Flashback: First Impressions of the Guardians

(Guest post by Russell)

First impressions are often a big deal. I thought I offended my wife during my first interaction with her. Fortunately, for me, she has no memory of it and now we have a great story to tell. When I first heard about the Guardians of the Galaxy back in 2014, I was very much like Korath responding to Star-Lord the first time, “Who?” I knew it was going to be a Marvel movie and I had enjoyed the other movies I had seen up to that time.  I recall hearing on the radio that the soundtrack was the first album that was number #1 and made up of previously released tracks. A classmate of mine at the time told me that the “Guardians of the Galaxy” were to the “Avengers” what the Suicide Squad was to the Justice League. This did not clear things up for me a whole lot, but  I saw the trailer and it looked fun. However, the timeframe for going to see it was not in the “I have to do this right now” section of my to do list. 

In the midst of a lot of moving for a lot of crazy reasons including cockroaches and cop calls for neighbors, we found ourselves in our almost empty apartment when my wife asked, “Do you want to take a break and go see a movie?” I replied, almost with tears in my eyes, “YES! Can we go see Guardians of Galaxy?” My wife replied in the affirmative and off we went. Not only was the soundtrack awesome and still remains one of my favorites to this day, but it was just a fun movie. I had no expectations and found myself laughing while enjoying the action and story as well. I loved the resolution of the Guardians with the people of Xandar. I loved Star-Lord doing a dance-off with Ronan and pretty much all of the funny things he does in the movie. Trying to pick up on Gamora by telling her about Kevin Bacon. Drax taking everything so literally that nothing ever goes over his head. Rocket speaking perfect “groot” language and taking fake legs and eyes just for the fun of it. I loved Groot’s sacrifice and dropping little firefly like things all over the place and on an on. I love when serious things are happening in a movie, but the movie does not take itself too seriously. Do you know what I mean? Yes, the Guardians so an epic walk, but it’s to the song “Cherry Bomb” and it’s right after they are all trying to get into leather pants and jackets, except Drax and Groot, so it’s serious, but funny. Seriously funny, my favorite kind of funny, seriously.

I especially loved how the “good” guys had their flaws and still worked together to beat the bad guys. That is not to say that I in any way, shape, or form condone any of the bad things that the good guys did, but in the end, they all stood together (literally, which was hilarious!) to beat Ronan from destroying Xandar. I guess it’s just a good reminder that in spite of flaws, we can still do good. 

So, my first impression of the movie was, “THIS IS AWESOME! I LOVE THIS SO MUCH! I’M LAUGHING SO HARD! THIS IS AWESOME!” and it gave us the much needed break to get back to packing, unpacking, cleaning, and getting back to life. I have since seen "Volume 1" a number of times, but that first time will always serve as a tender mercy of being able to take a break from life for a while, which, I suppose is sometimes what movies and entertainment are meant to do.

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Part 10

So back when I started my Marvel Cinematic Universe posts, ABC was part-way into Season 2 of “Agent Carter”. At that point, I had no way of watching Season 1 to catch up for Season 2. Recently I learned that Hulu had both seasons available. So as I’ve been binging the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe (everything: movies, Netflix shows, network shows, etc.) I worked “Agent Carter” into it all. So now that I’ve watched both seasons, it’s time to backtrack and cover Agent Peggy Carter’s adventures.

Agent Carter: Season 1 (Ep. 1-8)

Season 1 follows Peggy and Edwin Jarvis trying to clear Howard Stark’s name. Meanwhile, Peggy needs to maintain her job at the SSR where she’s constantly undermined. So here we go.

In 1946, Peggy maintains her cover while working at the SSR. The SSR investigates Howard after his inventions get stolen. Howard asks Peggy to help clear his name. Jarvis helps Peggy recover Nitramene and she narrowly escapes the implosion of Roxxon. As Peggy confronts, Brannis dies in a conflict with a man in a green suit.

At her new apartment, Peggy meets Dottie Underwood. SSR finds Green Suitt's transmitter. Peggy and Jarvis track Howard’s inventions and tip Agents Sousa and Krzeminski off. They get ambused and Krzeminski gets killed. Peggy and Jarvis rescue Howard. Peggy retrieves the Blitzkrief Button, discovering Cap’s blood inside. After Peggy confronts Howard, an assassin comes for her.

Flashback to 1937, the Red Room trains assassins. Peggy intercepts a message and recruits the 107th regiment to help the SSR. The SSR and the Howling Commandos infiltrate the Red Room. They bring Ivchenko back with them. Peggy and Jarvis try to track down a Red Room spy. Sousa investigates Peggy. The SSR goes after Peggy and Dottie stops her from escaping.

The SSR interrogates Peggy. Jarvis brings a fake confession for Howard. Ivchenko steals Item 17 and leaves Dooley in an explosive vest. Dottie and Ivchenko deploy Item 17 at the movie theater, causing a massacre. Dooley dies in an explosion. Howard gets captured by Ivchenko/Fennhoff, who hypnotizes Howard to drop the Midnight Oil (Item 17) on New York. Peggy breaks Howard out of his trance. Dottie escapes and Fennhoff is taken into custody.

Random Trivia/Connections:

• The opening scenes of “Now is Not the End” recap Captain America’s “death” in “The First Avenger”.
• Soviet scientist Anton Vanko appears in “Now is Not the End”. His son becomes the main villain in “Iron Man 2”.
• The Red Room appears in “The Iron Celing”, which is where Black Widow says in “Age of Ultron” that she was trained.
• Armin Zola, who appeared in “The First Avenger” and “The Winter Soldier” appears in prison with Fennhoff in “Valediction”.

Thoughts:

The first season of Agent Carter was unsettling for me, but in a productive way. In a smaller way, it was like “Black Panther” and the discussion of racism. Taking place in the 40s, Peggy wasn’t exactly treated well by her male colleagues. It was unsettling (and probably understated compared to the real 1940s). It was a perfect opportunity for me to evaluate how I treat the women in my life. I also liked the mini-series format. About the time I’d start getting bored, the climax of the season happened.

Agent Carter: Season 2 (Ep. 1-10)

Peggy captures Dottie. Peggy goes to LA to help Sousa with a case. They investigate Isodyne Energy, question Calvin Chadwick, and rescue Jason Wilkes. Wilkes tells Peggy about Zero Matter. Wilkes and Peggy steal Zero Matter. In a confrontation, the Zero Matter absorbs Wilkes and infects Whitney Frost, who frames him. Sousa discovers Forst is scientist Agnes Cully. Peggy and Howard discover Wilkes stuck in the Zero Matter. Frost sends an assassin to kill Peggy after a confrontation.

Growing up, Frost/Agnes Cully’s scientific ability is shunned before becoming actress Whitney Frost. Young Peggy buries her adventurous side until her brother dies. In the present, Frost experiments with her Zero Matter power. Wilkes shows Peggy his Zero Matter powers. SSR infiltrate Roxxon. Peggy fights Frost. The SSR try to stop Wilkes from disappearing. With Dottie's help, they go after Frost, who meets with the Council of Nine. Frost kills half the Council, including Chadwick. Thompson captures Dottie.

Frost interrogates Dottie. Frost's Zero Matter makes Wilkes tangible again. After Frost shoots Ana Jarvis, Dottie escapes and Masters takes control of the SSR. Frost creates an atomic explosion, which absorbs Wilkes. Frost captures Peggy and Jarvis. Peggy and Jarvis escape. Frost absorbs the Zero Matter. Peggy's team uses Gamma Cannon to separate Frost from the Zero Matter. 

