SPOILERS for FINALE

“Gods and Monsters“

Moon Knight came to a conclusion this morning with a fantastic finale episode that should have given those people complaining about a lack of Moon Knight or a lack of action just what they wanted.

For the record, I have not been complaining about this at all. I have thoroughly enjoyed following the life of Marc Specter, either as himself or his alter Steven Grant. I consider having Marc on screen the same thing as having Moon Knight on screen.

But there was plenty of Moon Knight (and Mr. Knight) in the finale as he took on Harrow in the streets of Cairo. Meanwhile, gigantic Ammit was fighting Khonshu outside the pyramids. The action was planned out well and then the blackout moment that we haven’t seen in a few episodes took me by surprise. Jake?

I’m jumping around, but the post credit scene with the official debut of Jake Lockley, still under control of Khonshu, arriving to kill off Harrow was an awesome moment. I had a sneaking suspicion that Jake would show up and be named in the post credit scene. I was not sure how that would be done, and I did not see the way they did it coming. It was great.

Leyla, the newly minted avatar of Taweret, is amazing. Her wings were stunning and looked so bad ass. I loved how they carried out her story. I was afraid that they would have her take the power of Moon Knight instead and I’m not sure how I would have felt about that. She has been a secondary character and the show has been about Marc and Steven. No one else should be finishing up a fight but them (or… I guess, Jake).

I thought the special effects were just spectacular, especially with the god fight. There was a shot of harrow walking with Khonshu and Ammit fighting behind him that was just exceptional. All three of the Egyptian deities that we got in this series (Khonshu, Ammit, Taweret) were brilliantly designed and the execution of the CGI was seamless.

I will say that this week’s finale was a bit of a step back from last week’s brilliant episode, but that is to be expected. Last week was one of the best episodes of TV that Marvel Studios have put together so far. The finale pacing did feel somewhat rushed. It would have been nice if the episode was closer to the hour mark than it was to the 40 minute mark. That would have given some of the emotional parts (such as an excellent scene with Marc and Steven in the sands) some time to breathe. I’m not sure why the finale turned out to be the shortest of the episodes, but that is what happened.

In fact, I think there was enough story here that they could have had 7 episodes instead of six. It is not a complaint that is going to ruin my love of this series, but it is more of a wish instead.

Here is my list of Marvel Studio Disney + series so far.

1. WandaVision. This continues to be my #1. A lot of emotion and so much fun. I could not wait for the next episode to arrive every week.
2. Loki. Very close to WandaVision. I loved the creativity and the craziness of Loki.
3. Moon Knight. Close to Loki, but just behind. Oscar Isaac is the MVP and probably the best actor of any Marvel series (with Elizabeth Olson right there too).
4. Hawkeye. Lots of fun and a great Christmas tone. Kingpin returned. Hailee Steinfeld and Florence Pugh were sensational both together and with anyone else who shared scenes.
5. Falcon and the Winter Soldier. This moved up a notch because of some of the emotional moments I recently revisited. It was messed with during COVID so I give it a bit of a break.
6. What If…?. This is a vital series for the upcoming Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The animation was astounding, but the fact that it is animation moves it back a tad.

We are about a month away from Ms. Marvel. We’ll see where that one falls.

SPOILERS For Moon Knight

“Asylum”

Wow.

Episode 5 of Moon Knight was off the charts. I have been singing the praises of the acting skill of Oscar Isaac all season long, but he took it to another level in this episode. Oscar Isaac is just spectacular, covering every possible emotion with this performance. If he does not receive an Emmy for this, there is something wrong with the system.

What makes it even more impressive is that Oscar Isaac has been doing a ton of acting by himself. When he is acting opposite Steven or Taweret or Khonshu, there is nothing actually there. Some of his work as both Marc and Steven is transitional.

I am not sure that Marvel Studios have ever done anything like this before. This is so dark and traumatic that is all centered in character. The tragic events that were shown from Marc’s childhood that led to the creation of Steven are some of the deeply disturbing images in the MCU. It was extremely heavy and dark. Amazing with a show that is featuring a giant talking hippo.

This episode took us on a journey of self-discovery for Steven that, quite possibly, could have been the best episode of Marvel television yet.

I have heard this referred to the Bing Bong moment. It was amazing how close it was.

There are plenty of people out there who will claim disappointment because of the lack of Moon Knight in this episode. I have heard this complaint of the series so far, and I could not disagree more. Marc Specter is Moon Knight and Marc (and Steven) have been on screen constantly. The amount of the costume is not what makes this a brilliant series.

Moon Knight is exceptional when dealing with the DID suffered by Marc Specter. Every step of the way with Marc and Steven felt accurate and truthful with how this disorder affects the person. I have also heard complaints about the lack of the third identity (aka Jake Lockley). Moon Knight has certainly teased the possibility of Jake, who is a known alter from the comic books. Personally, I believe that is how the series comes to a close, with cab driver Jake taking control of the body. But if that does not happen, I would not be disappointed. I trust Marvel to do what is best for their character.

The ending of the episode was difficult too. I mean, the episode was almost an hour long, but it felt like it flew by and when the screen went dark, I desperately wanted more. As the scale was finally balanced and Marc found himself in the Field of Reeds.

