Thoughtful Reflections on Faith and Life
Few villains in the history of comic books have been as consistently important, memorable, or powerful as Doctor Doom. He began as a new villain for the Fantastic Four in the early 1960s. Since then, he has fought almost every major hero in the Marvel Universe, ruled a fictional European nation, mastered both science and … Read More “The History of Doctor Doom: From Fantastic Four Villain to Marvel’s Greatest Super-Villain” »
In the summer of 1962, a strange new superhero appeared in a comic book that was about to be cancelled. He was a teenager. He was socially awkward. He was not especially popular. He had family responsibilities. He worried about money. He made jokes while fighting criminals. He was also a superhero who could climb … Read More “The Early Years of Spider-Man: How Marvel Created a New Kind of Superhero” »
One of the first Marvel series I ever collected was West Coast Avengers (Amazon affiliate link), which included Simon Williams, Wonder Man. Wonder Man has been around for a while and was really the powerhouse of the team. As the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) expands, they are always looking for the next character to feature. … Read More “Wonder Man: Season One – Review” »
I have generally enjoyed the street-level Marvel series that began as the Netflix shows and were eventually brought into the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. Daredevil is the best of the bunch but I have appreciated the others, including the Punisher. If you are not familiar with the Punisher, he is sort of like Batman but … Read More “Punisher: One Last Kill – Review” »
I have been generally disappointed with the recent Marvel projects in the theatres and on television. Most of them have not been terrible but not great either. Inspired a recent sermon I preached, I decided to return to some of the best of Marvel: Infinity War and Endgame. I had not watched them in a … Read More “Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame – Revisited” »
I will admit that I was not in a hurry to watch Marvel Zombies. I had plenty of opportunities to watch it earlier, but I had no motivation. I am not sure what it was. Perhaps it is the general lack of interest in new Marvel projects or the fact this series is not a … Read More “Marvel Zombies: Season One – Review” »
I have been generally disappointed with the most recent Marvel movies. They have been most focused on building in interconnect universe than telling good stories. Fantastic Four was supposed to change that. And it does. I think it helps that the new Fantastic Four is not really connected to the rest of the MCU (yet) … Read More “Fantastic Four: First Steps – Review” »
I have been losing excitement over the Marvel Cinematic Universe in recent years. I rarely see the movies in the theatre unless it is a major event. I was intrigued by the concept of Thunderbolts* but waited until it was available on Disney Plus. In a number of recent Marvel series, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine … Read More “Thunderbolts* – Review” »
The Fantastic Four hold a special place in comic book history, not just as a superhero team, but as the foundation of the Marvel Universe as we know it. Created in 1961 by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the Fantastic Four were a revolutionary force that redefined superhero comics and set Marvel Comics … Read More “The Creation and Legacy of the Fantastic Four: Marvel’s First Family” »
One of the strongest franchises of the MCU were the Captain America movies. Each of the three movies in the original trilogy were solid and continue to hold up. After Avengers: Endgame, Steve Rogers gave the Captain America mantle to Sam Wilson, who had been the hero Falcon. The transition from Falcon to Captain America … Read More “Captain America: Brave New World – Review” »
The What If…? television series by Marvel is an interesting concept. What if something different happened in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) than what we see in the regular Marvel movies and shows. This concept fits nice in Marvel’s currents focus on the multiverse. So now, instead of just hypotheticals, they are actually parallel universes, … Read More “What If…? Season Three – Review” »
There are certain Marvel characters that people have long waited for their appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Agatha Harkness is probably not near the top of the list. In the comics, Agatha is an elderly witch that first appeared in Fantastic Four. She is very different from the Agatha that appeared in WandaVision, which … Read More “Agatha All Along – Review” »
I assume that most people who wanted to see Deadpool and Wolverine enough to avoid spoilers, have already seen the movie. If not, I will give you some space to go and see the movie and then return to this post. S P O I L E R S One of the things that makes … Read More “My Three Favourite Cameos in Deadpool and Wolverine” »
I went to seek Deadpool and Wolverine aka Deadpool 3. I need to preface this review by saying that I have never been a fan of Deadpool. It took me quite a while to see the first one and I have never been able to embrace the crude humour. My problem with the humour in … Read More “Deadpool and Wolverine – Review” »
