Defenders: The H Word

Netflix and Marvel Studios have been collaborating for a while now, giving us some great shows. We’ve seen two seasons of Daredevil, and one each of Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist. Now, just as the solo heroes came together to form the Avengers in the Marvel movies, the Netflix characters are uniting as the Defenders. Also along for the ride are much of the supporting cast from the individual shows, and the enigmatic Madame Gao, as well as Claire Temple, the only character to appear in all four series so far. I’m presuming that if you’re watching/interested in Defenders, you’ve seen the shows that came before it, so I’m not explaining every reference.

Champions 11

The Secret Empire “event” has been hard on just about everyone. I haven’t followed the main story, because I honestly don’t care about it, but I’ve seen a lot of the edges of it as it spills into the various titles that I regularly get. And things get ugly for the young heroes of the Champions this month.

The State of Hero TV, Summer 2017

It’s a great time to be a hero-geek. There are more and more shows, and most of them are pretty damn good. I keep hearing a few people fretting about “hero fatigue,” but I certainly don’t have it, and, judging from the box office for Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, a lot of other people don’t, either. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is fantastic, with Spider-Man: Homecoming and Thor: Ragnarok coming this year. I’m a lot less impressed with the DC Expanded Universe (although I’m one of the few that apparently enjoyed Suicide Squad), but I was pleasantly surprised by Wonder Woman.

Spider-Man: Homecoming review

I’m a huge hero fan, and have been reading comics for decades. Yes, decades. So I like to think I’m at least a decent judge of hero movies. I’ll sum this up quickly and then go in to detail later. Spider-Man: Homecoming is fantastic. It’s a great addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and I’d say the best Spider-Man movie I’ve ever seen. And I liked the Tobey Maguire ones. At least the first one.

Iron Fist: Dragon Plays With Fire

Iron Fist reaches the conclusion of season one (with sadly no confirmed word on season two as yet) with “Dragon Plays With Fire.” There are a lot of dangling threads they manage to (mostly) resolve, and they leave enough hanging if the show does return. And I’m relieved that a troubling rumor I heard about the show is proven false.

Iron Fist: Bar the Big Boss

Iron Fist is close to wrapping things up with “Bar The Big Boss,” episode 12 out of 13. Matters are coming to a head, and the various plotlines are starting to close in on themselves. Lines are being drawn, and Danny Rand has to deal with forces pulling him in several directions at once.

Agents of SHIELD: World’s End

Everything the Agents of SHIELD have been dealing with this season is finally coming together in the finale, “World’s End.” A very familiar muscle car fires up its engine and rolls out of a garage. The Zephyr is programmed to rapid random course changes in both direction and altitude in hopes of foiling Aida’s teleportation…

Iron Fist: Lead Horse Back To Stable

  This is another review that has spoilers in it, so be warned: there are spoilers below. The 11th episode of Iron Fist, “Lead Horse Back To Stable,” begins with a flashback to a very significant event in Danny’s life. Davos finds Danny just outside a cave, sprawled on the rocks there. Davos sees through…

Agents of SHIELD: The Return

Agents of SHIELD has almost gotten to the end of the fourth season. “The Return” signals the end of the story in The Framework, and picking up the pieces back in the real world. And they’re coming back to a hell of a mess on almost every front. The show starts with a slightly different…

Iron Fist: Black Tiger Steals Heart

  Events get interesting as they start coming towards the end of Iron Fist’s first season. “Black Tiger Steals Heart” has a lot of surprises and revelations. Danny hasn’t been the most likable character through a lot of this season, but by the end of this, I do feel a bit sorry for him. And…