Hawkeye, 'Partners' - Dec 8

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, but I was able to squeeze out some time to write down this, so let us go straight into escapism.

First – ‘Hawkeye’ episode 1x04, ‘Partners’. So far, there is no sign of the Kingpin, though since Charlie Cox’s Daredevil is returning to MCU, hope is kindling. Whether or not this reboot will be connected to ‘Hawkeye’ is another story.

Let me elaborate. MCU tries to be a complex, combined universe; it is trying to gain an advantage over team DC, when the latter had created its own world out of ‘Arrow’, ‘Flash’, ‘LoT’ and ‘Supergirl’. However, whereas DC tried to restrict itself to just those four TV series, (‘Black Lightning’, ‘Batwoman’, and so on were more distant), MCU is trying to make a much more tangled web, given how all of those Marvel TV shows are coming to Disney+ in the future.

…However, as Netflix’s take on the ‘Defenders’ franchise showed, to make a shared universe is harder than how it looks; the TV shows that made this franchise up were quite different from each other, and not necessarily in the good way, so there’s no sign that Disney/MCU will have it better: so far, the various Marvel TV shows were treated separately from each other – but yes, Yelena Belova, I’m looking at you.

Yes, Natasha Romanoff’s baby sister has appeared in ‘Hawkeye’ at last, as she took the titular character – I mean, Barton – on for size, but Barton was able to stand his ground and even send her packing, but given that she’s Natasha’s replacement, (even before ScarJo had her feud with Disney/MCU, cough), this certainly isn’t the last time that we’ve seen her. What next?

Well, the other Hawkeye, Kate Bishop, was also able to stand up to Maya Lopez/Echo and even get the best of her. Given that in ‘Echoes’ Barton was unable to defeat Maya, this is certainly important. But-?

But here is the thing. The action aspect of ‘Hawkeye’ is great and so far, it is the motor of the series; whenever there is a lull in the action, the show has problems: the discussion that the titular characters had with Ms. Bishop and William was painful to watch, for example. It did serve a purpose, as Ms. Bishop then made some sort of a mysterious phone call… and what do we know about her, and her deceased first husband, anyhow? Nothing in MCU, but in the comics Kate’s mother did work with that version of Madame Masque; MCU had its’ Madame Masque in the character of Agnes Cully, but that was in the past, a different villain can assume that name easily. (Not to mention that Agent Carter and her cohorts defeated Agnes). Where were we?

Ah yes, the mysterious phone call. So far, the fans have enjoyed wondering just how Kingpin was going to fit – to re-fit, pardon me – into MCU. Much was talked about how Echo was his stepdaughter in the comics, and in MCU, she had a mysterious, unseen, ‘Uncle’. Sadly, it is never confirmed that that man was Fisk, not to mention that ‘Hawkeye’ already had an uncle – William’s uncle Armand, who died off camera in unknown circumstances, while William himself owns a company that launders money from the Tracksuit Mafia, which is led by Maya and Kazi. Oh dear, I fear that we are going to have another red herring on our hands…unless Ms. Bishop is calling Fisk for real. Now what?

Well, aside from the fact that Clint Barton tried to dissolve his relationship with Kate Bishop – ha-ha, he thinks that it is up to him – we got a new look at a new dinosaur from the upcoming JWD movie, and it is the therezinosaurus. In RL, it was the biggest of plant-eating theropods, (i.e. the dinosaurs that were usually carnivores instead), and it looked…well, people know how it looked/looks – just look in the deviant-art website, for example; it looked either like a cross between a giant ground sloth and a goose, or like a prosauropod dinosaur instead.

Here is the thing: as far as the dinosaurs go, there is the ornithischians, the bird-hipped dinosaurs, such as the Stegosaurus and the Triceratops, and the saurischians, or the lizard-hipped dinosaurs. The dinosaur carnivores – Tyrannosaurus, Velociraptor, Archaeopteryx and so on – belonged to that group, but so did such herbivores as the Apatosaurus: the sauropods, and their prosauropod cousins.