Back in the Hawkeye series, we were introduced to the character named Echo. Her story was that she was an indigenous person who was deaf and had a prosthetic lower leg. She also was a deadly assassin raised by the Kingpin. At the end of Hawkeye, Echo realized who Kingpin was and turned against him. … Read More “Echo – Review” »
Remember when a movie only had to be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in order to be a major hit? Those days are gone. Marvel has stumbled at the theatres a number of times in the last couple of years, the most recent is the Marvels. The Marvels is sort of a sequel … Read More “The Marvels – Review” »
Marvel is moving on full force with expanding its MCU. Not only do we have many movies but now they have done a number of television series on Disney +. The newest of these is Secret Invasion. In many ways, this is the sequel to the Captain Marvel movie. In that movie, we were introduced … Read More “Secret Invasion – Review” »
I did not see Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in the theatres but I was looking forward to seeing it when it started streaming. I didn’t avoid it in the theatres because it did not do well in the box-office and got poor reviews. Rather, I knew my kids would want to go and that … Read More “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – Review” »
When the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie came out, I was not sure what to expect. I was not familiar with the team or the characters and so I went into it with an open mind. I found it to be one of the freshest MCU movies at the time. I was not overly … Read More “Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 – Review” »
What do you need to expect from the Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special? Well, it’s not Infinity War or Endgame. But then you probably already knew that. The plot is that Mantis and Drax hear that Peter Quill (Star Lord) had his Christmas ruined as a child and they go about trying to fix … Read More “Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special – Review” »
I am thankful that Marvel is putting some more emphasis on their female superheroes and She-Hulk is a great addition to the MCU. She is a fresh character that connects with earlier aspects of the MCU. That’s the character, what about the new series? This is definitely not for everyone. I am not talking about … Read More “She-Hulk: Season One – Review” »
Marvel has been pushing a lot of content recently, especially in terms of television shows on Disney +. Some of them have been better than others. One of the best recent shows has been Werewolf By Night. This is not a television series or exactly a movie, but more of a special like we used … Read More “Werewolf By Night – Review” »
Back when the previous Thor movie, Ragnarok, came out, I heard only good things and went in with super high expectations. I ended up being disappointed. When Love and Thunder arrived in theatres, I heard mostly bad things. It had some of the worst reviews of any MCU and people were seeing this as a … Read More “Thor: Love and Thunder – Review” »
What did I think of the Ms Marvel television series? That’s a good question. I thought it was well done but did not enjoy it near as much as the other Marvel releases on Disney +. First, let me make clear that it is not because the series was not about an adult white male. … Read More “Ms Marvel – Review” »
What did I think of the new Doctor Strange movie? In summary, it was not as good as I had hoped and and not as bad as I had feared. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse got some pretty bad reviews and many people were disappointed with it. I watched it with that in mind. I … Read More “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – Review” »
Marvel continues to expand its cinematic universe by releasing new television series featuring these characters. I have been enjoying these series and have appreciated the fairly short seasons. It helps them to keep the pacing closer to that of a movie. The latest has been Moon Knight. I will admit that I have very little … Read More “Moon Knight – Review” »
We are currently on our third version of the live-action movie Spider-Man. This is also the third Spider-Man movie of this version. This needed to be something special. And it was. At the end of the previous movie, it was revealed to the world that Spider-Man was Peter Parker. This turned Peter and his friends’ … Read More “Spider-Man: No Way Home – Review” »
Marvel has done very well when it comes to their movies. They seem to get hit after hit. Unfortunately, the Eternals was not one of them, doing the worst of most of their movies. What did I think? I thought it was pretty good, although not without its flaws. In many ways, this was a … Read More “The Eternals – Review” »
What is better? DC or Marvel? If you are a comic book reader, you might feel invested in the answer to that question. We are talking more than just whether you enjoy Marvel movies more than DC movies. Their rivalry goes far beyond the modern movies. Roku has produced a teen episode documentary-series on the … Read More “Slugfest” »
Of all the original Avengers in the MCU, the only one to not have their own movie was Hawkeye. Even Black Widow got one after being killed in Avengers: End Game. But what about poor Hawkeye? With addition of TV series on Disney + being included in the MCU, new opportunities have arrived. Because of … Read More “Hawkeye – Review” »