With just one more episode remaining, Moon Knight is right up with WandaVision and Loki as the best Marvel Studio’s Disney + series.

Spoilers for ep.4

“The Tomb”

Episode four of Moon Knight flipped the script big time and ended with one of the biggest WTF scene of anything in the MCU so far.

Of course, if you are a Moon Knight comic reader, you were not shocked at what happened this morning on Disney +, but, like I was, you were probably amazed that the show actually went there.

Steven and Leyla found their way into the hidden tomb and then all kinds of weird stuff started happening. There were some crazy-looking mummies making this eerie clicking sound, went after Steven and Leyla.

Leyla showed why Khonshu wanted her as his new avatar as she tossed the mummy down the giant pit after ripping off its arm and shoving a red flare in its face.

Steven found the lost tomb of Alexander the Great, who according to MCU lore, was the last avatar of Ammit and where the wooden statue of Ammit had been hidden (shoved down Alexander the Great’s mummified gullet. It was a real creepy scene where Steven had to reach down the mummy’s throat to retrieve it.

At this time, Harrow arrived with his henchmen and ended up shooting Marc directly in the chest twice. Marc fell backwards into water and sank into the light.

All the pre-shot stuff in the tomb was cool, giving off a very Indiana Jones/Mummy vibe, but none of that prepared us for what was next.

We see a movie playing that turns out to be “Tomb Buster” with a character called Dr. Steven Grant. It is clearly a cheap knockoff of those type of films.

When the camera pulls out, we find ourselves in a mental institution where we see all of the characters from the show up until this point, only looking very One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest-like. Marc is here too, in a wheelchair, clearly out of it. There is a game of BINGO going on with numbers that do not exist in BINGO games. Leyla is here too, but nothing like the mummy asskicker that we saw earlier.

Marc winds up talking to a psychiatrist, who happened to be Harrow. This led to Marc running from the office and finding a sarcophagus with Steven inside. Yes, there were two Oscar Isaacs.

They’re on their way through the mazes of hallways when they come across someone who I can honestly say, I never would have expected.

Taweret.

And Marc and Steven’s response was exactly what you would expect…

Taweret is the Egyptian Goddess of Fertility and Childbirth and she was the goddess that the statue on LOST was based.

It was great to see the hippo on Moon Knight. I loved LOST and the connection was awesome. I’m curious to see how this plays out on Moon Knight, or if even she was more than just a fantasy in the head of Marc Specter.

I love how this scene at the end of the episode puts into question everything we have seen up until this point and made it uncertain about what is real and what is imaginary. Much like the awesome Jeff Lemire run on Moon Knight comic book, this could be a real trip of a final two episodes.

I missed a bunch of stuff from this episode (including Marc telling Leyla about her father’s death, Khonshu’s statue being placed with the other trapped Egyptian deities, Steven kissing Leyla, the third sarcophagus, the Moon Knight action figure). This was a great episode that was so chocked full of goodness and epic moments that I can’t wait to find out how they are resolved.

SPOILERS FOR EP. 3

“The Friendly Type”

Moon Knight’s third episode continued to be some excellent television. I have loved this show very much so far. The biggest facet of the show that I have loved has been Oscar Isaac’s amazing performance as two distinct characters in one body. Playing both personalities, Marc Specter and Steven Grant, he has done stunning work, providing subtle but definite differences between the two characters.

However, in this episode, we get the hint that there may be a third personality hiding inside the head of Oscar Isaac’s character. And that is awesome news. Is it Jake Lockley or some other version? I assume we’ll learn that soon. We are half way through the season now.

Marc Specter was in control of the body much of this episode, with Steven appearing in the reflective surfaces around Egypt. We got more action here, but some of the best action beats continue to be when the personalities are switching. When that happened to Marc early in the episode, it gave us the idea that a third personality had arrived.

Layla found her role elevated this week, including the cold open with her “mother” making her a fake passport. That scene reminded us that Layla’s father was an archeologist and he had been killed in the sand years before. Clearly that is a story bit that is going to pay off down the road.

We had a meeting of the Gods, through their avatars that looked to judge Harrow, but, instead, seemed to place judgment on Marc and Khonshu.

This episode was really packed with material. So much so that it might have been nice to have this episode increased to two instead of one. The whole Egyptian God’s Court scene could have been extended to easily a half hour or more. Understand, it was a great episode, but I would have liked more specifics than what they gave us. Oscar Isaac, who was acting as if Khonshu was speaking through him, and Ethan Hawk’s Harrow were tremendous together once again.

Khonshu and Steven helped turn the night sky back in order to use a map they found on a sarcophagus as a way to find Ammit’s tomb. It was an incredible display of power, as well as some of the best visuals of the series.

This was the episode that featured the actor Gaspard Ulliel, who passed away in January of this year in a skiing accident. Ulliel played Anton Mogart, a wealthy collector who owned a specific sarcophagus that Marc had been directed toward. In the comics, Mogart is known as the Midnight Man. In the episode, Mogart was wounded as he was on horseback riding into the fog. Did the character die? Who knows. Marvel Studios dedicated the episode to Gaspard Ulliel. RIP.

SPOILERS for Episode 2 of Moon Knight

“Summon the Suit”

The second episode of Disney +’s new Marvel series Moon Knight aired last night and it was fantastic, every bit as great as the first week’s debut episode.

