Film Review : "Masters of the Universe"

As a kid in the 80s, I loved the figures but always thought the cartoon was a little silly. Cool character designs, but less depth than characters from, say, Marvel. So I had enough of an attachment to the concept of what tis could be, but little faith in Hollywood to respect it in 2026. What unfolded on screen was a happy surprise that did require a little compromise on my part, but was entertaining in the same way as the last "Dungeons & Dragons " movie.  It did not take itself too seriously but showed enough respect to the mythos as needed. It can be summed up when Cringer assumed the role of Bastle-Cat without armor on but said, "The next time I do this, I'd better be in armor" to acknowledge this. 

Could they have used a little CGI to help Nicholas Galitzine look more muscular as He-Man instead of having a mid-Gym-Shark build? Yes, he only weighed 200 lbs at six feet tall. Weird to think I have fifty pounds of muscle on He-Man, but here we are. The rest of the cast worked well, and Skeletor looked great and was not too jokey, but there was plenty of humor at all the characters' expense that wa still respectful. The elements of the movie that could be called "woke" felt like they were done in a way that made fun of the whole woke thing rather than capitulating to it. 

The other observation, which was not a deal breaker as they eventually delivered, was we got a little too much Prince Agam and not enough He-man, This falls along the de-powered super-hero trope from the first Thor movie where if the writers dont know how to write a powerful character they think by making him more human that will make him more relateable and I think that misses the point, as it's the god-like power gives us a vision of our higher selves to aspire to. 

Too many generic minions could have been replaced with actual characters from the series/toyline. There was supposed to be a Mer-Man in the background at the end, but he is a major charater who deserved screen time, along with Man-E-Faces, Zodak, Stratos, Two-Bad, or Webstor. The post-credit appearance of a certain character made much of this forgivable, and the fact that Snake Mountain was in the movie was also cool. All this coming from someone wh os is not all that invested in this mythos, but carries over a nostalgic appreciation for it, so super fans that do not hold the microscope too close and are just looking for fun should be rewarded. I went with younger people who had no real clue who He-Man was other than being aware of the emes and they had fun. 

Marvel Comics in 2026

It's been four years since I last posted about the comic books. They seem to be almost forgotten by Marvel themselves as the company shifted the brand's focus to movies, which did make them huge amounts of money, well...Disney perhaps is the man behind the curtain on this. Yet comics keep being made, and I keep reading them, but it is hard for me to imagine buying a physical copy of one at this point, as they are so inconsistent. To keep abreast of what was really going on, you would be blowing a hundred dollars a month on what?  Characters that are not being respected? 

How is this disrespect to the characters happening? Well, their stories are being bastardized. How many people have worn the Spider-Man mask in the past year? Wel that first requires you to answer the next stupidest question, who is Spider-man? If the answer is not Peter Parker, then the legacy of this character is in trouble. When I tell you, Norman Osbourne was wearing the red and blue suit while Parker was in space recently, then you might understand how sharks have been jumped, and poor editorial decisions have been made, and they are affecting most characters. This bleeds over into their delusion of what will work on the big screen or television, and things compound. 

I am going to look at 10 other comics aside from Spider-Man, featuring the 10 charaters that matter the most to me aside from Parker, and see where the problem lies. It makes sense to give my favorite character a look first, so let's see how ole Bruce Banner is doing.

The Hulk

Just got finished reading the lastest issue of the Infernal Hulk. The latest gimmick.  I approve of taking the Hulk in a more horror-oriented direction, and like the Immortal Hulk series, some of those books would have been worth buying. Maybe one day I will grab a trade paperback. For Infernal, I will break it donw like this an Anicent demon , yanked Banner from Hulk and now wears the Hulk as it has possessed him to wage war against god, not a bad concept in theory I am not opposed to it the execution is jumping ahead of it self as it has this Infernal Hulk taking on the Marvel Universes incarnation of God, the One Above All, or so the fight was billed but it was reallyu for of an Arch angel andd the Infernal Hulk crushed it, not Stark is about to put on some fancy armour and right him. It's dark, reminds me a little of Alan Moore Swamp Thing days when it comes to the art. Give it a B+

The Sentry

He just got a new series. It is not clear where this falls on the timeline in terms of  Canon; it looks like  New Avengers' era or an alternate Universe, he did get ripped apart by Knull a while back, and I do not recall reading an reasonable explanation for his reincarnation, but as his power set, I am not asking too many questions. Jenkins wrote this, so it should come together it seems the Void is acting on its own accord at times. I will see where it goes. Give it a C+

