MAYvel 2021 (Streaming Edition); Inhumans: I can see why this couldn't even get to double digits...

 One of the main reasons I review content made for the Marvel Cinematic Universe every May is consistency. As repetitive as the movies may get, one thing that's hard to deny is the level of consistency in the quality of their content. While all the movies might not be great to watch, a bad Marvel movie is still considered better than a mediocre movie from other studios. I'd rather watch Thor: The Dark World over Venom if given the option. The same, though, can't be said for their Television content. While Wandavision and Falcon and The Winter Soldier have been great starts for them on Disney+, and there are gems in the Netflix partnership like Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, when it gets bad, it gets really bad. If you thought Iron Fist was a lousy show, allow me to introduce to you Inhumans, a show so bad I couldn't even get past the first episode out of eight. See why I did M.O.D.O.K. first?

 

First, to get some positives out of the way, I think the island shots of Hawaii are well done. For the most part, the costume design is fine, and the casting choices are solid for the roles. I also appreciate the changes made for Black Bolt; I think the use of Sign Language for him is an excellent idea. Unfortunately, though, that's pretty much where the positives end. If I were to describe my thoughts with the first episode, the episode meant to hook me in on the show's premise; it's boring. I was bored throughout the episode to the point that I would pause, change to a new tab and watch Youtube videos for a while to watch something entertaining, something lively. What doesn't help is the setting and the delivery of most lines. Attilan looks like a hodgepodge of sci-fi and the world's most boring prison in terms of architecture, thanks to it being nothing but grey building that feels like cinder-blocks with basic carvings on them for detail. At the same time, inside, it's more bland, monotone coloured rooms and hallways. As for the delivery, while the casting looks like solid representations of the characters from the comics thanks to good costume design, their direction isn't. The delivery of most lines in the script reminds me of the Star Wars prequels, along with moments of Man of Steel where it feels like the only emotion they can portray is bland stoicism. It's hard to get a reading on some scenes as a result because there was one moment when the Royal Family was having dinner, and one member tries to flirt with a waitress before going on for too long and (I think?) saying he'll kill her for some reason? Then when she walks away, he gets mad about it being his power? Was that meant to be funny? I don't even know what his power is yet!

 

However, the powers go into the most significant issue the show has. Like with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Inhumans was done on a T.V. show budget, but corners were cut to make it as cheap as possible to produce. Some establishing shots look awkward going from the actual camera to full CGI. Many of the powers are limited whenever possible (to the point where they cut off Medusa's hair, taking away her power entirely for the sake of not needing to animate her hair past episode 1 poorly). Without needing to go into more detail about the characters online, the only character after 30 minutes that I could get a feel for who he is and his powers is Lockjaw, a giant (poorly rendered) CGI dog that can teleport. Though not as accurate of a comparison as it would be if I had another show to compare it to, at least in the X-Men movies, I can get the basics of most characters down within a few minutes of their introduction, or at the very least by the end of the film. Their name, their powers, their personality. I can't even tell you the terms of the main cast in this show off the top of my head because of how uninteresting they are, and I can't even begin to describe most of their powers because of how reserved they are for the sake of the budget. 

This show was green-lit was to try and improve the image of the Inhumans and have them replace the X-Men in the comic culture so that they don't need to promote characters Marvel didn't have the movie rights to. If this one episode is anything to go by, I wouldn't be surprised if people cared even less about the Inhumans after watching the show. Nothing about it feels like anyone genuinely wanted to work on the project, genuinely wanted to bring these characters to life. This show feels lifeless, soulless, brought into existence because of an awful business decision, and suffers as a result. If you can sit through more than one episode, great, good on you, but I couldn't do it. What a downer note to end on for MAYvel 2021... Loki looks interesting at least, and hopefully, this lockdown will lift so I can see Black Widow in cinemas.

MAYvel 2021 (Streaming Edition); M.O.D.O.K: A Frost Giant's head, on an infant's body, with the voice of Patton Oswalt... ok.