 For a good long while scientists assumed that the sauropods such as the Apatosaurus have evolved from the prosauropods, but now the two dino types are considered to be sister groups instead. What does that entail for paleontology I do not know, but what I do know that some of the prosauropods moved on two legs rather than four, and their forelimbs had rather impressive claws – such as the Plateosaurus, one of the last, and the biggest, of prosauropods. It was still an herbivore, just as the other prosauropod and sauropod dinosaurs were, but so was Therezinosaurus and its’ relatives, which physically were similar to Plateosaurus and the like. I.e., yes, Therezinosaurus and co. were the dinosaur analogues of the giant panda, carnivores, which switched to a purely plant-eating way of life, but the thing is that the lizard-hipped dinosaurs have evolved something similar way back in the Triassic, (Therezinosaurus and the rest lived during the late Cretaceous instead), so it isn’t too unexpected, actually. Nature tends to recycle its’ ideas, and while Therezinosaurus was unusual, there was precedent for this type of dinosaur and dinosaur body plan as well.

As for the Therezinosaurus’ role in the upcoming JWD movie… I really cannot tell. So far, we only know that it might have chased Claire into a swamp… or it may be just a promo poster instead. It is hard to tell, and since this is a cloned Therezinosaurus, and not a member of the prologue, it may not really matter.

…Yes, this may be crude, but at the end of the day? The prologue of JWD was yet another attempt at authenticity in fiction, just as the fact that the actress who plays Maya Lopez in ‘Hawkeye’ is disabled in RL. No offence, but RL and silver screen are not directly connected, and though I have enjoyed Maya’s interactions, cough, with the titular characters, that is because her actress is naturally talented, not because of disabilities, RL or otherwise. The silver screen and RL are not equal to each other, and neither are they in direct symbiosis to each other, as the elections of 2016 showed everybody. Not that the elections-2020 were much better, but that is another story.

For now, though, this is it. See all of you – eventually!

Hawkeye, 'Echoes' - Dec 1

Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, so after this week’s, my blog entries will be more irregular than before, so you’ve been warned, and apologized for, in advance. Now onto the episode 1x03 of ‘Hawkeye’?

…Well, there isn’t much to go on about here and now; this week’s episode main entry was Echo slash Maya Lopez; in the Marvel comics, she was the adopted daughter of Wilson Fisk slash Kingpin, but since the latter’s defeat in Netflix’s ‘Daredevil’ series, the man was a no show in MCU, so here she was given a different backstory instead, one that is Wilson Fisk free. Pity, since Kingpin’s reappearance in MCU would have been interesting, but not really surprising, as MCU really prefers things neat and avoids anything uncomfortable, especially in RL.

For example, take a look at the AoS: in the initial seasons, especially the second and the third, the titular characters had to battle two threats – Hydra, and later on the InHumans and their ‘pureblood’ alien superiors. Initially, the show dealt with them ‘separately’ – one mini-story arc would deal with Hydra, the next with the InHumans, and so on. Eventually, of course, the two plotlines blurred into one – and this is what is happening on ‘Hawkeye’: we got two plotlines blurring into one: Maya Lopez and her Tracksuit Mafia, and William the Swordsman, or whatever his moniker is.

Pause. While we’re on the subject of Marvel, I have to admit that I disagree with the decision to combine the ‘M.O.D.O.K.’ and ‘Hit-Monkey’ cartoon series into one universe – aka Earth-1226; as I said before, the two shows are different enough for this decision to be wrong, and moreover, what do they have in common aside from the basic and the obvious? That Hulu made both of them? Then should not Hulu’s ‘Runaways’ series be added as well? I daresay that these three Marvel shows are different enough to be similar, so there is that-

Sorry. We were talking about ‘Hawkeye’ instead. Sadly, aside from Maya/Echo’s official entry into MCU, (she’s getting her own TV series… for the moment), there’s nothing new to talk about – this episode was action-packed, otherwise: Kate and Clint escaped from Maya-Echo and her tracksuit bros…they ran into William the Swordsman, who’s about to fight with Hawkeye…the end. Where were we?

