#Mephisto being a big fanboy

[nyxlarkyn]

Agatha All Along

Teen and Agatha have a very interesting dynamic going on so far. Three episodes in and this is what I'm gathering about where the writers are going with this.

Teen put the sigil there himself

Agatha is clearly not okay with the loss of her son Nickolas.

Teen's identity is unknown to her.

Teen's been downplaying his magical knowledge to lower Agatha and the other witches guard. He's out right stated he's a big fan of Agatha and admits to studying her, along with following Jennifer on Instagram, knowing about Alice and her mother. Hinting he has a good amount of knowledge on our coven. Yet there are times he'll ask questions about seemingly basic stuff, like "a gross name for honey" Alice's tattoo being a protection ward. His little notebook he's been keeping notes in which yes, he can be writing helpful witchy tips in or info for ulterior motives.

If he were to place a sigil on himself and then play clueless about it, it's a perfect way to hide who he is, Billy Maximoff, someone Agatha may not be so helpful towards because of Wanda; and direct Agatha's suspicions towards what she wants. Her son. His identity isn't a red herring for the audience. It's Billy's emotional manipulation of Agatha. He knows about Nick, he's studied her.

"They say no one really knows what happened to him. They say he might be dead, others say he might be a demon, or an agent of Mephisto. - I doubt she's even recognize her own son."

Teen is counting on Agatha's desire to push his agenda. Teen goes on a whole fanboy tangent about how the coven may have to use "Analog magic. Labour-intensive manual acts of labor--- Witchcraft! Emphasis on craft." to him "A what?" immediately playing dumb and knowing nothing about what sigils are or what type of magic it is.

Now obviously I'm of mind, based off leaks from different companies partnered with the show that Teen is Billy.

I don't think Billy is of malicious intent with Agatha. I think he views her as an aunt. I mean Agatha was seemingly their only babysitter (the exception of their "Uncle Pietro") and their moms go to help for things. That had to imprint some sort of bond between them in Billy's eyes.

"I know how people feel about her" he feels defensive towards her in this moment. Which is interesting because she did attack him and his brother when they were younger. I feel like despite their history Billy holds compassion for Agatha.

While we see just how devastated Agatha is about her loss in her hallucination. Her protectiveness/maternal instincts come into play when Teen is involved. Not letting him drink and being stronger on that boundary when she knows it's poison, coming to his defense and shielding him when the others learn of his sigil, to her demeaning nicknames (form of love language) to even the softer "It (the road) suits you." comment.

I'm excited to see how this dynamic continues to grow as the show progresses.

[that-shamrock-vibe]

WandaVision: Dissecting the MCU’s Most Successful Superhero Couple

Disclaimer: I am only using the term WandaVision as the coupling name for Scarlet Witch and Vision. I am not centring this discussion on the upcoming Disney+ series but rather talking about the 6 year build up to it.

Introduction:

Despite the fact the likes of Hank Pym’s Ant-Man & Janet van Dyne’s Wasp along with Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman are Marvel Comics’ most prominent superhero couples, Scarlet Witch and Vision have always been that “unusual couple” that became a fan-favourite, didn’t diminish either character’s individual stories and, once the two were officially introduced into the MCU in 2015′s Avengers: Age of Ultron, became a hotly anticipated coupling by fans from their somewhat instant connection.

Not only is this comics-accurate love story finally being realised in the MCU, but the fact Kevin Feige feels as passionate about them as fans like I do that he is giving them their own series to shine, along with Wanda herself being involved in the MCU’s next big arc with exploring the Multiverse, I think it is safe to say that WandaVision have outshone the likes of Ant-Man and the Wasp and other couplings to become the MCU’s It couple.

Well, considering Disney+ released a new behind the scenes series called Marvel Legends last week with the first two episodes focusing on Wanda and Vision, despite them being no more than clip-reels of the characters MCU timeline, I wanted to delve in deeper and discuss how characters that were deemed B-worthy enough to be sent to streaming...which suddenly seems like the place to be...have suddenly become the hottest commodities in the MCU.

The Age of Miracles:

Wanda Maximoff first appeared in the MCU in an mid-credits scene for 2014′s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, adding the cherry on the top of what was already a glorious cake of a movie by unofficially introducing Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Sidebar, this was, at its time, very confusing for fans who believed that Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were owned by 20th Century Fox in their X-Men movies. However, after the announcement of the Maximoff twins in the MCU and Quicksilver appearing simultaneously in 2014′s X-Men: Days of Future Past, it was revealed that a deal was made between Fox and Disney that the twins would only have certain traits in either universe.