So far, most of the MCU movies have been based on their most familiar characters. Less familiar is Shang-Chi but that did not take away from the movie. Stepping back from Shang-Chi for a moment, Iron Man 3 attempted to do something innovative with the villain, the Mandarin. In that movie, what people thought was … Read More “Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings – Review” »
Marvel has been producing some great television series on Disney + over the past year. This is a great time to be a superhero fan. While all of them have been very different style, What If…? has been particularly unique. The premise of the series is that things that we are familiar with in the … Read More “What If…? Season One – Review” »
I will admit that I had my doubts about a Loki television series. Yes Loki is an interesting character and Tom Hiddleston does a fantastic job of portraying him. But Loki died in Avengers, and although a past version of him escaped, that seemed like a pretty thin foundation for a series. It ended up … Read More “Loki: Season One – Review” »
It is too bad that Black Widow had to wait until she was killed off in one of the Avengers movies before she got her own solo movie. This movie proves she could have carried her own franchise years ago. Obviously I enjoyed the movie. It felt like a cross between the Bourne movies and … Read More “Black Widow – Review” »
Marvel has gone full tilt when it comes to integrating the MCU movies with its television series. This was kicked off with WandaVision and now we have The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. At the end of Avengers: End Game, the elderly Steve Rogers passed on the mantle and the shield of Captain America to … Read More “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier – Review” »
Some time ago, Marvel announce a number of new series that would be streamed on Disney+. While some of them looked interesting, one that I was least looking forward to was WandaVision. It is not that there is anything wrong with the characters. Vision and Wanda are too of the most interesting newer additions to … Read More “WandaVision – Review” »
Some time back I did a Twitter poll showdown to determine the best comic book movie. The winner of that poll was the Dark Knight. I decided to do the same thing with comic book TV shows. Again, I chose to focus only on Marvel and DC. The final five were: Incredible Hulk (1977-82) Lois … Read More “And the Greatest Comic Book TV Show is…” »
I didn’t watch Agent Carter when it originally aired but with some time on my hands, I decided to give it a try. Agent Carter was very important in Captain America, especially First Avenger. But there was more of her story to tell. The series takes place just after the end of the Second World … Read More “Agent Carter: Season One – Review” »
I was excited a number of years ago when X-Men: First Class came out. I loved the new characters and fresh take on familiar characters. Plus it was in continuity (sort of) with the previous movies. The final instalment of this incarnation is Dark Phoenix. This story was sort of told in the third movie, … Read More “Dark Phoenix – Review” »
Peter Parker just wants to enjoy his class trip to Europe. But when your alter ego is Spider-Man, you know that is not going to happen. Far From Home continues the fun but thoughtful Spider-Man that was introduced to us in Captain America: Civil War and continued in Spider-Man: Homecoming. I really like the Tom … Read More “Spider-Man: Far From Home – Review” »
One of the podcasts that I enjoy listening to is Business Wars. One of the series that I had was on Marvel vs DC. To be honest, I have generally been more of a DC guy. But listening to this series, it is understandable that DC would fall behind Marvel. Marvel vs DC – Origin … Read More “Marvel vs DC” »
With the third season of Jessica Jones, the Marvel Netflix chapter comes to an end. How was this final season of these Netflix originals? I have to say that I have found Jessica Jones to be the least likeable of all the Netflix Marvel heroes. No, not because she is a strong woman. Her personality … Read More “Jessica Jones: Season Three – Review” »
I believe that Avengers: Endgame is one of the most anticipated movies in recent years. In some ways it is the conclusion to a long series of Marvel movies. It also is the conclusion to the dramatic cliffhanger from Infinity War. I was not disappointed. Last time, Thanos killed half the universe’s population with a … Read More “Avengers: Endgame – Review” »
To be honest, I didn’t really feel the draw when I saw the trailer for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. I’m enjoying the current Tom Holland live-action Spider-Man movies and wasn’t looking for anything different. I was vaguely aware of the Miles Morales Spider-Man but for nostalgic reasons always preferred the Peter Parker version. I was … Read More “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – Review” »
Marvel finally has released a movie with a female lead. While there are some great female superheroes, they chose to go with Captain Marvel, which seems to have been a good decision. Captain Marvel has more in common with Guardians of the Galaxy than many of the other Marvel movies. In some ways it is … Read More “Captain Marvel – Review” »
