With their conclusion of their “Infinity Saga” eleven years in the making, Marvel Studios’ future of blockbuster filmmaking was bright yet uncertain. Well, for like two weeks. On July 21st, 2019, not long after the very successful debut of Spider-Man: Far From Home, producer and studio president Kevin Feige stepped onto the Hall H stage at San Diego Comic-Con to announce ten films and television series that would make up the bulk of Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Ever since that announcement, fans of superhero cinema generally and the MCU in particular have seen nearly all fifteen projects that ended up being part of Phase Four (the most stuffed phase of the franchise relative to the span of the release window). While many of these individual projects have been positively received by both critics and audiences, there remains a question as to whether or not Phase Four ultimately turned out to be a worthy addition to the MCU as a whole. And what better way to answer that question than to take a look back at all of the Phase Four projects (and yes, I mean BOTH the movies AND the shows 😊). So, without further ado…LET’S GET STARTED! WandaVision (2021) As the unexpected kickoff for the Phase Four series on Disney+, WandaVision was (in my humble opinion) ultimately the right choice for this task. Essentially, the core benefits to spinning off the MCU into interconnected shows are highly on display with WandaVision: fleshing out a pre-existing character from the universe in a distinctive style that propels their story for the films going forward. In that, WandaVision was a success. In terms of its style, head writer Jac Schaeffer crafted a loving homage to the various eras of classic sitcoms. Whether through the use of tacky special effects in the early, black-and-white episodes, the cheesy but charming humor, or the crew’s expert embrace of old-school camera techniques and aspect ratios, the backbone of the show’s unique brand makes it wildly different from anything that’s come before or since in the MCU. In this sense alone, WandaVision works as enjoyable weekly television. But what about the storytelling? Is there substance to back up the style? Fortunately, yes. In adapting Schaeffer’s writing for the small screen, director Matt Shakman (who is currently attached to direct the Fantastic Four film for Phase Six) effectively creates a slow-burn tension in the first three episodes with subtle hints here and there about what exactly is going on in Westview. With periodical “breaks” from Wanda Maximoff’s (Elizabeth Olsen) synthetic reality experienced by the people of the town, Shakman helps invest the audience in learning the truth behind why Wanda is broadcasting sitcom-inspired “episodes” of her life to nobody. And it all bursts open in the fourth episode, “We Interrupt This Program.” It’s here that Shakman and Schaeffer greatly utilize new and old side characters—Maria Rambeau’s now-adult daughter Monica (Teyonah Parris), FBI agent/amateur magician Jimmy Woo (Randall Park), and Jane Foster’s sidekick Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) —to unravel the mystery of Westview. This acts as a very effective and satisfying catharsis in the beginning of the second act by pulling back the curtain to show that Wanda, in her grief, has brainwashed the townspeople and “cast” them in her “sitcom” starring herself and Vision (Paul Bettany) who’s supposed to be dead after the events of Avengers: Infinity War. But, in all honesty, it’s the show’s middle episodes that truly bring the A-game. As S.W.O.R.D., led by Tyler Hayward (Josh Stamberg), keeps trying to sneak through Wanda’s bubble around Westview, her relationship with Vision is strained. This emotional, character-driven conflict gives Olsen and Bettany the opportunity to flex their thespian muscles and they do not waste it. Simply put, the argument they have at the end of episode five (“On a Very Special Episode…”) is STILL one of my favorite scenes from all the MCU Disney+ shows. And, upon rewatching the series a few months ago, it did not disappoint (and reminded me how much potential Olsen has in the future of the MCU portraying Wanda as an anti-hero). With a delightful, mysterious first act and a propulsive second act, surely WandaVision nails the ending. Right? I think that, in some ways, it does. So, to begin with the positives, the way that Shakman and Schaeffer handled fleshing out Wanda’s tragic backstory in episode eight (“Previously On”) before building up her coming into her own in the finale (“The Series Finale”) by truly embodying the “Scarlet Witch” persona was a lot of fun. Notably, I really liked how it all came together with Wanda turning the tables on Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) and outsmarting her with her own take on chaos magic. To top it all off, the emotional goodbye she has with her children and Vision before ending “The Hex” around Westview once and for all served as a pretty fulfilling end to her journey of grief and mourning that began in Avengers: Endgame. Unfortunately, much of the rest of the series finale fell flat due to so much missed potential. For one thing, until the dialogue-centric conclusion involving Vision outsmarting “White Vision,” the Vision-on-Vision fight felt pretty out of place for a show that was never really centered on action sequences. Furthermore, the reveal of Agatha’s true identity and villainous motivations came off as pretty rushed and confused (was she ever controlling Wanda, or was she just creating the illusion of herself as nice to earn Wanda’s trust and learn the secrets behind what she was doing in Westview?). Because of that, I’m by no means excited for the spin-off centered on her characters (despite feeling that Hahn nailed her performance for virtually the entire run of the series). And that doesn’t even cover the outright bad stuff. For starters, Hayward was never a very compelling or complex antagonist even compared to other “government bureaucrat” bad guys that we’ve seen in comic book movies (like Amanda Waller in The Suicide Squad). Aside from the show’s villains, Monica Rambeau felt very much forced into the show’s narrative by the end and lacks the punch that it needs to get me excited for