This week in post Ultron Agents of SHIELD: They are officially called the Inhumans. Everyone who's anyone knows that Jiaying is Mary Skye Poots' mother. Edward James Olmos is dead and now the Inhumans are at war with SHIELD for real. Ward is still a butt. Agent 33 should never have not been under lock and key. Bobbi Morse isn't very smart and fell victim to the worst ploy ever.
Yes indeed and that link give below asked the question that was screaming in my mind:
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How did no-one notice that two Agent Mays took out two Quinjets? I hate to call your security protocols into question, SHIELD, but if the same person can fly two military jets out of the same facility without raising eyebrows, you should at the very least put a sign-up sheet on the fridge.
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In better news: Agent Carter is getting a second season.
I haven't been keeping up with the Thor comics recently, but I understand that they've revealed who the female Thor is. If you don't wanna know, stop reading now.
It's Jane Foster. I haven't been reading comics seriously for some time, though I kept up with Thor: God of Thunder because it was so well-written. I particularly liked how the comic emphasizes that Thor is as much his mother's son as he is his father's.
For those not in the know, in the comics, Thor's mother isn't an Asgardian, she's one of the Elder Gods -- Gaea, Goddess of the Earth, to be precise.
Supposedly, Odin chose to have a son with Gaea because 1.) he wanted to sire a successor who would eventually be even more powerful than himself, and 2.) he wanted a successor who wouldn't be bound to the fate of the Asgardian gods (the whole repeating cycle of Ragnarök).
That's a big reason why Odin put the worthiness enchantment on Mjolnir, which was intended to be Thor's from the beginning. Odin knew that with Mjolnir, Thor would eventually become so powerful that he'd be all but unstoppable, and so wanted to ensure that there was some sort of check on Thor's power, and to ensure that Thor used his power only for good.
Anyway, because of who his mother is, Thor has a deep connection to and love for the Earth and its inhabitants, something that has been given lots of attention in Thor: God of Thunder. Of course, this has been brought up on numerous occasions in the comics; Odin and the other Asgardians sometimes grumble about the fact that Thor often seems to care more for the Earth and mortals than he does for Asgard and its denizens.
What (in my mind) makes Thor such an interesting character is just that: with all the vast power at his disposal, he nonetheless has a tremendous sense of responsibility, and he's passionately devoted to the notion of protecting those in need. (This is also something that's occasionally stated in the comics: each god personifies some attribute or other. Balder is Goodness personified, for instance. Thor's raison d'etre, by contrast, is that he is the personification of the compassionate protector.)
Thor: God of Thunder has occasionally shown us glimpses of a far-distant future in which Thor is known throughout the Universe and is widely regarded as the greatest god who ever lived, precisely because of his selfless devotion to protecting those in need, whomever they may be.
Anyhoo, I haven't been paying much attention to the comics recently, precisely because 1.) I don't like the idea of Thor being demoted and someone else taking up his mantle (especially since Thor: God of Thunder was doing such an excellent job of showing why he's really the only one who should and could be wielding Mjolnir), and 2.) it seems like a cheap attempt to grab attention.
That having been said, if anyone else is to take up the mantle of Thor for a time, I think that Jane Foster is the right choice. It has been hinted before that she's one of the very few beings in the Marvel Universe who's worthy to wield Mjolnir, and I think that she has the right combination of wisdom and responsibility to handle the power well.
Though the last time we saw Jane, she was suffering from terminal breast cancer. I don't know how they'll deal with that. Maybe one of the side effects of wielding Thor's power is that it'll eventually eradicate the cancer? Who knows.
Though Thor and Jane broke up some time ago, they remain devoted friends in the comics. When Thor found out about Jane's cancer and that it could not be treated Midgard science, he offered to have her treated by Asgardian healers.
Jane refused, claiming that magical cures come with a price. Huh?
Okay, first of all, it's not like she has many options left.
Second, Thor is devoted to Jane and would literally move mountains on her behalf. Of course he's going to make sure that she's given access to the very best care, and that no healers will be allowed to touch her until they can promise that there won't be any nasty side effects to the treatment.
