The MCU Spoiler Thread ('free' on Disney+ UK pace) - The Bear and Badger

ShabbyMcCrabby

The music in Loki is fucking fantastic.

Also been enjoying the longer scenes of conversation. That's the kind of TV Marvel should be focusing on to flesh out the characters. No really point just doing another "beat the baddy" like the movies and F&WS were. The best parts of F&WS were the quieter talking bits with the main two

poprock

Non-stop punching and kicking would get old really quickly over the eight to 10 hours of a TV series.

cosmicjellybean

I really liked the other 2 series, but have a feeling this will be my fave. It’s setting up A LOT and having a lot of fun in doing so.

ShabbyMcCrabby

poprock wrote:

Non-stop punching and kicking would get old really quickly over the eight to 10 hours of a TV series.

Falcon had way too much of it imo. It really felt like it was non-stop punching through the middle episodes

RedDave2

ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:

The music in Loki is fucking fantastic.

Completely agree. I only remarked to my wife about this after watching episode 2 last night.

Marvel needs to have more faith in its characters and actors. The need to have a bit of punch kick every episode is surely a relic of 90s buffy stuff?

So far this has felt the most assured of the 3 series but I did like wandavision and felt it only fell flat by feeling it had to have the usual good v bad at the end. With a bit more confidence in its concept it could have been excellent.

I didn't find falcon as bad as some but it suffered badly from a poorly thought out antagonist, too much action (though I did think it was done well) and an attempt at deep thinking that it just couldn't commit to with the racism stuff.

poprock

Loki feels like the most successful of the shows already, despite its flaws. Stylistically outstanding, brilliantly cast, and the script is on point. I can forgive the cheesiness and obvious plotting as part and parcel of the genre (hold it alongside Dr Who, for example). It’s not great, but it’s good. It’s entertaining me. And I’m tuning in on Wednesday nights to catch it straight away.

superflyninja

Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson, the buddy cops Falcon and WS only dreamed of being. Who'da thunk it.
I know its a fairly standard sci fi plot so far. But its done really well. The TVA itself looks great, that vista of the buildings stretching out far in the distance It might be traditional stuff, but its the combination of actors, music and the style that just seem to really do it for me.

EvilRedEye

WandaVision had a bit of an unfortunate oil/water vibe where the sitcom parody and dramatic/action aspects of the show refused to combine into a cohesive whole and it left like the show was either one or the other to the exclusion of the other side at any one time. And Falcon and the Winter Soldier was just a bit of a dud.

So I can understand why people are liking this one, it's a bit concepty but it's also got bits of CGI and action whizz-bangery, it's fairly competently executed, the cast is good... I guess a lot of it depends on how well they stick the landing.

Minkymu

Black widow getting some good reviews, florence pugh in particular

Rev

I've read a few negative takes, but I generally ignore film reviews now and watch stuff that interests me instead of what someone else either loves or despises. I've seen people say it's dull and doesn't work and it's just a set up for a BW mini series. I've seen others talk about how it really hangs together well, and they love Pugh in it. So each to their own. I liked Aquaman and and WW84, so I have no taste whatsoever.

EvilRedEye

Just a reminder that we're not doing open spoilers for BW for a couple of weeks after release to give people a chance to watch it first.

Lord_Griff

Looking will fall down on the typical cheap trick of holding back crucial story elements, and the drip feed element that makes luddites feel smart after a reveal.

Questor

So, Loki Episode 3:

Spoiler:

g.man

Yeah, I'm enjoying it, but I've come to the conclusion that these Marvel series are akin to watching one of their lesser movies, with the added "bonus" of having all the stuff that normally ends up on the cutting room floor, stuck back in to pad out the run time. All three series they've put out so far have had serious story pacing issues imo.

