2022 is shaping up to be perhaps the biggest year for Sonic the Hedgehog yet! He’s got a second movie that is to be released next month, a new Netflix series titled Sonic Prime to debut sometime this year, a new Sonic remaster of the classic era games called Sonic Origins, and the next big 3D main entry in the franchise, Sonic Frontiers, scheduled to hit stores this holiday season! And with the recent announcements of a third movie in the works along with a new Paramount Plus series with fan-favorite Knuckles the Echidna, the future seems quite loaded for the speedy blue blur.
Whenever you talk about Sonic the Hedgehog, it always starts off with that same, boring monotone line of dialogue about how the franchise was once a big thing but has now long lost it’s way. The repetitive, tiresome, preachy take of “Modern Sonic bad, Classic Sonic Good” Blah blah blah. That constant same mumble jumble over and over with what seem like at least the past two decades. Even when a Sonic game or medium comes out that’s actually good, that always tends to get brush off and the media immediately retreats back to it’s “Sonic sucks!” narrative yet again. Or in the case of Gamespot, those are just delusions!
Or in the case of IGN, Sonic was never good to begin with!
I’m not gonna go into how right or wrong those people are but unfortunately, that has been the reputation with this series for quite some. However, if what SEGA plans for 2022 for Sonic is any indication, they are looking to change that narrative in a massive way. The exact way they plan on doing that is by taking their most beloved/infamous mascot from a traditional gaming franchise to now a multimedia franchise!
Granted, this won’t be the first time that SEGA has tried to do that with Sonic. Back in 2014, (which SEGA did actually initially hype of as “the year of Sonic”, they were looking to expand Sonic onto other forms of media in the series spin-off, Sonic Boom. Sonic Boom took a new direction with the franchise and acted as a departure from it’s own existed canon. It focused on five main characters most well-known by fans of the franchise, those being Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Dr. Eggman (Yes, I know he’s actually Robotnik but I’m calling him Eggman, damn it!) along with a couple of fan-favorite characters along the way like Shadow and Metal Sonic. Every one of them got redesigns with Knuckles looking buffer than ever, Eggman looking thinner than ever, and Sonic actually having blue arms for once. It was set in a distinct world separate from the main series, introduces original characters, most notably Sticks the Badger, and was promised to be a fresh start for the series along with giving it a brand new sense of identity. With a launch of toys, comic books, a couple of video games, and a television show, this was Sonic’s chance to jump back into the spotlight in a bright fascinating way. However, the results of this were mixed at best.
The television series aired from 2014 to 2017 with 2 seasons consisting of 104 episodes (all less than 15 minutes long) that first aired on Cartoon Network but later moved to Boomerang. It’s never been established of what the overall reaction to the show was and if it was all that popular to begin with among their target audience of young children. It just seems like a show that just existed and was a thing at some point. For what I’ve seen, it’s a decent, enjoyable kids cartoon with some fun action, fine humor, enjoyable spoofs and simple storylines/messages that you won’t think too much about just a couple of minutes after each episode had ended. It didn’t quite seem to reach the same highs (at least in term of ratings) as the original Sonic Satam in the late 1990s or even Sonic X (Again, in terms of ratings) in the mid 2000s but it wasn’t as low as say, the completely forgotten Sonic Underground. Perhaps this had to do with the rapid reaction to the overall announcement of the Sonic Boom franchise with folks being put off about the direction and character redesigns along with how the Boom games were received themselves, which ranged from middling (Shattered Crystal and Fire & Ice) to awful (Rise of Lyric).
Looking back on it, I don’t think the Boom series was quite the success that SEGA was hoping for in the grand scheme of things. It didn’t seem like it was as memorable of the series to this generation of millennials as Satam and X was to their generations. It’s hard to consider it a failure but it’s also hard to claim it was a hit either. Regardless, it’s look as though SEGA is looking to take it all one step further with what they are planning for Sonic for not just this year but for the near future.
It’s no secret that the Sonic the Hedgehog live-action movie was a big success for SEGA. Despite not making quite as bit of money at the box office as it could have due to the movie coming out just before Covid hit, it definitely was something that both fans and movie goers thoroughly enjoyed. Because of that, SEGA knows they got a big hit on their hands and want to ride that success train for as long as they possibly can. The best way to do this is to introduce these newcomers into the series with an expanding library choice of content. From the movies to shows to video games, no doubt SEGA wants to make new fans feel right at home.
For those that enjoyed the first Sonic movie, they got a second one to look forward and if they like that one too, there will be a third one on the horizon. For those that happen to enjoy Idris Elba’s Knuckles in the second one, then they got a brand new series just about him in the works. For those that enjoy the movies’ overall characters, callbacks, references, and lore from the games, they now have a new remaster of the original Sonic games on the way so they can get the characters, callbacks, references, and lore for next time. For those that want to see Sonic in a strictly new animated show that will put it’s own spin in the soon-to-be massively overdone multiverse concept, you got a new, original Netflix series coming soon. For those who want to experience a brand new Sonic game which perhaps will shape the direction of the franchise in the same way that Sonic Adventure and Sonic Colors did, they have a new game coming out developed by Sonic Team that they can ask Santa for Christmas. And heck, I’m pretty sure that there’s some good comic storylines by Archie that perhaps might even give you more respect for the Sonic characters than you had for the games or shows (Just avoid anything from Ken Penders!). All of this and more shows that SEGA desires for the 2020s is to have Sonic the Hedgehog be seen as more than just a gaming franchise still clinging onto the past, it’s now an expanding franchise that is looking strictly into the future across many mediums.
