Tag Archives: Marvel Cinematic Universe

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier: New World Order – TV Review

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TL;DR – it starts on a high and then mellows into the world we will be in for the rest of the season

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no End Credit Scene

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ subscription that viewed this episode.

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier: New World Order. Image Credit: Disney+.

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Review –

When I think back to my all-time favourite Marvel Cinematic Universe film, at the top, or at least very near, it has to be the Captain America Trilogy with Winter Soldier and Civil War being real highlights. With the end of Endgame, there were many threads in these films that never got resolved. Today, we take the first dive into a show looking to fix that issue, one odd-ball partner cop show episode after another.   

So to set the scene, we open in the skies over Tunisia. Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) is needed for a significant extradition job to secure an Army Colonel from a terrorist group. As he intercepts the plane, Sam discovers that it has already been hijacked and has to fight his way on-board before the plane reaches Libyan airspace. Meanwhile, Bucky (Sebastian Stan) is in therapy as part of his pardon. But the nightmares of his past as The Winter Solider still haunt his dreams. But there is a rising threat across the world as those looking forward to striking in the blip’s chaos make their first moves. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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WandaVision: The Full Series (Season 1?) – TV Review

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TL;DR – A show that intrigued me from start to finish

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ subscription that viewed this series.

WandaVision: The Full Series (Season 1?). Image Credit: Disney+.
WandaVision: The Full Series (Season 1?). Image Credit: Disney+.

WandaVision Review –

While Marvel has dabbled in long-form storytelling tangentially connected to the MCU before with the Agents of Shield and the Netflix universe of Daredevil and others, these were always created in a sort of cauterised and closed off worlds all to themselves. This, of course, reflected the internal Marvel divisions of the time where Kevin Feige headed the film department, but Ike Perlmutter controlled the TV. Well back in 2019, all of that shifted as TV shifted under Feige’s control, and for the first time, all of it was under one house. Our first look at what that will be has come in the form of WandaVision, which we will look back on the full season today. 

So to set the scene, we open sitcom entrance style where we see Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) arriving at a new town of Westview. A newly married couple is settling into a small town where they are pretending that she is not a witch and he is not an android, but an average couple. Everything is going well until their neighbour Angus (Kathryn Hahn) comes over and helps Wanda plan her ‘anniversary’, which leads to a dinner party that hints more is going on in the sleepy town of Westview. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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WandaVision: Previously On – TV Review

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TL;DR – This week walks us through the past as it ratchets up the emotion

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a Mid-Credit Scene

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ subscription that viewed this episode.

WandaVision: Previously On. Image Credit: Disney+.

WandaVision Review –

Last week I came into the episode with so much lift only to feel pretty meh about most of the episode right up until the last five minutes when it took it its delightful but yet menacing turn with “It Was Agatha All Along”, which coincidentally has been stuck in my head all week long. With that being said, it means I went into this week’s and also penultimate episode with a little bit more hesitation than I had all season up until that point.

So to set the scene, throughout last week’s episode Breaking the Fourth Wall, we got hints that something was about to come to ahead. Wanda’s (Elizabeth Olsen) magic was misfiring, Vision (Paul Bettany) was getting his life told to him by Darcy (Kat Dennings), Monica (Teyonah Parris) made it back inside The Hex gaining powers in the process, and Agnes (Kathryn Hahn) took the twins and did something with them while revealing that she is actually Agatha. This week, we start by jumping back in time to Salem, Massachusetts, in 1693, where we get to see a very different witch trial take place? Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some MAJOR [SPOILERS] ahead.

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WandaVision: Breaking the Fourth Wall – TV Review

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TL;DR – A difficult part 1 of a show that you won’t know how well it lands till next week.   

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a Mid-Credit Scene

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ subscription that viewed this series.

WandaVision: Breaking the Fourth Wall. Image Credit: Disney+.

WandaVision Review –

If there is one thing about WandaVision that we could say, it is that each week has pushed the boundaries of the show. Time after time, I was left feeling in awe about what I just watched. Well, this week, I’m not sure about that, and I don’t know if that flows from the structure of the episode or its content.

So to set the scene, and the end of last week’s All-New Halloween Spooktacular!, Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) was forced to dramatically increase the size of the Hex to save Vision’s (Paul Bettany) life as he had left the protection of The Hex and had started to disintegrate. This absorbed most of the SWORD base and personal sitting just outside, including Darcy (Kat Dennings). As we crash into this week, we have jumped into the 2010s, but something is not right as parts of Wanda’s house start reverting back in time. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some MAJOR [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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WandaVision: All-New Halloween Spooktacular! – TV Review

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TL;DR – We get to see that there more going on than we first though as many questions are raised but answers as still coming.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ subscription that viewed this series.

WandaVision: All-New Halloween Spooktacular!. Image Credit: Disney+.

WandaVision Review –

Well, WandaVision is one of those shows that just when you think you have a handle on what is going on, it pulls the rug out for underneath you. We saw that first at the end of Now in Color and also at the end of last week’s On a Very Special Episode…. All of this means that when you start up the episode for the first time, you have no idea where this show will go.

