The Nerd Reviews: Jessica Jones (spoiler free)

 

Comics I Read This Week - Marvel 10.7.15

I know I've been gone for a bit but I'm back so let's not focus on the past. This week marks the start of the "All New, All Different" Marvel line so I've decided to start a new segment to coincide with that, thus the name of this post and ya know...me talking about the comics I've read. Anyways, lets get right to it, starting from Marvel.

Unpopular Opinion: Everyone Needs To Stop Hating A White Peter Parker

It was recently announced that Tom Holland will be the next Peter Parker/Spider-Man and in typical internet fashion, people couldn't wait to unleash the barrage of "oh wow another white Peter Parker" comments; this may come to you as a shock but this is how Peter Parker looks:

He is a white guy, always has been, so being upset over the fact that a white person is playing a white hero makes no sense to me. Now, I know what the next argument is going to be, "What about Miles Morales?" and to that I say "What about Miles Morales?" Sure I like him as a character but as a superhero what has he done in the 5 years he's been around? Virtually nothing. Yeah he's been in the most recent events but in terms of his own story there is not much to go off; hell even his origin story connects to that of Peter Parker and that is the problem with Miles so far...he's too attached to the Peter Parker story to have his own. His supporting cast includes Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane, Aunt May,an actual clone of Peter Parker and Ganke (who is a non Peter Parker related character). Miles gets assistance from Shield because of Peter Parker, gets the webshooters that Peter made, deals with his villains....you get the picture. Miles, at least to me, hasn't been used enough in the comics and established in his own right but that is looking to change with the release of his solo this Fall as

You will be this Fall

"Spider-Man"; no subtitles or asterisks, he's going to be the Spider-Man of the new Marvel Universe and I hope with that change they will give him his own rogues and story-lines that are separate from Peter Parker.

One of my biggest gripes with not just the current Spider-Man backlash but with all of the happenings in the comic book movie world is this faux representation that has people getting into a frenzy. The new Fantastic Four has Micheal B Jordan playing Johnny Storm aka Human Torch, who is traditionally a white character, and people are praising Fox for being diverse and all that. Look I don't hate seeing black people as superheroes, if you know me at all you know it's quite the opposite, but what I don't like is black people having to play white characters in order to be heroes. When I see people frothing at the mouth at the fact that Peter Parker isn't being played with a nonwhite character it upsets me because it is such a pandering move to me. You can't just slap on a new paint job and think the character will be the same because a white person gets treated very differently from a black person and that treatment is reflected in the way a character is written; look at the current Captain America, did Steve Rogers have to deal with the social issues that Sam Wilson does? I want to see black superheroes get their shine, I want to have more black heroes in films that are based off of black heroes in comics because that will expose them to a bigger fanbase. Going back to the Johnny Storm thing, let's say a kid sees the new FF and loves Johnny and wants to read comics, it will not be the same Johnny that he fell in love with or connected with and at the end of the day it will increase the awareness of Johnny Storm but not the black one that he thought he was going to see.

I hope this ushers in a new age

With Black Panther coming out in 2018 I think it's time for those who claim to want diversity stop getting upset at white people being cast to play white heroes and start demanding more nonwhite heroes get put onto the big screen. Trust me, there are a plethora of nonwhite comic book heroes who are more than ready to make a big screen debut but clinging onto this faux representation is a joke; it has us being more focused on what kind of table scraps we get instead of questioning why the hell we can't sit at the table. I don't want to give anymore shine to white heroes and believe me I understand that it is so frustrating to not see a minority hero as a lead that you rather just do a racebend but that isn't good enough anymore, it is time that our heroes get the same treatment that the white ones get.

Should you watch Netflix's Daredevil?

So you should definitely be watching Netflix's Daredevil because it's exactly what you wanted when it was Ben Affleck under the hood; a dark viligante with so much guilt you'll wanna do 50 hail Mary's after episode one. Right off the bat the atmosphere is something you wouldn't expect from the current MCU ( Marvel Cinematic Universe for the uninitiated) as it does away with the bright colors and light shows in favor for a less aesthetically pleasing display; and it absolutely helps set the stage for a superhero like our good friend Daredevil. Charlie Cox does a great job playing the charming yet guilt ridden Matt Murdock and an even better job as Daredevil; I know they are the same person but they are representative of two ideals that Matt holds, Murdock  being legal justice and Daredevil being justice the Hell's Kitchen way, and Cox does a really good job displaying the conflict those two sides create within himself. Elden Henson took a character I really didn't care about, yes I know Foggy Nelson is an important support character but so is Aunt May and I don't care about her either, and made him into someone I genuinely liked. His portrayal of Foggy seems believable, as does his relationship with Matt as Elden and Charlie have such on screen chemistry that it's easy to believe

Vincent D'Onfrio as Wilson Fisk

that they have been friends a long time. Karen Page does come off a little bit damsely at first (which given the situation is totally understandable) but quickly becomes her own character and a good addition but Vincent D'Onofrio once again proves that he is chameleon as he is barely recognizable as Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of organized crime of Hell's Kitchen. Vincent delivers a very different take on Wilson as he is willing to be vulnerable and in control yet has a quiet rage that violently explodes and he let's his emotions cloud his judgement; he is a walking contradiction and that uncertainty is what makes each time he is on the screen have that much more impact, you really never know if he is going to make the logically play or go completely off the rails...it's good stuff.