We all don’t know for certain if this will all work out in the long run. I imagine that SEGA has been trying to do something like this for the last two decades now but never have been able to find that one successful piece big enough to start building their own glorious puzzle up until now. There’s also the concern about how focusing on so many different things at the same time can lead to truly messy results (kinda like with the last several years with Sonic Team). No one can predict the future because as we all know, the future is not set in stone.
The first Sonic movie gave the franchise another leash on life in a way that no other Sonic media has ever had. At least now, there’s a chance to take advantage of this opportunity to build on something special and redefine Sonic in ways that are unimaginable. If SEGA wants Sonic to be anywhere near as popular as he once was, then they better coast on the success that they have right now and have all forms of good content for the foreseeable future. It’s only then that we will all be able to look back in how a change in a movie character design was able to change the franchise for the better. Not just by delivering a movie that this generation can look back on as the moment that they truly knew Sonic the Hedgehog, but the one that the blue blur was no longer seen as a slumping gaming series, but so much more.
Sonic’s future is in your hands now, SEGA! Don’t smurf it up!
Release Dates:
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will release in theaters on April 8th.
Sonic Prime, Origins, and Frontiers have not gotten official release dates yet but they have all been confirmed to come out sometime this year in 2022.
When I decided to do a marathon of all the Batman movies that had been released in theaters, this decision came from not only trying to build anticipation for myself and others for this newest entry but tried to get a sense of how each individual Batman incarnation differentiate themselves for one another. Not only to see what each different version has brought to the table and to see what exactly the new one could do, but more of what each version has NOT brought to the table and what exactly could this new one bring that the other films have not. With a character that has gotten so much live-action films along with TONS of animated ones, you would think that you have milked the franchise long enough in movie form and be fresh all out of full cows. I’m not gonna go over how each single version of Batman has stood out as their own since I’ve done that several times throughout my Bat-athon but I’ve always made the case that it seems like each director’s goal was to make a stylish Batman that fit more with their overall vision than the source material. Which is honestly why I was the most curious when it was announced that Matt Reeves was going to helm a Batman movie, a director who’s filmography consists of 75% remakes, reboots, and sequels.
It wouldn’t be a mistake to compare Matt Reeves with the likes of say J.J. Abrams, a director who’s prime skillset as a filmmaker is mimicking the style and feel of other people’s movies/properties. Yet, there’s always a sense through Reeves’s films that he’s telling a story that feels familiar but also is able to tell it as if it’s the very first time that particular story has ever been told. These two directors also tend to have a different sense of goals. Whereas Abrams tends to aim making flashy, sugary, fast-paced movies that are entertaining on a surface level but nothing much else, Reeves tries to add a sense of depth with his own unique style, direction, and storytelling. That’s what made his superb Planet of the Apes movies stand out despite it’s similarities to other films and that’s also what makes The Batman stand out as well because of it.
The Batman really feels like the first time in live-action that a filmmaker isn’t trying as hard to put his own “spin” on the character. Reeves isn’t so much interested about expressing his own unique voice but more on expressing his love for the Batman character, along for David Fincher films. We see his influence and inspiration on screen with The Batman functioning as a Batman movie first and as a genre movie second. In this case, that genre movie would involve detective tales, murder mysteries, and crime thrillers. While fans of these type of genre movies might be a tad underwhelming here as it doesn’t add much different to that particular genre, fans of the Batman character himself should be greatly satisfied.
And they should be more satisfied with the fact that this movie arguably features the most amount of Batman out of any of the live-action movie thus far. There have been complaints in the past that Batman movies focus too much on Bruce Wayne and not enough on Batman. I highly doubt that complaint can be made here, heck I wouldn’t be surprised if some complain that there’s too much Batman and not enough Bruce Wayne here. Even when we do get Bruce Wayne, he doesn’t seem all that different than his Batman persona. This is a Bruce Wayne that has let his Batman side take over what should be his human side to him. While that might bother some, Reeves makes it clear early one that is his full-on intention with showing a Bruce that is still in that insomnia/trauma phase that he hasn’t been able to get over of.
We spend so much time with Batman himself being the defined character we all know him as and more focused on the detective aspect than we have seen in film’s past. We see him do things like solve mysteries, investigate crime scenes, trying to get together evidence, and use special equipment like contact lenses to pin-point and record actual footage. Heck, we even see him doing as something simple as showing Batman look for clues in a stock folder of files. How much more detective can you get than that! While these detective aspects are admittedly nothing groundbreaking , it’s at least nice to see the World’s Greatest Detective actually act more like the World’s Greatest Detective for once.