Random Trivia/Connections:

• The Zero Matter is related to the Darkforce, involved in the powers of Daniels in “The Only Light in the Darkness” and Krupin in “Parting Shots”.
• The Darkforce Dimension (where Zero Matter originates) is part of the Multiverse introduced in “Doctor Strange”.
• Sousa’s fiancée Violet was portrayed by “Sarah Bolger”, who also played Princess Aurora on “Once Upon a Time”. Aurora was similarly caught in a love triangle.
• Though the series ended with Sousa and Peggy in a relationship, it is unlikely that Peggy married Sousa. As stated in “The Winter Soldier”, Peggy’s unnamed husband was saved by Captain America in “The First Avenger”.

Thoughts:

I enjoyed Season 2 less than the first. Maybe it was because of the extra two episodes? Maybe it was less action? I’m not sure. There was also less of Peggy forcing herself to be assertive as a woman. Other than an episode with her backstory, there was less development with Peggy’s character.

Thoughts on Agent Carter? Probably would have been good to have the series wrapped up a little nicer, but at least each season was a self-contained story. As a result, other than Peggy’s husband, I don’t see any loose ends to be concerned about. Overall, good mini-series.

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Part 8

Agents of SHIELD started up again recently! And with Runaways going right now too, there are so many Marvel things to keep up with. Unfortunately, this week isn’t about Runaways. But it is about SHIELD. I’ve got two small chunks of SHIELD as well as two feature movies. So here we go.

Becoming the Cavalry

Agents of SHIELD: Season 2 (Episodes 17-19)

• 17. Melinda: We start seven years ago (2008). May and Coulson are in Bahrain taking care of an enhanced individual. As things turn out, the enhanced individual is an inhuman child with mind control powers. In present-day Afterlife, Jiaying teaches Skye to use her powers and reveals she’s Skye’s mother. Skye has dinner with her parents. Lincoln suspects Raina is clairvoyant.
• 18. The Frenemy of My Enemy: Bobby and Mack discuss Fury’s Toolbox and Coulson. Simmons reaches out to May. Coulson, Hunter, and Mike team up with Ward, in exchange for helping him take down von Strucker. Cal and Skye visit Milwaukee, where Skye contacts May for backup. Skye and Cal get ambushed by Hydra agents. Needing support, Coulson surrenders to Bobbi and Mack.
• 19. The Dirty Half Dozen: Jiaying talks to Raina about her dreams. Cal confronts Jiaying. Coulson teams up with Gonzales. Coulson’s old team works together (including Skye and Ward) to infiltrate the Hydra base and rescue Lincoln and Mike. Simmons accidentally kills Bakshi. The team escapes without Ward. Raina has a vision of Loki’s scepter. Coulson talks to Hill about another Hydra base.

Coulson's team reunites for one last mission

Random Trivia/Connections:

• ·         Wolfgang von Strucker (who appeared in “The Winter Soldier” credit scene and who later appeared in “Age of Ultron”) appears in a photograph in “The Frenemy of my Enemy”.
• ·         The twins mentioned in “The Dirty Half Dozen” were last seen in the credits scene of “The Winter Soldier” and they become an important part of “Age of Ultron”.
• ·         The events of “The Dirty Half Dozen” foreshadow and directly precede the events of “Age of Ultron”.

Thoughts:

Nice little prelude to “Age of Ultron”. It led up well with the infiltration of Hydra. We also got some resolution on why May is called the Cavalry, which has been teased since the beginning of the series.

The Avengers take down a Hydra base.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

The Avengers take down a Hydra facility, capturing Loki’s scepter and encountering Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Analyzing the scepter, Tony puts it to use towards Ultron (an AI system to replace the Avengers). During their celebration, Ultron takes life and attacks. Ultron uses the scepter and allies himself with the Maximoff twins to fight the Avengers.

Obtaining vibranium, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Ultron fight the Avengers, driving them crazy with visions. The Avengers take refuse at the Barton farm. Thor looks for answers to his visions. Fury inspires the Avengers. Ultron works to make a real body, but loses the allegiance of the twins to the Avengers in the process.

With JARVIS in Ultron’s synthetic body, Thor energizes him and he becomes the Vision. The Avengers team up with the Vision, the twins, War Machine, the Falcon, and SHIELD assets to save Sokovia and stopping Ultron from killing humanity. The Vision ultimately defeats Ultron.

After creating a new base, the Avengers part ways for a time. Elsewhere, somewhere in outer space, Thanos obtains the Infinity Gauntlet.

The Vision faces off against Ultron

Random Connections/Trivia:

• ·         Loki’s scepter, which contained the Infinity Stone which ultimately resides in Vision’s forehead, was given to Loki by Thanos in “The Avengers”.
• ·         War Machine (from the Iron Man films) and the Falcon (from “The Winter Soldier”) appear alongside the Avengers.
• ·         The Tesseract/Space Stone (from “The First Avenger” and “The Avengers”), the Aether/Reality Stone (from “The Dark World”), and the Orb/Power Stone (from “Guardians of the Galaxy”) appear in Thor’s vision.
• ·         Leviathans from the Battle of New York in “The Avengers” appear in Tony’s vision.

Thoughts:

I remember seeing this movie when it came out while I was in Spain on my study abroad. It holds a very awesome and special place in my heart because it’s from when I really started getting into Marvel movies. There was a lot going on and it may have been a mistake to do this as one movie instead of two. I read once that Thor’s visions were very much cut down but hinted toward “Thor: Raganrok”. Now that I’ve seen “Ragnarok” twice I’m interested to watch “Age of Ultron” again. I know people who didn’t care for this movie, but all I remember was geeking out in Madrid over this movie.

Raina works with Gordon

Agents of SHIELD: Season 2 (Episodes 20-22)

• 20. Scars: A year ago, Sam and Coulson discuss the Helicarrier for the Theta Protocol. In the present, Weaver, Gonzales, Bobbi, and Coulson discuss recent events in Sokovia. Coulson and Gonzales join forces. Raina and Gordon sneak into SHIELD and find the Monolith. Skye and Lincoln return to Afterlife before SHIELD arrives. Agent 33 and Ward kidnap Bobbi. Jiaying kills Gonzales and shoots herself to frame him.
• 21. S.O.S. Part 1: Jiaying declares war on SHIELD. Skye goes to Raina for answers. May and Hunter go after Bobbi. Skye sees Jiaying kill Raina. Coulson questions Cal. Simmons and Coulson aggravate Cal. Gordon and the Inhumans attack SHIELD’s ship.
• 22. S.O.S. Part 2: Skye and Mack attempt to liberate the SHIELD ship. Hunter and May rescue Bobbi, killing Agent 33 in the process. Fitz, Coulson, May, and Cal go after the SHIELD ship. Skye confronts her mom. Lincoln and May stop Alisha. Fitz traps Gordon. Jiaying tries to steal Skye’s lifeforce but Skye distracts her by getting rid of the Terrigen Crystals and Cal kills Jiayjing. In the aftermath of the fight, Skye (now going by Daisy) visits her mind-wiped father. In the ocean, the Terrigen Crystals dissolve. Simmons is swallowed by the monolith.

Coulson loses his hand.

Random Connections/Trivia:

• ·         The events of “Age of Ultron”, specifically Agent Hill arriving with the Helicarriers in Sokovia, is directly referenced in “Scars”.
• ·         Cal’s memory being altered is due to Project TAHITI.