I really liked the episodes of Daredevil with the new Punisher. I even liked the first season of the Punisher. But I was disappointed with the second season. I do like Jon Bernthal as the Punisher. He is the best actor yet to play the character. But the rest of the season seemed to fall … Read More “The Punisher: Season Two – Review” »
This was what the Netflix Marvel series were supposed to be like. Some of the other recent series have dragged on a bit but the third season of Daredevil brought back the magic. At the end of the Defenders series, Daredevil seemed to have sacrificed his life, but then we were given a hint that … Read More “Daredevil: Season 3 – Review” »
I am writing this the day that legendary comic creator Stan Lee died. I don’t think that it is possible to overestimate the impact of Stan Lee. I have traditionally been more of a DC person than Marvel. However, one of the reasons that Marvel did so well is that DC never had anyone like … Read More “The Legacy of Stan Lee” »
I have been baffled by the hate toward the Iron Fist series on Netflix. I have found both seasons much more enjoyable than Luke Cage or Jessica Jones, being second only to Daredevil. For me, the second season of Iron Fist was even better than the first, being able to build on the foundation laid … Read More “Iron Fist: Season 2 – Review” »
I recently watched the second season of Luke Cage on Netflix. I had been disappointed with the first season. I thought that the first season was painfully slow, focused more on highlighting the culture of Harlem than anything else. I also found the villains, Cottonmouth and Diamondback to be rather boring. I thought the second … Read More “Luke Cage: Season 2 – Review” »
I have to confess that Ant-Man is one of my favourite heroes in the MCU. I was not that fond of him in the comics but he is a breath of fresh air for the MCU. The recent sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp, only solidified this. What I like about Ant-Man is that he one … Read More “Ant-Man and the Wasp – Review” »
I finally got around to watching the 2015 Fantastic Four movie. The fact that it took this long for me to watch it tells you how bad of a reputation this movie had. This was supposed to be one of the worst superhero movies ever. The truth is that I didn’t think that it was … Read More “Thoughts on the Fantastic Four” »
Spider-Man is one of the most popular superheroes and the Tobey Maguire movies were some of the first really good superhero movies. There have been seven movies so far and here is my ranking of best to the worst. Spider-Man: Far From Home Spider-Man: Homecoming Spider-Man Spider-Man 2 Spider-Man 3 Amazing Spider-Man Amazing Spider-Man 2 … Read More “Spider-Man Movies Ranked Best to Worst” »
Marvel has done some amazing movies. Some of them have been better than others. Here is my list from best to worst. I’m only including MCU movies and not the Fox or Sony movies (except Spider-Man: Homecoming since it takes place in the MCU). 1. Avengers: Infinity War 2. Iron Man 3. Avengers: End Game … Read More “Marvel Cinematic Universe Movies Rated Best to Worst” »
The battle with Thanos has been brewing for years, with Thanos being behind the attack on earth that originally brought the Avengers together. Thanos and the infinity stones have been the threads that have tied together many of the Marvel movies. Infinity War is what we have been waiting for. The basic premise is that … Read More “Avengers: Infinity War – Review” »
Perhaps one of the most radical steps in action movies in recent years has been the shared universe featuring the Marvel Comics characters. When we first watched Iron Man, we had no idea what we were in for. The good people at Variant provide a nice overview of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, just in time … Read More “History Of The Marvel Cinematic Universe – The First 10 Years” »
I have just finished watching the second season of Jessica Jones. I will confess, as a character, I find Jessica Jones the least likeable of all the Marvel Netflix characters. This is unfortunate as Marvel doesn’t have a lot of strong female superheroes in their shared universe. Having said that, I understand why they portray … Read More “Jessica Jones: Season 2 – Review” »
I finally had the opportunity to see Avengers: Age of Ultron. It is a movie that I have been looking forward to for some time. The basic plot is that the Avengers have been trying to make the world a better place. Tony Stark, emotionally scarred by the events of the first movie, tries to … Read More “Avengers: Age of Ultron – Review” »
I didn’t get a chance to see Thor Ragnarok in the theatre but I was really looking forward to seeing it when it was available for home release. There was so much that looked good. It had a Thor and Hulk team-up. It had Cate Blanchett and Karl Urban playing the villains. It included a … Read More “Thor Ragnarok – Review” »
One of the first Marvel comics I ever owned was a Jack Kirby drawn team-up between Captain America and Black Panther. It was my introduction to the Black Panther character. My first thought was that he seemed to be Batman without a cape. Last night I saw the Black Panther movie. I enjoyed the character … Read More “Black Panther – Review” »
My wife and I finished watching the first season of Jessica Jones last night. What did I think of it? I thought it was one of the best superhero seasons I have watched. Having one long storyline made it almost seem like the old serials. Jessica Jones was a very interesting character. She is very … Read More “Thoughts on Jessica Jones” »