What’s also greatly appreciating is how this is also the kind of Batman movie that doesn’t let it’s main villains or side characters overshadow the title character. I have made the argument in the past that the Batman is mostly define about the villains and that’s why it’s equal screen time to other characters hasn’t bother me as much as others, but The Batman shows that you don’t have to sacrifice one end or the other to make that ring true. While we see characters like Catwoman, Riddler, Penguin, and a few others have their fair amount of screen time, it never functions as it’s own separate story and always finds a way from both a thematic point and story point to trace it all back to Batman himself and his important duty in Gotham City.
And speaking of Gotham, this movie beats just about every single Gotham City we’ve had in live-action so far. While I loved that Batman Forever’s Gotham brought a sense of life into a corrupt town and Batman Begins hinted at a small portion of the absolute wasteland that the city can be, The Batman puts that corruptness and wasteland-like nature on full display. This is the first time in any of the live-action movies that you can buy Gotham as a city that’s lost his soul. It’s the first time I bought it 100% as an absolute shithole where crime has taken over from both a surface and symbolic level. It’s the first time I bought Gotham City as being a complete and utter mess that would take Batman forever (no pun intended) to clean up. This is the Gotham I see that gone through hell the same way that Bruce Wayne has.
However, hell isn’t something that only Gotham goes through in this movie but also the main characters the movie focuses on. Similar to other Batman movies, The Batman keeps it’s core and thematic through line through three different characters, this case it’s Batman, Catwoman, and Riddler. It’s the way this movie compensates into the depths of trauma and insomnia that has consumed all three of these figures throughout the past and present. Batman, with the death of his parents along with the other hits he takes as the story goes on. Catwoman, with the sins and connections to those from her past along with needing to find her friend/roommate. Riddler, with trying to share the amount level of grief and wanting acceptability along with coming up with a complete convoluted plan that will give him some sense of completeness. It’s that distinct mindset and things that each one of these characters have gone through or will go through that drives the movie forward and meets it’s overall endgame. With most of the characters presented, it might just be the most truly darkest dark night of their entire lives.
The performances are all stellar across the board. While the jury is still out on how he will hold his own as Bruce Wayne (again he doesn’t really get the chance to be fully at home as Bruce himself), Robert Pattinson makes for a perfect Batman, perfectly capturing the brooding and stoic nature of the character without going too overboard in any of that department. Zoe Kravitz is an absolute blast to watch as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, adding a ton of energy and feels the most comic-book accurate out of all the Catwomen we’ve gotten so far (although, I think I still prefer Michelle Pfeiffer). Jeffrey Wright makes for one cool Commissioner Gordon and one that even has the audacity to stand up to Batman. Paul Dino is perfect as the Riddler here that provides the right mix of being insane, threatening, and somewhat sympathetic by the end of it. Colin Farrell is recognizable but also quite entertaining as the Penguin. John Turturro continues to prove how underrated of an actor he is with his turn as Falcone. And despite not having as much screen time as one may hope for, Andy Serkis makes for a compelling Alfred in his own right.
The movie looks fantastic with it perfectly capturing the toxic but beautiful atmosphere of Gotham. The action, while used sparingly, is top notch with the highlights being that of a nightclub sequence that puts even the one in The Dark Knight to shame, and a Batmobile chase sequence that’s immediately brief but awesome in it’s own right. The score by Michael Giacchino is inspired and memorable in it’s own right, (Good luck not humming “DUNNNNNNN DUNNNN DUN” just mere moments after the movie has ended). The tone while dark and grim, never goes overboard with it and never forgets to have a bit of levity every now and then. And the film itself was entertaining and engaging throughout that mostly kept my attention and even it’s three hour long runtime didn’t feel taunting to me.
As for the flaws with this movie, there’s not much major ones but definitely some gripes. Firstly, there are elements in the third act that feel rushed and never gets that impactful feeling I think Reeves is originally going for. With the events that transpires there, I would suspected at least a little more time to be spend on it not be so glossed over. Secondly, while I get the movie isn’t trying to break any new ground with it’s material, there are times where the films’ inspirations to both past Batman movies and detective stories such as Se7en and Zodiac can feel a bit on the nose that you might be able to see a plot point or two coming from a mile away. I understand that after over a dozen or so Batman movies released in theaters that original ideas can be tricky but I do think that perhaps it could have afford to take a step further in some of the material it presents itself. However, unlike with Joker, this does at least have an actual functioning brain in his head with it’s own distinct feeling for itself that it’s inspirations won’t take you out of it. Thirdly, there’s a scene towards the tail end of the movie that is clearly meant to give a sequel tease that I honestly could have done without. The movie works well enough as it’s own thing that the overall tease felt quite forced and honestly made me roll my eyes.
The big overall question that everyone wants to know is if The Batman is the best Batman movie ever made? Well, it really depends on the kind of Batman that you want and hope to get out of this new movie. We have gotten so many different incarnations of the caped crusader in the past and nearly every single one of them has their fans of some sort. In my opinion, it’s not quite the best Batman movie or even my personal favorite one but still a damn solid one nonetheless. Perhaps it’s because I’ve grown more accustom to filmmakers doing their own unique thing with the character that one movie that feels more in line with the actual source material than one the director put their own version of Batman in their own unique sandbox is what makes The Batman come across as more conventional Batman movie compared to some of the others one. However, conventional doesn’t mean the same as bad. I would never punish a really good movie for being a really good movie, even if it’s not the best or even my favorite one. The Batman is a really good movie that while doesn’t break any new ground, it does tick off most of the right boxes of what I (and imagine others) would view as a proper Batflick.