Thoughts:

It was a satisfying end to the second season of SHIELD. The three-part finale put an end to the Afterlife arc and kind of set us up for some new stuff the next season. I loved the tie-in to “Age of Ultron”. I love it when Marvel uses SHIELD to answer small, unanswered aspects of the movies. Stuff that’s not big enough to warrant movie time, but easy enough to explain in an episode of TV. It was admittedly a bit slow of a season, but I binged this season on a grave shift, making it really easy for me (although it also made it hard to process).

Ant-Man faces off against the Falcon.

Ant-Man

Flashback in 1989, Hank Pym confronts Carson about stealing his technology. In the present day, Scott Lang gets released from prison but can’t get a stable job. Hank visits PymTech and Cross shows him the Yellowjacket. At his friend Luis’s advice, Scott breaks into the Pym home and steals the Ant-Man suit. Freaked out by the suit, Scott returns it but gets caught in the process.

Hank helps Scott escape jail and he and his daughter Hope train Scott to be Ant-Man. In training to break into PymTech, Scott fights the Falcon to get some tech. Hank tells Hope the truth about her mother. As Cross gets closer to perfecting the Yellowjacket, Hank, Scott, and Hope recruit Luis and his friends to help.

Scott gets caught in the break-in to PymTech. Hope and Hank escape. To win his fight with Cross, Scott ends up in the Quantum Realm, but manages to escape. Scott reconciles with his family. As everything resolves, Scott finds out from Luis that the Falcon is looking for him. Later on, Hank gives the prototype Wasp suit to Hope. At a later time, the Falcon and Captain America question Bucky Barnes.

Wonderful father-daughter moments in Ant-Man

Random Connections/Trivia:

• ·         The events of “Age of Ultron” in Sokovia are referenced by Hank Pym when he refers to the Avengers dropping cities out of the sky.
• ·         The post-credit scene with Captain America is a scene that takes place in “Captain America: Civil War”.
• ·         A “Pingo Doce Soda” poster appears. Bruce Banner worked at their manufacturing plant in “The Incredible Hulk”.
• ·         In Luis’s final conversation of the movie, he references a hero who swings from buildings, alluding to Spider-Man, who would later appear in “Civil War”.

Thoughts:

I loved the balance of humor and action in this movie. Kind of a nice in-between of “Guardians of the Galaxy” and  “Captain America: The First Avenger”. It’s also great because it could exist as a standalone movie. You don’t have to watch the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to enjoy it. Though the references to SHIELD, the Avengers, and other Marvel groups makes it that much better if you do watch it. Only thing that I’d really want to change is Evangeline Lilly’s wig.

What were your thoughts on “Age of Ultron”, the last third of “Agents of SHIELD” Season 2, and “Ant-Man”? Anythin 

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Part 7

So it’s been a year since my last Marvel Cinematic Universe post, so here’s back to it, especially with all the MCU stuff we got this year. Guardians of the Galaxy 2, more Agents of SHIELD, the Defenders, the Inhumans, Thor Ragnarok, and still more to come. So here’s another installment of what Marvel’s done for us.

Agents of SHIELD: Season 2 (Episodes 12-16)

I enjoyed having Lady Sif return for another episode.

• 12. Who You Really Are: A Kree comes to Earth to investigate the diviner. SHIELD teams up with amnesiac Lady Sif to find him. He explains the connection between the Kree and the Inhumans. Fitz lies to Simmons about Skye’s bloodwork. Skye accidentally reveals her powers to her team. After Sif and the Kree leave, in a moment of panic Mack abducts Hunter.
• 13. One of Us: Mack keeps an eye on Hunter while Coulson puts Skye on the Index, with the help of Dr. Garner, May’s ex-husband. Meanwhile, Cal recruits a group of people from the Index to fight SHILED. Cal’s team faces off against Coulson and his team. Cal is taken by a teleporter named Gordon. Mack introduces Hunter to the “real SHIELD”.
• 14. Love in the Time of HYDRA: At Garner’s recommendation, Skye is taken from active duty. Ward and Agent 33 look for the man who can fix her mask. He fixes it so she can mimic people again. They retrieve Bakshi. Hunter meets Gonzales, the SHIELD faction leader.
• 15. One Door Closes: The day SHIELD fell, SHIELD agents including Gonzales, Bobbi, and Mack begin to form a separate faction of SHIELD from Coulsen. In the present, Coulsen and May confront Mack and Bobbi respectively. An EMP enables them to escape. Gordon visits Skye at the safehouse. He later saves her from Bobbi’s team. Coulsen and Hunter team up.
• 16. Afterlife: The Inhumans of the settlement Afterlife treat Skye. Mike Peterson teams up with Coulsen and Hunter to fight Gonzales’s faction. Fitz and Simmons steal back Fury’s toolbox. Skye confronts Raina, but is stopped by Jiaying. Coulsen looks to Ward to help take back SHIELD.

Skye gets introduced to Afterlife in order to control her powers

Random Trivia/Connections:

• In “Who You Really Are”, Lady Sif mentions that Odin sent her on a mission. As seen in “Thor: The Dark World”, it’s not really Odin, but Loki instead.
• Coulson’s huge gun that he used on Loki in “The Avengers” reappears in “Who You Really Are”.
• The flashbacks of “One Door Closes” take place concurrently with “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and the SHIELD episode “Turn, Turn, Turn”.
• It was noted that the safehouse that Skye stays in was previously utilized by Bruce Banner (The Hulk) and Steve Rogers (Captain America).

Thoughts:

To be fair: this part of SHIELD is still where I was watching it on grave shifts, so I through the fluff fast. In the middle of it, I enjoyed this small chunk of SHIELD. However, I also don’t care for it, looking back. Other than being the part where Skye began to learn to control her powers, it was inconsequential. A few episodes later, when season 3 begins, I hardly even remember there being two factions of SHIELD. I guess it had to happen though to lead the season to where it ended.

Daredevil: Season 1 (Episodes 1-13)

So it’s unclear where Daredevil and the other Netflix series fall in the MCU timeline, so I’m just going to place them where they aired. All we really know is that they happened after “The Avengers”, since they mention the Battle of New York at times. Also, since the Netflix shows are a bit edgier and since many of our readers may be conservative Christians, I’ll be giving some “parental guidance” notes for each episode. IMDB typically has a REALLY good parent guide, for details more specific than mine. It’s kind of sparse on these episodes, so add to it if you’ve watched the season.

The "Devil of Hell's Kitchen" started out basically in PJs.

