The Marvels Binge List

If all goes well, I’ll finally be back to the movie theater in the coming month. We’re vaguely planning on taking our three-year-old to the new Paw Patrol movie, but you can probably guess from the title that I’m not writing about Paw Patrol today (note to self: blog post about why Rubble is the best pup on the Paw Patrol). So instead of the pups, let’s focus on three marvelous ladies headlining in the MCU’s next month. So here’s what you need to review to be ready for The Marvels.

Captain Marvel (2 hours 4 min)

By no means is she the first Avenger (see Captain America), but she was the one who inspired the Avengers Initiative. I don’t understand the hate that Captain Marvel gets and I don’t think I’ll ever understand. First time I saw this movie, I really enjoyed it. Now that I have two daughters, I like having a powerful female hero, who refused to lower herself to the standards of a man who had oppressed her.

Avengers: Endgame (3 hours 2 min)

I was vastly disappointed in how little Endgame used Captain Marvel. A bit at the beginning and then a power house during the final battle. I had expected her to be part of the main action (at least somewhat). Instead she was just somewhere up in space being underutilized by the Avengers. Disappointing. Biggest thing we got from her was a bad haircut.

WandaVision (9 episodes)

Pivot to another one of the Marvels, as Monica investigated Wanda’s incident in Westview. After multiple times going through the Hex, someone was blessed with super powers. Interesting to see her only exploring the beginnings of her powers in WandaVision before the series ended and she was taken away to Fury’s ship.

Shang-Chi (2 hours 12 min)

I’d watch this movie again just for the heck of it, but Captain Marvel only appears in the credit scene. Again, underutilized. Even for a credit scene. At least it establishes the continued connection between the Avengers (or at least between Wong, Captain Marvel, and Banner).

Ms. Marvel (6 episodes)

I had so many hopes for this series. Mostly hoping they’d have re-introduced Inhumans, but instead they hinted at Ms. Marvel being the first official mutant (and yet we’re no closer to getting the X-Men). But this is probably the part of The Marvels that I’m most excited for. Seeing Kamala fangirl over meeting Carol Danvers is going to be a sight to be seen. Especially after seeing Captain Marvel suddenly appear in the Khan home.

Secret Invasion (6 episodes)

Another series I had so many hopes for (but that was my problem, as I previously wrote about). Again, I hoped they’d re-introduce Inhumans (come on, Marvel, where’s Quake!?) but instead we got a weird super-powered Skrull. As if Skrulls aren’t powerful enough as it is. With how this series ended, I definitely lacked closure on everything with Fury and the Skrulls… but maybe some of that will be resolved during The Marvels. Please?

And in the meantime, while I wait for The Marvels, I’m going to keep watching Loki Season 2. I enjoyed the premiere, but we’ll see how the rest of the season goes. Curious how this season will proceed, as this may be the last time we see Kang before Phase Six. Who knows?