Marvelous TV Club

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Our Hawkeye Finale Extravaganza—Plus Some Spidey and a Year-End MTVC Surprise! Dec 23, 2021

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Did Clint Barton truly reckon with his past as Ronin? Is Kate Bishop a bad daughter? Can the Kingpin really be dead? And does Marvel struggle with satisfying finales?

A flash-bang finale of Hawkeye left us gasping for air, but also left us with a lot of questions about our favorite characters. Join Kristine Kippins, Jesse Taylor, and Marc Faletti as we dive into all the unresolved issues big and small. And SPOILER ALERT: we get into some Spidey talk, too, so fair warning to all.

Last but not least, we end the first year of Marvel TV with some surprise cameos and reflections on our favorite shows of the year. Onward to 2022 and more Marvelous TV Club!

Hawkeye Episode 5 Has a Lot to Say About Control And Redemption Dec 17, 2021

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Once someone has serious red in their ledger, can they ever hope for a chance at redemption? Yelena and Maya have a very different answer to that question than Clint and Kate, and that battle takes center stage in the penultimate episode of Hawkeye.

Meanwhile, Eleanor does her best to re-establish some control over the life of her daughter just as Kazi tries to do the same over Maya.

These ideas of control and redemption tie into everything from Arrival to A Christmas Carol (and, of course, The Royal Tenenbaums). Join our Storycast crew of Amanda Marcotte, Maeve Adams, and Marc Faletti as we break all of that down and more!

The Memes, MacGuffins, and Messy Relationships of Hawkeye Episode 4 Dec 09, 2021

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What was up with Clint's "Thanos Was Right" mug? Whose watch has everybody been hunting? Is Kate in a healthy place with Clint? What's Yelena's game? And are Eleanor and Jack really in love, or are they playing each other?

Join Jesse Taylor and Marc Faletti as we untangle the webs that weave together the characters of Hawkeye on this week's MTVC Charactercast!

Hawkeye Interrogates the Superhero Identity and the Meaning of Family Dec 03, 2021

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We're at the halfway point of Hawkeye, and the primary themes of the series are starting to emerge! The MTVC Storycast team assembles to break down the subtly complex ideas driving the series thus far.

What makes someone a superhero, and is it a choice or a destiny? What are the risks and benefits of a more expansive definition of family? And is the Hawkeye series reframing what it means to tell a Christmas story?

Join Amanda Marcotte, Maeve Adams, and Marc Faletti for answers to all of those questions and more on the Marvelous TV Club!

How Parenting and Privilege Define the Characters in Hawkeye's First Two Episodes Nov 25, 2021

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Charactercast is back with a deep dive into faces new and old from the first two episodes of the Hawkeye series!

Is Clint Barton dealing with his trauma or hiding from it? Is Kate Bishop in the hero game for the right reasons? What's Jack Duquesne really up to? And is Kate's mom a heckuva lot more sinister than she appears?

These may seem like unrelated questions, but two threads tie them together: parenting and privilege. We explain it all on the latest release from the Marvelous TV Club, starring Kristine Kippins, Jesse Taylor, and Marc Faletti.

Everything You Need to Know About the Comics That Inspired the Hawkeye TV Series Nov 16, 2021

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The MTVC is back! Our Storycast crew breaks down the themes, archetypes, and big ideas of the Hawkeye comic series that inspired the TV show.

You don't have to have read a single page to enjoy this conversation. But by the time we're done, don't be mad if you wind up wanting to grab the issues for yourself!

Join Amanda Marcotte, Maeve Adams, and Marc Faletti for a trip through Matt Fraction's world of Clint, Kate, Pizza Dog, goofy Russian gangsters, and so much more!

The Answer to the Question "What If?" Is Complicated Aug 27, 2021

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We're three episodes into "What If?" and that means it's time to unite a few timelines of our own to discuss what's working, what isn't, and where it's all headed.

Amanda Marcotte and Jesse Taylor join Marc for a discussion of our favorite characters, the biggest missed opportunities of the series, and how "What If?" will impact the future of the overall MCU. Oh, and we talk about Thanos's butt, too. So settle in, because we're as excited as a wild-eyed, serial-killing Hank Pym to dissect "What If?" on the MTVC!

Charactercast: Loki Episode 6 Final Arcs Jul 19, 2021

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Kang/He Who Remains was full of surprises. And lies—at least if you ask Sylvie. She and Loki began the final episode closer than ever, only to find themselves multiverses apart in the end. Meanwhile, the TVA as we knew it seems gone. And in its place...well, we probably won't know for sure until season 2 just how different the new TVA is. But we definitely have some ideas.

On our final Charactercast of Loki season one, Kristine Kippins and Marc Faletti discuss the finer points of Loki's growth, Kang's plan, Sylvie's revenge, Mobius's new form, and Ravonna's past.

The Marvelous TV Club: For all time. Always!

PonderVision: Loki Episode 6 Making Sense of the Multiverse Jul 17, 2021

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The possibilities within the MCU literally exploded out of the Loki season finale, and the implications are almost impossible to comprehend. But that is exactly the kind of problem space we love here at PonderVision!

If you want to know how time works now, what happened to the TVA at the end of the episode, the potential origins of Kang's tech and plans, and where the MCU might go from here, we've got you covered.

Join Jesse Taylor and Marc Faletti for the kind of branching discussion through the exciting possibilities that we specialize in here at the Marvelous TV Club!

Storycast: Loki Episode 6 Final Themes Jul 15, 2021

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What a barnburner! What a mind-twister! What a cliffhanger!

The end of Loki's first season had it all -- well, except pat answers. Those were in short supply. But that's what makes it so fun to unpack and explore thematically, which is what we specialize in here at Storycast.

Join Maeve Adams, Amanda Marcotte, and Marc Faletti for a look at two primary themes of the finale: 1) that we do not need to invent an oppressive god to save us from ourselves, and 2) despite what many other stories have told us, love and war are fundamentally incompatible.

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