• 1.  Into the Ring: Nine-year-old Matt Murdock loses his vision in an accident but gets super senses. In the present day (some time the Battle of New York) a masked Matt fights crime. In the daylight, Matt and his partner/best friend Foggy take on the case of Karen Page. That night, the masked Matt saves Karen from a thug. Karen becomes Foggy and Matt’s secretary to pay them back. (Parental Guidance: References to sex trafficking; Side-breast/bare back woman; blood and profanity)
• 2. Cut Man: In flashbacks, we see that Matt looked up to his boxer dad Jack. In the present day, Matt gets injured saving a boy and is helped by Claire Temple. Meanwhile, Foggy helps Karen adjust to New York City. Later, Matt hunts down Russian thugs to save a young boy. (Parental Guidance: blood and profanity; references to human traficking)
• 3. Rabbit in a Snow Storm: A vicious fight happens at the bowling alley. Matt lies about his scars to Foggy and Karen. Matt takes the case of the man from the bowling alley (Healey). Union Allied bribes Karen. After getting him free in court, Matt takes on Healey to learn he’s working for Wilson Fisk. Fisk meets Vanessa. Karen goes to Urich for help against Union Allied. (Parental Guidance: lots of violence and blood in the bowling scene)
• 4. In the Blood: Eight years ago, the Ranskahov brothers escape Russia and come to NYC. Claire helps Matt again. Urich reluctantly agrees to help Karen. Fisk goes on a date with Vanessa. The Ranskahov brothers take a job to find the masked Matt, using Claire as bait. Fisk kills one of the brothers for interrupting his date. (Parental Guidance: blood and gore when Fisk kills the Ranskahov brother)
• 5. World on Fire: Fisk and Gao meet with their crime organization. Matt helps stitch up Claire. Matt and Foggy take on the case of Elena Cardenas. Masked Matt looks for intelligence on Fisk. Vanessa goes on another date with Fisk. After a couple explosions, the police find the Masked Matt.
• 6. Condemned: Matt escapes from the police. One of the Russian brothers gets tortured. Matt tends to his wounds. Matt interrogates Ranskahov. Fisk contact Matt. SWAT officers get fought off by Matt as he and Ranskahov escape. (Parental Guidance: blood during torture)
• 7. Stick: As a kid, after his father’s death, Matt gets trained by Stick. In the present, after an unfortunate encounter, Matt reunites with Stick. Karen touches base with Urich. Stick asks for Matt’s help to stop the Black Sky. Matt rescues a young child from the Japanese. Karen recruits Foggy to help Urich. (Parental Guidance: references to child trafficking with the Japanese)
• 8. Shadows in the Glass: In the past, as Fisk’s father loses the local election, he beats his wife. Fisk ends up killing his father. Karen and Foggy let Matt know about their investigation. Gao confronts Fisk. Before Urich can out Fisk’s actions, Fisk appears on TV calling the masked man (Matt) a terrorist. (Parental Guidance: Violence and blood)
• 9. Speak of the Devil: Karen, Foggy, and Urich meet about Fisk’s press conference. After Elena’s death, Matt decides to kill Fisk, but Fisk beats him. Matt escapes and is found out as the masked man by Foggy.
• 10. Nelson v. Murdock: Years before the series, Foggy and Matt become friends at Columbia University. In the present, Foggy confronts Matt about being the masked man. Urich gets a promotion. Karen takes Urich to see Fisk’s mother. The guests at Fisk’s fundraiser get poisoned.
• 11. The Path of the Righteous: Fisk gets help for Vanessa. Matt gets Potter to make a suit for him. Fisk finds out that Urich and Karen visited his mother. Karen gets kidnapped, but ends up escaping by killing her attacker. (Parental Guidance: violence)
• 12. The Ones We Leave Behind: Karen suffers from nightmares after her kidnapping. Foggy gives Marci evidence against Fisk. Matt finds Gao’s warehouse. Matt comforts Karen. Ellison fires Urich. Fisk kills Urich for visiting his mother. (Parental Guidance: violence)
• 13. Daredevil: Matt and Karen attend Urich’s funeral. Gao leaves town. Foggy and Matt get Fisk’s men arrested. He escapes. Matt gets his new suit and faces off against Fisk and he’s taken into custody. Matt, in his new armor, is dubbed Daredevil by the press.

It wasn't until after Fisk was beaten that Matt officially became "Daredevil".

Random Trivia/Connections:

• Multiple times, beginning in the premiere, the Battle of New York gets mentioned, placing the events of Daredevil after “The Avengers”.
• Carl Creel is mentioned in “Into the Ring”, “Cut Man”, and “Stick”. He first appeared in “Shadows” on Agents of SHIELD.
• The truck whose chemicals blinded Matt was a “Rand Oil and Chemicals” vehicle. We’ll see more of Rand in “Iron Fist”.
• The Steel Serpent logo first appeared in “Into the Ring” which later appears on “Iron Fist”.
• The battle between Hulk and Abomination is referenced in an article in “Rabbit in a Snow Storm”, “Stick”, and “Nelson v. Murdock”.
• “In the Blood” briefly mentions Thor’s hammer as “magic hammer” and Iron Man’s armor as an “iron suit”. Tony Stark is also alluded to in “World on Fire” as “one of those billionaire playboys”.
• In “Nelson v. Murdock”, Matt’s Greek girlfriend is mentioned. She later appears in Season 2 as Elektra.
• Cybertek, a company that features prominently in Agents of SHIELD Season 1, is shown in a clipping in “The Ones We Leave Behind”.

Thoughts:

As of the end of “The Defenders”, this season of Daredevil isn’t in my top three seasons of Marvel Netflix. As far as plot, it was well paced. I had a difficult time getting into it, but I enjoyed “Jessica Jones” and “Iron Fist” more (we’ll get to those later). I didn’t particularly care for the violence. I feel like I could have gotten just as much out of the show without seeing the gore. That being said, obviously something went well with this series, since we have so many more Marvel Netflix shows now.

That's all the MCU stuff for now. By next week I'll be done the Seventh Doctor, so be looking forward to the last of the Classic Doctors (unless you count the Eighth Doctor, but we'll get to that later). 

What You Missed-Daredevil Season 1

Matt starts out as the Masked Man

I thought it might be time to start a new series I'll be calling What You Missed, where we'll go into explaining some of the parts of geekdom that doesn't keep to the PG rating. Basically, think of this as Clean Flicks, the blog.

Let's start with Daredevil

The Dark Marvel

The Marvel Universe isn't always family friendly. Some of these characters though have fan followings of their own and the characters are part of the same universe as the family friendly Captain Marvel and Iron Man. Disney has taken to telling the darker stories as episodic series on Netflix and tend to keep them separate from the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe-at least for now. Rumor has it that the Netflix heroes will make a cameo in the upcoming Infinity War movies, so its best to get familiar with the characters just in case.

The Man Without Fear


Most of Daredevil's story lines take place in New York's Hell's Kitchen, a small district in New York City. I won't bother explaining what they changed from the comics or not because with all the ret-cons and alternate tellings it's just a waste of time.

Matt and Foggy-BFFs

Once upon a time a young Matt Murdock lived with his dad, a professional boxer because when you're Irish and in New York it's either that or mob boss according to popular fiction. One day while walking down the street Matt pushed an old man out of the way of an out of control truck and accidentally fell into the trucks cargo of toxic chemicals. This resulted in Matt becoming blind, but since it was toxic waste it also gave him super senses because that's how comic books work. Matt's father is killed around a year later because he wouldn't take a fall during a boxing match for the mafia, and Matt is left orphaned.

Matt meets another blind man, named Stick, who teaches him martial arts for about a week before disappearing mysteriously. We find out later that Stick is in some sort of war that comes up more in the second season.

Years later Matt graduates top of his class and becomes a lawyer with his buddy Foggy and starts a law firm called Nelson and Murdock in Hell's Kitchen in order to help their former neighbors, all the while Matt is running around the streets at night wearing black Under Armor and a mask. Foggy is the comic relief of the show, except for an episode where he finds out Matt's secret and he's shown to be one of the emotional cores of the piece, representing the damage Matt's secret life and the lies he has to tell to maintain it causes to the people he loves.

Enter Kingpin

Bad guys are scarier when they're bald. 

