February 6, 2018

MCU Chronological Viewing Part Six: Agents of SHIELD, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, and Daredevil

Falon Marvel 0 Comments

Okay, so I am supes behind on my MCU posts! I’ve been so swept up in (mostly) enjoying the movies and shows that I haven’t had much time to write. But I am back today with another installment and I promise I will work on catching up! If this is your first MCU post, make sure you start here with the original post. Then check out Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, and Part Five. Then you can report back for today’s post, Part Six! Let’s get to it!

Agents of SHIELD, Season 2 Episodes 1-19

The Basics: Premiering in September of 2014, the second season brings back the original cast, with the additions of Adrianne Palicki, Henry Simmons, and Nick Blood.

Important Plot Points: There are a couple of main storylines in Season 2. One is Skye meeting her parents. Her dad (played by Kyle MacLachlan aka Trey McDougall on Sex and the City) is super crazy and her mom runs a safe space for people who are gifted, also known as Inhumans. Skye spends some time with her mother there, the Afterlife, as she is learning how to control her powers (more on that in a second). Coulson is losing it a little, focusing most of his energy on these weird alien drawings that just come to him, forcing him to carve the symbols into whatever surface happens to be within reach. The drawings lead him and the team to an underground bunker where they find an obelisk that, in the short run of things, enhances powers that Skye and Raina already possess, making them Inhumans. We discover that there are multiple obelisks floating around, many of them in the possession of Skye’s mom and her people. The obelisks kill anyone who doesn’t have the potential to become Inhuman. Ward is being held by SHIELD and he seems repentant and helpful, but he continues to just eff everything up. We learn a lot more about him and his family, and he does try to do some good, but for the most part he continues to disappoint everyone. Fitz is suffering from some brain trauma after being deprived of oxygen for so long when Ward catapulted him and Simmons into the ocean. Simmons is working undercover for Hydra, reporting back to Coulson with info from their science department. She is found out, but saved by Bobbi, another undercover SHIELD agent. Bobbi and Mack join the team, though we find out that they actually work for another branch of SHIELD who don’t want Coulson to be in charge. Raina ends up in the Afterlife and it turns out she can see the future. She sees Skye saving some of their Inhuman friends, so Skye disobeys her mother and leaves the Afterlife, ending up back at SHIELD. Skye begins to feel conflicted, like she must choose between her parents and the Afterlife, and SHIELD.

My Reaction: It was really nice being able to watch most of this season in one large chunk, because I constantly wanted to continue watching. Some of the alien writing stuff got a little weird for my tastes, and I absolutely hated the woman playing Skye’s mom (more on her in the next chunk of AoS) but I like the new characters, and I was happy to check in with all of my old favorites and see that they were mostly okay. Watching Ward is tough this season. I just want him to redeem himself, but every time it looks like he is doing something good, he screws it up and does something terrible. I just want him to be the Grant Ward I loved in the beginning of season one. Don’t think that is going to happen. There was a lot to love about this first chunk of season two, and the last three episodes were pretty rad, so stay tuned for that!

My Rating: 8.5 out of 10, mostly because I need a Ward redemption storyline.

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2

The Basics: Released in 2017 by Marvel Studios and Disney, the entire cast of Guardians reunites in this sequel. Kurt Russell is the major addition to the cast, starring as Peter’s dad. As of the posting date, Guardians 2 is available on Netflix.

Important Plot Points: After being dubbed the Guardians of the Galaxy, the team work together to bring good to those who need a heroic helping hand. Of course, there’s also something in it for them. The group saves bunch of powerful batteries for the Sovereigns in exchange for Gamora’s sister Nebula. They plan to take her back to Xandar to collect the bounty being offered for her capture. Rocket decides to steal some of the batteries on the way out, causing the Sovereigns to retaliate, coming after their spaceship to try to get the batteries back. The crew crash lands on a nearby planet after being saved by a mystery man in a huge white ship. Yondu, the leader of the Ravagers and Peter’s former mentor, is running into some issues. The other Ravagers (namely Sylvester Stallone) don’t accept him because he was caught trafficking children. The crew leads a mutiny, tying up Yondu and killing the crew members who supported him. Back at the site of their wrecked ship, Peter meets Ego, who claims to be his dad. Ego invites the Guardians to his planet, and Gamora encourages Peter to go. Peter, Gamora, and Drax go with Ego and his assistant Mantis to Ego’s planet, while Rocket and Groot stay behind to work on the ship and watch over Nebula. The Ravagers show up at the crash site and take Rocket and Groot prisoner with the help of Nebula. Nebula then takes off in a ship to go hunt down Gamora. Yondu, who is also being held prisoner, teams up with Rocket to try to break out. Groot has been allowed to wander since the men on the ship find him entertaining. After some false starts, Groot helps Yondu and Rocket break out of their cell. They then take off to find the rest of the Guardians. Back on Ego’s planet, Peter mostly unsuccessfully tries to woo Gamora. When Peter goes off to spend time with his dad, Nebula arrives on the planet and begins to attack Gamora. After the two both try to kill each other, they realize they don’t want the other to die. They come to some sort of agreement, and along the way discover a huge pile of skeletons that Ego has been hiding. Meanwhile, Ego tells Peter that he is a god, and that if the two of them teamed up they could basically do whatever they want and create whatever they want. Peter seems to be pretty tempted by the idea of so much power. However, Ego then reveals that he was the one who gave Peter’s mom the brain tumor that ended up killing her, which of course, sends Peter into a rage. There is an epic battle, during which Rocket and Yondu show up to help get the win. Yondu ends up sacrificing himself to save Peter, and they have an emotional father/son moment. Yondu receives the Ravager funeral. Nebula is heading off to hunt Thanos. The crew heads out for more adventures.

End Credits Scenes: In the first one, Kraglin is testing out Yondu’s arrow, and mostly failing, finally stabbing Drax with it. The second scene is a meeting of the Ravagers, led by Stakar (Stallone). Scene three is the Sovereign High Preistess creating a new weapon to target the Guardians. Scene four is my favorite: teenage Groot sitting in his disgusting room while Peter scolds him. The final credits scene is the Stan Lee cameo, him being left on some random planet as he tells a long, drawn out story.

