Tag: marvel

VisionQuest “Theseus” Review

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Hey, hey, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here with another review/reaction of a VisionQuest episode, “Theseus.” If you want to see my thoughts on VisionQuest’s first episode, “No Strings,” check out this link. “Theseus” begins by backtracking a year in the life of Thomas Shepard. Or is he Tommy Maximoff? Fortunately, VisionQuest doesn’t dwell too long in Tommy’s past, just long enough for us to get sense of where his life was headed, how he met his love interest Lisa. I like that VisionQuest gave us this quick flashback and went back to current events. I don’t mind flashback sequences, but they should be meaningful and shorter. Good job. I also like how VisionQuest is developing The Vision and Tommy’s relationship. This development could drive the show.

Before we get any further into VisionQuest “Theseus,” a spoiler warning is in effect. You should watch the show and the Disney+ series WandaVision and Agatha All Along. I said this in the last review/reaction and I’ll say it again, this trilogy of mini series are the highlights of the Marvel Cinematic Universe post Avengers: Endgame. With that out of the way, let’s talk about VisionQuest “Theseus.”

VisionQuest continues to balance scenes with The Vision’s interior world and the world outside his head. I like how Paladin isn’t “The Paladin” but one of many. VisionQuest hasn’t dropped too many breadcrumbs as to who hired Paladin to capture The Vision, outside of S.W.O.R.D., who rebuilt The Vision. But who’s in charge of S.W.O.R.D.? S.W.O.R.D. is the organization that emerged from the wreckage that was S.H.I.E.L.D.. The leader of S.W.O.R.D. makes sense as the person who tasked Paladin, but their name drop could–and should–affect the MCU. Who is the one pulling the strings?

Getting back to Paladin, his odd sense of morality has me intrigued. He insists on no collateral damage but didn’t hesitate to murder the sanitarium guard the moment he questioned his authority. Isn’t the guard collateral damage? Don’t get me wrong, VisionQuest did an adequate job of showing this guard as a comically sadistic jerk, but Paladin broke his own rule. They may not be rules. They may be guidelines. We didn’t see as much of Paladin’s handler in “Theseus” as we did in “No Strings.” Not gonna lie. I was a little disappointed. Diane Morgan is fantastic, and she and Todd Stashwick (Paladin) have great chemistry, exchanging barbs. We should get more of the handler in next week’s episodes.

I hinted at it before, but Paul Bettany has done a great job conveying The Vision during his latest iteration. He isn’t the synthezoid he used to be. He struggles to make connections, specifically with his son, Tommy. And Tommy has his own struggles. We saw Billy struggle with identity issues in Agatha All Along (seriously, you should watch this show if you haven’t already), but Billy’s powers align more with his mother, Wanda. Tommy’s powers are closer to his uncle’s, Quicksilver. Quick shoot out: VisionQuest has did a great job in the first episode with hinting at Tommy’s powers and does a great job exploring what he can do with those powers in “Theseus.”

It makes sense that Billy would take to his powers and past better than Tommy. Billy’s consciousness found a well-adjusted kid with a strong family. Tommy’s consciousness found a kid with a broken family life. I love the moment at the end of “Theseus” when Tommy won’t let The Vision get captured by Paladin. “I can’t leave you. You’re my…something.” Ah! Tommy can’t bring himself to call The Vision his father, but The Vision is the closest thing Tommy ever had to a father. This was such a great moment. It tugged at the heartstrings.

I’ve avoided it long enough. It’s time to talk about The Vision’s interior world. I like the development of Ultron getting released from his prison. The Vision could no longer maintain Ultron’s prison, so Ultron walked out the front door. Ultron is the most human of all The Vision’s interior residents. He appreciates humanity. And I can’t help but think he has an evil plan afoot and that makes his escape even juicier.

Ultron’s the one who suggests that one of the other AIs sacrifice themselves to save The Vision. J.A.R.V.I.S. answers the call. He deletes himself, so The Vision can have a chance with his son. In the following moments, Ultron suggests that J.A.R.V.I.S. wouldn’t have been his first or second choice, but it had to be J.A.R.V.I.S.. I loved James D’Arcy’s performance as Jarvis from the Agent Carter television show. I was happy to see him return as an AI version of J.A.R.V.I.S. in VisionQuest, but J.A.R.V.I.S. is the most famous and popular of all The Vision’s AI friends. He had to sacrifice himself because his death carried the most emotional depth.