The villain of the first season is Wilson Fisk, AKA Kingpin to comic fans. He's working with the Chinese and Russian mafias as well as the Yakuza to take over Hell's Kitchen (Okay what is in this town that is worth fighting for exactly?). Wilson is a fearsome business man with a cool calm demeanor that hides a massive temper that leads him to eliminate anyone in his way. He's an effective villain not for his vague motivation but for his intimidating presence and the actor's skill with the character. Throughout the season he courts the beautiful art dealer Vanessa, who despite showing trepidation at first to dating a crime lord, eventually warms up to the idea and even becomes his fiance by the end.

Law and Order: Super Heroes

The first season has Matt and Wilson butting heads indirectly through a series of superhero fights and court cases that crosses Matt's desk. The first case gets us Karen Page, a sweet young lady who finds out the company she's working for is secretly corrupt...somehow... and she exposes them to the press which puts her in danger. If this part gets a little vague it's because, to be honest, a lot of the story line in the first season is about Matt and his buddies trying to stop Wilson through the legal system and Matt putting on his mask and beating up his goons. A lot of the lawsuits are about trying to force people out of their homes and trying to trace money back to Wilson, but it's honestly just an annoying complicated mess. Suffice it to say that the series emphasizes the need for both the legal system and vigilante justice.

Claire- The Hero Doctor

Claire-one of the best characters in the Marvel
Cinematic Universe. 

At one point Matt finds himself unconscious in a dumpster and bleeding to death (something Batman has probably had to do early in his career) and is rescued by Claire, a nurse from a local hospital. Claire becomes Matt's on-call doctor whenever a battle has left him particularly injured, and they try to start up a romantic fling for an episode only for Claire to decide that she's better off not becoming someone else's Lois Lane.

Claire is an interesting character to bring up because she appears in all the other Marvel Netflix shows, tying all the shows together. She becomes an audience surrogate character since she is just a normal person in a normal person job.

And The Winner...

Daredevil gets a snazzy new suit-complete with horns. 

After all the fighting and legal maneuvering, by the end of the season Matt gets Wilson arrested, but not before finding Wilson's secret tailor who makes him his snazzy red Daredevil suit. I called him Matt through the piece because it's not till the end that he actually becomes Daredevil by name and outfit, which is a nice touch since few self-respecting human beings would try to go around town calling himself something from an Evil Kanevil ad. In the process Matt also managed to drive the Chinese, Russians and Yakuza out of Hell's Kitchen, keeping it safe for all the crack heads and purse thieves already living there.

While being the first attempt at bringing the cinematic universe into a darker world, the show isn't that bad considering how bad it could've been. The violence is over the top which keeps it out of the kid friendly zone, but despite that and the long courtroom drama stuff, the show is a good start to the Marvel Netflix series.

-JOE

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Part 6

Today Mormon Geeks will take you far away across the galaxy (before abruptly returning) as we look at Guardians of the Galaxy and more Agents of SHIELD. This was an interesting part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, taking on a completely different tone, compared to the other movies so far. It also greatly expanded the universe that Marvel had set up. But we’ll get more into that later. First, Guardians of the Galaxy.

Guardians of the Galaxy

In 1988 shortly after his mother passes, Peter Quill is abducted by aliens. In the present day, Quill steals an artifact, known as the Orb, under the alias “Star Lord”. His old pal Yondu puts out a bounty for him, which Ronan (a Kree warlord) sends Gamora (Thanos’s adopted daughter) after the Orb. While trying to sell the Orb on Xandar, Star Lord, Groot (a humanoid tree), Rocket (a genetically engineered), and Gamora get in a big scuffle, which ends them all up in prison.

Using the help of Drax, the four escape the prison and go to Knowhere to sell the Orb. At Knowhere, the group learns that the Orb is one of six dangerous Infinity Stones, so they opt not to sell it, but to take it to Nova Corps. However, Drax has called Ronan in the meantime for revenge, which results in everyone getting attacked. To save Gamora, Quill lets himself get captured by Yondu’s men, but they convince him to help save Xandar from Ronan’s men.

So Yondu, the Nova Corps, and the “Guardians of the Galaxy” take on Ronan. Groot dies in the process, but the other four Guardians together manage to temporarily tame the Power Stone in the Orb. After defeating Ronan, the Nova Corps lets the Guardians of the Galaxy go with clean records, as Groot begins to grow again.

Random Trivia/Connections:

• Members of the Kree race previously appeared in Agents of SHIELD episode “TAHITI”.
• Thanos previously appeared during the credits scene of “The Avengers”.
• The Collector also reappears after being entrusted with the Aether in the credits scene of “Thor: The Dark World”.
• Other Inifinity Stones had previously appeared, including the Space Stone (Tesseract) in “The First Avenger”, “Thor”, and “The Avengers”; the Reality Stone (Aether) in “The Dark World”; and the Mind Stone (later revealed to be in Loki’s Staff) in “The Avengers”. Both the Tesseract and the Aether appear in the vision about the stones.

Thoughts:

This was a different story from the ones Marvel had told to this point. It was quite a bit lighter and while there was still plenty of action, it was probably the most humorous and light-hearted Marvel movie to that point. I don’t know if Ant-Man or Deadpool would have done as well if Guardians of the Galaxy hadn’t come first. As I mentioned in my intro, this movie also pushed things open a little more for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sure, we had seen Asgard in “Thor”, but most of the action took place on Earth. In contrast, only the first scene of this movie happened on Earth. Everything else spanned light-years and lots of space travel. Finally, I’ve also gotta add that this movie is the one that sold me on Chris Pratt as a celebrity man-crush. He’s light-hearted and super fit, with good values, and his character used dancing and friendship to save a planet. Pretty awesome.

Agent Morse and Agent Simmons escape
Hydra in "A Hen in the Wolf House".

Agents of SHIELD: Season 2 (Episodes 1-11)

1. Shadows: In 1945, Peggy Carter retrieves the Obelisk from Hydra, the original 0-8-4. In the present, Skye, May, Trip, and some hired mercenaries get ambushed trying to get Hydra intel. The ambusher is identified as Creel. Skye interrogates Ward. Creel attempts an attack on Talbot, but May intervenes. The team infiltrates an army base to get the Obelisk. Hartley dies after touching the Obelisk. Creel escapes with the Obelisk, while the team steals a Quinjet.

2. Heavy is the Head: May chases Creel, surveying him from afar. Hunter is caught by the army and offered a deal by Talbot, if he will turn in Coulsen. May witnesses the Obelisk kill another. Raina approaches Creel about the Obelisk, but contacts SHIELD when he turns her down. SHIELD tries to ambush Creel, but Hunter betrays them. Raina steals the Obelisk in the commotion and gives it to Skye’s father. Coulsen has an “episode”. Coulsen makes a counter-offer with Talbot, giving him Creel.

3. Making Friends and Influencing People: Hydra gets another former SHIELD agent. Coulsen checks in on Simmons. Donnie Gill hides from Hydra. SHIELD and Hydra track him to Morocco. Fitz attempts to kill Ward. At Bakshi’s request, Simmons attempts to trigger Donnie’s brainwashing, but he runs. Bakshi successfully triggers it to get Donnie to kill everyone on the boat, before Skye kills Donnie. Bakshi and Whitehall discuss brainwashing Simmons. Ward tells Skye that her father is alive.

4. Face My Enemy: A painting is found with Coulsen’s runes on it. May and Coulsen look for clues at a party, but are discovered by Talbot. However, the government buys the painting first. May discovers that it’s Bakshi and not Talbot. Agent 33 takes May’s appearance. After she gets to the Bus, Coulsen discovers she’s not May. Coulsen and May take down Agent 33 and Bakshi. Due to Agent 33, the Bus starts to shut down, but Fitz and Hunter manager to stop a self-destruct. Whitehall ambushes Raina.

