A pop culture blog discussing comics, TV, movies and more. Some topics will be timely, others a bit of a throwback. Basically, wherever my whims take me.
The trailer for the latest revamp ofTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has come out, and true to form the internet was in full swing picking it apart in as equal step as it was praising it. And, granted, constructive criticism is always valid. I, myself, found that what was shown offered us nothing new that other versions of the Turtles (and similarly-toned movies) haven’t already done a hundred times before beyond castingactual teenagers to voice these mutant teens for the first time. But that’s not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about one specific aspect of the criticism levied at the film; that being the reaction to April O’Neil, longtime Turtle companion since their inception.
The apparently puberty-inducing 1987 version of April.
I’m confident in saying that a majority of those that consider themselves Turtles fans most likely became such because of one of the shows, movies or games more than the comics themselves. I know it was the 1987 cartoon that got me on board (although, it would still be almost 30 years before I began regularly picking up the books, and almost 40 before I bought any of the reissued toys). Reinvention has been a part of the Turtles’ DNA for a long time now, with each new project in the franchise remixing the classic characters and stories.
April's new evolution in a franchise that constantly evolves.
That brings us to April. For Mutant Mayhem, April has been rendered as a Black teenager. This doesn’t become such a radical change when you realize the last animated series, Rise of the TMNT, also featured a young Black April. Not to mention there was a bit of racial fluidity on her part in the original Mirage comics (which were black and white) before the 1987 show cemented her as red-headed and white in many fans’ minds. And that’s how she remained while undergoing age, occupation and skill changes with each new incarnation.
Remember when April was Black like literally LAST year?
So, along with the usual idiots crying that the Turtles have gone “woke” because April is Black, there was a particularly interesting new addition to that criticism. See, not only is April Black, but she was given a larger body type than we’ve seen previously. The criticism went from anything valid to just being about how unattractive they found April. Some going so far as to even outright call her “unfuckable.” I want to be clear that I throw no shade towards anyone who has found themselves attracted to a fictional character. I’ve had my share, and I just consider that a testament to how well everyone involved in the creation of that character made them feel real enough. But hating a character’s design because you wouldn’t bed them is something else entirely. That’s a really interesting line to draw in the sand, the sexual desire you feel towards a cartoon character determining how good it is.
To these people, I just have to say: seek help. Like, actual therapy. Because if the only way to get your jollies is by joining the ink ‘n’ paint club, you definitely have some kind of issue to work through. And, failing that, just remember: there’s always hentai.
Gunn and Safran. It's like Kibbles & Bits, but different.
As part of the
new merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery, it was announced that DC Entertainment was getting its own dedicated
studio within the organization; similar to Marvel Studios. Becoming DC’s Kevin Feige was announced to be
James Gunn, who will handle
the creative end of things, and Peter
Safran, who will handle the business side.
The DCEU logo: things that were and may never be.
This is something
they desperately, DESPERATELY needed. The current DC film universe,
known as the DCEU,
was a mitigated mess. You had the original Snyderverse that
was heralded by Zack Snyder;
which saw the DC Universe presented through his pretty dark-toned filmmaking
lens. Man of Steeland Batman
v Supermanwere the prime examples of this, while Wonder Womanwas
allowed to drift off a bit with a touch more lightheartedness under director Patty Jenkins. Those first two, while financially
successful, were polarizing with audiences. You have your fans, and you have
those who weren’t pleased with the depictions of Superman in particular. The studio
took the opportunity to rejigger Justice Leagueby
putting Joss
Whedon on it to try and duplicate the success of Avengers; however,
the tonality of his footage clashed with what was left of Snyder’s shoot
resulting in an underwhelming final product. Aquaman, Shazam!, and Birds of Prey, while
set in the Snyderverse continuity, were allowed to be brighter and funnier,
although only two of them were successful (Birds’ lackluster performance
could also be attributed to coming out right as the
pandemic hit). Wonder
Woman 1984, unfortunately, had a little too much fun with itself
to the point that its story was a mess and a complete miss with fans. The Suicide Squad,
while better-received than Suicide Squad(yes,
those are two different movies), didn’t get much of a chance to prove itself as
the pandemic forced it onto HBO Max rather
than a pure theatrical run. To try and earn back some good will, WB brought
Snyder back to finish his
version of Justice League, and,
well, that opened a whole other can of worms I’ll deal with in a later entry.