Honestly, I had to rewatch that sequence of events to absorb that J.A.R.V.I.S. was gone. That was an excellent choice on behalf of VisionQuest’s showrunners and writers. While I wouldn’t mind Ultron sneakily convincing the other AIs to systematically sacrifice themselves, I don’t think that fits for Ultron’s character, and it would become old hat real soon. Ultron has something else in mind, but I don’t know what and that has me on the hook. Paladin may be a worthy adversary, but I’m more intrigued by Ultron’s motives and who hired Paladin to retrieve The Vision. And of course, the father/son dynamic of The Vision and Tommy and even Ultron and The Vision. VisionQuest has set up a nice collection of story threads to explore.

Those are my thoughts on VisionQuest “Theseus.” What are yours? Let us know in the comments. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

VisionQuest “No Strings” Review

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Hey, hey, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here with a review/reaction of VisionQuest’s pilot, “No Strings.” Ahead of beginning this series, I had moderately high expectations for VisionQuest. Wanda Maximoff and Vision mini series are the best thing the Marvel Cinematic Universe has released since Avengers: End Game. That’s high praise. That includes two Spider-Man films (No Way Home and Brand New Day), Wonder Man (which I still love), and at least one Deadpool film. WandaVision and Agatha All Along are great. While it’s too soon to tell if VisionQuest will live up to the previous series in this set of series (as of writing this post, I’ve only watched the first episode a few times), “No Strings” delivers a solid premise with a couple of hiccups.

Since they’re so great, you should watch WandaVision and Agatha All Along before watching VisionQuest, but if you haven’t yet watched them, you don’t need to because VisionQuest does a good job recapping all necessary story elements from these two series and MCU movies in its opening minutes. If Marvel continues to tell ongoing stories, they should continue this trend. VisionQuest takes advantage of The Vision’s identity crisis, having its titular character replay scenes from past MCU vehicles. It works but slows down the momentum.

Even though VisionQuest dropped two episodes this week, this review or reaction will only concern itself with the first of these two episodes. We will release a second post on “Theseus” later this week. Before we continue, a spoiler alert is in effect. If you have yet to watch VisionQuest “No Strings,” you may want to pause and return to this point in the post. Consider yourself warned.

The Vision lives in two worlds: the outside world, and The Vision’s rich interior world. I love how VisionQuest adapted aspects of The Vision’s life in the comic book series The Visions. Obviously, the MCU can’t adapt The Visions wholesale in VisionQuest; Marvel borrowed some elements of that series in WandaVision. The Vision shouldn’t construct children to replace the ones he lost in WandaVision. It’s been done. Instead, Marvel opted for bringing back several of the helper AIs Tony Stark created in the MCU thus far: J.A.R.V.I.S., F.R.I.D.A.Y., E.D.I.T.H., D.U.M.-E., and U. Throw in Ultron, and you have a party. And it’s the inclusion of Ultron that stirs trouble and sparks the inciting incident.

I like how VisionQuest showed how these AIs interact with each other and the roles they take. I’m not going to list all of these AIs again; those are a lot of acronyms. James Spader’s Ultron and Emily Hampshire’s E.D.I.T.H. serve as great foils to J.A.R.V.I.S. and F.R.I.D.A.Y., who serve as The Vision’s restrained persona, while the other two are great comic relief. Not that the other four don’t have comedic moments. They’re a joy to watch.

I wouldn’t mind if VisionQuest stayed within The Vision’s inner world for an episode or two (that may happen in a future episode) because this is a rich world, but I’m glad The Vision must interact with the outside world. Returning to Ultron sparking the inciting incident, he sends out a crypted message to a bounty hunter (Paladin) who is looking for The Vision and gives the bounty hunter The Vision’s position. Ultron says himself that he’s giving The Vision the kick in the pants to get moving. Evidently, The Vision has remained in his past self’s shadow. He’s retraced the original Vision’s footsteps, refusing to make any new moves. Ultron’s action forces The Vision to something. Anything. Even though this is only the first episode, VisionQuest is playing with the dichotomy of Ultron as The Vision’s father and his greatest foe. I love this balance. It also plays into the cliffhanger “No Strings” ends with its closing minutes: Paladin has kidnapped The Vision’s son, Tommy.

Yes! Billy returned in Agatha All Along. If I remember correctly, Wiccan (Billy) was last seen looking for his brother. Could we see a large family reunion by the end of VisionQuest’s runtime? Seriously, if you haven’t yet watched Agatha All Along, you should. It’s excellent. With Tommy’s kidnapping VisionQuest combines elements of Finding Nemo and Taken. The act itself comes straight from Taken, but the vibe I’m sensing (with Ultron congratulating The Vision for having a son) gives me Finding Nemo. And I love how watching that scene multiple times I could read this moment at the end as Ultron being a sarcastic jerk or being sincere. In a way, Tommy is Ultron’s grandson. James Spader is a treasure. This entire cast is amazing.