As for the post credits scene, there’s not anything you MUST see if you have to go somewhere immediately after the movie is over. If you can stay, I would say do it in anyway to show some respect to all the folks who worked immensely hard on this movie along with a little bit towards the very end of the credits. Again, you won’t be missing anything if you leave after the movie is over but if you can stay, I would say stay anyway.
Think of it like a similar post credit scene to say, Birds of Prey.
The Marvel Netflix series has officially been taking off of Netflix. After seven years on that platform and about three years since it aired it’s actual final season, Marvel and Netflix seem to no longer be on the best of terms and have moved on from one another. However, just recently, it has been announced that all of these series will be added through Disney Plus as a means of allowing more mature content that will be added on March 16th. Because of all of that, I thought it was best to go back and finish watching the seasons I had yet to see just before it was taking down from Netflix. In hindsight, it was pointless to try to rush through it since it was eventually gonna be on Disney Plus anyway but I digress.
The Marvel Netflix series run made for a quite an interesting, bumpy, uneven, somewhat satisfying, but also plain exhausting ride. While it got off to a very promising start, it soon started to feel like it became too much of a good thing and couldn’t keep that level of consistent quality that the earlier seasons had. That’s not mean to say that these Netflix series was an absolute failure as a whole and there was even a couple of seasons that were great after a while but it definitely couldn’t reach the level of anticipation and rewatchability as say the Marvel Universe movies and even the Disney Plus series to some extent. Whether this has to do with Marvel or Netflix itself with the consistent flaws (sluggish placing, bloated runtimes, minimum momentum) these series has had is besides the point, but nevertheless, it was a thing that existed at one point and it came to an end three years later.
So, here is my ranking of all 13 seasons from worst to best. Keep in mind, I’ve only watched the majority of these seasons one time and I’m only going by what I remember from my overall experience with each season. With that underway, let’s get started.
(Btw, potential spoilers for each and every one of these seasons. If you haven’t watch one of the seasons and don’t want to be spoiled, then you might want to click away and come back once you’ve finished all of them.)
13.) Iron Fist- Season 1
This is arguably the first absolute trainwreck that the Marvel Cinematic Universe had released up to the point of this season’s release. Taking away all the pre-release controversy of Iron Fist being whitewashed and even actor Finn Jones trying to make the early negative reviews of the show into a political talking point, this season just fails on about every single level. Danny Rand is an annoying and unengaging lead while Finn Jones brings little to no charm, charisma, or believability as a material arts master. The fight scenes are poorly shot and are quite hard to watch, it’s about five episodes too long, it’s tone is uneven as hell, most of the cast look embarrassed to be there, the villains are a joke, and The Hand is the single least interesting thing introduced in this entire Marvel Netflix canon. Colleen Wing is quite likable though and poor Jessica Henewick’s back must hurt for having to carry these two sub-par seasons of this show on her back.
12.) The Defenders
The Marvel Netflix’s equivalent of The Avengers was about as forgettable and underwhelming as you can possibly imagine. The cast themselves (save for Finn Jones) have good chemistry and once the series actually bothers to have them together, they play off each other very well. Unfortunately, The Defenders lacks an interesting (or at least functional) plot for them to work with. The forced tied-ins to the already painfully dull The Hand, doesn’t do any favors, the build up to The Defenders themselves is beyond forced, and it really doesn’t provide enough of a justifiable reason as to why this needed to be a full-team up series to begin with. Thrown in a wasted Sigourney Weaver as the villain, a pointless revival of Elektra, and a finale where everything falls apart to absolute shit and it’s feel more on par with the Justice League monstrosity that got released just a few months after this came out than the 2012’s Avengers. While not quite the worst season overall, this was arguably the most disappointing one.
11.) Iron Fist- Season 2
A minor improvement over the dreadful first season but still not enough to make the Iron Fist character worthwhile. The action scenes are much improved, Danny isn’t the annoying insufferable dweeb as he was in the prior season, and at least had the decency to actually be 10 episodes this time as oppose to the completely forced 13. That being said, it fails to make it’s lore and backstory of it’s title character interesting and compelling . It also fails to give a reason as to why The Hand is worth being a major focus on throughout Marvel Netflix as a whole. What makes it more insulting to injury is how the final five minutes are legit better than anything that either two seasons had to offer that it makes you wonder why they didn’t just make this series like that to begin with. Oh well, at least Colleen Wing and Misty Knight are still cool.