Diluted Dante

Questor wrote:

So, Loki Episode 3:

Spoiler:

I think this was the worst episode so far, by a good margin. I like all the actors in this, but I don't think this needed to be an entire episode of the 2 Lokis together, particularly as we haven't had any character development on the new variant (Let's just call her Sylvie) so the 2 of them working together just didn't make sense IMO

On the other hand

Spoiler:

poprock

I realise they need to change things up episode to episode, but that one didn’t do much for me. Less Dr Who style adventures and more Loki vs bureaucracy, please.

EvilRedEye

I liked the set designs of the settlement outside the Ark at the end and thought they seemed a bit wasted on a brief section of being run through.

Thought the episode generally was OK? It was a bit more generic action-adventury I guess but on the other hand I can't see them doing an entire MCU series mostly set in an office.

MattyJ

Think it showed how much Owen Wilson is bringing to the show.

I enjoyed it, but the dynamic between the two

Spoiler:

didn't feel that great to me...needed some more bedding in time.

LivDiv

Felt like a Doctor Who episode.
Bring back Wilson WOW!

Frosty

It was okay but did give me the Dr Who vibes.

Thought some of the character stuff was a bit weird too. Loki just getting hammered seemed a bit out of character for him and Sylvie immediately going to sleep after saying she couldn't sleep around people she didn't trust was weird.

They also seemed to be teasing a lot of backstory for Sylvie in a way that didn't feel natural. I would have assumed Loki would have had a lot more questions than he did in this episode. It felt like there were a lot of unasked questions hanging there during their interactions if that makes sense.

Spoiler:

Diluted Dante

Frosty wrote:

Loki just getting hammered seemed a bit out of character for him

I mean, he's Asgardian, getting hammerered is kinda their thing.

poprock

Two options:

Loki was playing a role for Sylvie throughout that episode, to tease information out of her. Deception is his thing, after all. The timepad isn’t broken at all, he’s just stalling.

Or Sylvie is enchanting Loki. That whole episode was in Loki’s mind, she’s trying to tease information out of him.

Either way could work, as a story.

EvilRedEye

poprock wrote:

Or Sylvie is enchanting Loki. That whole episode was in Loki’s mind, she’s trying to tease information out of him.

I was half-expecting this to be the climax of the episode after that dialogue about how she enchants people with stronger minds.

g.man

Third option:
It is what it is, and they're just running about that planet like a pair of extras from Dr Who, exchanging bants.
It would be nice to think there was more to the writing, but we've been burned this way with every single Marvel series so far, so I'm not getting my hopes up for a particularly cleverly written story.

EvilRedEye

Maybe Loki has been indoctrinated by the Reapers.

Frosty

poprock wrote:

Two options: Loki was playing a role for Sylvie throughout that episode, to tease information out of her. Deception is his thing, after all. The timepad isn’t broken at all, he’s just stalling. Or Sylvie is enchanting Loki. That whole episode was in Loki’s mind, she’s trying to tease information out of him. Either way could work, as a story.

Yeah I kind of thought the same but then there weren't really any explicit hints of that during the episode other than the opening and even that was slightly different as that was made from memory but Loki hasn't any memories of moon explodey planet. So maybe? although having a "big" cliff hanger that turns out to be just a dream is a bit of a let down.

g.man

I suspect Loki has a time stone. Probably nicked it from that drawer of infinity stones at the TVA. When he stopped that tower falling on them at the end, rather than just stopping it from falling, if you look closely, it looks like he rewinds time around the tower falling. Mayber.

Diluted Dante

I hadn't thought of that. I did think that bit was a bit odd, but we haven't exactly fully nailed down what he's capable of doing.

Finding out what he needs to know and then rewinding time would certainly fit with him.

poprock

g.man wrote:

Third option: It is what it is

Yep, this is very likely.

g.man wrote:

I suspect Loki has a time stone.

But I like this idea. It would have been extremely ‘Loki’ for him to pocket as many of those infinity stones as he could.

poprock

I dunno, I subscribe to the whole ‘Chekov’s gun’ thing when it comes to screenwriting. If we are shown a gun in act one, then it must be used in act three.

And this episode spent a lot of time showing us how Sylvie’s enchantment ability works.

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