Marvel Studios kicked off the second season of What If…? in style today with a flashy episode that had a definite Blade Runner/noir vibe to it including a cast of characters that you wouldn’t expect together.
Marvel began their special release formula with the first of nine consecutive episodes released daily, from December 22 to December 29th on Disney +. Ever since I heard about the idea, I have been excited for it. It felt like a special Christmas gift to fans and I was down for it.
The first episode featured Nebula, once again voiced by the awesome Karen Gillian, investigating the murder of Yondu in an alleyway on the planet Xandar. One wonders where an idea like this comes from because it does not seem to make much sense. However, once it started, you could tell this was a solid episode.
We got a weird crew too. Howard the Duck, a casino owner, voiced by Seth Green. Korg, voiced by Taika Waititi, returned again. Groot was here too, though I do not know if it was Vin Diesel doing the “I am Groot.” Jude Law was here as Yon-Rogg, his character he played in Captain Marvel. Peter Serafinowicz resumed his role as Garthan Saal, that he brought to life first in Guardians of the Galaxy. The fact that the show brings all of these familiar voices back for this animated program is amazing and it really commits to the feel of an overarching universe.
Jeffrey Wright is back again as The Watcher, the narrator of the What If series, although Nebula took over the narration of this series in the noir style.
The animation is beautiful throughout, with some imagery that could be art.
The only drawback I have for the episode was that it felt too short. This could have easily been an hour and a half episode and have plenty to fill.
I am not sure what I can say about that finale episode of Loki, which was nearly an hour in length and was an absolute heart-wrencher. I felt very much like this after the astounding episode four of this season, a … it’s hard to explain. My gut has a hallow feeling, but not in a bad way. This is an amazing finale that really takes the show into a position that I never thought I would see.
With Loki mastering the time slipping last week, and showing up right behind OB as Victor Timely was heading down to get spaghettified, I think everyone believed that Loki was going to do some fancy time travel tricks and save the day. When they did not work, it felt as if the show was going to do what I really did not want it to. When Loki used his time slipping power to return to the site where Sylvie killed He Who Remains, I thought it was clear what was going to happen.
Then it didn’t.
It really felt like Loki was going to end up killing Sylvie. How many times did she say that in order to stop her, Loki would have to kill her? A dozen? More?
But Loki didn’t.
Loki even verbally jousted with He Who Remains. The moment Loki showed He Who Remains that he was more than just a puppet was a cheer out loud moment.
I know there have been some people speculating that Loki would end up as He Who Remains, and, while that is close to the end, I do not think that anyone would have suggested that Loki would end up being Yggdrasil.
Yggdrasil was a sacred tree in Norse mythology that was at the center of everything, with the Nine Worlds existed.
Loki striding out into the temporal time stream, grabbing branches along the way, and connecting them all to him, within a tree of life was a stunningly beautiful and devastating way to end the series. Loki, who was going through everything in this series in an attempt to not lose his friends and end up alone, wound up alone at the center of everything.
The TVA is nicely set up as an anti-Kang organization as the TVA mentioned that they were keeping an eye on the variants of He Who Remains for the potential upcoming war. The TVA has been rumored to be involved in other future MCU projects and this would be so awesome.
Tom Hiddleston was amazing, completely wrapping his two season character arc for the God of Mischief. I am not sure if this means that Loki has transformed into the God of Stories or if this is a whole new thing, but either way, Hiddleston was spectacular.
Owen Wilson’s Mobius’s arc came to an end too with his visit to his sacred timeline self (not sure if the sacred timeline is still a thing). His final interaction with Sylvie was very bitter sweet.
Ke Huy Quan was a perfect fit for this character of OB. He had so much energy in the show. I saw a video message of him on Twitter (X, whatever) promoting the finale and he was so excited about it. You could tell how proud he was being a part of the show and it was so awesome that he was finally able to put out a video to express how he felt (since the actor’s strike is now over).
