Marvel Live-Action Series And Updated Parental Controls In The U.S. Coming To Disney+ On March 16

Fan-Favorite Titles include “Daredevil,” “Jessica Jones,” “Luke Cage”, “Iron Fist,” “The Defenders,” “The Punisher,” and “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Giving Fans Access to More from the Marvel Collection, All in One Place

 

All U.S. Subscribers will be Prompted to Set Parental Controls Using Enhanced Content Ratings and PIN Protection

 

On March 16, Disney+ will add more Marvel live-action series titles to its expansive content offering in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand with the addition of “Daredevil,” “Jessica Jones,” “Luke Cage,” “Iron Fist,” “The Defenders,” and “The Punisher,” plus “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” in the U.S., giving fans access to more from the Marvel collection, all in one place. With the addition of these titles, Disney+ will concurrently release an update to its Parental Controls in the U.S. that will prompt all subscribers to update their settings.

“Disney+ has served as the home for some of the most beloved brands in the industry, and the addition of these live-action shows brings more from the Marvel brand together, all in one place,” said Michael Paull, President of Disney Streaming. “We have experienced great success with an expanded content offering on Disney+ across our global markets and are excited to continue that here in the U.S. as well by offering our consumers not only great content with the new Marvel additions, but also a set of features that help ensure a viewing experience most suitable for them and their family.”

These Marvel series will also be available across all other Disney+ markets later this year.

Marvel on Disney+
The dedicated Marvel brand page on Disney+ already serves as home to the largest Marvel collection with hundreds of hours of movies and shows. This includes the Marvel Studios movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe such as “Avengers: Endgame” and “Black Panther” as well as other Marvel movie franchises like “X-Men”; Disney+ Original series like “WandaVision,” “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier,” “Loki,” and “Hawkeye”; animated series, including the Disney+ Original series from Marvel Studios, “What If…?”; specials and shorts, and documentaries that go behind the scenes like “Marvel Studios Assembled.”

Updates to Parental Controls in the U.S.
When opening Disney+ for the first time on or after March 16, all subscribers in the U.S. will be prompted to update their Parental Controls. This includes the option to select content ratings restrictions for each profile as well as to add a PIN to lock profiles. Those that choose to keep their settings the same will continue to enjoy Disney+ as they always have within a TV-14 content rating environment, with the option to make changes at any time under Profile settings.

Disney's Investor Day Roundup

© Disney

 

Thursday, December 10 was the Walt Disney Company's Investor Day, and the studio made many exciting announcements regarding both theatrical and streaming releases for all of its studios: Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios and Searchlight. We posted a few of the announcements on our social media accounts so if you missed them, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

What we didn't already post is included below. Be sure to check out the trailers and sizzle reels below!