For the X-Men movies, they would be Mutants, have their origins as the children of Magneto and...even though this never happened...appear as members of the Brotherhood of Mutants.

For the MCU, the Maximoff twins are known as enhanced individuals gaining their powers from the Mind Stone after experimentation from HYDRA. There is no mention of them being Mutants, their parents were indirect victims of Stark Industries, and despite Pietro having his original speed physiology powers, Wanda started off with Psionic Manipulation rather than Chaos Magic as her comic-book counterpart has.

However, it has been confirmed by Kevin Feige that Wanda’s shapeless red energy is magic of the same elk to Doctor Strange, just untamed. Meaning the upcoming alternative sitcom reality Wanda has created in WandaVision restoring Vision, could be an application of her latent reality warping powers.

The Maximoff Twins were officially introduced in 2015′s Avengers: Age of Ultron originally as operatives of HYDRA, before moving on to serve Ultron until defecting from him after realising he was evil and joining the Avengers in their fight to save their home country Sokovia.

Vision meanwhile was officially introduced at the end of the second act for the movie but his predecessor JARVIS was first introduced in Iron Man way back when in 2008...the movie that started it all.

As Tony Stark’s A.I. assistant, JARVIS was stated by Stark to be a top of the range program that runs more of Stark Industries than anyone other than Pepper Potts as CEO. However, when Stark had the ingenious idea to create Ultron...otherwise known as RDJ wanting to steal Hank Pym’s most famous comic-book storyline...as a peacekeeping program to safeguard Earth from extra-terrestrial threats, in typical sci-fi fashion Ultron goes evil and seemingly destroys JARVIS.

However, JARVIS simply retreated into the server only to return after the Avengers acquire Ultron’s recently created synthetic android. The Science Bros. transfer JARVIS’ conscience into the synthetic body and with the help of Thor/s thunder charge Vision was born.

I have to say also, while superhero movie trailers do get me excited for said superhero movie, seeing the reveal of Vision in the final Age of Ultron trailer gave me that wow factor moment only X-Men trailers usually do.

Comics to Movies:

As I have always admitted, I am not as in-depth with the comics as the movies. However, Scarlet Witch and Vision are two characters I have followed pretty since I first found out about them in the mid-noughties as a teenager.

But what cemented the two as my favourite Marvel characters overall, from Comics, to Movies to TV, is the literal creation of the twin sons Wiccan and Speed who became key members in the Young Avengers.

Now yes, both characters have had lives separate from each other because, as I said before, they are still their own characters despite being also known as a couple. But while Wanda has had a somewhat twincestuous relationship with her brother in far comics history, and Vision had his own family of synthetic androids including daughter Viv, who was a playable character in Marvel’s Avengers Academy, I find the best in Marvel Comics writing was actually after their twins were reabsorbed into the demon Mephisto as they were fragments of his soul and Wanda went crazy heralding in the House of M.

Also, not only is Wanda apparently getting her Scarlet Witch moniker either during or after the MCU Multiverse arc, but also a more comics-accurate costume. Up until now Wanda’s costume in the MCU has been they street-casual which does suit the Wanda of Sokovia. Even when she joined the Avengers and got an upgraded costume it did seem more like something someone could wear for a casual day out...as proof, my sister dressed up as the MCU Scarlet Witch by finding clothes in standard clothing stores rather than costume outlets.

My favourite Scarlet Witch outfit to date has been her full-length red gown complete with headdress from the comics, the headdresses of Magneto’s daughters are so iconic that when Polaris crafted her own out of Magneto’s medallion in The Gifted I was fanboying so hard.

We already know Wanda will be wearing a Halloween costume inspired by her iconic comics suit in WandaVision, but if the Halloween costume looks that impressive, I cannot wait to see what her actual supersuit looks like.

Throughout the MCU:

Right from the start, I really enjoyed both Scarlet Witch and Vision in the MCU, despite Scarlet Witch still not to be known as Scarlet Witch to date in the MCU. But from when we see cameos of Wanda and Pietro as experiments of HYDRA, that one quick shot of Wanda displaying her powers I was sold.

Vision meanwhile gave himself a somewhat modified version of his comics-accurate cape because he saw Thor had a cape and wanted one. He could also wield Mjølnir, does this make him worthy? It must do despite the Avengers constant mithering about it. If you can wield Mjølnir you’re worthy.

Talking from a romance perspective, it was a big tease of the two getting together right up until 2018′s Avengers: Infinity War as while it was teased in 2016′s Captain America: Civil War, a romance wasn’t actually shown until we find them in Scotland.

