Marvel Cinematic Universe: Part 7

So it’s been a year since my last Marvel Cinematic Universe post, so here’s back to it, especially with all the MCU stuff we got this year. Guardians of the Galaxy 2, more Agents of SHIELD, the Defenders, the Inhumans, Thor Ragnarok, and still more to come. So here’s another installment of what Marvel’s done for us.

Agents of SHIELD: Season 2 (Episodes 12-16)

I enjoyed having Lady Sif return for another episode.

• 12. Who You Really Are: A Kree comes to Earth to investigate the diviner. SHIELD teams up with amnesiac Lady Sif to find him. He explains the connection between the Kree and the Inhumans. Fitz lies to Simmons about Skye’s bloodwork. Skye accidentally reveals her powers to her team. After Sif and the Kree leave, in a moment of panic Mack abducts Hunter.
• 13. One of Us: Mack keeps an eye on Hunter while Coulson puts Skye on the Index, with the help of Dr. Garner, May’s ex-husband. Meanwhile, Cal recruits a group of people from the Index to fight SHILED. Cal’s team faces off against Coulson and his team. Cal is taken by a teleporter named Gordon. Mack introduces Hunter to the “real SHIELD”.
• 14. Love in the Time of HYDRA: At Garner’s recommendation, Skye is taken from active duty. Ward and Agent 33 look for the man who can fix her mask. He fixes it so she can mimic people again. They retrieve Bakshi. Hunter meets Gonzales, the SHIELD faction leader.
• 15. One Door Closes: The day SHIELD fell, SHIELD agents including Gonzales, Bobbi, and Mack begin to form a separate faction of SHIELD from Coulsen. In the present, Coulsen and May confront Mack and Bobbi respectively. An EMP enables them to escape. Gordon visits Skye at the safehouse. He later saves her from Bobbi’s team. Coulsen and Hunter team up.
• 16. Afterlife: The Inhumans of the settlement Afterlife treat Skye. Mike Peterson teams up with Coulsen and Hunter to fight Gonzales’s faction. Fitz and Simmons steal back Fury’s toolbox. Skye confronts Raina, but is stopped by Jiaying. Coulsen looks to Ward to help take back SHIELD.

Skye gets introduced to Afterlife in order to control her powers

Random Trivia/Connections:

• In “Who You Really Are”, Lady Sif mentions that Odin sent her on a mission. As seen in “Thor: The Dark World”, it’s not really Odin, but Loki instead.
• Coulson’s huge gun that he used on Loki in “The Avengers” reappears in “Who You Really Are”.
• The flashbacks of “One Door Closes” take place concurrently with “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and the SHIELD episode “Turn, Turn, Turn”.
• It was noted that the safehouse that Skye stays in was previously utilized by Bruce Banner (The Hulk) and Steve Rogers (Captain America).

Thoughts:

To be fair: this part of SHIELD is still where I was watching it on grave shifts, so I through the fluff fast. In the middle of it, I enjoyed this small chunk of SHIELD. However, I also don’t care for it, looking back. Other than being the part where Skye began to learn to control her powers, it was inconsequential. A few episodes later, when season 3 begins, I hardly even remember there being two factions of SHIELD. I guess it had to happen though to lead the season to where it ended.

Daredevil: Season 1 (Episodes 1-13)

So it’s unclear where Daredevil and the other Netflix series fall in the MCU timeline, so I’m just going to place them where they aired. All we really know is that they happened after “The Avengers”, since they mention the Battle of New York at times. Also, since the Netflix shows are a bit edgier and since many of our readers may be conservative Christians, I’ll be giving some “parental guidance” notes for each episode. IMDB typically has a REALLY good parent guide, for details more specific than mine. It’s kind of sparse on these episodes, so add to it if you’ve watched the season.

The "Devil of Hell's Kitchen" started out basically in PJs.