Oscar Isaac is killing it as Steven Grant/Marc Spector, the Moon Knight. His acting has been unbelievable, especially when his two DID characters are arguing with each other in mirrors or any other reflective surfaces. Oscar Isaac has been totally masterful. I have never seen an actor who has so much chemistry with himself as Oscar Isaac has shown.

Ethan Hawke is a sensation as the main protagonist, Arthur Harrow. We got more depth of Harrow’s cult and what he wants that mysterious scarab for. One could certain see why people might be attracted to him. It is great that Harrow believes what he is doing is the right thing.

Khonshu appears quite a bit in this episode and continues to look spectacular. The character design is creepy and frightening and works so great.

Marc Spector’s wife (yes, wife) Layla arrived in this episode. We had heard her on the phone last week, but now she showed up and finds out about Steven. Their relationship is interesting and I am looking forward to seeing more of her. Marc has certainly been trying to distance himself from her- most likely as a way to protect her from the dangers he is facing…and from Khonsu.

Mr. Knight appears as the suit that Steven summons to save himself from falling. The suit is a wonderful design and look exactly as it does in the comics. Yes, Mr. Knight, the character, is quite different in this series than the Warren Ellis comic run where we first meet this version of Mr. Knight.

The episode concludes with Marc back in control and in Egypt. I’m guessing that episode three will dive into the origin of how Marc Spector/Steven Grant became the avatar of the Egyptian God of the Moon.

While there are some hidden Easter Eggs that tie Moon Knight to the MCU, they are hidden well and it feels as if the show has never made an allusion to the MCU yet, and that is awesome. It allows them to create their own part of the world. Eventually they will obviously tie it to the universe, but how cool would it be if that did not happen until a post credit scene of episode 6?

After two weeks, Moon Knight has become a must see. A show that I base the week around. Next Wednesday can’t get here soon enough.

SPOILERS for MOON KNIGHT EPISODE 1

“The Goldfish Problem”

Oscar Isaac has entered the MCU with his portrayal of Moon Knight, one of the myriad of characters from Marvel that just a few years ago, seemed to never have his own TV show. Yet here he is, with a huge name star playing him.

We are introduced to Steven Grant (That is Steven with a V) and it is clear that he has been having sleep problems. Little did he know how many problems Steven was going to have.

Steven worked at a museum in London, with an Egyptian exhibit. Steven knew a lot about the Egyptian mythology, but it could not get him any further than the storage room. Steven was a sad, bumbling man who seemed very disoriented. There were moments when he was unsure about things that have happened.

When Steven awakes, face down in a field of grass with a dislocated jaw, he is even more confused. Then, people started shooting at him, chasing him over a gold scarab.

Steven winds up in a group of people who were watching judgment being laid out by Arthur Harrow, a cult-like leader who crushes up glass and puts it into his sandals to walk on in the morning. Harrow had a tattoo on his arm that moved when he was judging a person, not only what the person had done, but what they may do in the future.

Harrow is the avatar of Egyptian deity, Ammit. Harrow pursued Steven back to his museum and unleased a jackal to attack him.

We learn that Steven has D.I.D. (Dissociative identity disorder) and that one of the personalities is a mercenary named Marc Specter, who is a clear bad ass and who jumps back into control of the body when Steven found himself in several major problems.

The DID was shown in serious light. You could see how scared Steven was, how confused he was as the strange things continued to happen to him and he could not explain it.

Oscar Isaac is a sensation actor and he shows it with every scene, not just the over-the-top spots. There was a quiet moment where he had lost time and thought it was Friday night, instead of Sunday. He was supposed to meet a woman at a steak house for a date (a date he did not remember making, by the way) on Friday and he waited for the woman to show up on Sunday, thinking it was Friday. This is an impressive performance in this small point.

Ethan Hawke is sinister too. I can’t wait to see more from him as the season progresses.

The visuals of this show are amazing. There are a lot of practical effects for the show, with a limited amount of CGI/green screen. From that, the show looks wonderful. It is extremely cinematic and some of the shots are exceptional. There are some frightening moments in the show, most dealing with Khonsu, the Egyptian deity that speaks in Steven’s head. Voiced by F. Murray Abraham, Khonsu is incredibly designed and looks just stunning.

The Moon Knight costume, which we do not see until the very end of the episode, is beautiful. It works so well with its practical design. An all white outfit should not work outside of the comic book page, but this costume design is spectacular. The wrapping cloth around Moon Knight is a great visual and brings up an amazing image.

There was so much character development in the first episode, and it did not lack excitement. The car chase scene through the winding mountain was expertly shot and carried out perfectly. Directed by Mohamed Diab, you can see how talented he is with the camera and the visual picture of each scene.

The use of mirrors in the episode is a great way to show the contradiction between the identities. The confrontation between Steven and Marc in the bathroom at the end of the episode was thrilling and led to our reveal of the titular hero. Another key to the episode is that everything was shown through the POV of Steven Grant. Every time Marc would take over, we would see Steven’s eyes go white and the scene would jump ahead to when Steven retook the body. It was very effective and helped to build the character of Steven.