Interestingly enough in the comics, the couple retire to New Jersey rather than Scotland.

Also, like a lot of heroes, both Wanda and Vision seemed to get an upgrade in powers every movie. We always got teases of both their full potentials in the quieter moments like when Pietro died and Wanda, feeling her twin dying, vaporised the surrounding Ultron Sentries in a moment of distraught heartache and when Vision destroyed the last Ultron Sentry.

But it wasn’t until Captain America: Civil War, where we learned that Wanda could control the Mind Stone powering Vision and Vision could easily severely injure another hero and then in Infinity War when either Vision created a human guise for himself or maybe Wanda did, while Wanda not only made short work of Thanos’ army but could also destroy the Mind Stone and, in Endgame take on and possibly defeat Thanos single-handed, that we got a true display of her powers.

MCU creatives have stated that Scarlet Witch is in fact the most powerful MCU hero after it was originally stated Captain Marvel was, so when Wanda finally upgrades and realises her true potential this should be fully realised making Scarlet Witch the most powerful MCU character.

WandaVision and MCU Future:

Here’s what we know about WandaVision:

Wanda finds herself in a sitcom television universe potentially of her own making after not only losing Vision, but not forgetting also Wanda has lost her family including her twin brother as well as friends and teammates Black Widow, Captain America and even Iron Man.

For someone who was late-teens early-twenties at the time of Age of Ultron, this makes her late-20s early-30s by the time of this series, my age, and so obviously all of this loss and grief will play havoc on one’s mind let alone everything else she has gone through.

Also Vision is back but I still don’t know to what extent that is, is he only back in this alternate sitcom reality or has Wanda willed him back into existence in the same way that she willed their twin sons into reality in the comics.

Speaking of which, we know the couple have twins in the series as when they’re in their 80s sitcom setting, we see two bassinettes and it’s hinted we will see them as teenagers.

It has to be Wiccan and Speed, it can’t not be. This would be a massive red mark on WandaVision’s scorecard if it isn’t. I have recently heard rumours they could be human-android hybrids to match the parents and someone even suggesting Viv could be one of the twins...but I can’t fathom why if the Young Avengers are coming into play with the confirmation of Kate Bishop, America Chavez and Stature, why these two core characters wouldn’t be at play.

The other hotly anticipated character introduction is Kathryn Hahn as Agnes...again if this isn’t Agatha Harkness then it is major tease. Agnes is surely an alias for Agatha Harkness who in the comics and even X-Men: Evolution was Scarlet Witch’s mentor for controlling her powers.

The only difference between the two incarnations is in every other version of the character Agatha is an old woman whereas Kathryn Hahn looks like Kathryn Hahn. It will also be great to see Agatha Harkness in a comedic setting as Kathryn Hahn is hilarious.

We also have returning MCU characters Jimmy Woo, Monica Rambeau and Darcy Lewis added to the series. All three may not be connected or they all could be working for SWORD which is the successor to SHIELD first seen in the post-credits scene for Spider-Man: Far From Home.

I’m thrilled to have Kat Dennings back in the MCU and considering both she and Randall Park have a history in comedy, the sitcom settings should suit them well.

I’m not sure why any of these characters are connected to Scarlet Witch or Vision considering all three are connected to separate heroes Ant-Man, Captain Marvel and Thor respectively, but any excuse to bring them back I’ll take it.

What is also more or less confirmed is the ending of WandaVision will see a massive witch fight between Wanda and Agnes resulting in Wanda tearing a hole in the multiverse starting the Multiverse arc in the MCU which will be picked up in Spider-Man 3 and resolved in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness with Wanda set to appear in both movies.

As for Vision’s fate post WandaVision, it is currently unknown where he will appear next if at all, and it may actually depend on the success of the series, but we know that Wiccan and Speed will become part of the Young Avengers so they’re staying on.

It is also worth noting that in the Young Avengers, a second version of Vision known as Jonas was a member of the team created through Nathaniel Richard’s neurokinetic armor gaining sentience after having Vision’s operating system downloaded into it.

Nathaniel Richards is a distant relative to Reed Richards aka Mister Fantastic who is set to appear in the upcoming Fantastic 4 movie, but is also a time remnant of Kang the Conqueror who is set to appear in the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantummania and may be alluded to in the upcoming Disney+ series Loki.

Nathaniel is also Iron Lad, who forms the Young Avengers as part of the Avengers Fail-Safe program. Do you see how this all ties together?

