Marvelous TV Club

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PonderVision: Loki Episode 2 Mysteries and Paradoxes Jun 19, 2021

Show notes

The TVA cafeteria is a source of endless mystery. How do they decide what food is available? Where do those Jostas even come from? And if you like *that* mystery, wait til we get to the question of how there can be both a sacred timeline and a bunch of different Lokis running around!

Loki episode 2 gave us a ton to chew on, and Jesse Taylor and Marc Faletti decide to take a huge bite out of its most compelling mysteries and paradoxes. If you've ever wondered to yourself, "Is Loki more like Charles Lindbergh or Prince?" then this PonderVision is the perfect show for you.

Storycast: Loki Episode 2 Themes and Competing Realities Jun 17, 2021

Show notes

If the first episode of Loki pitted free will against fate, the second episode sets up a clash of order vs. chaos. This tension ripples throughout the relationship between Loki and Mobius, but also in the showdown between Loki and his female counterpart. Even the jet ski plays a crucial role in this debate!

But that's not all. "The Variant" also explores how much our ideology can shape the reality we perceive. And when competing views of reality come face-to-face, violence is usually just around the corner...

Join Amanda Marcotte, Maeve Adams, and Marc Faletti as we strip Loki's second episode down to the scaffolding to see what makes it tick.

Charactercast: Loki Episode 1 Allies, Threats, and Snitches Jun 14, 2021

Show notes

How villainous is this Loki, really? Is Mobius someone he can trust? What about anyone else at the TVA? And what would cause a Loki to go full serial killer?

As we anxiously await episode 2, it's a perfect time to get inside the heads of everyone we met in the premiere. Join Kristine Kippins and Marc Faletti for a breakdown of our favorite potential allies, most serious threats, and how many Lokis it might take to bring down the TVA.

PonderVision: Loki Episode 1 Spoke to a Fundamental Truth About Life Jun 12, 2021

Show notes

What does it mean to be Loki? Is he a side character in the lives of the people around him? Does he exist so that other people can make use of him on their more important journeys? Is he truly at fault for the time variance he created?

PonderVision exists to wrestle with the most captivating conundrums of each episode of Marvel TV, and the first episode of Loki delivered a heaping helping of them. Join Jesse Taylor and Marc Faletti as we digest the delicious meal that is "Glorious Purpose."

Storycast: Loki Episode 1 Themes and Archetypes Jun 10, 2021

Show notes

Loki begins! And Storycast is here to break down its underlying themes and genre conventions. As always, we'll also discuss the works of literature and film that inform it.

Episode 1, "Glorious Purpose," explores the question of free will vs. predetermined fate, and sets up even more thrilling interrogations of that eternal conundrum. It also makes powerful use of the archetype of the dystopian bureaucracy, which informs everything from character to set design.

Join Maeve Adams, Amanda Marcotte, and Marc Faletti as we unpack all of this and more on the Marvelous TV Club's Storycast!

Charactercast Loki Preview: Loki Past, Present, and Future Jun 07, 2021

Show notes

Our character-driven preview of Loki focus on the main man himself, Loki. But which Loki? Because this show has teased the possibility of meeting several different Lokis from various times and timelines. So we’re going to discuss three of the Lokis near and dear to our heart: the Loki of our past, the Loki of the present, and the Loki we might see in the future.

Join Kristine Kippins and Marc Faletti for a look at what makes Loki tick, how he's grown over time, and what it means that the 2012 version of Loki is back in the saddle.

PonderVision Loki Preview: Regulating Time in the MCU Jun 05, 2021

Show notes

In the second MTVC Loki preview, we explore the Time Variance Authority and how time travel works(ish) in the MCU. What are the best uses of time shenanigans thus far? Is there a coherent theory of time travel in the Marvel universe? How will—and how should—the Time Variance Authority work? And is this all the fault of Steve Rogers?

Jesse Taylor and Marc Faletti explain all of this and more on an especially mind-bendy episode of PonderVision.

Storycast Loki Preview: The History of Tricksters Jun 03, 2021

Show notes

Loki is less than a week away! To kick off our preview week, Storycast unearths tricksters — and trickster gods — that have appeared in art from ancient times through the streaming era. What makes them tricksters, exactly? Who are the best tricksters? Who are some famous characters that we might not think of as tricksters but most definitely are?

We also discuss how Loki fits into the archetype, and whether the Loki from Avengers makes as much sense as we think he does.

Join Amanda Marcotte, Maeve Adams, and Marc Faletti as we sneak through literature and film to find the tricksters hiding in plain sight!

Interview: The Hotly Contested Origins of Marvel's Biggest Heroes with Stan Lee Biographer Abraham Riesman May 11, 2021

Show notes

Who created Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four? That seems like a simple question, but the super messy answers—and the difficulty in determining them—may astonish you!

Abraham Riesman, author of True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee, joins Jesse Taylor and Marc Faletti for the first-ever interview on the Marvelous TV Club. Buckle up for a trip through Marvel's past, and prepare to challenge the way we give credit for the creation of our favorite Marvel characters.

Epic Crossover: The Best and Worst of MCU TV So Far May 04, 2021

Show notes

Five hosts. One TV universe. Several rounds of an absolutely unforgettable game we call f***/marry/snap. And that's just the appetizer!

In our first-ever epic crossover event, the stars of the Marvelous TV Club's Storycast, Charactercast, and PonderVision unite to take stock of the Marvel TV project on Disney+ thus far. Who are the best and worst characters? Which themes meant the most to us? What do we hope to see from Loki and beyond?

All of that and more awaits you in the most sacred event for any comics-related project: the epic crossover!