Only a short one today, as there's only one episode to watch right now (here in Australia). Inhumans is still coming. However, I was pretty busy with work last week and put it on hold for now. Who knows, if my state goes back into lockdown, I could have plenty of time on my hands. Though it is only eight episodes, M.O.D.O.K caught my curiosity because of the style, and with it currently only being one episode here (of how it's being released here), I thought it might be fun to sit back, have a laugh, and watch Patton Oswalt be one of Marvel's strangest villains. Welcome to A.I.M.

 

How to describe this show? Based purely on the pilot, the best way I can describe it is "what happens when you combine Marvel, Modern Family, The Office, and Robot Chicken?" As strange of a combination as that might sound, that's probably the best way to describe the show. The show will primarily focus around the titular M.O.D.O.K as he balances issues at home... because someone actually married him, and gave him children (oh, I hope that becomes a joke in Deadpool 3...), a mid-life crisis, along with the after-effects of selling A.I.M to the show's equivalent of Google/ Apple/ Samsung/ Waddle/ insert tech giant here, GRUMBL. Along the way, though I haven't seen most of these characters yet, we can expect to see other Marvel characters like The Leader, Mr Sinister, Mandrill, Arcade, and others. However, one personal issue I have with the show that I want to bring up before going further, though, is the voice direction. Though I haven't seen most of the characters in action due to only one episode being available here, most of the characters I have seen I don't think have great direction; I don't hear the characters, I hear the actors. Though I joke about some voice actors having repetitive voices and standing out like a sore thumb like Troy Baker, Tara Strong, and Laura Bailey, it's hard to joke about that here when many of the significant voices are like that. I don't hear M.O.D.O.K; I hear Patton Oswalt. I don't hear Louis; I hear Ben Schwartz. But on the more comedic side of it, any time I hear Austin Van Der Sleet talk, I imagine Launchpad McQuack like this is his side hustle when not driving Scrooge McDuck around.

 

The Office and Modern Family writing style and the somewhat more tame Robot Chicken comedy and animation style made the first episode entertaining to watch. It was funny seeing things like M.O.D.O.K taking Iron Man's boot as such a big and vital trophy after it was lodged into his hoverchair, seeing the Super Adaptoid being used for mundane things like a smoothie maker and a ladder for M.O.D.O.K. The A.I.M agents were funny, shout out's to Gary and the accountant for being the standouts in the first episode. Though my tone may still change, the first episode was at least amusing enough to watch the other episodes when they're released on Friday's. One other thing to add to the list of watches for me alongside The Bad Batch. Next week, Inhumans.

MAYvel 2021 (Streaming edition); Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Thank you for the traumatizing image of Culson with his exposed brain begging to die Joss...

 Remember when Marvel was doing T.V. shows tied to the MCU before Disney+ happened? Oh, you thought I would do the Netflix stuff first? They're on my list; they need a month to themselves. No, this was chosen because of content coming up, both an upcoming review and a character joining the MCU that may tie into what was introduced here (however that is very unlikely). While there are seven seasons available, I'm choosing to focus on two for now, mainly because these were made for public television and, therefore, harder to binge for review. Welcome, to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 

 

The primary plot for the seasons mainly revolve around Skye (who would later be known as Daisy), as she becomes an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. for season 1, learning from the full agents like a revived Agent Culson (back when death didn't mean anything in the MCU, just like the comics). The first season would eventually lead to a tie into Captain America: The Winter Solider, as S.H.I.E.L.D falls to Hydra and is taken back in what feels like a surprisingly short amount of time (however that could be me misremembering the Hydra take over in Winter Soldier. For season 2, the plot shifts to build up the Inhumans, thanks to a push by Isaac Perlmutter during that time which would be too long to explain here, though it is a fascinating story. While those are the big overarching plots, due to the show being made for traditional television, most of the episodes follow contained stories, with only small pieces used to build up to the finale. The show was intended to be viewed over 22 weeks, not a few days; you'll get bored trying to binge it because of how repetitive things are in the show. "A good guy turning out to be a back stabbing bad guy" is interesting in the proper context, but it gets boring when it feels like every new addition to the cast is going to backstab somebody. 