her role in The Marvels. And, of course, I have to address the utterly disappointing reveal surrounding the fake-out return of Evan Peters as Quicksilver (in reality, Agatha’s “husband” Ralph Bohner). This really just came off as Marvel Studios baiting their audience to get them excited for something that (as of now) is not going to happen. However, what is quite possible the worst decision made for the finale of WandaVision from a storytelling perspective is the fact that Wanda never suffers external consequences for her actions. To remind ourselves, she BRAINWASHED AN ENTIRE TOWN. And she never even has to apologize to these people, let alone suffer legal or punitive measures as recompense for mentally and physically enslaving hundreds of innocent people to help her grieve Vision’s loss. That felt like a very lazy story decision that could have been mended after a couple of passes on the script. Overall, I enjoyed WandaVision. It fleshed out Wanda’s character with added dimensions (thanks to Olsen’s great performance) that excited me to see her return as a potential villain in the Doctor Strange sequel. However, it is by no means a perfect (or even great) MCU show due to it feeling a bit stretched out in the third act in spite of its thematic heft and ambitions. Still, its strengths generally outweigh its flaws so it falls into the category of “pretty good” in my book. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) In a sense, this show is rather frustrating because of how imbalanced it feels. On the one hand, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has many great moments that keep the show soaring. On the other hand, its drawbacks and low points keep it from achieving greatness. When it comes to the action, this show succeeds better than most of the other Phase Four series. The show makes a strong impression with the grandiose, multi-layered set pieces like the rescue scene in “New World Order,” the highway chase in “The Star-Spangled Man,” and the helicopter chase in “One World, One People.” However, it also shines during the more intimate fight scenes like the Dora Milaje fight in “The Whole World Is Watching” and the two-on-one battle in “Truth.” While it doesn’t always hit, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier rarely feels like a television show when it comes to the action (something that I cannot say for WandaVision). Regarding the characters, its co-protagonists—Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan)—carry the series on their shoulders. By building on the chemistry between these two that was teased in Captain America: Civil War, creator Malcolm Spellman and director Kari Skogland allow both actors to play to their strengths. Furthermore, after setting up both of their arcs beautifully in the premiere, the adventure they go on together (mostly) serves their respective journeys Whereas Sam struggles to embrace donning the mantle of Captain America as a black man (thus is concerned with his uncertain future), Bucky is dealing with processing and moving on from his identity as the Winter Soldier (thus making amends for the sins of his past). Simply put, whenever the show is focused on them it edges closer to the status of being great. Unfortunately, most everything else about The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is a mixed bag to varying degrees. To start with the better of the two villains: John Walker (Wyatt Russell). While by no means as good of an actor as his father (who played Ego in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2), Russell does a pretty good job in the first act of the show making it difficult for the audience to love him and thus leans into his role as an antagonist to Sam and Bucky without going full-out villain. However, once he gives in to his emotion and anger and lashes out following the death of his best friend Lemar Hoskins/Battlestar (Clé Bennett), Walker’s downward spiral could have worked really well as a foil/anti-hero arc to Sam becoming Captain America. But the way that his soft redemption is handled in the finale is incredibly rushed. The fact that he goes from being on a murderous rampage against the Flag Smashers to helping Bucky and law enforcement in the span of fifteen minutes is pretty ridiculous. Overall, I get that John Walker’s turn as U.S. Agent didn’t fully work in the show. For me, I liked it more often than not due to Russell’s great job balancing this normal soldier’s seemingly genuine desire to do a good job and his increasingly powerful narcissistic tendencies wrapped up in his ego about being the new Captain America. While his arc in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier didn’t quite land, I’m interested to see how his character fits within the ensemble Thunderbolts. But the villains that were not well done in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier were the Flag Smashers. Notably, their leader Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kellyman) whose moral ambiguity often feels pretty black-and-white (that is, when her motives are clear in the first place). Ultimately, I know that the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted the story that Skogland and Spellman were planning to tell. That being said, I don’t think that the goals of the Flag Smashers nor the broader geopolitical context they were operating within were fleshed out very well at all. As a result, the show lacks a compelling antagonist outside of John Walker. Which gets to what is (in my humble opinion) the show’s biggest problem: its handling of Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp). Despite planting an interesting seed for Carter as feeling betrayed by Sam and Bucky after her suffering due to helping out Steve Rogers in Civil War, they way her character and reveal as the “Power Broker” was handled was just terrible. Maybe it’ll be fleshed out more in the fourth Captain America film or something, but I would’ve preferred that the creators either minimized her role to better flesh out the Flag Smashers or more effectively integrate her into the main storyline. All that being said, I do ultimately like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier more than WandaVision. While