• Disney will skip theaters for two major films, sending Robert Zemeckis's live-action remake of Pinocchio, with Tom Hanks as Geppeto, and Peter Pan and Wendy, with Jude Law as Captain Hook, directly to Disney+. There was no indication at this time that either film will be Premium Access releases, The animated Raya and the Last Dragon will carry the Premium Access pricing when it debuts in the Spring at the same time it opens in theaters.
• While some films are bypassing theatrical distribution, Disney has rescheduled others that will remain exclusively on the big screen. Thor: Love and Thunder shifts from February 11, 2022 to May 6, 2022. That moves the Black Panther sequel from May 6, 2022 to July 8, 2022, which pushes Captain Marvel 2 from July 8 to November 11, 2022.
• Back on the schedule, Ryan Reynolds' Free Guy is now slated to open on May 21, 2021, followed by Kenneth Branagh's follow-up to Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile is now scheduled for a September 17, 2021 release. Also, The King's Man was pushed back a month from February 12, 2021 to March 12, 2021. The thriller Antlers from Searchlight remains unscheduled.
• A Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special for Disney+ will be written and directed by Guardians director James Gunn. The special will film at the same time as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and will premiere on the streaming service in 2022.
• A Baby Groot series of shorts titled I Am Groot is in development for Disney+.
• Kevin Feige has revealed the third Ant-Man film will be titled Ant-Man is Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, and that Big Little Lies actress Kathryn Newton is joining the cast as Cassie Lang. Jonathan Majors is also joining the cast as Kang the Conquerer.
• Iman Vellani, who will star in the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel, will also appear in Captain Marvel 2. Teyonah Paris, who is playing the grown up Monica Rambeau in Marvel's WandaVision series, will also bring the character to Captain Marvel 2. Akira Akbar played a younger version of the character in the first film.
• With Tatiana Maslany cast as the lead for Marvel's Disney+ series She-Hulk, Kevin Feige revealed Tim Roth will reprise his The Incredible Hulk (the Edward Norton film) character The Abomination, and Mark Ruffalo will make an appearance as Bruce Banner/The Hulk.
• Delayed from its original August 2020 release date due to coronavirus shutdowns, Disney+ has revealed Marvel's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will debut on the service March 19, 2021.
• Other Marvel series in the works at Disney+ include Ironheart, Moon Knight, Armor Wars and Secret Invasion. Don Cheadle will return to the role of James Rhodes, aka War Machine, in Armor Wars. Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn (Captain Marvel) will star in Secret Invasion. Dominique Thorne will star as Riri Williams in Ironheart, the first Black female lead of a Marvel series.
• Tom Hiddleston returns to the role of Loki in his new Disney+ series which will debut in May 2021.
• Marvel is planning a new Fantastic Four film with Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts at the helm.
• Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins will helm the Rogue One spin-off Rogue Squadron, which is currently set to be released theatrically on December 22, 2023.
• On the animation front, Disney+ will roll out four new series based on popular films. Big Hero 6 robot Baymax is getting his own series titled Baymax! The Princess and the Frog's princess will headline Tiana, and series continuing the stories of Zootopia and Moana will also stream. Baymax!, Tiana and Zootopia will bow in 2022 with Moana on the schedule for 2023. Pixar's Dug Days, a spin-off of Up, will premiere in Fall 2021, while a series based on Pixar's Cars is set for the Fall of 2022.
• Ronald D. Moore and Jon M. Chu will develop a series based on Swiss Family Robinson for Disney+.
• Marvel Studios confirmed it will not recast the role of Black Panther following Chadwick Boseman's untimely death stating Boseman's work “transcends any iteration of the character” and will “honor the legacy" while continuing to explore the world of Wakanda.
• Christian Bale finally comes to the Marvel Universe as the villain Gorr the Godbutcher in Thor: Love and Thunder.
• Production on Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has been completed and the full cast has been revealed: Tony Leung as Wenwu, Awkwafina as Katy, Meng’er Zhang as Xialing, Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Chan, Ronny Chieng as Jon Jon, Fala Chen as Jiang Li and Florian Munteanu as Razor Fist. The release date is July 9, 2021.
• Chris Evans will voice the character Buzz Lightyear in an all-new animated film that will tell the definitive story of the original Buzz Lightyear. The film is slated to hit theaters on June 17, 2022. Pixar also has Turning Red on the calendar for March 11, 2022.
• Walt Disney Studios' 60th animated film will be the Columbia-set Encanto, which will feature music written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and is scheduled to open November 24, 2021.
• Whoopi Goldberg will return to the role of Deloris for Disney+ original Sister Act 3, with Tyler Perry on board to produce.
• Amy Adams will return to the Enchanted role of Princess Gizelle for the Disney+ original feature Disenchanted.
• Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers gets a Disney+ reboot with Andy Samberg and John Mulaney lending their voices to the title characters. The new series is set to debut in the Spring of 2022.
• Will Smith will head to the extreme ends of the Earth in the new Nat Geo series from Darren Aronofsky, Welcome to Earth. Chris Hemsworth is also slated to star in the series Limitless, while A Real Bug's Life and America the Beautiful are also part of the Nat Geo slate. Welcome to Earth and Limitless will be Disney+ Originals.
• With the announcement of billions of dollars being poured into production on new series and movies, Disney+ will increase its subscription price to $7.99 a month in March 2021. In Europe the price will increase from €2 a month to €8 and will include the new Star service.

 

A sneak peek at Star Wars: The Bad Batch, an all-new animated Original Series from Lucasfilm Animation, coming soon to Disney+.

 

 

“Everything I did, I did for the Rebellion.” Andor, an Original Series set in the Star Wars universe, is streaming in 2022 on Disney+.

 

 

“I’ve been tracking you, Mandalorian.” Catch up on the new season of The Mandalorian, now streaming on Disney+.

 

 

Ms. Marvel, a newer character to Marvel comics has grabbed the world's imagination and we are excited to announce Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan.

 

 

"Space. Time. Reality. It's more than a linear path." WHAT IF…?, an Original Series from Marvel Studios, is coming Summer 2021 to #DisneyPlus.

 

 

“Glorious.” Loki, an Original Series from Marvel Studios, is coming May 2021 to #DisneyPlus.

 

 

“The legacy of that shield is complicated.” Marvel Studios’ The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, an Original Series, starts streaming Mar. 19 on #DisneyPlus.

 

 

"We are an unusual couple." Marvel Studios' WandaVision, an Original Series, starts streaming Jan. 15 on #DisneyPlus.

 

 

Agents of SHIELD S07E09: As I Have Always Been

©ABC

Time Loop!

by Brandon Coulson

So it was predetermined I would love this week’s episode of Agents of SHIELD, “As I Have Always Been”, as I am a sucker for time loops. Movies, television episodes, it is just a narrative structure that has always appealed to me.