 

One thing that worked to the show's advantage in Season 1 but really did not work for Season 2 and likely onwards was the effects. The show's made on a T.V. show budget, and the effects aren't going to look as good as they do in the movies or the recent streaming shows. I've got no issue with the budget, as when it's focusing on spy stuff, the budget works. When it focuses on the Inhuman related content, though, and the more complex power sets of other heroes that come with it, it doesn't look good at all. To me, a good effect can still look cheap, but an effect that feels cheap will never look good, and none of the effects for the Inhumans look good. It's not the worst of it, though, that will come next week... maybe, I haven't seen the episodes yet when writing this, but I have heard horror stories. Spies and espionage can be done well on a small budget, not so much for superpowers. They try to somewhat cover up the shortcomings by making the powers and transformations not very drastic a lot of the time, but that makes the transformations and more effects-heavy powers stand out more. I'm not sure if it's addressed in later seasons. Still, one thing that was very questionable about this show regarding the Inhumans is an issue that's always plagued the Inhumans, the Mutants, and other similar power-based characters. The MCU's a world where the Avengers are praised. So why are the Inhumans looked down on as if they're, well, inhuman? Some with physical changes I can somewhat understand, but the ones that otherwise look and act normal?

And now, you get to have this image in your head too

 

So, why did I review this and put Fantastic 4 off for even longer? Well, curiosity. Ms Marvel, Kamala Khan, is in the comics an Inhuman (at least she was last time I checked). When writing this, unless a leak has come out that I've missed, we don't know how she'll get her powers in her upcoming Disney+ series. Considering how long Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D went on, even after the point when Joss Wheedon was taken out of the inner circle of Marvel Directors (hence why I'm only reviewing the two seasons set between the first two Avengers films). Do I think any of this will be followed up? No, but it's at least interesting to look at one of the black sheep of the MCU, even if it's only a taste for what's to come. If you want to watch it, watch one a week. Don't binge it as I did. See you next week, for Inhumans.

MAYvel 2021 (Streaming Edition); Wandavision (+1): Finally, a Scarlet Witch

Wanda Maximoff. She was experimented on by Hydra; an evil robot killed her brother, her city was destroyed by said robot who wanted to use it to destroy the world. She was the cause of the Sokovia Accords, labelled as an enhanced terrorist when her side lost a civil war and was on the run for years; she had to kill her boyfriend robot to stop a giant purple guy from completing his rock collection, then watched him be brought back to life only be killed again because the purple guy really wanted to finish his rock collection dammit! She was wiped out of existence for five years, brought back to life only to find out so much has changed... yeah, you'd be needing some therapy too after all of that. But well, there are probably better ways to do it than kidnapping a town to live out sitcom fantasies. Welcome, to Wandavision.

 

Marvel Studios does a sitcom, or rather a mash-up of every sitcom while throwing in a touch of existential horror that'll leave you asking, "what's going on?" most of the time. This is because most of the characters both in the show and in the show but also watching the show (it makes more sense in context) don't know what's going on either. Inside the town, thanks to the power of The Hex, Wanda can manipulate the town, turning it into a series of Sitcom settings based on iconic decades for the genre. The 50's with shows like the Dick Van Dyke Show, the 60's with Bewitched, the 70's with the Brady Bunch, the 80's with shows like Growing Pains and, hilariously ironic, Full House. There was an episode that was a recreation of Malcolm in the Middle. The final few episodes themed around modern fourth wall breaking sitcoms like Modern Family and The Office, an ideal time for the illusion to be shattered (which all the previous episodes had been building up too). Still, it does lead to the payoff of Wanda finally becoming the Scarlet Witch, something that only after watching the series did I notice that she had never been called that in any of the MCU movies prior. 

