I actually kind of think this is the most underrated movie in the MCU. Not sure how many Top 5 lists this makes. And I wish they'd just made Civil War as a stand-alone movie, not Cap 3. This shows they knew what to do with Cap at one point. Then Whedon comes along and gets rid of Hydra practically off-screen. Never understood that. Cap/Black Panther team ups would have been great with the more espionage/international/spy vibes to the story. Missed opportunities.

I felt like shit yesterday. I took a Covid test but it came up negative. I guess it's just allergies. I emailed my boss and told him I wouldn't be working. Lately, sick days mean I just spend the day in a different room of the house. I spent the day in a room with a TV, and decided to continue my way thru the MCU and watched Iron Man 2. And...it wasn't quite as bad as I remember. Maybe it's because when these movies are bad, they still aren't THAT bad. There's lots of annoyances: as somey said, Mickey Rourke didn't want to be there; Sam Rockwell was wasted; Gwyneth was always bitching about shit; the whole section in Monaco is dogshit. But RDJ is still has that charm. Plus Nick Fury, Black Widow, and the concept of the Avengers are introduced. It's still bottom tier MCU, and a huge step down from Iron Man, but it was a little better than I remembered.

I watched the 5th episode of Hawkeye today and I need to update my list.

Diello's Definitive Ranking of Hottest Women in the MCU That I Can Think of Right Now

5. Scarlet Johansson Endgame -- not sure why but the two tone hair really did something for me
4. Elizabeth Olsen That One Episode of WandaVision Where She Wore the Comics Version of the Scarlet Witch Costume -- she was like the hot cosplay girl at a con
3. Florence Pugh in the 5th Episode of Hawkeye where she talks to Kate Bishop and has her Hair Down -- glad somey convinced me to watch this series
2. Rachel Weisz Black Widow -- general principle
1. Cate Blanchett Ragnarok -- any time she doesn't have the antelope antlers hat on, she is as hot as a woman could possibly be

I appreciate that episode of Hawkeye not just for the reason you cite, but for the point of view of those who got snapped and then snapped back, and how weird that must've been everywhere.

They addressed it in WandaVision as well and it was a great way to start an episode.

I still think the "5 years later" from Endgame is the best thing they did. It really did give true weight to the story. And then using it in subsequent stories.

The first episode of Moon Knight was good. I really like that it seems to be completely disassociated from the rest of the MCU, just a standalone series.

We watched it last night and it was pretty cool. Nice mix of mystery and batshitnicity.

I knew of Moon Knight and may have read a book or two in the 80s, but it didn't hold my interest. I did like the first episode and looking forward to the series.

I’m not big on the concept of Lady Thor. Is this a multi-verse thing? That’s probably the only way I can get on board with the concept since I’ve pretty much given up on any of this being “normal” anymore. Anyway, it will probably be super-wacky which can drain me. But probably funny AF with Pratt/Hemsworth. That trailer didn’t offer a lot. Jane’s arms though …

No idea. That part didn't do anything for me. It was literally everything else. Just awful.

Rumor is Beta Ray Bill will also be in it.

Moon knight was fun. Above WandaVision overall but below Loki.

I dug it, too. Oscar Isaac is a damn good actor. I hope they have a 2nd season or at least work him into the movies.

They changed the listing on Disney+ from "Series Finale" to "Season Finale" so in all likelihood it will be back. That being said, Oscar Isaac did not sign on for any more (he didn't want to be tied to movies etc) but seems open to do another season. It's possible that the mid-credits season was shot in case they wanted to do another season, but could have been left out if they didn't. Though if it were left out it would have left a plot hole in the final fight.

Doctor Strange Into the whatever. Somewhere in the teens. First 70-90 minutes I really enjoyed. After that I turned to my wife and said "what the fuck is happening." I never thought I'd utter these words, but the movie went too Raimi. It was cool how they brought Robert Downey Jr back into the MCU. That's gotta be a huge contract

I mean wtf. How can one even put this in the same rankings as Winter Soldier? It’s like they’re not even in the same … universe. I think I liked it, but shit has gotten so weird.

Are people putting it that high? I don't do social media any more. I thought everyone overrated No Way Home, too.