And that doesn’t even include the Multiverse
projects that have no connection to the DCEU at all, like Joker,The Batmanand the scrapped Batgirl.
The MCU.
So, yeah, DC’s
films were pretty directionless. WB had little faith in Snyder’s vision
achieving what they wanted—to compete with the MCU—and kept hemming and hawing
on keeping their own voice or trying to duplicate the fun and comedy of their
competition. Additionally, DC wasn’t willing to put in the work of achieve what
the MCU did. The MCU started slow: they introduced Iron Man, Hulk, Captain
America, Thor, Hawkeye and Black Widow across several movies before they ever
came together as The Avengers. Their stories were already told, their origins
already given (mostly), so that moment together had a lot more impact.
Now, let’s look at the DCEU: they introduce their Superman, then introduce
Batman fighting Superman with a cameo from Wonder Woman and Superman dies,
and then BOOM! Justice League. Whose premise was partly based on the world
mourning Superman’s passing—something else that was unearned via the narrative
of the three films.
The DCAU: giving us a plethora of DC characters for 14 years.
And what’s funny
is DC already had the blueprints to make this kind of thing work. I
don’t mean following Marvel film for film. I mean looking inward at their own
output. Specifically: the DC Animated Universe.
That’s the name for the 14 years of shows spanning from Batman: The Animated Seriesthrough Justice
League Unlimited. Batman was its own standalone thing when it
started. When it ended, they shifted gears to Superman, which was
a tonally different show with a completely different feel meant to fit their
interpretation of the character. Batman was eventually brought back for a brief
time in a revamped form that matched the look of Superman but kept the
feel of Batman. And the two characters interacted with each other. After
a brief stopover in the future with Batman Beyond, we
got Justice League.
That series managed to introduce the rest of the team in itself
while still including Batman and Superman and making it feel like an
organic extension of the two shows while not feeling like either
specifically. It had its own tone and methodology. See, DC already did what
they tried to do in the films, except their animated division did it better.
Honestly: how many of you non-comic readers could've named these guys before 2014?
I’m optimistic
that Gunn was the right person to bring on board to get DC’s act together. He
turned Guardians of
the Galaxyinto a viable property familiar to non-comic fans. He
resuscitated the D.O.A. Suicide Squad franchise, going so far as to get
it its own spin-off show with a second season on the way. Above all
else, Gunn is a comic fan. He knows these characters. He’s read and
followed their adventures. He respects the source material (your mileage may
vary on that statement, but regardless of whatever changes he might make that
literally EVERY OTHER MOVIE does, he does respect it). Further, it goes into
another favorite mantra of mine: creative people should be in charge of
creative industries, not suits.
DC is nothing if not constantly reinventing itself. And sometimes successfully!
Hopefully, upper
management gets out of the way and lets these guys do their thing. Their
meddling is what caused their films to flounder in the first place (and led to
the failure of many, many, MANY other films across time).
Celebrities have
died before. It’s just a part of life. However, none have hit me as hard as
when it was announced that Kevin Conroy died this week. For the few of you who
may not recognize the name, that’s the man who’s voiced Batman regularly over
the last 30 years beginning with Batman: The Animated Series.
Signing a life-sized Batman.
I can’t tell you
why his death has affected me unlike so many others. Maybe it’s because TAS debuted
the year I was first getting into comic collecting. Maybe it’s because Batman
is my favorite DC character. Maybe it’s because I’ve learned a lot about
the man himself in the last few years, and all of it was good. I don’t know.