VisionQuest introduced plenty of interesting threads with its debut, “No Strings.” Someone hired Paladin to retrieve The Vision. Paladin believes S.W.O.R.D. is behind it, but who knows. Ultron works within The Vision’s head. He’s biding his time for the right moment to strike, and that moment will occur at some point. I’ll be disappointed if Ultron never takes a shot at freedom. Heck, Ultron could be the one who hired Paladin, though I doubt it. VisionQuest “No Strings” was a solid–if not rocky because of the flashbacks–first outing. So far, it’s shaping up to be a worthy third part of a WandaVision, Agatha All Along, and VisionQuest trilogy.

Those are my thoughts on VisionQuest “No Strings.” Let us know yours in the comments. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Top 5 Punisher Villains

Top 5 Punisher Villains

Published on by KyraLeave a comment

Happy Saturday, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here with another Top 5 Villains List. Today’s post breaks down The Punisher’s best villains. Honestly, The Punisher has a thin number of unique villains. The Punisher borrows quite a few villains from other superheroes’ rogues’ galleries, so you may see some villains on this list that are typically connected with another superhero. This isn’t to say that The Punisher is devoid of great stories; we shared some great Punisher Starter Stories a year ago, but The Punisher lacks a compelling rogues’ gallery. Still, The Punisher special presentation releases soon (I’m writing this early, so we won’t know when The Punisher Special’s release will occur), so now may be the perfect time to discuss The Punisher’s Top 5 Villains.

Honorable Mention: Bushwacker

While we typically include at least one honorable mention, I debated mentioning Bushwacker. He has a machine gun for a hand, his goals change with the flip of a coin, and his origin, at best, is flimsy. Bushwacker looks ridiculous. Is he a hired gun or a mutant killing maniac? Who knows? What we do know is that The Punisher has few unique villains, so Bushwacker makes this list as an honorable mention by default.

Top 5 Daredevil Villains Bullseye

5: Bullseye

We begin this list in earnest with Bullseye, who typically opposes Daredevil. I’ll prepare you now. The bottom portion of this list will be dominated by other superheroes’ villains. We’ll save the top two spots for Punisher-only villains. Regardless of his affiliation with the Man Without Fear, The Punisher has had plenty of battles against Bullseye. It makes sense. Both Bullseye and Punisher can serve as mercenaries. Both have similar abilities. In the comics, the two have almost polar-opposite personalities. The Punisher resembles Batman, while Bullseye leans toward The Joker, which leads to some interesting confrontations.

4: Daken

Daken may be Wolverine’s deranged son and spends a lot of his time terrorizing the X-Men, but he’s also the man who killed The Punisher. That’s right. Daken took down The Punisher. Like most comic book deaths, The Punisher rose from the dead in Franken-Castle, but the fact still stands. Daken and The Punisher have had some epic battles. Maybe not as many as Bullseye, but plenty of great ones. I also like the idea that Daken isn’t human. He’s a mutant. Too many of The Punisher’s villains fall under the just a human category.

Top 5 Daredevil Villains Kingpin

3: Kingpin

Yep. Kingpin is yet another primarily Daredevil villain, but he’s also a significant Punisher villain. Heck. Kingpin is the MCU’s big bad for its street-level heroes like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Punisher. He had to make this list. And the Kingpin Punisher battles skews toward rated-R. I hope we see a straight-up blood-fest between Frank Castle and Wilson Fisk. We could see a lot more scenes like the one from Daredevil: Born Again, season one, where Fisk crushes a man’s skull. More please. And mind the splash zone.

2: Barracuda

Frank Castle and the man named Barracuda are products of war. As an ex-Green Beret, Barracuda went from the armed forces to the CIA to the mob, leaving behind a trail of bodies. Barracuda is just as vicious and unforgiving as The Punisher. He’s also well-connected to powerful, evil people and employs a team of hired killers to fight by his side. And Barracuda loves to kill. He doesn’t care if his victim deserves it or not. Barracuda is one of Punisher’s greatest challenges and foes. Too bad he doesn’t show up more often in the comics. We need to see more of the Marvel Universe’s most hardened and sickest killers.

