Asgard Is a People, and Then It Isn’t
Rewatching Thor: Ragnarok before Avengers Doomsday. That triumphant ending lasts about six months, and the tone that saved Thor later went much too far.
Rewatching Thor: Ragnarok before Avengers Doomsday. That triumphant ending lasts about six months, and the tone that saved Thor later went much too far.
My Spider-Man Brand New Day review: the swinging that floored me, Bernthal’s Punisher, a monstrous Hulk, Jean Grey, and what Peter is now.
Rewatching Captain America: The Winter Soldier before Doomsday. Steve dumps every file in 2014 and the MCU has been living in the wreckage ever since.
A review of The Fantastic Four First Steps, where the retro-futuristic world and the Silver Surfer land but Galactus is nowhere near big enough.
A review of Thunderbolts, where Florence Pugh and a strong vault fight carry a film that takes the easy way out on mental health and misreads the Sentry.
A review of Captain America Brave New World, Anthony Mackie’s first outing as Cap, Harrison Ford’s Red Hulk, and whether the shield needed a serum behind it after all.
A review of Deadpool and Wolverine, where Reynolds and Jackman’s chemistry carries a film written by people who genuinely understand the Fox universe.
A review of The Marvels, where Iman Vellani is the best thing on screen, Carol still underwhelms, and a post-credits cameo changes what the MCU can be.
A review of Loki season 2, where the god of mischief takes the threads of every timeline in his hands, and Victor Timely fails to sell Kang as a saga villain.
A review of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, where Rocket’s origin turns out to be the whole trilogy’s spine and the High Evolutionary earns his place as a villain.
A review of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, where the Council of Kangs steals the film and the villain meant to carry the next decade doesn’t convince.
A review of Wakanda Forever, where not recasting T’Challa was the right call, Namor is a genuinely good villain, and the ending lets him off far too easily.
A review of Thor: Love and Thunder, where Gorr deserved a better film, Zeus is a punchline, and the ending hands out godhood like party favours.
A review of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, where the Illuminati are wasted, Wanda’s ending is another love-conquers-all cop-out, and Mordo is still missing.
My Spider-Man No Way Home review: the multiverse, three Spider-Men, Aunt May, and how Tom Holland’s Peter finally becomes the comics character.
A review of Shang-Chi, where Simu Liu holds his own on debut, Tony Leung gives the MCU its best villain, and the bus fight raises the bar for the whole franchise.
A review of Loki season 1, where Hiddleston and Owen Wilson carry a show that turns the Infinity Stones into desk clutter and rewrites how the MCU works.
A review of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which never settles what it wants to be and never convinced me Sam Wilson should be carrying the shield.
A review of WandaVision, the sitcom-shaped grief story that gave Vision a proper send-off and hid its best villain in plain sight.
My Spider-Man Far From Home review: Tom Holland grieving Tony Stark, Zendaya’s brilliant MJ, and Mysterio’s con on a European class trip.
I’m eagerly anticipating seeing Larson in Avengers: Endgame, but this film really felt like enduring a preview before the flick; forgettably enjoyable, a means to pass the time before the…