 
While inside The Hex, it's a traditional sitcom storey week to week, with stories changing drastically save for the underlining question about how this pocket world works. Outside the Hex is far more streamlined, focused, more Marvel like in presentation and storytelling. S.W.O.R.D., a new version of S.H.I.E.L.D., is observing the Hex, trying to figure out what's going on inside of it and what's causing it, resulting in the introduction of Monica Rambeau. She's trying to ease the situation between Wanda and her superiors in S.W.O.R.D. that view Wanda as too dangerous a threat to be left alive. Throw in witches, a philosophical battle between two Visions and what you have is a confusing roller-coaster of a story that is hard to describe without spoilers. The big issue I have with the series is that the ending feels rushed, but this is primarily because of how much there was to get through by the end of the show. While Falcon and Winter Soldier was relatively consistent and streamlined, Wandavision is more scattered in its approach. It's juggling a lot of things, and not all of them land well. But I appreciate the ambition, and though the finale wasn't as good as the show itself, that's primarily due to how good the show is. 

One thing I love about Wandavision is the attention to detail when it comes to the Sitcom settings. While Falcon was very traditional in terms of the Marvel aesthetic, Wandavision mixes it with the Sitcom aesthetics. Outside of the Hex is traditional Marvel in terms of presentation, inside The Hex fluctuates depending on the period, with the first two episodes even using the same practical effects techniques and editing tricks used for those original shows. The first episode even had a live audience. If you are curious, a documentary series on Disney+ called Marvel Studios Assembled goes into the production of both Wandavision and Falcon and the Winter Soldier. They're fascinating to watch, and I hope that it continues for future MCU projects.

 

Flawed but fun would be the best way to describe Wandavision as a whole. The ending was a letdown, but I was hooked all the way through, something many actual sitcoms don't manage to do for me partly due to the drawn-out endings. Like the previous review, Wandavision is a short, primarily sharp and mainly to the point series. The fun of sitcoms without all the fat, and some existential horror added in, fun for the whole family! For now, though, we need to take a step back. We need to rewind the clock, back to when Avengers was still new before Kevin Feige had complete control of the MCU machine, and the small screen outings were made for T.V., budget and all. Up next, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Seasons 1+2.

MAYvel 2021 (Streaming Edition!); The Falcon and The Winter Soldier: And you thought Black Panther was political

 With 2020 causing all the cinemas to shut, and movie schedules are still up in the air when it comes to getting a theatrical release, the world turned to streaming services, and for this MAYvel, so will I. No movies this year, instead it's all about the shows on Disney +. Two that are directly connected to the MCU, and two that are... well, they're there... maybe... kind of waiting on Ms Marvel to see what they're doing with them. Anyway, let's look at the newest of the shows, while it might still be possible to cash in on Google's Algorithm. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. 

 
While Wandavision (next week) was focused more on the after-effects of Endgame on a smaller scale, Wanda's reaction to what happened, Falcon and Winter Soldier focuses on the significant scale effects of Endgame. The world is a mess; refugees worldwide are without a home, thanks to all the people who disappeared after Infinity War returning and continuing as nothing had happened. Borders are returning, and because of this, a political extremist group known as the Flag Smashers is out to try and return the world to the way it was in the five years between Infinity War and Endgame. "One World, One People." What makes this group more intimidating when compared to similar organizations in the real world is that many of its members have been given a working version of the Super Soldier Serum, and have the powers of Captain America. There is one main difference, though, their physical bodies don't change in size, compared to Steve Rogers transformation in the first Captain America movie. What happens, though, in the chase to try and stop the Flag Smashers is a mix of parties with conflicting agendas. Sam and Bucky work alongside Barron Zemo (the main villain from Captain America: Civil War), which results in Wakanda sending in the Dora Milaje to recapture Zemo he killed King T'Chaka. The American Government promotes John Walker and turns him into the new Captain America, who, alongside his friend Battlestar, is trying to capture the Flag Smashers and the Serum. Zemo wants to destroy the serum. Another villain, MCU "newcomer" the Power Broker, who initially funded the creation of the new serum, wants to regain their lost property from the Flag Smashers, and that's all for the A Plot of the series. There's a lot of stuff in these six episodes. They're dense with story, and yet this mess of plot threads are held together, thanks to the B Plot. 

