Falcon & Winter Soldier

[Mr. Vee]

First ep was pretty good. Fortunately they don't seem to be trying to reinvent the wheel with this one. 

[QuiJon]

12 hours ago, Mr. Vee said:

First ep was pretty good. Fortunately they don't seem to be trying to reinvent the wheel with this one. 

Maybe not action wise but it did have some beats that were not really common place in the marvel universe. And honestly bring up other questions. For instance i was nice to address if the Avengers get "paid", which Same kind of confirms they dont. Which then leads to if they dont get paid, how did vision get the money to buy the plot of land to build him and wanda a house? 

 

Overall i think it was a good first epsisode. It opened with a nice action sequence that was IMO movie quality. I really liked the background they gave Sam with his sister and his "family" business. And i like they are dealing with Bucky and him trying to reconcile his past with his path through the future. I think over all it is going to be a good run. Even if it isnt reinventing anything. 

[Mr. Vee]

You'd think Stark would've thought to set up a foundation to fund them like in the comics, but I suppose that would cut down on some of the plot possibilities. 

[SuperPlyx]

Yeah I struggled with the broke super hero thing. Seems like it would a fairly simple thing to monetize. No to mention he has to be one of the best connected men on that earth.

 

The Winter Soldier story was more interesting.

 

Spoiler

The "bad guy" in germany(?) that kicked the soldier's ass is he actually the series bad guy? My gut says no, he is the good guy. The new Capt is the bad guy.

 

[Mr. Vee]

23 minutes ago, SuperPlyx said:

Yeah I struggled with the broke super hero thing. Seems like it would a fairly simple thing to monetize. No to mention he has to be one of the best connected men on that earth.

 

The Winter Soldier story was more interesting.

 

  Hide contents

The "bad guy" in germany(?) that kicked the soldier's ass is he actually the series bad guy? My gut says no, he is the good guy. The new Capt is the bad guy.

 

Spoiler

I'd guess that Flag Smasher is the actually bad bad guy and Walker will just be kinda dumb and cartoonish as he often is in the comics. Though really both could easily be grey area.

 

[Techwright]

7 hours ago, QuiJon said:

Maybe not action wise ...

 

I am surprised to read this considering 1/4 of the episode qualifies.

 

I felt it was a solid start, and I really liked the guest appearances and those first 10 minutes.

Spoiler

I am puzzled where the family boat storyline is going, however.  I did feel it rather dumb that Sam didn't see the government "stealing" the shield as a potential and make legal plans accordingly, if he wanted to donate the shield.  Anything sacrificed for the story, I guess.

 

Bucky's self-guided redemption story is very interesting.  I nearly considered his wallowing as over-the-top until I realized I was looking at it as an intellectual exercise, and I really have no true empathetic idea what someone in the position of regretful killer would feel like they need to do to be healed.

 

Loved the return of Batroc, though considering the melee combat he and Cap got into last time, I was disappointed they didn't give him a chance to be The Leaper, except in leaping from aircraft.  Also loved having Rhodie back.  Loved the quiet discussion between Rhodie and Falcon.  Don Cheadle gave an enjoyably nuanced performance.

 

Not sure what to think that the Avengers are not funded by a Stark inheritance.  It makes me wonder if the MCU designers are setting the stage for a game of manipulation from one or more financial supporters.

 

I thought the bank argument that Falcon had no credit history for 5 years to be completely ridiculous in light of the fact that over 3.5 billion people disappeared during that time.  I'm no lawyer, but I suspect a situation like that could be grounds for a discrimination suit (against a Blip victim) and at least a serious social media firestorm against the bank.  But then, I thought the Secovia Accords to be unjustified in blaming the Avengers for both the Battle of New York and the Crossbones suicide bombing.  Anything sacrificed for the story, I guess.

 

Still feel it was a good start.

 

Speculations:

Spoiler

Sharon Carter may end up in a relationship with one of the guys.  My money is on Bucky, what with the whole struggle to date storyline.  Carter, like her great aunt, would be able to understand Bucky on a level others might not. 

 

At some point, Bucky will be trying on the mantle of Captain America.  I almost feel this was spoiled to me, because there's a promo photo prominent on imdb.com right now that show's Bucky with a star returned to his shoulder, white now, and a trim blue and red uniform.  The metal arm appears to be a blue hue as well, though this might be a trick of the light.

 

The "leader" of the Flag Smashers" recorded by Torres, might have a variant of the Super Soldier Serum.  Some of the footage seemed to suggest he was fighting at a level nearly that of Steve Rogers.