Loki season two absolutely felt like a conclusion to the first season. I have seen the director claim that season two was like a bookend to season one, and that is exactly how it felt. We revisited a ton of moments from season one with a time slipping Loki and it was wonderful.
I truly found this to be a brilliant end to the series and I felt very blown away by emotions and a spectacular looking show. I really loved WandaVision, but Loki is pretty dang close.
The first episode of season one and the final episode of season two have the same title, “Glorious Purpose.”
EDIT: I just saw a tweet that expressed my feelings perfectly so I wanted to add it here. The season finale made me feel sadness, yet at the same time, made me feel hopeful.
Yes, that is it. Thanks to Aaron S Bailey for the tweet.
As much as I love #Loki it doesn't need another season, @MrEricMartin is spot on. This "book" was told perfectly and ended on a note that leaves you sad but hopeful. Can't believe we've reached the end though.. what a ride! pic.twitter.com/aE5AcjYuZw
I had no idea where Loki was heading after last episode. The entire TVA was apparently destroyed and all of our favorites were blasted away.
Come this episode and Loki is once again Timeslipping.
I should say that there was a midseason trailer out there for Loki and I avoided that thing like the plague. I really wanted to watch it. I saw that John Rocha had done a trailer reaction with it and the New Rockstars were breaking it down as they had a wont to do. But I refused to watch it, no matter how badly I wanted to because I wanted to go into these final two episode of this series with fresh eyes.
So as Loki was timeslipping around the time lines, seeing where the others had originally come from, it was fascinating to see where these variants were from. Casey as an escapee from Alcatraz? O.B. as a frustrated sci-fi writer? B-15 as a doctor? The only one that made sense was Mobius as a jet ski salesman.
Loki was desperate to save the TVA and he did everything he could think of to try and get the others to help.
When he approached Sylvie, I thought to myself, why would she be on this timeline? She was not a variant like the others were. And I was right. She remembered Loki immediately and it was clear that she was just living out her best life, working at McDonald’s and listening to records at a record shop.
She also helped Loki realize that he was not that desperate to save the TVA and the worlds, but that he wanted his friends back because he did not want to be alone. Once again, Loki’s arc takes precedent and showing how lonely and painful Loki’s life had always been and that he really wanted to have people who cared about him. It was a powerful moment.
Of course, it was not to stay since the other worlds started to spaghettify.
Looks like Loki has learned to control the timeslipping and that he wound up back before the loom exploded at the very end of the episode.
It was a solid episode that was never going to live up to episode four, which was one of the best episodes of Marvel television yet. Still, I think as a penultimate episode, it does a great job of setting the situation up for what’s to come.
If Loki saves the TVA, will he allow Mobius to go back to his real life, where we found out that he had two boys? Will all of the others want to return to their real lives too? Will Loki be the one who remains? Hm.
And…we had nothing with Renslayer, who was pruned last episode and must be at the Void and planning her return. We do not see her though. Clearly she’ll be back for the finale.
Episode 4 of Loki is one of the best episodes of Marvel TV ever.
This was so beautifully created and laid out. The fact that there were several examples of ouroboros as OB and Victor Timely geek out over each other and we see whom pruned Loki from episode 1.
And those were the minor parts.
I was literally shouting at the screen several times. I felt like a YouTube reactor as I watched the show. I usually do not do that, but I was fully engaged in this story.
One moment that shocked me was the arrival of Renslayer and Miss Minutes in the cell with Dox and her team, who had been imprisoned at the TVA, and they got crushed in the box that we saw Brad in earlier in the season. I was literally yelling, “no, no, no.”
Then ending of this episode with Victor trying to head out to fix the Loom and he got spaghettified… absolutely shocking. Never thought it.
The scene with Loki and Sylvie in “Pie Land” is brilliantly written. “Hope is Hard.”
There were so many shots that were so beautiful. The direction of this episode was just spectacular. It was the same director from episode one, and he did an amazing job.
I had a empty feeling in my gut at the end of this episode. I was speechless and breathless.
I loved this episode and I love this series…so much.