 

The B plot of the show focuses on Sam and his journey into becoming the new Captain America, as was Steve's intention in Endgame when Sam was given the shield. However, it isn't without its hurdles, thanks to John Walker having the shield and sinking further into madness resulting in him killing a Flag-Smasher, instead of the original intent of arresting them, in broad daylight, on international soil, with the shield. Encase that wasn't enough of a political message forced down your throat, we also learn of the darker history of the shield after Steve was frozen in the ice. These story threads are where the comparison to Black Panther is inevitably created. While that depicted a fantastic version of Africa, a city free of colonization in the form of Wakanda, this show tackles racism in America head-on to Isaiah Bradley. While his story is slightly toned down for the series, the only thing different between his comic book history and his MCU history was that he was a trial run in the comics before they gave it to Steve.

 

In contrast, here, he was already frozen, and they were trying to recreate it. While the exact specifics aren't something I can personally attest to, due to what minor differences there are between the racism of America and the racism here in Australia, this still hits hard because of the situation. The show is very respectful to the character and doesn't hold back in showing how badly black people were treated then, and even how bad black people are treated now as Sam himself interacts with racist people on screen. This series was initially meant to air in August last year, and I can't help but wonder how the previous year's events would have impacted how people view this character as the racial tension due to George Floyd's death would have only been two months old by then. 

 

The production values are surprisingly consistent, considering this was in post-production during COVID Lockdowns. It's what you'd expect from a Marvel movie. However, I will give an honourable mention to Madripoor. It's probably one of the most exciting places they've made for a Marvel production so far that doesn't lean heavily on the sci-fi aesthetic (compared to somewhere like Wakanda or Sakkar). The translation of Sam's Captain America costume from the comics to real life is also very impressive. It's a great looking costume, and I appreciate the white accents to break up the blue, compared to something like Steve's costumes from the movies, which look very monotone in retrospect. But, with how similar MCU projects are in terms of presentation (there have been 25MCU movies and two canonical shows. I think you can get a good idea as to how these things look and sound), I'll be ending the review of it here. This show was a great watch, thanks to the character interactions and how the world around the characters interacts with them. Would I recommend binging them now that all six episodes are out? No, these do feel catered to the release schedule Disney + has, that being one a week (most of the time). The show is worth a watch, though, and it's going to be interesting to see what happens next for these characters in the MCU.
 
The Mediaholics Toybox is joining in on the MAYvel fun this year with Marvel Legends reviews. For those interested in that, you can check them out at any time, with new ones going live on Sundays. In the meantime, I'll see you next week for Wandavision.

MAYvel Phase 3: Spiderman Far From Home: "We felt the need to remind you that Iron Man is dead."

And so Marvel's Phase 3, and the Infinity Saga comes to a close. 11 years, 23 movies, and with the next batch of content looking to be even bigger thanks to the Fox acquisition, it seems like the only thing that's going to stop Marvel is a Pandemic. Let's see how well that actually works out, because... actually probably better I don't finish this joke... With this being the last movie of Phase 3, I thought it was fitting to end MAYvel Phase 3 here, the original plans of reviewing the 90's Spiderman and X Men cartoons will happen at another time.

MAYvel Phase 3; Avengers Endgame: See, they're only mostly dead...

So... where do you go after Infinity War? Most of the characters people know are dead, and those that are alive are either stuck in a different dimension, stuck in space, or stuck on Earth with no idea what the hell to do. The answer? Time Travel, that also conveniently sets up Disney+ shows that are still apparently coming for characters that are actually dead, not mostly dead. So... sucks for Vision I guess? Oh, wait he's in Wandavision... As you can probably tell, I was struggling to come up with an intro to this, so frag it, here's my review of Avengers Endgame.

MAYvel Phase 3; Captain Marvel: "Oh boy, another movie no one can agree on and one where every opinion is hated!"

Because those are always fun to cover, and in no way at all nerve-racking, even if I cover media after they're done in the spotlight.