 

Captain America II might not make it out alive.  In like manner to the armor of Achilles fatally emboldening Patroclus beyond his abilities, I'm wondering if Cap II will be overconfident wearing the shield and get himself killed.

 

[Glacier Peak]

I got my popcorn ready for this series. I love the episode lengths, it's like watching part of a movie each week. 

[DougGraves]

20 hours ago, QuiJon said:

It opened with a nice action sequence that was IMO movie quality

 

I liked the opening.  I pretty much didn't like the rest.

 

I don't want a drama about running a small fishing business and getting a loan.  I don't want a drama about seeing a counselor.

 

This is starting to feel like the Marvel Netflix shows which were dramas that occasionally remembered the characters had super powers.  I could not finish most of the Netflix shows, I found them slow and tedious.  I hope Falcon and Winter Soldier gets to more action and less drama.

 

I maybe unique in this, but I want superhero shows and movies not dramas.  I liked the action in the X-men movies and was put to sleep by the Magneto and Xavier drama.  Apocalypse was great after they got past the boring Magneto tries to live a normal life storyline and got to the costumes and action.

 

There are so many dramas out there, why pretend to make a superhero show and make a drama instead?

[QuiJon]

1 hour ago, DougGraves said:

 

I liked the opening.  I pretty much didn't like the rest.

 

I don't want a drama about running a small fishing business and getting a loan.  I don't want a drama about seeing a counselor.

 

This is starting to feel like the Marvel Netflix shows which were dramas that occasionally remembered the characters had super powers.  I could not finish most of the Netflix shows, I found them slow and tedious.  I hope Falcon and Winter Soldier gets to more action and less drama.

 

I maybe unique in this, but I want superhero shows and movies not dramas.  I liked the action in the X-men movies and was put to sleep by the Magneto and Xavier drama.  Apocalypse was great after they got past the boring Magneto tries to live a normal life storyline and got to the costumes and action.

 

There are so many dramas out there, why pretend to make a superhero show and make a drama instead?

Well to each their own i guess. I dont want to watch a show about the fishing business no. But i do want these characters to feel are full and fleshed out as the ones we have been losing lately. And where Tony Stark or Capt America, Thor etc, all have had multiple movie appearances to give them full characters, second teir characters like Sam and Bucky up to now have been pretty basic only filling their needs for the story. 

[DougGraves]

1 minute ago, QuiJon said:

Well to each their own i guess. I dont want to watch a show about the fishing business no. But i do want these characters to feel are full and fleshed out as the ones we have been losing lately. And where Tony Stark or Capt America, Thor etc, all have had multiple movie appearances to give them full characters, second teir characters like Sam and Bucky up to now have been pretty basic only filling their needs for the story. 

 

I would like superhero movies to use James Bond as their model.

 

I don't want an origin story for Bond.  I don't want his social life, etc.  I want a spy adventure.  And if you  want to change who is playing Bond, just swap in a new actor and keep going.  Don't reboot.  Don't tell the origin story again.

 

[Techwright]

21 hours ago, DougGraves said:

 

I would like superhero movies to use James Bond as their model.

 

I don't want an origin story for Bond.  I don't want his social life, etc.  I want a spy adventure.  And if you  want to change who is playing Bond, just swap in a new actor and keep going.  Don't reboot.  Don't tell the origin story again.

 

Which James Bond would that be?  'Cause at least a third of a James Bond movie is his social life.  On Her Majesty's Secret Service was significantly more than that.  And Casino Royale and Skyfall were both origin stories, after a fashion.

 

I do get what you're saying, though.  It's why I liked the opening to the new TV series Superman and Lois.  Origin story in a nice tidy 5-minute package, and more or less to set the stage for the different variables in this Superman's story (Arrow-verse is full on multi-universe mode). 

[Haijinx]

I really liked this series. 

 

I was kind of surprised at how high budget the action sequence was. 

 

Other than that it seemed a bit like the Netflix treatment.  But we haven't really seen the villains yet, so we will see. 

[Techwright]

2 hours ago, Haijinx said:

I was kind of surprised at how high budget the action sequence was.

 

I suspect that may be due in part to COVID-19 shutting the theaters for a time.  Disney likely sees Plus as their alternative movie outlet for now, and the way the MCU has been swinging for the park fence, Disney would be prudent to keep the momentum and quality going in the franchise, regardless of the medium.  The Mandalorian is much the same.  Now if they could just get the Muppets onboard the gravy train...