Finally, what "price" is she talking about? Usually, treatment by dedicated Asgardian healers goes something like this: Asgardian Healer: "Here you go; this potion will eradicate your cancer in a jiffy. I'm afraid there will be some ... side effects, however." Midgardian Patient: "What kind of side effects?" Asgardian Healer: "Well, I'm afraid that you'll outlive all of your mortal friends by a century or two. Oh, and you'll be able to bench-press a Buick from now on."
Anyway, once the current series comes out in trade paperback, maybe I'll pick up a copy and see how Jane Foster handles the mantle of Thor.
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“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”
I had been avoiding this thread as I had about ten AoS episodes to catch up on, but I have had a couple of sick days so caught up now.
I can't add much to what has already been said, especially as there are three or four Marvel movies I have not yet seen that I should probably get right on to up-to-date on the verse.
But just wanted to post another thanks for the mini-Thor.
And regarding the Ooga-Chaka baby; Third Rock from the Sun was parodying Ally McBeal (did no-one here watch that?!? Sheesh), and though the baby animation is apparently older even than that, Ally McBeal was, I think, the first time it was combined with that music.
Agents of SHIELD did just enough to get me to watch the next season. As far as the show is concerned it was a big enough shake up to nearly equal what happened in the aftermath of Winter Soldier. They have nearly a brand new slate to make a brand new show. There were rumors of a spin off being made but that's been tabled for now.
They used the two hour finale very well. The action and drama are spaced out enough that everything keeps moving. Should this make syndication I don't know how they're going to divide the episodes into two discrete hours. Not an impossible task, just some speculation.
There be spoilers beyond, fyi.
The only real bad news is that Ward is still alive. I'm sad that neither May nor Skye gets to shoot him some more this time around. I'm also kinda mad that he survived four shots to the gut but 33 did not. I guess it's not just the good guy's girls who get fridged, huh. Also in potentially bad news and getting fridged: Simmons is taken by the shifting obelisk in the belly of the SHIELD carrier.
That makes me madder than 33 being actually fridged. Okay, you want someone taken in by the object, that's okay. It can be a nice dramatic stinger to tease the next season. But they way it was done was just, well, spiteful. Or something. We just got done protecting the big box and Agent Mac just declared his undying devotion to keeping that damn thing closed and locked. But somehow Fitz in a bumbling lean somehow pops the door open so it can consume Simmons. Just. Ugh. COME ON.
But I just got way ahead of myself. Just about everything else that happened in this episode was actually for honest good television. And I don't just mean "good for SHIELD." There are crosses and changes of heart, sacrifice and gumption going on. It was plenty entertaining.
Earlier in this thread I was angry that Skye's mom wasn't even given a name. At this point I have to take half of that angry back. I'm happy that they did bring her into the show fully. Gave her a heartbreaking back story and a reason to continue living. I'm sad about the path the character chose to take. The show will be less without Dichen Lachman around. That three way confrontation though, right? (Also the loss of Ruth Nagga, amirite?) Despite all that good drama, I'm still holding on to some of that early angry because, you know, literally unnamed woman murdered.
The show has gotten a lot better. I think it can be even better than this, and I want it to. It's still too tightly tied to the MCU for its own good. ABC/Disney/Marvel still uses it to promote the movies even if the movies technically ignore what happens on the show. I know Whedon admits to writing the Avengers so you don't have to strictly watch all of the movies or television, I don't know if Marvel itself has claimed any such thing.
I did, but for some reason I couldn't be arsed to respond to that video. Speaking of Ally McBeal I liked what I saw of Callista Flockhart in that Supergirl trailer. Especially considering my first thought when I saw her was so my expectations were low.
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"freedom to differ is not limited to things that do not matter much. That would be a mere shadow of freedom. The test of its substance is the right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order."
- Justice Robert Jackson, West Virginia State Board of Ed. v. Barnette
I enjoyed Shaun of the Dead. I happened to see Hot Fuzz before Shaun, maybe that's why I like it more. The End of the World was okay. I say this because I do like Edgar Wright's style. For the longest time he was the director for Ant Man. His fingerprints are still evident in Ant Man. But it's more like someone aping his style and it suffers just that little bit for it.