Ah yes, the issue of MCU’s comfort. AoS has been swept under the rug because it has evolved slash devolved into an unwieldy monstrosity that did not fit into MCU at all in the end, while ‘Daredevil’ and co. fared the same fate because Marvel was ‘sharing’ them with Netflix, and Disney/Marvel/MCU does not like to share. Yes, Phase 4 is introducing the multiverse, more or less, but it certainly took its’ time, and its’ heaviest hitter – the upcoming Spider-Man movie, ‘No Way Home’ – is being made because the Spider-Man franchise is passing from Disney/Marvel/MCU onto Sony, and this way some sort of a compromise was made, in a form of a grand movie: this way, Disney/Marvel/MCU, gets (still gets) a piece of Spidey, and so does Sony and its’ Sony Universe of Marvel Characters, (plus a nice send-of gift in regards to its’ Spidey franchise). ‘Hawkeye’ doesn’t get that; in fact, we have Clint and Kate running around NYC and no sign of Marvel’s Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man, even though he is THE hero when it comes Marvel’s NYC, you know? Disney/MCU hates lawsuits; it hates losing money, (it loves to make money), but it hates lawsuits even more, and so it would rather share than sue… usually, but regularly. So what?

So now we got a ‘standard’, ‘paint-by-numbers’, ‘Hawkeye’ mini-series, since by now the rumors are that it’ll end after 6 episodes are swirling. Well, fair enough. Clint Barton/Hawkeye was the most underwhelming of all the Avengers; the most underappreciated, but also the most underwhelming, and rightly so. This episode reminded why that is so; there is style and flash, but little substance, and this combo carries only so far. So, onto the JW: D prologue?

Eh, by now the internet has recognized and admitted that not only a T-Rex vs. Giganotosaurus face-off in RL would’ve been impossible, but the entire dino mockumentary portion of the prologue was a pastiche: we got Cretaceous ceratopsians and ankylosaurs, we got Jurassic brachiosaurs, we got an Oviraptor-type dinosaur that is stealing eggs – an incorrect and outdated stereotype – and both Jurassic & Cretaceous pterosaurs to list only the obvious. The JP/JW franchise may be more realistic in its’ depictions of dinosaurs, but little else.

Well, this is it for now. Everyone, enjoy your first day of the official winter in the Northern Hemisphere. I will see you all… eventually.

Hawkeye, series premiere - Nov 25

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, so let us talk about ‘Hawkeye’ instead.

…Ok, this is actually not such a good idea, since the show itself has quite some issues going on for itself, with most prominent being the supposedly clever double entendre, (or whatever it is called), as the show’s title is the legitimate moniker for both Clint and Kate, and now the duo have to cooperate with each other, (technically speaking), in order to- but we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

Let us begin again. The problem of ‘Hawkeye’ is that both Clint and Kate each have their own issues, and they do not like to share. Kate wants to find herself, and hates her up and coming stepfather; Clint wants to spend time with his family, but cannot – because of the tracksuit mafia. And-?

And it has been a running gag for a while now that Clint is the least of all the Avengers; the ‘Endgame’ film and the penultimate episode of the ‘What If?’ s1 tried to change this perception, but not enough, and right now, his opponents are a group of criminals, organized or not, completely mundane, not very competent, and not very intimidating – clearly members of the shallow end of the MCU pool. The fact that Clint has not whipped them yet is not a mark in his favor either.

On the other hand we got Kate, who wants to be like the Avengers – perhaps even an Avenger herself – and, possibly, to avenge her late true father, who died during the battle of NYC in 2012. Sadly, because she is a young and unexperienced vigilante, so far she is underperforming herself, and the fact that her nemesis – so far – is her stepfather is also underwhelming; good thing that Kate’s attitude, charm, and charisma compensate for that lack in spades.

…Of course, the same can be said of Barton, albeit to a lesser extent, but the fact is that by the TV series’ standards, ‘Hawkeye’ delivers a much more balanced and equal act than ‘WandaVision’ did. No offence to the team WV, but in that TV show, Wanda had the lion’s share of the plot development, while Vision developed an identity crisis instead, and by now, there’s no Wanda & Vision, since the show’s Vision was either a construct that Wanda made from her memories with magic… or a completely different synthezoid who has no relationship with Wanda whatsoever, and had actually almost killed her at one point… Where were we?

Right, the transitions. MCU’s Phase 4 is all about them; for example, in the already-mentioned ‘WandaVision’, the titular characters transitioned from a couple into complete strangers, starting their entire relationship – professional, familial, and otherwise – anew. In ‘Black Widow’, the titular title passed from Natasha to Yelena. And in ‘Hawkeye’, the plan is something similar – the titular title will pass from Clint to Kate, especially since the latter is willing and almost ready already. So, what else?

