MOVIE: Thor – Love and Thunder (2022)

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Thor: Love and Thunder Year: 2022 Rating: PG-13 Length: 118 minutes / 1.97 hours As someone who has not read the comics these superhero movies are based on, it's interesting how I picked up plot points from some of the recent comic arcs prior to their cinematic debut. Case in point, I knew for a while that Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) became Thor for a while for medical reasons. In Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), this somewhat recent plot line from the comics combines with the modus operandi of Phase 4 of the MCU: wrapping up the loose ends from Phase 3 of the MCU. Doing a victory lap after his well-received Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Taika Waititi still brought his trademark comedic sensibilities to this movie but seemed to falter a bit with the much heavier themes of the God Killer (Christian Bale). In fact, I was expecting a bit more out of Bale, considering how dedicated he is to his roles. Don't get me...
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VIDEO GAME: Lego Marvel Super Heroes (2013)

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Lego Marvel Super HeroesYear: 2013Rating: E10+Time Played: ~23 hours In 2013, you would have been stupid to not cash in on the phenomenon that was the up-and-coming Marvel Cinematic Universe. A year after The Avengers (2012) showed what could be done with a handful of movies, and suddenly everyone is into Marvel superheroes. It then makes sense that Lego would release the Lego Marvel Super Heroes video game in 2013. What's even better is that the muddled movie rights for Marvel IP don't apply to video games, thus making this game a smorgasbord of superheroes to play with. I can appreciate how this game incorporated some of the popularity of the MCU (I mean, look at the characters front and center on the cover), but didn't completely need to adapt to the movie versions of these heroes. The voice-acting work for these characters was top-notch and really brought the quality of this game above the various grunts and cheers of the playable...
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MOVIE: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of MadnessYear: 2022Rating: PG-13Length: 126 minutes / 2.10 hours It's a sobering thought that Spider-Man (2002) came out 20 years ago, cementing the age of the superhero movie in a time before the Marvel Cinematic Universe even existed. Sam Raimi's distinctive visual style worked for that movie and its two sequels (Spider-Man 2 (2004) of course being one of the best ever made). This is what makes Raimi's return to the superhero genre exciting in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). Nostalgia is a heck of a drug, after all. What was interesting with this Doctor Strange (2016) sequel was how Marvel allowed Raimi to connect to more of his roots in the horror genre. The scariest scene in the original Spider-Man trilogy was in the operating room with Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina). In contrast, the amount of horrific things shown in this movie creeps closer to his Evil Dead trilogy. Nothing so bad as...
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MOVIE: Eternals (2021)

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Eternals Year: 2021 Rating: PG-13 Length: 156 minutes / 2.60 hours With two competing comic book companies making movies, it's interesting to see how a movie like The Avengers (2012) works, but Justice League (2017) doesn't. You would think that Marvel would have the wisdom to learn from DC's mistakes, but instead, we see many of these same errors cropping up in Eternals (2021). Perhaps this is a side-effect of an extremely intertwined cinematic universe that requires each player in a larger multi-movie arc to receive an "origin story" movie before being brought into a larger cast of characters (much like Shang-chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)). Part of what made Justice League fail was how it introduced too many characters at once. In Eternals, there's a group of superheroes whose numbers rival later Avengers casts, but with no time to get to know any of them significantly well in an already long runtime. That the Snyder cut of Justice League spent...
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BOOK: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Big Squirrels Don’t Cry (2020)