The mystery of the show and what is going on is going to keep the audience guessing and Moon Knight feels like something different in the MCU. It is fascinating that there was no mentions of the greater MCU that usually happens in these shows. It builds a new section of the MCU and I look forward to learning more.

SPOILERS FOR HAWKEYE EP. 6

“So This is Christmas?”

The Hawkeye finale had a lot of actions and the wrap of storylines (maybe too many), but it left me with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach because of one major moment… after a confrontation with Kate Bishop and being hit with a car driven by Eleanor, Kingpin ran into someone with a grudge.

Maya.

The show made it appear as though Maya, aka Echo, killed Kingpin by shooting him in the head. We did not see the actual shot, but we heard it off screen. Still, it made me unhappy that after so long waiting to see Vincent D’Onofrio reprise his role only to kill him off after the first episode.

The I saw this on Twitter. It was from the comic books.

This made me feel a lot better. I expect that Kingpin survived the attack and will be the main antagonist in the upcoming Echo series on Disney +.

So with that out of the way, I can look back over the rest of Hawkeye episode 6 with more open heart and less bitterness over the possible death of Kingpin.

There were a lot of great scenes in this episode, many of which included Florence Pugh as Yelena. Her initial reactions with Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop in the elevator and through the Christmas Eve party was great. Honestly, I would go for a whole series of Kate and Yelena together. The dialogue is crisp and the action is well designed.

But even more emotional was Yelena’s showdown with Clint on the ice outside 30 Rock. Yelena had every intention of killing him, but she wanted to know about her sister Natasha more. This was a powerful scene and fit beautifully with these two tremendous actors. Clint doing the whistle brought Yelena back to reality, finally accepting that what Clint was telling her about Natasha’s final moments was true.

We got a chance to see the new costumes and to see our LARPers in action as Clint and Kate’s “army.” This was a little iffy for me, but it worked in the long run. Gotta love Grills.

One of the issues I believe is the difference in directors. Episode six was directed by Rhys Thomas, who also directed episodes 1 & 2. Episodes 3-5, which are considered the best of the series by most critics and commenters, were directed by Bert and Bertie. I wonder how the series would have felt had Bert and Bertie directed episode 6 as well?

Then, thankfully, Clint was able to get back to his family for Christmas as he promised, with Kate and Lucky the Pizza Dog in tow. I could not have handled a tragic end for Clint Barton after these six episodes so I am thrilled that he made it home. Plus, he had a certain gold watch with him that he gave to his wife Laura. On the back of the gold watch, we see a symbol of SHIELD, confirming that Laura was, at one time, an agent of SHIELD. Was she Mockingbird? Maybe.

This episode ended with a post credit scene, the only episode of the series to do so. After wishing everyone a Happy Holidays from Marvel Studios …

The show gave us a full Broadway number from Rogers: The Musical. We got the full song of “I Can Do This All Day”!

This was a ton of fun and really put a nice button on the series.

Some other plot points wrapped up:

• Eleanor killed Armond.
• Jack was innocent and had been framed by Eleanor. Jack had a chance to show his sword skills helping Kate at the party.
• Maya killed Kazi in an emotional struggle.
• Eleanor was arrested for the murder of Armond but she did show that she loved Kate more than her partnership with Wilson Fisk.
• More trick arrows including another Pym tech one that led to a problem for the Track Suit Mafia.

• Eleanor using information to try and blackmail Kingpin shows that she has some balls.
• Clint called Kate his partner.
• Kingpin wore his Family Business outfit from the Marvel Comics.

Hawkeye has been a great season. My current Marvel Studios’ Disney + series ranking are as follows:

1. WandaVision
2. (very close) Loki
3. Hawkeye
4. What If…?
5. Falcon & Winter Soldier

They’ve all be excellent though. Not sure what is next…maybe Moon Knight? She-Hulk? Ms. Marvel. I’m sure it will continue the excellence the 2021 shows have begun.

SPOILERS FOR HAWKEYE EPISODE 5

“Ronin”

It has happened.

After weeks of speculation and trepidation, Marvel Studios brought the first character from the Netflix Marvel shows into the MCU, and it was one of the characters/actors that everyone wanted.

Yes, Vincent D’Onofrio is now a member of the MCU playing the one and only Kingpin. Wilson Fisk appeared in a photo, a blurry and out of focus cell phone picture on Kate Bishop’s phone.

Technically, I suppose that could be any actor, but Vincent D’Onofrio’s name was in the end credits so it is 100% confirmed. One of the greatest villain performances of all Marvel projects is D’Onofrio’s Kingpin, and now he is in the MCU.

This was, of course, the conclusion of the episode, but the show had so much more to it than just a Kingpin cameo. We had a flashback to 2018 as Yelena was out trying to free another former Black Widow agent when we saw her get dusted during the Blip. However, we saw the event from Yelena’s perspective and it looked as if she was only gone for a matter of seconds, but it turned into 5 years. When she came back and realized that she had been gone for 5 years, her first thought was of Natasha, and that was heartbreaking considering that she had no idea about Natasha’s sacrifice.

Then in present day, we get a fantastic conversation between Yelena and Kate Bishop. Florence Pugh and Hailee Steinfeld showed just how much charisma and chemistry they had. The discussion between them was as compelling as any action scene that the show gave us. These two women are incredible performers and will be vitally important to the MCU over the years.