In the recording booth.
What I do know is
I’m not alone in saying that Kevin is my Batman. His is the voice I
always hear when I read a Batman comic. His is the performance I always compare
actors following to. In my younger years, I loved his performance just because
it was pitch-perfect in my mind. In fact, I’ve always said that the one thing
the comic-based programs of the early-mid 90s got right above all else was
their casting; just about everyone selected was a fantastic fit for their
character. But as you get older and revisit these performances, you come to
really experience the nuance in Kevin’s portrayal of Batman. The way he takes
the scripts given to him and digs deep down to express Batman’s rage. His
humanity. His empathy. And, when the time called for it, his smug dickishness.
Confronting Batwoman in the Arrowverse.
There’s a reason
why Kevin kept being cast as Batman beyond TAS. And yes, most of that
started before nostalgia-baiting was even a thing. Kevin Conroy was the
voice of Batman for an entire generation of fans and creators alike. His
performances will continue to live on in those people for the rest of their
lives, regardless of who else dons the cowl. He was vengeance. He was the
night. He was Batman.
With the Justice League cast on Rob Paulsen's podcast.
Thank you for 30
years of excellence, Kevin. Condolences to all the ones you left behind, but
all the better for having experienced your existence.
Hey! Long time!
Miss me? I’ve been undergoing some health issues that made it difficult to do,
well, anything lately. I’m on the mend, but not completely better yet.
But, enough about me—we’ve got pop culture to talk about!
Just a fun little show about a magic world, right? Right??
The Owl House,
created by Dana
Terrace,is currently my favorite show on air right now. For those
who’ve been sleeping under a rock, it’s about an ordinary teenaged girl named
Luz Noceda (Sarah Nicole-Robles)
who found herself taken to an alternate dimension full of magic, witches,
demons and other assorted supernatural creatures. She decided to stay with the
first witch she encountered, Eda Clawthorne aka The Owl Lady (Wendie Malick), and learn magic
herself. While there she made new friends in plant-manipulating Willow (Tati Gabrielle)
and illusion-casting Gus (Issac Ryan Brown),
found love with abomination-making Amity (Mae Whitman), and became
embroiled in a battle to save the world from the evil Emperor Belos (Matthew Rhys). I’m
not gonna go deeper than that, but there will be some minor spoilers in the
actual review so if you’d like to totally experience the show brand new, stop
reading now, go load it up Disney+,
and come on back when you’re done.
Promotional poster for season 2.
Beyond the
superficial storyline, the show digs deep and tackles issues such as fitting
in, mental health, familial expectations, bigotry, loss… It’s like animated
therapy. The series became immensely popular with fans to the point it’d be a
trending topic on Twitter even when new
episodes weren’t airing. And then Disney
cancelled it. Let me explain: it was renewed for a second season early, and
then for a third earlier still. But then COVID hit and
shut down the parks, which is apparently what generates most of their money for
projects, so they cut a lot of shows down. Additionally, Disney decided to
change focus and move away from serialized storytelling—which The Owl House is—in
favor of more episodic shows, so the show no longer “fit
the brand” (although many maintain it’s because of the amount of LGBTQ+
representation found in the series). As a result, the third season got cut down
to three 44-minute specials. Of course, after the first special
got over 2 million views within the first week on YouTube, Disney came to realize their
mistake a bit too late, but that’s where we are.
Season 3 promotional poster.
So, we’ve gotten
the first of the three specials titled “Thanks to Them.” We picked up right
where the season finale left off with the Hexside gang trapped in the Human
Realm and The Collector (Fryda
Wolff), a cosmically-powered being with seemingly no limits, running
rampant in the Demon Realm. Unfortunately, because of the diminished run time,
we were denied the full adventures in the Human Realm we got treated to in the
first half of season 3 of Amphibia(which had a similar plot element).
