Here it is, the much-anticipated follow-up to Monday’s episode- this part 2 of my MCU countdown. This is where you can find out which movie I have listed at number 1. For those that know me, it probably isn’t a huge surprise. I have talked about this movie a lot. I have even been a guest on another podcast to discuss this movie. It isn’t just my favorite MCU movie, it’s one of my favorite movies. Period.
Happy Sunday, everyone. Today marks the beginning of the first full week of themed posts in this series. I broke my list of characters down into four different categories: characters from comics, from TV shows, movies, and from books. Of course, for many of these characters they have appeared in two or more of these different media. For example Superman has been in comics, movies TV, and even books (actual novels), not to mention radio programming as well. For the purposes of this series, I have tried to have categorized these characters primarily in the type of media where they started. So, for my first entry in the comics category…
Looking at the last ten years of Marvel movies, we’ve been through a lot of villains. A lot of them didn’t last more than one fight with the main character.
It’s not that I don’t trust the Russo Brothers (or that I don’t want to trust them). And it’s not that I don’t think that Thanos doesn’t have potential to be a GREAT villain in Avengers: Infinity War. But it is very hard to not buy into the online fandom rhetoric that Thanos hasn’t really done anything to show that he means business. He is willing to work with dangerous people to get what he wants. He technically ruined the lives of both Gamora and Nebula. And I don’t underestimate the amount of damage Thanos could do with a loaded Infinity Gauntlet. But most of what we know about Thanos in the MCU is by reputation.
Today, April 28, is National Superhero Day. Right now, it is one of those made up holidays, but it should be a real national holiday. To celebrate, I have put together a list of 10 of my favorite superhero characters. Read on to find out who made my list this time around, and then let me know what your list would be.
As some of you may know, I work at a major thrift store in Provo. I love thrift stores, they’re the perfect solution for those who don’t have the budget to support buying regularly from high street stores, and they use their profits to support good causes. Some thrift stores even offer life skills classes in return for custom, get more information here if you think this might benefit you. We get thousands of items donated daily. I work in the back sorting through those donations to see what’s good enough to be resold and what’s not. I have been working there for eight months now and I have seen lots and lots of geeky items. If you follow me on I Love the Star Wars Prequels, you know that I post updates sometimes about prequels-related merchandise. Star Wars is perhaps the biggest franchise represented as far as action figures, toys, and collectible items. This is a sampling of some of the geek items I’ve seen at the store from a variety of fandoms and favorite media. If you’re after a bargain and are intrigued to see what somewhere like the Houston flea market has in store, going to check it out could make for an excellent day out.
Like I’ve said before, I don’t put the ‘Mormon’ in The Geeky Mormon very much, but last week in one of my Sunday meetings we had a discussion on people in the scriptures who play supporting roles. The message was that the part that every person plays in God’s plan is important, even if compared to others’ parts it appears minor. I went home and thought about characters from my favorite books, movies and TV shows that play important supporting roles and, perhaps, deserve a little more credit than they normally get. If most of these heroes have been recognized by their fandoms, then they are worth mentioning again. The characters that speak to our hearts, no matter how big or small a role they play, are the ones who make a difference.
The cool thing about science fiction and fantasy is that it allows us to examine what makes us human. Because more often than not, the genre features a protagonist or group of protagonists with capabilities beyond those of ordinary humans. And sometimes we watch how extraordinary humans cope with still living an ordinary life, or learning to adjust to a different one.
Recently, Tim Champlin tweeted me and asked if I could do a list of my ten favorite movies. I thought it sounded like a great idea, so I jumped at the opportunity to do it. Before I get into this list, I want to set a few ground rules. First, these are my favorite movies. I don’t know how to quantify “favorite,” but I do know that it is not the same as a list of the ten best movies. Some of these movies may not be great, but they are movies I could sit and watch again and again, for the most part. Also, you can’t argue someone’s favorite movies. You just can’t. Another rule I set for myself was limiting myself to one movie per series. Otherwise, this list would be nothing but Star Trek, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings. That would be boring. So, in no particular order, here is my list.
We’ve have a few months to marinate. The hype and overreactions are over. We’ve had a little while to step back and evaluate Captain America: Civil War. The spoilers are out. So what comes next? It concluded the Captain America trilogy, but the story of Steve Rogers–the man who carried the mantle of Captain America–is far from over. Some of the ideas I will be sharing are things I heard at two Captain America panels at Salt Lake Comic Con FanX back in March.
(Spoilers, but I’m kind of assuming that you’ve seen Civil War by now.)
All of three of the female leads in Captain America: Civil War are amazing. The following thoughts are not comprehensive character analyses but what I liked best about each. The pivotal roles that each play demonstrates how highly Steve Rogers values the women in his life.