10.) Luke Cage- Season 1
The one series where I started to notice the big cracks in the Marvel Netflix show. Whether it’s Marvel or Netflix fault as to the overall “formula” as to how these shows get made, these series greatest weaknesses comes from it’s pacing and just being too damn long. Luke Cage Season 1 unfortunately fall into those exact trappings. It’s starts off well enough with plenty of unique aesthetics and style to admire, a cool soundtrack to listen too, and solid introductions to most of the characters of the shows. Unfortunately, it’s right around the midway point where the series kills off a charismatic and welcome antagonist with Mahershala Ali’s Cottenmouth in favor of a more over-the-top and non-threatening antagonist in Erik LaRay Harvey’s Diamondback, that the big main flaws start to drag the whole season down. The middle chunk is filled with needlessly filler with too much time of Luke Cage being injured and Claire having to nurse him, the brother conflict between Luke and Diamondback doesn’t work in the slightest and feels like it should have been saved for Season 2, and it’s tonal whiplash of being cartoonish feel like a betrayal to the more serious and laid-back tone that the beginning of the show promised. Can’t go wrong with Simone Missick as Misty Knight though and Mike Colter is pretty good as Luke Cage himself!
9.) The Punisher- Season 2
After having achieve vengeance for his family’s death in the first season, Season 2 sees the Punisher attempting to pursue a new purpose and he finds that purpose when he find himself needing to protect a teenage girl named Amy Bendix from a brand new villain assassin in the form of John Pilgrim. That is a unique premise in of itself that makes for a great metaphor of the makers of the show trying to figure out what to do with the next season of a character who wasn’t originally suppose to get their own series.
Unfortunately, not of enough time is spend on that and too much of it is focused on forcefully bringing back Billy Russo (now known as Jigsaw) as the other main bad guy. Similar to Diamondback, that villain just seems too cartoonish to take seriously and doesn’t really fit in the overall tone that the series is going for. Kinda like with the title character (and most of the seasons 2 tbh), Season 2 of The Punisher feels like it’s at war with itself. It’s fine when it’s focuses on it’s own story along with it’s own individual arcs but falters when it feels the need to connect to Season 1 in ways that feels very implausible.
8.) Jessica Jones- Season 2
Season 1 of Jessica Jones was always going to be a tough act to follow after the way the season ended of killing its incredibly compelling bad guy that was neck-neck with Kingpin as being the best villain in these Netflix series. Similar to The Punisher, Season 1 set big holes that Season 2 can’t quite fill in. Luke Cage is replaced with a next door neighbor as a love interest who is rather quite boring, having Jessica’s mother being alive all along is too bizarre itself to completely buy into, and the season seems to be so aware they could never top Killgrave that they don’t even bother having an overall villain itself throughout the course of this season. There’s also the development of Trish turning into Hellcat which is cool up until she makes an awful decision that it makes her unredeemable. Thankfully, Krysten Ritter is just as brilliant her as she was in the first season and really holds this season together. Jessica Jones herself is still a great and compelling protagonist to follow and Ritter hasn’t lost a single bit of charm or wit to this character but you really get the sense that her series hit a brick wall after the first season and the creatives behind it didn’t quite know how to respond to it (at least until Season 3).
7.) Luke Cage- Season 2
Similar to Iron Fist, much better than the first season but not quite enough to make it standout as it’s own thing. 13 episodes is still way too long for these shows but for some reason, it feels the need for each episode to be at or around an hour long. Why? It makes the overall experience feel tiresome, no matter which way you decide to watch this show. However, unlike Season 1, there wasn’t really an area where it completely lost me. Luke Cage’s relationship with a family member, mostly his father, actually works this time because it’s actually a main focus point throughout the entirety of the season and doesn’t abrupt the overall tone. Simmone Missick as Misty Knight is still as fun to watch as she always has been and share great chemistry with Jessica Henwick’s Colleen Wing, so much so it kinda makes you wish Marvel Netflix could have gone on a bit longer for we could have Daughters of the Dragon. The best part of it all has to be the central main villain that is Mariah Dillard played by the wonderful Alfre Woodard. She thankfully gets more screen time here than the first season and completely steals every scene she’s in, Woodard makes her villain you love to hate but at the same time, don’t want to because Alfre Woodard is so likable. The series also makes a bold choice towards the end to where it isn’t afraid to make Luke Cage the bad guy.
6.) Jessica Jones- Season 3
It’s quiet unfair with how this overall season will be viewed and judged in hindsight. Not just as a the final season with it’s titled character but as the final season with Marvel Netflix as a whole. While I’m pretty certain this was not the ending that Marvel imagine with these series of shows, this season works better for Jessica Jones than it does with the Marvel Netflix run as a whole. Here we see Jessica being challenged more than ever as both a detective and as hero. (Heck, there’s Jessica Jones probably does more detective worth here than any live-action Batman movies, pre The Batman.) Not just with the main villain of Gregory Salinger but with her best frenemie of Trish Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat. Like with most of these shows, there is definitely a sense of slow-burn feel through out but at least here most of it pays off here because Jessica herself is engaging and seeing the choices she makes that may or may not define her as a “true” hero shows how unafraid these shows are at showing their characters being more than just heroes. Salinger himself is a pretty meh villain though.