Now, I enjoyed Ant Man. Similar to Guardians it didn't play up its role in the greater cinematic universe. There's still a lot of hints and nods that there's a greater world going on but most of them are just that - hints and nods. The greatest exception being the final post credits sequence (there are two).
I wish it had come out later in the year, though. Coming out so soon after Avengers 2 definitely contributes to the genre fatigue. But beyond that it works well enough as a sort of palate cleanser. It's not as big as some of the other movies but still builds the greater world. I liked it but not as much as other people. I'm guessing here, but it's probably more rewatchable than the second Avengers. (Being honest with myself, as much as I enjoyed the fun-ness of Age of Ultron, I don't feel the need to watch it many times. All of the flaws that existed in the first Avengers were magnified in the second one, and then compounded by being over stuffed with things.)
I just saw Ant-Man tonight, and while I haven't even heard of the comic in question, I really enjoyed the film. I laughed out loud a a few of the jokes, especially towards the end. I probably should have seen a couple of Marvel films I missed in between, though (Captain America 2 and Iron Man 3).
But, there's one scene that totally makes the movie for me....
The Falcon vs. The Ant-Man "fight" scene. Not because it was well choreographed, though it was. Not because it was so much fun, but it toally was.
But because it felt like a comic book. Ant-Man is the first Earth-based non-Avengers Marvel movie. As such, it demonstrated what the world outside of the Avengers look like and it did it well. Falcon didn't flip out that there was a guy who could shrink. He didn't immediately question just how in the hell could he do all that.
Rather, they talked about things as if two guys in high-tech suits which completely violate all the laws of physics and nature was the most normal thing in the world.
That's comics, people.
It was such a relief to see movies finally treat the idea that people with amazing abilities and powers dress up in outlandish outfits and do stuff as just how you do.
Also, I love Ant-Man and Wasp pre-dating the Avengers. That allows MCU to back fill decades of continuity without having to have everything hinge on the Avengers.
Coulson's Marvel's Agents of SHIELD is back for its THIRD season. Can you believe it?
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Originally Posted by slimshady2357
Agents of Shield - I just can't stop watching it
Me either, but as I may have mentioned before I feel it's kind of my duty moreso than out of complete enjoyment. Though that may change, we'll see as this season progresses. This season's opener starts everything off quite well.
It's only a couple of months after the events of the end of S2. We get to see Skye Daisy doing something instead of people talking about her doing something. So that's nice.
The show pursuing things down the Inhuman trail feels like a positive direction. I want to say the TV people are really trying to set themselves apart from the MCU a little bit, and hopefully they get to do more of what they want instead of being hamstrung by tying everything close to the movies. It's a nice idea to have a shared universe but the way things have shaken out have been less than stellar. (And now that there's been some kind of big wig hub bub who knows what's going to happen.)
Netflix Marvel takes another step into the shadows. I haven't read the source comics, Alias, but I have read the wiki about them. Marvel has historically had some really good bad guys that you can love and hate - Magneto, Dr Doom - but Killgrave isn't one of them. Netflix doesn't have to be concerned with censors or sponsors but I think they've still played it safe with their material. In a relative sense, not everything they host or produce is family friendly but it has remained fairly "safe" in terms of offense or not-disturbing. But I didn't know how they would portray the Purple Man (Killgrave). Still don't, of course, but it looks like they will be skirting at least some of the worst of what he is capable of doing. Or talking about it obliquely. In my life I might prefer speaking about things frankly, openly and with honesty. But in my entertainment I think there are some things that don't need to be put out into the universe.
Okay so I am aware I am very late to this party, but I finally finished watching Netflix's Daredevil and I insist on discussing it. I'm stripping the spoilers because it's old as hell, so anyone who's going to get bunged about that should scroll past this post with a quickness.
