Marvel's Movie/TV Universe *SPOILERS*

[Accelerando]

Just got back home from my midnight screening. Without any spoilers.....Captain America: The Winter Soldier is not only the best film in the Phase 2 collection thus far, but it is the best film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. "But what about The Avengers?"  As much hype as Avengers has received, i thought it seriously fell short in the second act. Winter Soldier had a beginning, middle, and end that was very well written! The Russo Brothers, who directed my favorite episodes of Community, delivered!

[hefdaddy42]

Nice!  That dovetails with a lot of advance word I've heard about the film.  I'll be catching it this weekend.

[jingle.boy]

Me too. Heading out to see it Saturday night with the jingle.kids. Jungle.daughter is turning into quite the marvel fan.  She's obsessed with Agents of SHIELD, and bugged the crap out of me to get Thor 2 on Blu Ray.

[King Postwhore]

Me too. Heading out to see it Saturday night with the jingle.kids. Jungle.daughter is turning into quite the marvel fan.  She's obsessed with Agents of SHIELD, and bugged the crap out of me to get Thor 2 on Blu Ray.

That is awesome.  We are seeing the Capt. movie in Imax Sunday.  can't wait.  BTW the last SHIELD episode was awesome!

[Zantera]

I saw The Winter Soldier almost 2 weeks ago and it is indeed pretty good. Maybe not as good as Avengers, but top3 after Avengers and Iron Man I would say. And I don't even consider myself the biggest Marvel-fan, I would say only 3-4 of their movies have been really good, with the rest being pretty enjoyable for the moment, but not something I've rewatched.

Still, I'm way more excited for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and X-Men Days of Future Past, they look epic. Even Guardians of the Galaxy will be cool probably.

[hefdaddy42]

Definitely looking forward to Guardians.  I could care less about Spidey and X-Men.

[Zook]

Definitely looking forward to Guardians.  I couldn't care less about Spidey and X-Men.

 

[The King in Crimson]

I thought Guardians looked sounded incredibly dumb when it was first announced but the trailers make it look like the film-makers know just how batshit stupid the entire idea is and are totally going with it.

Spider-Man 2.... I'll probably see it, but I'm not that psyched. The first one was better than it had any right to be but it still wasn't that great. X-Men looks like it's going to be a giant clusterfuck of epic proportions. I hope it proves me wrong though because I love the X-Men.

Hopefully I'm going to see Cap'n 'Murika tomorrow night. I've been looking forward to it for a couple of months now and it's been a while since I've been to the theater to see a movie. The beginning of the year sucks.

[BlackInk]

Saw The Winter Soldiers last night. It was pretty good, not as amazing as some people has said but definetely a good super hero movie.

I'm not looking forward to Spider-Man very much, but I guess I'll see that as well. X-Men however just looks more and more awesome for every trailer.

[ariich]

I'm really enjoying Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It just gets better and better! We're a bit behind in the UK though, as Channel 4 wanted to air the second half of the season all in one go, rather than have loads of random breaks like in the US.

[jingle.boy]

The last 3-4 episodes of Agents have been an incredible improvement over the opening episodes.  I'm really glad I stuck with this, it's turning into a great action-thriller series.

[hefdaddy42]

I'm really enjoying Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It just gets better and better! We're a bit behind in the UK though, as Channel 4 wanted to air the second half of the season all in one go, rather than have loads of random breaks like in the US.

That's too bad, because apparently there will be some significance in watching this week's episode, then Captain America:The Winter Soldier, then next week's episode, in that order.

But yes, I've enjoyed it all season, and it has really improved in the last several episodes.

[Zantera]

I watched the first 5 or 6 episodes of Agents of SHIELD but then I gave up. Quality of the show aside, I quickly realized that I really don't care. Take the super heroes away and the excitement is gone. I was also hoping for more tie-ins with the movies, but understandably they can't do as much as I had hoped for.

[The King in Crimson]

I gave up on Agents of Shield after its somewhat long break about three to four months ago, not out of any conscious decision but, when it came back, I just didn't care. It's not the worst show I've watched, but given the movies, the source material, and the creators, it was just disappointing. The characters were largely bland (although I liked May), the acting unimpressive, the tie-ins half-assed, and the writing was mostly lazy. As a concept, it had potential but they just didn't do anything interesting with it. It's really telling when the pilot is the best executed episode of the series.

If it's gotten better, that's good, but I don't know if I can muster up enough caring to start watching again on the off chance that it might be interesting now. There's too much good TV out there that's either airing right now or that I've never seen before to spend time on mediocrity.

[King Postwhore]

when I read post like yours TKIC, it reminds me of TV shows like Seinfeld & The Simpsons but you've got to give them time. Just like bands and their early releases.

[The King in Crimson]

when I read post like yours TKIC, it reminds me of TV shows like Seinfeld & The Simpsons but you've got to give them time. Just like bands and their early releases.

That's fair, but even shows like The Simpsons, Seinfeld or Fringe, which all had lower than average quality first seasons, managed to have something commendable about them after twelve episodes or at least some reason to continue watching. Aside from the ties in to the movie franchise, I really can't think of anything that makes me want to watch Agents anymore.

