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. 

Reviewing the Year in Marvel Comics-2024

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It has been a minute since I wrote about just comics which used to be a weekly ritual for me, in fact, this very article I started back in 2023, but am now forcing myself to finish it. as Marvel Comics have been pretty underwhelming as a general. DC when I have given them the chance has been worse, they seem to be falling for some of the same traps as Marvel in devaluing the legacy of their characters Marvel got the hint to some degree and is trying to salvage its comics line and make people care about them since the movies and shows have started to tank. They are learning people do not want Disney politics mixed in with their escapism. This is bleeding into the comics as stories are starting to head back into a more classic direction. 

. The further we get from the Avengers the more it's going to fade in the rearview mirror of our collective attention span. The comics came first and that is the legacy of these characters more so than any whoring of their likeness to Hollywood so let's take a look and see how Marvel is doing in reclaiming this to steer the ship back in a better direction. So how was  2024? I will take 10  branches of the Marvel Tree that matter the most and give the run 

Spider-Man...

It does not matter who has the hit at the box office, he is their flagship legacy. Peter Parker, is doing pretty well in the Amazing Spider-Man series, it keeps breaking down into something more street-wise at present. They need to break it down to just Peter, Miles, and Jessica Drew, as the only spider people for sure.  Doctor Octopus was back in the mix, along with  Norman Osborne who returned as a crazy big bad. Parker dated   Black Cat again. It worked best when there was little to no crossover from other corners of the Spider-Verse for now at least. They tried killing off  Ms Marvel in his book, was un-needed would have made more sense in Avengers, that way there would have been someone for them to Avenge, but aside from that Amazing Spider-Man is worth reading these days. It has Parker back in a more grounded place.  Sure there is the "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man cartoon, that did some ridiculous race swapping, which seems to be shooting for a younger audience. Who cares about it really, it's something I will forget about after I press publish on this article. 

Fantastic Four

Another one of the Golden Age staple books, that in the past found itself a little convoluted with too many cooks in the kitchen and way more than the core Four. Some of the babysitting hanging on is gone and at present, they are focused on Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny, which is as it should be. Though the writing it not the greatest a they have a penchant for dedicating issues to a single member rather than focusing on them as a family unit which is their strength They will be getting more of a push this year with the movie gaining hype. 

The X-Men

There are too many books, so the storylines get muddled making it a continuity nightmare.  I feel like I am always struggling to keep up, the last Uncanny arch was pretty good, and we have most of the essential characters on state. Then an increasing number get solo series which if we are going to be honest  Wolverine is the only one who warrants their own series, unless we are counting Deadpool as an X-man, less convoluted than it has been. 

Avengers 

As far as team books go the current run the roster is all classic characters like Scarlet Witch, Thor, Iron-man etc with the only twist on the classic being the Sam Wilson version of Captain America which is getting hype for the movie to come. They have tried to work Storm in a possibly Black Cat. Unless it's an Uncanny Avengers book, which was a good series worth bringing back, they are better off leaving her in the X-men, but at least there is no Blade of Ghost Rider, who was never a good fit for the team anyway. I think they need to focus on picking villains suited for them, as there can be too much in the way of trying to farm new characters than having no emotional investment. 

Daredevil 

With Spider-man also more grounded in the streets, Daredevil needs to be left on the grittier side. Matt Murdock's character is always picking himself back up to re-invent. Kingpin was running the show which put him in a bad spot, the whole prison arch, with Elektra becoming Daredevil was dumb, they should just work on making Elektra more interesting as her own character. The same cycle of rogues has been in rotation too long, they need to get writers in who keep things fresh while staying true to the character. 

Hulk 

Once again we begin to see writers at Marvel wanting to be the next person who creates a big bad like Gorr or Venom who catches on and sticks to become a recognized villain in the Marvel pantheon but fail to do this in a method that pulls from existing mythos. With Hulk, I am surprised we have not seen more from the Leader since Sterns is appearing in the new Captain America movie. While I am glad we do not have too many Hulks in the mix, it's about time to have Skaar show up, where the hell is Abomination? Rick Jones? The Hulk is doing what the Hulk does, and I have not disliked the monster slant, but there are plenty of monsters that could have made an appearance rather than trying to create new ones. Glob, the Missing Link, Wendigo, Frankenstein, the Living Mummy and Werewolf By Night could have all made an appearance shit I'll even take War-Wolf. 

Thor 

Getting back to basics is working Enchantress was due for a comeback., It was good to see the Executioner in play as well. I think there needs to be a balance of how we see Asgard and Midgard interplay. The Thor being a wanted man on Earth could have been a good angle, who would they send to hunt Thor down, when does Thor get fed up with humanity's shit and do some god smiting would be an interesting question to pose. He plays too nice, I think he works best with a rougher edge that is more true to Norse mythology. But things are less contrived than they have been in the past which works for me. 

Dr. Strange

Of all the books Strange is getting the worst end of the stick. Killing him off an making him a ghost, is dumb if anyone can navigate the afterworld back to his body it's Strange. This has spilled over into other books like Spider-man and we have seen both Clea and Dr, Doom trying to be sorcerer supreme. It's as dumb as when Thor was unworthy. This is an easy fix they need to get in there and do it right.

Iron Man

Pretty decent Stark is doing better than Steve Rogers. Stripping away Stark Industries and not making him more of an Elon Musk, works for now, but how can you expect him to not get back to where he was considering who he is and the network and resources he has. At least his book is not as littered with too much supporting cast. Not sure how I felt about the Emma Frost thing. The thing they need to get back to the classic feel, and the West Coast Avengers book seems like the part forward to that. 

Captain America 

I am only exposed to Sam Wilson through Avengers which is fine, as he is a better supporting cast member than some one in the spotlight, he has not rogues gallery and I do not see Roger's villains taking him seriously. Rogers is like Stark where too much supporting cast members like Bucky or Black Widow weigh things down and lower the stakes. There are some interesting stories that could be told with him, and I think we would be a good avenue to bring back SHIELD as a shadow organization, maybe that he plays against as was hinted in the movies, but their is a wealth to work with that is not being tapped here. 

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