Clint, meanwhile, got himself back into the Ronin costume for a confrontation with Echo. During this fight, Clint revealed himself as Ronin to Maya and then told her that her “boss” had an informant send info to Ronin about her father. He told her that the boss wanted her father dead. I have a feeling that we just saw the set up for the Echo Marvel Studios series that is in the works.

We also got to see a cool thing with a monument in NYC honoring the Avenger members for their efforts of the Battle of New York. Clint came here to talk with Natasha.

It is just another example of Marvel’s expert world building. Yelena also mentioned the “improved Statue of Liberty” which was an allusion to Spider-Man: No Way Home, which I will be seeing tomorrow night.

Next week, the Hawkeye series comes to a conclusion and they seem to have a lot of area to cover before it is over. Just looking at a possible list of things that they may need to cover includes:

• Kingpin’s plans
• Who killed Armond?
• What is up with that watch from Avengers Compound? How does it tie with Laura Barton?
• Hawkeye and Yelena’s problems
• Echo and “Uncle”
• Is Elenore the real power? Did she frame Jack or is that part of their plan?
• Name the Pizza Dog!
• Will Clint make it home for Christmas?

Hawkeye has been a great series so far and I am excited to see the finale next week.

SPOILERS FOR HAWKEYE EPISODE 4

“Partners, Am I Right?”

Marvel Studios Hawkeye has become an awesome series, improving every week. Episode three was such a great episode, could episode 4 match up?

While there were fewer action scenes this week, the character moments were all the more impactful. There was a sweet moment between Kate, her mom and Jack. We saw Eleanor and Jack dance and Jack had a funny quirk of screwing up phrases such as “Absence makes the heart grow older.” It was enduring and made you wonder perhaps they aren’t as bad as you think…

Okay, maybe not. But there were some cool character moments with them anyway. I also believe very much that the show is setting up Jack to look like one of the people in charge of the Track Suit Mafia when I believe the real power is Eleanor. I love Vera Farmiga and anything that gives her more to do, well, I am all for it.

There was a great set of character beats between Clint and Kate when Kate came over with films and ugly sweaters for some Christmas cheer. Kate knew Clint would be missing his children so she came to cheer him up. This led to the discussion about Ronin and Kate guessing that Clint was actually Ronin. Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld are such exquisite actors that even the minimalist scene is powerful. Renner’s facial reactions are beautiful, revealing Clint’s guilt over his past as Ronin, the pain of losing Natasha, and the loneliness of not being with his family on Christmas. All the while, slowly building confidence in Kate as a partner, though he is not willing to call her that. The subtlety of the scenes in the apartment shows off such great direction and some superb writing.

And when the action arrives, the action is so kick ass. The action sequences in the last couple of episodes have been exceptional and the rooftop fight with Maya, Clint, Kate and the mysterious masked figure was just brilliantly executed. Of course, we knew who that masked figure was. Anyone who saw the post credit scene of Black Widow earlier this year knew that Yelena Belova, Natasha Romanoff’s “sister”, was on her way and she had some unfinished business with Hawkeye.

Florence Pugh is one of the brightest new stars of the MCU and, with a potential pairing with Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop, the MCU has two amazingly talented actors to carry the franchise into the future.

Last week’s biggest shock was the appearance of “Uncle” in Maya’s flashback and the speculation that this was Vincent D’Onofrio reprising his role as Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin. We did not get any confirmation of this in episode 4, although there was another mention of “The Big Man” at the top, which was an obvious inference to Kingpin. If this turns out to not be Kingpin, this would make the absence of Mephisto in WandaVision seem like nothing. With Kevin Feige confirming that if Daredevil appears in the MCU, he will be played by Charlie Cox, it is simply a matter of time before Kingpin shows his bald head. With episode 5 scheduled to come out the day before Spider-Man: No Way Home is released (and Charlie Cox rumored to be playing Matt Murdock there) I would not be surprised if Vincent D’Onofrio is coming next week.

This show continues to showcase the exceptional interplay with Clint and Kate. Of course, now Clint is trying to distance himself form Kate as a way of protecting her because he knows that the arrival of the Black Widow Assassin changed the game. It is unclear whether or not Clint knew who Yelena was, but that confrontation is coming soon because there are only two episodes left.

SPOILERS FOR HAWKEYE EPISODE 3

“Echoes“

Episode three of Hawkeye took a huge step forward, taking the fun energy from episodes 1 & 2, and tossing some action and feels into the show.

Plus a major Easter egg… who is Uncle?

Little Maya, who would grow up to be Echo, is shown in flashbacks at some martial arts training when her father told her that Uncle would take her home. And then we saw him. A large man in a black suit, carefully out of frame, came up to Maya and touched her face kindly. There was a small laugh from the man too. And the world all came to the same immediate conclusion… Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin.

Could this be Vincent D’Onofrio from the Netflix Daredevil series? It sure looked like him and the show hinted HEAVILY at that in several other moments, but it did not matter. KINGPIN CONFIRMED!!!!

It was obviously Kingpin in the scene. I won’t hear any other theories, dang it. It is not like Marvel has trolled us before (ahem… Ralph Boehner…. Mephisto…. a jet ski).