So our loop in question takes place over a shorter period than most. Seemingly minutes in real time and I would guess thirty minutes to an hour in the reality of the show. Starting each loop we have Daisy waking from her healing pod with a sleeping Sousa keeping her company. A few early elements are established to give Daisy a quick way to prove to others she’s not crazy: Yoyo gets trapped on the Zephyr, Mack gets blinded by a radiation flare, and Deke announces they are in a time storm.

The setup is very clear and, actually in a fun twist, this loop has an end point as each time Deke announces how far they are from a vortex that will destroy the ship and even as everything else remains the same, the distance from the vortex grows shorter each loop, giving us a bigger sense of urgency. A very nice touch in the first loop we see is the repeating of the opening titles, a fun little gag that I almost wanted to come back a third time around.

We also find early on that Coulson is the only other person to remember things from earlier loops but has lost count how many times they’ve gone through so far, eighty-seven or so by his count, as Daisy doesn't always wake him from his sleep and whenever one of them dies it wipes their memories of the previous loops.

These little tweaks to the normal time loop formula were a fun way to give this outing its own flavor. Speaking of unique takes, this episode was the first directorial attempt by the show’s own Gemma Simmons played by actress Elizabeth Henstridge! While I wouldn’t call anything about the direction groundbreaking, the episode as a whole was incredibly engaging and, as we’ll get to later, also emotional.

The whole middle meat of the episode was very cutesy. Coulson and Daisy reciting everyone's dialogue and the team's looks as a result are all very funny. Then on the reveal about Gemma’s memory implant, the affair turned into a murder mystery. After the first attempt to remove the implant ends with Gemma and Daisy dead from a cut gas line, we then got to see Sousa jump into action as he volunteers to be a guinea pig citing that him dying isn’t as big a deal as Daisy since she would then reset.

©ABC

The eventual turn is that Enoch has been programmed to stop the implant's removal at whatever cost and Gemma’s implant has blocked the memory of programming him and the password needed to override it. So then we get the sequence of failed attempts usually ending in death or severe beating of eventually the entire team. Putting aside the fact that Enoch has been stopped by less before and we’ve seen other Chronicoms beaten by members of the team, this was darkly hilarious so it gets a pass. Plus the variation in approaches to subduing to distracting were logical yet still so funny to watch.

Frustrated by this, Daisy takes a loop to have a one-on-one with Sousa to figure out how he can be so selfless and do anything and everything she asks of him without hesitation. Sousa alludes to other strong women like her he has known, and how the type of person who runs headfirst into problems often needs someone there to help pick them back up when they fall. Daisy finally sees what the rest of creation already did, that Sousa has feelings for her and she starts her next cycle kissing Sousa. Knowing Whedon-driven shows, my first thought was finally Daisy might have a guy that isn’t trash be into her. My second thought was “oh no, he’s gonna die tragically soon isn't he?”

But anyway the team finally finds a way to block Enoch and remove the implant leading to two memories shaking loose in Simmons. First that Enoch’s heart is the key to stopping the time drive and saving them, and something else that leads her to break down in tears, my guess is still that Fitz is either dead or some tragedy befell him before they parted ways. Of course there are more episodes left so the loop resets before we get that chance to hear anything, though the performance from Henstridge was fantastic here. This of course starts the final cycle before they are destroyed, what amazing timing!

That's okay though because there were tears enough without finding out that news as upon asking for Enoch to basically kill himself to save them he so quickly and selflessly does so. It about broke my heart. I’ve never loved Enoch as a character, he’s had his moments but always felt a bit flat for me. Here though as he gives a speech about the meaning of being alone for someone who has lived thousands of years like he has, and the moments he shares here with Coulson and Daisy were so tender and perfect a way to send off a character. So much more emotional than a death in battle, it was an amazing moment for the actor and legitimately made me sad to see him go.

Enoch leaves us with two ominous statements here. Though both are worded in ways that can easily be manipulated into something not as dire. First that the team will not survive because he’s seen the future. It seems clear to me he means the team as a unit and not that the members will be dead, rather having to go separate ways for some reason. The other leads back to my theory about Fitz as he says Fitz WAS my friend, a very clear and particular word choice but again if Fitz is in another place or time could also still be misleading.

So yes this might seem like a time loop but I once again have to gush praise on the cast and crew of SHIELD. Once again they took a meager budget and through writing and characters still gave us a thoroughly enchanting and touching episode. The only drawback I see moving forward is that Malick is still kind of a lame big bad though better than the Chronicoms by themselves.  I’m still hoping for a last minute surprise bad guy, maybe even Fitz turned evil again? Just someone to be a better foil for the series to go out on. Aside from that they just need to keep this train a rolling!

Purchase Agents of SHIELD from FandangoNow

Agents of SHIELD S06E04: Code Yellow

© ABC

SHIELD calls a Code Yellow
by Brandon Coulson

I’m mad at Agents of SHIELD. No, more than just mad, I also am confused. These feelings and several others ran through my mind while watching 'Code Yellow'. Though this time it wasn't because of a bad plot choice or a terrible set piece. No my anger and confusion stemmed from the fact they made me actually like Deke!