This movie should've been Strange vs. Mordo. Nothing else. At least No Way Home advanced Peter's character arc. This did nothing for Strange.

No, I think people are putting it pretty low. My comment was in regards to it being so different to Winter Soldier that they don’t even belong on the same list. Sorry for the confusion. I don’t know where I rank it yet.

Very curious about the MCU future of one specific Illuminati member though. And I thought Liz Olsen was incredible. My wife and son were confused by a lot of it because they didn’t watch WandaVision.

If we’re going to go weird, let’s go all the way weird. Bigly interested in the paint universe. Not really interested in a universe where red means go and they eat pizza from a bowl.

scene from movie so don’t click if you haven’t seen it

So as for the Illuminati, remember those are those characters from that specific universe, so they can still do whatever they want in the 616. I assume you're talking about casting for an upcoming movie and if they'll keep it? I like him, so I kind of hope so. The casting of that group is key to its success for me.

I had read so much about Tom Cruise showing up that it was weird to me that it didn't happen. The Ultrons were a big part of that character in the comics so I was thrown off waiting for it to happen.

Elizabeth Olson gave the best performance in the MCU, in my opinion. She was phenomenal.

Another issue I have with the movie is how magic fights always end up with each person blasting different color energy blasts at each other. Or it's magic swords and magic arrows. Like everyone is just Cap or Hawkeye with a glowing effect around their weapon. I know this is an inherent problem with magic in movies, Harry Potter battles were the same way, and I don't know the solution. But I want to see magic as magic, not magic arrows and guns. It doesn't have to follow standard movie rules, magic can be illogical and make less sense. Maybe I got that with the whole super-Raimi part near the end, which was my least favorite part of the movie. Just like magic, I'm illogical and make no sense.

Right, I get that. I wasn’t referring to his ending in the 838 or what that means going forward. Just his future in the 616, because I didn’t realize an upcoming movie was official, so his appearance got me pumped. I’m big time excited for that. Probably should have said “excited”, not “curious” in my OP.

I didn’t read anything prior to the movie, other than your post, so I wasn’t sure if you were serious about RDJ.

I haven't seen it yet.

Ok, I saw it. It didn't make a lot of sense, but I enjoyed the horror elements of it.

C tier

I still don’t know where I rank it, because it’s so different and the MCU has gotten so bizarre. I guess the more grounded stories became boring. (Not to me) Probably B tier. But like you, I did like the horror aspects a lot. My kids weren’t prepared for it. They’ve never really experienced any type of scary movie. My 13 y/o cried when the T-Rex ate the goat in Jurassic Park. So they didn’t handle MoM very well.

Thor: Love and Thunder - I went in with pretty low expectations and I’m not even sure it hit them. It really wasn’t even very funny. It’s very low.

Finally watched it. Not only is it far and away the worst MCU movie, but it's possibly the worst super-hero movie ever made, and one of the worst movies I've ever seen. They've flat-out destroyed Thor as a viable character. I'll never buy him as a threat/difference-maker again. They only ever went for a non-funny joke or inappropriately placed Guns and Roses song. Completely worthless as a movie.

Also, why did Russell Crowe have an Italian accent?

Phase 4 is pretty bad - awful compared to the first 3 phases - and I’m really not even looking forward to Black Panther 2 either. Not the MCU’s fault that Boseman died, but it’s not even going to have Black Panther in it. At least name it something else. I’ve even soured a bit on No Way Home, though it’s still easily the best movie from Phase 4. Doesn’t seem like there is much direction and the only connectors are from the D+ shows.

So they decided Phase 4 is dead now. I don’t even know what the Phases mean. They don’t represent anything.

Ms Marvel was … ok. Don’t have the energy to watch She-Hulk yet.

Made it through 1 episode of each (maybe a couple of Ms. Marvel). Neither is bad, just uninteresting. Plus... the Hulk. As worthless now as Thor. The character has been changed into a comedic one that serves no other real purpose.

I'm interested in Secret Invasion and sort of the Thunderbolts. But even the Thunderbolts is a team-up and massively undeveloped characters.