These flashbacks did an amazing job of connecting us to Echo in just a few minutes. We all could relate to her and felt for her. When her father died from the Ronin attack, the plot showed us the motive for what Echo is doing.

The action ramped up to eleven too. The car chase scene that they showed in a preview fell into this episode and it was tremendous. It was shot beautifully, with such an amount of creativity. The chase scene was right out of the Matt Fraction run on Hawkeye, with a few adjustments.

Near the end of the scene we get one of the most awesome use of arrows and technology. Clint Barton fired a Pym arrow at another arrows that Kate has shot and made it a gigantic arrow, which crushed the Tack Suit Mafia’s car. This rocked so hard.

By the way, I love the Track Suit Mafia. They are hilarious, Bro. Trust a Bro.

The episode ended way too early. It just flew by and ended with Ronin’s sword in Jack’s hand at Clint’s throat. It is a great cliffhanger and I can’t wait for next week.

The action was astounding, but the quiet moments were so full of emotion. When Clint received the phone call from his son Daniel during the time when his hearing aid was broken, and Kate had to write down what Daniel was saying was really powerful. Especially when Clint says to his son that he loved hearing his voice when that was the last thing he could do. That scene was so emotional and caring and you got to see daddy Clint and the pain of not being with his family was palatable. Then, the diner scene where Clint told Kate how the hero’s life required sacrifice and included pain and Kate just thought Clint needed a new costume.

Three more episodes to go. Hawkeye has been a wonderful series so far. And we have not had any sign of Yelena Belova yet. These performances are fantastic and impactful…even the little roles. There is nothing wasted.

And Bro… that was Kingpin!

SPOILERS FOR MARVEL STUDIOS’ NEW SHOW, HAWKEYE

“Never Meet Your Heroes“

and

“Hide and Seek“

Bro.

Marvel Studios has returned with their next Disney + series, this time featuring Clint Barton, Hawkeye. However, it is not just about Hawkeye, but it also serves as the introduction to Kate Bishop, the young girl who adopts the name Hawkeye in the comics.

This series has inspirations from the Matt Fraction run on Hawkeye from 2012 in Marvel Comics. As with all MCU content, it takes the material from the comic books and shifts it to what they are trying to accomplish with their movies/shows. This is clearly happening here. Many of the things that happened to Clint Barton in the comics are happening to Kate Bishop in the show.

Kate Bishop is played by Hailee Steinfeld and this is a perfect casting. From scene number one, Steinfeld personifies Kate Bishop beautifully and makes the character her own. There is a surprisingly large amount of time spent with Kate Bishop in the first two episodes, which I think works very well considering that we are still learning who she is in the MCU. Hailee Steinfeld is a star and her chemistry with Jeremy Renner is apparent.

Some general thoughts…

I love Vera Farmiga. She is great in everything that she does and casting her as Kate Bishop’s mother is a stroke of genius. Them pairing her up with Jack Duquesne, as played by Tony Dalton is awesome too. Jack Duquesne is the name of a Marvel character named the Swordsman and we see a few hints about that as well.

I loved the prologue which shows young Kate Bishop eavesdropping on her father and mother fighting. Kate claimed that nothing would fall out of the sky, which is an ironic statement considering this flashback was set in 2012 and that it was the day of the Chitauri’s assault on New York. Seeing the events of the day through the perspective of the child brings more of a impact of the moment.

Bro. The Tracksuit Mafia. Bro.

I love how Clint just hung around at the end of episode two waiting for the Tracksuit Mafia to come and “kidnap” him. He called it “catch and release” and it reminded me of the scene with Scarlett Johansson in the 2012 Avengers. His calmness in the face of this situation gives you the idea of what a badass Clint Barton was.

Then there was Lucky the Pizza Dog.

At the very end of episode two, we get our first glimpse at Echo, who seemed to be the force behind the Tracksuit Mafia. Echo is a more recent character in Marvel Comics and she already has a spin off series on Disney + planned so she will certainly be a big deal moving forward. I’m not sure if she is truly the one behind the Tracksuit Mafia. When they blew into the black market auction, they were after a specific item: a watch that was recovered from the wreckage of Avengers Headquarters. What connection that has to anything is yet to be determined.

I would be remiss if I did not mention Rogers: The Musical! The slight glimpse we got at the stage show (before Clint and his family snuck out) was cool. We heard part of the song “I can do this all day” with a group of dancing and singing Avengers. It was not just a joke either as it seemed to trigger the painful memories of losing Natasha for Clint as well as other troublesome memories.

I did enjoy the moments we got with Clint and his kids. I am also happy that some of the speculation as to why Clint’s wife, Laura (played by Linda Cardellini), was not in the trailer did not come to fruition. There was speculation that they had separated or were at odds. Thankfully, that is not the case and Clint was just getting time alone with the kids in NYC. The whole Christmas feel of this series is great and the theme of family is explored.

Hawkeye at the LARPing event is one of the best scenes in the show. It introduced the character of Grills to the show as well. And…

“I fought Thanos.” LOL

The first two episodes have been very grounded and street level, which is something that the MCU could use at this point with all the multiversal action happening now. Clint Barton gets a chance to shine, which is something he has not had much time to do up until this point. I am excited to see the rest of the show.

SPOILERS FOR THE SEASON FINALE OF WHAT IF…? EPISODE 9

“What If… The Watcher Broke his Oath?”