The third episode of season two of Loki just aired on Disney +, and it was a banger. Loki and Mobius were trying to find Miss Minutes to try and get her to help fix the loom in the TVA. They wound up in 1893 at the Chicago World fair and they found something besides Miss Minutes or Renslayer.
They found Victor Timely.
Victor Timely is a variant of He Who Remains… aka Kang. We saw a clip from this show at the post credit scene of Ant Man: Quantumania.
In this episode, Victor Timely does not have the frightening aura that He Who Remains. Instead, he was a blundering con man. An inventor that would sell his inventions that barely worked, if worked at all, only to have unhappy customers chasing after him.
Loki, Mobius as well as Renslayer and Miss Minutes were in a competition to get to Victor Timely first.
When Sylvie showed up ready to try and kill Victor, and Loki had to protect him. And Sylvie was absolutely brutal.
Miss Minutes’s return gave us a better look at the ‘cartoon clock.’ She showed a lot of jealousy over Renslayer and Victor Timely. Her professing her love for Victor was really creepy too. Tara Strong was great voicing this character.
And Miss Minutes dropped a hint that she knows a big secret about Renslayer that would make her made. What could that be?
This was a great episode that gave us a bunch of focus on out villains of the season. And Victor Timely has been taken to the TVA.
I think it was inevitable that episode 2 of the second season of Loki was going to be a step back because that first episode was such a monumental show that it was not reasonable to expect that near perfection again.
I still enjoyed episode two of Loki a great deal, but it definitely was a step back from last week. This week’s show featured a conclusion that felt too rushed and that lacked some stakes. Everything leading up to it though was very solid and still made for an overall enjoyable episode of television.
This week kicked off with Loki , Mobius and B-15 pursuing Hunter X-05 to the sacred timeline. They knew he had gone to try and find Sylvie but had then deserted his job as a Hunter for the TVA and became an actor. They found him at the premiere night for his big movie Zaniac. The whole scene chasing Brad Wolfe, the name X-05 was going by, was excellent and showcased Loki’s powers in a way that we have not had a chance to see in the series so far.
The acting scenes of this episode were outstanding. Brad’s brutal deliveries of truths to Loki and Mobius provided some excellent character arcs for our two main protagonists. It feels as if the whole, “You’re no hero, you’re a villain” concept is going to be a main theme for Loki this season.
Then, the scene with Loki and Mobius talking over some Key Lime Pie was simple and yet thoroughly engaging. The writing of that scene was wonderful, and it feels like they are foreshadowing things we are going to see in future episodes.
Actor Rafael Casal got some cool stuff to play as the disgruntled hunter and his interactions with Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson was gold. The scene where Loki was ‘torturing’ Brad was some intense moments and really worked well.
It was also great to see that Ke Huy Quan was back after the season opener last week. That makes me think that his character, O.B. (short for Ouroboros) is going to be a regular and not just a cameo and I will take as much O.B. as I can get. This episode, they paired him up with Casey and that led to some funny results… Casey fan-boying O.B.
The ending sequence with Dox was the weakest part of the episode, but it does feel as if they have set up the rest of the series well. With the rogue TVA agents having pruned a huge chunk of the timelines, it will be interesting to see where they go from here. Clearly where they are headed in to Victor Timely.
It was good to see Sylvie again and her choices this episode were very understandable when you think about the life that she has led, constantly being chased by the TVA and just wanting to live a free existence. She and Loki still have a ton of chemistry.
Yes, it was not as amazing of an episode as week one, but it was absolutely a fun, enjoyable watch. Was there a lot of product placement for McDonald’s? Sure. I hope McDonald’s paid Marvel Studios a pretty penny for the advertising, but stuff like that does not bother me.
I loved season one of Loki. With season two now starting on Disney +, I can start looking forward again.
Okay, this was epic.
One of the best parts of this was the fact that I did not have to either stay up until 2 AM Central time or wait until the early morning to see the new Loki episode. Prime time, Bae-beee! Apparently Disney + had success with the release of Ahsoka in prime time so they decided to do the same with Loki. I loved it. The anticipation as the clock slowly moved toward 8 PM. Watching it without being half asleep. This is the way they should release all shows.