    Thor

Well, his book is now called Mortal Thor, so you can guess he came back from the dead with no powers, does not remember that he is Thor, nor does anyone really remember him as Thor, so magic is afoot in this regard. His son is about to take the throne in Asgard. It is a case of writers who should not be writing a character that they do not know what to do with at full power, as this has been done before, so why recycle the story? The art is decent. Give it a D +

Doctor Strange

He is in Asgard, being a wizard with Angela in tow. The writer is obviously into Dungeons & Dragons, it would be nice to see him more grounded in a 9th Gate type story, moving in a more Lovecraftian direction, but here we are, give it a C

She-Hulk 

She is now on Skaar, Planet Hulk, in a more involved soap opera of a storyline; they brough her boyfriend Jack of Hearts to fight her. It looks like after six issues, she might be heading back to earth as they milked it for all it was worth, very Star Wars-like story and action, give it a C

the Punisher

Another reboot finds Marvel repenting for being apologetic for the character after his iconic symbol was almost cancelled by stupid Millennials. He is back in the proper costume being treated the right way with great art. The first issue of the new series is some of their best work in years. Give it an A

Iron Man

Only on the 2nd issue of the new series so too hard for them to screw it up, but they are working with what is tried and true, which is the formula they should stick with. Give it a B

Captain America

With the Avengers disbanding their current roster, it means we have to use Steve Rogers, the heartbeat of what is going on at the center of the Marvel Universe. He does have General Ross (the Red Hulk) in the periphery of his stories, but things have not really come to a head with that. Seems like he has just been on an endless mission the past few years that digs deeper into things, but there is no clear story. Give it a C

Scarlet Witch

Not the best at holding down her own series, she is now the Sorceror Supreme, not the first time. The art is very 90s, and in some ways it works, but we got her fighting Agatha for four issues, and that got old. Not a fan of how she is drawn, not really as hot as she used to be in the 80s and 90s, she can still be curvy and powerful, it kind of kills their whole feminist vibe by not letting this happen ou are saying that those concepts are mutually exclusive- give it a C

Will try to get more regular with writing about the comic books, but the comic books should be more inspiring and not a second thought to the movies. 

Superman Vs the Fantastic Four

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  Before I have to tell you to shut the fuck up, when you say 

"U caN't CompAre the 2 jus cuz tHey r boof comic books movies" 

Let me tell you, that is exactly why they should go head-to-head.  In a comic book match-up, Superman should wipe the Baxter Building with their corpses, unless we are talking about the Superman from whatever comic books James Gunn was reading leading up to the making of his film, in which case, Reed Richards beats him single-handedly.

When it comes to comic book movies, the assignment is simple: bring what we love about the comics to life on screen. Many movies have done this successfully, going back to Richard Donner's "Superman", but have also included "Iron-Man", Tim Burton's "Batman",  "The Avengers", "Captain America", "Dr. Strange", 'Sin City", "Blade" , "Howard the Duck", "Spider-man; Homecoming" and James Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy" with the second movie in that franchise being the only one that was a bit clunky.  In fact, Gunn's horror take on Smallville, "Brightburn" showed he knew what could work.

Granted DC has struggled bringing their characters to the big screen, unless it's Batman, though even the last Batman film went down the drain halfway into the movie. Wonder Woman, the second Suicide Squad, "Black Adam" and the Flash are the only real working adaptations they have had, and the end of Wonder Woman felt like they dumped the rest of the budget into a CGI fight that stunk up the theater as if it looked like a video game. To this day, I have still not seen the second Aquaman movie, thanks to the Wonder Woman sequel being one of the worst ways I have ever kissed two hours of my time goodbye.

Fantastic Four has been poorly handled in the hands of filmmakers going all the way back to Roger Corman/s version. They were the staple of the Marvel Universe back in the '60s, more important than the Avengers. They had a lot of heart as the first family, and that is what Marvel tapped into with this version of the film. They knew they had to get it right; that meant no cosmic clouds, the real Galactus, leaving the only misstep being the depiction of the Silver Surfer. But they captured the essence of the characters. They did it in a way that stood apart from other Marvel Movies. 

The only thing that worked about Superman was his dynamic with Lois Lane. Krypto was fun, but overused, and in no way should Superman need him to pull himself out of a jam. Superman should be a god among men. Perhaps the focus group that signed off on this felt younger audiences could not see themselves in an invulnerable character, as they are too self-identifying with weakness as being an integral part of their personalities, so someone like the Henry Cavill Superman, who headbutts Wonder Woman into the ground, is too intimidating. The new actor donning the cape played a better Clark Kent, but Cavill embodied Superman more effectively, too bad he was surrounded by bad writing. 

