moreover, the problem is not that the writers (or so some people think) are trying to assassinate Grant’s character, or to make him into someone like Killgrave from JJ…well, actually, that is the problem. They are unoriginal and are constantly rehashing the material from the first two seasons – anyone who had seen the last few episodes of S1 in particular will recognize the parallels (and John Garrett is laughing his ass off in Hell as he is enjoying the view of Daisy quaking S.H.I.E.L.D.’s HQ from his personal rack or cauldron of tar or whatever), but it doesn’t mean that they’ll enjoy it. They just may want original material, not more rehash of the same old. (Including the Clairvoyance/the sight of the future bit after 2-3 seasons it is getting old, if AoS will return for a 4^th season they will have to come with something original…hopefully).

On the other hand…there is little to no other hand. The show is still limited by the matters of cast (and cash): yes, the Secret Warriors kick ass, but, apparently, their tenure as regulars on the show is still not established: Joey wants officially out of it all, and Elena has her own doubts. Malick, speaking of outs, is dead at last, so Coulson had just shot his mouth to the deceased head of Hydra for nothing.

Well, maybe not for ‘nothing’ – maybe Malick had told him about Hive, something important (and how does Coulson know about Hive to begin with? Randolph from 3x02?), but he was the head of Hydra: WTF Coulson trusted him in the first place? The man believes anyone, it seems, except for Grant Ward – at least he has manned up enough to admit that Hive is the one enemy we had made, but he still gives speeches, like the one that he had given to Daisy in the last quarter of this episode…only Daisy was under Hive’s ‘sway’ this entire time, Coulson’s speech was wasted, just as his time with Malick had been, most likely: here he was, trying to trick Malick into selling Hive out for revenge – and along comes Daisy and kills Malick dead. And then she also blows him up to confuse her teammates, S.H.I.E.L.D. and Secret Warriors. Coulson and his people seem to be reminiscent of Kerensky and his failed democratic regime in the pre-U.S.S.R. Russia.

To elaborate, after the Romanov royal family had resigned from their rule (no, seriously, this is what they have done) and before the Bolsheviks had seized power, the Russian elite, aristocracy and intelligentsia tried to establish a democratic government in Russia. The result was not unlike what happed about 70 years later, during the Perestroika and Yeltsin’s regime: anarchy, but for a shorter chronological period. That democratic regime in Russia lasted for a very short chronological period, and it remains a sign of incompetence, political and otherwise, in the Russian culture to this day. S.H.I.E.L.D., in ‘The Team’ and ‘Spacetime’ seems to have become just as incompetent, with its members liable to turn upon each other easily: the InHuman Secret Warriors may be infected by Hive, according to a Hydra head? Let us hide it from them, make it an unnecessary mess, and turn upon them – with sleeping gas and whatnot. Great teamwork, DC; I hope that Hive beats the shite out of you in Grant’s body the next time you meet.

So: S.H.I.E.L.D.’s feud with Hive (in Grant’s body) seems to be reaching its’ peak, and right now the agents appear to be incompetent hypocrites, and with 4 episodes to go, it gives plenty of time for the writers and similar staff to further assassinate their characters. I can hardly wait. Not.