LOKI Resurrected

 Article first published as LOKI TV Review on Seat42F.

The latest MCU series is LOKI, which premiered on Disney+ this past week. Tom Hiddleston reprises his role as the titular villain circa the first The Avengers film, having just killed Coulson and attacked New York. As glimpsed during the time travel portion of Avengers: End Game, Loki briefly escapes this time with the Tesseract. But as LOKI the series begins, he’s caught by the Time Variance Authority, since he’s a variant out of the accepted timeline. In their custody, he faces punishment and possible death. Until a TVA officer with sway takes an interest in him, hoping Loki can help the organization.

Loki himself doesn’t really understand (or at first believe) what’s happening to him, and that’s beneficial to the audience. He’s a fish out of water, and our way into this new world, a corner of the MCU we were previously unaware of. Loki has always straddled the line between hero and bad guy, and while this Loki comes from the darker period of the character, it’s easy enough to make us care about him, knowing he is capable of more. Which Loki is shown before the end of the first hour, an important step in getting a redeemed Loki, as he was before he died in the films.

The co-lead alongside Loki is Mobius (Owen Wilson, The Royal Tenenbaums), the agent who wants Loki to help him. He seems about as opposite a personality as one might get from Loki, easygoing and confident, secure in who he is. He’s a good way to get us into the world and introduce the rules, as there is never any doubt that he knows what he’s doing in his job. Wilson is playing the role as he always does, but if anything, with even more depth, an excellent scene partner for Hiddleston.

Rounding out the cast are a slew of smaller parts that aren’t really developed yet. Gugu Mbatha-Raw (The Morning Show) is a great presence as Judge Ravonna Renslayer. Wunmi Mosaku, who shone last year in Lovecraft Country, is hilarious as Hunter B-15. And Eugene Cordero (The Good Place, Star Trek: Lower Decks) is great doing what he does best as the hapless Casey. I look forward to more from each of them, easily seeing their parallels to Monica, Woo, and Darcy from earlier MCU series WandaVision.

The plot is a little slow to get started, but that’s OK because of the sheer amount of new information that had to be covered in the initial installment. So much is added to expand the universe (or omniverse). Yet, at the same time, LOKI finds time to give us some extremely moving character moments and showcase its leads’ talents. It’s a great balance of exposition, action, and development, well executed and immediately enticing.

Some fans have already dissected Avengers: End Game for what they perceive as inconsistencies in the time travel portrayal, and that is sure to continue with LOKI. But here’s the thing: Time travel isn’t real. So as long as a franchise is consistent within itself and the rules it sets out, then I recommend suspending disbelief and accepting the way it is. Having a character in the first episode of LOKI declare what the Avengers did, mucking with time, was always meant to happen is an easy out. It’s also a way not to get bogged down in the details and keep the story moving, which seems necessary.

LOKI is not quite the mystery box WandaVision was. There is plenty still unknown, but that doesn’t seem to be the point of the series. It is a lot more complex than The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and certainly more ambitious. I would say by finding a place between those two, LOKI has staked its own ground and already earned its keep, just as compelling (if not more so) than the first two efforts. I look forward to see how it progresses.

New episodes of LOKI drop Wednesday on Disney+.

Catching Up With THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLIDER

 Article first published as THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER Review on Seat42F.

SPOILER WARNING: This review contains spoilers about the first (and only the first) episode of the series.

Marvel’s second MCU television series premiered on Disney Plus this weekend. THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER, as the title implies, follows Sam Wilson, a.k.a. The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes, a.k.a. The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). Doing what, it’s not quite clear in the first episode, as the two do not come into contact. Nor are two more important characters from the films, Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) and Zemo (Daniel Bruhl), anywhere in sight. But the first hour is a set up as to where the two heroes currently are and what their state of mind is before the six-episode story really gets going.

The premiere of THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER starts with a big action sequence featuring The Falcon before it gets personal. I know a lot of people watch Marvel for the big action sequences, and this one should satisfy them. It’s a start-of-the-movie bit, with the hero versus a gang of villains. Not even close to a final showdown, but something to get people excited.

Personally, I thought it went on a little long. Perhaps it did so because there was almost no more action the rest of the episode and they wanted to take care of that segment of viewership. But things got a lot more interesting for me once we checked in with Sam the person, not Sam the hero, and that’s what I hope THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER is primarily about.

Sam is not a man out of time, but he is a man out of step with everything around him. His family has been suffering financially, his sister, Sarah (Adepero Oduye, 12 Years a Slave), having to take care of the family business herself when Sam blipped out of existence for five years. (And can we PLEASE have a series set DURING the blip??? I need to see that!) Sarah doesn’t welcome him back with open arms. Sam is determined to hang onto the past, which causes conflict between them. The question remains, will it be possible for him to do so? Or does he need to move on?

Along similar lines, Sam willingly gives up Captain America’s shield to the Smithsonian, not able to see anyone else but Steve Rogers as the Cap. But by handing over the shield to the U.S. government, he gives up control of Steve’s legacy. So like his family’s business, things may now have taken a turn that he doesn’t have anything to do with and can’t get back.