one is not necessarily better than the other, I was personally more invested in Sam’s journey becoming Captain America while reconciling America’s legacy of systemic racism than Wanda’s journey overcoming her grief after the loss of Vision. At the end of the day, however, I respect both shows for doing a pretty capable job of fleshing out previously supporting characters in the MCU films to help convince me that they’re worthy successors to the original team of Avengers going forward. Loki (2021) Based on its premise alone, Loki should not have worked as a Disney+ series. Not only does bringing back Tom Hiddleston as Loki (albeit as a variant of the one murdered by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War) strip away some of the meaning behind the character’s sendoff in Phase Three, but the idea of doing a time-travel murder mystery/crime series to introduce the concept of the multiverse in the MCU was incredibly ambitious (even for Kevin Feige). Lucky for us, creator Michael Waldron and director Kate Herron were up for the challenge. 😊 Evident from the premiere episode, “Glorious Purpose,” Loki takes its eponymous character who was mostly known as a villain of the Avengers and—similar for Scarlet Witch in WandaVision and Sam Wilson in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier—gives him a meaningful character arc by fleshing out his motives, personality, and flaws. Not long after Loki is captured by the Time Variance Authority (TVA), his megalomaniacal tendencies are put in check by Agent Mobius (Owen Wilson) who offers the mischievous Asgardian a second chance to be something other than “just another Loki.” Instead of shying away from the problem of getting the version of Loki from The Avengers to a place where he would sacrifice himself for his brother in Infinity War, Waldron and Herron embraced it. And by the end of the premiere, Loki was on his way to a well-earned and long-awaited true redemption. Another commendable strength of Loki is its world building. Unlike the relatively minimal time paid to Agatha’s witch coven in WandaVision or the inadequate job done fleshing out the Flag Smashers in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, this show effectively pulls out the slow-burn mystery of what the TVA really is and how the MCU’s multiverse works. Through exchanges between Loki and Mobius (with some other characters thrown in), the importance of preserving the “Sacred Timeline” is sufficiently established. By the finale, however, the reveal of “He Who Remains” and the true fragility of the multiverse makes for a fulfilling payoff to this mystery before setting up the central plot element of the MCU’s “Multiverse Saga.” Aside from just the story of the TVA, the art direction and production design put into bringing the look and feel of the TVA felt as inspired as the sitcom homages in WandaVision but as grounded and substantive as the real-world race politics on display in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Undeniably, the reluctant bromance that forms between Loki and Mobius makes for one of the show’s best character dynamics. Even during some of the slower, talkative moments, Loki is at its best when the two of them are exchanging jabs back and forth. However, the other supporting characters (mostly) maximize their screentime to make at least some impression. Notably, I was surprised on a rewatch how much more I appreciated the oddly touching romance that forms between Loki and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino)—a female variant of the God of Mischief. On her own, Sylvie has a pretty compelling journey as the anti-hero in contrast with Loki’s former anti-hero status. Given her tragic backstory as a child abductee of the TBA whose sole purpose is to burn it all down, I sympathized with her despite not ultimately agreeing with her brash methods. However, Hiddleston’s chemistry with Di Martino sells their heartbreaking ideological split in the finale as believable. What most surprised me about Sylvie, however, is how compelling her antagonists dynamic with Judge Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw)—the TVA agent that originally captured Sylvie as a child. While never quite spelled out in the series, it seems that merely being born a girl was enough for the “Sacred Timeline” to cancel her existence. And the fact that Renslayer never acknowledges the screwed-up nature of the TVA’s work, even when it’s undeniable, makes Sylvie’s vendetta all the more understandable. But Sylvie and Mobius are both great characters entwined with Loki’s arc, too. Primarily, their presence at this particular point of his existence helps Loki earn his redemption by wanting to help them and be there for them. Whether it’s Loki genuinely wanting to help Mobius realize the truth about the TBA or him staying by Sylvie’s side in the standoff against Alioth, the writers give us the kind of redemption that the overall lackluster Thor movies could only dream of. The cherry on top, however, is seeing Loki hang out with a bunch of variants of himself in the Void at the end of time. While every cutaway to Alligator Loki is funny and Kid Loki (Jack Veal) has a couple good moments, the standout is Classic Loki (Richard E. Grant) who earns an emotional, badass sacrifice moment in the penultimate episode. Moreover, though, being around these variants reminds Loki how important it is for him to be better. All of that said, the best thing about Loki is just how well it lands the plane in the finale episode “For All Time. Always.” While there’s a lot to like about the episode, I can only summon two words: Jonathan Majors. Simply put, he captivates as “He Who Remains”—a subdued variant of the multiverse villain Kang the Conqueror—in a mere twenty or so minutes of screen time and his introduction excited me for the future of the MCU for the first time since Avengers: Endgame. If it isn’t clear by now, Loki remains my favorite Phase Four series. It’s a fun ride with a great mystery, some standout new characters, compelling arcs for our heroes, and ends with the superb introducing of the MCU’s next big bad with devastating consequences for the stability of the multiverse. Needless to say, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania can’t come soon enough. 