5.) Daredevil- Season 2
If we are counting just the first four episodes of the season alone, than this would be near the top, if not possibly at #1. The first four episodes is as good as Marvel Netflix can get with it’s sheer amount of intensity, suspense, intrigue, and non-stop action. That stairwell scene puts the hallway scene in Season 1 to shame and the rooftop conversation between Daredevil and Punisher is absolute “Batman and the Joker interrogation chat” level of brilliance. Where it starts to falter is with the arrival of Elektra and being introduced to The Hand. While Elektra herself is entertaining to watch and Elodie Yung and Charlie Cox work well together, every time it has to take us back to anything involving The Hand makes it stick out like a sore thumb. Similar to Season 2 of The Mandalorian, it’s impossible to not to try to distinct the moments of fan service with fan favorite characters like The Punisher showing up and feeling like it’s just pure set-ups for other series that had still yet to come. It also doesn’t help that Kingpin only shows up for two episodes and the finale itself is kind of a mess. (Not to mention, that Elektra reveal near the tail end is beyond laughable.) At least, there’s more stuff happening with side characters like Karen, Foggy, and Claire this time around and something always happening throughout that it’s hard to be zone out by. I might have found this a bit more entertaining than the first season, but from an objective standpoint, this is probably inferior and the weakest of the three seasons.
4.) Daredevil- Season 1
The one that started it all and is a favorite for many people. And it’s easy to see why! This set the perfect tone for these Netflix shows, a tone that has a perfect blend of realism but also enough light. The universe building it displays is incredibly well realized and has it’s own unique feel to it that’s different compared to the Marvel movies. The action and fight scenes are absolute top notch that feels real but also incredibly brutal and dirty. And of course, the rivalry between Charlie Cox’s Daredevil and Vincent D’onofrio’s Kingpin is extraordinary stuff and makes the whole season (and even the entire series) worth it because of their great dynamic. The rest of the series on the other hand, is a bit of a mixed bag. The length of the series and each episode is felt the longer it goes on, the supporting characters like Karen and Foggy don’t get much to do other than solving the same crimes that Daredevil himself already solved, and no matter which Daredevil outfit you prefer, they look quite downright silly regardless. It’s a season that basically works more as a whole than the sum of it’s parts. While it’s not quite my favorite season overall, it’s undeniably the most important one.
3.) The Punisher- Season 1
The Punisher himself was the one character that wasn’t originally planned to have his own series. It officially came greenlighted shortly after Daredevil Season 2 as many people loved Jon Bernthal’s portal as the character and wanted to see more of him. That in of itself could make the actually season itself feel incredibly rushed and half-baked but that is thankfully not the case with The Punisher Season 1. While the first half is not particularly great suffering from many of the same length and pacing problems as most of these series do, it easily finds it’s momentum, purpose, and pay offs very well in the second half that it makes the patience feel earned. This help showcased how a supposed monster like Frank Castle himself can still be seen as having humanity within himself. The actions he takes to avenge his fallen family showcases the beam of light that Frank Castle himself has. Jon Berthnal is extraordinary as the Punisher, making for what is possibly the best live-action Punisher up to this point. The action is the most brutal, violent, gory, and bloody than it has been in any Netflix show, featuring one of the most satisfyingly gruesome scenes at the very end of the second to last episode (this deserves to go into the top 3 for that one scene ALONE!) Although it’s somewhat undermines the entire point of the Punisher to present him as being the hero of the story as oppose to a bad guy or at least anti-hero, he does enough brutal things in the show and Berthnal is so good in the role that it mostly doesn’t matter. I can flip a coin between this or the first season of Daredevil but I found the ends to really justify the means more so here .
2.) Daredevil- Season 3
My favorite season of the series by a long shot! Not only in the sense that it takes the character back to his original roots but the one that feels like the character of Daredevil himself is being tested more than ever before. This season has the biggest stakes out of the entire Marvel Netflix universe with the characters in constant peril and Daredevil possibly meeting his match with not just with Kingpin but with his supposed doppelganger known as Bullseye. The sides characters get plenty to do here that have their own arcs and challenges to overcome, the action has never been better and more brutal (the hallway prison fight somehow manages to be even better than both the one in Season 1 and the stairway scene in Season 2 combined), the antagonists shine well here, and is so fascinating to see Daredevil practically get pushed beyond his limits to do what is right for his friends and the city he has sworn himself to protect. And just like with The Dark Knight, it knew that it’s central story had just as much to do with the main hero as it did with his villains. While it’s disappointing that the show had to end here and we’ll never get a fourth season (especially with that cliffhanger tease at the end), they were at least able to save the very best for last and go out on a high note.
1.) Jessica Jones- Season 1
This one was still my favorite overall! Easily the darkest and most suspenseful of all the series but at the same time, the most engaging and entertaining one as well. Perfectly blending the dark themes of abuse, sexual assault, and PTSD, the first season of Jessica Jones works greatly as a haunting character study, a psychological thriller, and an intriguing detective mystery tale. His noir-inspired tone and aesthetic work greatly with the style of the film, the side characters (save for a slightly annoying Hope Shlottmann) are great, with the highlights being Carrie-Ann Moss’s Jeri Hograth, Rachael Taylor’s Trish Walker, and Mike Colter’s Luke Cage, and the overall personal conflict between Jessica and Kilgrave themselves is intriguing but at the same time, disturbing. Krysten Ritter is perfect as the lead heroine but it’s David Tennant as Kilgrave that gives arguably the best performance of the entire Marvel Netflix series, even more so than Vincent D’onofrio as Kingpin. It’s the one season series where I was interested from beginning to end not feeling a sense of drag or boredom. It felt perfectly structure and actually felt justified of it’s 13 episode length. The only real downside is perhaps the death of Kilgrave which despite fitting perfectly within the arc of this season, did make the following seasons an near impossible act to follow to killing off an incredible villain after just it’s first season. But, taking at it’s own thing, Jessica Jones Season 1 was easily the best thing to come out of Marvel Netflix and even had there been no other season to follow this, it would have perfectly well as it’s own great standalone feature.