My Reaction: As expected, I loved this movie. I will say it is not as good as the first one, which was more noticeable in this viewing as I watched them so close together. But it has everything you want in a Marvel movie: awesome cast, great music, sweet fight scenes, and plenty of laughs. This movie delivers. I thought the plot line with Peter’s dad was a little predictable, it was clear he was going to be a bad guy pretty early on, but the rest of the story made up for it. The interactions with Drax and Mantis are particularly memorable. Honestly, I’m super stoked to see these guys work with the Avengers because who knows what is going to be said. Can’t wait!

My Rating: 8.5 out of 10, awesome, but not as good as the original.

Daredevil, Season 1

The Basics: Released in 2015 as a collaboration between Netflix and Marvel, Daredevil stars Charlie Cox, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, and Vincent D’Onofrio. It is the first in a line of TV series from the co-creators.

Important Plot Points: There are zero ties between Daredevil season one and the rest of the MCU. This first season centers around Matt Murdock, who is a lawyer by day and a vigilante by night. Oh, and he’s blind. With some help from his partner and their secretary, he manages to take down the most powerful businessman/mobster in Hell’s Kitchen. And then he gets a suit.

My Reaction: You can maybe tell by my summary. I really was not a fan of this show. In fact, I am dreading watching season two. It sucks because I have been able to find a selling point about everything else I have watched so far, but Daredevil is just not for me. It’s super dark (like literally and figuratively) and the violence is gruesome and graphic. The breaking point for me was watching the villain (who I love because he was on Law and Order Criminal Intent) slam a guy’s head in a car door over and over until he decapitated the guy. I’m sorry, I just have no need for that in my life. The highlight of the show was hearing one of my brother’s songs in episode nine. Luckily, he has two more placed in season two, so I have a reason to keep watching. But I’m not excited for it. At all.

My Rating: 5 out of 10, it’s not the quality of the show, it’s just not for me.

Okay! One more section down! Stay tuned because I will be back with more soon!

January 26, 2018

MCU Chronological Viewing Part Five: Captain America Winter Soldier, Agents of SHIELD, and Guardians of the Galaxy

Falon Marvel 1 Comment

Okay folks, we are entering an intense chunk of the checklist here. If this is your first time checking in, start here with the original post. Then check out Part One, Part Two, Part Three, and Part Four. Then come back. I was excited for this section because (before Ragnarok) Guardians was my favorite Marvel film, and I obviously still love it so I was excited to watch it again. And it is also safe to say I am officially addicted to Agents of SHIELD so I was super psyched to see how the end of season one wrapped up. But holy moly, some shit goes down in this section of the viewing. So let’s get to it.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The Basics: Released in 2014 by Marvel Studios and Disney, our favorites return in this Cap sequel. The movie stars Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, and Sebastian Stan. We also have appearances by Hayley Atwell, and the introduction of Anthony Mackie (yum). As of this posting, Winter Soldier is available to rent on Amazon for $3.99.

Important Plot Points: So much happens in this one, it’s hard to start. But let’s get to it. At the beginning of the movie, Cap meets Sam, a war vet who helps other vets deal with coming back to civilian life. During their brief meeting, Cap gets a message from Nat that they have a mission, which is to save a bunch of SHIELD hostages whose ship has been boarded by pirates. During the mission, Cap catches Nat downloading files onto a flash drive and questions her about it. Nat only says she is following orders from Fury. Back at headquarters, Cap questions Fury. Fury shows him Project Insight, three huge helicarriers that have the technology to tap into satellites around the globe and eliminate potential threats. Cap is not on board with this level of aggression, but Fury insists that after the events in New York, it is necessary. Cap has a couple of personal moments, first visiting an exhibit at a museum dedicated to him and his crew. He sees a dedication to Bucky, and watches a video interview of Peggy commending him. He goes to visit the real Peggy, who is old and appears to have Alzheimer’s. Fury is unable to access the files Nat took, so he asks the Defense Secretary Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford) to delay Project Insight. After some negotiation, Pierce agrees. Fury is attacked in his car, first T-boned by “police” cars, and then shot at repeatedly during a lengthy chase. Fury sees the Winter Soldier, who is coming to finish him off, but Fury is able to escape, though he is injured. Cap has an innocuous meeting with Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) in the hallway of his building, where she lets him know he left his radio on. Cap proceeds cautiously into the apartment to find Fury waiting for him. Fury lets Cap know through text that they are being watched/listened to and to trust no one. A gunman shoots Fury multiple times. Carter/Agent 13 comes in to help Fury. Cap chases after the Winter Soldier but he disappears. Cap takes the flash drive and heads to the hospital, where he, Nat, and Hill watch Fury die on the operating table. Nat questions Steve, but he tells her nothing. He hides the flash drive in a vending machine at the hospital. Cap goes to HQ where Pierce questions him. As Cap is leaving, he is attacked in the elevator. He manages to escape, and Pierce declares him a fugitive. Cap returns to the hospital only to find Nat has taken the flash drive. Cap wants to know about the Winter Soldier, Nat tells him is a proficient killer with over 200 deaths under his belt. They decide to use the flash drive to gain info about him. Nat and Cap use the flash drive to lead them to New Jersey, to the base where Cap was first trained as a soldier. They discover it’s actually the first SHIELD office, and find a room full of old computers. Nat plugs the flash drive in and the computers have the face/voice of Zola, the former Red Skull accomplice. Zola reveals that there have been HYDRA operatives working inside of SHIELD since SHIELD was founded. The location is hit by a missile, which Cap and Nat narrowly avoid. Meanwhile, Pierce has a meeting with the Winter Soldier, who still has yet to say a word. Cap and Nat hide out at Sam’s apartment, where he tells them about Falcon, huge metal wings that Sam wears and uses to fly. The three conspire to kidnap Agent Sitwell, and force him to give up intel. Sitwell reveals that Project Insight is going to be used to target people that could pose a threat to HYDRA, name-dropping Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and Dr. Strange as some of the many who will be killed. The Winter Soldier jumps into the car transporting the foursome, pulls Sitwell out, and tosses him into traffic. The battle that follows ends when Cap pulls the Winter Soldier’s mask off and reveals that it is actually his longtime best friend, presumed dead after the first movie, Bucky. Bucky has no idea who Cap is. Cap, Nat, and Sam are taken into custody. Luckily, Hill is in disguise as one of their guards, and takes them to a secret facility, where she shows them Fury is still alive. HYDRA is planning to set the Project Insight helicarriers into motion within hours. While they are making repairs to Bucky’s metal arm, he starts having flashbacks of his old life.Pierce orders the agents to wipe his memory. Cap and Sam break into HQ, where Cap commandeers a PA system to tell all of SHIELD that they have been infiltrated by HYDRA, but that he knows they will do the right thing. There is a fight in the control room between SHIELD and HYDRA agents, and the helicarriers are released. Cap and Sam head for the carriers, each of them with a chip to insert into the computer systems of the helicarriers. If the chips are implanted in all three helicarriers, they will be disabled and unable to take down their targets. Nat has disguised herself as a council member and manages to disarm Pierce for a minute before he takes out the rest of the council. Fury shows up to put a stop to Project Insight with his and Pierce’s authorization. Sam and Cap manage to get the chips into the first two helicarriers. Cap heads for the third, only to meet Winter Soldier there. After Cap gets the chip in place, he says he is not going to fight Bucky. The two go down into the water with the helicarrier. Bucky pulls an unconscious Cap out of the water and leaves him on the banks alone. Cap recovers, and decides to go after Bucky. Sam signs up to go with him.