So to set the scene, at the end of last week Vision (Paul Bettany) had started to take note that something is wrong in this world. He cannot remember what happened of his life before he arrived in Westview, which is not good news for Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) who is trying to keep the façade of this perfect sitcom world going. But as forces move from the outside, the question has to be asked – ‘Is Wanda in complete control of this universe?’ because while she can come and go, there are growing factors outside of her control. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some MAJOR [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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WandaVision: On a Very Special Episode… – TV Review

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TL;DR – This week, everything changes again as we take a right turn into “did that just happen!”

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ subscription that viewed this series.

WandaVision: Episode 5. Image Credit: Disney+.

WandaVision Review –

There are days when you sit down to watch a TV show where you kind of know what you will get before you click play. Well, WandaVision is not one of those shows. We have already seen in change on a dime, and this week we get another example as the show starts to dark fast.

So to set the scene, in last week’s  We Interrupt This Program, we left The Hex and found out what had been happening in the world around. We see the road that Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) took to being a player in the weird TV show that Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) is creating in Westview. This week we dive into the 1980s, but things are not the same as Vision (Paul Bettany) has started to see something is not right with this world. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some MAJOR [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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WandaVision: We Interrupt This Program – TV Review

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TL;DR – This week the veil is removed, and we start to see just what is going on  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ subscription that viewed this series.

WandaVision: Episode 4. Image Credit: Disney+.

WandaVision Review –

One of the core conceits in this series is that while we are getting the sitcom joy of WandaVision, something else is going on, something unsettling. This has all been hinted at so far, well today we go from hinting to laying it all out for you.

So to set the scene, at the end of Now in Color, Geraldine (Teyonah Parris) mentions to Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) that Ultron killed her brother. This does not go well for Geraldine as Wanda turns on her and boots her out of the town. At the start of this week’s episode, we get to see all of the context leading up to this as Geraldine/ Monica Rambeau blips back into existence in a hospital in chaos. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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WandaVision: Now in Color – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is where we start to see what is under the hood in this show, and it might be menacing indeed.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ subscription that viewed this series.

WandaVision: Now in Color. Image Credit: Disney+.

WandaVision Review –

Well, we spent Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience & Don’t Touch That Dial living in the 1950s in all its black and white glory. However, last week made it clear that we would leap forward into this new-fangled thing known as colour.

So to set the scene, at the end of last week’s episode, Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) witnessed a man out of place in their neighbourhood. However, Wanda did not want that to happen, so she rewound the tape back to before they went outside. When she got back, Wanda discovered that she was pregnant and also the world was in colour. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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WandaVision: Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience – TV Review

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TL;DR – This was fun, nostalgic, and also super odd all at once

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ subscription that viewed this series.

WandaVision: Episode 1. Image Credit: Disney+.

WandaVision Review –

Thanks to Covid it has been over a year since we have had anything set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Spider-man: Far From Home for those playing at home). This makes it kind of odd that the first entry back into this world is on Disney+, but then this is a strange show, so it might fit.

So to set the scene, we open sitcom entrance where we see Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) arriving at a new town. A newly married couple is settling into a small town where they are pretending that she is not a witch and he is not an android, but an average couple. Everything is going well until their neighbour Angus (Kathryn Hahn) comes over and helps Wanda plan her ‘anniversary’. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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Movie Review – Spider-Man: Far From Home

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TL;DR – As the swan song for the Phase 3 it delivers of nearly every front but mostly in heaping amounts of charm

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid and post-credit scene (you 100% need to stay for the mid-credit at least)

Spider-Man: Far From Home. Image Credit: Sony.

Review –

To be a bit honest I had some concerns about this film before I walked into the cinemas. I quite liked the first Spider-Man and the films since has showed that Tom Holland was one of Marvel’s best casting choices. However, this film was coming off the double whammy of being the follow up to both Endgame and also the first film since the revolutionary Into the Spider-Verse, and they are tough acts to follow. However, literally five minutes into the movie I knew I was in for a good time, but I didn’t know was how much of an impact this film would have on the greater landscape.

So to set the scene, we open with a quick recap of everyone who dies in Endgame, so if you have not seen it yet get ready for that band aid to get ripped off real quick. It also gives a little perspective as to how the world adapted to what they now call the blip with half of the people disappearing then reappearing 5 years later. It looks like most of Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) friends got snapped and have to suffer through doing the school year all over again. Well after all the stress of Endgame, Peter is happy that he is able to take a break because he and his friends MJ (Zendaya), Jacob (Jacob Batalon), Betty (Angourie Rice) and unfortunately Flash (Tony Revolori) are going to Europe on a school trip. However, before he leaves Happy (Jon Favreau) arrives at his aunt May’s (Marisa Tomei) charity dinner to let Peter know that Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is looking for him and Peter does the only normal thing and ghosts Nick Fury. Well you can guess how well that went.

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