Instead, they were relegated to a 6-minute montage spanning months that was
expertly crafted and well done (and made us lament our loss further). Luz deals
with her struggle to adhere to the promise she made her mother—to remain in the
Human Realm once she got back—and the belief that she ruined all of her
friends’ lives with her actions. Belos’ former right-hand man, Hunter (Zeno Robinson), also deals with
his identity crisis and loss of purpose, and how his newfound family would
react to learning what he really is. The other Hexsiders have their own mini
adventures away from those two in trying to locate a possible way home.
Camilla realizing the Hexside kids have seen some stuff.
The standout for
the episode, however—the MVP, if you will—was Luz’s mother, Camilla (Elizabeth
Grullon). We met her briefly in the pilot when she was sending Luz off to a
normalization camp to tone down her imaginative ways (leading to her stumbling
into the Demon Realm), and sporadically since. A lot of fans of the show
weren’t happy with her because of the camp thing. They felt like it was saying
she was ashamed of her daughter and wanted to change her; make her not herself.
This episode adds a lot of context to that moment. A. LOT. And not only
do we understand Camilla better, but we learn she’s not the person we were led
to believe she was (a running theme in this show). Much like with Edith’s
sister Lilith (Cissy
Jones), who began as the first season’s antagonist, fans came around to
absolutely loving this character.
"I'm coming out..."
Overall, the
episode was bittersweet. It was great because The Owl House crew has
just been killing it with pacing and writing and acting and animation. It
brings the laughs and all of the feels. But, it does mean we’re beginning the
end. And we were cheated out of so, so much story potential that can now only
be filled with fanfiction or Morning Mark’s
excellent ongoing fan comic. If you haven’t checked out The Owl House yet,
I recommend you do so. All of the episodes are currently up on Disney+, and new
ones will air on The Disney Channel sometime in early 2023. I will say the
first season, while good, is a bit uneven as they find their voice and do a lot
of world building. But once you get halfway through that you see what the show
is going to become. And, silver lining to the shortening, the crew was forced
to step up their game to incorporate everything they wanted to accomplish with
limited time, resulting in their killing it.
Post hoot action with Eden Riegel, Rebecca Rose, Zeno Robinson, John Bailey Owen, Sarah Nicole-Robles and Cissy Jones.
Additionally,
stars Jones and Robles, as well as YouTuber-turned-production associate Rebecca Rose,
host an informal talk show called Post Hoot on Jones’ Instagram every so
often. They talk to their co-stars, people who work behind the scenes, and even
branch out into other programs occasionally. Give that a watch if you like that
kind of stuff. They’re on Jones’ Instagram and older episodes are archived on
Rebecca’s YouTube channel.
I can’t decide if
the She-Hulk finale was pure brilliance or a genius cop-out.
On the other side of the glass.
Skipping the
usual episode recap, we got one done as a remake of the intro
to The
Incredible HulkTV series (which was brilliantly handled). Picking up
from last episode’s cliffhanger, we find Jen in jail and taking a deal to never
be She-Hulk again for her release. With her reputation ruined and job lost, she
decides to go to Emil’s (Tim
Roth) sanctuary for a bit. However, she happens to pick the night when The
Intelligencia is holding a gathering there. It’s discovered that Todd Phelps (Jon Bass), the creepy tech bro
Jen had a horrible date with one time and who kept popping up during the show,
was the founder of The Intelligencia and had stolen her blood to give himself
Hulk powers. And then Titania (Jameela
Jamil) crashed the party. And then Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) joined in.
Smashing those 4th walls like it's Matt Murdock.