And… Ke Huy Quan brings every ounce of charm you expect from him. The title of the episode is named after his character, Ouroboros, or O.B. as Moebius called him (apparently).
We are reminded immediately how much chemistry and charisma Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson have together as Loki and Moebius. They are the ultimate buddy cop duo in the MCU. Putting themselves on the line for each other, this is one of the big reasons that Loki season one was so great. And Ke Huy Quan fit right in with that pairing beautifully.
Kang… or, I suppose He Who Remains, as Loki knows him, is all over this episode without ever showing up. Statues, murals, recordings, he is totally enveloped in the TVA and the frantic dread and sinister nature of the world.
This looked amazing, with unbelievable sets and a beautiful direction. The music was spot on.
I can’t believe I have to wait until next Thursday. This is the feeling I used to have with some of the early Disney + shows. I have enjoyed them all (except Secret Invasion) but with WandaVision and Loki Season 1, there was a different feel between episodes. I remember counting down to the next episode, looking forward to the next one.
The second season of the animated short series, I Am Groot, dropped on Disney + as we return to the time of Baby Groot.
The first season of the show included short films that were fun and cute. This is very much the same, but, to be honest, the second season was even more light and inconsequential as season one. Seriously, there is just not much to these shorts.
Some of my favorite moments included the fact that, in a post credit scene, we hear Bradley Cooper’s voice saying one word so he could get a credit on the show. I did enjoy the use of Jeffrey Wright’s voice as Uatu the Watcher, who narrated the “Groot and the Great Prophecy“, which was probably my favorite of the five new shorts.
The whole Groot finds a nose episode was odd. And honestly, that was about all that sticks out in my mind of these five episodes.
I am sure that maybe some young kids would find these all fun and entertaining, but they are, for the most part, a little too young for me. I had a couple of chuckles, but this is something that I will not remember moving forward. Even the Watcher episode doesn’t stick out for anything else but Jeffrey Wright.
The animation is fantastic though. It is a beautifully detailed and constructed series. Vin Diesel is listed as doing the voice of Groot for all five episodes, despite the voice of Groot being considerably higher than we’ve heard before. Vin Diesel has done some excellent voice acting with this character over the years and this I Am Groot series has not been as exception.
The finale of Secret Invasion dropped on Disney + this morning and I am struggling with the feeling that I am having. It is the first time that I am feeling disappointed with a Marvel series on Disney +. Secret Invasion started so strong, but the truth is, the quality of the show slipped with every episode and this finale is so underwhelming that this has become my least favorite MCU TV show.
There was so many things about this episode that I did not like that I feel that there is just too many to list. I’ll give it a try:
The showdown between “Fury” and Gravik was dumb. Of course, it was G’iah instead of Fury and the whole Super Skrull fight at the end was terrible.
Does this mean that G’iah has the powers of all the Avengers?
Gravik and G’iah sure seem to master their new powers quickly and easily.
What is up with the President?
With the phone call Fury made to the president, why is he leaving the earth again?
They rush through the reveal of the kidnapped people and just taunt us with how long they were held.
Oh, and by the way, when they did release the prisoners, shouldn’t they be feeling the affects of the radiation like “Fury” was earlier?
This episode was too short and felt incredibly rushed.
Gravik’s death was just anticlimactic. The relationship with Fury and Gravik was wasted too as it should have been so much more. The scene with Samuel L. Jackson and Kingsley Ben-Adir was well acted, but since it was not actually Fury, it did not feel right.
No end credit scene
Olivia Colman is still the best part of this entire series. Every second she is on the screen is special and I want more of her in the MCU. I am not sure I want overpowered G’iah involved though.
The ending scene with Fury and Varra was decent. It was shot well, but it still did not make much sense. It felt as if the show thought this relationship was the key one for the show, but I felt as if the relationship was not as heavy as it could have been. They settled.
