Episode 1 is out. Thought I’d get a discussion thread going. Maybe @Hurts can pin it until next week?
| EPISODE | RELEASE DATE | RUNTIME | CREDITS SCENE? |
|---|---|---|---|
| S01E01: Resurrection | June 21st, 2023 on Disney+ | 55 min | None |
I’m quite sad they killed off Hill. I thought we’d get to see more of her in this series. For someone who Fury has trusted for so long, I feel like she hasn’t gotten the screen time she deserved.
Not a bad pilot I think. Intriguing, with some interesting characters. And I’m definitely not sure who’s Skrull.
After Marvel underutilized Cobie Smulders for like 11 years, I’m betting it was a Harrison Ford/Star Wars kind of deal: “I’ll come back for this if you kill my character off.”
It’s Battlestar Galactica 3.0 – everyone is a skrull!
Rip Hill. She deserved better.
I thought she was going to be the Skrull.
If I had a nickel for every time Marvel has written a group of refugees into the big bad terrorists, I’d have two nickels. That’s not a lot, but it’s funny that it happened twice.
Ok yeh the Flag Smashers were more of an anti-nationalist group of displaced people, but they were still a diaspora.
And what about the Clandestines? Another diaspora, albeit exiles, set up as the villains trying to get back home. I’m not saying either group was in the right, or that their actions should be condoned, it’s just weird that Marvel have chosen refugees to be the villains in 3 of their TV series so far.
Or am I way off and finding a pattern that doesn’t exist?
I liked the Skrull being the good guys in the MCU, unlike the comics, and that they were using their shapeshifting abilities to survive instead of for war. I guess it was too tempting to villainise them for this series, and I get the intrigue/drama that comes with a race of shapeshifters, but it’s got me feeling iffy.
Stories like these are often about protecting the status quo, or at least protecting it from change involving harm and destruction. Refugees generally want to see the status quo changed because things suck for them. The more radical among the refugees will not be above using a bit of harm and destruction to get what they want. The ends justify the means and all that. I find it better to use the term “antagonist”. They are people that the protagonists have conflict with, but they aren’t necessarily bad people.
I get where you’re coming from, and “antagonist” is certainly less loaded than “villain”, but at least with the Skrull …
spoiler
setting off a radioactive bomb at a public event is more than just a bit of harm and destruction!
I think I find it interesting that antagonists are often a reflection (consciously or not) of a group fear and what could be a more ‘ideological radicalism’ antagonist is being quite coded and kinda focused on refugeeism. Maybe just to broaden the grey area and make audiences somewhat sympathize with their ideology? I dunno, there are plenty of groups that want change so I’m spitballing whether this is a bit of a pattern.
Personally, I would have preferred if the first episode really leaned into the spy/espionage/cold war element, like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy-esque, instead of this milquetoast somewhat vaguely political messaging that isn’t sure what it’s trying to say. But it’s just the first episode, maybe I’m completely off base and what they’ve set up will actually develop into something.
Yeah ngl it doesn’t sit right with me making this version of the Skrulls into the bad guys. I was super interested in what they would do with them after writing them as immigrant refugees in Captain Marvel. But looks like we’re just going with the problematic trope of having immigrants/refugees be terrorists.
I’m still hoping to enjoy the show on the whole, but I’m going to have to overlook that part to do so.
Don’t forget the Inhumans. Technically they’re not part of the MCU but they are written by Marvel.
Oh man, the Inhumans show was so weird. The slave-owning, xenophobic, eugenicist royalty as the good guys? What a waste of good actors. Tbf, I was never a fan of the Inhumans in the comics either (apart from Lockjaw) so didn’t have high hopes.
AFAIK, they are part of the MCU unless explicitly stated otherwise. Same with Cloak & Dagger, Shield, Runaways, and the Netflix shows.
Oh waaw. If you didn’t watch Captain Marvel, you’re not going to understand who the villain is. If you did watch it, it still kinda throws you in and expects you to remember everything from that 1 movie. They planted a bomb because-- they are evil? Fury was in outer space all this time because-- he “had a crisis of faith”. They don’t ask the Avengers for help because-- it is “his fight”. Looks like I’m one of the few that didn’t enjoy this.
To quote Pitch Meeting:
This is the world’s most expensive TV show, we can’t help it if the audience hasn’t watched the last episode.
Seriously tho, Fury was in space because Thanos scared the shit out of him and with Tony gone they need some sort of planetary defense.
As for the Avengers… what Avengers? Tony, Natasha, and Cap are gone. Bruce and Clint are disabled. Thor is off-world. No one knows how to contact Spider-man. Ant-man and the Wasp perhaps? (I’m still choked they aren’t trapped in the Quantum Realm like that script originally called for.) I will give you Dr. Strange tho… he should absolutely be helping out.
Not calling their friends has always been an issue with MCU plots. It’s just something you have to get past.
They planted a bomb because-- they are evil?
They’re trying to start a nuclear war. They were pretty explicit about it. They’re immune to nuclear radiation. Even their plants are immune.
No, the show is garbage so far. It’s not well written, terribly directed, it’s a mess all around. I couldn’t get over how cringe worthy the opening scene was and how forced it felt. I get what they were trying to do with the Ross character, but man, did they phone in the dialogue.