😊 Black Widow (2021) Of all the announced Phase Four projects three years ago, Black Widow was both the least surprising and one of the most befuddling ones. Rumors of a solo movie starring Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff date back to 2014, but when it was finally confirmed to be coming out after the release of Avengers: Endgame I was skeptical immediately. Not necessarily of the movie’s potential to be an entertaining addition to the MCU, but rather its necessity and impact given the fact that Romanoff’s fate was cemented by her story in Endgame. Having seen the film three times now (once in theaters and twice at home on Disney+), my opinion of Black Widow remains largely the same. It undeniably has great qualities, most notably the performances of and chemistry between the actors. In a way, this both helps and harms Johansson’s swan song as Romanoff in a similar vein that T’Challa’s first solo outing felt underwhelming compared to the incredible supporting cast surrounding him in Black Panther. Still, like my rewatch of Black Panther made me appreciate Chadwick Boseman’s portrayal of T’Challa more, I was consistently impressed by Johansson’s nuanced take on Romanoff that, alongside her turn in Endgame, is easily the best she’s been in the entire franchise. However, I still enjoyed the film’s protagonist’s “family” in the movie more than the protagonist herself. Rachel Weisz does very well keeping the audience unsure of her allegiances during the second act’s climax, David Harbour has great chemistry with everyone as the washed-up Captain America rip-off, and Florence Pugh absolutely steals the show as the new “Black Widow” and Natasha’s sister figure Yelena Belova. More than Natasha’s storyline itself, rewatching the film made me more excited to see Yelena and the Red Guardian together again in the upcoming Thunderbolts movie than satisfied as Romanoff’s final outing in the MCU. When it comes to the villains, it was a mixed bag for me. While Ray Winstone maximized his relatively little screen time as the unforgivably malicious Russian general Dreykov, I found the screenplay’s use of Taskmaster (both in the action scenes and their characterization) leaving something to be desired. Which brings up a bigger problem (in my humble opinion) with Black Widow: it has too few good action scenes. The standouts are the reunion fight between Natasha and Yelena, but virtually the film’s other action sequences (from Taskmaster chasing the Widows through Budapest to the third-act set piece involving Natasha’s whole family) felt uninspired compared to many other MCU flicks. Ultimately, Black Widow is a decent but not great entry in Marvel’s superhero franchise that came several years too late to feel deservedly impactful. Despite missing the mark with closing out Johansson’s tenure as the character, however, its introduction of her quirky and deadly family members excites me in their future appearances more than invoking the necessary emotions of Natasha Romanoff’s final appearance in the MCU’s canonical storyline. What If…? (2021) As Marvel Studios’ first animated property, What If…? is…pretty good. Rather than summarize my thoughts on the show overall like the others thus far, I want to (briefly) dissect each episode on its own terms to paint a picture of just how diverse this series can be in terms of ground it can cover. The first episode, centered on Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) becoming a super soldier during World War II instead of Steve Rogers, is okay. While it’s a bit too familiar in terms of the plot structure (strongly resembling Captain America: The First Avenger), it serves as an entertaining introduction of the concept of What If…? to general audiences who are still wrapping their minds around the multiverse after Loki. Furthermore, as the pilot, it does a very good job showcasing how friendly the animation style is to heightened action sequences which serves the series overall pretty well. The second episode, centered on young T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) being kidnapped by Yondu (Michael Rooker) and the Ravagers instead of Peter Quill (voice in the show by Brian T. Delaney), is good. Rather than sticking to the formula of James Gunn’s first Guardians of the Galaxy film, the episode fully embraces the idea of who the Ravagers would be if T’Challa was their leader. While it still embraces the aesthetic and colorful cast of the cosmic side of the MCU, the episode’s story exemplifies the pure, good-hearted nature of T’Challa which speaks to how well the episode serves as a tribute to Chadwick Boseman as an actor (specifically his tenure in the MCU as Black Panther). Fortunately, this episode isn’t the last we see of this version of Star-Lord. The third episode, centered on a murder mystery involving the original six Avengers, is also good. Similar to the T’Challa Star-Lord story, watching Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Natasha Romanoff (voice in the show by Lake Bell) solve a “whodunit” and discover who is killing off the likes of Tony Stark, Thor, Hawkeye, and Hulk is a whole lot of fun. Furthermore, it completely diverts from the story structure of 2012’s The Avengers by celebrating many Phase One movies when visiting each of these heroes’ final moments. Despite Loki’s (Tom Hiddleston) invasion of Earth feeling a bit forced, it paid off very well in the episode’s final moments when he disguises himself as Fury to reveal the culprit: a repurposed, evil Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) whose tragic loss of his daughter Hope van Dyne turned him into a vengeful Ant-Man. A strong finish helps me remember this episode fondly. The fourth episode, centered on an alternate Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) trying to undo his origin by saving the life of his love Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams), is the first great episode of What If…? Unlike the previous episodes that either celebrate or slightly tweak the arcs of familiar characters, this episode takes Strange on an emotional, introspective journey that ultimately consumes him with dark magic and leads him to losing his mind in the vain attempt to undo the unchangeable past. Aesthetically, the episode embraced the strange visuals of Doctor Strange (albeit in animated form) to great effect. Furthermore, it uses its supporting characters (notably The Ancient One) very well. But what ultimately makes this a great episode (in my humble opinion) is how head writer A.C. Bradley and director Bryan Andrews fully commit to the incredibly cataclysmic ending with Strange Supreme destroying an entire universe through his hubris. Even on its own, this episode is worth watching for any MCU fan. The fifth episode, centered on a zombie apocalypse in the MCU, is another good one. Admittedly, not everyone loves zombie media…but I do. 