• 1.  Into the Ring: Nine-year-old Matt Murdock loses his vision in an accident but gets super senses. In the present day (some time the Battle of New York) a masked Matt fights crime. In the daylight, Matt and his partner/best friend Foggy take on the case of Karen Page. That night, the masked Matt saves Karen from a thug. Karen becomes Foggy and Matt’s secretary to pay them back. (Parental Guidance: References to sex trafficking; Side-breast/bare back woman; blood and profanity)
• 2. Cut Man: In flashbacks, we see that Matt looked up to his boxer dad Jack. In the present day, Matt gets injured saving a boy and is helped by Claire Temple. Meanwhile, Foggy helps Karen adjust to New York City. Later, Matt hunts down Russian thugs to save a young boy. (Parental Guidance: blood and profanity; references to human traficking)
• 3. Rabbit in a Snow Storm: A vicious fight happens at the bowling alley. Matt lies about his scars to Foggy and Karen. Matt takes the case of the man from the bowling alley (Healey). Union Allied bribes Karen. After getting him free in court, Matt takes on Healey to learn he’s working for Wilson Fisk. Fisk meets Vanessa. Karen goes to Urich for help against Union Allied. (Parental Guidance: lots of violence and blood in the bowling scene)
• 4. In the Blood: Eight years ago, the Ranskahov brothers escape Russia and come to NYC. Claire helps Matt again. Urich reluctantly agrees to help Karen. Fisk goes on a date with Vanessa. The Ranskahov brothers take a job to find the masked Matt, using Claire as bait. Fisk kills one of the brothers for interrupting his date. (Parental Guidance: blood and gore when Fisk kills the Ranskahov brother)
• 5. World on Fire: Fisk and Gao meet with their crime organization. Matt helps stitch up Claire. Matt and Foggy take on the case of Elena Cardenas. Masked Matt looks for intelligence on Fisk. Vanessa goes on another date with Fisk. After a couple explosions, the police find the Masked Matt.
• 6. Condemned: Matt escapes from the police. One of the Russian brothers gets tortured. Matt tends to his wounds. Matt interrogates Ranskahov. Fisk contact Matt. SWAT officers get fought off by Matt as he and Ranskahov escape. (Parental Guidance: blood during torture)
• 7. Stick: As a kid, after his father’s death, Matt gets trained by Stick. In the present, after an unfortunate encounter, Matt reunites with Stick. Karen touches base with Urich. Stick asks for Matt’s help to stop the Black Sky. Matt rescues a young child from the Japanese. Karen recruits Foggy to help Urich. (Parental Guidance: references to child trafficking with the Japanese)
• 8. Shadows in the Glass: In the past, as Fisk’s father loses the local election, he beats his wife. Fisk ends up killing his father. Karen and Foggy let Matt know about their investigation. Gao confronts Fisk. Before Urich can out Fisk’s actions, Fisk appears on TV calling the masked man (Matt) a terrorist. (Parental Guidance: Violence and blood)
• 9. Speak of the Devil: Karen, Foggy, and Urich meet about Fisk’s press conference. After Elena’s death, Matt decides to kill Fisk, but Fisk beats him. Matt escapes and is found out as the masked man by Foggy.
• 10. Nelson v. Murdock: Years before the series, Foggy and Matt become friends at Columbia University. In the present, Foggy confronts Matt about being the masked man. Urich gets a promotion. Karen takes Urich to see Fisk’s mother. The guests at Fisk’s fundraiser get poisoned.
• 11. The Path of the Righteous: Fisk gets help for Vanessa. Matt gets Potter to make a suit for him. Fisk finds out that Urich and Karen visited his mother. Karen gets kidnapped, but ends up escaping by killing her attacker. (Parental Guidance: violence)
• 12. The Ones We Leave Behind: Karen suffers from nightmares after her kidnapping. Foggy gives Marci evidence against Fisk. Matt finds Gao’s warehouse. Matt comforts Karen. Ellison fires Urich. Fisk kills Urich for visiting his mother. (Parental Guidance: violence)
• 13. Daredevil: Matt and Karen attend Urich’s funeral. Gao leaves town. Foggy and Matt get Fisk’s men arrested. He escapes. Matt gets his new suit and faces off against Fisk and he’s taken into custody. Matt, in his new armor, is dubbed Daredevil by the press.

It wasn't until after Fisk was beaten that Matt officially became "Daredevil".

Random Trivia/Connections:

• Multiple times, beginning in the premiere, the Battle of New York gets mentioned, placing the events of Daredevil after “The Avengers”.
• Carl Creel is mentioned in “Into the Ring”, “Cut Man”, and “Stick”. He first appeared in “Shadows” on Agents of SHIELD.
• The truck whose chemicals blinded Matt was a “Rand Oil and Chemicals” vehicle. We’ll see more of Rand in “Iron Fist”.
• The Steel Serpent logo first appeared in “Into the Ring” which later appears on “Iron Fist”.
• The battle between Hulk and Abomination is referenced in an article in “Rabbit in a Snow Storm”, “Stick”, and “Nelson v. Murdock”.
• “In the Blood” briefly mentions Thor’s hammer as “magic hammer” and Iron Man’s armor as an “iron suit”. Tony Stark is also alluded to in “World on Fire” as “one of those billionaire playboys”.
• In “Nelson v. Murdock”, Matt’s Greek girlfriend is mentioned. She later appears in Season 2 as Elektra.
• Cybertek, a company that features prominently in Agents of SHIELD Season 1, is shown in a clipping in “The Ones We Leave Behind”.

Thoughts:

As of the end of “The Defenders”, this season of Daredevil isn’t in my top three seasons of Marvel Netflix. As far as plot, it was well paced. I had a difficult time getting into it, but I enjoyed “Jessica Jones” and “Iron Fist” more (we’ll get to those later). I didn’t particularly care for the violence. I feel like I could have gotten just as much out of the show without seeing the gore. That being said, obviously something went well with this series, since we have so many more Marvel Netflix shows now.

That's all the MCU stuff for now. By next week I'll be done the Seventh Doctor, so be looking forward to the last of the Classic Doctors (unless you count the Eighth Doctor, but we'll get to that later).