Aside from the issues of underwhelming and duality, (not quite necessary)… no, not quite. The issue of duality is quite necessary, it permeates the first two episodes of ‘Hawkeye’ at least: on one hand, we have Kate, her issues with her new stepfamily, and also the stepfamily’s own issues, (just who did kill Armand III?). On the other, we got the tracksuit mafia, who, clearly, are not a part of that process, but instead seem to be working for, or with, Maya Lopez instead.

The latter was only introduced in the episode’s 1x02 finale, but she’s an important character in the Marvel comics already, and since she wears the title of Ronin, (cough), in one of Marvel’s video games, the odds of her being a rival to Kate’s claim of being the next Hawkeye, are good enough.

Of course, though both ‘Hawkeye’ and ‘Ronin’ were Clint Barton’s alter-egos, they’re also quite different from each other, so maybe Maya and Kate will learn to get along – but for now Kate and Clint should survive the tracksuit mafia and etc. Given how Hawkeye was underplayed among the Avengers that is not very encouraging, actually. What else?

Well, there is also the ‘Encanto’ film that also came out this week. It is the latest Disney movie, and it is underwhelming; less ‘CATS-2019’ and more ‘Doolittle-2020’ done right. As it is the rule with the Disney animated films, there is no villain per se, (as there are in MCU or SW movies), rather the film’s main character (and her family, to a lesser extent), and so the result is… a musical. Yes, Lin-Manuel Miranda, I am looking at you. ‘In the heights’, the movie version, was simply overwhelming, with such qualities as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ not applicable to it; that was an epic movie, and ‘Encanto’ attempts to do a liter version of it. The result are overwhelming musical numbers set in an underwhelming, by the numbers, Disney animated movie. With a lack of an antagonist, and with a less extended message than the one in ‘Frozen 2’, ‘Encanto’ leans into more flash than substance easily; it does have a message – about family and family values – but it tends to get buried under all the glitz and glammer of Disney’s animation instead. Anything else?

Yes, the first 5 and a half minutes of the ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ movie. Whereas Disney has apparently removed most of the concept of ‘conflict’ from its’ animated movies, this film has not, however this conflict is changed – rather than humans, (or other sentient beings), so far we got dinosaur vs. dinosaur, (though dinosaur vs. human conflict is close second). Indeed, given what we have seen in all of the previous films of the franchise, there will be some conflict between humans regardless, so it will be interesting to watch…but that is a story for another time.

For now, though, this is it. See you all soon!

Hit-Monkey - Nov 17

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, (though lately it seems to be evening out, admittedly), so let us talk about Marvel’s Hit-Monkey series that had come out today, (Nov 17, 2021). What can be said about it?

It is actually a tough one to describe. On one hand, the combined Marvel team seems to be more withdrawn about it than it did about its’ M.O.D.O.K. cartoon, though it must be pointed out that the two cartoon series are very different on practically every level; M.O.D.O.K. was all about the universe, if not the multiverse, while Hit-Monkey is more restrained, with strong overtones not just of Deadpool, but also of the Kill Bill franchise, (which is owned neither by MCU nor by Disney, thank God). More precisely, whereas M.O.D.O.K. tried to encompass everything but the kitchen sink, ignoring the fact that most of it just unnecessarily cluttered the main story line – the titular character’s attempts to balance out his job and his family life, cough – Hit-Monkey doesn’t do that; it is actually about the titular character avenging his monkey tribe, while meeting all sorts of new people – such as Fat Cobra and Lady Bullseye – in the process of doing this. …Yes, it is an overly simplified synopsis, but it still works; while MCU seems to be getting into the multiverse aspect of itself, Hit-Monkey, well, does not – it got plenty of drama as it is. Of course, WV and TFAAWS did as well, not to mention the ‘Black Widow’ movie, (and I have my doubts about the upcoming ‘Hawkeye’ series too), but, again, this might be a part of the MCU Phase 4 plan.

Let us elaborate. The first three phases were about ‘the sacred timeline’, to use a quote from ‘Loki’, (the show, not its’ titular character). That is good, but in the same show, we saw Sylvie killing off He-Who-Remains, who was one of the Kangs, and so ‘the sacred timeline’ is now just ‘one face in the crowd’ instead. ‘Loki’ also had another Kang taking over the TVA now that HWR is gone, (for the foreseeable future), and so the TVA aren’t about to interfere once Spider-Man, (the Tom Holland version) and Dr. Strange cast the spell that we saw in the trailers – one that was supposed to change the reality…but because Peter Parker began to lose his nerve at the last minute, everything has went wrong, and the latest trailer showed us, among other things, the multiverse of madness beginning to manifest, and Dr. Strange being caught in the middle of it as well. Now what?