So basically even if we don’t see this Vision again after WandaVision, we may see Jonas in the Young Avengers.

As for the future for Scarlet Witch post-multiverse, if they are bringing in Wiccan and Speed, I really want the next big arc to be the Children’s Crusade. I know fans want House of M...WandaVision is possibly as close to House of M as we’re going to get.

Children’s Crusade is how Wiccan and Speed learn about and are reunited with their estranged mother who has lost her memories and is living in wedded bliss with Doctor Doom...who could easily be introduced in said Fantastic 4 movie.

Conclusion:

Whatever the future holds for Scarlet Witch and Vision, no one can deny that this love story has not only been an organic one, but with it set to be the running theme for WandaVision, this love story is most definitely one for the ages.

So that’s my analysis of the newest superhero superpowered couple currently at play in the MCU, what do you guys think? Is WandaVision a couple for the ages? Will they have a place in the MCU after the upcoming Disney+ series?

Post your comments and check out more MCU Reviews as well as other posts and WandaVision starting this Friday (Jan 15).

[twh-news]

‘Loki’ Season One Finale Introduces A Key Character From Upcoming ‘Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania’ – Recap

Warning: The following recap of the season one finale of Loki, “For All Time. Always” contains spoilers.

Instead of burning down the theatrical slate to feed the beast of streaming, one hopes that Disney bosses’ wake up to the fact that it’s series like Loki which are the pumping aorta of an OTT service.

The cliffhanger for Loki just keeps us hungering for more, and rather than keep us guessing, Marvel promptly revealed during the end-credits last night that there is indeed a season 2. It’s the serials which keep streamers alive, not the movies. Those who spent $60M WW on Black Widow aren’t going to buy it again. But it’s a nail-biting series like Loki which creates ‘must-see’ and therefore frosh sign-ups on Disney+.

In addition, as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s new plan to connect their Disney+ series with their movies, it’s obvious Loki will be bridging to the feature Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, as Jonathan Majors’ villain was finally introduced. Deadline first broke the news that Majors would play Kang the Conquerer in Ant-Man 3. While he didn’t go by that title, he was referred to as “He Who Remains” throughout the entire episode, as first indicated by Miss Minutes who welcomes Loki and Sylvie to the Citadel at the End of Time, He Who Remains’ domicile. However, it’s the variant of He Who Remains that becomes Kang.

Majors in his parts in White Boy Rick and Atticus Freeman in HBO’s Lovecraft Country deftly carries gravitas, but here as He Who Remains/Kang, he gets to stretch in a comical way, with his facets of performance evoking Frank Morgan’s as the Wizard of Oz. Marvel paid off here on what many fanboys were guessing: that it was He Who Remains who was at the end of time. For those studying Easter Eggs in Loki, there was a statue in the TVA piazza of Kang which toward the end of the finale’s episode, we see Loki look up to; the whole moment being a Usual Suspects-ending-like homage. Marvel isn’t always up to paying off: Many thought Mephisto was the big-bad-baddie at the end of WandaVision, and for a minute there was some guessing that was the case in Loki when we see the stained glass window of the devil in ancient France in Ep. 1, however, director Kate Herron told us very early on that the extra-dimensional demon wasn’t in the cards for the MCU series.

After Loki and Sylvie get past Miss Minutes, who in Satanic fashion is trying to offer them all the riches of the world to get them back on the timeline (‘Loki, the Infinity Gauntlet is yours’, ‘You kill Thanos’, ‘How about the throne on Asgard?’), Thor’s adopted brother blasts “We write our own destiny now!”.

“Good Luck with that,” answers Miss Minutes.

The duo try to kill He Who Remains, but he just keeps disappearing due to his TempPad.  He Who Remains tells them he “knows all and has seen it all.” The entire journey that Loki and Sylvie took between Lementis and the Void, “I paved the road, you just walked down it” He Who Remains tells them. He gets them to settle down in front of his desk and tells them about how he, and the whole timeline-TVA thing came to be. A variant of He Who Remains live on Earth in the 31st century, a scientist who learned that the universe was stacked on similar universes. Other variants of him were learning the same theory simultaneously. His variants made contact and there was a peace, and they shared technology. However, “not every version of me, was so pure of heart” and war erupted between the multiverses. Each variant trying to preserve their universe and annihilate the others. “This was almost the end of everyone and everything,” says He Who Remains. The first He Who Remains variant encountered Alioth who was able to harness his power and weaponize him and “I ended the Multiversal War!”.