Don't get me wrong, I've poo-pooed plenty of shows after two or three episodes for various reasons at the time (Revolution comes to mind) and I've also given a lot of shows enough time to grow on me beyond the initial few first episodes that I was largely ambivalent about (Mad Men) so I do get that each show needs a chance to find its feet or establish something substantial about itself before passing judgement. The question is, how much time does that take? Some shows find their feet relatively quickly, others take a season or maybe even more. But at that point, should I continue investing time in a show that offers little to no gratification in the hopes that maybe it will get better... sometime, somewhere?

IMO, twelve or so episodes is a sufficient amount of time for a show to find its voice.

[King Postwhore]

I would have agreed with you but the last 3 episodes have been dynamite.

[The King in Crimson]

Maybe I'll give it another shot when I'm caught up on other television then though I cannot remember what the last episode I watched was. I think it was the one where Coulson was abducted or something?

[King Postwhore]

Yup. there are answers to how he was brought back to life but why he was is not answered.

My DVR is on overdrive right now.  I need to loosen my schedule!

[jingle.boy]

Maybe I'll give it another shot when I'm caught up on other television then though I cannot remember what the last episode I watched was. I think it was the one where Coulson was abducted or something?

It's too bad you gave up at that point... that's just when business started to pick up.

[ariich]

I don't understand the complaints about SHIELD, and I don't know why people are expecting bombast on the level of the movies. TV is an entirely different beast, with slow character development and story arcs.

I'm really enjoying Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It just gets better and better! We're a bit behind in the UK though, as Channel 4 wanted to air the second half of the season all in one go, rather than have loads of random breaks like in the US.

That's too bad, because apparently there will be some significance in watching this week's episode, then Captain America:The Winter Soldier, then next week's episode, in that order.

Yeah I think we're around 2-3 episodes behind at the moment, but Winter Soldier has been released at the same time. I don't really mind though, I'm assuming the timings don't need to be all that exact.

But yes, I've enjoyed it all season, and it has really improved in the last several episodes.

Likewise, I've enjoyed it since the start. As with many shows, it started more episodic while the characters, settings etc. were established, and now it's becoming more of a serial. As such, I think it's really picking up steam.

[hefdaddy42]

Holy shit, Captain America :The Winter Soldier was awesome!

[Dimitrius]

Sebastian Stann owned that role!! I have to concur with the people saying Winter Soldier is the best Marvel film yet!

[hefdaddy42]

It was fantastic, certainly either the best or second best.

[jingle.boy]

It was fantastic, certainly either the best or second best.

I'll put it 2nd behind The Avengers.  Best of Phase 2 so far.  Each movie has gotten progressively better.  I'm just kinda bummed we have to wait 13 months for another Marvel movie with any Avengers cast.  I'm still dumbfounded as to why they aren't building a Hulk franchise?

[King Postwhore]

Can't wait to see it tomorrow!

[Dimitrius]

It was fantastic, certainly either the best or second best.

I'll put it 2nd behind The Avengers.  Best of Phase 2 so far.  Each movie has gotten progressively better.  I'm just kinda bummed we have to wait 13 months for another Marvel movie with any Avengers cast.  I'm still dumbfounded as to why they aren't building a Hulk franchise?

You and me both!

[hefdaddy42]

According to Joss Whedon, characters who haven't been seen since The Avengers, like Hulk and Hawkeye, will have larger roles in Avengers :Age of Ultron.

[Accelerando]

I have a gut feeling that Age of Ultron is going to set up a Planet Hulk movie

[bout to crash]

Holy shit, Captain America :The Winter Soldier was awesome!

I concur. I'm not hugely into this stuff, but saw it today with some friends and loved it. And laughed my ass off at "The path of the righteous man..."

[Dimitrius]

I have a gut feeling that Age of Ultron is going to set up a Planet Hulk movie

It would be cool if they do that. And then Avengers 3 could be World War Hulk.

[Big Hath]

Planet Hulk/World War Hulk was awesome

[hefdaddy42]

Holy shit, Captain America :The Winter Soldier was awesome!

I concur. I'm not hugely into this stuff, but saw it today with some friends and loved it. And laughed my ass off at "The path of the righteous man..."

Yeah, I almost fell out of my seat laughing so hard.

[jingle.boy]

Holy shit, Captain America :The Winter Soldier was awesome!

I concur. I'm not hugely into this stuff, but saw it today with some friends and loved it. And laughed my ass off at "The path of the righteous man..."

Yeah, I almost fell out of my seat laughing so hard.

Damn... I totally missed it.  What scene was that?

[hefdaddy42]

Holy shit, Captain America :The Winter Soldier was awesome!

I concur. I'm not hugely into this stuff, but saw it today with some friends and loved it. And laughed my ass off at "The path of the righteous man..."

Yeah, I almost fell out of my seat laughing so hard.

Damn... I totally missed it.  What scene was that?

SPOILERS

On Nick Fury's gravestone was this quote: "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. - Ezekiel 25:17"  Which, of course, was Jackson's catch phrase from Pulp Fiction.