Category Archives: Marvel on Disney +

Light & Magic S2 E1

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“Are We Ready For This?”

The Light & Magic documentary series got an unexpected second season as it showed up with three episodes on Disney +. I enjoyed the initial season of this documentary, so I figured this would be a good series to add to the watchlist.

The story of Industrial Light & Magic, or ILM, is an fascinating tale of movie making and the way they took the business on an entirely new path.

This was around the time that George Lucas was preparing to create the prequels, the infamous films that were the pre-story of Star Wars, featuring Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker. Lucas did not want to start work on prequels until he believed that IBM was ready to create the digital work that he thought the movies needed.

The beginning of the doc included discussion on Caspar and Dragonheart. The episode indicated that once Lucas saw Dragonheart, he knew ILM was ready for The Phantom Menace.

They spent a good chunk of the doc on the creation of Jar Jar Binks. One of the most divisive characters in Star Wars, Lucas believed that Jar Jar was one of the most important pieces of the puzzle and that the film would not work if they did not nail Jar Jar. Such an interesting comment for a character that so many Star Wars fans hated.

They also discussed the pod racing scenes and how George saw these.

Whether I was a fan of these movies or not, the technology created and used on these films revolutionized the industry without a doubt. I am intrigued to hear the stories of the making of the prequels moving forward.

All three episodes of this documentary dropped on Disney +.

Doctor Who S2 E2

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“Lux”

What a clever episode.

What a meta episode.

I loved this one.

1952. It is Miami. A group of people disappear after a strange cartoon comes out of the theater screen and does something to them. It is terrifying.

The Doctor and Belinda have to take on Mr. Ring-a-Ding, another of the Pantheon. Mr. Ring-a-Ding is voiced by Alan Cummings.

I was surprised that the secondary characters were so intricate even though they did not get as much screen time. The conflict from Reginald Pi is beautiful. I loved the Doctor Who fans as well. I found the fans so strangely emotional.

The writing is spectacular with so many film language weaved into the story. They had an animated section that was really excellent too. I loved how the Doctor referred to himself as Thelma (with the Scooby Doo references).

I thought the use of the segregation allusions were well done and made a lot of sense. I also liked how the Doctor understood this before Belinda realized the issue.

I have never seen “Blink.” Perhaps I should watch it. I hear it is a great episode.

Daredevil: Born Again S1 E9

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“Straight to Hell”

“We need an army”

Daredevil made this comment near the end of the episode, talking about how they are going to win the city back from Wilson Fisk.

Wilson Fisk, at the end of season one of Born Again, is on top of the world. He is dominant, he is in control. He has control of the police. He has put out the vigilante act. He has the courts. Wilson Fisk is the Kingpin Mayor of New York. He loves the city… and he is ready to take total control of the city.

We get some of the most brutal scenes in the entire MCU with the Punisher. Frank Castle was absolutely NOT Disneyfied. I can almost say that some of the moments in here are as gory and bloody as I have ever seen. Not only Frank, but when Kingpin literally crushed the police commissioner’s head with his bare hands in front of the police force… whoa.

Karen is back. I was worried that she would not make it through the episode. Heck, I was worried that Frank wasn’t going to make it through the episode.

Massive blackout across the city. Riots in the streets.

Another cool moment was when Frank asked Matt, “Why would you take a bullet for that *sshole?” and Matt responded, “I don’t know.”

I know some have not liked this series. I personally loved it. These last few episodes were absolutely stupendous and will lead into an unbelievable season two.

Doctor Who S2 E1 (aka Season 15)

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“The Robot Revolution” 

The Doctor returned for his second season on Disney +, which would correspond with his fifteenth season overall. This is the second season (as well as a bunch of specials) featuring Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor, and Varada Sethu as his brand new companion, Belinda Chandra. However, this companion is not quite the same as any of the others.

You see, Belinda Chandra wants to be taken home. After a whole mysterious adventure on a star/planet named after her (it is a strange occurrence), Belinda insists that The Doctor return her to May 25, 2025.

Problem is… the Doctor can’t seem to get the Tardis to arrive on that date. He said the Tardis is bouncing off that date, and we see things floating (including what looked like the Eiffel Tower) in the space where earth once existed.

Something big seemed to have happened. This is clearly leading to the overarching mystery of the season, once again focused around the companion.