After He Who Remains isolated “our timeline”, he created the TVA in order to create ages of cosmic harmony.

“You came to kill the devil right?” says He Who Remains, “Well, I keep you safe. If you think I’m evil, just wait till you meet my variants.”

“The TVA, it works,” he adds.

Sylvie believes He Who Remains is lying. He offers them two options: Kill him and there will be a Multiversal War, or Loki and Sylvie can run He Who Remains’ timeline, and make the TVA innocent. The duo aren’t amused with the latter offer. Sylvie is irate at how He Who Remains has made a game out of time and played with people’s lives, especially hers.

He Who Remains then feels a rumble: “We just crossed a threshold”. There are some elements of the timeline he can’t control; he confesses to the two that he lied, that he really doesn’t know how everything in life will turn out. If He Who Remains is killed, he warns that another version of him will just reincarnate and plop himself in the throne at the end of time. All of this culminates in a sword fight between Loki and Sylvie: the former believes He Who Remains that a mess is evident in his death. “That’s the gambit: remove the dictator and what feels the void,” Loki argues. After they kiss, Sylvie pushes Loki through a time portal door back to the TVA.  She then stabs Kang, and soon enough notices a multitude of diverges in the cosmic timeline outside his castle window.

Much, much earlier in the episode, Mobius confronts Ravonna regarding her abuse of authority at the TVA.  She doesn’t know about He Who Remains, who runs the TVA.  She’s collecting files from Miss Minutes in order to go on her own journey of discovery about the org. A flashback reveals that she used to be a high school teacher, and was somehow declared a variant, encountering B-15. Mobius is about to prune Ravonna. They fight, but she winds up getting the pruning weapon in her hand. A time portal door opens and she tells Mobius, almost sarcastically, that she’s going to search for free will.

After Sylvie kills He Who Remains, Mobius and Hunter B-15 notice another explosion in the timeline on the TVA monitors. Loki finds them and exclaims that they can’t stop the huge divergence in time. “It’s done, Mobius. We made a terrible mistake. We freed the timeline. We found him. Beyond the storm. A Citadel at the End of Time. He’s terrifying. He planned everything. He’s seen everything. He knows everything.”

“But someone is coming: Countless different versions of a very dangerous person,” warns Loki.

And to all of this, what is Mobius’ response?

“Who are you? What’s your name?” says Owen Wilson’s character not recognizing the trickster.

Hunter B-15 then orders troops to capture Loki.

Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania, directed by Peyton Reed, hits theaters on Feb. 17, 2023. The question is: Will we see season 2 of Loki before then?

[rynnaaurelius]

Just Pirated Loki’s First Episode: The Reactions of a Comics Nerd and No-Fun MCU Hater

-Fair warning, I am a Loki fan, but not in the way, um. Pretty much everyone else on this website is

-Bless Tom Hiddleston for being such a fucking delight as Loki but the MCU straight- and cis-washes its Loki so much that I really am exhausted.

-That being said, the shout-out to the Kid Loki comics, also known as the best Loki comics, with the “your role is this” stuff was. . .well. Watch that space.

-Interesting characterization in the MCU! Can’t wait for them to fuck it all up when it threatens to get too interesting!

-God I checked the tags for the show/characters and I remembered why I stay out of the MCU fandom.

-”They killed people!”/”They enslaved a whole town!”/”They tried to take over the world!”/”He told my favorite to shut up!” This is comics, Susan, everyone’s a terrible person on some level. Pick your emotional support war criminal and go. Also, get a sense of humor.

-Lotta people bitching about the time travel logic and TVA logic need to read more comics. Fair warning: this shit’s par for the course. Like, a lot. Marvel’s getting very comics-y with its treatment of the TVA, MCU!Carol Danvers, and the Eternals (re: The whole “They were secretly there the whole time!” thing).

-I’ve seen a lot of yelling over Loki’s characterization/the morality of the TVA and Mobius and IMO it was. . .fine?

-Like, yes, the script wasn’t amazing, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. Honestly, it’s better than I was expecting, and the actors did their best.

-Loki seemed fairly in-line from what I remember from 2012.

-The MCU retcons itself about everything every three years, but it looks like they’re going with the theory of Loki having major autonomy during the events of The Avengers. Probably.

-My unpopular opinion on this is that while Thanos certainly did a number on Loki to push him over the edge, supplied him with the army, and gave him this particular plan--none of which is exactly small beans--some version of this was always coming from MCU!Loki, barring major intervention.

-After the first Thor, he was always going to make a play for Earth the second Thor and Odin decided humans were all right. Thanos just happened to set the timetable.