By contrast, in THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLIDER, Bucky is trying to make up for the past rather than change it. He is in therapy with Dr. Raynor (Amy Aquino, Borsch) and slowly making amends for the wrongs he did as the Winter Solider. This isn’t easy, but he’s trying, and that’s what matters, even if I’m not sure he’s feeling it does. At least this is something that gives him purpose, considering almost everyone he knew is dead and he’s a man out of time.

He also dips his toe into the dating pool with entertaining results, proving just what an old man he really is at heart. It’s the type of comedy mined for Steve in the films, but somehow seems even more amusing when it happens with Bucky.

Of course, there is a villainous group rearing their heads halfway around the world, as Sam’s friend Joaquin (Danny Ramirez, The Gifted) is looking into. This will probably be the mission that brings Sam and Bucky together. Zemo and Sharon Carter are probably connected, too. I’m guessing that will be the main thrust for the next five episodes.

But I hope as THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER takes off, it doesn’t forget what this first installment was about: two men searching for their place in the world. I find that tale more compelling, and that’s the one I want to see more of. Sure, they can go kick butt against supervillains and that’s entertaining. However, rich characters are the heart of the franchise, and with six hours to tell the story, there’s plenty of time to explore that here. Let’s hope they do.

THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER releases new episodes to stream Fridays on Disney Plus.

WANDAVISION Blurry

 Article first published as TV Review: WANDAVISION on Seat42F.

WARNING: This review contains spoilers from the first two episodes.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first television show, the highly anticipated WANDAVISION, dropped its first two episodes yesterday on Disney+. Set in a fantasy sitcom world, the series is slow to reveal the mysteries at its heart, instead dwelling in the neighborhood that has been constructed, and not giving viewers many clues as to why or how these characters are here. It’s a strange, surreal comedy that touches every cliché of decades past, with a dark undertone for what will surely be revealed as the season unfolds.

Elizabeth Olsen reprises her role from the films as Wanda Maximoff, while Paul Bettany returns as Vision. This premise is immediately suspect as, last we saw Vision, he had been utterly destroyed by Thanos. Yet, here he is, happily married to Wanda and in a suburbia that never existed. This isn’t just a reimaging, as the presence of a beekeeper (a familiar symbol of AIM to comic book fans) and a garbled radio broadcast asking Wanda what was done to her make it clear there is a life beyond this constructed one. So the question seems to be, who captured Wanda and what kind of experiments are they doing on her that has left her locked in this dream with her deceased lover?

WANDAVISION could easily just be Wanda-centric, given she is possibly the only one truly existing here, but the title and the way the story unfolds gives equal weight to both heroes, hinting that perhaps something of Vision has survived the removal of the Soul stone from his lifeless physical form. Given that Vision started in the MCU as an A.I., it is reasonable to think perhaps he can continue as such, even as fans (including myself) may hold out hope for him to rejoin the rest of the Avengers in the real world eventually.

I could easily see WANDAVISION as a film instead of a nine-part series that presumably will run about four and a half hours. It lingers so, so much in the fake scenario, going through entire stories in each of the first two installments. The premiere is about Vision having his boss and his wife over for dinner, and of course Wanda isn’t prepared and things go wrong. This one looks like the ‘50s in a The Dick Van Dyke Show house. Yet, as the second episode begins, they’re shifted over to a 1960s Bewitched format (with no comment on the change) for a talent show scenario involving the local women’s club. Each are stand-alone entries of slightly different styles, but there are small hints at reality trying to bust through. As enjoyable as these are, I began to quickly grow impatient to get to the larger narrative. Though a Pleasantville-style occurrence in the second installment indicates the pacing might speed up a little soon, and the ‘commercials’ are definitely leading to something.

Despite my wish that WANDAVISION not move so slowly, there are many familiar faces to help it along and make the wait go easier. Kathryn Hahn (Transparent) is fantastic as nosy neighbor and friend, Agnes. Debra Jo Rupp (That ‘70s Show) delights as Vision’s boss’s wife, Mrs. Hart. Emma Caulfield Ford (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is perfect as the mean lady that heads the local ladies. Teyonah Parris (Mad Men) is immediately magnetic as Geraldine. There are many others, as well, and if there wasn’t a mystery box waiting to be opened, this could be a fun throwback sitcom outside of Marvel.

One of the actors above has been confirmed to actually be someone who exists beyond this, and was played by someone else in an MCU film, though to avoid spoiling, I won’t say which one. Additionally, other performers from the MCU movies have been tied to this production, they just haven’t shown up yet. I’m anxious to get to those reveals.

I liked WANDAVISION, but I do wish, because they’ve chosen the drag the story out over 9 episodes, that they’d just released them all at once for us to binge. It’s frustrating and hurts my enjoyment to not get much towards the big picture in episodes 1 and 2. After this much anticipation, I feel like we needed a little more payoff. Let’s hope the ensuing weeks make up for that (and I suspect they will). I can’t help but think most of the glowing reviews are from those that have seen more than has been released to the public at this point.

WANDAVISION streams weekly on Disney+.