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!); 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.