Do you have one of those friends who tells a joke, and when you don’t laugh, they proceed to poke you in the ribs, like, “Huh, right, get it? Get it?” If you know this person, or have seen countless iterations of them on TV and in movies, that’s the general sensation of watching Thor: Love and Thunder, the latest in Marvel’s candy-colored, Norse-mythology-inspired arm of their cinematic universe. The entire film, and by extension director Taika Waititi, feels like it’s just going to stare at you awkwardly until you force a weak chuckle then it will bask in the glory of its own wit.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness now has the distinction of being my least favorite chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s a plodding eyesore overflowing with shallow expository dialogue in lieu of narrative development. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) continues to be the least interesting Avenger, and even another strong performance from Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch can’t save the day. And the one moment I really enjoy, admittedly for petty personal reasons, I can’t talk about because it’s a major spoiler.
Let’s be honest, no one gives a damn what I think about Spider-Man: No Way Home, the latest in the complicated Marvel/Sony/etc. wall-crawler relationship. So, here’s the short version: it’s fine, 100% fine. It will honestly probably sound like I hated it, but I didn’t, it’s enjoyable enough, though entirely toothless, even by Marvel standards.
The other day the filmic corners of the internet were all a-flutter over a leaked version of the trailer for the next adventure from everyone’s favorite friendly neighborhood wall-crawler, Spider-Man: No Way Home. As so often happens in these cases, the studio hauled ass to, ready or not, release a version of the trailer that doesn’t look like hot garbage. And here it is.
Ever wonder what Marvel Cinematic Universe staple Black Widow, aka Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), was up to betwixt the Wars Civil and Infinity? (And, you know, before the fate that ultimately befalls her in Avengers: Endgame?) As it turns out, she went on a wacky family vacation. Sort of. Sort of as in sort of wacky and sort of as in sort of family. Such is the tale told by her long-awaited first solo venture, Black Widow.