End Credits Scene: In the first scene, we see a HYDRA lab that, among other things, is experimenting with Loki’s scepter. We also see the twins, Wanda and Pietro, locked up in glass boxes. They will make an appearance in Avengers: Age of Ultron. In the final credits scene, Bucky walks through the museum exhibit and sees himself and his friends in their former lives.

My Reaction: Damn. This movie is dark and complex. Despite some of the heaviness in previous movies, this one felt really real to me. This movie also has a lot of repercussions for the MCU as a whole, with a lot of links to AoS and the remaining movies yet to come. This idea of SHIELD and its secrets is a prevailing them in AoS, and we see the dangers of the secrets come out in the movie. There are some truly amazing fight scenes in this movie, and while the big battles always look awesome, what stood out to me was the hand-to-hand combat. It’s next level good. It’s hard to watch Cap have a major identity crisis like he does in this film, but I love that he always stays true to his good nature. There are never any doubts about Cap’s intentions, and I don’t know that you can say that about any of the other Avengers. Also, Chris Evans looks beautiful, and Anthony Mackie is hot. So there’s that. This one was a lot to take it, but it cleared up a lot of questions I had about the MCU in its current state. So definitely one worth watching.

My Rating: 8 out of 10, I don’t know that I would call it enjoyable, but it’s really well done, and important to the overall story.

Agents of SHIELD, Season 1 Episodes 16-22

The Basics: Same as before.

Important Plot Points: Right off the bat, it is important to note that episodes 16 and 17 are basically happening in conjunction with Captain America: Winter Soldier. You should watch the movie and those two episodes as close together as you can. The end of the season follows the fall of SHIELD as we learn who is HYDRA and who’s not. Coulson is really the only one we know for sure, right away, is not. We learn that May has been secretly reporting to Fury. In episode 17 we learn that Agent Garrett, who is Ward’s S.O. and Coulson’s long time friend is actually HYDRA. Then in episode 18, we learn that Ward is too. It’s all downhill from there. The team makes it to a safe house in the middle of nowhere where Agent Koenig (Patton Oswalt) greets them. While the rest of the team is out, Ward kills Koenig and takes Skye, thinking she is going with him willingly because she likes him. Really, Skye has figured out he is HYDRA and is setting him up. Garrett needs her to hack into SHIELD files so Ward plans to bring her to him. Coulson learns that he was in charge of the original TAHITI team and told Fury to shut it down because it wasn’t safe to put the GH325 in people’s blood. We learn about Grant’s totally messed up childhood, and how he was in juvie when Garrett came to him. Garrett promised him a purposeful life, broke Grant out of jail, and basically indoctrinated him into HYDRA. Ward is told to kill Fitz-Simmons, so he leads the two of them into an airtight pod and ejects the pod into the ocean. They, of course, find a way to get out of the pod, but Fitz suffers pretty severe oxygen loss during their escape, which is only made possible by Nick Fury. Fury tells Coulson that he is done and out of the picture, then tells Coulson that it us up to him to rebuild SHIELD.

My Reaction: Holy moly. Well. I was into SHIELD during the first part of the season already, but these final episodes got me completely hooked. I definitely saw Garrett being a traitor, but watching Ward turn on his teammates was actually heartbreaking. The only thing I wrote down while watching episode 18 was “WTF WARD?!?!?” It was so hard watching him send Fitz-Simmons to a likely death, to see him kill innocent people, to know he betrayed his team. But his actions became more understandable (though entirely inexcusable) watching him be saved by Garrett and learning more about his family and upbringing. It’s hard because I so want Ward to be the good guy I thought he was. I still have hope for him (and if you’ve listened to the podcast at all, you know I love a redemption story…looking at you, Theon). It was really interesting to watch these episodes back to back with CAWS because it was almost like another side to the movie. It was really cool to see the SHIELD point of view as the agency collapsed and everything went down in flames.The movie and these episodes in conjunction with one another really clarified a lot of details for me.

My Rating: 9 out of 10, I didn’t want to stop watching!

Guardians of the Galaxy

The Basics: Released just a few months after CAWS by Marvel Studios and Disney, Guardians start Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, and Dave Bautista, with the voices of Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper. As of this posting, Guardians of the Galaxy is available to rent on Amazon for $3.99.

