Let me catch you up on all the nerdy news you missed this past week! There's a new Kate Kane on the CW's Batwoman, The Suicide Squad trailer is out, the release date is finally set for Black Widow, and more!
March is here, and that means another Blizzard of the Month at Dairy Queen! In this installment of Mark Tastes Random Things, we tie into the Mint Oreo Blizzard.
On my weekly recap of the nerdy news, I rattle off some of the highlights of the 2020 Oscar nominations, some Star Wars deep cuts are coming to Disney+, Hourman is getting his own movie, and more!
Hey! So I was lucky enough to get my hands on an advance copy of the first episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I have some thoughts.
The first thought is: it's fantastic.
If you're one of those that complained that WandaVision started too slowly, you'll have no complaints here. It opens with an action scene straight out of a James Bond movie as we see the Falcon doing his best to live up to the legacy of Captain America. It's pretty much the only big action set piece in the episode, though. I mean, hey, it's the first episode. They've got to take their time setting up the series.
Most of Falcon's story takes place down in Louisiana. He's helping his sister save the family business. While you may remember that Falcon was one of the many that Thanos snapped out of existence, his sister wasn't, and the five years made it a rough go for the family fishing boat. Meanwhile, in his superhero-ing, he's keeping an eye on a new terrorist organization called the Flag-Smashers. Their manifesto is straight out of #ThanosDidNothingWrong. They feel the world was a better place when the population was reduced by half, and want to put it back to that way.
Then we catch up with Bucky Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier. His journey very much mirrors Captain America's in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Bucky's been pardoned for the crimes he committed over the decades as a brainwashed HYDRA assassin. However, that doesn't change the fact that he helped to put a lot of very bad people in positions of power. So now, as part of his pardon, he's helping law enforcement take down those very bad people. He's still got PTSD from his time, and he, too, is very much a man out of time.
This first episode is very much about setting up our two heroes and where they are right now, helping to establish more of our post-blip word. Which is one of the great things about these shows. We have the time to let our characters breath and really get to know them. In this first episode, we've also got a great cameo from another MCU vet. (I knew they were in it, but you might not. In fact, I forgot they were in it, and seeing them was a delightful surprise.)
All in all, I was very delighted with the first episode, and I think you're going to like it, too.
Another YouTube series I've launched is Mark Tastes Random Things, where I sample the latest fast food offerings. For St. Patrick's Day, I tie into the Shamrock Shake.
Hey, folks who still pop by this blog from time to time! I've started cranking out videos on my YouTube channel on a semi-regular basis! Every Sunday, I do Nerd News Headlines. Remember when I used to blog my favourite entertainment headlines here? Well, now I do it as a YouTube series where I read them to you! Here's this week's, for March 14.
It's my weekly recap of the week's big nerdy headlines! We've got the cast for our live-action reboot of the Powerpuff Girls, Steven Spielberg is getting his next film ready, news on the latest Star Trek series, Michael B. Jordan is gonna direct Creed III, and more!
You can find this and more videos over at my YouTube channel.