Alright, like is far too strong a word. The amazing feat that occurred was the writers seemed to hear the collective gnashing of teeth from fans over just how annoying and unlikable Deke was and they found the perfect modern day occupation for him: a Boba tea drinking tech giant with a girlfriend named Sequoia (yeesh), who is an Instagram influencer. As a couple they are basically Millennial Yahtzee.

Deke as a weasley and kind of thieving game developer was thoroughly interesting and my biggest hope is that we get to see much more of his professional world. Starting off with an obvious simulation (Deke would never be that cool) that is tagged with what I’m sure is already a meme with a sexy damsel version of Quake in love with Deke. The joke was pretty funny the first time and when Mack sees it later on and gets offered two percent of the company to keep quiet I literally laughed out loud.

As we find out, Deke is using a stripped down version of The Framework as a new VR gaming system with basically all of its contents inspired by SHIELD tech and agents. Great writing, to me, is subtly introducing logical questions in the viewers' minds and then answering those questions. In this episode, a great example of that would be that as we see Deke and what he’s been doing, the logical question is number one: why isn’t he mourning Fitz? And number two: why would SHIELD let him develop all this tech without supervision? Well they make sure to have Mack address that he doesn’t even know Fitz is dead(ish), and then we get the great reveal that Deke’s best bro and coworker is an undercover SHIELD agent in case of a Code Yellow, which is in itself a very funny throwaway gag that they hit on just enough to be funny without being too heavy handed.

I would say about ninety-nine percent of the Deke related material was fantastic to watch, funny, quick moving and kept me engaged. Even the inevitable 'trick the bad guy into a VR simulation' was well played though I saw it coming a mile away. I do have questions as to how Deke reads similar to the creatures Sarge and company are hunting. On the surface, having him being not from this world sounds like a legit reason but he’s still human, just a human from a possible dystopian future. I’ll give them a pass though since we got to see Sarge pumping him for info and thankfully Deke still having a brain and tricking Sarge into revealing he’s not Coulson.

© ABC

Oh and Sequoia’s Instagram story in the post credits may be a close second to Michael Pena’s Ant-Man rants as funniest ways to see the MCU.

On the slightly more boring side, we also followed Yoyo and her boytoy with Dr Benson investigating a supposed murder victim of Sarge which turns out to be a parasite. I found it a little frustrating that they couldn’t figure out Sarge had killed the thing and not implanted it, and even more annoyed they did the autopsy in a room the parasite easily escaped. The way this thing takes its hosts out was pretty crazy though, basically turning them into a suicide bomber of spikes growing out of them. Of course Yoyo’s new beau, who we don’t know or care about at all, gets infected and while his death at Yoyo’s hands looks cool, it had zero emotional impact.

But over all, the episode was another great outing that completely surprised me. With May being taken by Coulson in the end after another badass fight we have a lot of pieces set up moving forward. Also from the previews it looks like the mystery of Sarge will be learned next and I’m all for not dragging out a misdirection as his 'evil' motivations seem to be.

Agents of SHIELD airs Fridays at 8:00 PM on ABC.

What did you think of this episode? Tell us in the comments section below!

Read more of Brandon's reviews on Hotchka.com

Purchase episode of Agents of SHIELD from the retailers below and help support HOTCHKA! Click on the image to visit each retailer. Any purchase made through these links will help support our sites.

Shop at Amazon.com

 

Shop Agents of SHIELD on FandangoNow

Shop Agents of SHIELD on iTunes

Agents of SHIELD: SHIELD looks for their window of opportunity

ABC

Agents of SHIELD S06E02: 'Window of Opportunity'
May is back and ready for action!

by Brandon Coulson

Okay guys I am back on board!

A recurring theme with SHIELD that seems to happen at least twice a season is the inevitably disappointing episodes that make me think the series is burned out, that it's time to hang up the old hat and call it quits. Luckily this is usually followed by an episode with such amazing sequences that all those feelings instantly evaporate.

‘Window of Opportunity’ was the latter and it felt like old SHIELD again, back before they changed stunt coordinators. For one thing, Sarge / Bad Phil actually did come off as a badass this week. I got kind of a Terminator vibe from him going into the convenience store with his shades and strapped for trouble. Some of his smaller details really helped me cement who his character is, from his line about a world’s currency telling you a lot to his repeated speech about not being a hero. It came across a little No Country for Old Men but I read something else there too. This guy has seen and done a lot of bad stuff but I feel this wall or facade up in front of him.

Much like how he reacts later to hearing the name Coulson, it’s hard to read exactly what he’s feeling but I get the sense he’s a bastard out of necessity rather than desire. The layers of emotion playing out over his face said nothing while saying a lot. It was very impressive.