If you've seen Agents of Shield or really any Marvel film then you will be very much surprised at how much it is unlike anything that Marvel has done before and that never becomes more clear than during those glorious, well choreographed fight scenes. Gone are the pretty beams and PG-13 blood, this a show unafraid of showing what a real fight would do to a body; Matt gets the hell beaten out of him while doing the same to the bad guys and it is so refreshing to see broken bones and blood fly around, gives the fights a since of weight and gravity that you wont get in any other Marvel film (we got close with Cap 2 but like..he's a supersoldier and even getting shot in the gut didn't do much to him). I mean just look at the video on the left, do you really think you're gonna see an Avenger do that? Not only are they gritty they also play around the fact that he doesn't see things how we see things, so we don't see fights how we typically would; sometimes its a straight up brawl, some times the action happens off screen and we just hear it, other times the camera moves in a rather disorienting manner, the fights just never really look the same and you can tell they are having fun playing around with a rather unique superhero.

It is pretty obvious that I totally love this show and if it's any indication for the type of quality that Marvel is gonna produce on Netflix, then I cannot wait for the other shows to come out and get that Defenders tv movie..thing...going. The pacing is slower than what you'd expect but it fits with the show and it's never so slow that you get pulled out of it, it builds each episode and does a good job exploring each character without giving you a giant expository episode. The acting is solid, the action is so very kickass and it's one of the few MCU things that focuses on "street level" threats which gives the MCU a whole new world to play in. Go watch Daredevil, its out right now, watch it and love it and totally forget that whole Ben Affleck Daredevil thing ok? Seriously that was like 12 years ago, the world was a different place then, leather was in. This more than makes up for that old film so don't hesitate, watch it.

Deadpool Rating

I was very apprehensive about this film seeing as once again Fox ( and you guys all know how much I love Fox) would be at the helm, but this video did a lot to quell my complaints; ok so not like 100% quell them but hey there's cursing and its gonna be R so I can at least be promised they will deliver on the gratuitous violence and I want that because the last violent superhero film was like Punisher Warzone...nuff said.

What I want from the next Thor

After 10 films, with more on the way, Marvel has proven that it has the formula for cranking out hit superhero films, but like with any formula things can get predictable and lead to stagnation.  I don't want that to happen so I've decided to start a series on what I want to happen in the next MCU ( Marvel Cinematic Universe) film, starting with the God of Thunder, Thor. So without further ado, here's what I want in the next Thor film.

The Nerd Reviews: Guardians of the Galaxy

The Marvel Cinematic Universe ( MCU for all you cool-ish kids) is pretty awesome; you have super soldiers, gods, rampaging rage monsters, billionaire playboys, spies and super cool tech but you never really got a sense of just how big that universe was; that was until "Guardians of the Galaxy" came out. Coming off a majorly successful Captain America sequel, Marvel tackles a whole new project with Guardians, but does the movie fly into space or is it the equivalent of Green Lantern?

Let's Talk About: The New Thor

If you just happened to not have access to the internet this week then you probably haven't heard the news that Thor is going to be a woman. There are a ton of media outlets ( here are a list of outlets) talking about this story so you can see what they all think about it, but if you're reading this then you're more interested in what I have to say ( or you're not and just happened to stumble upon this link and if that's true consider it a happy accident) so let's get right into it.

That's that sh*t I don't like: Marvel shows then and now

Lamenting those bygone days

I was watching Justice League Unlimited last night and 2 things popped into my head: 1. This show is better than all the current superhero cartoons. 2. What has happened to the quality of superhero cartoon shows? Seriously we used to have an embarrassment of riches back then and now we just have watered down versions of amazing shows. Don't believe me? Let's take a look at Marvel shows then and now.

The Nerd Reviews: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

I have been waiting for this film for what seems like forever and now that it's out, is it any good?

The Nerd Reviews- Captain America: The Winter Soldier

"Captain America: The Winter Soldier" came out last Friday ( In the USA) and I figured this would be as good as any to start doing movie reviews on this blog...because I saw the movie...which you probably assumed which is why I'm reviewing it in the first place, nevertheless, this film was really good; in fact, I daresay this is on the level of the Avengers and the best film of phase 3 thus far ( yeah I said it). For the spoiler free review, click the jump.

5 Characters I Want To See In Movies: Hero Edition

It's no secret that comic book movies are immensely popular in Hollywood right now and for good reason too; with its rich history and likable characters, there is all the trappings of a compelling story just waiting to be told. In comics, there are characters who are superstars that are known all over the world, like Spider-Man and Batman, and movie makers are more than thrilled to tell their stories but there are other characters whom I feel are deserving of being brought to the big screen.