And then that’s
when everything REALLY went off the rails. Echoing
moments from the original run of The
Sensational She-Hulkcomic series, Jen breaks out of the show through
the Disney+ menu to head to the Disney
studio lot to confront the She-Hulk writers about the insanely
overcomplicated finale. That leads her to confront the one in charge at Marvel
Studios: Kevin. No, it’s not Kevin
Feige making a cameo; rather, it’s a GLaDOS-like artificial
intelligence named K.E.V.I.N. (Knowledge Enhanced Visual Interconnectivity
Nexus). Jen proceeds to offer up common fan complaints about how MCU projects
all have similar endings or too many plots converging at once.
"Now say: 'The cake is a lie.'"
This resulted in K.E.V.I.N. tossing out his “exciting ending” in
favor of a new, quicker one. Todd and his cronies are being arrested; Emil is
going back to jail for violating his parole; Daredevil (Charlie Cox) returns to help
out too late and gets roped into a family barbecue; Hulk returns (again) at the
barbecue and introduces his son, Skaar (Wil Deusner); Jen is a lawyer
again prosecuting Todd and declaring she’ll take on guys like him in the
courtroom and as a superhero; and Wong (Benedict Wong) returns to bust
Emil out to stay at Kamar-Taj.
"Okay, the MCU--I have some notes."
Okay, to my conflict. Every reaction video I’ve seen loved the
ULTIMATE 4th wall break of Jen leaving her show for the Marvel
Studios Office, while all the ones who have hated on this show since it came
out and some comic guys have not. I, personally, thought it was great. I found
every bit of that hilarious; from the sudden Disney+ menu screen to the little
faux baseball cap on K.E.V.I.N.’s “head” mimicking Feige’s. This is probably
the most I’ve laughed out loud for the entire season. I thought it was a
perfect homage to all the times Shulkie was about to step out of her comic to
deal with then-scribe John Byrne
personally. Also, Tatiana
Maslany was all of us, asking the big questions like “X-Men when?” This
ending at least made it clear that Marvel has been hearing fans,
acknowledge their flaws, and possibly hinting that they’re going to improve going
forward (with upcoming schedules shifting and the format of planned projects being
changed).
"You want X-Men? I got you, boo."
But then we get the ending. Or, lack thereof, as the series once
again attempted to subvert expectations. Jen’s legal troubles? Gone. The whole
Josh/blood-stealing plotline? Gone. The Intelligencia? Gone. Titania’s
unhealthy obsession with Jen? Gone. For the entire season, later episodes had
slowly connected to things established in earlier ones while building up an
ongoing subplot even slower than that. But they decide to pull a Monty Pythonand
give us a cop-out ending where everything is dealt with offscreen and hunky
dory. We don’t see Jen reassemble her life, despite going off on K.E.V.I.N.
about the stakes of the show being her life falling apart just as she was
embracing being a Hulk. Titania became pointless. The Intelligencia became
pointless. There was no payoff for anything. We didn’t get to see Jen complete
her arc. I mean, give us the conclusion to something we’ve been
watching! The Skaar reveal, I don’t mind so much because we know there’s a World War Hulkproject in development and will likely fill in the gap between the episodes
as this did with Shang-Chi.
"The X-Men movies had a blue mutant restriction...I think we need to talk about a green gamma restriction here."
Okay, overall thoughts. The series as a whole was a bit uneven. It
was always entertaining, but didn’t always reach the levels it should have. Maslany
slays as the Jade Giantess and has always been the highest point of the show. I
absolutely love her father (Mark
Linn-Baker) and how supportive he is whenever he appears (best MCU dad!). Many
of the side characters were fun, but woefully underutilized due to the short
runtime of the episodes. Touted as a “legal comedy”, we really didn’t get a lot
of the legal side (and, depending who you talk to, some would say not much
of the comedy, either) but there were some interesting cases in what we did get.
A lot of deep cut characters made their MCU debut on the show, which is
something I hope continues to happen. Let’s get audiences familiar with more
than just the A-listers. I had a good time with the show, but it just
didn’t feel like any of the ideas were allowed to fully bake. I hear there is a
season 2 coming and I hope that, while the tone is kept exactly the same, they make
things a bit tighter on the storytelling side. Break all the 4th
walls you want, just give us a story in the process!
