Vic Mackey calls Marvel S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show “soft”

Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Marvel has greenlit a new television series based on S.H.I.E.L.D, to be produced, written, and if time allows, directed by Joss Whedon. He would be joined by his brother Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen.

This seemed like the most logical starting point for Marvel in television. The S.H.I.E.L.D. organization is huge and could cover everything from super-villains to terrorists. Or super-terrorist.

This is just speculation on my part, but I will not be shocked if Agent Coulson makes a comeback n this series. Clark Gregg would make a great connection between the series and the Avengers film universe, especially if the long-running rumors of him becoming the Vision come true.

Fingers crossed that this show has better legs than Whedon’s latest television efforts.

Hot Toys Smartest Company On Earth – Agent Coulson 1/6th Scale Figure Sneak Peak

Hot Toys has posted a sneak peek of their upcoming Agent Coulson 1/6th Scale Figure from the Avengers film. Brilliant move. This will be a hug hit. As you can see from the preview he comes with his enormous, mysterious gun.

Also, Hot Toy has previewed an upcoming Chitauri Footsoldier 1/6th Scale Figure.

Hit after the jump to see both images.

Quick Review – Avengers: EMH! Episode “Secret Invasion”

Secret Invasion

Obviously, I would recommend everyone watch this great series.

It manages to take classic and modern epics from the comics and streamline, enhance and pay homage to them.

This episode is the culmination of the Skrull invasion. Chaos reigns as the Skrulls cripple Earth’’s heroes and defenses. Kang’s ship, commandeered by S.W.O.R.D. , is destroyed. A.I.M. is infiltrated and their weapons of mass destruction turned towards a Skrull objective. The Fantastic Four are shunted into another dimension. And the Skrulls march on Washington D.C.

Quick Review – Avengers: EMH! Episode “Infiltration”

Infiltration

It’s on. The Skrulls are in full invasion mode, and their goal of eliminating the Avengers is moving along well. The team has been reduced to only Captain America, Hawkeye and Wasp. One problem though, this Captain America is a Skrull agent! 

Ms. Marvel follows the trail of a Skrull ship to Wakanda. The Black Panther left the Avengers to focus on the protection of his kingdom and Wakandan law forbids any foreigners to set foot on their soil, alien or human. 

What comes next is a great payoff for those that have been keeping up with the show. The Skrull ship opens and the entire Avengers line-up steps out. This group claims they have been trapped by the Skrulls since immediately after their adventure in Asgard. They claim all the Avengers currently on Earth are Skrulls and they are pretty convincing in their argument. 

This group makes its way to the Wakandan capital, only to be stopped in their tracks by Wakandan soldiers, led by their king, Black Panther. The Skrull-ship Avengers claim that this Black Panther is a fake and is after the Wakandan Vibranium mines. 

Tensions are high and the fuse is finally lit when Hawkeye and Wasp show up, accusing the Skrull-ship Avengers of being fakes. From this point it is everyone versus everyone. No one trusts the other, until finally the greater skill of the true Hawkeye and Wasp reveal the fake Avengers for the Skrulls they are. Ms. Marvel has had enough and unleashes on the enemy, with the aid of the real Black Panther. 

While this massive battle takes place, Dr. Doom makes his move. Not the kind you were expecting though. He has been studying the Skrulls, since his earlier appearance on the show. He confronts Iron Man and in a manner only Doom could pull off he offers his help. He has developed a method to detect the Skrulls, but he needs Iron Man to complete this tool. 

As if that wasn’t enough,  Nick Fury is putting together the pieces of who is a Skrull and who is not with sheer investigative skill and gut instinct. However, his revelations come too late, as the Skrull Queen pretending to be Mockingbird strikes. Fury calls Iron Man with his information, but Tony Stark arrives only to be defeated by the Skrull Queen, who implanted a virus in his armor which freezes him. 

At this point the Skrull invasion is looking well on its way to success. 

This is a huge payoff episode. It ties together all the previous episodes, even ones that you may not have thought would have a direct impact on the Skrull invasion. And it all makes sense. 

The appearance of Dr. Doom is spot on characterization. The heroes disbelief and mistrust of each other is incredibly believable and has been established perfectly.  What really makes this so convincing is that it feels smart. 

I read the Secret Invasion comic series. I thought it was good, but this was an even better version. It upped the action and made the motivations clearer. Much of the clutter of the comic series has been eliminated and yet we still get great character moments.

Quick Review – Avengers: EMH! Episode “Prisoner of War”

Prisoner of War

So, this is a pretty easy episode to review. It was damn good, as usual, but ultimately pretty much a single storyline. 

Captain America, the real one, is being held prisoner by the alien Skrulls.They have had him hostage for over two months, but they cannot figure out how to break him. The Skrull Queen wishes to know the limits of humanity, but no matter what physical or mental torture they subject him to, the results are the same – he gives them nothing. 

The Skrulls consider him to be powerless and therefore not a threat. Naturally this comes back to bite them in the ass. This is Captain America, Army of One. When attempting a new plan for deceiving Cap and breaking his will, the Skrulls make the mistake of underestimating his intelligence and conditioning. He easily sees through the Skrull rouse and beats the tar out of them, escaping with a Skrull scientist his prisoner. 