I do love Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor. I know that there has been backlash against the character, but I find him remarkably compelling and fully interesting. I am very much looking forward to this new season of Doctor Who. It was great last season and I can only expect it to continue this year.

Daredevil: Born Again S1 E8

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“Isle of Joy”

I haven’t been this tense for a long time.

I was not sure where this show was heading after last week’s death of Muse, who seemed as if he was meant to be the big bad of the season.

Daredevil: Born Again then ratcheted up the suspense in the most beautiful and gut wrenching way.

Bullseye was back, and things start to be filled with anxiety. Matt was losing his temper and everything was building inside of him as unexpected mysteries began to be revealed. Mysteries dealing with why Foggy was killed.

It was not revenge. Ben Poindexter was not going after Foggy for vengeance. He was hired to take the lawyer out. But it was not Wilson Fisk. It was Vanessa.

Everything was coming out at Fisk’s Black and White Ball, amazingly enough, on the dance floor. And Poindexter, who had escaped from prison, was about to shoot Fisk… although I thought it might have been Vanessa in his sights. Matt throws himself in the path of the bullet saving Fisk. Didn’t see that coming.

I liked some of the focus on the secondary characters because there has not been enough of that this season. Especially this week was BB Urich.

We find out so much more about Vanessa. And she shot Adam dead in front of Wilson.

I just did not know what was going to happen on this episode and I was so pleased with how much suspense this show was. Just fabulous with this penultimate episode of the season.

Daredevil: Born Again S1 E7

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So the latest episode of Daredevil: Born Again dropped on Disney + and, for the first time during this series, I am of mixed minds on an episode.

There was a final confrontation between Daredevil and Muse. We confirmed what we all expected back when we saw the kid in the book signing for Heather Glenn, the kid who approached her and hoped to have her work him into her client list. That kid, Bastian, turned out to be Muse, and he was coming to Heather with terrible plans for her.

Matt discovered Muse’s connection to Heather and Daredevil rushed to her aid, arriving just in time. Daredevil and Muse engaged in a fight in Heather’s office, but before it went too far, Heather recovered the gun that Muse had brought with him and shot him multiple times, killing him.

While the confrontation was tense and suspenseful, and the fight was cool and brutal as always, the death of Muse felt like a missed opportunity. It seemed as if this death was rushed and that there was so much more that could have been mined out of that character that I can’t deny that I felt disappointed at the resolution.

Kingpin’s manipulations of the situation to make his Anti-Vigilante Task Force look better to the people of New York.

This did feel like it went too fast. This could have been spread out over several episodes and, while it was a great battle and anxious moments, it seemed as if it could have been more.

Daredevil: Born Again S1 E5, E6

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“With Intent”

“Excessive Force”

Two episodes released tonight on Disney +. A definite treat.

The first episode felt like it was such a separate episode, something that did not fit into the rest of the season. And it was great. A bank robbery is something we have seen before, but with Matt Murdock in the bank, the robbers are going to have a bad day.

Yusuf Khan is the assistant bank manager who just turned down Matt Murdock’s loan. Of course, he can not stop talking about his daughter Kamala. He even name dropped Ms. Marvel. It seems as if no Marvel super hero can get loans. Not just poor Sam Wilson.

I actually shivered when Matt, in the red mask, breaks the leg of the main bank robber. It was a painful blow.

I actually loved this episode even though there was no Daredevil. We got a lot of Matt Murdock using his powers in clever ways to save the day in a hugely subtle way.

The second episode really played the two sides of the same coin as both Matt and Wilson Fisk head back to the old days, Matt donning the Daredevil costume and Fisk beating poor Adam into oblivion.

We also get more with Muse. We learn about his victims and how his art is using the blood of his victims mixed with the paint. He faced off with Daredevil over the body of Hector’s niece, who was about to become Muse’s next victim.

Another cool cameo… Swordsman. Jacques “Jack” Duquesne himself makes an appearance to discuss items with Fisk at a fund raiser.

Two great episodes. I want more from Muse.

Daredevil: Born Again S1 E4

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“Sic Semper Systema”

We are getting closer and closer to Matt Murdock resuming his crusade as the Man Without Fear. After the death of White Tiger at the episode’s end last week, this week Matt is facing a lot of struggles.