5. A Hen in the Wolf House: Hydra attempts a massacre at a wedding. Skye’s father lashes out when she interrupts him. Raina blackmails Coulsen into a meeting with her. Hydra is tipped off about a spy, but Simmons manages to evade them. Bobbi Morse questions Simmons anyway. Raina threatens to turn Simmons in, unless Coulsen agrees to let Skye go with her to her father. With Raina’s evidence, Hydra goes after Simmons, but Bobbi helps Simmons escape to the SHIELD Quinjet. Coulsen sends Raina off with a tracker. Skye discovers that Coulsen’s runes are a map. Skye’s father teams up with Whitehall.

6. A Fractured House: Hydra masquerades as SHIELD agents to attack the UN. Bobbi and Hunter go after a Hydra scientist in Japan. Coulsen visits Senator Ward. Skye interrogates Ward about her father, before handing him over to his brother. Bobbi, Hunter, and May take down Hydra agents at a Belgian safe house. Talbot takes the Hydra agents into custody. Ward escapes his brother’s custody.

7. The Writing on the Wall: While May, Bobbi, Hunter, and Trip look for Ward, a string of murders involving Coulsen’s carvings pop up. Using the memory machine, Coulsen deduces that the killer must be a TAHITI subject as well. Hunter catches Ward meeting with Bakshi. The agents catch Bakshi. Coulsen discovers that the killer is a former SHIELD agent, Derik. Seeing Thompson’s body, Derik and Coulsen realize the carvings are the blueprints of a city. Coulsen starts the race against Hydra to this “city”.

8. The Things We Bury: In flashbacks, Whitehall is interrogated by Agent Carter and later pardoned by Secretary Pierce. In the present, Whitehall teams up with Skye’s father to find the city. The SHIELD agents discover Whitehall is Reinhardt from the past. Ward captures his brother and tortures him. Bobbi interrogates Bakshi. In tracking down the city, Trip and Coulsen are ambushed by Skye’s father. Later, Ward joins Whitehall.

9. …Ye Who Enter Here: May, Skye, Hunter, and Trip protect Raina from Hydra, while Bobbi, Coulsen, Mack, Simmons, and Fitz look for the city in Puerto Rico. Raina tells Skye more about the Obelisk. Fitz dwarfs shut down, heading into the city. Mack becomes infected by climbing in to the city. Ward takes Raina from SHIELD and insists on taking Skye too, who goes on her own.

Skye gets caught in the Terrigen
Mist in "What They Become". 

10. What They Become: May, Trip, Hunter, and the Koenigs escape Hydra and regroup in Puerto Rico. In Ward’s custody, Skye meets her father Cal, who tells her of her impending “transformation”. Coulsen, May, Hunter, and Bobbi attempt to save Skye. Coulsen kills Whitehall and is attacked by Cal. Skye convinces her father to stop and he calls her by her birth name Daisy. Ward leaves with Agent 33. Skye chases Raina into the tunnels. In the temple chamber, the Obelisk opens, killing Trip and transforming Skye and Raina.

11. Aftershocks: The team grieves over Trip’s death. Hydra’s heads agree to a competition to destroy SHIELD. A transformed Raina attacks Simmons’s team in the city. Hunter tricks Bakshi into taking him to their base. Simmons discovers that Raina’s DNA has changed. Bobbi and Hunter take down three Hydra heads. Fitz lies about Skye’s DNA being the same. Raina is rescued from some agents by a teleporting man with no eyes.

Random Trivia/Connections:

• Peggy Carter and Captain America’s comrades from “The First Avenger” appear in “Shadows”.
• John Garrett is revealed to be Creel’s supervising agent in “Shadows”.
• The Chitauri, the Avengers, and the Battle of New York are mentioned in “A Fractured House”.
• A previous mission of Hawkeye (Barton) is referenced by Bobbi in "A Fractured House".
• A Captain America propaganda poster appears multiple times in the SHIELD base.
• Von Strucker, later seen in “Age of Ultron”, is referenced in “The Writing on the Wall” and “Aftershocks”.
• Skye mentions a Rising Tide contact called "Micro" in "The Writing on the Wall". This is likely the same Micro that appears prominently in "The Punisher".
• Coulsen’s comment about “chasing windmills” in his madness is a reference to Don Quixote.
• In the flashback of “The Things We Bury”, Red Skull’s demise (which happened in “The First Avenger”) is mentioned to Whitehall.
• Also in “The Things We Bury” flashback, it is mentioned that Whitehall was pardoned by Secretary Pierce, who was shown to be a Hydra agent in “The Winter Soldier”.
• The Kree (previously seen in “TAHITI” and “Guardians of the Galaxy”) are referred to as “Blue Angels” in “The Things We Bury”.
• While infiltrating the Australian base in “The Things We Bury”, Fitz’s codename is “Timelord”, likely a reference to Doctor Who.

Thoughts:

In some ways this part of the story dragged on a bit. At the same time, it flowed a lot better than season one. I got a little tired of Skye’s father at times and the constant running around about the runes/blueprint. However, the episodes culminating toward the end of this segment were great. Bringing in the Inhumans mixes things up for Agents of SHIELD. Instead of being just Hydra vs. SHIELD, we get more powered people. And at least up until the end of season 3, Inhumans are a core part of Agents of SHIELD mythology. In a way, this made Agents of SHIELD more legitimate as a series and part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, since it started to include some comic book characters, like Daisy Johnson (aka Skye, aka Quake).

That’s all for today. Next week I’ve got some prodigious coming. Also, keep an eye out for Doctor Strange, which is coming out sooner than it feels (at least to me). Expect a review after I see it.

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Part 5

Happy Comic Con Week! Only a few more days until Comic Con! In the meantime, I’ve got another installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Next one after this is Guardians of the Galaxy and some more Agents of SHIELD.

Steve and Natasha found themselves on the run from their
"friends" in the fall of SHIELD during "The Winter Soldier".

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Two years after The Battle of New York, Steve Rogers meets Sam Wilson, before leaving with Black Widow for a mission. They rescue a bunch of SHIELD agents from a hijacked boat, including Agent Sitwell. Back in DC, Fury shows Rogers three helicarriers, Project Insight, that will take out SHIELD’s enemies preemptively. Rogers visits Peggy Carter. Meanwhile, Fury runs into some problems, leading him to delay Project Insight. Later, on his way to meet Agent Hill, Fury gets attacked on the road and a mysterious masked man attempts to kill him. He escapes to Cap’s apartment and inconspicuously tells him that SHIELD has been compromised and hands off a mysterious USB drive. Fury gets shot and Cap’s neighbor bursts in, revealing herself to be Agent 13 (Sharon Carter).

Later, Pierce questions Rogers about Fury’s death. On his way from the interview, Cap is attacked by an elevator full of SHIELD agents, including Rumlow, but he’s able to take them all down and escape the building. Cap reluctantly teams up with Black Widow, who tells him about the masked man, known as the Winter Soldier. They discover that they need to take Fury’s USB drive to Cap’s old military training ground, where a digitized Zola tells them that Hydra is inside of SHIELD. They barely survive an explosion and look to Sam for help.