😊 Thus, as a fan of the MCU and the zombie subgenre, I just had a lot of fun with this episode. Seeing so many of our favorite heroes—notably Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Peter Parker (voice in the show by Hudson Thames)—fight off zombie versions of Iron Man, Captain America, and Scarlet Witch makes for some of the better action in What If…? overall. In addition, the villain twist with Vision (while a bit rushed in both its execution and resolution) was an interesting enough idea for the third-act reveal. Even if you’re not into zombies but enjoy the MCU, this episode does enough with bringing the two together while also justifying the story’s continuation with Marvel Zombies coming in a couple of years. The sixth episode, centered on Killmonger becoming Tony Stark’s right-hand man in order to orchestrate his coup in Wakanda, is alright. While I was never a huge fan of Black Panther, Michael B. Jordan was unquestionably a standout character. Still, I thought the film could’ve done more with him and I think this episode of What If…? does that fairly well. Unfortunately, the concept of Killmonger befriending Tony Stark and commandeering his technology and resources to invade Wakanda does not (in my humble opinion) justify an entire episode of this series. The seventh episode, centered on an alternate version of Thor (Chris Hemsworth) who never grew up with Loki as a brother, is okay. Even more so than the Killmonger episode, this just felt like an animated version of Thor: Ragnarok set in Phase One of the “Infinity Saga.” As a result, it’s pretty funny throughout the runtime but lacks the well-done action of the Captain Carter story, the emotional weight of the T’Challa Star-Lord story, or the dramatic heft of the Strange Supreme episode. It’s also easily the silliest What If…? episode which helps it work more as a cartoon than if they tried to do this kind of story in live-action (like in Thor: Love and Thunder). That being said, it’s the only episode of this season of What If…? that can just be skipped over entirely because you don’t need to see it in order for the season finale to work. The penultimate episode, centered on Ultron (voice in the show by Ross Marquand) achieving perfection and conquering his universe with the Infinity Stones, is another great episode. For one thing, it shows off the kind of fantastic villain that Ultron could’ve been in live-action due to his black-and-white nature and unyielding ambition to “correct the course” of humanity by wiping out all of existence. But the episodes transcended expectations by finally making the Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) a sympathetic character in the series. Once Ultron learns of the multiverse’s existence, the Watcher has an outstanding fight sequence with Ultron to try and protect the multiverse…and fails. By doing so, this episode perfectly septs up the finale by making What If…? more than just an animated anthology show. The finale, centered on the Watcher assembling a team of multiversal heroes to defeat Ultron, is pretty good. What makes this a strong conclusion to What If…? for me is how well it pulls off the team dynamic of the “Guardians of the Multiverse” given the fact that each of them only had a single episode devoted to their respective storyline. Strange Supreme is the obvious standout due to his redemption arc as the team’s muscle, but I appreciate how Captain Carter easily takes up the mantle of leadership to make up for her relative lack of otherworldly powers. Furthermore, the finale utilizes each of the heroes’ powers very well (I LOVED Strange multiplying Thor’s hammer to trap Ultron in a ball of hammers!). While the logic surrounding how prescient the Watcher actually is (if he knew the outcome of the fight, then why was he so worried about Ultron discovering the multiverse in the first place?), I still thought it was a solid finale to the story. Overall, What If…? is a fun, easygoing MCU show that (mostly) embraces its concept of exploring the limitless alternate possibilities of its established canon. Despite lacking the stakes or ramifications of the live-action stuff like Loki, the show nonetheless set a pretty high bar for Marvel Studios’ animation department going forward and excited me for a second season with new heroes and fun cartoon stories. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) When Destin Daniel Cretton was announced as the co-writer and director of a Marvel movie back in 2019, I was immediately excited. He is undeniably one of the better up-and-coming directors who has made great movies like Just Mercy and Short Term 12 (one of my favorite indie films of the past decade). Despite my lack of knowledge of the Shang-Chi character or my general aversion to martial-arts movies, I sat down in the theater last September very excited to see what Cretton’s take on an MCU origin story would be. Needless to say, I was not disappointed at all. 