Matt wants justice for Hector, and this leads him throughout the episode. He comforted Hector’s niece, who came wanting to see her uncle. Matt would not let her. Groundwork being set for the niece to assume the mantel of White Tiger, as she does in the comics.

Matt’s new case is a tough one. His client insists that he get probation, despite this being a multiple offense. Of course, it was just stealing caramel corn. These scenes between these two were quite powerful and, you could tell, spoke to Matt. Oh, and the client, who was on tape stealing the caramel corn, asked if it could have been Skrulls. LOL!

Matt went to see Frank Castle, aka Punisher, after he found a bullet with the skull on the casing. We all knew Frank had not been the one to shoot Hector, but Frank did not seem to anxious to come out of his bunker to help Matt out. The scene with these two was the best scenes of the show so far, and that is saying something considering how strong the acting has been so far.

We also saw Wilson Fisk struggling with his instincts. He does not seem to fit in the role of the mayor very well. Certainly Adam, the man who Vanessa had an affair with, would agree as Fisk has him locked up in a cage.

And… watching Fisk desperately trying to keep himself in control as this group of children sang to him (terribly, by the way) was funny, as was Fisk’s rapid departure after the first song.

Two-part episode next week. I have a feeling we’ll see the costume make its full return.

Plus….. there was Muse!

Daredevil: Born Again S1 E3

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“The Hollow of His Hand”

Holy crap.

My jaw is still agape after the dramatic end to Daredevil: Born Again episode 3.

The episode’s main drive is the Hector Ayala case and Matt’s desperate attempt to free him. Things were looking good for awhile since Matt had the witness in his custody, the man who the police were roughing up when Hector came across them. However, the witness proved to be a little weasel, and decided to change his story on the stand.

Hector was in a lot of trouble and Matt decided to put him on the stand. Matt dropped the bomb of all bombs… Hector Ayala was the White Tiger.

The judge and the D.A. were angry at Matt’s grandstand play, especially after Matt had argued that Ayala’s life as White Tiger should be kept out of the case.

Moving forward, the reveal of Ayala as White Tiger took the breath out of the case against him. It removed the motive for Hector to have attacked these police officers. Despite D.A. “Hawk” Hochberg’s talented closing, hector is found not guilty on all counts. It had to be that way. There was no reason why Hector would attack these cops just out of the blue and the jury knew that.

Wilson Fisk was not happy about this. He summoned BB Urich to talk to her about vigilante’s and the rule of law. Fisk indicated that he would need to step up with these vigilantes.

And then it happened.

As Hector dressed up in his White Tiger gear, and he went out and gets shot in the head. I have to say I was kind of expecting it. What I was not expecting was seeing the gunman walk away with a big skull on his chest.

Frank? That can’t be you, right?

Unbelievable moment that drove this episode. It appeared that Matt did not murder those cops in that apartment so that is a good thing, but they really do not bring it up much. The one cop only had a black eye. Sounds sure made it seem as if bones, like neck bones, were breaking.

Anyway, back to the Punisher. My guess is that this was one of the police officers who had the skull tattoos that shot Hector. I can’t believe that Frank Castle would kill Whiter Tiger.

Good episode with a major ending.

Daredevil: Born Again S1 E1, E2

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Daredevil is back.

The new MCU Disney + series debuted tonight with its first two episodes. I liked how the show feels like another season of the Netflix show while feeling like its own thing too.

The return of Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio brings their aura and talents in the roles of Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk. The power of these two actors absolutely drive this series so far. These characters are complex and three dimensional. They are the opposite sides of the same coin. The discussion between Murdock and Fisk in the diner is such an amazing scene.

I kind of suspected the shocking death that happened in episode one. I had heard some rumors and that minimized it a little bit. It was still tough to see and was an emotional moment.

Yes, there was not a lot of Daredevil in the two episodes, but it made sense as to why we do not see DD much. We get plenty of Matt Murdock though and it really works.

I am very excited to see where the series heads after the first two solid episodes. It was extremely creative and original. Bringing the idea of Mayor Fisk into the storyline is amazing and gives D’Onofrio something special to play.

We are introduced to White Tiger in these episodes, but out of costume at first. I have always enjoyed the character, but I do not have much knowledge of him. I liked how his story worked into the overall arc of the beginning of the series.

We have not seen Muse yet (although I do think we have).