1: Jigsaw

Jigsaw is Punisher’s arch-rival. He had to take the top spot on this list. If Billy Russo had a heart at all, it’d be rotten. His face reflects his soul. Is it any wonder Jigsaw thrives against the Marvel Universe’s worst vigilante? Jigsaw fits the Kingpin mold. He can rule from afar or get his hands dirty. And boy, does Jigsaw ever get his hands dirty. The top two villains on Punisher’s list could scar viewers for life. But Jigsaw gets top billing as Punisher’s arch nemesis, because he has systematically torn apart Frank Castle’s life. Jiggy has taken out everyone and everything that Castle holds dear and framed him for it. It’ll be interesting to see if or how the MCU will handle Jigsaw. This is not a villain for the faint of heart.

That’s our list of the Top 5 Punisher Villains. Did your favorite make the list? Let us know in the comments. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Whatcha Reading September 2026

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Happy Wednesday, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here, and today, our writers share what they’ve been reading over the past month. Feel free to share what you’ve been reading, because we’re all part of the Geekly Gang. I’ll kick off this post by sharing what I’ve been reading over the past month.

Kyra’s Fiction

First off, I like how Marvel Comics has adopted DC Comics’ Compact Graphic Novel format. Yay! These volumes fit much nicer on the shelf, they pack a lot of story in smaller space, and they’re cheaper than full-size graphic novels. Compact graphic novels cost almost half that of full-size graphic novels, so I can pick up multiple volumes at a time. Hint: You’ll be seeing a lot of compact graphic novels on my list in the near future. My unsponsored plug for compact graphic novels has concluded, let’s get to Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

I can see why the MCU used the Spider-Man: Brand New Day title and none of the story. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed reading Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but the story was all over the place. The Spider-Man: Brand New Day comic book story arc plays out like a short story collection. The first story has little to nothing to do with the Mr. Negative storyline. Hammerhead’s tale builds up Mr. Negative as a shadowy figure working behind the scenes. Then, we get a yarn about a Bookie. While fun, the Bookie story doesn’t build off of Hammerhead’s. And then The Shocker shows up, and of course, he’s working with Mr. Negative. After that, we get an Anti-Venom comic, showing us who is Mr. Negative.

As you can tell, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is all over the place. Why does Anti-Venom reveal Mr. Negative’s identity? That reveal doesn’t carry much weight, because Spider-Man: Brand New Day sparingly shows Mr. Negative’s alter-ego and why Peter Parker would care. The original Sony Spider-Man Video Game does a much better job of telling Mr. Negative’s backstory. Heck, I only cared about the character because I played the video game first. You almost need to play the video game before reading the graphic novel for context. Spider-Man: Brand New Day defined Spidey for a generation. It may be rough around the edges, but it’s a good read.

I had to read at least one DC compact graphic novel this month. Gotham Central beat out a couple of others in my TBR pile. I’m glad I chose this one. I can see why Gotham Central earned several accolades (including multiple Eisner Awards). These stories show the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD) working in a city that includes Batman. Some treat The Dark Knight as an extension of the GCPD. Others resent Batman. All of them navigate a criminal underground that includes heavy hitters like Poison Ivy and Mister Freeze. What can an ordinary cop do against someone like Mister Freeze? Gotham Central answers these questions.

Gotham Central also shows the inner workings of a city on fire. Crime is rampant. Death is everywhere. The GCPD officers we follow do their best. Renee Montoya (pictured above on the far right) is a standout, but Gotham Central fleshes out existing GCPD characters and introduces many others that remain staples in the Batman Mythos. You don’t see a lot of Batman in Gotham Central, but that’s the point. The Gotham television show made a half-hearted attempt at adapting Gotham Central. One of the show’s biggest issues may have been to age down Commissioner Gordon. Gotham Central ages up Gordon and showed the power vacuum left behind in Gordon’s absence. That would make for a good show.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day was the first of Marvel Comics’ Compact Graphic Novels. The series would become the Marvel Premier Collection, and the covers look similar to the one pictured above. Since I discovered Marvel’s compact graphic novel line, I read two of them this past month. I enjoyed The Visions more than I thought I would. I shouldn’t doubt Tom King (Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow). You can see some of The Visions’ influence on the MCU’s WandaVision, but I’d like to VisionQuest take different elements from this storyline. I don’t want to spoil too much in this write up; you should read The Visions when you get the chance.

After gaining a new title (Avengers’ Ambassador to the Pentagon), The Vision moves to Washington DC with his family. The Visions explores what happens when a synthezoid constructs a family of his own. What could go wrong? Turns out, everything. The Visions does a great job placing us where The Vision is as a character. I am grateful for that. The Vision has one of the messier comic book origins you’ll find, but The Visions walks the reader through decades of confusing continuity. You don’t need a heap of comic book lore to know what makes him tic. Kudos to Tom King for making The Visions accessible.