😊 Simply put, Cretton directed the hell out of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. As the first Marvel Studios movie with an Asian lead and predominantly Asian cast, the work of Cretton and his team seamlessly combined the fantastical action of Honk Kong cinema with Western storytelling sensibilities and big-budget Hollywood filmmaking. Maybe this is a pessimistic thing to say, but the fact that a mainstream superhero blockbuster with a non-English opening scene connected with general audiences on such a deep and meaningful level is such an accomplishment for both representation and good storytelling. Similar to Black Widow, the cast of Shang-Chi is simply phenomenal. While not always the most entertaining character, the eponymous protagonist is impeccably brought to the silver screen by Simu Liu as a generally enticing and reluctant hero whose efforts to escape his past only make it harder to do so. But, like movies such as Black Panther and Black Widow, much of the supporting cast tend to be more fun to watch. Notably, Tony Leung’s sympathetic but malevolent turn as Shang-Chi’s crime-lord and near-immortal father Wenwu goes down as one of the better villains of the MCU due to his grounded and relatable nature. Of course, Awkwafina shines is virtually every role that she’s in and that is absolutely the case here with her quirkily funny but endearing turn as Katy (on that note, I appreciate the lack of an overtly romantic angle on her and Shang-Chi’s friendship). And, to my surprise, Michelle Yeoh impressed me as the third-act familial mentor figure Ying Nan. However, unlike Black Widow, this movie has much more going for it than just the actors. Without a doubt, Shang-Chi has some of the best fight choreography in the entire MCU. Period. Clearly, Cretton and his team took lots of care to nail the staging and cinematography of the fights to serve as both loving homages to martial-arts movies while also being compelling action that is easy to follow while also kinetic in the best way possible. What’s almost as impressive, though, is how the special effects (almost) always meld seamlessly with the fights. This is thanks, in large part, to the cast (notably Simu Liu) committing wholeheartedly to the stunt work in order to sustain the audience’s suspension of disbelief that the characters are impressive fighters even without superpowers. At the heart of Shang-Chi is a grounded tragedy about a broken family struggling to pick up the pieces of their relationships that the past left fragmented. Unlike several MCU movies that try to be heartfelt (lookin’ at you, Love and Thunder! 😊), this one does a very good job of introducing virtually all brand-new characters and telling a compelling story about them with a solid enough structure and pace to feel satisfying by the end of its two-hour runtime. Which gets to my primary criticism of Shang-Chi: the third act. Admittedly, seeing Shang-Chi and his sister Xialing (Meng’er Zhang) flying a water dragon as it fights a giant flying demon monster is silly fun. But, I really wanted the climactic showdown of the movie to be more focused on dramatic and intense action between Shang-Chi and Wenwu rather than mercenaries and villagers fighting off CGI demons and over-the-top kaiju fights á la monster movies like Godzilla vs. Kong. Fortunately, the weaker third-act battle does not sour me on the movie overall. Shang-Chi was a very good origin story, and remains one of Phase Four’s better projects that excites me for seeing the character’s future in the MCU (and hopefully with the Avengers!). Eternals (2021) While I’m admittedly not the biggest fan of the directorial work of Oscar winner Chloé Zhao, I think her primary strength as a director is how she excels at telling intimate, character-focused stories. Whether it’s the neo-Western The Rider or the Best Picture-winning drama Nomadland, she is clearly comfortable when she films the travails and tribulations of individuals who struggle within their microcosmic existence. In that sense, I can understand why Kevin Feige thought that her cinematic sensibilities could translate to an ensemble epic about a group of heroes that live for centuries on Earth. Unfortunately, Zhao’s direction and writing on Eternals ends up feeling like a bunch of potential being sadly tossed down the drain. For starters, Eternals comes off as the “anti-Avengers” movie in terms of its approach to telling a team-based hero story. Whereas Joss Whedon’s first Avengers film became the gold standard for fleshing out the group dynamics of a bunch of hard-headed superheroes who must work together to save the world, Zhao’s take on the cosmic team led by Ajak (Salma Hayek) and sent to Earth by Arishem the Celestial (David Kaye) to fight the predatorial Deviants subverts everything we know about telling this kind of story effectively. Upon rewatch, I realized that Eternals was differentiating itself by centering its narrative on how the universe-altering catastrophe of the birth of a new Celestial (and, subsequently, Earth’s destruction) breaks up its eponymous superhero team. However, I just think this was done better in Captain America: Civil War both in terms of giving multiple lead characters meaningful arcs and motivations and investing the audience in the team itself. I think part of the reason why Eternals doesn’t work on that level is because the viewer is never given enough time with any of its ten lead characters to feel attached to their respective journeys from start to finish. Unlike Civil War, which had twelve films preceding it to build upon, Zhao tried to introduce ten new heroes in less than three hours and endear the audience to them. Yet, her directorial style ultimately worked against her (as did the screenplay) because she simply could not give equal time to these characters to make me equally interested in all of their distinct stories. As a result, many of the Eternals blend together for me to the point where virtually none of them felt that characters unique to themselves. For example, the extent to which one is invested in Makkari (Lauren Ridloff) depends upon how much you want to see her and Druig (Barry Keoghan) consummate their unspoken romantic feelings for each other. Which would be fine except for the fact that Makkari is not involved in the present-day story until ninety minutes in (and Druig not much sooner than that). The consequence? Makkari and Druig end up feeling pretty wasted. I could say the same for several of the characters: Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) and his love for his human family, the intimate friendship between Gilgamesh (Don Lee) and Thena (Angelina Jolie), or Ajak’s motherly, protective instinct for many of the Eternals. When it comes down to it, the only one of the ten main characters that