I was not looking forward to MAYvel Phase 3 this year purely because of this movie. Not because I hated it, I was honestly pretty impartial to it when I first saw it, but because it was another one of those movies that no one could agree on, where there was no middle ground in the discussion around the movie, you either loved everything about it or you hated it with everything you had because you're sexist. Yes, this movie is in the same camp as Ghostbusters 2016, in that it was held up as one of the greatest movies ever made because of female representation in the media and discussion surrounding the movie, and it was hard to discuss the positives and negatives of the movie without coming off as an apologist, or a sexist. Without going into details on the movie itself, I do think that kind of talk does a disservice to movies and media as a whole, as it not only brings to light the biases many people have about what they want in a movie, rather than the quality of a movie, and it also drags down positive representation of characters as people assume that it's bait for specific demographics, instead of being an interesting character and story to tell. That, combined with the increased pressure by automatic comparisons between this movie, the previous year's Black Panther and 2017's Wonder Woman, the release on International Woman's Day, and it felt like very little talk around Captain Marvel was actually about Captain Marvel. So, a year later, was it all worth it?

Disney+: Not a review of Mandelorian

That will probably happen sometime in 2020.

It should come as no surprise that the Streaming wars have now well and truly started. Many large companies are either making their own services or partnering with other companies either with their own or working on their own, to try and give you everything you want at the minor cost of never actually owning any of their content again, data collection, and a small monthly fee on top of it. Though Australia has had Netflix for a while, and a collection of homegrown services like Stan to fill in the void created by other providers not bringing their content here, that does look to change thanks to the launch of platforms like Apple TV+, Disney+, and upcoming ones like Hulu and potentially HBO Max. Though reviews of these services may come in time, I can at least review this one, as it was staring me in the face every day I went to work for a few weeks around the launch. So while I'm housebound anyway, may as well take a look at something slightly different this time, with my review of Disney+... that was late compared to everyone else but let's be honest, when has that ever not been an issue with this site?

(Would love a Fox category... just saying...)

Starting with the launch lineup, and while it's a very strong selection of their content, even going so far back as to include the likes of Steamboat Willie, there are some noticeable gaps are depending on the series. I found it odd that The Proud Family show was not on the service, while the movie based on the show was. Same with the Muppets, the Muppet movies are here, but not the original show. At the same time though, there are many region-specific variations. By the looks of it, Australia was actually in a pretty good spot, as some movies being held up in licencing in the US are available here. As I couldn't find many sources very easily, I went through the CNet video on Youtube, going through the few placeholder spots they've found on the US version, and saw that all of them were available here. Something tells me that it's because of places like here in Australia that the placeholder icons are on the US platform, with messages like "Coming June 2021".At the same time, there were holes inside shows themselves, one glaring one to me being the two-part pilot of Ducktales 2017 when I went to do a quick check of it

There are however some issues on the more technical side of the platform. For the purpose of this review, I mostly focused on the web browser form of Disney+, as it allows me to get screenshots more easily. With this though, I noticed some performance issues, as the site appears to be very CPU and RAM dependent, at times burning through almost half of my computer's CPU when trying to play Avengers Endgame. Comparing this to Netflix, which has been an optimized service for me so far. Other Netflix comparisons are very easy to make, and none in favour of Disney+, with things like title sorting being a complete mess at times, thanks to being undecided about calling stuff Disney's *insert title here* or just *insert title here*. No option to marathon the Marvel Cinematic Universe in order, as going to the main Marvel subsection of the service, the first eight MCU movies displayed were Avengers Endgame, Captain Marvel, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Thor Ragnarok, Captain America Civil War, Avengers Age of Ultron and then The Avengers. A massive example of this is The Simpsons, which many of the services from their last streaming platform are currently missing, including things like the ability to watch all the Treehouse of Horrors episodes in a row. Even small things like the ability to press the space button to pause or resume playing something feels like a missing feature due to it not working consistently, and I can't help but wonder why.

Like with a lot of streaming services, a constant and reliable internet connection is required for an ideal experience, and during testing, my router decided to have some problems, bringing to light how the video player handles less than ideal situations regarding connections. To put it bluntly, not very well. I had to restart Endgame several times because of network dropouts either skipping sections of the video and not letting me rewind to play it properly, or just outright giving up trying to buffer. Though I could bring up minor issues, like the rather bland loading screen of videos and the Android App (I said I mostly focused on the web browser, not entirely), and the locking of pre-made avatars that no one else will see anyway so what was the point? The thing I keep coming back to time and time again is the question of "Is it worth it?"