-I mean, he’s been villain material for most of his MCU run, and it’s frankly hilarious how Marvel keeps being forced to bring him back because they can’t do villains for shit and how you can tell when they have to with each shift of his arc trajectory.

-Like everyone else in this godforsaken cinematic universe, his lines suffer from being post-Joss Whedon’s directorial and writing contributions as well as Marvel Main Character-itis, which is not unique to this series.

-Mobius is surprisingly interesting compared with his comics-self.

-*Ducks and hides from the Loki fans*

-He’s clearly working towards something with Loki maybe beyond the whole stopping someone who’s clearly not just your common garden Tom Hiddleston!Loki thing

-What with the interesting mix of de-radicalization techniques and interrogation techniques that probably aren’t completely copacetic under the Geneva Convention, anyway.

-He’s not a Loki fanboy in the comics, but after having to sit through MCU!Wanda, I’m just bracing myself here for the changes. It’s not like Mobius is much of a character in the comics, anyway.

-Like, his morality is of the TVA, but his priorities in keeping Loki alive and un-reset go a bit beyond what his comics self would, probably.

-Anyway, Owen Wilson remains as charismatic as ever and is doing a great job as him, so I like him right now, but jury’s definitely still out on his trajectory.

-So, the TVA.

-Despite the whole fan theory mess with WandaVision, I’m not unconvinced the Time Keepers aren’t secretly the Time-Twisters or something. The organization is more or less like this in the comics, but the emphasis on “Sacred Timeline” is. . .hmph.

-They monitor the multiverse in the comics. They’re not trying to avert its creation, and the Time-Twisters destroy realities as their schtick.

-Also, the multi-verse is coming, so I’m assuming that there’s going to be a twist that acts as an impetus for Loki plus Mobius and friends to blow the organization wide open and cause the multiverse (Probably re-forming the organization and giving Mobius the same surprise promotion as the comics, along with an excuse to bring Gugu Mbatha-Raw back).

-*chanting intensifies* mutants mutants mutants

-They’re gonna fuck up Magneto so bad lmao

Ending Conclusions

-. . .The Big Bad of this phase is absolutely either Mephisto or Kang, right?

-I don’t see how they do Secret Invasion at this point as a feasible Big Bad without a lot of changes, Deviants were Thanos, basically, Doctor Doom can’t happen without the Fantastic Four, and anything directly tied to the mutants is out until they’re brought in.

-Think a decent dark horse candidate for the Phase 4 is also Scarlet Witch/Chthon since she’s confirmed to be reading the Darkhold--which is pretty much No. 1 on the list of Stupid Shit To Never Ever Do In Marvel Comics--upholding the fine comics tradition of Wanda being manipulated by someone evil into doing world-breaking shit.

-I can’t wait for them to straightwash Wiccan and for me to die inside, unrelated news

-It’s episode 1, so there’s a lotta ballgame left, but this is now the second show to bait the MCU Devil, which I honestly want to see if only so I can watch the world burn over it.

-Then again, they might simplify things and just make the being behind the Darkhold Mephisto instead of Chthon, which would. . .track with some things mentioned by the WandaVision showrunners about removing important scenes because stop listening to fans theorize online, dammit. It’s the Hamlet written by monkeys hypothesis played out.

-Ahem.

-Anyway. The music was nice, the actors did a great job, production value looked good, and while this episode was 95% info-dump, they made it pretty digestible.

-Also, the ‘70s-style matte painting used for one scene instead of CGI was a nice surprise and the animation was delightful.

Recommendations:

-If you’re a Loki fan convinced the MCU hasn’t done right by him since Dark World and think Taika Waititi destroyed his character, this show is probably not going to make you especially happy.

-*Checks Tumblr tags again*

-*Winces* I’m so sorry, guys.

-If you’re someone like me, who’s not the biggest MCU fan but still loves the characters and wants to see what ditch this drives into, I think the show is promising.

-If you’re an MCU casual, ditto, but without the ditch part.

-Overall: 8/10 blue-teethed French kids

[agentem]

Things I liked about the finale:

1. Vision stuff. Vision out Visioned White Vision. That’s So Vision!

2. Billy and Tommy sob. They so like Wanda and Pietro. Love.

3. Darcy’s one second of screen time. I would’ve been scared to do that. The funnel cake truck did not look sound.

4. When it turns out all your theories are wrong, at least all the dumb fanboys were wrong too. No Mephisto or Dr Strange! Definitely no Reed Richards or Professor X! Just White Vision! A+ troll from Paul Bettany. Now I get to watch ALL THE YOUTUBE eat crow.