Daredevil: Born Again is on Disney + released on Tuesdays.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man S1 E9, E10

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“Hero or Menace”

“If This Be My Destiny…”

The finale two episodes of the first season of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man are absolutely amazing!

In episode nine, we get a big showdown between Spidey and Scorpion, with Lonny smack dab in the middle. Lonny gets exposed to a gas that gives him super strength (and will eventually turn him into the Tombstone we know in the comics). Spidey and Lonny defeat Scorpion.

In episode ten, we have a big battle with Dr. Strange and the symbiote and we are shown that this battle is what would lead to the battle from the first episode at Peter’s school, and the spider that bit Peter was the spider that Norman had created with Spider-Man’s blood that they had collected. I loved that adjustment in the story. It made everything work for me.

The writing on this series has been excellent. It has developed more than just Peter Parker. I feel like they built the supporting characters around Peter so well, especially Lonny who could arguably be considered a co-lead character. They show us the beginning of several villains in the Spider-Man world, like Otto Octavius, Scorpion, Norman Osborn, Venom etc.

With Spider-Man’s actual suit debuting in episode nine, Spider-Man looked sensational. The animation of these episodes were so great with some amazing shots. I have not necessarily loved the animation prior, but this seemed to really be something special.

The voice acting did great all season long. Everything was excellent, especially Coleman Domingo, who was so epic. I would love to see Domingo play Norman Osborn in the MCU. The show has done a great job of slowly building Norman into who we expect he will become. And yet, it feels very justified.

I did not expect this series to be great because recent Spider-Man animation has been more directed toward very young children. This series was right up there with the best Spider-Man series and right there with X-Men ’97. I am happy that this series has a three season order so there are at least two more to go.

I love Spider-Man.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man S1 E6, E7, E8

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“Duel with the Devil”

“Scorpion Rising”

“Tangled Web”

The next three episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man dropped on Disney + today and, boy, they were epic. I really liked how the three episodes worked together a story seeing Spider-Man get his butt kicked a couple of different times.

Daredevil showed up… and voiced by Charlie Cox. Spidey and DD fought, with Daredevil showing the inexperienced Spider-Man what a real fighter was like.

Then the arrival of Scorpion led to Spidey getting beaten so bad that he was nearly killed.

Lonny kept his downward spiral towards Tombstone going as he imbedded himself into the 110 Street gang even more. Pearl discovered his involvement and things went poorly.

There were some great scenes with Nico and Harry as they begin to show some signs of a connection. The whole Nico drag racing scene was a lot of fun and teased the powers that Nico have.

Otto Octavius is arrested… by Iron Man? We get a hint at his future with the octopus arms working separately from Ock.

Having Norman Osborn do the “Great Responsibility” line and switch it around to make it “Great Responsibility – Great Respect” fits the character well. It is a really awesome, unexpected turn.

And we are just about to have the actual Spider-Man suit, as we got a giant tease at the very end of episode 8.

There are just two more episodes remaining in season one and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has been an excellent Spider-Man animated show. It is well written and blended together well.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man S1 E3, E4, E5

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“Secret Identity Crisis”

“Hitting the Big Time”

“The Unicorn Unleashed”

The second week of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man on Disney + saw the release of three new episodes. Three solid episodes again this week as we see several new interpretations of Spider-villains as well as the debut of one of the most iconic ones.

The dual story of Peter’s rise as Spider-Man and Lonnie Lincoln’s downward spiral to Tombstone is fascinating. They are spending a ton of time building the character of Tombstone to become, perhaps, the big bad of the series, long term.

But we also got our first look at Otto Octavius, pre-Octopus arms. It is revealed that Octavius is behind the weapons that have been showing up around New York.

We got a version of Speed Demon, Unicorn and who will eventually (I think) become Rhino.

Harry Osborn is brought into the “Team Spider-Man” by Norman. Norman said that he couldn’t always be available, but his son could. The Peter-Harry friendship is starting to develop, even though Harry seems to be becoming Peter’s Ned Leeds in this cartoon.

This is also interesting since the show is using the Iron Man/Captain America MCU storyline as a backdrop. I assume they will show up sooner or later.

My biggest problem I have in this show is the fact that everybody wears the same clothes every time. I know it is meant to identify these characters, but it is becoming very odd. I want Peter in something besides that yellow shirt and blue jacket.

