My Disney+ catch up, part 2

21 Aug

Last time I talked about my recent viewing and catch up on the Disney+ Star Wars shows. But that left us with quite a few Marvel related shows to talk about. For my sanity, I won’t blather on about the Netflix Marvel shows. I think we’ve already talked about them here somewhere. And if not, we should’ve but that boat has probably sailed. Or not, who knows. I’m the all powerful one here. Mwahahaha.

Sorry, I was up late last night watching Doctor Strange and I think the multiverses made me a little cray cray.

Anyways, assume spoilers from here on…

I will start with The Falcon & The Winter Soldier. I actually watched this one last year (still late to the game, I know) and really enjoyed it. Bucky was always a fav character in the films because Sebastian Stan has such fun being irritated by things. Like, he wants good things for Steve in the start of the first film, right? But not things that are better than what he is getting. So he when Steve becomes Cap, and now he’s the little puppy following along, he is so irritated. And that is such fun. He’s so grumpy in the later films, too. Carrying the weight of his actions is rough, I know, but dude acts like every bad thing in the world is his fault. And Sam (Falcon) always tries to see the glass as half full. So these two together was a comic team up we didn’t know we needed. But it was delightful. Especially when Bucky sort of flirted with Sam’s sister. And fake Cap was so well done. Everything about him was anti Captain America. Made my skin crawl. But that was the point, right? Also, to help Sam pick up the shield, obviously, but… *shudder*

That led me to WandaVision which took me most of a year to finish. I adored the way it was set up as TV show episodes from different eras. I loved the performances from Elizabeth Olson and Paul Bettany, as well as the rest of the cast. But I think it was the underlying angst and sorrow that made it easy to walk away from. Hard to watch something that increased the negative emotions (i.e. depression during a pandemic). But when I picked it up and powered through, I really liked how they didn’t shy away from Wanda’s grief over her losses. From a Mental Health perspective, I get why she did what she did. And I feel for her. Lord, do I. But impacting everyone around her like that was so far out of the therapeutic approach… But she learned from it and though she also learned more heartache by losing the children her fantasy created, the series ended with a good spot. Not tied up in a neat little bow like one would expect but with a girl still hurting over her lost loved ones, but moving forward.

This is where I interrupt myself to say that I watched Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness last night and… I liked it, but I didn’t. What I didn’t like was 100% that the lessons learned in WandaVision were clearly forgotten about. Wanda was so hurt by seeing how she had hurt others in her little town but yet to hunts down a child to kill her and take her power and gleefully kills anyone in her way? I know it was clearly the Darkhold’s doing but what was the point of the end of the series if the next time we see her she ax murdering everyone? Grief is a powerful thing, but she was past anger at this point, and yet forgot the acceptance she had just learned?

But I digress. I enjoyed the film. It did the same thing I loved about the first Doctor Strange which was that it created a hero whose strength was in his mind and who fought in visually stunning ways. It was really quite lovely to watch.

Back to the series… Next was Loki. Once again the god of mischief is causing havoc. And for good reason. After the Timekeepers arrested him, Loki spun things in order to help them and in doing so learned how to destroy them. And met a handful of himself. The variants were delightful, by the way. Each one twisted in a more interesting way. Hiddleston was clearly having a blast.

I hear there’s a season 2 coming. With how everything ended, I am quite looking forward to that. Can he fix the end? Cuz let’s be honest, the only relationship that is going to make Loki happy is with himself. Although, he could also probably have fun with gator Loki. He’s like Omni-sexual, right? Which, btw, kudos to Marvel and Disney for not shutting that down. (Especially knowing that the kiss in Buzz Lightyear was scrapped by Pixar for too long before it was allowed in- time for progress!)

Anyways, I am looking forward to seeing what fun Hiddleston has in the next round. He’s just so delightful in the role.

The last of my viewing was Hawkeye. Yes, I know there’s still Moonknight and Ms. Marvel to go, but I had to take a breather to do other things, so they’ll have to wait til my next catch up post.

Hawkeye was one I was actually waiting for. Which sounds weird, right? A lot of people don’t like him. But I think he is an underrated character (especially because in the films they humanized him so well what with the family and all- oh lord, his palpable grief after The Snap…) and also, well, Jeremy Renner is from the Central Valley and we San Joaquin Valley kids gotta support each other, right?

Simply put this was the story of a man just trying to get home for the holidays with his family. Of course, things never go right in a Marvel-verse so poor Hawkeye has to deal with a theft of his old gear, etc, and tracking that down, with a bit of a shadow in the form of hanger-on Kate Bishop. Well, as these things do, she’s actually pretty darn good and helpful (though she causes almost as much trouble as she stops). And there’s a bit of a hiccup with Yelena, of Black Widow fame, popping up and forcing feelings to the surface as only a little sister can (we are quite skilled in this area, if you didn’t know).

I adored this series. I did. I know that some people were poo-pooing it, but it was perfect, IMO. I loved the comedy, the action, the drama. I felt for poor Hawkeye and his need to just go home to his kids, as soon as he can finish this one last thing… Ugh, I was all in. The additions of a broadway Avengers show… which nearly killed me I was laughing so hard- brilliant. Whichever creator made that- give them a big bonus. The holiday sweaters. Ugh. Jeremy Renner’s pure suffering at missing things, but trying so hard to make it for family Christmas. I loved it. I want a season 2. I demand one.

Anyways, so I guess that’s it for this collection. There are more shows to watch, but I think I like this wrap up type post, so I will be back when I have multiple series to talk about. Til then… adieu.