Superman was entertaining, but mainly thanks to Nathan Fillion stealing the movie as Green Lantern, he needs his own movie in production ASAP. But Superman does not need the Justice League or Gang when he shows up, Green Arrow and Plastic Man breathe a sigh of relief. The scene that solidified how his weakness ruined the movie was needing to be pulled out of the Black Hole, it felt like the scene in "The Batman" when Cat-woman had to help Batman pull himself up onto a platform as he could not do a one-arm pull-up. Um, I can pull my weight up with one arm, and I am just a dude who goes to the gym. Bruce Way is a Billionaire who devoted his life to perfecting his body to the limits of human capabilities so he has state of the art equipment, much like Eddie Hall's basement to grant his muscles hi-tech recovery from both workouts and swinging aroung Gotham city, where he is also pulling his body weight with one hand on a nightly basis. This, like the handling of a Superman who gets his ass-kicked for the entirety of the movie, is not under the assignment.

Granted, there was online grumbling about how the movie was supposed to be 'Woke", claims that were also made about "Fantastic Four",  I saw none of that in either film, there did not seem to be an agenda. I think the studios know by 'woke-fishing" it creates a buz, and perhaps gets butts in seats as people think they are supporting something that is part of their indentity, who might have never cracked open a comic book. Otherwise, the only thing I could see would be, should  Lois and Mr Terrific had less screen time, in favor of placing emphasis on Clark? Sure, but I think that was bad editing. The same could be said of how Fantastic Four could have placed more emphasis on Ben Grimm, but at least when he was on screen, it was like he stepped out of the comic book. Superman would have been more like the 30-second fight the Thunderbolts had with the Sentry, that kind of speed, resilience, and power, it's who the character is, if you don't like who he is, then make another movie. This is why Fantastic Four proved to be a much better movie on most levels, from stylistically to bringing the characters to life. 

  

Film Review - "Fantastic Four - First Steps"

This film finally gets the characters that make up Marvel's first family right. Not only does it set itself apart from the other MCU films in the stylistic visuals that have more in common with the Jetsons than the Avengers. The tone of the film is different as they are family first, and the chemistry of the actors makes it click into place. It might not get everything perfect, but it gets them better, which was enough to make this work. Could there have been more Dr Doom to show how crucial he is to their DNA? Yes, but I understand why there wasn't since he is a contrast to Reed Richards first and foremost, and they needed a villain who was a threat to the family in a larger sense. 

They did have the Super-Apes on screen, which made my day. Was the Silver Surfer in this incarnation a weak link? Yes. They missed the chance to bring Norrin Radd in, but distinguished the difference between him and who was on screen. Mole Man was more impressive as he got the character. While not set in earth 616  they colored the world in such a fashion that made it work, while setting the stage for their return, which they faked out the audience on when it came to how they were going to run from Galactus. Speaking of the big purple guy, he was an impressive sight and presence.  One of the stronger effects moments, though Ben Grimm worked more often than not as well. 

Ben could have gotten to punch more things and do more. The same could be said for Reed who only showed a fraction of what he does in the comics, but the story was served, it never got bogged down into Disney's Hollywood politics and aside from not being a part of the larger universe, felt like it captured what it is that the team does and how they are set apart from the Avengers or the X-men. It was the best movie since "Spider-Man No Way Home" and they understood the assignment better than most filmmakers who have fumbled properties like Thor and Black Panther. 

Film Review : "The Thunderbolts*"

This might be the best Marvel Movie since the last Gaurdians of the Galaxy, but I am not going to call it the New Avengers since it literally has nothing to do with the New Avengers from the comics, in fact Sentry is the only charater from that team unless we are going to count Bucky's Cap. This could have been a good transition into the Dark Avengers but everyone might be a misfit but they do not need rehabbing like the Thunderbolts, eventually turned to rehab for villains to become heroes in the comic, so comic acuray is out the window, at this point, this should be a given, so we are going to talk about what worked. 

Sentry is one of my favorite comic characters, so he is the focus of this review.  Granted, Pugh's Yelena is the film's focal point, but her heroic arc does not focus on a big bad as much as it focuses on her shared trauma. They rearranged Sentry's origin story rather than abolish it totally. He is still a mental ill junkie, he just does not break into the lab to steal the drug but signs up for a study Close enough. The trailers for the movie are deceptive, as they waste little time introducing "Bob".  The writing is not perfect in fact, it is a little clunky, and he is handled like Thor in the first Thor movie, depowered, because it seems to hard to write for powerful people if you are going by the examples we have seen thus far. But the big payoff is when they do have their throwdown with him, which does not shy away from showing how powerful he is.