But yeah, those are my rankings! What a weird, wild ride these Marvel Netflix shows have been!
I don’t know exactly the future now for these characters and the actors involved. With Matt Murdock’s cameo in No Way Home and Kingpin’s appearance in Hawkeye, there seems to be a chance that most of the other cast members could have a chance to play their characters once again. Heck, maybe with the shows moving to Disney Plus, that’ll gain so much viewership that Disney and Marvel will feel compelled to bring them back. Who knows? Either way, those are my rankings of all 13 seasons? Let me know yours in the comments below or you can tweet me on Twitter to give me your rankings there.
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Also, I forgot to mention but Claire Temple is a great character and Rosario Dawson plays her well. I just hope those allegations against her beating up a trans person is false. I hear that’s probably not the case but I would need 100% proof on that before liking her once again.
First off, yes I will be discussing both versions in one post. Despite being different in terms of direction, tone, cinematography, editing, and score, both cuts still share the majority of the same beats, plot points, and character arcs that both can only be described as the exact same movie to me. If you don’t like that, well too bad. Anyways, on we go with the last Batman piece for The Batman hits theaters!
Anyone remember 4Kids? Y’know, that controversial children’s network that was infamous for butchering anime series. The one entertainment company that would change up the script, tone, feel, and editing of the whole anime series it was dubbing for younger audiences even if the original anime was actually targeted towards teenagers and young adults. Whether we’re talking about Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Sonic X, One Piece, etc., 4Kids would do everything in their power to make sure that each episode of a show they dub would be as kid friendly as an episode of Sesame Street or Dora the Explorer. Even if it required some of the most stupidest and pointless edits/cuts imaginable, like having a character spell out G.U.N. instead of just saying gun (Yes, really!), the agenda was to always scale down each individual episode, cut out anything even remotely dark, have the most lighthearted tone and kid friendly script possible, and make sure it’s no longer than 20 minutes so there can at least be 10 minutes of commercial breaks. As a kid, you don’t notice any of this because you’re not suppose to know any better but as you get older, you see that something is clearly wrong here.
It’s then that you watched the original anime dub that it was based on, most notably the Japanese version and you realized that this is the version that feels right. This is the version that makes the series feel whole and the one that you were actually meant to see. It’s more serious, has more adult and mature themes, there’s some swearing, sexual humor, drug references, and you never feel like you miss a beat when watching it unlike with the US one. Granted, Japan is not necessarily a country that is very sensitive to subject matter and vocabulary language as America is (Like, it’s perfectly normal for a child in Japan to swear. There’s only one or two actual bad words in Japan), but you know damn well this is the version that feels like the definite one, even if it’s practically the exact same show as the massively inferior English one.
Those are the kinds of vibes I get with these two cuts. They have basically the exact same plots with hardly a single beat or arc missed. The whole story in both cuts is about how Batman and Wonder Woman must find the other superheroes out there, form the Justice League, collect all the mother boxes scattered throughout before bad guys get it, fight the evil Doomsday and his deadly army, and attempt to resurrect Superman before all is lost and mankind loses itself once again. The same thing can also be to applied with the original supposed arcs that the characters themselves go through. Batman must learn to be a team leader, Wonder Woman has to use the hope she gain in mankind over the past two movies (BvS and the first WW) to get this gain of superheroes together, Flash is searching for the friends and family that he has lost or left behind bars, Aquaman is learning to adjust to life, people, and resources outside of his wet world, Superman is wondering if there’s any heroism and humanity left inside him, and Cyborg is trying to find his purpose with a group of unique outcasts so he no longer has to be one. Regardless of how much fans of the Snyder cut would like to argue that it’s as different to the theater cut as say The Dark Knight is to Batman 1966, it can’t be denied that the plot points and structure remain in tact.
And make no mistake about it, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is by the far superior version. It feels like an actual complete film with an actual complete vision. It’s able to take it sweet ass four hour long time to build up to each conflict, team-up, and story progression as it cans without losing the style and direction it’s going for, even if it’s stretched out in the first half to almost comical degree. It has it’s own unique score that doesn’t feel like a sloppily remix of prior Batman movies like the theater version. It also has a more improved and more satisfying climax with much better visuals and effects to back it up. It also sure does help to NOT have to use CGI to remove a mustache. Even if there are still some flaws for the theatrical cut that are carried over here (certain characters not having much of a presence, a scattershot first act when getting the JL members together, Doomsday being a boring as f*ck baddie), and even create some new flaws of it’s own (like the absolutely godawful last 15 minutes), the Snyder cut is no doubt the definite version and the one you should watch if you want to have the full experience.