My single biggest problem with the episode came from Sarge’s mobile base, a giant semi truck … that turns invisible! Okay, I get the want to be mobile and not be seen, but I think any normal intelligent person can see the problem with a giant eighteen wheeler speeding down the highway with no drivers able to see it? Or even when it was parked at a junkyard? If we don’t get at least one shot of some poor soul smashing their car right into that thing then not only is it a wasted opportunity for a little levity it also is completely unbelievable. Oh and May found it because she noticed GIANT FRICKING TRACKS!! Though May stealing the old Last Crusade 'throwing dirt to show the invisible thing' trick was a nice touch I still kept thinking, 'Man they must get run into literally all the time on every world they go to.' Okay, rant over.

Fitz’s storyline was … decent let’s say but I don’t really need him to be 'mister lets sacrifice ourselves for the greater good' guy every week. I know most will say he’s overcompensating for his old VR Nazi days but let’s move on and have him do something other than be the moral compass of the universe. I did like the way he negotiated and plotted his way through the situation. I saw the airlock twist coming a mile away, reversing it so his airlock was safe and his potential slaver got sucked out was smart. It also was the same twist from Superman II, a film I adore so I kept waiting (unsuccessfully) for someone to start saying Luthor’s lines about reversing the doors. It was a clever bit though not completely thought out as Enoch points out the crew would be court-martialed for killing the captain, so while Fitz saved their lives (after putting them in danger to begin with) they will now have to live on a foreign planet and basically hide forever ... not the greatest outcome.

ABC

Hands down the best part of the episode belonged to May. Ming-na Wen looks to have healed from last year's injury and was back to kicking ass. The entire jewelry store sequence was just fantastic. From Sarge’s side, the initial confrontation with the store employee was tense. The reveal that they wanted junk crystals rather than jewels felt a bit 80s tongue-in-cheek to me but that’s fine. Hopefully they realize those things are cheap garbage and no killing is required.

The portal tech used in the vault looked great. I’m sure the effect was as simple as building two sets next to each other but the implementation was superb and the use of the portal, flipping it on the floor and against a wall was as great here as in the Portal games from which it is obviously, let’s say, borrowed. The camera moves, the acting, May just kicking the crap out of everyone, it all worked here so well. I cannot wait to see more of this kind of set piece as the season goes on.

The episode also flatly stated that Sarge is a genetic match for our Phil so we can assume multiverse alternate reality type stuff is about to arise. Maybe this will explain the lack of connection the the greater MCU, though I’m not holding my breath. We also saw Sarge’s crew recorded on another world that seemed to be destroyed. While the implication is that they did it, I’m betting that we find his group is trying to outrun something that is the actual cause and that will be the big twist -- they aren’t evil but just trying to survive by world hopping.

And just to take a big old swing at the cause, let’s say that the world destroying force is another worlds version of Quake. Back-up predictions are alternate Talbot or Ruby from last year in full blown 'Destroyer of Worlds' mode. Again probably completely wrong but If I nailed it the bragging will be mighty come end of season.

All I know for sure is SHIELD proved to me they still have it. Whether they can keep it up or not is yet to be seen but I do think we realized here just how much May’s action sequences add to this series. Lets keep this big implausible semi rolling!
Read more of Brandon's reviews at HOTCHKA.com

Purchase episode of Agents of SHIELD from the retailers below and
help support HOTCHKA! Click on the image to visit each retailer.
Any purchase made through these links will help support our sites.

Amazon

Agents of SHIELD’s premiere is missing pieces

ABC

 Agents of SHIELD S06E01: 'Missing Pieces'

Don’t worry about 'Endgame' spoilers! There isn’t a one!

by Brandon Coulson

Agents of SHIELD has finally returned. After nearly a year since the last new episode, it’s felt like a lifetime and there was certainly a lot to unpack.

First off though before we get to everything that DID happen, let's address something that they most certainly did not: Endgame. That’s right, Marvel is owning this summer, this year, and nearly every box office record imaginable yet they decided to completely sever any ties to the greater MCU from this series. Without spoiling Endgame it can be said that nothing that happened in that or last years Infinity War have any repercussions, or even a mention in SHIELD.

After years of fans complaining about the one-sided shared universe, it seems the whole idea has just been given up, especially ironic considering Coulson’s featured role in Captain Marvel. Now I’ve heard many theories saying this is a pocket dimension or altered timeline as a result of last year's time travel shenanigans but regardless of that and barring any unseen explanations coming down the line it seems that Agents of SHIELD is officially annexed from the MCU. Personally, as someone who has invested a ton of hours into all of this content of the MCU shared universe, having them completely drop it is like a slap in the face.

Moving on from that though, how was this season’s premiere? It was decent, there were some interesting moments, but I have to say compared to previous season openers I wasn’t over the moon this time round.