The three get information about Project Insight out of Agent Sitwell, who the Winter Soldier kills. Cap rips off Winter Soldier’s mask, discovering that it’s a brainwashed Bucky. The trio escapes Hydra with the help of Agent Hill, who takes them to a secret facility where they discover that Fury is alive. Captain America and Sam Wilson (The Falcon) break into SHIELD agents that Hydra exists in their ranks. A fight ensues as the Hydra agents (including Rumlow) launch the helicarriers. Black Widow, who snuck into the World Security Council, dumps SHIELD and Hydra’s secrets to the public, while Cap and Falcon disable the helicarriers. Amidst it all, Cap fights the Winter Soldier, trying to save his friend. After the fighting is over, Steve and Sam go looking for Bucky. Meanwhile, Strucker of Hydra continues experiments on two teenagers.

Random Trivia/Connections:

• In “End of the Beginning”, Agent Sitwell leaves for another mission, which leads him to the hijacked boat at the beginning of this movie.
• Bucky’s supposed death occurred in “The First Avenger”.
• Sitwell mentions “Bruce Banner” and “Stephen Strange” as potential targets of Project Insight.
• Zola previously appeared in “The First Avenger”.
• Loki’s staff, from “The Avengers”, appears in the mid-credits scene.

Thoughts:

Action packed and character building. This is what I like about Marvel movies. This episode has a wonderful lead in to Cap’s search for Bucky, which leads us into Civil War. It also changes the setting for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, making these super heroes and Avengers the authority instead of an agency like SHIELD. I also really like how it showcased Captain America’s humanity, as he is willing to do whatever it takes, even dying, to save his friend from the brainwashing.

It was impossible to know who to trust in "Turn, Turn, Turn".

Agents of SHIELD: Season 1 (Episodes 17-22)

The SHIELD team continues their mission, starting with the fall of SHIELD and leading into the aftermath of the organization falling in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and how it would rebuild itself from the ground up.

• 17. Turn, Turn, Turn: The confrontation between May, Skye, Coulsen, and Fitz resolves with May unconscious and Garrett joining them. The plane evades SHIELD while Skye discovers that Hydra is inside SHIELD. Hand confronts Simmons and Trip, confirming that they’re not Hydra agents. Coulsen pieces together that Garrett is the clairvoyant. Hand rescues Coulsen’s team from Garrett. They hear of Captain America taking down Hydra in DC. While escorting Garrett to containment, Ward betrays and kills Hand, releasing Garrett.
• 18. Providence: Ward and Garrett break Raina out of SHIELD prison. Coulsen and his remaining team follow a signal to an unknown location in the Arctic. Garrett and Ward raid the Fridge for 0-8-4s. Coulsen’s team uncovers the Providence SHIELD base and Agent Eric Koenig. Ward is sent to get access to Skye’s USB drive of SHIELD secrets.
• 19. The Only Light in the Darkness: Ward lies to the SHIELD team about what happened at the Fridge. Koenig interrogates each agent. Coulsen tracks down Marcus Daniels, who is stalking his former love interest. May leaves Providence. After finding Koenig killed, Skye pieces together that Ward is Hydra. After apprehending Daniels, Coulsen, Trip, Fitz, and Simmons head back to Providence, but not before Ward leaves with Skye. Meanwhile, May gets information on Hill from her mother.
• 20. Nothing Personal: May confronts Maria Hill. Coulsen, Fitz, Trip, and Simmons return to Providence to find Skye and Ward gone and they find Skye’s message that Ward is Hydra. General Talbot invades the base with Hill’s help. After convincing Hill of continued danger, she helps Coulsen’s team escape to rescue Skye. In Los Angeles, Skye stalls for time, but her plan is thwarted when Deathlok appears. Deathlok blackmails Skye into cooperating. Coulsen sneaks onto the plan as they take off and he rescues Skye in Lola, his flying car. 
• 21. Ragtag: In a flashback, Garrett recruits Ward to Hydra. In the present, Coulsen’s team infiltrates Cybertek to plant a Trojan Horse virus. Coulsen and May steal Cybertek’s hardcopy records, discovering that Garrett was the first Deathlok subject. Coulsen, May, Trip, and Skye infiltrate the Cuban Hydra base, while Ward hijacks the Bus with Fitz and Simmons on board. Ward dumps Fitz and Simmons off the Bus over the ocean. Meanwhile, Raina uses the GH-325 Serum to save Garrett.  
• 22. Beginning of the End: Garrett begins carving something into the wall. Fitz and Simmons awake at the bottom of the sea. May and Skye infiltrate Cybertek and try to blackmail Garrett and Ward. Fitz and Simmons break out of their underwater prison and are found by Fury. Ward confronts Skye and is taken down by May. Meanwhile, Coulsen and Fury take on Garrett. With Ward and Garrett taken care of, Fury gives Coulsen the tools to be the director of SHIELD, building it back up. Later, Raina meets a man who appears to be Skye’s father. Meanwhile, Coulsen begins carving on the wall.

In "Ragtag", Coulsen and May found it hard to hack
Cybertek for obvious reasons.

Random Trivia/Connections:

• “Turn, Turn, Turn” occurs simultaneously with “The Winter Soldier”, showing scenes of the Trikelion falling and mentioning Captain America’s success in DC.
• Nick Fury’s “death” from “The Winter Soldier” is mentioned in “Turn, Turn, Turn”.
• Items and people from previous SHIELD missions are seen at the Fridge, including the Berserker Staff from “The Well”.
• Trip states that he’s the grandson of one of the Howling Commandos, from “The First Avenger”.
• Simmons references Doctor Who, mentioning that she’d want the TARDIS on a desert island, while being interrogated by Koenig in “The Only Light in the Darkness”.
• Pepper Potts and Tony Stark are mentioned, as Maria Hill’s new employers.

Thoughts:

I know several people who have criticized Agents of SHIELD because it was hard to get into. Granted, I started watching Agents of SHIELD over a grave shift, so it only took me two weeks to get through seasons one and two, but this is the point when it really gets good. Instead of being an episode to episode, CSI type story, it becomes an overarching story that begins to draw in other parts of the Marvel Universe, including the Kree, Asgardians, and (in season 2) the Inhumans. Before this point it was like Agents of SHIELD was picking up the scraps of the Marvel movies with Extremis and Asgardian relics, but beginning here and moving on into season 2 the SHIELD team begins to delve into things of their own.

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Part 4

Bad news: Summer is winding down. Good news: I’m not in school anymore. Better news: I’ve got another Mormon Geeks post on the Marvel Cinematic Universe here (does that count as prideful? Oh well.)

Thor: The Dark World

Loki and Thor briefly team up in "Thor: The Dark World".

Long ago, Odin defeated the Dark Elves, but some escape and hide in suspended animation. In the present day, Loki is incarcerated after the attempted Chitauri invasion on Earth. Meanwhile, Thor and his friends are cleaning up messes that resulted from the bifrost being broken. Meanwhile, on Earth, Darcy interrupts Jane on a date and they go find a special anomaly in England. In dealing with the anomaly, Jane falls through a portal of sorts. Thor is alerted that she’s not on Earth and goes to find her. She wakes up on Earth, hours after disappearing. After Thor arrives, they discover that she has absorbed something the other realm and he takes her away from Earth.

While Jane is on Asgard, Odin realizes that it’s the Aether. Meanwhile, because the Aether has been found, the Dark Elves awaken. In the struggle of the Elves attacking, Thor’s mother is killed. Thor decides to team up with Loki to get Jane off Asgard. Loki appears to sacrifice himself in helping Thor fight the Dark Elves’ leaders, who takes the Aether from Jane. After returning to Earth, Jane and Thor get help from Selvig, Darcy, and Ian to defeat the Dark Elves. After the battle ends, Volstagg and Sif visit the Collector to have him take care of the Aether, which is one of the Infinity Stones.