Important Plot Points: The movie opens with young Peter Quill on Earth saying goodbye to his mother, who dies of cancer. Quill is then abducted by aliens. We then jump 26 years in the future to a planet called Morag. Peter, aka Star Lord, steals a mysterious orb. He is supposed to deliver said orb to his mentor Yondu, but he decides instead to sell it and keep the profits for himself. On a Kree warship, Ronan is told that Peter has the orb; Ronan wants the orb so he can give it to Thanos in exchange for Thanos destroying the planet Xandar. Nebula volunteers to go get the orb, but her sister Gamora (both adopted daughters of Thanos) is sent instead. Peter goes to a broker on Xandar to sell the orb, but as soon as he questions the broker about why Ronan would want it, the broker backs out of the deal, saying he wants nothing to do with Ronan. Peter is kicked out of the shop and immediately jumped by Gamora. Rocket the Raccoon and Groot see that there is a bounty on Peter so they join the fight, trying to capture him. All four are arrested and sent to prison, where everyone wants to kill Gamora because of her ties to Thanos and Ronan. She insists that she was planning on betraying Ronan and Peter believes her. The foursome decide to work together to break out of prison and sell the orb to Gamora’s buyer, splitting the profits four ways. They are joined by Drax, a huge dude with a vendetta against Ronan, who killed his wife and child. Rocket gets them out of the prison with the orb, and they fly off to Knowhere. On Knowhere, Peter and Gamora go to meet with the buyer, Tivan the Collector, while the other three get drunk, gamble, and fight. The Collector reveals that the orb holds an Infinity Stone, which has the power to destroy planets. His assistant touches the stone, blowing up everything around her. Ronan arrives with his crew because Drax called him there so he could get his revenge. Yondu also shows up to collect Peter. During the battle, Drax is left for dead, Gamora floats off into space until Peter saves her, and Nebula gets the orb. Yondu pulls Gamora and Peter onto his ship, saving them both. Ronan informs Thanos he now has the stone and doesn’t need Thanos to destroy Xandar. Working with Yondu and his crew, Peter and the Guardians come up with a plan to defeat Ronan. After an epic battle, the Guardians are left on Ronan’s ship, which is hurtling to the ground. Groot wraps everyone in his tree branches, making a cocoon that allows them all to survive the fall, though it “kills” Groot. Once they recover from the crash, they realize Ronan is still alive. Rocket releases the stone, which was embedded in Ronan’s hammer, and Peter grabs it. It starts to affect him the same way it did Tivan’s assistant, but Gamora takes his hand, and Rocket and Drax also join in the chain, absorbing the power so it doesn’t kill Peter, and instead it kills Ronan. Yondu demands Peter hand over the stone, which he does. One of Yondu’s cronies remarks to Yondu that he is glad they never turned Peter over to his father like they were originally hired to do. Gamora is pissed Peter gave away the stone, but Peter tells her it was a fake. Instead, Peter delivers the stone to Nova Headquarters for safekeeping. Nova Prime tells Peter he is only half human, and that is father is something unknown, which is part of the reason he was able to hold the stone. Peter, Gamora, Rocket, Drax, and Baby Groot head off in Peter’s ship for more adventures.

End Credits Scene: The first one is the best end credits scene of all time. We see little Baby Groot, just a twig planted in a pot, dancing to the Jackson 5. In the final credits scene, we see the Collector and his space dog among the wreckage of his collection, sitting with Howard the Duck.

My Reaction: I love this movie as much as everyone else loves this movie. I mean, what’s not to love? On top of all the action and adventure, it’s hilarious. The cast is badass, and these are some of the most entertaining characters I can think of. Clearly, it has the best soundtrack of any Marvel movie, and it has some of the best lines too. My favorite is when Gamora tells Peter she will not fall victim to his “pelvic sorcery”. Epic. The whole scene with the crew on the Milano formulating their plan is just comedic genius. I’ll never get sick of this movie. This is one I can, and will, watch over and over.

My Rating: 9.5 out of 10, pretty damn close to perfection.

Aaaaand my brain hurts. Good God that is a lot of stuff. I’m rapidly approaching the halfway point of my checklist, and I am really loving the journey so far. Stay tuned for the next leg!

January 22, 2018

MCU Chronological Viewing Part Four: Agents of SHIELD and Thor The Dark World

Falon Marvel 1 Comment

Alright guys, not going to lie. For the first time, I am doubting whether or not I’m going to be able to finish this MCU challenge in time for Infinity War. I need to step up my game, because the truth is, I have a lot left! If this is your first time checking in on the challenge with me, start with this post here. Then make sure you read Part One, Part Two, and Part Three, and then come back here! For today’s installment we have two sections of Agents of SHIELD, plus Thor: The Dark World. In general, I was pleasantly surprised by this leg of the journey, so let’s get to it!

Agents of SHIELD, Season 1 Episodes 1-7

The Basics: The show premiered on September 24, 2013 on ABC to incredibly high ratings. The first season seemed to garner mixed reviews, but remained popular enough to be picked up for a second season in May of 2014. The show stars Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennett, Iain De Caestecker, and Elizabeth Henstridge.

Important Plot Points: Okay, so right off the bat, an important question is answered. If you have been following along with these posts, or have ever seen the Avengers, then you know that Clark Gregg’s character, Agent Coulson, was killed before the battle of New York. Clearly that was a situation that needed to be immediately addressed, and we learn in the first episode that Fury faked Coulson’s death in order to inspire the Avengers. That’s the biggest takeaway in these first seven episodes as they relate to the MCU. We see a lot of tie-ins to the Marvel films in these first episodes, everything from Extremis (Iron Man 3) to Hydra (Captain America) to gravitonium (which looks and operates like zero matter from Agent Carter). Other than those plot points, the first seven episodes are mainly about establishing the team. We have Coulson, who is the fatherly commander, Agent May (Wen) a mother effing badass fighter and pilot, Agent Ward (Dalton) a sexy ops specialist, Fitz (De Caestecker) an adorable Scottish scientist, Simmons (Henstridge) a biochemist Brit, and Skye (Bennett) a hacker who is wooed to the team by Coulson after she is able to hack into SHIELD’s system, trying to expose their secrets.

My Reaction: I immediately loved this show way more than I thought I would. I honestly thought I would have to force myself to watch these episodes, but I’m so glad I actually enjoy the show (because there are a lot of them). The cast has great chemistry, Coulson is hilarious, May is a badass, and Ward is sexy AF. But my favorite characters are definitely Fitz-Simmons, who are so nerdy and adorably funny and wonderful. I just want to be friends with them. Right off the bat, I’m a fan of the show. And I might just be an AOS fangirl from this point on.

My Rating: 8 out of 10, a solid start.

Thor: The Dark World

The Basics: Released by Disney and Marvel Studios in 2013, Thor: The Dark World reunites the original cast of characters. The movie stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, and Anthony Hopkins. The supporting cast in this film should also be mentioned because hello awesome actors: Rene Russo, Zachary Levi, Jaimie Alexander, and Idris Elba, to name a few. As of this posting, Thor: The Dark World is available to rent on Amazon for $3.99.