The episode, 'Missing Pieces', started strong, with Fitz’s ship getting sliced in half by an unknown armada and jumping a year later where we find Gemma, Quake, and you know, those two agents whose names you hear and immediately forget, Davis and Piper, all searching deep space for Fitz.

It became very clear what the forward thrusts of our two storylines will be for at least the first half of the season. One side is the search for Fitz and a struggle between Gemma who acted selfishly to an extreme, and Daisy/Quake who has become a feared violent force in space. Back on Earth we see Mack adjusting to being in charge post-Coulson and dealing with a new threat to Earth. We’ll get to that in a bit.

Focusing on our space story for now, I will say I didn’t like a lot of what Quake and Gemma did but I appreciate the drama it’s setting up for later this season. Quake was a total badass, vibrating guns apart and just mopping the floor with her opponents, while Gemma took a page from Fitz’s book. During the interrogation scene she came across very Nazi-esque much like Fitz was in the Hydra world sim.

We got hints that Quake has done some atrocious things while in space which I’m sure will be explored more later but I hope they don’t try and make Quake into a monster. After the fear of her destroying Earth last season, we don’t need another 'Is Quake evil?' plotline. Gemma was frustratingly self-involved this week, after her team had been searching space for a year only to find Fitz’s ship destroyed and his hibernation pod empty. Gemma leaps at a thin and frankly stupid idea that he must’ve seen the manufacturer’s label inside the pod and surely went to that world, in much deeper space mind you. During her scene inside the pod I thought for sure her breath on the glass was going to reveal a message Fitz left or something to that effect, an intentional message he would leave for anyone looking for him. Instead we get this gut feeling theory and after being confronted by some kind of Space Confederacy, Gemma makes the decision to jump to deep space in a half busted, and low on fuel ship. Dragging the others along to a possible bad end, even after they point out Davis has a wife and kid he hasn’t seen in a year. So right now Team Space has me very irritated.

ABC

Back home we find out a lot has changed. Mack and Yoyo have split, Yoyo is already seeing another agent which feels like just a setup for her and Mack to get back together. There are portals opening around Earth letting in some Mad Max looking guys to do who knows what, including the 'not a surprise because he was in the trailers' evil Phil Coulson. Or at least a guy who looks like him.

Seeing how they made such a big thing about Phil is really dead and upcoming previews show him not recognizing the name Coulson, I’m putting my money on a Skrull impersonation. In fact any alien or Inhuman face stealer is preferable to any sort of clone/alternate timeline versions of a doppelgänger story. I want Phil to really be dead and this guy to be something or someone else entirely.

Also while the freaky girl who is with these mysterious villains was creepy as hell, with her talk of becoming a butterfly and general weirdness, it was really hard for me to see Clark Gregg as a badass. I mean he did a decent job of being a cold hardass but I just kept thinking he seemed out of place. Even when he shoots a SHIELD agent in cold blood it felt like they were trying to sell his evilness too hard.

Another moment that felt like it was trying too hard was the new recruit to the team, a drunken professor. Mack and May have plans, which I like, to start a new SHIELD academy. To do so they approach a professor who May’s ex knew and the actor himself feels like a good addition to the mix. Older, kinda grumpy but in a funny way, it's a good juxtaposition to everyone else. But we all have seen the genius who drinks too much and is self destructive before. Add to that they made sure to let us know he lost his male partner and that’s part of why he’s so bitter.

It just felt like they were delivering us his bio rather than introducing his character. Like a hat on a hat it was just so many traits given in I want to say four lines of dialog. From here on out let's hope he gets to grow and develop a little more naturally, maybe give him some students to play off of.         

Even with some of those complaints, the episode as a whole was entertaining, had some good action, and re-established our heroes and where they stand. While by no means a great episode, it was very 'Okay'. I found myself getting burned out last season and I’m hoping this year will help reignite my love for the show again.

Agents of SHIELD airs Fridays at 8:00 PM on ABC.

What did you think of the season premiere? Tell us in the comments section below!

Read more of Brandon's reviews at HOTCHKA.com

Guardians of the Galaxy is the most comic booky comic book movie yet

There's been a lot of talk about what the movie of the summer will be. A few weeks ago, everyone seemed to be in agreement, for the most part, that that movie was Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. But it looks like Marvel Studios has hit another home run ... make that a Grand Slam with their latest offering, Guardians of the Galaxy.

The studio has certainly been cranking the hype machine for several months now trying to get audiences who only know Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and the rest of the Avengers familiar with this new group of characters from a comic that has many fervent fans, but that fan base is considerably smaller compared to those who are at least familiar with the characters who have already hit the big screen from the Marvel Universe.

Guardians of the Galaxy tells the story of Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), a human who had been abducted from earth as a child moments after his mother dies. The story moves from that moment to Peter as an adult, apparently some kind of treasure hunter working with a blue alien, Yondu (Michael Rooker), to retrieve an orb for a client. Quill gets the orb, but also finds himself captured and incarcerated after a fight for the orb with Gamora (Zoe Saldana) that draws the attention of Rocket (Bradley Cooper), a genetically engineered creature that looks like a racoon, and Groot (Vin Diesel), an ambulatory tree whose vocabulary consists of "I am Groot" (only Rocket seems to understand what he's really saying).