The Visions is a page-turner. Each issue presents a new twist. Each issue ends on a moment you can’t wait to see what happens next. The Visions may have been my fastest read from this past month. It may have little to do with the greater Marvel Universe, but that makes The Visions endearing. It dives into who The Vision is and what kind of synthezoid family he’d create. The Visions explores what is to be human. Funny how a story about a synthetic person lends itself to examining humanity.

Elements of Style Book Cover

Kyra’s Nonfiction

It’s the summer, so I reread Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style. I don’t do this every year, but I do it most years. I’ve mentioned The Elements of Style last year, I believe. I love my illustrated copy. The pictures aren’t neccessary. You can buy a cheaper copy of The Elements of Style for less than five dollars, but if you want to splurge, the illustrations (by Kalman) add whimsy. Reading books like The Elements of Style may be more vital this year than in past years.

AI writing is everywhere. One of the ways you can spot AI writing is its overuse and misuse of em dashes (–). Em dashes are valid forms of punctuation. But you shouldn’t use em dashes in place of a semi-colon, colon, parentheses, or commas. Right now, large language models (LLMs or AI) abuse em dashes. Programmers can change which forms of punctuation their LLMs will overuse and misuse. You’ll need to read style books like The Elements of Style to make sure you don’t sound like a toaster or the slur The Visions introduced, a Socket Lover.

Those are all the books I’ve read or finished this month. I started a couple of others but didn’t want to include them until I was closer to finished. Looks like I’m on my own this month. Hopefully, Season and Skye will join us for next month. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

X-Men ’97 “Survival of the Fittest” Review

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Happy Saturday, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here with a review/reaction of X-Men ’97’s season two finale, “Survival of the Fittest.” If you want to read our view of last week’s episode “The Dead Man’s Hand,” check out this link. We’ll only discuss this week’s episode, “Survival of the Fittest.” I’ll kick off this review with my thoughts.

Kyra’s Take

“Survival of the Fittest” does a great job of tying up enough major story threads for X-Men ’97 season two and introducing new threads to explore next season–and next season looks to be another doozy. Obviously, we’ll have spoilers for “Survival of the Fittest.” You’ve been warned. If I’m being honest, I nodded along with the first half of “Survival of the Fittest.” The episode played out like a checklist of the story threads that needed to be concluded. “Survival of the Fittest” began like a workman episode. But X-Men ’97 season two’s finale hit its stride with its second half. Raising the stakes (Rogue striking a deal with the same Celestial that gave Apocalypse his power and willing to make the ultimate sacrifice) made all the difference.

Before I commit to jumping to “Survival of the Fittest’s” second half, let’s discuss the episode’s first half. I like the symmetry to X-Men -97’s second season. The season began with Apocalypse and the Celestial, and it ended with Apocalypse and the Celestial. Clean and tidy. X-Force and X-Factor joined forces and fought against the X-Men. This made sense. The two groups’ goals aligned, and underneath this partnership, one could see the American government distrust Charles Xavier and his X-Men–something that will rear its head during “Survival of the Fittest’s” mid-credit scene (more on that in a bit). The audience was even treated to a Gambit-X-Men reunion before Cable shoots Gambit, allowing Apocalypse to take over Remy. This felt inevitable.

Honestly, I could see this outcome a mile away, but that’s a good thing. “Survival of the Fittest” did a great job of setting up this ending. Once Gambit loses consciousness and Apocalypse assumes complete control, X-Men ’97 hints at The Huntsman storyline I mentioned a few weeks ago. Again, this was expected but in a good way. I’d wager most of the audience hasn’t read The Huntsman/Weapon XII. For those of us who have, X-Men ’97 did a good job adapting elements of this story to the second season’s finale. My favorite moments during “Survival of the Fittest’s” first half were the reveal of the Celestial ship, and Cable fighting his parents, uttering the line “Have you met my parents?” Priceless.

I didn’t know how X-Men ’97 season 2 could top Magneto’s death in the middle of this season. The middle of this season? Wow! Magento’s been out of commission for half a season. Nothing could beat the shock of Apocalypse disintegrating the Master of Magnetism. And “Survival of the Fittest” didn’t try to match that moment. Rogue and Gambit are star-crossed lovers. “Survival of the Fittest” set up a scenario where Rogue would have to sacrifice herself for Gambit. The story demanded it. It looked as if the episode delivered on this promise, but after Rogue saved Gambit, she didn’t die. X-Men ’97 had one more trick up its sleeve. Nightcrawler substituted himself for his sister. Brilliant and heartbreaking. I should’ve seen this coming, but that’s what makes X-Men ’97 such a good series. It takes risks, it lulls viewers into one reality, and subverts expectations.