The rest of the team finds the Red Guardian as the predictable comic relief,  Ghost is still not really fleshed out, and feels different from how they appeared in Ant-Man  & Wasp. Bucky and John Walker are at varied places on the static spectrum. I think bringing in Songbird, while they were at the Vault, might have worked better than Ghost or any of the original members. But what plays in their favor is that the movie does not drag; something is always happening, not a big action film, some fighting, but not loaded with it, yet it was well paced.  The interesting change was how the VoidFre was handled; he was almost like  Freddie Krueger if you replace sleep with the trauma of your past. When the Void is embodied as Sentry, it's not the movie's most well-written moment, but they get away from the tropes that often make all Marvel movies feel the same, This is what makes the movie stand apart from the other films, however if you go into this without watching "Black Widow" and "Falcon and Winter Soldier" than you might be a little lost unless you read a lot of comics. 

Daredevil - Born Again

 I am just watching the first four episodes at present, though it's less of a comic book feel while still being true to the character. Charlie Cox is carrying things on his shoulders, as this show is largely without the comic book violence except for the fight scene against Bullseye which sets a somewhat false tone. This sets up the death of Foggy, causing Murdock to go into a depression of sorts causing him to give up his Daredevil identity, in the face of his arch-enemy Wilson Fisk becoming the Mayor of New York City. This does happen in the comic books, though the comics had more of Murdock suited up as well. 

Where the Netflix show was gritty, the Marvel show sends the kind of mixed political messages Disney has been encouraging. At this point, I am surprised they are letting the Punisher logo be shown.  Though most of this is done with a passive-aggressive undercurrent. When it comes to the hyperrealism they are trying to ground this in, I do like how the theme of the show is an exploration of what it means to be a vigilante. However, the courtroom drama tone of the first four episodes means looking into the Justice System, with failed attempts at trying to pull sympathy for petty thieves with 25-page rap sheets, it's just bad writing with mixed messages, as the subject they want you to empathize with is just an entitled dumbass, with nothing to make you like him.

 This plays into a mixed bag of writing as they did a better job of exploring the gray area with White Tiger. Frank Castle gets a good monologue but his appearance feels a little wasted, though we still have five more episodes. It is a very slow-burn build, with Murdock only getting physical in two of the episodes, In episode five things better start popping off. D'onofrio is not as earnest in his portrayal of Fisk, less imposing and leaning more into the voice than the kind of honesty that made Fisk likable as a villain in the Daredevil show. Also no Elektra yet, and only a wink that the mantle of White Tiger might be passed on.  If you are a fan of the character it is still worth watching to Daredevil is too Murdock heavy in the first four episodes. 

 

Film Review : "Captain America Brave New World"

Not as bad as Rotten Tomatoes makes it out to be. But it's about on par with the Disney Plus show, though with a bigger budget that was ot invested in the boring fight choreography.  Sam Wilson, has problems fighting soldiers, that Steve Rogers would have annihilated by the time the elevator doors closed. I would have been less inclined to watch this movie if it was not for the cross-over into the Hulk's world. General Ross, is an antagonist of sorts. The final Red Hulk climax is not worth the cost of a movie ticket. However it does prove that Wilson's Cap was mismatched, and unless this was saved as a subplot the Thunderbolts would have been wiser to have fully fleshed out the Serpent Society and other corners of the Captain America mythos, even Baron Blood would have worked.

The writers tried to play off tensions in the world today, but replaced China, with Japan, yet neglected to tease any character from the Pacific. Instead, I tried tying up loose ends and serving as a bookmarker to keep the public interested in the Marvel formula, but I think it's safe to say the momentum of that magic is long gone. The hype for this film ducked and dodged they claimed Sabra had been dialed back but in reality just silenced the fact she was Isreal's protector and toned down her powers simply making her another Black Widow. When Bucky Barnes is the biggest guest spot you know times are hard, and the gaping Avvenger's sied hole in this cinematic universe continues to yawm out into the void.

The stakes could not be any lower for this movie, yet they missed the mark visually, with the Red Hulk being the only interesting part of the movie and the elderly Harrison Ford being forced to pull all the film's weight. Design-wise they missed the mark with the Leader. Any teases that this would be a Hulk movie with mentions of the Abomination and Banner, are all misdirectsThe bright side of this will hopefully be that Anthony Mackie showed he plays a better-supporting character, and if placed as the centerpiece of an Avengers film it would bomb rather than uphold the previous legacy of the original films. Right now things are not looking so great for the future of Marvel and this movie did not restore any hope, at least it's better than the Marvels.