For archives of content? While there is plenty here, sorting through it is a problem (I'm honestly surprised National Geographic got a dedicated sub-menu but Fox didn't), the content is, at least for the most part, there. Original exclusive content is lacking, but that's something that can be built on in time, and if the archive content was weaker, this would be more of a problem for me then it is now. In terms of the overall all experience though? There is still a lot of work to do, and I'm hoping that these issues get fixed sooner rather than later. Keyboard shortcuts, consistent sorting of titles, the content holes, even minor presentation touches that I'm surprised are missing from something made by a company that is normally proud of their attention to detail. It's why I can at least recommend it on a content level, if not a service level.

Top X List: Every Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie

To close off MAYvel (on this site at least), I figured it was only fitting to look back at what's been, and see how they stack when compared to each other. It should be said that all of these are purely subjective, based on how much I enjoy watching the movies, 

21. The Incredible Hulk

I'll start things off with the movie everyone forgot was in the MCU until Civil War brought back General Ross. While not a bad movie in terms of execution, it isn't really memorable either, as the only interesting thing is the behind the scenes dramas that went on with the movie, and everyone's attempts to take control of it. It's a shame that we can't get a dedicated Hulk movie now thanks to Universal's hold on the rights, but at least he gets to stay in the MCU. It would be cool to see more Hulk villains though going forward because while I don't know how many could hold a movie on their own, they can at the very least work as hired muscle for a bigger threat. It would also be a good excuse to get the other Hulks into a movie. 

MAYvel Phase 2; The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes: The darker side of the MCU

While it's hard to argue against Marvel's dominance at the box office thanks to the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, X-Men movies and the original Spider-Man trilogy, their endeavours into the small screen have been... mixed at best. While there have been standouts, it's hard to compare those standouts favourably when compared to the competition like Batman the Animated Series, and this is just me comparing the cartoons. However, there was one that many consider equal to the likes of Justice League, and the DC Animated universe, though the problem was a restructure of the plan, to bring the shows more in line with the MCU.

MAYvel Phase 2; Ant-Man and The Wasp: Still the best use of product placement I've seen in a series of movies.

So while giant spaceships were falling out of the sky and most of the heroes were either off-world or in Africa, it would appear that Ant-Man is having issues with ghosts and the government, and sadly not the ghosts of all the heroes. Time to return to the size changing shenanigans with Ant-Man and The Wasp.

MAYvel Phase 2; Avengers Infinity War: One week after it's sequel came out. Perfect time to review it!

Put it this way, to those who hated Captain Marvel, the same rule holding it to 2020 is the rule that kept Infinity War to today.

Welcome to MAYvel Phase 2, the one-month marathon that goes into two months because of how much media Marvel has put out that doesn't include the actual comics. Unlike last year where almost all of Phase 3 was reviewed, from Ant-Man to Black Panther. This year, only two MCU movies are being reviewed, Infinity War, and the Ant-Man sequel. Two shows are going to be reviewed as well, along with a list marking almost every MCU movie from worst to best. Endgame won't be on that list because I don't want to spoil the Endgame. So don't worry, there won't be any spoilers of the movie in this review, and in the Toybox reviews this month, which will be reviewing the Avengers Endgame sets. So then, before you go to see Endgame, even though you probably already have, let's look at its direct lead-in, Avengers Infinity War.

Spider-Man; Into the Spider-verse: Spider-Man 4 as you always imagined it.

Alright, let's start from the beginning one last time. My name is Liam Sanders, I wasn't bitten by a radioactive spider, and for the last five years, I've been making content for this site. I hope you know the rest, but probably don't, but even still I'm not continuing on with this joke.

Venom: We... are getting motion sick

And you thought Bayformers was hard to keep track of...