5. Monica saved the twins. I did want her to have a big glowy moment. But she’s so NICE letting Wanda have her moment. (She is aging it for later!) just the most kind and empathetic human being on the planet. I would still be mad she threw me from the Hex. But Monica is like “I’m fine, let me save the small children that I DELIVERED.”

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1275

Monday, August 19, 2019

It was so hot and humid outside just now when I went to get the newspaper (yes, we still have it delivered) that it felt like I was walking into a sauna. I hope it rains to cut the humidity down. We certainly need the water as our gardens are wilting. It's been so dry that there's a burn ban in effect. I couldn't make a fire in the fire pit up at the cottage, much to my disappointment. The pleasure of sitting around a fire must be a primitive thing hard wired since we first were able to make fire.

Detective Comics #1009 – Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Christian Duce (art) Luis Guerrero (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). A new story starts here and it's a doozy. Deadshot is the bad guy and he might have been contracted to kill Bruce Wayne. The next issue can't hit the racks fast enough for me.

Event Leviathan #2 – Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Alex Maleev (art) Josh Reed (letters). I'm late to this because I had to wait on reorders. I think the identity of who Leviathan is gets revealed this issue. I'm glad it didn't take the team of the world's greatest detectives too long to figure it out.

Event Leviathan #3 – Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Alex Maleev (art) Josh Reed (letters). Psyche! Leviathan isn't who the detectives suspected it was last issue. It's still a mystery and the real deal does show up this issue. You may recall that Amanda Waller has been MIA, well not anymore. She's a big part of this thing. This story has fans talking and that's always fun.

The Amazing Spider-Man #27 – Nick Spencer (writer) Kev Walker (pencils) John Dell (inks) Laura Martin (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). The new Syndicate has been hired to capture Boomerang and Spidey is forced to help his roommate Fred/Boomerang. Things don't turn out so well for the good guys. The last page has a shocking surprise that harkens back to the good old days of Stan Lee.

Powers of X #2 – Jonathan Hickman (writer) R.B. Silva (art) R.B. Silva & Adriano Di Benedetto (inks) Marte Gracia (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). The X in the title also represents the Roman numeral for ten. The scope of this issue is huge. We go from year zero of the X-Men to year 1000 as the mutants try to find a way to survive. There's not a lot of action but a heck of a lot of planning and strategising. I think our patience will be rewarded when Jonathan Hickman starts cooking with gas.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #10 – Tom Taylor (writer) Ken Lashley (art pages 1 – 14, thumbnails pages 15 – 17) Scott Hanna (inks pages 15 – 17) Luca Maresca (art pages 18 – 20) Nolan Woodard (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). The team-up with Hobie Brown, the good guy Prowler, ends with a cameo from Iron Man. I like bad guy makes good stories.

Catwoman #14 – Ram V (writer) Mirka Andolfo (art) Arif Prianto (colours) Saida Temofonte (letters). Hermosa Heat part 1. It's a new story with a new writer. There's a bounty on Catwoman and she going to find out who put it out there. I'm not a fan of the new cut-outs on her cat suit. I think it's just to show more titillating skin for the fanboys and that's creepy. The panels with the side boobs is what makes me think that.

Ironheart #9 – Eve L. Ewing (writer) Luciano Vecchio (art) Geoffo (layouts) Matt Milla (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Riri goes to Wakanda in search of the mystical Wellspring of Power. She and Shuri meet for the first time and the young women's personalities clash like oil and water. Fortunately, a crisis bonds them later. A new character joins the story on the last page and she's related to someone that Ironheart fought against back in Chicago. I want to learn more about Silhouette.

Silver Surfer Black #3 – Donny Cates (writer) Tradd Moore (art) Dave Stewart (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). The planet Ego helps Norrin Radd to recover from his battle with Knull and it's a good thing because then the Silver Surfer can return the favour and cure Ego of a type of cancer. The surprise is what's causing the cancer. This weird story just got a lot weirder.

Loki #2 – Daniel Kibblesmith (writer) Oscar Bazaldua (art) David Curiel (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Loki visits Tony Stark to ask to join the Avengers. 'Tis to laugh, as they say. This issue ends in a most unlikely place and I can't wait to find out what happens next.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #9 – Saladin Ahmed (writer) Javier Garron (art) David Curiel (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Is it time for Miles to be rescued from his kidnappers? Yes it is. His dad Jeff and his uncle Aaron team up to save Miles. Aaron getting a new Prowler suit might mean trouble in the future. I wonder how long Miles's mysterious kidnappers are going to stay a mystery?