Needless to say, things escalate as the four escape prison (with another prisoner, Drax the Destroyer, played by Dave Bautista) and they learn what the orb contains -- an Infinity Stone -- and who wants it to potentially destroy the galaxy -- that would be Ronan (Lee Pace) who is supposed to deliver the orb to galactic villain Thanos (Josh Brolin).

Guardians of the Galaxy, as directed by James Gunn, is a visual feast. It is the most comic booky comic book movie that's come along in quite some time. It really is one of the most wildly colorful movies out there with a color wheel of aliens of all hues: blues, green, pink, just about any color in the crayon box. The film, for the most part, is also very bright with most of the major scenes taking place in full daylight. It's far from a depressing movie.

But all that light and color doesn't mean the movie is light and fluffy. Yes, the movie is very, very funny with a script full of one-liners fans will be sure to be quoting for the rest of the summer (one of my favories involves the words "pelvic sorcery"). But with all of the comedy and action, the film has a great big heart too. You'll laugh a lot and you'll cry (or get a little weepy) a couple of times too. It's this great balance of action, laughs and heart that makes the movie work so well.

The cast, of course, also gets as much credit as Gunn and his scriptwriters. Pratt, whom most people know as paunchy, lovable oaf Andy on Parks & Recreation, cuts a fine form as the film's hero. Most people know he can pull off the comedy, but he puts all of his heart into the role too and makes Quill a fully rounded character, even when he's being an "a-hole." Saldana kicks ass with the best of them, and Bautista is surprisingly good delivering his very funny dialog with dead-on earnestness.

But whodathunk the film's real breakout stars would be a talking racoon and a talking tree? The CGI artists have done some amazing work bringing them to life, but Cooper and Diesel have done outstanding work lending their voices to a couple of characters that could have ended up as the butt of the joke and brought the movie way, way down. But they both elevate their characters to the same level as their human counterparts, becoming just as integral to the story and just as heroic as Quill by the end.

There really isn't much more to say about Guardians of the Galaxy. It's definitely a movie that needs to be seen to be appreciated, and it needs to be seen on the biggest screen possible. After seeing the 17 minute IMAX preview, it was a bit of a letdown to see it on a regular screen but credit must be given to Gunn for really planning and composing each shot for 3D. This is a conversion, but it's one of the finest conversions I've seen. Thank you, James Gunn, for really using the format to its best advantage. If you've had any reservations about seeing Guardians of the Galaxy, put them aside now and make plans to see what is undoubtedly the most entertaining movie of the summer.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier changes everything

It's a pretty safe bet to say that since Marvel started making their own movies under their own banner (unlike Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Daredevil and … Ghost Rider), it's hard to say that there's been a stinker in the bunch … well, Iron Man 2 for me has been the worst of the bunch. So expectations are exceptionally high for the second outing for the First Avenger in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Whereas the first movie played out like a 1940s war movie with comic book overtones (in the guise of Red Skull himself and the super soldier program), The Winter Soldier has a nice 70s political thriller vibe to it. Think The Parallax View, Three Days of the Condor and even All the President's Men; and two of the three star Robert Redford who is not so coincidentally cast as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Alexander Pierce, Nick Fury's right hand man. (And it seems that Three Days of the Condor is especially required viewing to further appreciate The Winter Soldier.)

The Winter Soldier is set some time after the events of The Avengers, but the battle that ravaged New York City is the jumping off point for the story as S.H.I.E.L.D. is preparing to launch a new global security system called Insight which, in a sort of Minority Report kind of way, scans every human on the planet, examines all of their personal data and then determines if they will eventually commit a crime with the end result being their elimination. Fury tries to convince Cap/Steve Rogers that this is the way the world is now and without this we don't have freedom. Cap comes back at him with a line sure to stir up some folks, “This isn't freedom, this is fear.”

But something causes Fury to ask Pierce to delay the launch of Insight and after an attempt is made on his life, he tells Rogers to trust no one … but why? That's pretty much all I'm willing to say about the plot because there are some major developments that completely destroy everything we know about S.H.I.E.L.D. (and if you've been watching ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the ramifications are going to significantly alter the series as well).

My expectations for Captain America: The Winter Soldier were very high, and I can confidently say that they were exceeded. I know some folks want more connection between the films, but I see these solo character movies as their own thing with threads to the other movies. The Winter Soldier does prominently feature Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, but there's no Hawkeye, Hulk or anyone else besides Fury. The film does introduce Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/The Falcon, Emily VanCamp's Agent 13 (who may eventually be named Sharon Carter if they follow the comics), Frank Grillo's Brock Rumlow (who may become Crossbones), while bringing back Sebastian Stan (the presumed dead Bucky Barnes), Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter), Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill) and Maximiliano Hernández as Jasper Sitwell. Sitwell has appeared in Thor, The Avengers and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and has a very pivotal role in the events which drive the movie. I'd love to know if this has been in the cards since he was introduced into the filmic Marvel Universe.