Secret Invasion’s strength was easily the acting. They had a bunch of scene work with some excellent actors, but it does not fit together well. This could have been so much better. I just am so disappointed with the overall series of Secret Invasion.
I figure I would toss out the current list of MCU Disney + shows.
The penultimate episode of Secret Invasion dropped on Disney + this morning. It did feel that this was an episode that was meant to set up the finale. Not that it is a bad episode, but it did feel that it did not have a ton of events happen.
Last week, I complained that there was no Olivia Colman in episode 4 so my favorite thing this week was the return of Sonia Falsworth.
She is simply my favorite part of this series and I would absolutely watch a series with her as the main protagonist. She is so charming and witty and yet as brutal and matter-of-fact as any character we have seen. She is completely believable as an MI6 agent and her moments with Samuel L. Jackson have been wonderful. I am pleased that she made her way into this episode more prominently than she had been up to this point.
I have also found Priscilla to be a great addition to this story. There is so much background that can be mined between Fury and Priscilla that it feels as the little bit that we have gotten here is gold. I want more of that as well.
Emilia Clarke feels underwritten and I have not had a ton of connection with this character. I wanted more form her with the death of Talos, but she seems very emotionally distant, even in situations where she should feel something. The scene with G’iah and Priscilla gunning down the Skrull house invaders was bad ass though. Emilia Clarks feels like she should be someone that is dominating every moment she is on screen and she just hasn’t. That is not her fault because it does feel as if she is doing what she can, but there just has not been enough with her to justify my emotional connection.
I liked the scene with Fury and ‘Rhodey’ at the hospital, even though there seemed to be a few holes in the logic. Sam Jackson and Don Cheadle are always welcome together on my screen.
There seems as if there is a lot of things happening and with next week’s finale coming, I hope they are able to wrap everything up effectively.
This week’s Secret Invasion week was outstanding, but just too short for me. I have to say that there are some awesome scenes in this series, but I feel the six episode format does not allow for them to really go into depth enough on what they have done. That’s a shame.
Of course, they only have six episodes so we have to take what we get.
This week, to no one’s surprise, Emilia Clarke turned out to be not dead. She had given herself the power of Extremis and she healed from the bullet hole from Gravik is episode three. We do not get much more with G’iah this week though, a short scene with her father was about all there was.
Her father, Talos, had a much more impactful episode and the shock ending where Gravik,
apparently, killed Talos as he and Nick Fury were rescuing the President of the United States from Skrull attack was shocking. Nick Fury leaving Talos’s body on the ground and taking off with the President in tow was also shocking.
The action of that ending scene with the Skrulls, led by Gravik, who showed off his Super Skrull-Groot powers, was some excellent action. Much of it felt practical which is a nice change of pace. The explosions sending the cars of the presidential motorcade flipping were well done. Talos’s apparent sacrifice to help save the President was well done too.
This episode revealed for certain that Rhodey was indeed a Skrull. We have no idea how long he has been a Skrull, but this Skrull was absolutely becoming cocky and filled with the power that he has. His hotel room conflict with Fury showed how overconfident this Skrull has become. Watching Fury play with Skrull-Rhodey was fun.
The best scene of the episode came between Fury and Priscilla. As they meet in a church, we see Rhodey instruct Priscilla to kill Fury and, when she arrived home, there Fury was, waiting for her. He had bugged her and he knew of the instructions coming form Rhodey so their tête-à-tête at the table became more intense.
This scene provided us with more of an insight into the relationship between Fury and Priscilla than we have gotten to this point and we can see the love between them even though both knew that something drastic was about to happen.
The scene where both of them fired their guns was extremely well done. I really thought Priscilla was doomed here so when it was revealed that they both had fired past their other, I was very pleased.
As I said earlier, this episode was just over 30 minutes long and it felt way too short. With just two episodes remaining, I hope they provide enough time for the show to sufficiently stick the landing. Plus, no Olivia Colman this week and that is unacceptable.