"Heard you were doing a Fast and Furious ending. So I brought more family."
One last point: it’s no secret that this series took a lot of
shots at toxic fanboy trolls. And, every step of the way, they accurately predicted
exactly was they would say and post about the show (especially since
this show was done about a year before its release). And, of course, you’ve got
the YouTube videos out there saying “they
hate men!” or claiming victory for “getting in their heads.” And then you’ve
got the people who take umbrage with
interviews where cast and crew say this was largely the point—to call these
so-called “fans” out. Here’s my take: if that bothered you, then you’re
probably one of the guilty ones. I’m a man, and I had no issue with the
depiction of men on the show or them stepping in front of the toxicity often
attracted by women-led and diverse projects (that’s not to say there isn’t
good-faith criticism to be had on these projects; just that it isn’t generally
the criticism that ends up being levied). And you know why? Because they were
right. Every. Single. Time. You don’t like something? That’s fine. Move on. Why
would you stick around? Just to get ammunition to complain? C’mon, life’s too
short and, to quote Wong: “We’re truly in an age of peak TV.” Find your own yum
instead of yucking everyone else’s.
This is going to
be full of spoilers because I don’t think I can accurately say what I want to
say while tiptoeing around plot points, so you’ve been warned.
Werewolf By
Night is the first MCU special and their first official entry into their
horror “imprint” (you can arguably state Doctor Strange in the
Multiverse of Madnesswas technically the first, but this one had the
special Marvel Studios branding,
hence my use of “official”). The special centered on the titular werewolf, Jack Russell
(Gael Garcia Bernal), as he
infiltrated a gathering of monster hunters to mourn the passing of the greatest
of their number and their leader, Ulysses
Bloodstone (voiced by Richard
Dixon). Bloodstone was possessor of the legendary Bloodstone, which he used
in his battle against monsters, and those gathered are to compete for the right
to become the next wielder. The catch? They had to defeat a terrible monster it
would be affixed to in a massive labyrinth garden.
Gentleman Jack.
This short marked
the first time that Jack was seen in live-action, having previously appeared in
several cartoons and video games, and the return of Man-Thing
(known simply as “Ted”, played by Carey
Jones & Jeffrey Ford)
since the abysmal Sci-Fi
Channel film in 2005. It’s also the debut of Elsa
Bloodstone (Laura Donnelly)
in anything other than a video game. However, fans of the character may
be surprised to see she’s not the foul-mouthed, gun-toting badass she is in the
comics. Oh, she’s very badass, pulling out some killer fight moves in the few
fight scenes, but this is more Elsa at the beginning of becoming the character
in the comics (as stated in some interviews with Donnelly).
This is one Elsa that's not going to let it go.
Werewolf by
Night is Michael Giacchino’s
third directorial effort, and the longest so far. And he did an incredible job.
The whole special was an homage to the classic Universal monster
movies of the 30s and 40s, with its being shot in mostly black and white (with
spot coloring on the Bloodstone and full color at the end), the addition of
film grain (although it was clearly shot on digital), extensive use of
practical effects and sets (more so than other Marvel productions, which I’m
sure the overworked
VFX community appreciated), the opening and closing titles, and the music,
which was also by Giacchino. They even did a retro “special presentation” intro
like the networks used to do. The opening introduction to all the characters
especially felt like a classic movie; it was only after they entered the garden
did the modern start creeping in. And the way they did the werewolf
transformation seen in only shadow and Elsa’s reaction to it was a real perfect
way to build up the suspense. The werewolf costume and make-up looked great as
well.
Shadow dance.
The most
interesting aspect of the special was the contrast between the so-called
monsters and the monster hunters. Jack did everything he could to avoid hurting
anyone, especially after he transformed (except those that deserved it, of
course). Ted was acting in self-defense (those who know fear burn at the touch
of the Man-Thing). And both of them actively worked to rescue the other. The
monster hunters, however, were so eager to win the Bloodstone that they,
without hesitation, were willing to slaughter each other to get it. And this
was encouraged. So, it begs the question: who exactly were the real monsters?