Important Plot Points: Way back when, the Asgardians found and hid the Aether, an energy source like the Tesseract, keeping it from Malekith and his Dark Elves. It remained hidden for hundreds of years. In present day, Thor and his buddies are trying to restore peace in the Nine Realms, now that the BiFrost has been repaired. Loki is in an Asgardian prison for his crimes he committed on Earth during the Avengers. Jane is lonely, still waiting for Thor to return like he promised, even though it has been two years since he left. Jane discovers an energy source that replicates the BiFrost and goes to investigate. She ends up being sucked into a portal and infected with the Aether. Heimdall tells Thor he can’t see Jane, so Thor goes to Earth, despite Odin’s orders not to. Thor brings Jane to Asgard to try to remove the Aether from her, but the healers cannot do it. Odin recognizes the power of the Aether and warns of its powers and the prophecy attached to it. Malekith and company attack Asgard, mostly searching for Jane since she is basically the embodiment of the Aether. They don’t take Jane, but manage to kill Frigga, Thor’s mom, in the process. Reluctantly, Thor teams up with Loki because Loki knows of a portal than can take them to Malekith. On Malekith’s planet, the trio manages to trick Malekith into drawing the Aether out of Jane, but Thor’s attempt to destroy it fails. Loki seemingly sacrifices himself to save Thor,and the two brothers say an emotional farewell to each other, Thor promising that Loki’s sacrifice will not go unnoticed. Malekith heads to Earth, and Thor and Jane are able to find another portal that takes them to London where they meet up with Jane’s team. Using a bunch of science stuff I don’t understand, Thor and Jane are able to stop Malekith from deploying the Aether to destroy Earth, and they kill Malekith. Thor tells Odin he doesn’t want to be king.

End Credits Scene: The first scene shows Sif and Volstagg taking the Aether to Tivan the Collector for safe keeping. They reason that having the Tesseract and Aether, both Infinity Stones, on Asgard is dangerous and that it is better to separate them. When they leave, Tivan remarks, “One down, five to go.” In the final credits scene, we see Thor and Jane reunite, this time after just a couple of days apart.

My Reaction: This was the first time I really sat down and watched this movie, though I had seen snippets of it before. It’s kind of sad to watch this one after seeing Ragnarok because (spoiler alert) all of Thor’s friends die in the third Thor installment. I really liked a lot of this movie, especially Lady Sif, and the scenes with Loki (cameo by Chris Evans pretending to be Loki was pretty much my favorite part). As much as these movies are about Thor, they are also so much about Loki and his character development. We had some yummy Chris Hemsworth moments in this movie, but in general, it was not my favorite. I think a lot of the sciencey stuff made it too hard to follow, and once again, I felt that the character development, and relationship development between Thor and Jane was lacking. I feel like I learned more about Thor in The Avengers than I did in his own movies. It’s Thor, so I’m on board, but not one I would watch again and again.

My Rating: 7 out of 10, mostly for shirtless Chris and Tom Hiddleston

Agents of SHIELD, Season 1 Episodes 8-15

The Basics: See above

Important Plot Points: Episode 8 opens up in the aftermath of Thor: The Dark World, with the SHIELD team managing the clean up of the battle site. These episodes mainly concern Coulson uncovering the truth about what happened to him in Tahiti. Fury told Coulson that they sent him to Tahiti to recover after his near death experience, but in reality, Coulson was dead for several days and had to endure some pretty severe trauma in order to come back. We also discover that Skye has been linked to SHIELD since birth, since she herself is an 084 (object of unknown origin). The team is battling one main enemy in this section, the Clairvoyant, who is working with Ian Quinn on something that ties into Extremis. We also continue to see the development of relationships among the team, mainly with Ward and May, who begin sleeping together. The team grows closer the more time they spend together, and they become a family as they endure these life or death situations. However, we do learn at the end of Episode 15 that May is spying on Coulson.

My Reaction: I love the tie-ins to Thor, we even get an appearance from Lady Sif in Episode 15, which was awesome. I like the continued development of relationships between the team members, though I do not love Ward and May together. I originally shipped Simmons and Ward, but the super hot agent who shows up at the end of this section might be a better match for her. So maybe I ship Ward and Skye. Who knows. I’m guessing that over the course of the remaining seasons, there are plenty of hook ups to be had. It’s hard to watch some of the Coulson scenes, but I think the backstory of his recovery is really interesting. I like that they didn’t just phone in the whole fake death story for the sake of having him on the show. I’m ready for the Clairvoyant storyline to be wrapped up, which hopefully happens in the next chunk of episodes.

My Rating: 8 out of 10, I’d like to see it climb higher, maybe in the next section!

Woohoo! Another one down, too many more to think about! I’ll be back with the next installment soon!

January 11, 2018

MCU Chronological Viewing Part Three: Thor, Avengers, and Iron Man 3

Falon Marvel 0 Comments

Aaaaand we’re back! I’ve been making some steady progress on my MCU checklist and I have another round up to share with you today. If you are new to this series, you can see the original post here, Part One here, and Part Two here. I was especially excited for this leg of the race as it meant I got to watch two movies featuring my second husband, Chris Hemsworth. And like a bad, bad wife, I had never seen the original Thor. Gasp. But all that has been remedied now, and I am happy to report that this section fared much better in my mind that Part Two. Without further ado, here are my thoughts on Thor, The Avengers, and Iron Man 3.

Thor

The Basics: Released in 2011 by Paramount, Thor stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, and Anthony Hopkins. It appears to be the last of the MCU not fully distributed by Disney, which may account for some of the low budge aspects to the film. As of this posting, Thor is available to rent on Amazon for $3.99

Important Plot Points: Though this is the first of the Thor movies, it is not really a creation story like many of the others in that Thor didn’t undergo any kind of transformation. He has always been the God of Thunder. In the beginning of the film, Thor is an egotistical ass who is about to take over the throne of Asgard from his father Odin. Odin doesn’t like that Thor wages an ill-advised battle without consulting him, and so Odin casts Thor out and sends him to Earth, along with taking away his hammer. On Earth, Thor meets Jane (Portman) an astrophysicist and they of course, fall in love. Back on Asgard, Loki realizes that he was born a Frost Giant and is not actually his father’s biological son. Thor’s friends start to think that Loki might have had something to do with Thor being cast down to Earth. Loki sets up a plot to have both his father and Thor killed. Thor battles the Destroyer, the giant metal robot guy Loki sent to kill him, with the help of his friends from Asgard. Back on his home planet, Thor battles Loki, who ends up falling off the broken Bifrost bridge (meaning Loki has fallen off into the ethers, and Thor can no longer travel to Earth). Coulson is also involved in this movie, as SHIELD is investigating the site of Thor’s hammer crash-landing on Earth. We also meet Barton for the first time.

End Credits Scene: Fury is showing Jane’s mentor, Erik Selvig, the Tesseract and explaining some of its dangers and powers. We see that Loki is actually possessing Selvig.