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Originally Posted by slimshady2357
The performances of Deborah Ann Woll and Vincent D'Onofrio are not quite... I don't know, they're a little 'off'. I find myself being drawn out of the suspension of disbelief by them both. I don't know Woll at all, but I usually love D'Onofrio, not sure why he's not quite hitting it in this. It's possibly because the kingpin is such a monumental figure... I don't know. I'm not as good as you guys at expressing these things I'm liking both characters, but just not quite accepting the acting yet I guess.
The problem with Woll is her fake laughing. I blame the script for repeatedly putting her and Foggy in bars where he's pumping out corny line after corny line like a Gatling gun while she has to pretend she's buzzed enough to find him laugh-out-loud funny.
As much as I was shocked and devastated by Wesley's fate (I love him so much; he's like a live action Charles Foster Ofdensen), I was relieved to see Karen's character take a turn towards the gritty.
As for D'Onofrino, I LOVE him in this. His gravelly voice affectation and bald pate took a while to get used to, but I find him believably threatening psychologically and physically, and his relationship with Vanessa is by far my favorite of the show. Their connection and chemistry is AMAZING.
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Originally Posted by BrotherMan
The one who's throwing me off though is Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson. On the first hand I think they chose the right guy. On another hand I've been thoroughly trained by movies and tv to respond to how some people look. And Foggy looks like he could very easily be that guy. You know. The sniveling, dirt bag, weasel frat boy who is always lying and cheating and being a general nuisance. (And now I see why: He did play That Guy in an episode of Law & Order SVU.) But that interpretation is all on me.
I just think Foggy is written like shit and Henson's perfomance is high school level stilted. Maybe it's a comic thing that I don't get, but he sounds like a gee-golly 50s sidekick to me for pratically the whole first season. He gets a little better when he finds out the truth about Murdock.
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Originally Posted by slimshady2357
The violence on this show is so meaty, fists hitting faces in such a realistic meaty way. Brutal at times.
Hell yes. When did visible broken bones become a thing on television? Anyway I could not be happier with the fight choreography. Shaky cam has ruined so much action in the movies. It's a genuine pleasure to watch a proper fight where the moves are fast, hard-hitting and still easy to follow.
Probably my favorite production aspect of the show is the sound design. Nice, crisp effects, proper volume regulation, no obscuring of the dialogue. You'd think that would be par for the course in this kind of show, but nope. It's damn rare.
I didn't have much of a problem with Foggy, except that he's the worst example of the problem this show has with accents. I guess they just decided to ignore them altogether a la Kevin Costner's Robin Hood (for the main characters at least), and I can normally roll with that, but it's still jarring to hear somebody say he's "born and raised in Hell's Kitchen" as if he's talking about one of the suburbs of L.A.
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"Her eyes in certain light were violet, and all her teeth were even. That's a rare, fair feature: even teeth. She smiled to excess, but she chewed with real distinction." - Eleanor of Aquitaine
Last night's SHIELD was a truly excellent episode of television. (4722 Hours) You can almost watch it by itself and still feel all the feels you need. You don't need to be a SHIELD fan or a Marvel fan. But of course knowing some background fills in some of the details of the relationships external to the events depicted.
I was a bit disappointed when she was rescued right in the first episode of the season. We didn't even have time to take not of her absence. Right away we're told that Fitz has been on a singular mission to do everything he can to find a way to get her back. Which, on one hand, this is good that they're not trying to milk a thing for a whole season or two (a problem with some previous arcs). And then we had to suffer through some boring stuff before we got the episode we needed to back fill some stuff.
Man, it was so good. For the haters it's not enough to come back but it's definitely an episode worth checking out.
Yeah, it was a great episode and one worth the wait in the end.
I watched the Flash right after watching it and the Flash just seemed so flat in comparison.
Right now the only shows I'm watching that I'm chomping for the next episode each week are SHIELD, Homeland and Limitless. Lots of others that I'm watching but more 'meh' about. Hoping the Flash can speed his way back into the first category again.
I just watched 4,722 Hours as well, and now I am so frustrated that they probably won't get back to that story for quite some time. Not that I don't enjoy the Inhumans and stuff, but I want more Planet Hell.