The second shocking death (or at least that is what it seems) occurred on the third episode of Secret Invasion. Our main antagonist, Gravik, discovered G’iah was the traitor in his ranks and he shot her, leaving her Skrull corpse in the woods outside of the camp in Russia. I did not expect that to happen, as Emilia Clarke is one of the stars of the show and a vital connection to Talos. I am not sure that what we saw happened though as some of the promo material for Secret Invasion included scenes that featured Clarke. It would not be the first time that Marvel used images in a trailer that was not in the final show, but there seemed to be quite a bit.
This episode also dove deeper into the Talos/Nick Fury relationship, with Talos laying out their past history and how much he and his Skrull brethren had done for Fury over the years. Once again, seeing Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn acting opposite each other is a treat. Their banter was excellent and continued to show their character. It also placed Nick Fury in context over the years. It does seem as if Talos has Fury’s back.
However, who else in Fury’s orbit is loyal? His wife, Priscilla, who were know is a Skrull, called a voice on the phone and asked about Gravik. That voice was clearly implied to be Don Cheadle’s Rhodey. Does that mean that Rhodey is a Skrull? Is he and Priscilla working against Nick Fury?
We do learn that Fury knew that Priscilla is a Skrull. There is a flashback to their initial meeting in a coffee shop, at least a meeting where Priscilla has taken on a new face. There was speculation that Fury did not know that Priscilla was a Skrull, but that is laid to rest. Fury and Priscilla had a great scene together to as she talked about the time he was blipped and then returned only to run off to space.
This episode has a severe lack of Olivia Colman. She had one scene and, while I loved it, it was just not enough for me. Sonya Falsworth is my favorite character in this series. She did rename her owl statue ‘Nicholas Fury’ when she put an eye patch over the owl statue to cover the bug Fury had planted in episode one.
Gravik looks to be already a Super Skrull, the term that was actually uttered by Gravik to the Skrull Council. Gravik healed from the knife to the hand by Talos.
There are only three episodes left and there are so many things in the fire. So much so far has been tension being built between great actors in dialogue and big things feel like are happening.
After the shocking end to last week’s Secret Invasion, you weren’t sure what was next for the six episode series.
With Maria Hill’s death, it was clear that the show was filled with strife and stakes. That continued this week.
The writing on this show has been tremendous so far. It is not afraid to allow its superstars to provide the drama through their words even as it is throwing in some excellent action.
Samuel L. Jackson is getting an opportunity to flex his acting chops as well as to dive into the character of Nick Fury, something that we have not had a chance to see before.
One of my favorite scenes in the episode was the sit down discussion between Samuel Jackson and Don Cheadle, Nick Fury and James Rhodes respectfully. The depth of character really shone through with two remarkable actors who have played these parts for years.
Olivia Colman. I absolutely love her. Her few scenes that we have gotten so far has been tremendous. She is such a joy, and watching her torture a Skrull was just strangely appealing. Colman is an amazing talent and she brought a freshness to the horrible moment, even when she was cutting off fingers. I want more of Oliva Colman in the MCU.
This villain, Gravik, has been presented as a force. Kingsley Ben-Adir has been outstanding so far and brought his mission the right amount of menace. I loved how the show shot Gravik while he was in the passenger seat of the car being driven by Emilia Clarke’s G’iah. The angle of his head and the lighting made him look very Skrull-like even though he was in his human shape. This group of Skrulls led by Gravik feels very much like the way the Flagsmashers should have felt during The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I enjoyed that show, but there was no doubt that the Flagsmashers part was the weakest of the series. This feels like it is working on every level.
Another awesome scene was between Nick Fury and Talos on a train. Once again, it is a talking scene, but it is as compelling as anything we’ve gotten before. Plus, Talos dropped some info in the “tell me something I don’t know” game that knocked Fury over. Over a million Skrulls were on earth. Whoa.
The episode also ended with a surprise. Hey, Nick, are you married to a Skrull?
Secret Invasion episode 2 was a wonderful balance and it continues to wonder exactly whom you can trust.