My Reaction: I didn’t hate this one as much as I thought I would. Based on how much I don’t like some of the other earlier films, I thought I would have more issues with this film, but overall, it was okay. It is very surface level in terms of character development, and I could have used another 20-30 minutes exploring Thor’s transformation from narcissistic asshole to worthy hero. I also think there should have been more development in terms of the relationship between Thor and Jane. While I love Natalie Portman, and I am all about showing a woman astrophysicist, I found Jane to mostly be annoying. In particular, I hated how giggly she was every time she was in Thor’s presence. I mean, I totally get being overcome by the gorgeousness that is Chris Hemsworth, but I was not a fan of the scatter-brained schoolgirl traits this educated, intelligent woman displayed. One of my favorite parts of the movie was seeing the beginning of the relationship between Thor and Loki, since it is so central to the MCU as a whole. I am very interested to see what happens to them in Infinity War, especially since we left off on such a high note at the end of Ragnarok.

My Rating: 7.5 out of 10, not the kind of movie I’m going to watch again and again, but it was better than I expected it to be.

The Avengers

The Basics: Produced by Paramount and distributed by Disney, The Avengers was released in 2012. The film stars pretty much everyone from the original individual films, with the major change/addition of Mark Ruffalo as Hulk. As of this posting, Avengers is available to rent on Amazon for $3.99.

Important Plot Points: At the beginning of the film, Fury and Co. are dealing with the Tesseract, which is freaking out. It becomes a portal, through which Loki enters Earth and possesses Barton and Selvig, with a few other SHIELD agents as well. The whole SHIELD facility is blown to smithereens. Fury sends Coulson and Natasha Romanoff to assemble the Avengers, who are scattered across the globe. Captain America is the first to join up, and when Coulson meets him he totally fangirls over Cap. Natasha brings in Bruce Banner, Coulson brings in Tony Stark. Cap’s first mission is to take down Loki, who is infiltrating a black tie event in Germany in order to steal some important chemical or something. Cap and Iron Man are able to bring him in, but Selvig and Barton get whatever it is that they need. Nat interrogates Loki. Bruce and Tony bond over being huge engineering nerds. Thor tries to take Loki back to Asgard so he can face justice for the crimes he committed, but the others refuse to let him go. Cap discovers that SHIELD has been attempting to harness the power of the Tesseract to make weapons, which the crew has mixed feelings about. Loki’s team of possessed agents attacks the airship that is acting as SHIELD’s base. Thor and Bruce are sent flying back down to Earth. Coulson is killed during the battle. Fury uses Coulson’s death to bring the remaining team together.The team members descend on New York, where Loki has opened a huge portal in the sky above Stark Tower. Hundreds of crazy robot things come out of the air and wreak havoc on the city. There’s a lot of fighting and destruction, leaving basically the entire city of New York decimated. Nat figures out how to close the portal, but by the time she gets in position to do so, the government has sent a huge missile to New York, figuring it is better to blow up the city than let the aliens continue to invade. Iron Man is able to grab the missile and send it through the portal, barely making it back in time before Nat closes the portal for good. Everyone survives (except for Coulson…but more on that later) and Thor takes both Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard.

End Credits Scene: This is the first movie with more than one. In the first, we see the Other (Loki’s backer) telling an unknown that challenging the humans on Earth is futile. We then see that the unknown is actually Thanos. In the final credits scene, we see the team sitting around a table at a destroyed restaurant, eating schwarma.

My Reaction: To me, this is the movie that really set the tone for all of the MCU films that follow. It is by far the most complex and interesting in the MCU up until this point, and I think this movie is responsible for a lot of the success enjoyed by the later movies in the universe. This movie has everything you could ever want: action, humor, memorable characters, and awesome effects. It gave us such memorable lines as “He’s adopted” and “I understand that reference”. It has heart, humor, and no shortage of kickass fight scenes. It set the bar that the MCU continues to meet and surpass. This movie makes me like characters I previously didn’t, namely Tony and Bruce. Seeing Tony as part of the Avengers makes him seem more human, and it makes me like him more in Iron Man 3 (more on that in a minute). This is the kind of movie that makes non-Marvel fans become fans.

My Rating: 9 out of 10, it’s not perfect, but it’s pretty damn close.

Iron Man 3

The Basics: Released in 2013 by Disney and Paramount, Iron Man 3 stars the IM regulars, along with Rebecca Hall and Guy Pearce. At the time of this post, Iron Man 3 is available to rent on Amazon for $3.99.

Important Plot Points: The movie opens with a flashback to 1999, pre-Iron Man, when Tony Stark is just an egotistical asshole, instead of an egotistical asshole who also saves people. We see him totally dismiss a scientist who wants to work with him, Aldrich Killian, and we see him have a one night stand with another scientist, Maya. Both come back to haunt him in this movie. Back in the present day, Tony is still reeling from the events in New York that took place at the end of The Avengers, namely his near-death experience delivering the missile into the portal and barely escaping. He is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, has been making countless suits, and starts to have panic attacks. In the meantime, a terrorist named the Mandarin is infiltrating the American airwaves and committing terrible acts against US citizens and soldiers. The government’s response is to paint Rhodey’s War Machine suit red, white, and blue and rename him the Iron Patriot. Aldrich shows up at the Stark offices for a meeting with Pepper, who he knows. Since 1999 Aldrich has turned himself into quite the business man, and he proposes Pepper invest in his latest project, Extremis. Pepper turns him down because of the potential to weaponize the project. Things are strained between Tony and Pepper, since he is working around the clock, and seems to be suffering from some kind of PTSD. Happy, who has become head of security at Stark Industries, decides to follow Aldrich’s bodyguard because he didn’t like the whole meeting between Pepper and Aldrich. While following him, Happy is lead to a meeting between Savin (the bodyguard) and a former soldier, who becomes a human bomb and blows up Graumann’s Chinese Theater, putting Happy in a coma. This blow sends Tony over the edge. He tells a group of reporters, on air, his home address, then goes home and works with Jarvis to figure out who is responsible for the explosion. They uncover a similar incident occurred in Tennessee, so Tony has Jarvis set a flight plan in his newest suit. Maya shows up at Tony’s house to warn him of an attack, which follows shortly after she shows up. Savin and his men descend on Tony’s Malibu home and destroy it. Pepper and Maya survive, mostly because Tony sends one of his suits to cover Pepper. It seems like Tony has died in the attack, but a suit finds him and flies him to Tennessee. Tony crash lands and finds a random workshop to use to fix his suit, where he meets a kid named Harley. Harley takes Tony to the site of the other explosion and then Tony meets up with the victim’s mom, who has a classified file of information prepared for someone else she is supposed to be meeting. Using all kinds of random help, Tony is able to figure out that the two former soldiers who exploded were part of the Extremis program. Meanwhile, Rhodey is hunting the Mandarin, but is led into a trap that allows the Mandarin’s men to steal his suit. Tony successfully tracks the Mandarin to Miami, but arrives to find that the Mandarin is a front-he is a paid actor who is mostly just a sloppy drunk. He has no idea who is in charge of the operation or where he is. Savin uses the Iron Patriot suit to sneak onto Air Force One, with the full knowledge of the Vice President, to attack the President. He sends the President to Miami in the suit so that he can be strung up and publicly executed. Tony and Rhodey engage in an epic battle with the Extremis soldiers using all of the Iron Man suits Tony has created. Pepper has been captured by Aldrich and dosed with the Extremis serum, and it is she who finishes off the fight. Aldrich admits to being the Mandarin before he is killed. Tony then destroys all of the remaining suits, in an effort to show Pepper he is going to focus on her, and maybe try to get his shit together. He cures Pepper, and has surgery to remove the shrapnel from his heart, meaning he no longer needs to arc reactor to live.