We recently took the family to see Big Hero 6. What many people probably do not realize is that this is based on a Marvel comic. In fact if you watch carefully, you will see a brief appearance by Stan Lee. We absolutely loved the movie. The animation was beautiful and the story was engaging. … Read More “Big Hero 6 – Review” »
I know that this is a bit late for a review of Guardians of the Galaxy but we just had the opportunity to see it on Sunday. Although I enjoy the Marvel movies, it does feel as if they are just plugging characters into a formula. That is why I enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy, … Read More “Guardians of the Galaxy – Review” »
I had the opportunity to see the Doctor Strange movie today. Since it was the day before my birthday, I had the choice of which movie my wife and I would see. Thankfully, my wife also enjoyed Doctor Strange. First I need to say that I never collected Doctor Strange comics. I was more of … Read More “Doctor Strange – Review” »
This is an exciting time for comic book fans as Disney has purchased Fox, making the characters licensed to Fox available to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This mostly concerns the characters related to the X-Men (it may also include the Fantastic Four, but that is more complicated). There are numerous ways that this could be … Read More “What I Wish Marvel Would Do With the X-Men Movies” »
I watched X-Men: Apocalypse last night. I had originally wanted to see it in the theatre, but that didn’t work out. Hearing people’s generally negative opinion of the movie, I decided to rent the movie rather than buy it. After hearing all of the bad things about the movie, I was pleasantly surprised. It really … Read More “X-Men: Apocalypse – Review” »
Having not been impressed with previous attempts at portraying the Punisher, I quite liked the reintroduction of the Punisher in the Daredevil series on Netflix. I was pleased to hear that the Punisher would be getting his own series. Did I enjoy the series? I’m not sure that joy is the right word. It was … Read More “Marvel’s The Punisher – Review” »
When it comes to the relationship between movies and TV series, DC and Marvel have gone in very different directions. For DC, there is no connection between the movies and the TV series. Even for the TV series, Arrow/Flash are not in the same universe as Supergirl or Gotham. Marvel, on the other hand, is … Read More “What is the Point of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?” »
I recently rewatched the first Thor movie. Thor has always been one of my favourite Marvel characters, probably because I really enjoy mythology. I’m glad that Marvel made Thor a priority for their cinematic universe. Watching the movie again, with many Marvel movies having been released since then, it was interesting to compare. Thor … Read More “Thor Revisited” »
I loved the first two seasons of Daredevil and I thought Jessica Jones was pretty good. Luke Cage was introduced in Jessica Jones and it was natural that I would want to watch his series. I like what Marvel is doing in bringing together these characters to eventually form the Defenders. I must confess … Read More “Luke Cage – Review” »
In X-Men: Apocalypse, the young Jean Grey makes a comment about the third movie always being the worst. Unfortunately, that was the case for those prequels. However, it is not the case for the solo Wolverine films. Many people hated the first Wolverine movie, although I enjoyed it. The second one was better but the … Read More “Logan – Review” »
I have been enjoying the various Marvel series that have been appearing on Netflix. I was looking forward to Iron Fist, the final character that will be appearing in the future Defenders series. But then the Iron Fist reviews started coming out. The “experts” were saying that Iron Fist was really bad. This took … Read More “Iron Fist – Review” »
The Guardians of the Galaxy sequel was very high on my list of movies to see this year. The first movie is the best Marvel movie yet made as far as I’m concerned. This created some pretty high hopes. I was disappointed. In many ways, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 reminded me of Iron … Read More “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – Review” »
I have fond memories of the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies. They (especially the first two) were some of the first really good superhero movies. I was less impressed with the Andrew Garfield reboot. Not so much because of him but the stories and villains just didn’t do it for me. I was excited when I … Read More “Spider-Man: Homecoming – Review” »
Marvel’s Defenders are not near as much of a household name as the Avengers. Who are the Defenders? They have had quite the revolving roster. The first Defenders comic I ever bought included Doctor Strange and the Hulk. Knowing the comics does not really help the audience of the Netflix Defenders. All you need is … Read More “The Defenders – Review” »
I finally got around to watching Deadpool. My thoughts? That was two hours of my life I will never get back. I’m only thankful that I watched it on Netflix for free and never spent money on it. Seriously, I just don’t understand why it was such a hit. To be completely honest, I actually … Read More “Deadpool – Review” »
