TV #39 of 2021: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, season 1 One sad truth about franchises with heavy degrees of serialization is that it becomes harder to judge discrete installments on their own terms — and that they can be ruthlessly undercut by the weaker elements they inherit. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, …
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Book #90 of 2021: True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee by Abraham Riesman Drawing on years of archive research and interviews with Stan Lee’s closest associates, this new biography is probably the definitive account of the Marvel Comics editor-turned-Hollywood cameo superstar. It also complicates if not contradicts a lot of our established …
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TV #31 of 2020: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., season 7 The plot logistics go somewhat off the rails by the end, but overall, this is a fun and confident sendoff to the unlikely durable Marvel property. Time travel allows the season to play in a lighter key than usual, more akin to DC’s Legends of …
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Book #4 of 2020: Loki: Where Mischief Lies by Mackenzi Lee A fun YA take on Marvel’s Norse-inspired Loki figure, informed by but not especially beholden to his characterization in previous stories. I didn’t spot anything in this novel that’s out of line with the established canon of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even though it …
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TV #35 of 2019: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., season 6 With its future still uncertain at the time, the previous season of Marvel’s sci-fi spy show ended in such a way that it could have functioned as a series finale if necessary. Instead, the program got renewed for two final outings, leaving this first one …
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Movie #9 of 2019: Avengers: Endgame (2019) These tentpole Marvel movies are tricky to review individually, because each one is so intertwined with both the past and the future of the franchise. Case in point: everyone knew that this latest Avengers flick would find some way of walking back the unfathomable calamity of the previous …
TV #27 of 2019: Marvel’s Jessica Jones, season 3 A confident send-off to both this series and the larger Netflix corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, canceled in the lead-up to the new Disney+ streaming platform. The serial killer bad guy could sometimes feel like he wandered in from a show like Dexter, but I …
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Movie #7 of 2019: Captain Marvel (2019) I love so much about this alien superhero movie: from the confidence of its sci-fi start without audience hand-holding, to the well-crafted plot beats that are satisfying even when guessed ahead of time (or spoiled, presumably), to the sheer heart of its titular heroine. Neither the throwback 90s …
Book #21 of 2019: Thanos: Titan Consumed by Barry Lyga Originally announced and written as the first novel set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before Disney walked back that claim just before publication, this book presents the backstory of its title character and the origins of his quest to destroy half of all life in …
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TV #48 of 2018: Marvel’s Daredevil, season 3 I have some issues with how all-knowing Kingpin becomes in the back half of this season, and I’m not sure Matt’s no-killing policy really holds up under scrutiny, but overall this is a triumphant return to form for Daredevil. Clear and compelling character arcs, complex villains, great …
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