End Credits Scene: We see Banner and Tony sitting together in an office, Banner is sleeping and Tony is recounting the story to him, as if he has been narrating the entire movie to Banner, who has been asleep for most of it.

My Reaction: This is definitely my favorite of the Iron Man movies, who is by no means my favorite of the Avengers. Tony felt like a real person with real problems in this movie, and his interactions with the kid Harley in particular, showed a softness to him that I think was needed. There are some pretty breathtaking moments in this movie, but the one that stands out to me is Tony using the “Barrel of Monkeys” approach to save thirteen people who have been thrown out of Air Force One. The way he manages to save them all is pretty cool looking. That along with the final battle make this one of the better looking Marvel films in terms of the action sequences. I also like how this movie picks up from the Avengers, but also ties into future projects (namely Agents of SHIELD) which will be covered in future posts. I still don’t like Gwenyth Paltrow, but I think this is the last time she appears, so that’s cool. Also, the end credits of this movie are awesome. It’s like a four minute montage of all the highlights of Iron Man, from the first movie to this one. It’s a nice little look back at all that has happened to Tony.

My Rating: 8 out of 10, Iron Man will never be my favorite, but this was the most enjoyable of his movies for me.

Holy moly, that was a long ass post. The deeper we get into the MCU, the more in depth these stories become so the longer these posts are going to be! Up next is Agents of SHIELD, so stay tuned!

 

January 2, 2018

MCU Chronological Viewing Part Two: Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, and Iron Man 2

Falon Marvel 2 Comments

Let’s just say that leg two of the MCU race has not been nearly as enjoyable as part one. (If this is your first time checking in on my Marvel challenge, you should check out my original post here and Part One here.) I had a feeling this was going to be my least favorite section of the challenge, and so far, I was right. But a lot happens that is important to the MCU as a whole, so while I didn’t particularly enjoy these films, I’m glad I watched them. And hopefully I can give you some good notes so you don’t have to suffer like I did! Part Two:

Iron Man

The Basics: Iron Man was actually the first project in the MCU in terms of release date, though the story of Captain America takes place first in terms of time. Released by Paramount in 2008, Iron Man stars Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, and Jeff Bridges. At the time of publishing, Iron Man is available on Amazon Prime.

Important Plot Points: Much as the first Captain America takes us through the “creation” process for Cap, Iron Man follows much the same trajectory. The main difference is that Tony Stark creates his own superhero persona as he sees it as his only way out of a pretty dire situation (kidnapped by terrorists). Stark learns that his business partner (Bridges) has been selling weapons to terrorists, and the final showdown is between Iron Man and the guy who has basically been like a father to him. We do meet Agent Coulson in this film, and it’s our first introduction to SHIELD, which has not established its acronym yet.

End Credits Scene: After Tony admits to being Iron Man in the final scene of the movie, Nick Fury shows up at his house and tells Tony he wants to talk to him about the Avengers Initiative.

My Reaction: This was not my first time seeing Iron Man, though it has been years since I’ve watched it. I remember liking it before, but I did not love it on this re-watch. The beginning of the movie is hard to watch given the current political climate. Seeing Tony being captured by terrorists, and then learning his company has been providing said terrorists with weapons-weapons that we see are used to kill innocent people-is disturbing to say the least. I also am not a huge fan of Gwyneth Paltrow, and though many like the couple together, I found the way they constantly talked over each other to be grating. Also, it’s amazing how far we have come with graphics and tech in just the nine years between this film and Thor Ragnarok. It looks dated, which is a shame because many of the other movies have held up better.

Rating: 7 out of 10, I’m meh about the whole thing.

The Incredible Hulk

The Basics: Released by Universal just one month after Iron Man in 2008, Incredible Hulk stars Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, and William Hurt (with a random appearance by Ty Burrell). As of this posting, Incredible Hulk is available on HBO Now.

Important Plot Points: Again, like Iron Man and Captain America, this movie takes us through the creation of the Incredible Hulk. And I seriously think that is the only important part of it. Bruce Banner takes some experimental drugs and turns in a huge, green monster.

End Credits Scene: Important note if you are watching on HBO Now-the end credits scene is before the credits, not after. But the scene entails Tony Stark approaching Hulk’s former boss about the Avengers.

My Reaction: Okay. Lots of thoughts here. I pretty close to hated watching this movie for many reasons, but the main one is that because none of these actors appear in later films, it feels completely disconnected from the MCU. It also is, so far, the only movie released by Universal, which is odd and may account for why it feels disjointed. I found it hard to connect with Edward Norton’s Hulk because in my mind, Mark Ruffalo is the Hulk I know and love. I also can’t stand Ed Norton, so there’s that. I couldn’t help but notice that all of the problems in this movie stem back to narcissistic male egos. First, with General Ross, who “creates” Hulk in the first place, and then with Blonsky, who pushes the limits of the power so far he turns himself into a monster. People die because this particular group of men are egomaniacs. Eff that. Hated the plot. Didn’t like the actors. The best thing I can say about it is that it’s short.

Rating: 4 out of 10, and I feel like I’m being generous.

Iron Man 2

The Basics: The main players from the original cast return for Iron Man 2, released in 2010 by Paramount. The film stars Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, and Scarlett Johansson. As of this posting, the movie is available to rent from Amazon for $3.99.