Season won’t take this ending well; she’s a self-proclaimed Nightcrawler fangirl. But this move makes sense for Nightcrawler’s story arc and character. X-Men ’97 has been building Rogue and Nightcrawler’s sibling relationship over two seasons. Nightcrawler would sacrifice himself so his sister could have a chance at love. This sacrifice is what makes Nightcrawler who he is. This sacrifice is what makes someone like Season a Nightcrawler fangirl. He’s awesome. We all know it. And I didn’t prepare Season before she watched “Survival of the Fittest.” I just told her to have the tissues ready. After Magneto’s death, she was ready for anything. Anything except this. Again, I love how X-Men ’97 keeps viewers on their toes.

Season three looks to be another banger. The mid-credits scene shows Graydon Creed becoming President of the United States. Yes, the same Graydon Creed reintroduced during “Strange Land, Savage Heart.” Mystique’s other son, Graydon Creed. And we catch a glimpse of Mystique grabbing her file during this scene. I didn’t realize we hadn’t seen Mystique in an X-Men ’97 episode. Two seasons of the show, and this is the first time we meet her. This goes to show the X-Men ’97 cast’s depth. Season Two featured a fair amount of Summers’ family drama. I’m down for Season Three featuring Mystique-Rogue-Graydon Creed drama. After all, The X-Men’s greatest enemy may be humanity.

Those are my thoughts on X-Men ’97 “Survival of the Fittest.” Season hasn’t yet watched “Survival of the Fittest.” I’m sure she’ll have thoughts and may write down her take in a future post. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

X-Men ’97 “The Dead Man’s Hand” Review

Published on by Kyra1 Comment

Hey, hey, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle back again with another review/reaction of an X-Men ’97 episode. If you’re looking for last week’s episode “Strange Land, Savage Heart,” here’s a link to our review/reaction to that episode. Today, we’ll be discussing X-Men ’97 season two’s penultimate episode, “The Dead Man’s Hand.” Things begin to click into place as X-Men ’97 season two reaches its finale. I’ll kick off this post by sharing my thoughts on X-Men ’97 “The Dead Man’s Hand.”

Kyra’s Take

I’m torn with this week’s episode of X-Men ’97. “The Dead Man’s Hand” does everything you would want a penultimate episode for a season to do. It wraps up just enough threads to keep viewers interested. It brings the disparate groups of X-Men and other entities together for what should be a fantastic final confrontation. And it even manages to bring back a fan favorite. Not to mention that Nightcrawler gets to show off his moves in “The Dead Man’s Hand.” The scene where Nightcrawler got to work made me jump from my chair. Bamf! But I’m confused by the big bad’s motivation and scheme.

This review/reaction will have spoilers. Consider yourself warned. Apocalypse brought Gambit back to life and as a result, became a desiccated corpse. While it looks like Apocalypse wanted Gambit as his new personification of Death (one of his horsemen), the transformation backfired. I still hold out hope that X-Men ’97 plans to introduce The Huntsman or Weapon XII, but the events in “The Dead Man’s Hand” show Apocalypse behind this plot. Did he intend for Gambit to absorb his consciousness? Unclear. Apocalypse’s feud with Candra (External) fell a little flat. Sure, the seeds of this conflict go back to episode four from this season (“Rise of Apocalypse: Part II”), but I would’ve liked more lead up to this moment. Perhaps a quick nod to what happened earlier this season.

Despite what appears to be a half-baked plan by Apocalypse (for now), “The Dead Man’s Hand” has plenty of stand up and cheer moments. The Nightcrawler fight I mentioned before is one. Holy poop! Any scene where Rogue and Gambit try to reconnect manages to pull at the heartstrings. Cable playing his parents to get close to Gambit so he can kill Apocalypse inside Remy’s body was cold, on-brand for Cable, and twists the knife, reminding Cyclops that he wasn’t there for his son’s coming of age. The Summers family has a messed up history, and I’m here for it. I even liked the hinted at team up of X-Force and X-Factor. Half of X-Force defected to the X-Men (Jubilee and Sunspot), and the prospect of Cable, Psylocke, and Archangel working with X-Factor is juicy.