Well, firstly, this movie is going to be about Spider-Man, as he tries to save a lot of people at once, while Dr. Strange – well, this version of Dr. Strange, as opposed to the one that we’ve met in the episode 1x04 of ‘What If?’ – is trying to actually repair the damage by returning everything to the status-quo, i.e. how it was before the spell was cast; as the latest trailer shows, the good doctor apparently fails. Back to Spider-Man?

Well, aside from MJ doing the swan done as done by Gwen Stacy in the ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ movie series, (Earth-120703, if anyone cares), there’s the fact that maybe not all of the villains will go after Spider-Man at once; Dr. Octopus in particular seems to have a change of heart, (while Electro appears to have been re-designed instead). It will be interesting to see as to how Peter will deal with all of this, (to say nothing of MJ, you know?).

This, in turn, brings us to the ‘Venom’ films as well as the upcoming ‘Morbius’ movie – by now, the fans are wondering, just what is going on with them? The trailer for ‘Morbius’ in particular seems to be incorporating elements from all three Spider-Man franchises – and it does. Odds are that after the dust of ‘No Way Home’ settles, the world of this Spider-Man and his cohorts will be transferred from MCU to the ‘Sony Universe of Marvel Characters’, which is an entirely different situation and a universe as well. There, Peter Parker, (in whichever incarnation of his), and his friends, (the ones that will survive, anyhow), will try to make their new lives, with no way of returning home, (since the relationship between Sony and Disney/MCU isn’t all that friendly still), while Dr. Strange will have his own hands full, (as depicted in his own upcoming ‘multiverse of madness’ movie, remember?). Moreover, this sort of a situation will fit well into the MCU’s Phase 4 theme of transitions; even the upcoming ‘Hawkeye’ series fit into this theme, as the titular…title will pass from Clint to Kate. Is there anything else?

Ah yes, getting back to Hit-Monkey, this particular Hulu series doesn’t fit MCU’s phase 4 at all, and we’re not talking about the depiction styles either. Then again, ever since the Helstrom series, Hulu’s Marvel shows and series tended not to be part of MCU at all, so Hit-Monkey’s ‘nonconformism’ is not too surprising either, to be honest. It is still fun to watch though, but that opinion is subjective…

Well, this is it for now. See you all soon.

Eternals - Nov 10

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, those last few weeks had been taxing, therefore let us talk about the latest Marvel movie, the ‘Eternals’ (2021), instead.

Where to begin with them? With ‘Shang-Chi and the legend of the 10 rings’, of course. Both movies are simply different, but both differ from the rest of the Phase 4 MCU, (so far), by being not transitioning, (as the ‘Black Widow’ film was, for example), but introductory, they introduced the titular characters (and a few others) from – a blank slate. Yes, this was how the Iron Man, Thor, and the rest of the initial characters got their start, but the situation back then was different, even by the standards of the MCU mechanics.

…Does this state of affairs relate to the mixed reception that the ‘Eternals’ got from the critics and the audience? Good question. The movie itself is not very different from the standard MCU fare, though the difference is that the Eternals, the Celestials and the Deviants are not usually associated with the Avengers in the Marvel comics; in fact, I remember that when the Marvel comics restarted the Avengers sometime before the COVID-19 outbreak, they actually killed-off the Eternals because of reasons… Well, actually, because the Celestials went insane and had their own civil war instead, and part of the fallout was that the Avengers’ new HQ became a corpse of the one of the Celestials – and now look at MCU, where Earth now has a frozen Celestial stuck in it for real. What is that point?

…The point is that the ‘Eternals’ have not deviated all that much from the Marvel comic baseline, no more so than the ‘What if?’ cartoon series have, no matter what the critics say, or Ms. Chloe Zhao, who made the movie says. Yes, the ‘Eternals’ have social minorities – there’s a gay InHuman, and a deaf one – and there’s a sex on the beach scene – but, uh, what is the point?