The finale for season one What If…? was just fantastic.

Little had we known that the whole season was building toward an epic battle where a bunch of the main characters from the preceding episodes are brought together as the Guardians of the Multiverse.

The recruitment of the characters started off the show as the Watcher bounced around to select the team members. Star-Lord T’Challa, Captain Carter (who was in a Captain America: Winter Soldier style fight with Batroc the Leaper at the time), Wakandan leader Killmonger, Party Thor, Strange Supreme, and the Champion of Sakaar and Destroyer of Thanos, Gamora.

Wait… what?

This is obviously the original tenth episode that was on the schedule and wound up, supposedly, moved to the second season. It was blamed on COVID-19, but who really knows. No matter what, Gamora was still involved here. Even more… Iron Man was here and did not die! Huzzah! Of course, he was also not invited along.

The Guardians of the Multiverse met at a interdimensional bar where they worked on plans and ate Chinese food. We got some initial group dynamic at this point of the story.

When Ultron found the Guardians, they started to battle and it was just glorious. The action was expertly choreographed and beautifully animated.

When they wound up on the earth from last episode, they run into Black Widow and the action took another step up. Including this little effort….

I loved everything about this action. From the multiple Mjolnirs to the use of zombies including zombie Wanda Maximoff and dueling shields off Ultron’s head, there was a ton of creativity and wonderfully laid out. We get the pay off to the Arnim Zola virus from last episode and a betrayal by Killmonger, looking for the infinity stones himself.

The end was savage by Strange Supreme and The Watcher.

The Watcher dropping off Black Widow, who did not want to go back to her dead world, on the earth where the OG Avengers had been murdered by Hank Pym was just such an emotionally satisfying moment for the character of Black Widow that it was really lovely.

Post credit scene too indicated a potential happy ending for Peggy Carter with the discovery of the Hydra Stomper on the boat where Captain carter was fighting Batroc. Was this meant to echo the end of Endgane or Winter Soldier?

Here is the season’s final list of favorites.

1. What If… The Watcher Broke His Oath?”

2. What If… Doctor Strange Lost his Heart instead of his Hands?

3. What If… T’Challa became a Star-Lord?

4. What If… Ultron Won?

5. What If…Zombies?

6. What If… Thor was an Only Child?

7. What If… Captain Carter were the First Avenger?

8. What If… The World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes

9. What If… Killmonger Had Rescued Tony Stark?

What If…? has been a great show. It was very unexpected because we all thought it was an anthology series with episodes ending in cliffhangers that MAY be revisited in future seasons. Nope. Wrong. This was a interconnected story with several stories introducing the characters that would be appearing together in the finale. The last three episodes started to bring Ultron into focus as the series’ Big Bad and redefined how we looked at What If…? The artistry of the animation was special every episode. For the first true animated series from Marvel Studios was a rousing success. I look forward to season two.

Coming next in November is Hawkeye.

SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 8 OF WHAT IF…?

“What If… Ultron had Won?”

An anthology series it is no longer.

What If…? which has apparently been giving us stand alone episodes for the last seven weeks, all of the episodes being left off on a cliffhanger. Many people speculated that these stories would be picked up again with part twos in season two, but now it looks as if the episodes that have come prior are building up to a finale where they all come together to face the ultimate villain, Ultron, with the Infinity Stones.

One of the most important things we learned this episode was that Black Widow loved Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Hawkeye makes a Raiders joke here and it was really funny. Hawkeye and Black Widow were a major part of this episode as they seem to be the surviving Avengers on a planet where Ultron has launched the nuclear missiles crashing the earth into an apocalyptic world.

Plus, there was one of those epically beautiful pieces of art as Hawkeye lunged himself into the pile of Ultron bots to shoot them with an explosive arrow and sacrifice himself so Black Widow and Arnim Zola could escape. Hawkeye had said he was tired of fighting, part because his family must have been killed in the nuclear attack.

So beautiful. It was reminiscent of the Valkyries fighting Hela in Asgard in Thor: Ragnarok and Captain America standing as the last man standing against Thanos and his army, just prior to the return of all the heroes.

Of course, before this, the Watcher, who is becoming more and more desperate, is watching Black Widow and Hawkeye are searching for the way to solve the Ultron problem. It was awesome how panicky Watcher has become as he was truly worried about Ultron. He had no idea what was coming to him. The Ultron vs. Watcher fight was an epic one. It showed how powerful Watcher is, but also it showed how unbelievably dangerous Ultron had become.

Of course, this is all Uatu’s fault. After Ultron destroyed his universe and had created “peace,” The Watcher was talking about Ultron and his devastation when the robot heard him. Not since Supreme Strange in episode 4 had anyone heard the Watcher doing his narration, but Ultron does. And the show does this amazing job of revealing that Ultron could hear him.

One of the most controversial moments of the episode that most likely caused the fan boys to flip out. Thanos, with five infinity stones, arrived on earth and was promptly sliced in half with Ultron’s mind stone. It took all of two seconds and was probably easier than it should have been. It did go out of the way to show how powerful this version of Ultron, fused into the body of Vision as he wanted to do in Age of Ultron, was. I am sure that this was done to expediate the story of Ultron getting the Infinity Stoners, but it did kind of do Thanos dirty.