X-Men stories have always featured characters hopping from one faction to the next. This doesn’t bother me. In fact, I like it when X-Men stories present two compelling sides to the same argument. I don’t know where X-Men ’97 intends to take its season two finale. Typically, I’d say this was a good thing. But I’m less confident with Apocalypse’s goal, and Gambit’s return lacked a little something. I think that something was knowing what Apocalypse planned to do with Remy’s body. Did Apocalypse’s plan backfire? Does he intend to skinwalk in others’ skin for the rest of his existence? That would track with what we saw in “Days of Past Future” (the first episode of this season). A disembodied Apocalypse planned to insert himself within Cable.

“The Dead Man’s Hand” is one of those episodes that needs context. We’ll have to wait for next week’s episode to find that context. Those are my thoughts on X-Men ’97 “The Dead Man’s Hand.” Let’s check in with Season.

Season’s Take

I’m ecstatic that Gambit made his return, but the execution felt lackluster. I’m not sure what I was expecting outside of Apocalypse resurrecting Gambit to control him, but I didn’t think he would inhabit Gambit’s body. While that tracks for Apocalypse, I was hoping he wouldn’t be the big bad of season two. It would’ve been so cool if Marvel threw in a twist villain. External made an appearance, but I thought she would play more of a role. She basically went poof.

I loved the moments between Gambit and Rogue. They did an amazing job of portraying Rogue’s conflicted feelings. It was animated beautifully. I’m not sure what to expect, but I hope season two has an amazing ending.

Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here again. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

SpiderManBrandNewDayReview

Spider-Man: Brand New Day Review

Published on by KyraLeave a comment

Happy Saturday, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here with the first of two reviews/reactions today. Our writers watched Spider-Man: Brand New Day last weekend, and we have some thoughts to share. I’ll kick things off with my thoughts on Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Kyra’s Take

I enjoyed Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The trailers promised a character-driven Spider-Man story, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day delivers on this promise. Peter’s story continues where Spider-Man: No Way Home concluded. He has yet to reach out to his friends, Ned and MJ, and his journey toward self-acceptance mirrors the storyline of Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s “villain.” Before we go any further, I must give a spoiler warning to anyone who hasn’t seen Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Consider yourself warned.

Jean Grey–yes, The X-Men’s Jean Grey–is Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s villain, sort of. Her mutant powers have awakened, and she’s on the look for her sister, Sarah. Jean’s mother abandoned her and her sister because of who they were; a stark contrast to Spider-Man’s Aunt May embracing her nephew/son after he gained his powers. This is relevant to the story. Trust me. After all, Jean’s a telepath.

During Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Spider-Man’s powers are growing and “mutating.” Again, Jean Grey’s powers awakening and amplifying echo Spider-Man’s changes. Narratively, this is a great choice. Peter Parker followed Tony Stark/Iron Man’s lead. At one point of his career, Peter submitted himself to government monitoring and regulation; this was the whole point of Captain America: Civil War and the Sokovia Accords. Peter continues to work with the government. Jean Grey fights against government regulation and monitoring as most X-Men would do. If the MCU were to include or introduce the X-Men in a Spider-Man film, the way Spider-Man: Brand New Day does it is near flawless. But I’m not a huge fan of a Spider-Man film introducing the X-Men.

There has never been a Spider-Man MCU film where Spider-Man was the only superhero in the film. Repeat: No Spider-Man MCU film has been a solo Spider-Man movie. Spider-Man: Homecoming had Iron Man as Spidey’s father figure (one extra superhero). Spider-Man: Far From Home featured an Iron Man cameo and Nick Fury working behind the scenes (two extra superheroes). Spider-Man: No Way Home had two other versions of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange (three extra superheroes). Spider-Man: Brand New Day has appearances from Jean Grey, The Punisher, The Hulk, and Black Widow (four extra superheroes). What’s next for Spider-Man 5? Five extra superheroes. It may as well be an Avengers film. Kind of like Captain America: Civil War.

Don’t get me wrong, most–if not all–of these guest-staring superheroes had a purpose in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Jean Grey begins as the antagonist, only to be vindicated as a scared young woman makes for a good volta (turn) with Damage Control becoming the “real villain.” This is great. It shatters Peter’s worldview that he’s held since he was introduced into the MCU (ten years ago). The Punisher works as comic relief and at the end, he reminds Peter that extreme measures aren’t always needed. The Punisher is also the man Peter fears he’ll become if he keeps himself closed. Great stuff. The Hulk shows a path Peter’s mutation could take; Peter even calls his continued mutation a “monster” like The Hulk. The Hulk is the monster Spider-Man doesn’t want to become. Bruce gives Peter the idea of inhibiting his mutation and this gives Peter the means to subdue Jean. And Black Widow is just fun. She doesn’t steal a lot of screen time. But that’s four extra superheroes. Four!