Ahh, Sony. Always one for jumping on bandwagons, yet always getting cold feet when doing them. You do love you Symbiotes don't you? Like I said at the end of the Amazing Spider-Man 2 review, I wanted Venom to fail. Not because it looked bad, because the trailers only looked unfinished, even to the point of showing scenes before the CGI was even implemented. The reason I wanted Venom to fail is that Sony has a habit of overdoing things when it comes to this style of movie making. Why just make one movie that might not be a success, but you can plan out the next 20 cause the character means it will be a success. Yes, that is the MCU formula now, however, there is still a set standard of quality, and with Sony, that quality isn't there. To use a gaming comparison, EA can make all the claims in the world that they're getting better, I'm not going to believe them until they show consistent quality. Excuse me if I sound bitter about this, but because this was a hit, I now have to keep an eye on a Kraven the Hunter movie, a character who I honestly question if anyone cares enough about to warrant a solo movie, but then again we are getting Dora the Tomb Raider and "Not The Killing Joke in live action", so what would I know?

The Wolverine: I hope you can understand Japanese

While I won't be going into them this year, as it will be better to them all next year, Fox's timeline for the X-Men took two distinct splits. The Wolverine trilogy, which is being covered this year, set in the same time as the original trilogy, and a second timeline with almost a whole new cast. Why? Because I'm guessing X-Men Origins: Jimmy did well enough to try and keep this thing going, which leads us to The Wolverine. Is it better than Origins? Yes, but that ain't saying much.

The Wolverine: Now with less Japanese

While I won't be going into them this year, as it will be better to them all next year, Fox's timeline for the X-Men took two distinct splits. The Wolverine trilogy, which is being covered this year, set in the same time as the original trilogy, and a second timeline with almost a whole new cast. Why? Because I'm guessing X-Men Origins: Jimmy did well enough to try and keep this thing going, which leads us to The Wolverine. Is it better than Origins? Yes, but that ain't saying much.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Stuffed with content is not always a good thing.

If there's one thing that the Marvel Cinematic Universe and all of its imitators have taught us, it's that rushing things like world building and sequel baiting is never a good idea. There are times when it works, a nod here, a cameo there, but stopping the movie for the sake of sequel bait never works, especially if the sequel isn't in active development yet. Build it up slowly, and people will be willing to accept it because you could tease a movie that is years away and people will happily accept it because they know it's going to happen. But if you, for example, tease the appearance of a team of six villains by forcing three of the potential candidates into one movie, and have scenes teasing the others, including ones that people know can hold their own movies, especially in a sequel to a less then critically acclaimed film... At least this wasn't the Dark Universe?

X-Men Origins: Jimmy. Out of all the names, why Jimmy?

So after the commercial success of the three X-Men movies, a logical thing to do would be to give a spin-off to one of the most recognizable members of the team, Wolverine, giving him a backstory that was barely told in X-Men 2... and jumping the gun a bit here, barely told in this movie as well. People hated this movie, and can't say I blame them, though I at least have a few more personal things to add to the story, such as somehow ending up with a leaked, unfinished version of it on my R4 when I was younger, so I have the distinct "pleasure" of saying I've watched a full movie on my DS... no, I am not reviewing that one. It doesn't need it.

I swear, take the title out of that and I'd believe you if you told me this was a poster for X-Men 3

The Amazing Spider-Man: Some chosen one...

Sony: "You were the chosen one! It was said you would make us money forever, not fail so hard we had to give you up!". Look, I've been wanting to make a parody of that for years, was waiting for the right movie to do it.

With the breakout success if Iron Man, the moderate success of The Incredible Hulk, and promises of movies like The Avengers in the works, it should come as no surprise that both Sony and Fox were intimidated by the sudden competition, and quickly tried to replicate the success themselves. While Fox’s attempts involved bringing the old director back and throwing in time travel, Sony’s was more… destructive. Spider-Man 4 was not turning out the way they wanted and was taking longer to make then they had hoped. As a result, a reboot was in order and once they could finally cancel Spider-Man 4, The Amazing Spider-Man was fast-tracked to better align with Sony’s goals for the IP. How well did it go? Well, Spider-Man is now under joint custody between them and Marvel Studios so you can imagine that it didn’t go well. Welcome to the prequel of MAYvel Phase 2, where we see what Sony has done with the IP post-Avengers, what Fox began doing post-Avengers, and also looking at the movie with some red asshole in it because he won’t shut up… No the Fox one!