By the way… how many times has Tony Stark been killed in What If…? this season? Episode 3, Episode 5, Episode 6, and now in Episode 8.

Back to the way the article began, What If…? is no longer an anthology series. We know that because The Watcher, after escaping from the grasp of Ultron, showed up inside the crystal prison where the sinister Strange Supreme has been existing since episode four, and Watcher asked Strange for his help. Looks like the Avengers of the Multiverse truly will be coming next week in the finale.

This was a wonderful penultimate episode for this season that I really enjoyed. Here is where it falls in the list of episodes for season one:

1A. What If… Doctor Strange Lost his Heart instead of his Hands?

1B. What If… T’Challa became a Star-Lord?

3. What If… Ultron had Won?

4. What If…Zombies?

5. What If… Thor was an Only Child?

6. What If… Captain Carter were the First Avenger?

7. What If… The World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?

8. What If… Killmonger Had Rescued Tony Stark?

Spoilers for the 7th episode of What If…?

“What If… Thor was an Only Child?”

The seventh episode of Marvel’s What If…? on Disney + took a twist this week after four straight episodes of darkness and tragic endings. We had the Avengers murdered by Hank Pym, a universe destroyed because Dr. Strange lost his love, Zombies, and then Killmonger killing Stark, Rhodey and Black Panther. Each of the last four weeks end with what could be apocalyptic events.

Bucking that trend, this weeks episode was a ton of fun and had a party atmosphere. It was like those high school/college party movies where the party members made a gigantic mess and had to clean things up before the parents return home, except this was Frigga, the mother of Thor.

Thor is the ultimate party god, taking his friends around to different planets in the universe to have a huge blow out, leaving the planets in shambles behind them.

There are a ton of cameos and Easter eggs in this week’s show. There are the Guardians of the Galaxy, Yondu, Skrulls, Howard the Duck, all of the Asgardians, The Grandmaster, Korg, members of the Sovereign, Skurge, Valkyrie, Miek, Surtur, and Loki as a Frost Giant.

The episode also featured one of the best super hero slugfests you are going to see as Thor and Captain Marvel participated in the slobberknockers of slobberknockers. It literally spanned the globe (with some really funny visual gags of the country’s names listed on the ground). Thor vs. Captain Marvel is worth the episode alone.

Even though this was a fun and lighter episode than what we have been used to over the run of the series, this still had an ending that may lead to darkness. The tag at the end saw Thor standing as a group of Ultron robots appear out of a portal, with one Ultron leading the way. This Ultron had the Infinity stones and had the face of Vision. It even caught the Watcher off guard as he had just told us that this was going to lead to a happy ending. Yeah, right. We knew better than that.

Only two more episodes remain and it is looking as if some of the characters that have appeared in episodes of the series may be coming back together for the finale. Not sure how that is going to happen, but, like Uatu, I’ll be watching.

Updated list of favorite episode.

1A. What If… Doctor Strange Lost his Heart instead of his Hands?

1B. What If… T’Challa became a Star-Lord?

3. What If…Zombies?

4. What If… Thor was an Only Child?

5. What If… Captain Carter were the First Avenger?

6. What If… The World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?

7. What If… Killmonger Had Rescued Tony Stark?

Spoilers for What If…? Episode 6

“What If…Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?”

I have to say, it was tough watching Black Panther, voiced by Chadwick Boseman, die in this episode. He wasn’t here long, but I was surprised how much watching the animated version of him die would affect me.

This week’s What If…? is a take on the character of Killmonger, voiced by Michael B. Jordan. Killmonger is considered one of the MCU’s most complicated and developed villains. His one appearance in the Black Panther movie set him up as one of the classics. Here, Killmonger takes a different path. He saves Tony Stark from being kidnapped and ending up in a cave in Afghanistan. Because of that, we no longer had an Iron Man.

However, it did not mean that Killmonger was now a heroic figure. In fact, the son of the Prince N’Jobu was as brutal as he was in Black Panther. Here he wound up killing T’Challa, Rhodey, and, eventually, Tony Stark, all in a plan to find himself in Wakanda in a position of power. He still had the intention of spreading the power of Wakanda across the planet, freeing the oppressed brothers, it just took a different path.

All of the episodes of What If…? have left off on a cliffhanger, a place where they could continue the story, if they so choose, but none of the other five episodes felt as incomplete as this one did. While the other episodes had potential cliffhangers, they also served as episodes that could stand on their own without taking it any further. This episode felt a bit empty with where it left off. I wanted more.

There is still some beautiful animation in this episode with some wonderful imagery. It is something that What If…? is becoming known for. Yet this episode felt as if it were missing something. Maybe it was the fact that it had the most non-MCU returning actors doing voices (no Tony Stark, no Obidiah Stane, no Pepper Pots, no Shuri) of any episode so far. The Tony Stark voice, done by Mick Wingert, was solid, but the others distracted me.

Episode rank so far…

1A. What If… Doctor Strange Lost his Heart instead of his Hands?

1B. What If… T’Challa became a Star-Lord?

3. What If…Zombies?

4. What If… Captain Carter were the First Avenger?

5. What If… The World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?

6. What If… Killmonger Had Rescued Tony Stark?

Three more episodes to go.