I finally watched Thor 4 and it's a complete mess and not good, but it's not the worst superhero movie ever. It's still better than Superman III, Batman and Robin, and Suicide Squad. Russell Crowe is fat and could play Dionysus, but not Zeus. And that lightning bolt weapon looked like it came from a Spirit Halloween store. And Jesus, the tonal shifts. One minute you've got the GotG (who looked totally bored) and the next you're dealing with stage 4 cancer. Who the fuck thought any of this was a good idea?

Wakanda Forever was decent. Probably as good as it could have been without re-casting T’Challa. I would have re-cast him. :shrug: It wasn’t short on powerful, emotional moments, especially the tributes to Boseman/T’Challa. The theater was dead silent in those moments, no pun intended. The villain was well developed. Shuri had a great arc. On the bad side, it was really long and a bit muddled in the middle. I also could have done without the shoehorned new super hero. I need to stew on the ranking. Definitely 10 steps up from Love and Thunder. Upper tier Phase 4 for sure

Also, it costs a fortune to take 5 people to a theater with lounge seats and delivered food.

Quantumania - I just think that yeah. It’s not worse than Love and Thunder. It’s not even worse than the previous Ant-Man and the Wasp. But alas, it’s another dud. Not a terrible movie, just meh. It did make me laugh a few times, but only because a specific character was so ridiculous. Michelle Pfeiffer looks amazing for 65. Better than she did 30 years ago. But overall, this universe has lost me. Will still watch though, especially gotg3.

Also finished She-Hulk a while back. Wound up liking it more than Ms Marvel, if that means anything.

I'm not done with Marvel, but I'm currently checked out on it. None of phase 4 got me too excited, so I haven't even bothered with Wakanda Fever yet. Word on Quantumania isn't good. Someone give me a heads up if it improves and becomes worthwhile.

How was the one with all the different spider mans?

Secret Invasion has my attention.

Has a Winter Soldier feel but with aliens.

Maybe spoilers

I’m not feeling the great reviews for GoTG3. I thought it was decent despite the fact that I’m going to mostly rip it. Infinity War/End Game really put this in a bad spot with what they did with Gamora. They should have just left her dead or not killed her at all. The humor was mostly a miss for me, especially Drax. Adam Warlock was completely wasted and stupid. Felt like he was in it only because he was teased in the last one and to set him up for future movies. There were way too many close calls with character deaths, including one save I predicted from a mile away. I can deal with those within reason, because they’re in every movie, but it happened way too many times here. The main villain kept coming back. I thought he was dead like 3 times. Tonal shifts like a mug. Even the soundtrack was a miss. My favorite Guardian is Rocket and he was sidelined for most of the movie as they went back and forth with the present and his past. His backstory was gut wrenching and hard to watch, though it was still the best part of the movie. It was dark, which I typically love but it doesn’t really fit the Guardians. Groot’s line at the end was total cringe. (Edit: now reading that there’s more there than face value) On the flip side, there were a couple of really good action sequences and I thought they did a really good job here with Mantis. Gamora still There we’re some really good Drax/Mantis and Nebula/Rocket moments. Nebula had a great arc and Drax had a fitting ending. I didn’t really buy the reason for the total breakup of the group. Seems like their reasoning is for things that would take a month or 2, before they get back together. Not a complete breakup. They also teased the new Guardians (?) and I have very minimal interest in them.

Finally got caught up on the latest Marvel.

BP2: Feelin Wakanda - Was better than not bad, but still just ok. Don't remember much plot, but the kid at the end was nice.

Ant-Man: Quadrophenia - Better than I'd heard. It was missing a lot of the goofiness that made the first one a lot of fun. Bill Murray was wasted, and the girl who played his daughter was terrible.

GotG3 - I liked it more than somey did. Best Marvel since Endgame.

It’s better than Endgame.

Saw GotG this weekend. I liked it, but it's def my least fave GotG.

Groot's last line threw gave me eye roll. I saw what Gunn said regarding it and I while I don't hate the idea, it should have been explained in the movie, ie Gamora understanding it and realizing she was becoming part of the "family" (or something similar). Something like that would have let the audience know that they too are part of the family and can now understand Groot.

Spider-verse next weekend, y'all!