In general, it’s just so amazing how much time it takes into editing, lightning, shooting, framing, directing, and doing redos of all of that can take a movie that has practically the same story to tell but make it as it’s something completely different and gamechanging in comparison. Just like how 4kids took something more mature and aimed at older audience and made something more watered down for a target audience that are probably still a few years away from dropping their first f bomb, the theater cut of Justice League manages to strip away the heart and soul of it’s original version in favor of something more crowd pleasing and a cut short enough where you can fill as much theater showings of it n a day as possible. It’s only in through production and post-production of a flick can make or break it no matter the quality of your actual motion picture. If you don’t believe me, just watch this side-by-side comparison of both cuts.
Now, you might be wondering about me discussing Batman’s role in the movie. Well, to be honest, there’s not much to say about Batman in this movie. His role and arc in the story is about as simple and straight forward as it gets. For a cut of a movie that aims to be more grown up and SMART, his character development is about a by-the-numbers as you could get that even a child can see his story turns coming from a mile away. Granted, this is a Justice League movie first and Batman movie second so that’s understandable but you would think the most popular DC character would have more of a presence in a Justice League movie than say Cyborg (Although, the stuff with this Cyborg is some of the best stuff in the whole movie btw). There’s really nothing fascinatingly awful or fascinatingly great of his role in this movie. It just seems like he’s kinda there.
(Also, side note, it’s quite funny how Snyder fanboys/defenders always like to brush off criticism towards his films claiming that people just didn’t get it despite the fact his DCEU movies has been as unsubtle and oversimplied with it’s themes as possible. Like, what is there to not get about the Martha scene? Or Lex Luthor needing a piss jar? Or even Zod claiming that there’s only way to end a fight between him and Superman despite the fact that’s actually two ways? What is there not to “get” but any of that?)
Sorry, I got sidetracked!
Batman’s sole purpose in this movie is to be a team leader. He and Wonder Woman’s overall goal in this movie, which carries over from Dawn of Justice, is to build an army of superpower beings that they can find in favor of forming an allegiance that will help protect the world at all cost. He still just as bit as moody and brooding as in the last film (unless you watch the theater cut) although not as cold blooded, murderous or bloodthirsty towards crime fighting. He does feel more of the Batman this time around than say, the Punisher but there’s just not much that makes this Bruce Wayne/Batman standout as it’s own thing to be engaged in. Ben Affleck definitely does try harder in the Snyder Cut than he did in the theater cut (where he looked like he rather just stayed in bed) and some of the Batmobile action is top notch but Snyder still fails to make his version of Batman engaging in his own rights without the needs of aesthetics, visuals, and performance wise to do the work for him. His take on Batman overall is…….passable but it should have been much better.
They do also hint at in the abominable epilogue about the possible reason for Batman killing had to do with the murder of Dick Grayson and Lois Lane caused by the Joker. Once again it’s HINTED at, not confirmed. And once again, we never once got the insight into the relationship or connection to Dick or Lois either so that just falls flat. At least it’s more buyable than trying to pretend that Bruce actually cared all that much about that poor Dave fella who Superman got killed. Although, this does lead to easily the funniest line in the whole movie where Batman tells Joker he’s gonna f*cking kill him! I shed tears of laughter everytime I hear that!
I still don’t get what’s preventing Batman from killing the Joker here. It makes no sense, just do it! You’ve killed plenty of others less evil up to this point, how is killing off Mr. J gonna ruin your reputation.
Also, this whole scene is just a dream sequence, something that Snyder sure does love to put in his movies. So, who’s to say that any of this is true and that there even is a real Robin. Heck, maybe this while entire Snyderverse was one crazy fever dream. All kidding aside, I get the sense this scene was only done just to have an excuse for the DCEU Batman to have an interaction of some sort with the DCEU Joker. And my god is Jared Leto has terrible than ever! He should go back to trying to do his best Mario impressions.
But yeah, Batman may not be as much of a mindless killer as he was in the last one and it is cool to see a Batman in live-action being able to interact with other Justice League members but having to follow through the context or lack thereof baggage from Dawn of Justice can’t seem to make the movie do any favors. I sure do hope Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson are up to the task to with making their version of Batman more distinct and filled with depth that you don’t need multiple sequels or decades of resources to get you to care about him.
Overall, that just about does it for my Batman marathon. It sure was interesting to go back to watching all these films once again and seeing how each one stands out with the others. Not all of them are winners of course but this was definitely a purely fascinating experience. There has been many different kinds of Batmans over the years and I only hope Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson are able to bring something to the table that’s fresh, different, but also feels just right. I get the feeling that they will do just that but I will wait to find out when I see the movie myself on March 3rd. I will have my review out for The Batman shortly after I’ve seen the movie, do a ranking of every single theatrical release Batman film to date, and possibly do a spoiler-heavy piece a few days after the movie has come out.
A big thanks to every single one of you that has read all of my Batman posts and other pieces up to this point even if you don’t always agree with what I am saying. I hope you continue to enjoy my content! And if you haven’t already, be sure to follow me through WordPress, Twitter, and Letterboxd if you want to keep up to date with my content or have any questions for me.
Hope you all have a swell day and enjoy The Batman whenever you see it!
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