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The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Big Squirrels Don't Cry Year: 2020 Author: Ryan North Length: 288 pages In this second collection of Squirrel Girl comics, you'll once again find Doreen Green trying to balance her life as Squirrel Girl and as a computer science student at Empire State University. This can be quite the balancing act, especially when you have a huge fluffy tail that you have to hide when you're in your civilian persona. While other superheroes have origin stories that explain their tremendous powers, Squirrel Girl is...Squirrel Girl. Doreen's "unbeatable" title continues to be tested as she uses both her skills as a squirrel person who can communicate with and control squirrels and as a computer science major to defeat villains who terrorize New York City. The fact that she's a superhero who can talk to and control squirrels is just amusing enough that fans of the first collection will likely enjoy this one. However, I wasn't prepared to read a Howard the Duck...
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MOVIE: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Year: 2021 Rating: PG-13 Length: 132 minutes / 2.20 hours With the end of the Infinity Saga in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there is a lot of room for new franchises to fill in the gaps left by the likes of Iron Man and Captain America. However, this means lesser-known properties like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) get their chance to shine. And while lesser-known franchises like Guardians of the Galaxy are now household names, I think it remains to be seen if Shang-Chi can truly develop its own integrated identity within the MCU. Having somewhat botched the introduction of the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) in Iron Man 3 (2013), Shang-Chi attempts to ret-con this by insisting that the Ten Rings organization is a genuine threat to world peace. However, Marvel wants to have its cake and eat it too by including the "Mandarin" in this film. There are a few other loose connections...
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BOOK: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl – Powers of a Squirrel (2019)

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The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Powers of a Squirrel Year: 2019 Author: Ryan North Length: 184 pages I was first made aware of this somewhat obscure Marvel superhero because I am a regular reader of Ryan North's Dinosaur Comics webcomic series. While I sat on the knowledge of Squirrel Girl's existence for some time, I finally broke down and bought the two-volume collection of North's imagining of the hero. In this first volume, Powers of a Squirrel, we get to know Doreen Green (aka Squirrel Girl), a computer scientist student studying at Empire State University. As a much more comedic superhero compared to the likes of Iron Man or Captain America, Squirrel Girl's claim to fame is the fact that she is "Unbeatable." This includes defeating some of Marvel's most fearsome and powerful villains in unique ways that don't involve violence. Sure, sometimes Squirrel Girl has to get her paws dirty, but the more amusing storylines are the ones where she saves the day using unconventional...
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MOVIE: Spider-man: Far from Home (2019)

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Spider-man: Far from Home Year: 2019 Rating: PG-13 Length: 129 minutes / 2.15 hours After the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019), there were still plenty of questions that remained. While still part of Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Spider-man: Far from Home (2019) attempts to grapple with the outcome of such a pivotal film in the superhero franchise. As was the case with its predecessor, Spider-man: Homecoming (2017), Far from Home shows the audience the impacts of the other films in the MCU in a way that’s personable and relatable. After all, it’s easier to connect with a “friendly neighborhood Spider-man” than with a multi-billion dollar playboy. I did appreciate the emotional depth of this movie, especially considering how Tom Holland handles the role of Peter Parker. From grieving over the losses of Endgame while also trying to move forward with his life, Peter has plenty of growth opportunities throughout this film. That being said, Far from Home seems to hit almost...
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MOVIE: Captain Marvel (2019)

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Captain Marvel Year: 2019 Rating: PG-13 Length: 123 minutes / 2.05 hours Captain Marvel (2019) fills this weird space that essentially exists between the “Part 1” of Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). While Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) also explained some of the events and plot points that would need to happen before Endgame, Captain Marvel took a slightly different approach by essentially acting as an origin story and prequel for a lot of loose bits of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Needless to say, I didn’t miss much by passing on this film and seeing Endgame first. I knew I was taking a risk with watching these movies out of order—especially considering how pivotal Black Panther (2018) was in setting the stage for Infinity War. However, there were key moments in this movie that made me go, “Huh. That explains that little bit from Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) or Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).” The fact that Captain Marvel was...
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MOVIE: Shazam! (2019)

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Shazam! Year: 2019 Rating: PG-13 Length: 132 minutes / 2.20 hours As far as self-aware movies go, I think Shazam! (2019) is the best example from the genre of comic book heroes. Deadpool (2016) might have been more “meta,” but Shazam! hits all the bits that make comic books popular to kids, especially young boys. As a fan of self-aware films, I would have seen this movie anyway. However, with Zachary Levi in the lead role, I absolutely had to see it. I’ve generally been a fan of his work from Chuck and Tangled (2010), so seeing that he still has his comedic timing in shows like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and movies like Shazam! is encouraging. In terms of plot, the premise is somewhat weak, but the pitch is something akin to “Big (1988), but as a superhero film like Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017).” In fact, there’s at least one scene in a mall that winks so hard at this reference, I was afraid it...
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