…Oh, that this is a milestone for the Marvel movies, whose lack of a variety got rather obvious by now and then there is the entire sex on the beach situation? How wonderful, Disney/MCU is first in Hollywood to reach those milestones and to come out ahead in connecting with the little people in the real world. Yay!..

However, seriously, at the end of the line, there are two types of movies and co. – fiction and non-fiction. Movies, just as TV series, comics, books, and etc. can be either one or another, and the ‘Eternals’ are clearly fictional. Of course, so was ‘Nomadland’ and the rest of Ms. Zhao’s films, so what is exactly the difference between the ‘Eternals’ and the rest of her films?

Well, Captain Obvious points out that the ‘Eternals’ are her MCU debut, and that while the rest of her works were realistic, the ‘Eternals’ are not. Everything else is a matter of taste, opinion and prejudice, something that the reviews and critiques of the ‘Eternals’ have shown. Some people claim that Ms. Zhao have sold-out to Disney/MCU, others deny it, but the fact is that she did get paid for the ‘Eternals’, and a good amount of money – but that is between her and her employers, may her professional relationship with them be of a better sort than what ScarJo has had. Anything else?

To – regretfully – beat a dead horse, let’s get back to AoS, for the ‘Eternals’ are a movie that would’ve benefitted better by being a TV series that the AoS had been, i.e. – a soap opera that disguises itself as an action flick. Sersi – don’t confuse her with GoT’s Cersei, please – is rather reminiscent of Chloe Bennet’s Daisy/Quake, while her main man Ikaris has traits of both MCU’s Grant Ward, (currently deceased), and of Marvel Comics’ Hyperion, (I don’t know his current status, admittedly). Indeed, Ikaris seems to be reminiscent of both DC’s Superman and of the Homelander from ‘The Boys’ Franchise. So what?

So nothing – this only shows that despite their pedigree, the ‘Eternals’ are still a MCU movie, however atypical one at this stage. The movie’s details might be (mostly) unique to it, but the basis is still the same, nothing more. Ms. Zhao’s movie-making skills are unquestionable, and so she delivered once again, creating a very enjoyable spectacle – and the fact that she was able to multitask, i.e. create an enjoyable movie that also checks all of the ‘correct’ politically progressive marks only reinforces her formidability. That is all. Feel free to enjoy the ‘Eternals’ if you like Disney/MCU movies, and if you do not – then no. That is the bottom line.

In addition, this is also it, for now. See you all soon.

What if, S1 finale - October 6

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, and I cannot wait for today to be over for all sorts of reasons; as such, given that I have neither the time nor the inclination to wax poetic about the S1 conclusion of ‘What if?’ let me try to be brief instead.

The S1 finale is rather rushed; I do not know what ‘What if?’ was going for here; maybe it was some sort of a 4^th wall breakthrough, but in this case, they should have gone for a better medium than what is essentially a cartoon series, whose finale had been spoiled since the teaser trailer if not before. Marvel multiverse has plenty of stories, no doubt, but the audience of ‘team Marvel’ had been quite aware of them for a while; unlike the ‘Star Wars: Visions’ anthology, which authentically brought something new to the table due to a variety of factors, Marvel’s ‘What if?’ brought essentially some tried and true ideas to the table, nothing that hadn’t been encountered by Marvel fans before, albeit in different mediums, but still. The S1 finale assembled merely a different set of Avengers – pardon me, Guardians – but somehow they have reminded me of yet another Marvel team-up: Netflix’s ‘Defenders’. Whereas AoS was honestly bad, and ‘InHumans’ insipid, Marvel’s ‘Defenders’ were simply lackluster; a condition made worse by their heterogeneous nature: all 4 series, (plus ‘Punisher’ made the fifth), were different from each other, and when the ‘Defenders’ tried to combine all of them, (minus the Punisher) into a single show, it failed. What next?

‘What if?’ S1 finale was not a variant of the ‘Defenders’, no, but it was also lackluster: it was evident, (just as in case of the ‘Defenders’), just how everything and everyone would go so there were no twists and turns. Individual episodes were predictable enough, but in this case… Uatu threw a variant Gamora into the mix as an extra, and – period. That is it, and even the ‘Gamora killing Thanos’ case isn’t too unique – Marvel comics already did it… in one of the last pre-COVID-19 plot arcs. Yay.