I would say that the animation style is still a little distracting, but the storytelling has been top notch so far.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man S1 E1, E2

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“Amazing Fantasy”

“The Parker Luck”

There is no fictional character that means more to me than Peter Parker. I have spent my entire life loving Spider-Man. He has been an inspiration to me and my own core beliefs come from him. Every time I see a new Spider-Man project, I am both excited and a little nervous.

Nervous because there is always a chance that the project will be bad. I have gone through that a few times. And to be honest, seeing the initial images from Disney +’s new Spider-Man series, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, I was a little more nervous than usual.

However, after seeing the first two episodes of season one, my fears were alleviated. I loved these episodes. Even though the show did take some leeway with some things, YFNSM seemed to get the flavor, the tone of Spider-Man right.

One of the original issues I was afraid of was the animation style, but as the episode continued, it did not bother me at all. In fact, i think it worked very well with the character of Spider-Man.

I thought the show was funny and gave us a real good look at this Peter Parker, which is MCU-adjacent. While there are definitely connections to the MCU (Hey there, Left Hand Free), the differences are here too. It sure appears that Norman Osborn is going to be the Tony Stark figure in Peter’s life as the scene in Peter’s apartment with Aunt May was basically reenacted with Norman in Tony Stark’s place.

I love the balls this series is showing. I could tell immediately that there would be plenty of hatred on the internet because of certain “woke” items. I hate that term, by the way. When I first saw Harry in the first episode, I knew there would be some hate-spewers coming for this show. The gender swapping of Curt Connors will surely get some ignorant comments too. Fine. None of that bothered me.

Even the spider bite did not upset me. It certainly was different than any other version of Spider-Man, but that is not a bad thing. The spider was not from Oscorp in the original comics, yet the we’ve seen that happen in other Spider-Man versions.

The choice of Nico as Peter’s friend is intriguing. I have always enjoyed this character in the different comics. The football player is not Flash Thompson, but Lonnie Lincoln, who, by the way, we know from the comics as Tombstone. Amadeus Cho, a Shuri-like Wakandan also show up. The side cast is very eclectic. Great Dr. Strange cameo too.

Spider-Man has had some awesome animated series in the past with the 1990s Spider-Man and Spectacular Spider-Man, but it also had some shows that felt way too childish. I was concerned this would fall into that category like Ultimate Spider-Man. After the first two episodes, I feel as if those fears have been put to rest. It may not be in the same range as those first two I mentioned, but I think this has some real room to grow.

What If…? S3 E8

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“What If… What If?”

The final episode of What If…? dropped on Disney + and I would say that it was fine. It seemed as if it fit with the entire third season, which, to me, was fine. It was not great. It was not terrible. It was passing. Overall, probably somewhere around a C.

This started with the Watcher the prisoner of The Eminence and was going to have to face punishment for his breaking of the vow to never intervene with those he watched. They brought Peggy Carter in too, also captured. As we saw last episode, this is when Infinity Ultron arrived along with the Exiles (Storm, Byrdie, Kahhori) and broke out the Watcher and Peggy, leading to a huge superpower fight between the Eminence and the Exiles.

Sadly, this fight was a little dull. I’ve seen it before.

What I was hoping was going to happen was that The Eminence would put the Watcher on trial, and then they would bring in many witnesses from the three seasons to testify, leading to some drama and not just a big super hero fight. I remember in the comics when Reed Richards was put on trial in a galactic setting after he saved Galactus. That felt like something they could have used as a road map for this and really end What If…? on a theological high. Instead, we got the power bolts and such.

There were plenty of flashes of characters throughout Marvel during the episode, but they went so fast it was difficult to keep up with it. I need New Rockstars to do a break down video to show them all.

I loved the daily release schedule of What If…? the last two years. It gave me something to look forward to every day over the Christmas break. I hope they find another animated series to fill that bill in the future.

What If…? has been solid, if not spectacular. The seasons for me are ranked 2nd, 1st, 3rd.

Final Rankings for Season Three

E2 What If Agatha Went to Hollywood?

E7 What If the Watcher Disappeared?

E3 What If The Red Guardian stopped The Winter Soldier?

E8 What If… What If?

E6 What If 1872?

E5 What If the Emergence Destroyed the Earth?

E1 What If the Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers?

E4 What If Howard the Duck Got Hitched?