Important Plot Points: The US government is trying to get a hold of the plans for the Iron Man suit so they can create an army of super soldiers (which is the same basic premise as the Hulk movie, which we all know turned out great). A crazy Russian named Ivan (Mickey Rourke) is able to replicate the suit, despite Tony’s insistence that it’s impossible. Turns out, Ivan’s dad used to work for Howard Stark and Howard got him deported. So he’s pissed about that. Tony’s weapons rival hires Ivan and Ivan becomes the typical Russian bad guy and creates a whole army of robots-no operator necessary-and sets them loose on the Stark version of the World’s Fair. In order to help Tony defeat the robots, Rhodes dons one of the prototype Iron Man suits and becomes War Machine for the first time (though he is not referred to as War Machine during the movie). It’s important to note that between Iron Man and Iron Man 2, Don Cheadle takes over the role from Terrence Howard, and is Rhodey from this point on. In addition to battling robots, Tony is dealing with a problem with his arc reactor-he needs it to stay alive, but the palladium in the reactor is poisoning him. He solves this problem when he finds secret plans from his dad for the creation of a new element, which of course, he is able to replicate and save himself. We also meet Natasha Romanoff for this first time in this film. She is posing undercover as Pepper’s assistant, though she is working for SHIELD and attempting to keep an eye on Tony. Her identity is revealed before the end of the movie. In the final scene, Nick Fury tells Tony he is too volatile to be a part of the Avengers, so they’re only going to use him as a consultant from now on.

End Credits Scene: Agent Coulson and his team find Thor’s hammer in the New Mexico desert, which is of course the lead in to the next film on the list, Thor.

My Reaction: I liked this one better than the first. I’m always down with girl power, so I was happy to see Natasha, and happy to see Pepper take charge of Stark Industries. I still am not a huge Tony Stark fan. I really don’t know why. I love sarcasm, so he should be one of my favorites, but the rich, entitled, arrogance is a little too much for me. I think I like him better as part of the Avengers, so maybe that is why I struggle with his individual films. I did think the fight scenes in the early part of this one were lacking, but the robot battle was alright in the end. It was overall, just alright. I did enjoy the fact that this movie is more than just an origin story. I realize that we need those to lay the foundation for the MCU, but there are a lot of similarities in all these creation plots and it was nice to see something more original.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10, an improvement over the first, but not by much.

 

I am looking forward to the next branch of the challenge as I get to see my second husband, Chris Hemsworth, multiple times. I should have the next section completed soon so keep an eye out for Part Three!

December 26, 2017

MCU Chronological Viewing Part One: Captain America: The First Avenger and Agent Carter

Falon Marvel 1 Comment

Well Marvel friends, my MCU Chronological Viewing Challenge is well under way. If you missed my mission and checklist, you might want to check out this post first, and maybe it will inspire you to start the challenge for yourself! If not, that’s totally fine, because I will be updating you on the finer points of each of my viewings as I go. Today is part one, which consists of Captain America: The First Avenger and both seasons of Agent Carter. I’m mostly going to share my opinions and reactions, but I’ll also make sure to point out any major plot points, and most importantly, any connections to the upcoming Avenger: Infinity War. Let’s do this!

Captain America: The First Avenger

The Basics: Released in 2011, this is not the first movie made in the MCU, but it is the earliest in terms of a chronological story. The film was made by Paramount Studios and stars Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, Stanley Tucci, and Hugo Weaving. At the time of publishing this post, Captain America: The First Avenger is available to rent on Amazon Prime for $3.99.

Important Plot Points: This film details the “creation” of Captain America. We follow Steve Rogers on his journey from scrawny military wannabe to ripped AF American hero. Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) aka Tony Stark’s dad plays a role in the creation of Cap, and we also get to see some of Howard’s other crazy inventions and playboy shenanigans that all greatly resemble the later interactions we have with Tony. Basically, like father like son. This is also the first glimpse we get of the Tesseract, which in this film is the fuel for the main weapon Cap and friends are trying to diffuse. We will see the Tesseract again in several other MCU offerings.

End Credits Scene: Nick Fury comes to chat with Steve after he has woken up from his frozen coma and realizes he is now living sixty years in the future.

My Reactions: This was not my first time seeing this movie, and I enjoyed it just as much this time as I did in earlier viewings. Captain America is easy to love, plain and simple. He’s a good guy who always takes others into consideration. And the main plot of this movie is all about him fighting pseudo Nazis, and well, that’s always a good thing. It doesn’t hurt that Chris Evans is beautiful. It also doesn’t hurt that he is surrounded by a supporting cast that rocks. Stanley Tucci is one of my favorites, Hayley Atwell (more on her in a second) is a complete badass, and the villains are appropriately creepy and ruthless and terrible.

Rating: 9 out of 10, I will definitely watch this one again.

Agent Carter

The Basics: The first episode of Agent Carter premiered in January of 2015. Despite critical acclaim, the show only lasted two seasons and is comprised of just 18 episodes. The series finale aired in May of 2016. The show was filmed in Los Angeles and released by ABC. It stars Hayley Atwell, James D’Arcy, Enver Gjokaj, and Chad Michael Murray. As of this posting, both seasons are available on Hulu.

Important Plot Points: In terms of the big picture of the MCU, I don’t think there are tons of important events. Season one of the show follows Agent Peggy Carter as she tries to clear Howard Stark’s name as he has been falsely accused of treason. Season two sees Peggy taking down a villain who has created a dangerous substance called Zero Matter. As far as I can see, neither of these plot points really tie in to anything we see in the later movies and shows, but of course, that could change as I watch more movies. I will update this post if anything comes up in the future that relates back to the plots of Agent Carter.

My Reaction: I fucking love this show. If you have been listening to the podcast, you know that I have very strong feelings about this show being cancelled so early on. It needs to come back, and if Disney/ABC are smart, they will reboot this show for their new streaming network, whenever that actually comes to fruition. There is so much to love about this show, from the kickass female lead, to the costumes, to the music, to the fact that both main villains are females. Seriously. Everyone should watch this show. I really, really hope that there is some kind of revival of Agent Carter, especially because the series finale ended on a total cliffhanger. Go watch Agent Carter, and then go tell Disney to get their shit together and bring it back.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10, highly recommend and I will watch it again!

 

This whole experience started off with a bang! I loved both of these offerings, and it was just the right way to kick off this challenge. Not going to lie, the next section of the checklist is going to be the hardest for me to get through, so I’m glad I was able to start off with a movie and a show that I loved. Stay tuned for more!