Last week I did a Ten Things I Think I Think on the deep dive I did with seventeen Marvel movies. I watched nine more to finish off this really fun movie watch, so here are Five More Things I Think – Marvel Edition. Twenty-six movies, and Ultron was the only on I didn’t care for. That’s pretty good.

Shang Chi
Avengers Ultron
Ant Man 1
Avengers Civil War
Dr. Strange 1
Thor 3 (Ragnarok)
Spider Man: Homecoming (1)
Spider Man: Far From Home (2)
Ant Man 2 (& Wasp)

1) LOVE THE HUMOR IN THOR

I enjoy the Ant Man, and Guardians of the Galaxy movies in large part, because of the humor. Except for the second Thor movie, that totally applies to the God of Thunder’s Marvel appearances.

And my single-favorite Marvel scene is when the Hulk takes Loki by the legs in the first Avengers movie and just slams him back and forth into the floor. I always laugh. Then Hulk does the same thing to Thor in Ragnarok, in the arena. And Loki is PURE glee as he jumps up and down like a little kid and yells, “YES! Yes, that’s how it feels!” It’s a perfect Easter Egg reference to the original scene. The Thor movies are full of smart humor, and I never tire of it.

2) SHANG CHI IS A DELIGHT

I mentioned in last week’s post, I found the ‘irregular’ The Eternals to be a slog. I don’t have any plans on re-watching it. But another non-conventional Marvel movie was absolutely fantastic. I’m not familiar with the Kung Fu comic, which started in the seventies. But it’s a visually strong movie, with a good dose of humor, and an homage to high-energy martial arts movies. The re-appearance of the fake Mandarin totally won me over. Dr. Strange’s Wong also makes an appearance. There have been slow-developing plans for a sequel, though director Destin Cretton is now on Spider Man 4, which seems to be another roadblock to a second Shang Chi.

3) SEVERAL STREAMING SERIES’ ARE WORTH WATCHING

Winners – Agent Carter (was actually a television series), Hawkeye, Loki, She-Hulk

Losers – Wanda Vision, Echo

Maybe – Moon Knight, Secret Invasion, Falcon and Winter Solider (probably a Winner)

4) AGE OF ULTRON IS THE WEAKEST AVENGERS MOVIE

I actually planned on skipping this and started Civil War, but decided I didn’t want to leave out the info that it included. It’s the only one I could totally skip. None of it appeals to me. And Vision is ultra-powerful. I hate how they nerfed him for Infinity War. He was all but useless. This was the first time I re-watched Ultron. May well be the last.

5) I’M AT THE END OF THIS MARVEL MOVIES DEEP DIVE

I mentioned that I did the Guardians of the Galaxy movies (which I love) before the third one came out, and I got my fill of The X-Men when I did the Logan movies last year. I’m not in the mood to re-watch the rest.

The first Iron Man, to the new Deadpool, covers 18 years, and I think these movies hold up, and fit together, amazingly well. The X-Men and first two iterations of Spider Man sit outside the MCU, but they’re good watches, and show a franchise learning on the fly. The two Fantastic Four movies are a tier below, but they’re still not bad. The MCU is quite an accomplishment – and some of the streaming shows have definitely enhanced it. Agents of Shield, which I did not talk about, is a really entertaining show that put Phil Colson front and center, which is great. I think the Marvel movies will endure for awhile. We’ll see how the reboot goes.

I definitely would have done the most recent Spider Man, which I loved, but Disney+ doesn’t have that one yet. I will re-watch that when it’s on.

 

And, with season two of the TERRIFIC Tulsa King (I think it’s Stallone’s best work) starting to drop, I switched from Disney+ to Paramount+, and the Marvel deep dive is done. But it was a lot of fun. And if you haven’t checked out Tulsa King, you’re missing one of the best dramas currently being made.

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Bob Byrne’s ‘A (Black) Gat in the Hand’ made its Black Gate debut in 2018 and has returned every summer since.

His ‘The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes’ column ran every Monday morning at Black Gate from March, 2014 through March, 2017. And he irregularly posts on Rex Stout’s gargantuan detective in ‘Nero Wolfe’s Brownstone.’ He is a member of the Praed Street Irregulars, founded www.SolarPons.com (the only website dedicated to the ‘Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street’).

He organized Black Gate’s award-nominated ‘Discovering Robert E. Howard’ series, as well as the award-winning ‘Hither Came Conan’ series. Which is now part of THE Definitive guide to Conan. He also organized 2023’s ‘Talking Tolkien.’

He has contributed stories to The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories – Parts III, IV, V, VI, XXI, and XXXIII.

He has written introductions for Steeger Books, and appeared in several magazines, including Black Mask, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, The Strand Magazine, and Sherlock Magazine.