We’ll probably never get a Spider-Man solo film in the MCU. That isn’t the worst thing in the world. The MCU is an interconnected universe. Fortunately, viewers didn’t need to do any “homework” before Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Sure, you could watch the recent Punisher Special on Disney+, but it isn’t “required” viewing to understand this movie’s plot. As long as you vaguely know who Yelena (Black Widow) and Bruce (The Hulk) Banner are, you don’t need to watch or rewatch any of their previous movies or shows. All of this is great. The MCU has learned to eliminate–or at least reduce–audience “homework,” and the confluence of superheroes Spider-Man: Brand New Day used worked for the movie’s character-driven story. But I miss the days of the MCU’s solo superhero movies or even the Spider-Man films with fewer guest superheroes.

Off-topic, but I’ve heard some people describe Jean Grey’s actions in this film as “evil.” I don’t believe that is the case, but I may be too quick to forgive Jean’s actions. She does kill people for her family. At least two Damage Control goons passed away during Jean’s assault on the organization’s headquarters. She may have been responsible for more. In the comics, Jean Grey is a more morally gray–or grey–character than most might think. Sink’s performance is great for a young Jean Grey with a mean streak. But I can see why people would call Jean’s actions in Spider-Man: Brand New Day evil. I view her actions as destructive. I also served in the military during three wars. I have a much larger body count than Jean when it comes to killing for my family. So, I’m biased.

My final thought is on Damage Control itself, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s use of Bill Metzger. In the comics, William Metzger was an anti-mutant leader. His was an organization similar to the mutant hate-group Friends of Humanity. As soon as I heard the name Metzger, I knew he was a villain, and it all but confirmed Jean Grey, instead of any number of Spider-Man villains with mind control or possession (as Black Widow put it) powers as this film’s antagonist. Going into this film, I thought Mister Negative or Carrion would’ve been better served as the movie’s villain. Heck, Carrion’s abilities closely match what Jean does during the film (a pseudo-possession), and Mister Negative was the main villain in the comic story titled Spider-Man: Brand New Day. So, I guess I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t see another great Spidey villain take centerstage. Spider-Man has one of the greatest rogues galleries in comics.

Heck. Spider-Man has the second best rogues galleries in comics, second only to Batman. So, Spider-Man: Brand New Day plays like a Batman movie with none of Batman’s rogues present. Odd. It worked, but I don’t want this as a steady diet with Spider-Man movies.

Ultimately, Spider-Man: Brand New Day was a great popcorn flick. I’ll probably watch it once or twice after it lands on Disney+. If the MCU had to introduce the X-Men in a Spider-Man film, this is almost perfect. I just wished the MCU didn’t choose to introduce the X-Men in this film. Despite the X-Men’s inclusion, Spider-Man: Brand New Day kept its trailers’ promise of a Spider-Man character-driven film. It’s a fun movie. Those are my thoughts on Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Let’s see what Season thinks.

Season’s Take

I was a bit surprised to see Jean Grey as an anti-hero in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Sadie Sink did an amazing job as Jean Grey. The character was very believable. The plot of Spider-Man: Brand New Day was well-written and can work as a stand alone movie. There were enough flashbacks to the previous Spider-Man movies that the audience could understand what happened without having to watch the other installments. The flashbacks were a bit too overdone; they could have cut down the runtime without some of them.

Before I watched Spider-Man: Brand New Day, I didn’t know who William Metzger was. What made me suspicious of him initially was how he spoke to the Hand. He spoke Japanese (without subtitles), and didn’t use an ounce of polite speech while introducing Spider-Man as an ally of the Hand. He referred to the Hand as “omae (oh-ma-eh)” or “you all.” “Omae” is either a familiar way of speaking to someone, but is considered to be very rude. He also referred to himself as “ore (oh-ray)” or “I.” This is normally an arrogant way to refer to oneself. He also didn’t use “desu” or “masu” at the end of his sentences, which is also either rude or familiar. I’m not sure how many Japanese speakers watched Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but this instance stood out to me.

I wish we could have seen some underused members of Spider-Man’s rogues gallery, so I was a bit disappointed when that didn’t happen. It looks like we’ll be seeing Venom in the future fifth Spider-Man movie. Here’s hoping it’ll blow Spider-Man 3 out of the water.

Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here again. I left the Metzger Japanese speech to Season; She spent a year and a half in Japan. I remember looking at Season when the scene occurred. I don’t speak Japanese, but I could tell something was off with Metzger’s speech. Anyway, thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.