[QuiJon]

On 3/21/2021 at 3:48 PM, Techwright said:

 

I suspect that may be due in part to COVID-19 shutting the theaters for a time.  Disney likely sees Plus as their alternative movie outlet for now, and the way the MCU has been swinging for the park fence, Disney would be prudent to keep the momentum and quality going in the franchise, regardless of the medium.  The Mandalorian is much the same.  Now if they could just get the Muppets onboard the gravy train...

Actually no, this series was filming before Covid shut everything down. Disney is just committing to putting out quality content when ever they can on whatever platform they can. Look at Mandalorian also, and the use of that "volume" for virtual sets etc, can be used in anything not just star wars. I would be pretty sure that at minimum the properties that have tie in to the movies will all be as good to watch. Seems to be Disney is peppering out 1 really stand out thing at a time, Mandalorian leads to WanadaVision leads to Flacon leads to Loki etc. And then suplementing with lower quality kids stuff like highschool musical and mighty ducks etc. But by doing weekly releases and having something NEW and special they keep their subscribers on the hook. Even on the most basic plan that is what now like 100m subscribers paying at least 7 bucks a month. Disney+ is earning them a solid movie release box office per month in subs. Flacon and Winter Soldier is said to cost 25m per episode. 6 eps = 2 months worth of subs, so they basically will earn 1.4 billion dollars off keeping people subbed for the 2 months of the run of that series and it cost them 150m to make it, which is about what the budget of a Captain Marvel at the movie theater. 

[WanderingAries]

It's obviously a good show because, like WV and others, it felt "short". Likely because the story is an arc, unlike regular TV where things are contained in the Ep.

[DougGraves]

Where Disney can beat Netflix is by creating series that have an ending and so have a backlog of things to watch.

 

Netflix is focused on putting out a lot of new content - something for everyone.  And while they put out some good things, they also cancel them without ending them.  After 5 years, I don't think Netflix will have a great back catalog of original content that people want to watch.  Whereas Disney can have a back catalog that people want to watch again and again.

[Techwright]

Second episode out.  Did some watchin', did some readin'.

 

Spoiler

Well, I had several "huh?" moments this episode.  That's been rare for me so far in the MCU, so kudos to Marvel for making me rewind, review, and then head to the internet for more.

 

I enjoyed the action sequence again, though the truth about the status of the "hostage" was telegraphed loud and clear from the moment we saw her.  I'm excited because apparently Super Soldier Serum or something similar to it, is heavily in play.  I'd predicted this around the water cooler all the way back with "Captain America: The Winter Soldier". 

 

More puzzling to me are some odd comments given which are making me question whether John Walker has been given the serum, or is just superbly trained at this point.  Probably just the way it's confusingly written, and he does have the serum.  I can't see sending him into combat with a wing and a prayer.  But then, I couldn't see Sam Wilson goign into combat carrying the shield without the big 3S as well.

 

Still more puzzling is why they sent his teammate Lemar Hoskins into super-powered combat.  He doesn't strike me as up to Hawkeye or Black Widow standards.

 

The psych session was fun, if already half given away by the trailers.  I'm puzzled how the psych had the power to force Falcon into the session, though.  He wasn't under arrest.

 

Isaiah was the big "huh?" moment for me.  I was previously unaware of the comic book character, though once I read up on his backstory, it made perfect sense.  Really liked that they used Carl Lumbly in the role.  I used to love his take on Martian Manhunter in the old Justice League TV series.

 

And then there's Isaiah's grandson.  It would appear that the MCU has decided to introduce a new generation of Avengers, Young Avengers, and this young fellow is one of them, going by the nom de guerre of "Patriot" in the comics, they say.  There's also Sam's military side kick Joaquin Torres, who'd be the next Falcon, and of course Wanda's twins, whom the last seen on WandaVision suggest survived, somehow.  Not sure if they're going to run parallel to a re-formed Avengers, or if they're going to be the re-formed Avengers.

 

[Mr. Vee]

I was surprised at how many characters they've already pulled in. Three introduced in ep 2 I didn't figure would show up before season 2. I half expect D-man by episode 4.

Spoiler

As to the 'super soldier serum' at least in the comics none of these folks get the same one as Steve. They did mention the Power Broker already, who's responsible for a lot of Cap allies and enemies having powers in the comics. 