Marvel Studios is back on Disney + with the first episode of Secret Invasion dropping on the service this morning. As someone who has enjoyed all of the Disney + series to some extent, I was looking forward to the debuting show, especially since it puts Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury front and center.
Based loosely on the Marvel Comics event series from a few years ago, Secret Invasion deals with a group of Skrulls and their desires to find a new homeworld. Fury and Carol Danvers promised to help them find a place at the end of Captain Marvel, but apparently, that promise fell to the backburner. This has made some of the Skrulls angry and ready to take matters into their own hands.
Secret Invasion kicks off with an episode that gives us a taste of what the series will be about. Paranoia. Trust, or lack thereof.
Even though the series is about a group of shape shifting aliens, Secret Invasion feels very grounded. It is more of a thriller/political espionage story than a superhero one. The Skrulls make a perfect foil for this type of series as their ability to shape shift makes them very dangerous.
Everything is centered around the performances of Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn. Sam Jackson’s Fury feels damaged, shaken and unhinged by the blip. Taking this character who we have known since Iron Man and making him vulnerable by his own experience of being dusted is very smart. Add to that his body struggling against him because of age or because of wear increases the feeling that Nick Fury is different.
Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos is clearly still torn between the desire to help his people and to be loyal to Fury. His loss of his wife offscreen and the anger of his daughter G’iah (Emily Clarke) will give him a ton to play as well.
The opening credits have stirred up a ton of controversy online. The AI used to create the credits is a hot-button issue and caused some backlash against the series. I found the opening credits to be very ominous and fitting for the series, but I can say I do not know much about this subject.
Olivia Colman made her first appearance in the MCU as Sonya Falsworth as a member of British MI6. Sonya could be considered the Nick Fury of British Intelligence. Her few moments of screen in episode one whetted the appetite to see more from this powerhouse actor.
Okay, so that is far enough before we talk about the shock ending of the episode. During this Skrull terrorist attack on Moscow, leader of the Skrull revolution, Gravik, who is played very ominously by Kingsley Ben-Adir, in the shape of Nick Fury, shot and apparently killed Maria Hill, played by Cobie Smulders. Smulders, who has been around the MCU since near the beginning, is a beloved character and he apparent demise will cast a pall across the series. I do not want Maria Hill to die, but I can see how her death here would really be a powerful trigger.
This was a very good opening episode and I was captivated by what was happening. The feeling that you are never sure what is happening and that there is no one to trust was highlighted by the events of this series. I am looking forward to finding out where this heads next.
The second special presentation from Marvel Studios dropped on Disney + this morning, following in the paw prints of Werewolf By Night. This is a Christmas special featuring the cast of teh Guardians of the Galaxy, written and directed by James Gunn.
With Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) feeling down, Mantis (Pom Klementieff) came up with a plan to boost their friend’s spirit. She and Drax (Dave Bautista) went to earth in search of the legendary hero, Kevin Bacon (Kevin Bacon) to bring him as a Christmas gift for Peter.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is in the vein of the Hallmark Christmas specials, much like Werewolf by Night was an homage to the 1930/40s Universal monster movies. A lot of the cheesy humor from those types of specials were in play on Disney + and it was great.
There were two songs included in the special, one co-written by James Gunn himself and they were wonderful. The first song from the beginning of the special was really funny and Peter’s reactions were perfect.
Drax and Mantis in Hollywood brought some funny moments, showing such a great chemistry between the pair of Guardians. When they arrived at Kevin Bacon’s home, things picked up even more.
There were actually a couple important pieces of information that was revealed in the special that will most likely play into the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in May, which proved that this was not just a throwaway piece of content. This is important moving forward and, to be honest, it makes me worry even more about Vol. 3 and its potential for emotional pain.
The special was a sweet and charming episode that started and ended with a bit of animation in a flashback. All the Guardians get a moment though clearly Mantis and Drax (along with Kevin Bacon) are the standouts and carry the story. It even ends with a heart warming moment.
Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is much better than the Star Wars Holiday Special. This is a fun and enjoyable interlude with our favorite Guardians (and a furry new one) that worked beautifully during this time of the year.