You, uh, got a little something there...
My only real
negative was the final fight scene when the werewolf was unleashed. The
choreography didn’t feel feral enough in parts. Werewolf Jack moved too much
like a trained martial artist rather than a reactionary creature. Otherwise,
the action was top-notch; with Elsa clearly getting some Black Widow-esque
training and some savage finishing moves, and the visceral bloody ends to the
Bloodstone goons delivered by the werewolf (this entry was allowed to be gorier
than other Marvel projects since it lacked the color to indicate the liquid
splashing the camera lens was blood).
Instructions from the dead.
Overall, Werewolf
By Night was fantastic (although I might’ve titled it Bloodstone,
all things considered). In its short runtime it managed to accomplish
everything it set out to do: introduce the horror side of Marvel, give us
several new characters, and homage the classic monster films while giving us
something completely new from the MCU. And yes, some of the MCU humor was
present, but they were situationally appropriate and didn’t overstep their
bounds like many feel it tends to do lately. The costume and special effects
were well done, as were the few fight scenes. The lighting was on point, making
effective use of the shadows with the lack of color. I hope the largely
positive reaction I’ve seen towards this special encourages Marvel Studios to
take more chances.
Just call him "Ted".
Predicting it now:
based on some reaction videos I’ve seen, Man-Thing will become the next Groot.
Froggy-man, Froggy-man, does whatever a froggy can.
Okay, let’s just
get this out of the way: fans, rejoice! The moment you’ve all been waiting for
is here! Yes, it’s the MCU debut of…LEAP-FROG!
The 'Devil, you say?
No, no, I’m just
kidding. Well, I mean, Leap-Frog does appear in the episode, but this is
also the episode that finally features Daredevil (Charlie Cox). Now, I have to
remind everyone: the NetflixDaredevilwas rated
TV-MA. She-Hulk is not. So don’t expect all the bone-crunching, bloody
stuff you’re used to getting with the character. HOWEVER! That doesn’t diminish
his awesomness in the episode. He’s got some slick moves, takes down a ton of
guys on his own, and shows Cox hasn’t missed a step since Daredevil stopped
filming. I don’t know if this is fully indicative of the MCU Daredevil going
forward or if it’s just distilled through the lens of the show like Wong was,
but if it is I’m here for it.
Team-up!
That said, this
episode was just…wow. Keeping in mind we still have one episode to go, I’d call
this the best episode of the series thus far. Shulkie gets to meet Matt Murdock
when Eugene Patillio, aka Leap-Frog (Brandon Stanley), retains her
firm to sue the designer of his costume after he’s injured when it
malfunctions. Interestingly, the MCU chose to combine Leap-Frog’s character. In
the comics, Leap-Frog
was actually Eugene’s father; an engineer who turned to costume villainy when
life kept dealing him bad cards (although mentioned as a prominent client of
GLK&H, it’s not revealed if the elder Patillio ever donned the costume
himself). Humiliated by his father’s past, Eugene decided to take the Leap-Frog
suit and become the superhero Frog-Man.
The MCU Eugene was reimagined as a spoiled rich kid who wanted to be a hero so
badly that he ended up becoming the villain. But, like the comics, he remained
as much of a joke as anyone frog-themed not named Throg deserves
to be.
Shulkie is in a bit of a pickle.
Now as fun as all
that and as awesome as having Daredevil back on screen was, the real meat
of the episode happened in the last five minutes. There isn’t much I can say
without delving into spoilers, but I will say that The Intelligencia makes
their move at the most inopportune time and manages to cause Jen some serious
damage. I’m looking forward to the finale to see how things finally all
connect together and we learn what the show has been building towards.