Random Connections/Trivia:

• When Jane meets Loki, she slaps him, because of what happened in New York.
• The wars that Thor and his friends are dealing with are the direct aftermath of Loki’s aggressive actions in “Thor”.
• Erik Selvig’s mental problems are a direct result of being controlled by Loki in “The Avengers”.
• Loki briefly disguises himself as Captain America, to make fun of Thor.
• The Collector later appears in “Guardians of the Galaxy”.

Thoughts:

I’ve heard a lot of critiques about Dark World. However, I can’t completely have a negative opinion about it. I mean, we get more of Darcy! How can you hate Darcy? Even though Jane won’t be coming back any time soon (thanks to contract disputes and such), I’d love to see Darcy pop up in another movie sometime. This was also a good place to start with “introducing” the Infinity Stones. Sure we saw the Tesseract before, but this one is more explicit about it, especially after seeing Thanos at the end of “The Avengers”.

Agents of SHIELD: Season 1 (Episodes 8-16)

In "The Bridge", Mike trades Coulsen for his son.

The specialized SHIELD team of Coulsen, May, Fitz, Simmons, Ward, and Skye continue on their missions, starting with the aftermath of “Thor: The Dark World” and leading up to “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”.

• 8. The Well: The team cleans up the aftermath of “Thor: The Dark World”, while a couple in Norway find an Asgardian staff giving them super strength. The team comes to check the scene out and end up on the hunt for the couple. With the help of Elliott Randolph (who turns out to be Asgardian) the team track down the Berserker Staff. Having touched the staff, Ward is incapacitated by memories from his childhood. May is finally able to retrieve the staff, using her emotional coping mechanisms.
• 9. Repairs: The teams is brought in to investigate a woman (Hannah) who is apparently telekinetic. During their investigation, they discover a man (Tobias) who is stuck in an alien dimension. After Tobias starts sabotaging the Bus, May discovers that Tobias has been out to protect Hannah, phasing in and out of our dimension.
• 10. The Bridge: Skye searches for leads to her past. Reluctantly, the team gets help from Mike Peterson to look into a break-in, involving Centipede soldiers. Meanwhile, Raina looks for guidance from the Clairvoyant. After a scuffle with the Centipede soldiers, Mike calls his son, only to find out that Raina is with him. Coulsen agrees to trade Mike for his son, but they take Coulsen instead. Later, Raina reveals that she wants to know what happened after Coulsen died.
• 11. The Magical Place: The team searches for Coulsen, after Skye gets kicked off the Bus by Victoria Hand, with May’s approval. Meanwhile, Edison Po reveals that the Clairvoyant can’t see what happened to Coulsen after he died. Skye tricks a Centipede financer to help her track the money trail back to Raina. Coulsen agrees to let Raina uncover his memories. Skye regroups with her team to rescue Coulsen, who has learned of the TAHITI procedure, which revived him after his death. Meanwhile, Mike Peterson is told to await instructions.
• 12. Seeds: At the SHIELD academy, a couple of students get killed in a sudden freeze at the pool. The team is brought in to investigate. After another sudden freezing, Fitz takes an interest in Donnie Gill and helps him complete a project. Meanwhile, May and Coulsen look for answers about Skye’s past, discovering that she’s considered dangerous. At the academy, turns out at the Donnie and his friend Seth are behind the freezing. Before they can sell their idea to Ian Quinn, they’re stopped by the team.
• 13. TRACKS: The team goes undercover on an Italian train. However, not long into the mission, communications go down. After getting chased off the train, Ward and Coulsen get frozen by an dendrotoxin bomb. While they’re frozen, May (who has already fled the train) gets them out of harm’s way. She had been captured by Coulsen’s Italian police contact, who she follows to the Bus and kills, just in time to save Coulsen and Ward. Meanwhile, Fitz and Skye trace the target to Ian Quinn. When the rest of the team catches up with them, Skye has already found Mike Peterson in stasis. Quinn shoots Skye, against the Clairvoyant’s wishes. The team captures Quinn and puts Skye in the stasis chamber to save her.
• 14. TAHITI: The team tries to find the facility that saved Coulsen, so that they can save Skye. Because they haven’t taken Quinn to the Fridge yet, they are intercepted by Agents Garrett and Triplett. They agree to help, to interrogate Quinn on the plane. The Bus lands at “the Guest House” where the team finds the GH-325 serum that saved Coulsen. They blow up the Guest House on their way out, but not before Coulsen discovers that the GH-325 serum is derived from Kree blood. Meanwhile, in Death Valley, an Asgardian appears.
• 15. Yes Men: An Asgardian named Lorelei starts using her powers to create a posse of men to follow her every command. Meanwhile, Simmons is testing Skye for any irregularities after being injected with the GH-325 serum. Lady Sif arrives and teams up with SHIELD to find Lorelei. However, in taking on Lorelei, Ward is taken over as well. Ward and Lorelei take control of the Bus, with Fitz in tow. Finally, Sif is able to capture Lorelei, breaking the spell on the men. After Sif and Lorelei leave, Coulsen has a one-on-one with Skye, which is overheard by May.
• 16. End of the Beginning: Trip and Garrett search for the Clairvoyant off the Index’s rejects, but run into Mike/Deathlock. Later, Agents Hand, Garrett, Trip, Sitwell, and Blake join up with Coulsen’s team to track down the Clairvoyant. Skye (recently made an official agent) randomly assigns them to missions to track it down. Deathlock attacks May and Blake, putting Blake in critical condition. Coulson, Ward, and Garrett track down Nash, their prime suspect for the Clairvoyant and Ward shoots him at the mention of Skye. On the Bus, Fitz discovers an encrypted line, which is traced to May. Skye and Coulsen realize that the Clairvoyant is a high ranking SHIELD agent. Skye, Coulsen, and Fitz confront May, when suddenly the plane shifts course, Meanwhile, Nick Fury is being shot at in DC.

The hunt for the Clairvoyant gets
serious in "End of the Beginning"

Random Connections/Trivia:

• In “The Well”, both Thor movies are referenced as we see snippets from The Battle of New Mexico and The Battle of Greenwich.
• Multiple Asgardians are seen, including Randolph and Sif.
• Bucky Barnes’s name is seen on the Wall of Valor at the SHIELD Academy in “Seeds”.
• Baby Skye is revealed to be an 0-8-4.
• Blonsky, the Abomination from “The Incredible Hulk”, is referenced by Coulsen in TRACKS.
• It is stated that Lorelei escaped Asgard during the events of “Thor: The Dark World”.
• When Coulsen and Sif see each other in “Yes Men”, they recall meeting during the events of “Thor”, but she also recalls Thor indicating he’d died in “The Avengers”.
• In “End of the Beginning”, Sitwell is transferred to the Lumerian Star, which is overrun by pirates and later saved by Captain America in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”.
• The final scenes of “End of the Beginning” leads into the events of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”, starting with Nick Fury’s car chase.

Thoughts:

I really liked how this part of Agents of SHIELD began connecting the episodes more to the movies. This is where things really got rolling and the interweaving of the show with the cinematic universe got fun. Having it just as a side story wasn’t as fun as having “The Well” and “End of the Beginning” tie into “Thor: The Dark World” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”. It also started giving a bit more depth to the story, instead of just episode long missions.

That's all for now. Next Marvel post I'll get at the fall of SHIELD on two fronts: cinematic and television.