 

[Haijinx]

On 3/25/2021 at 1:59 PM, DougGraves said:

Where Disney can beat Netflix is by creating series that have an ending and so have a backlog of things to watch.

 

Netflix is focused on putting out a lot of new content - something for everyone.  And while they put out some good things, they also cancel them without ending them.  After 5 years, I don't think Netflix will have a great back catalog of original content that people want to watch.  Whereas Disney can have a back catalog that people want to watch again and again.

 

Don't think it was Netflix that made the call to cancel Daredevil, Jessica Jones, etc. 

 

It was Disney acquiring Marvel. 

[Techwright]

1 hour ago, Haijinx said:

 

Don't think it was Netflix that made the call to cancel Daredevil, Jessica Jones, etc. 

 

It was Disney acquiring Marvel. 

Disney acquired Marvel 5 to 6 years before the Netflix shows came out.    It's more like a combination of dropping viewership (season 3 started 57% less than season 2) and Disney's future plans for Disney Plus.  And its a badly kept secret that Kevin Feige gave no support to the TV shows after a certain point, nor offered movie crossovers to their characters. So basically, they were hung out to dry.

[Haijinx]

26 minutes ago, Techwright said:

Disney acquired Marvel 5 to 6 years before the Netflix shows came out.    It's more like a combination of dropping viewership (season 3 started 57% less than season 2) and Disney's future plans for Disney Plus.  And its a badly kept secret that Kevin Feige gave no support to the TV shows after a certain point, nor offered movie crossovers to their characters. So basically, they were hung out to dry.

 

Disney Plus Steaming service wasn't running until recently though.  I thought I had read that had something to do with it.  I must have conflated that with the "Acquiring" lol at my age 5 or 6 years seems like yesterday. 

[DougGraves]

2 hours ago, Haijinx said:

Don't think it was Netflix that made the call to cancel Daredevil, Jessica Jones, etc. 

 

It was Disney acquiring Marvel. 

 

It is far more than the Marvel shows that Netflix has canceled.  Those were not canceled on cliffhaners, many other shows have been.

[Techwright]

Episode 3:

Spoiler

Loved the surprise guest star at the end, though I should not be surprised.

 

Loved Madripoor!  It was everything I'd hoped it would be.  Only thing missing (so far) was a barbershop where the chairs could really be lowered. 😉 Loved the use of neon in the city, even down to the soft blue lighting used in the cars at night.  That reminded me of the cool effect of the neon street gang in Batman Forever, though probably more realistic.

 

I'm liking that Sharon is turning out to be a lot more than a quality stock agent of SHIELD. 

 

I'm beginning to think we're going to see Dr. Erskine's dire prediction:  that the serum intensifies what is in the heart of the receiver.  Karly seems to have strongly demonstrated that with that car bomb.  That said,  it sounds like the serum in play is a retro-engineer of Isaiah's serum which in turn is a retro-engineer of Erskine's perfected serum, so who knows what changes have happened.  I'm wondering if Walker will get hands on the serum and forcibly take it hoping to "correct" his shortcomings when compared to Steve Rogers.  As he is already showing signs of strain, that wouldn't be good.

 

[Glacier Peak]

4 hours ago, Techwright said:

Episode 3:

  Reveal hidden contents

Loved the surprise guest star at the end, though I should not be surprised.

 

Loved Madripoor!  It was everything I'd hoped it would be.  Only thing missing (so far) was a barbershop where the chairs could really be lowered. 😉 Loved the use of neon in the city, even down to the soft blue lighting used in the cars at night.  That reminded me of the cool effect of the neon street gang in Batman Forever, though probably more realistic.

 

I'm liking that Sharon is turning out to be a lot more than a quality stock agent of SHIELD. 

 

I'm beginning to think we're going to see Dr. Erskine's dire prediction:  that the serum intensifies what is in the heart of the receiver.  Karly seems to have strongly demonstrated that with that car bomb.  That said,  it sounds like the serum in play is a retro-engineer of Isaiah's serum which in turn is a retro-engineer of Erskine's perfected serum, so who knows what changes have happened.  I'm wondering if Walker will get hands on the serum and forcibly take it hoping to "correct" his shortcomings when compared to Steve Rogers.  As he is already showing signs of strain, that wouldn't be good.

 

I sort of saw this as a filler episode. Most of the setting and team up of the episode was given away in trailers. Still enjoying it regardless. 

[Mr. Vee]

So just don't watch the trailers, problem solved 😄

Spoiler

Princess Bar easter egg. Yay?