aka Blog v4.0
This is the only MCU Disney+ show that has a second season (so far) and deservedly so.
While I did feel that the first couple of episodes meandered a bit, the last two gave us a solid resolution to the story IMHO.
I know that won’t be how everyone who watched this sees it, though.
Overall, it was better than Secret Invasion, which isn’t saying much.
This series brought back so many memories for me, from watching the ‘Making of…’ specials on TV to reading Starlog magazine.
A lot of the people in the series were my heroes back in the day: John Dykstra, Dennis Muren, Phil Tippitt, Richard Edlund, Ken Ralson all worked on stuff that I loved and still love.
If I wasn’t so gung-ho about computers back then, I probably would have followed in their footsteps. I have my own stop-motion movies that I made back in the day.
Part of it was also a history lesson, or more a refresher. I remember reading about the digital effects revolution and how it shook up the film industry. I remember how I felt the first time I saw a dinosaur in Jurassic Park.
Highly recommended series if you love these kind of movies and/or oral history shows.
I really liked this movie, though it was a very stressful one to watch, from moment to moment all seemed lost until it wasn’t, if that makes any sense.
It probably looked cool in the theatre, but it wasn’t one I felt compelled to see on the big screen, as much as I love Toy Story, and Buzz in particular.
The reveal was one that I didn’t see coming (maybe) and also made me go, “really?”
Anyways, recommended if you love Toy Story or good space adventure stories.
One of my favorite comics when I was a kid was Marvel’s “What If…?”.
Back in the day I missed picking up the first few issues, so the first one I read was this one:
The Fantastic Four with different powers? And a full explanation of how the powers manifested differently? Blew my 10-year old mind.
And then I didn’t get another issue until this one:
NICK FURY IN SPACE! Holy crap!
And at the time Marvel was publishing Star Wars, so I was hoping for a crossover with Nick Fury and Han Solo teaming up. Oh well.
I never got more than a couple of issues consecutively, because the one comic shop where I could find it was the one at Pier 39, which I didn’t go to regularly. I also found an occasional issue at the flea markets around here.
A few years back I eventually read the entire series when it was released in trade paperback form, acquiring the first 2-3 collected volumes, and then finished it when it became available on comiXology.com.
It always remained as a favorite, even the more recent What If…? series that came out to cover Marvel’s later history and big events.
Flashforward to now, over 40 years later, and about 13 years after the MCU started with Iron Man.
The first episode of Marvel’s “What If…?” animated series premiered on Disney+, and it was good.
Nothing beats the old comics, but this comes close.
I heard that the idea was to produce 1 episode for each film in the MCU, which now totals 24, but this first season will only be 9 episodes long.
And what a first episode!
Peggy Carter becomes the first Super Soldier.
It felt enough like the old comic for nostalgia’s sake, but with the voices of many of the original actors, I’d love to see this in live action with modern effects.
It even had me guessing and speculating on where the MCU would have been changed, like who becomes the Winter Soldier in this universe? Who was the Red Skull summoning? Questions that were answered before the end of the episode, thankfully.
I hope they do get to make at least one episode for each MCU film, and then for the 3 and later upcoming Disney+ series.
I’m totally on board for this show, and they just can’t make them fast enough.
And I gotta get my hands on that Hydra Stomper. It’s awesome.
“People need to bring anger into their lives.”
I said this to a co-worker yesterday as we were discussing The Last Jedi, and the people who not only dislike the new movies, but outright hate them AND must let you know this as much as possible.
It’s like they thrive on being angry with something, anything, that brings joy to others.
I’m guilty of this to some degree (Star Trek Discovery). But at the very least, I gave it a chance, watching a few episodes before deciding that it wasn’t for me.
The hate mongers out there decide to hate something before it comes out (The Last Jedi) yet they’ll go see it anyway, just to complain about it later.
“That’s hate watching,” as I explained to my co-worker.
And this morning the news of the Disney-FOX deal has brought out the same hate over something that they have no control over. Or do they?
Mostly I’ve seen people claiming that they hate that Disney is buying up studios and properties and ‘ruining’ franchises. They call the new Star Wars films ‘unwatchable’.
You could just choose to not watch.
I’m not an anime fan. So I don’t watch any of it. And I never mention it.
Why is this so hard to do for some people?
“People need to bring anger into their lives.”
And the truth is, that’s kinda sad.