I think the Skrulls being immune to radiation is going to be very important.
They’re trying to start a war between the US and Russia, which could go nuclear. And the Skrulls will be fine if the earth gets irradiated.
The immunity to radiation could be a way to detect them. They’d have to give someone radiation poisoning to make sure they’re not a Skrull, but it is a way to confirm a person’s identity. But it also means the Skrulls might not be able to impersonate someone who has cancer, and maybe other illnesses.
Ok for a premier. Interested to see where the story goes. Curious where G’iah ends up, had me fooled this episode thinking she was helping Talos.
So was Ross really a Skrull the whole time?
I’m thinking no.
Was kinda hyped about this one.
Cant say much from this episode alone. It is a bit slow but thats not a bad thing IMO. Its not an action show until now. Very suspensful and lots of great acting. Let us hope it answers lots of questions and has some surprises.
Is it any good? All the marvel shows I’ve seen have been underwhelming.
Even Loki and What If?
Rewatched a few shows for this series and the ones you mentioned, Wandavision and Hawkeye are still amazingly done. Better than most of the movies IMHO.
Forgot about Wandavision! Hawkeye never quite grabbed my interest, but WV was spectacular. While I also enjoyed She-Hulk, it was really just an excuse to put more Tatiana Maslany in my eyeballs.
Hawkeye is worth it for a few moments of Private Pyle, who is a fantastic actor and just perfect for the role. Otherwise it was fairly pointless.
Are those really the peak? For each interesting series, there’s an equally underwhelming series. Not hating, but there’s a real reason people are hesitant/underwhelmed from the abundance of “okay-ish” MCU content
Though this post did remind of Secret Invasion so I’ll check it out.
The nice thing about series you dont like is you dont have to watch them, im not a super fan but its cool to be able to check out new content pretty regularly, even if some of them are misses. Although I do understand the apathy as thats how I feel about star wars these days.
It was okay, hopefully it has some exciting plot twists as the series goes on.
Not sure who else is a Skrull and wondering if we’re seeing Ross again in this show, but I’m certain Fury already is three steps ahead. Can’t wait for next week’s episode.
Spoiler: No Russian
Also, I think Gravin is definitely pulling a “No Russian” from COD:MW2. Killing Hill on the square was definitely a main part of the plan.
Would love to get two Episodes at least at the start of each series. Some shows do this and I think it’s a lot easier to build up hype that way.
This show is only six episodes, so I’m thinking they’re fine going the traditional route. We got an hour, which was enough for me to get interested.
I am a little behind on the films. What do I need to catch up on to understand the first few episodes?
I would suggest Captain Marvel
I’ve seen that already and all of the rest of the shows. I am just missing the newest ant-man and the newest Guardian of the Galaxy. Would I miss much?
Episode 1 is not connected to those two films at all. You can watch it.
Looks like I know what I’m doing tonight
Possibly BP2 for Everett Ross’s character arc.
I haven’t seen BP2 yet but didn’t feel out of the loop during the Ross scene. But then again there may have been something deeper that I wasn’t picking up on.
Not really just that Ross is ‘off the grid’ and not with SHIELD officially. He was arrested for having direct communication with Wakanda and charged with compromising national security by Valentine deFontaine.
Nope. You don’t need to watch them to understand this.
Am I the only one who had a fucking cringe with the whole Russia thing? Americans Against Russia? The plot to start a war with the US? That was so weird and awkward and uncomfortable.
I truly hope they’ll rapidly drop that shit because I won’t watch a show about a fictive war that has, in fact, actually started in the real world. Being a cold war or not.
Also, the episode made me kinda fell bad for every too-young-to-retire character of the Endgame era. Because there will be more.
This must’ve been written before the war started IRL.
It’s quite unfortunate for Marvel since they re-wrote The Falcon and the Winter Soldier already; the plot originally was supposed to have a virus meant to eradicate half the population, hence the references to a vaccine, which was jankily re-written for it to be supersoldier serum once the pandemic happened.
So, Marvel keeps writing fictitious plots that just happen to keep ending up true 😬
I guess the whole Russians are racist AF thing has been added to the plot to make the whole thing less stand with Russia, but that made the plot even creepier.
I stand with Ukraine and I’m mad at Russians for not removing Putin, but I’m pretty sure they are not as racist as the show represented them. In the soviet era there were many exchanges between the USSR and other Asian and African Communist countries, as they were very inclusive.
Anyway, I hope Ukraine will end that war rapidly enough so that we can put Putin in jail for war crimes and move on. As a European I really don’t like having a Putin AND a Trump in the same timeline. We need to get rid of them.
I didn’t interpret the show’s message as stand with Russia, so much as stand against manipulation of world affairs by hostile aliens. Personally I don’t think it’s hypocritical to condemn Russia and at the same time not want Russia to be used as a pawn by alien invaders.
Sorry, for whatever reason the tag didn’t notify me but yes this is pinned.
Haha, no worries. I can make one tomorrow for episode 2 if you want to keep an eye out. Unless a mod wants to take over.
EDIT: I just noticed the mods wanted post. I can help out as well if you still need more. That will let me make these discussion posts and pin them myself, lol.
Added you as a mod
Awesome, appreciate it
Nice first episode. I am wondering how this is gonna continue.