…Well, the fact that ‘What if?’ had not killed the variant Zola and Killmonger off is different, though it is reminiscent of how the 1990’s Spider-Man cartoon had had its’ Captain Rogers and the Red Skull trapped in some timeless void in an eternal struggle. Here we have something similar; and has the variant Dr. Strange become Uatu’s jailer? Seriously, what are the ramifications of Uatu breaking his oath, and are there any ramifications for Uatu? That is not answered; instead, we get ‘What if?’ transformed from an anthology of independent stories – think SW: Visions for comparison – into another ‘Avengers’ variant, which is something that we’ve seen before… unlike the second ‘Venom’ film that we have also recently discussed, and which has actually brought something new to its’ audiences, (however limited or flawed it might be, yes, but still), hence its’ success and ‘What if?’-s not so much. Disney/MCU stopped taking risks after the fall of the SW Sequel Trilogy – but that is another story.

For now, though, this is it instead. See you all soon!

Venom 2 - October 5

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sometimes sucks really badly; this morning of mine’s was a certain proof of that!.. In other news, ‘Venom 2: Let there be Carnage’ was out last week, so let us talk about it instead, while Uatu is busy being Nick Fury to Ultra-Vision’s Loki. What about it?

The initial ‘Venom’ film was a separate beast from the rest of MCU, and so’s ‘Venom 2’… mostly. At the end of the film, there’re not so subtle signs that Venom – and ‘Venom’ – are coming to MCU after all; guess Sony has brokered its’ peace with MCU & Disney… So what?

Good question: ‘Venom 2’ in many ways is a re-mastered first film; the main difference between Carnage, (the movie version), and Riot, (the symbiote from the first film), is that Riot was lawful evil, and had a greater plan – to bring the rest of their race down to Earth so that the latter would be conquered – while Carnage was chaotic evil instead and just went on a murderous killing spree, as he usually does in all of the universes, (though in the 1990s’ cartoon series he joined baron Mordo instead to free Dormamu – but that is neither here nor there). Of course, Venom has to stop him anyhow, or else Carnage will kill him (and everyone else), but the point is that in both Tom Hardy movies Venom is an anti-hero, or rather a hero despite his baser nature: he has to stop the other symbiotes or else he’s doomed just as the rest of Earth is. (Uatu may have other opinions, but so far, he and Venom have never communicated with each other); i.e., there is little character development between those two movies, and there is actually some regress, seeing how Eddie has lost Anne again to the good doctor, (after winning her back at the end of the first film), but don’t fear! She is still the other person that Venom can bond with without killing them instead, (as he did both in this film and in the first one). Seriously, people, just have an orgy – it would be right up in Venom’s alley!..

…However, unlike AoS, where the recycling of ideas has turned MCU’s S.H.I.E.L.D. so toxic that now none of its characters – aside from some Coulson cameos – have re-appeared in either ‘What if?’ or anywhere else in the phase 4 MCU – the Venom franchise actually made it work. Why? Because unlike AoS, the Venom franchise does not attempt to go deep; it is actually is quite shallow, just as the titular character is. I.e., Venom is formidable, but he is not prone to self-contemplation or anything like that; Tom Hardy’s other character of the film – Eddie Brock – attempts to, sort of, but that is not enough: for a powerful alien monster, Venom is rather child-like in some ways, which make him lovable to the audience, sort of. Pause.

Let us try again. All movies are products that aim to be bought by the audience, (both literally and metaphorically), but whereas Disney seeks to make its’ MCU movies, (and also SW films, but let us ignore them right now), something meaningful and insightful and deep, (though nowhere as deep as ‘Dune-2021’ was, thank God), Sony – when it came to the ‘Venom’ franchise – did not. Both ‘Venom’ and ‘Venom 2’ aimed solely to entertain via a shock and awe approach, nothing more, nothing less. As the ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ movie showed, the (American) audiences are tired of ‘deep and meaningful’ movies, and are quite ready for something that is completely different, such as ‘Let there be Carnage’ film. It doesn’t offer any deep truths, any deep meanings, any subtle and/or hidden depths, but rather it wears its’ heart on its’ sleeve: what you see is what you get… which is basically a horror monster movie, quite appropriate for the month of Halloween, and also excellently made by Mr. Serkis from the technical side of things; so naturally, people have enjoyed watching it, and will enjoy to watch it for weeks to come.

For now, though, this is it. See you all soon – probably with the S1 conclusion of ‘What if?’.