While trying to escape, he learns just how difficult that will be when he looks out a window and recognizes Saturn. Putting pressure on the Skrull scientist he discovers that there are others trapped on the ship with him. He moves to rescue them, though his first prisoner is o what he expected. 

Breaking into the first cell he frees Viper, Madame Hydra, from her captors. At first she distrusts him as a Skrull, but his actions and sincerity win her over. Plus, she realizes she has no other option available to her. 

Together they release the other prisoners; Mockingbird, Clay Quatermain agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.,Peter Gyrich, S.W.O.R.D. liaison, King Cobra of the Serpent Society and an A.I.M. leader.  They subdue their guards and steal their weapons. 

During their escape attempt they come across Sue Richards, The Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four, in a stasis sphere. It appears they were doing more with her than the others, or perhaps they were just concerned about her incredible powers. 

Reaching the docking bay, they look to steal a ship and head back to Earth.  Easier said than done, The Super-Skrull stands in their way, with an army of Skrulls behind them. 

Despite their lack of powers, the ragtag group manages to work together to escape the Super-Skrull and head back to Earth. 

This episode really fleshed out the Skrulls as a threat. We learned their backstory of how their planet was destroyed by Galactus and that a prophecy told of Earth being their new homeworld. This not only gave the Skrulls purpose n their invasion, but also introduced Galactus as possible, greater future threat. 

It was great to see Cap as the center of an episode again. He is still very fresh from his deep freeze, so discovering he is on an alien ship just off of Saturn still has a sense of awe for him. Also, his dealings with Viper were more than just hero and villain. Viper was given some true depth and they didn’t shy away from her disfigurement. 

It just proves again how exciting this show can be, while also dealing with strong storylines and well-developed characters.

 

 

Quick Review – Avengers: EMH! Episode “Nightmare in Red”

Nightmare in Red 

Someone didn’t tell Winter Soldier it was “Red Day”

This is a bittersweet review. Now that it has been announced that Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will not be renewed for a third season, this awesome episode just drives home what we will be losing. 

General Ross and Major Talbot join Doc Samson on the SHIELD Helicarrier to meet with Acting Director Maria Hill. She has something they want – a sample of the Hulk’s blood. Hill initially refuses to share it with them, knowing their intent is to use it to make an army of gamma-radiated soldiers. 

Quick Review – Ultimate Spider-Man Episode “Field Trip”

Field Trip 

Yeah. Not feeling this one. 

This episode felt contrived, to say the least. Peter Parker and his classmates (including the team with no name) go to the museum for a Norse display. While there they “accidentally” open a portal for a Frost Giant to come through. The team quickly establishes that they are, in fact, not much of a team and get their heads handed to them. 

Quick Review – Ultimate Spider-Man Episode 8

Back in Black 

Ultimate Spider-Man continues to cause me pain and joy. I am beginning to suspect that it is designed to give classic Marvel fans conniptions. If this is true, it succeeds on a Galactus-level scale. Speaking of Galactus, he makes a cameo in this episode. Sort of. 

There is a new Spider-Man in town and he dresses much better. Out of nowhere, a black-suited Spider-Man is seen in Manhattan, fighting Dragon Man. He easily defeats the robotic menace, to the excitement of New Yorkers, including J. Jonah Jameson who likes this Spider-Man much better than the original. 

This frustrates a very sick, flu-weakened Peter Parker. He takes his concerns to Nick Fury and his teammates, but they share J. Jonah Jameson’s feelings and blow off Peter’s worries. Peter tries to express his belief that this is somehow associated with Venom, but his pleas fall on deaf ears. 

Setting out to prove his suspicions, Peter is cut-off by Harry Osborn who ends the mystery quickly by showing Peter that he is the new Spider-Man. He has a piece of the Venom symbiote “under his control.” Peter can already see the changes the symbiote is having on Harry’s personality, but cannot stop his friend form continuing down this path. 

The original Spider-Man confronts the new one, only to have venom fully manifest itself and take-over Harry. Spider-Man is successful in eliminating the threat and the new Spider-Man. However, there is a question left at the end of the episode as to whether Harry can ever be fully rid of Venom. 

This show continually throws me for a loop. It shows a classic bad guy like Dragon Man, which I consider a good start. Yet it makes him just some generic robot and weak one at that. The new Spider-Man defeats it repeatedly within seconds. There is nothing threatening about outside of its appearance, and barely that. 

The humor is actually a strong point for the series. Perhaps I just have a very juvenile sense of humor. Not surprising. It can be a bit overwhelming and can undermine an episode’s attempts at setting up drama, but I do find it enjoyable. 

This episode demonstrates the kitchen -sink aspects of this show. The SHIELD, Nick Fury and teammate’s part just seems superfluous most of the time. Spider-Man doesn’t seem to need them, or want them, around most of the time. They ultimately take away from his interactions with his real friends. 

The only thing that I can determine which separates this series from previous Spider-Man animated series is how much it tries to be everything but a Spider-Man series at times. It has the “mini” Avengers aspect with his teammates. It has the training of a super-hero aspect of the X-Men and it even throws in a little espionage with SHIELD. It’s as if Marvel doesn’t trust the original Spider-Man recipe and keeps adding ingredients to make it taste better, yet instead makes a mess of the meal.