I actually enjoyed watching was Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani) because of how much fun banter we get between him and his valet Karun (Harish Patel). However, even his character arc felt soulless and anti-climactic when he refused to take a side in the battle over the “Emergence” and instead just bounced. Was it in character? Sure, but I feel like Zhao and her writers could have come up with a logical enough explanation for him showing up in the final fight while still being consistent with his character. But what about the heart of the film—the complex romance between Sersi (Gemma Chan) and Ikaris (Richard Madden). Not only do the actors lack chemistry when they’re supposed to express mutual yet unfulfillable love for each other, but the way that Ikaris just kills himself after Sersi kills the birthing Celestial (against Ikaris’s wishes) because he loves her too much to kill her felt incredibly rushed and out of nowhere. I feel like a character of his ilk fleeing Earth to go to Arishem and tattle-tale on the other Eternals would have been a more satisfying conclusion to his arc while remaining in line with his blind loyalty to the Celestials and his disdain for humanity. Overall, I felt the actors did too little with the material they were given to humanize these nonhuman characters (which perhaps says more about the inherently flawed concept of making your humanoid protagonists synthetic androids with no memories of their past lives). Furthermore, the general lack of much levity to help keep the audience engaged with its broad scope and epic scale prevents us from ever being able to fully relate with any of the main cast. On that point, what I’m about to say is by no means an original idea, but one worth repeating: Eternals should have been a Disney+ series. If Zhao was given the time and bandwidth to devote one episode to each of the ten heroes, I believe she could have more effectively fleshed out their dynamics with the other heroes, values, philosophies, and motivations all the while interweaving the present-day story involving the “Emergence” of a new Celestial much more organically and seamlessly. However, in its final form, Eternals ends up being one of my least-favorite films in the entire MCU to date. Despite having some redemptive value in its visuals and world building, it ultimately made me more excited to see Dane Whitman (Kit Harington) fighting supernatural creatures with Blade (Mahershala Ali) in the future than any of the surviving Eternals show up in a future MCU project. Hawkeye (2021) Given the higher-stakes nature of Phase Four’s other projects from last year (Loki, Shang-Chi and No Way Home primarily), what I most appreciate about Hawkeye is that it embraces its low stakes to deliver a fun ride of a series. Set during the week leading up to Christmas Day the year after Avengers: Endgame, the show’s focus on Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) trying to get home to his family for the holiday while settling the red in his ledger and doing what he does best was a very good direction to go. No offense to fans of Hawkeye, but I don’t think he’s a character that could (or should) be the focal point of a large-scale, universe-altering conflict like in Eternals. Which is fine, because the journey that Barton goes on is intimate and personal and that works very well in its own right. In contrast to Black Widow somewhat failing to give Natasha Romanoff a fitting send-off for her final major appearance in the MCU, Hawkeye acts quite well as an epilogue to Barton’s tragic descent into darkness due to “The Blip.” In addition to the plot centering on Barton trying to recover the Ronin suit to prevent his post-Infinity War identity from going public, he must also confront the sins of his past and the ramifications therein with regards to how they made an impact in New York City’s criminal underworld. On top of all that, however, Renner gets some shining emotional moments reminiscing about the time he met Natasha and talking to her plaque to show how much he still misses her and how little attention he’s paid to actually mourn her death. But the best part of Hawkeye, in my humble opinion, is Hailee Steinfeld. Full disclosure: I LOVE Steinfeld as an actor. Her performances in True Grit, The Edge of Seventeen, Bumblebee, and Dickinson are awesome and she does not disappoint as Barton’s protégé. Beyond just her archery skills and button-poking demeanor, Steinfeld brings a grounded and relatable vibe to Bishop by fleshing out her pure and noble motivations for wanting to be a hero like her role model. Simply put, these are heroes that aren’t cool because of their powers. Instead, they’re admirable because they choose to help others (often at the risk of their own lives) because they know that it’s the right thing to do. Undoubtedly, she (alongside Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi) is the new hero character that I’m excited to see in a team dynamic going forward (with or without Barton fighting by her side). When these two characters are onscreen together, Hawkeye is at its best. Despite some drawbacks with the supporting characters in the show, Renner and Steinfeld’s chemistry as war-weary Avenger/mentor and eager yet inexperienced hero hopeful makes for one of the best new duos of Phase Four. And this dynamic only improves once Yelena is thrown into the mix in the last two episodes. While she has a serviceably emotional moment with Barton in the finale that wraps up the tease for her story in the post-credits scene of Black Widow, her love-hate rapport with Bishop makes me hopeful that Kevin Feige and his team will concoct some other great match-ups for new MCU heroes in the future (or, at the very least, bring Yelena and Bishop together again 😊). Regarding the villains, it is once again a mixed bag more reminiscent of the flaws of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. A bright spot (which surprised me on a rewatch) was Maya Lopez/Echo (Alaqua Cox) whose tragic backstory condensed in a short opening to the third episode immediately makes her sympathetic. Beyond that, however, I appreciate the character’s complex motivations and ability to reconcile when she’s in the wrong to