I still maintain that ultimate marvel(1610) was at its best when it was slowly pushing away from the status quo. It really allowed the universe grow and breath and truly be something special. It had one of the best iterations of Tony Stark, Spiderman, Reed Richards and Kitty Pryde because they were allowed to be changed by the changing circumstances of their universe.

 

If this show is "Winter Soldier but moar" then I'll gladly binge the season once it's done, but tbh the Marvel hype has fallen off a cliff for me. Endgame really marked the, well, End of an era. Marvel FOMO died a natural death.

I am looking forward to Black Widow because it looks to be something like, heh, Winter Soldier but just for Natasha. Also interested in What If, but it still has no release date.

 

Unless there is something really big in the future episodes, I'm planning to wait for it to finish before starting.

In a way with that much content as they're planning to make, it's only natural that not everything will be must check for people. It's one thing to have two films a year, it's other to have eight films and shows.

 

While I'm planning to watch everything Marvel releases, the two projects I'm most excited about are The Multiverse of Madness and the Secret Invasion.

 

I've never seen a more punchable face than at the end of Ep 1 of FWS. That acting was superb. Here's hoping for an inglorious death and a teabag to boot.

 

Yeah, I have zero interest in watching FWS. The 'realistic-ish military' and the skrull plotlines are definitely my least favorite of the MCU. I enjoyed WandaVision and definitely looking forward to Dr. Strange the most. Loki and What If? might be interesting watches as well, but otherwise the days of trying to release-day everything the MCU produces is over.

 

It will probably end up being the opposite for me. I watched the first couple episodes of Wanda Vision and honestly didn't really enjoy it at all. It didn't feel "in-universe" and it wasn't that engaging. I was disappointed because some of my favorite "comfort shows" are sitcoms (Friends, HIMYM) but the vibe didn't really carry over. F&WS was the opposite of that for me.

For one, this show felt much more in-universe, and you could feel the connections with the larger MCU not just in the characters, but the plot, especially how it's set up. Yes, the opening combat scene is not as grand or epic as Endgame, but it's fun action, and when the story starts, it picks up as the direct consequences of Steve giving Sam the shield.

Obviously the MCU movies are one of a kind, and something I love, but from a story telling perspective, I actually kind of prefer this TV format. Things have been scaled down from epic movies like Infinity War and Endgame, and there's more time to develop interactions between people.

The MCU is at it's best telling stories about people who happen to be heroes, with comedy and action woven in. F&WS does exactly that.

Obviously it's only been one episode, but I feel like this show has some potential. It's going to be action packed, relevant to the established universe, while also feeling more grounded and dealing with real issues. And of course, the ending was just superb. A great first episode ... I'm honestly left excited for what's to come.

 

It isn't meant to parallel the opening of Endgame, but instead Winter Soldier. Sam/Steve jumping out of a plane into the air/sea to rescue a hostage/hostages from Batroc, who took over a plane/ship.

And I'm definitely with you on preferring TFATWS to WandaVision.

 

Sonder's brought this up. Sam's journey is paralleling Steves.

Steve was a man out of time to Sam being brough back after the blip.

 

Sonder hasn't posted anything in this thread.

That's sort of true though, with the exception that Sam has living family. That was also something I liked about the first episode. We knew the bare minimum about Sam before this.

 

In Discord

 

Caught up at the weekend, so far it's pretty much what I thought it was going to be, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I'm not eagerly awaiting episode 3 the way I was for Wandavision. It's a perfectly good and well made show so far, but not yet 'must watch', or wouldn't be if I weren't watching it with friends.

 

Apparently The Eternals summary leaked before there is even a trailer. Not that it matters much since spoilers only tell something to people familiar with these characters, all ten of them. I suspect this is the reason why Marvel was more open to have various people check it. They probably will not do the same with something like Doctor Strange 2. Unlike pretty much any other production, there is not even a single photo from it or confirmation who is going to be in it.

 

Watched the first episode of FWS. Wasn't impressed, literally nothing gripped me to keep me watching. If others tell me that the series gets truly phenomenal in later episodes, I might find myself doing what I did with wandavision and just fast forward through large chunks so I can keep up with the overall plot development.

 

You know what I think I would have really enjoyed? Falcon and the Ant Man.

How the fuck a forma Hydra super soldier with a vibraniam arm can be so ridiculously boring is beyond me. Sebastian Stan has all the charisma of a forgotten cumrag. It's supposed to be like some sort of buddy cop scenario where the two characters are always sniping at each other but they just don't have the chemistry to make it work.

 

In Civil War I liked their dynamic. I had to force myself to watch episode one all the way through.

Then again I didn’t enjoy WandaVision either, at least I made it all the way through episode two then.

 

As a big Cap fan, I can’t help but feel that the continuation of his story deserves to be on the big screen. I know it’s called Falcon and the Winter Soldier but so far it’s as much a continuation of the Captain America movies as it is a spin off.

There’s definitely pros and cons - I’m sure they wouldn’t be able to spend as much time on showing Bucky’s demons if it had to all fit into 2 hours. The thing that gets me though is the action scenes don’t feel up to par with the previous things we’ve seen from Sam and especially Bucky in the films. It’s decent by TV standards but when the same characters previously have had huge fight scenes in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, that fight on top of the trucks starts looking pretty lame.

I know there’s a lot more to a good show/story than the action scenes, but it’s definitely an important aspect for this kind of story in my opinion. Bucky is also one of my favourite characters in the MCU and felt kind of under-utilised in Infinity War/Endgame so I was kind of hoping for more in comparison to characters like Wanda and Vision. Minor Avengers-only side characters make sense for a TV show, the next Captain America should probably warrant a movie.

Maybe they’ll surprise me though and I’ll look stupid saying this, but from what I’ve seen of Disney+ so far I doubt it.

Edit: Seratin - Eh I find Stan’s acting pretty good in the context of being a traumatised former-POW and brainwashing victim for the better part of a century. More appropriate to me in any case than all the jokes Falcon is cracking in light of the shitty situation he’s partially responsible for. Mandatory MCU comic relief I suppose, and they have Bucky doing it a bit too. I think if they wanted to do the funny buddy cop thing it’s a bit of an incongruous setting right after everyone came back from getting snapped and the world is all messed up/half the OG Avengers just died.

 

Couples counseling was pretty hilarious ngl

 

I'm not super into Falcon & The Winter Soldier so far, but Bucky is probably my favourite MCU character and I really like Sebastian Stan in the role so I'm sticking it out in the hopes it improves. Feels like very little has happened in two episodes of a six episode series though.

 

Hopefully it’s a case of the slow opening setting up a lot of stuff that pays off later. Then again, I didn’t mind stuff like looking at Sam and Bucky’s personal lives, Bucky struggling with his demons, and Sam needing to deal with real life drama about paying bills because superhero doesn’t come with a steady paycheck.