Marvel Live Action

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I just finished the season. Goddamn that second half was just so addicting. I haven't been so compelled to binge-watch a series since the first four seasons of Game of Thrones.

The ending, once again, completely subverted my expectations.

Spoiler

Mariah actually wins, or at least doesn't go down this season. She gets away scott-free for all of the terrible things that she did, and Luke goes to prison. And while it makes sense that a TV series can do this since it has future seasons to continue the plot with, I still wasn't expecting such a cliffhanger for any of the Marvel stand-alone series before The Defenders. I mean, yes, the evidence to absolve Luke of his crimes is recovered by his friend at the very end, but it still leaves a bitter taste in your mouth that someone as despicable as Mariah gets to walk free. It's a very untraditional and ballsy ending to the season, even by the standards of the Netflix shows, and leads me to anticipate that future seasons of all of these shows will be far less predictable.

[close]

So now I'm just wondering if Daredevil season three will happen before The Defenders and Luke Cage will play a supporting part in it (like he did in Jessica Jones), or if certain plot points from this season will bleed over into The Defenders, since it seems that they kind of have to as this stuff just can't be ignored until Luke Cage season two.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Pretty great season. I'd put it second only to Daredevil. Luke was an excellent hero, and his villains were some of the best in the entire MCU. Particularly Shades and Mariah. Not to mention the story was engaging from start to finish with a pretty good twist in the middle. Though I do wish Luke would have gone for calling Claire's "attorney friend" at the end. All in all, I wonder how Iron Fist will be able to stack up to this.

The Defenders is looking mighty good right about now.

[Peanutbutter]

Just saw "Manifest" the show's seventh episode.

Spoiler

Holy Toledo were they ever not kidding about this episode! Cottonmouth being killed I actually wasn't shocked by, just that it was Mariah that killed him and not Shades. Didn't see Luke getting shot with the Judas Bullet right the end too, I saw that sniper and immiedately I was like, "Oh no, here it comes....". Great episode. The final five are going to be insane!

[close]

[Spark Of Spirit]

So now I'm just wondering if Daredevil season three will happen before The Defenders and Luke Cage will play a supporting part in it (like he did in Jessica Jones), or if certain plot points from this season will bleed over into The Defenders, since it seems that they kind of have to as this stuff just can't be ignored until Luke Cage season two.

Next is Iron Fist, and then Defenders. JJ season 2 and DD season 3 are after them.

I don't think it would be out of the realm of possibility for Defenders to cover the ending of this season in order to bring him into the fold. They do have to get all four of them together, and right now three of them are very closely related. It's all about where Iron Fist falls into it next.

[Foggle]

It's really hard for me to not just binge through all of Luke Cage right now, but I will be strong. So far Marvel is 4 for 4 with their Netflix output as far as I'm concerned. Each series has its own unique appeal that makes it among the most engaging material on TV to me:

Daredevil - Damn good gritty superhero epic. Like the prevailing modern interpretation of Batman but way cooler.
Jessica Jones - Relatable horror story about emotional abuse and overcoming trauma. Bizarre but accurate.
Luke Cage - Neo-blaxploitation without the exploitative bits. Groovalicious soundtrack is integral to every scene.

I'm going to be incredibly disappointed if Iron Fist isn't some ridiculous dragon-punching kung fu masterpiece now. They keep raising the bar every damn time.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I'm sure it is being saved for last because of the mystical elements, but I really hope they match the old school kung-fu feel for it. They nailed the atmosphere for the others, but Iron Fist needs the mysticism in order to work.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I'm still on the fence in regards to Loras from Game of Thrones playing Iron Fist, but I'll probably watch regardless. Need to know how they'll follow up on that Madame Gao subplot from Daredevil.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I also feel like Iron Fist could afford to be at least a little bit more lighthearted than the other series. We have three series that are already pretty dark and gritty, plus with The Punisher getting his own series down the line, that'll make four. It almost feels necessary to have Iron Fist be that one series in The Defenders lineup that feels a bit more hopeful, while still being relatively grounded compared to anything in the movies. I think that following the general tone of the Ed Brubaker run would be a perfect fit for it.

[Foggle]

Yeah, I hope Iron Fist is more lighthearted than the other shows. I'm not too familiar with him outside of his team-up comics with Luke Cage, but it seems like he tends to add levity to situations despite being a serious character himself. I'd be so happy if his series resembled a classic Bruce Lee movie in terms of tone and style.

[gunswordfist]

Just finished episode 10 of Luke Cage. Things are starting to heat up again and I will see if the 2nd half is inferior to the first.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, I just found out that Alfre Woodard who played Mariah in Luke Cage also played a minor role in Civil War. Either that's meant to set up some hardcore theory-crafting, or the Marvel film and television departments just messed up on coordinating their casting to avoid any overlap.

[gunswordfist]

Finally just finished Luke Cage. Good lord, watching almost 13 hours when your last day off was the weekend BEFORE last takes forever. I might like this show even more than Daredevil season 1. Like DD Season 2, it's second half is weaker but it is still better than that. They couldn't really top what they did with Stokes. Luke's long recovery process and Misty being benched was tge worst part of the series. Also, I cannot stand Mariah Dillard. It's like having a boring, evil talk show host for a villain.

As for the good, Stokes, Shades and Diamondback are all better than Kingpin and Kilgrave. Especially Shades. He is my favorite right hand man villain ever. Even moreso than Mad Dog from Hard-Boiled. He was intelligent, intimidating, had a great presence and he even has a bit of honor with how he felt about the Pop situation. Stokes was a damn good crime boss. He was never annoying or a pretentious manbaby like season 1 Fisk. I like Diamondback even more because I am a sucker for super corny Blaxploitation/70s/80s style Big Bad. I can't believe they had the balls to have someone say so many nutty lines. "Bye, Felicia."

They nailed Luke Cage perfectly. I truly like him now since it's not comic book writers trying to write hip hoo dialogue but instead a cool, intelligent flawed man. And I am thoroughly impressed with how freaking much Claire Temple got to do. I thought Risario was just going to cameo but she ended up being the most helpful non-superhero Marvel Netflix character and she had a lot of good moments.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Shades was the most surprising character. I was actually relieved when he got away from Zip and his men because I really want to see more of him. Diamondback and Stokes were great villains, but Shades' cool and calculating planning and code of loyalty was refreshing considering the number of backstabbers there were in the story. His joy of "discovering" Mariah's dark side was really sinister, and I'd really like to learn more about him.

[gunswordfist]

Completely agreed. I rewinded him surviving lame ass Zip's assassination attempt when I watched it today. I am also happy he didn't go on to kill Diamondback or vice versa. I hope to see much more of both.

[Peanutbutter]

Shades was the most surprising character. I was actually relieved when he got away from Zip and his men because I really want to see more of him. Diamondback and Stokes were great villains, but Shades' cool and calculating planning and code of loyalty was refreshing considering the number of backstabbers there were in the story. His joy of "discovering" Mariah's dark side was really sinister, and I'd really like to learn more about him.

Not including Cage, Shades was the best character in this series aside from Pop. Cottonmouth was good, Diamondback was even better, but Shades was awesome. I don't know if he's from the comic or an original character, but they caught lightning in a bottle when they put him in. Can't wait to see more of him.