search for the truth behind who’s mostly to blame for the death of her father William Lopez (Zahn McClarnon). On the sillier side of things, we get the Tracksuit Mafia that makes for a serviceable group of goons for Barton and Bishop to fight (with the chase scene in episode three being the highlight). While not the most competent or intriguing villains, these street-level gangsters fit within the comedic vibes of the show while Cox’s performance gets me intrigued (but not particularly excited) in her spin-off series. While I wish I could say that Hawkeye avoids the lackluster finale problem like Loki does, I would be lying if I did. ☹ First and foremost, the three planes of action—Kate Bishop protecting her mother Eleanor (Vera Farmiga) from Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio), Barton coming face-to-face with Yelena, and the LARPers fighting off the Tracksuits with the help of Eleanor’s boyfriend Jack Duquesne (Tony Dalton)—feel awkwardly paced and excessively slow. Furthermore, the red herring of Jack not actually being a bad guy always felt obvious to me compared to the way that Eleanor reacts to her daughter’s involvement with an Avenger. Speaking of which, I was somewhat underwhelmed by D’Onofrio’s return as Kingpin. Having seen all three seasons of Netflix’s Daredevil series, nothing in Hawkeye was going to top his performance in season three (that being said, I appreciated him being in the show and am excited for him and Daredevil to butt heads once more in the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again). At the end of the day, Hawkeye doesn’t feel like an ambitious comic book story with a broad scope and vast consequences. But it doesn’t need to be; it exemplifies the best of what a street-level MCU show can be. With good action, great humor, and fun performances, Hawkeye aims to entertain without forever changing the MCU and it nails that. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) For my extensive thoughts on No Way Home and Tom Holland’s MCU journey so far, click here. Simply put, this movie should not have worked. Despite the positive results that Sony Pictures & Marvel Studios’ agreement to bring Spider-Man into the MCU have produced since 2016, the story of No Way Home was ultimately born in the aftermath of the two studios making up in the wake of a brief cease to negotiations in 2019. Specifically, it’s pretty clear to me that Sony executives (maybe even Amy Pascal) pressed Kevin Feige and Disney to pave the way for their “anti-hero” characters from their pathetic excuse for a cinematic universe to cross over into the MCU. On top of that, leaks years prior to the film being released that revealed the use of antagonists from past Spider-Man films forecasted the screenplay being bogged down with the “too many villains” problem. But, despite all of these potential problems, Spider-Man: No Way Home ended up being one of the best comic book movies ever made. So much contributed to this: the story, the cast, the action, the themes. All of these ingredients came together under the more-than-capable direction of Jon Watts to craft a fantastic hero’s journey that blends fun, laughs, action, and emotion effortlessly. Furthermore, he makes the best of the awkward studio partnership by turning the film (which, again, could’ve been an obviously cynical move to remind audiences of Sony’s past success with the character) into a “nerdgasmic” celebration of Spider-Man on the big screen. By including Andrew Garfield’s and Tobey Maguire’s versions of Peter Parker as supporting roles in the third act, Watts pulled off two impossible tasks. First and foremost, he made their presences more than just glorified cameos but actually meaningful characters that prop up Tom Holland’s Peter Parker by being the only two people in the multiverse who can truly relate to and empathize with his motivations, losses, strengths, and flaws. Beyond that, however, both Garfield’s and Maguire’s storylines from their respective movies are satisfyingly wrapped up because—like Holland’s Peter Parker—they want to right the wrongs of the world. Specifically, Holland gives them both the second chance to redeem themselves by saving their villains rather than just killing them. However, the film works more than anything else as an utterly breathtaking conclusion to Holland’s tenure as Peter Parker and Spider-Man. Of course, this gets fully set in motion in the wake of the loss of Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) whose embodiment of the film’s theme about power and responsibility propels our protagonist’s journey forward. Not only does he learn from his mistakes in the first act by saving all the villains of Spider-Man from other universe, but he realizes that there is only one decision he can make to truly redeem himself: the existence of Peter Parker must be erased from everybody’s memories, including his girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon). Simply put, this is one of the boldest and most heartbreaking finales to a hero’s journey in any superhero franchise (even the MCU) that I’ve ever seen. Despite the soaring, heroic music during the film’s final sequence of now-alone Peter Parker swinging in his new, handmade suit, there is an undeniably tragic subtext to the screenwriter’s decision to effectively erase Peter Parker from the MCU and leave Spider-Man completely isolated in a post-Avengers: Endgame world. For these reasons and more, Spider-Man: No Way Home is as close to a comic book movie masterpiece that we’re going to get in this decade. Honestly, I’ll be surprised if any MCU film (except for maybe the next two Avengers movies) will manage to match it let alone surpass it. What is your favorite and least favorite MCU project from 2021? Which project announced for Phase Five are you most excited for? What opinions of mine do you find absolutely ridiculous? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, this has been… Yours Truly, Amateur Analyst
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Austin McManusI have no academic or professional background in film production or criticism; I simply love watching and talking about movies. Archives
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