Since I can't say much about the plot, I will say that the film itself looks spectacular (and I can't judge the 3D version since the press screenings were only 2D this time around). Directors Anthony and Joe Russo have done a terrific job of grounding the story in reality while shooting on actual Washington, D.C. locations (and Maryland's own Fort Meade even gets a shout out). While I'm sure there are a ton of digital effects throughout the movie, they are virtually invisible, helping to sell the realness of the story. The story itself is pretty deep, a bit dark, very violent and not at all cartoony. I would actually hesitate to take small children to see this just because it is so realistic.

The performances are all terrific as well, but I would have liked to have seen just a little more character development for Pierce. I think his part in the story's events would have been even more surprising had we seen him in some of the previous Marvel movies. As it stands, though, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is now at the top of the Marvel movie heap for me. I loved the style and tone of Captain America: The First Avenger, but I enjoyed even more all of the plot twists and turns and the “where do we go from here?” feeling we're left with at the end. 

Of course, it wouldn't be a Marvel movie without a post-credits stinger, and we get two this time – one sets up The Avengers: Age of Ultron (introducing “the twins”) and the other all the way at the end of the credits maybe setting up the future of Captain America himself. And do take note: if you are a viewer of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., do not watch any more episodes until you see the movie! You have been warned.

The Wolverine has claws, but they're a little dull

I'm probably the last person who should be reviewing a movie based on a comic book. I read a few comics when I was younger (and worked at a comic book store!), but I have not really moved on to the graphic novels that have taken comic books to a more mature level. I love the movies made from these comics and graphic novels, but I really have no reference on which to base an opinion except for the movie.

And so it is with Marvel's latest superhero movie, The Wolverine, a sequel to the pretty dismal X-Men Origins: Wolverine which was a prequel to the X-Men trilogy, and now works its way into being a lead-in for the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past (make sure you stay part of the way through the end credits). Got all that? Apparently, The Wolverine is based on a graphic novel in which the plot takes Logan, tired of being a superhero after having to kill his love Jean Grey in the third X-Men movie, out of the wilderness he's banished himself to and straight to Japan at the request of an "old friend," a former Japanese soldier whom Logan saved from the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki.

Logan believes he's going to say goodbye to the dying old man, but the man actually has a deal for him: he has a cure for Logan's immortality. Haunted by the spectre of his beloved Jean (Famke Janssen, reprising her role), Logan briefly considers the deal, but the man dies before he can come to a final decision. Meanwhile, the yakuza are after the old man's granddaughter, Mariko, because she is now the most powerful woman in Japan after being the sole benefactor in the will … something her father is not too happy about. Logan suddenly finds himself as Mariko's self-appointed bodyguard, but there seems to be much more going on than meets the eye.

The Wolverine is certainly a better movie than X-Men Origins: Wolverine, adding a few bits of much-needed humor, but it's also a missed opportunity. Plopping Logan down in the middle of Japan was an inspired bit of plot development, and casting mostly unknown Japanese actors in the supporting roles (plus Russian Svetlana Khodchenkova) puts the audience in Logan's fish out of water shoes. The best of the Japanese cast is Rila Fukushima as Yukio, a Harajuku-looking girl who is a badass with a sword and has some special powers of her own. Will Yun Lee is probably the most recognizable of the supporting cast, but he really has very little to do but react to situations and fight. The film's downfall is Tao Okamoto as Mariko. Okamoto is just perpetually blank throughout the film, whether she's in danger or attempting to romance Logan. Her performance is so bland that I could never tell if she was truly a victim who needed saving or if she was in on the plot to steal Logan's immortality. Okamoto is basically the Japanese Kristin Stewart.

Where the film succeeds is in its action sequences, which are unfortunately top-loaded in the first third of the film, which leaves a truly leaden middle section where Logan and Mariko are hiding out, plotting their next move. The attempted assassination/kidnapping of Mariko at her grandfather's funeral is staged brilliantly, and even as silly as it is (think the Chunnel Train scene in Mission: Impossible), the fight on top of a bullet train is one of the film's highlights. The problem with the plot, though, is the fact that we know that Logan is never in danger of losing his abilities or dying, so where is the suspense? It's hard to care about a character's journey when we know he ain't really going anywhere.

I went into The Wolverine with the lowest of expectations, so to say that it wasn't as bad as its predecessor is at least faint praise. I was just really hoping it would have been better, but a predictable plot and some bad casting have nearly de-clawed everyone's favorite mutant.

Photo: Ben Rothstein/20th Century Fox/Marvel