Batman Universe #2 – Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Nick Derington (art) Dave Stewart (colours) Josh Reed (letters). I think Brian Bendis is using this book to play with all the heroes and villains in the DCU. Batman teams up with Green Arrow briefly and goes to Gorilla City. By the end of the issue he's on another planet and I don't know if the Thanagarians are going to welcome him nicely or not. Oh, and we find out who the big bad is. I groaned.

Punisher Kill Krew #1 – Gerry Duggan (writer) Juan Ferreyra (art) VC's Cory Petit (letters). This is what I love about comic books. You can tell whatever far fetched story you want and have it beautifully illustrated. This is a spin off from War of the Realms where Frank Castle continues his war hunting down a frost giant named Kasyckla. But how is he supposed to get to Jotunheim? Wouldja believe via chariot pulled by one of Thor's goats? I wonder who is going to be in his Krew?

Once & Future #1 – Kieron Gillen (writer) Dan Mora (art) Tamra Bonvillain (colours) Ed Dukeshire (letters). I don't know why people are speculating on this book but it seems to be the hot buy of the week. This new 6-issue mini is a twist on the Arthurian legend with it not being clear whether Arthur is a good guy or a bad guy. There's a group of people wanting to resurrect the dead king to make Britain great again. This faction will kill to get their way. Duncan gets roped by his grandmother Bridgette into stopping this group of bad guys. I like the feisty Bridgette so I will keep reading this to see what else she and Duncan get up to. It's jolly good fun.

Gwenpool Strikes Back #1 – Leah Williams (writer) David Baldeon (art) Jesus Aburtov (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). I never got into this fourth wall breaking comic book character before but I read a story that she was in recently and liked how fun she was. This issue is a great introduction to this whacky character and you needn't have read any of her previous appearances to get what's going on. You will get an extra kick out of Gwenpool if you're a dyed in the wool Marvel Maniac like me though. The rest of this 5-issue mini is going on to my “must read” list.

Age of Conan Valeria #1 – Meredith Finch (writer) Aneke (art) Andy Troy (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). I was not impressed with Age of Conan Bêlit because I liked the book version of Bêlit more than the comic book version. Valeria is another matter however. She fought alongside Conan in “Red Nails” my all time favourite Conan comic book story. The way Barry Smith drew her made me fall in love with her. This origin story has Valeria hunting down her brother's killer and even though she looks like Betty Cooper with a sword, I like this enough to find out if she succeeds in her quest.

Silver Surfer The Prodigal Son #1 – Peter David (writer) Francesco Manna (art) Espen Grundetjern (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Now that the Fantastic Four have gotten him off Earth, Prah'd'ghul's adventures take him into space. Where there's space, there glides the Silver Surfer. This story flashes back to when the Silver Surfer was the herald of Galactus. In this issue he's just an Uber for Prah'd'ghul.

Fantastic Four #13 – Dan Slott (writer) Sean Izaakse (art) Marcio Menyz (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). The conclusion of the Thing versus the Hulk fight. I won't tell you who the winner is but I will tell you that the biggest loser is the Puppet Master. You won't like him when he's angry, and the Puppet Master made the Hulk extremely angry.

Conan the Barbarian Exodus #1 – Esad Ribic (writer & art) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). This was an easy job for VC's Travis Lanham. There are no captions or dialogue other than a few Hyborian Age word balloons. This is the story of a young Conan wandering the land and surviving against man and beast. It won't take long to “read” but I spent a lot of time just taking in the beautiful artistry. Any time Esad Ribic draws a comic book it's worth picking up.

Doctor Strange #17 – Mark Waid (writer) Barry Kitson (pencils) Scott Koblish (inks) Brian Reber (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Herald Supreme part 6 is the conclusion to Stephen Strange's adventure with Galactus. This is a classic “deal with the devil” story when Mephisto enters the picture. Oh my god what a corny ending. Mark Waid also writes History of the Marvel Universe and he includes the whole thing right here. I did not finish the first issue of that chronicle and I am taking this opportunity to stop reading this title as well just because it got too maudlin.

Symbiote Spider-Man #5 – Peter David (writer) Greg Land (pencils) Jay Leisten (inks) Frank D'Armata (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). Here's another weak ending. There was never a doubt that Spider-Man and the Black Cat would win against Mysterio but boy was it ever done in a mundane way. I will think twice about reading this title the next time this book hits the racks.