Category: Marvel Collection

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Marvel Collection

Thor: Love and Thunder Review

Hated it. Everything is so frivolous and superficial. Every line is tongue in cheek. In every character interaction, they just explain their feelings outright. No subtlety.

One such scene (source).

The characters each have a single personality to demonstrate, which they do so tediously. Valkyrie is cynical, Korg has a rock for brains but can be bluntly insightful, our title character is uninterestingly stupid, Jane is… excitable, maybe?

The kids are worst of all. I barely noticed the annoying kids in Multiverse of Madness, but in this film they were omnipresent.

Jane’s cancer, and exploring the dichotomy of suffering and superhero exuberance, just about works. There are a few jokes that work too. The God of dumplings. But, you know, broken clocks.

This film is so much more irritating than Thor: Ragnarok, and has almost none of what made Ragnarok fun. Imagine Ragnarok with no Hulk, no Grandmaster, no Loki, no Sakaar, and a Valkyrie with all of her most fun moments already exhausted. That’s about the value that Love and Thunder has.

Read Next: MCU Phase 4 Combined List
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Movies Marvel Collection

MCU Phase 4 Complete List (Combined Series, Films and Specials)

In Phase 4 of the MCU, for the first time, Marvel Studios made television series (streamed on Disney+) that were tied to the stories of the films as much as the films had been with each other. They set up storylines for the movies and even shared actors.

Most lists of Marvel Cinematic Universe stories are broken into separate lists for the cinematic releases, Disney+ series, and the special short films. I think it is more useful to see the full combined list arranged only in order of release date. This shows us the order that dedicated fans will have watched all of the stories of Phase 4, and potentially the order Marvel Studios intended them to be watched.

This also helps give a different perspective on the phase than seeing only a list of movies. For example, the first movie in the phase, Black Widow, does not reveal anything about the broader storyline of the universe. However, the first Disney+ series of the phase, WandaVision, did.

The last story in the list, Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special, is described by the director James Gunn as “the epilogue of Phase 4”. Maybe you will agree that it does a better job of this than the last film in the phase, Wakanda Forever.

Some have argued that Phase 4 was weaker than the previous three phases, but this argument is always based on the cinema releases. When all the stories are considered, you could come to a different conclusion.

READ NEXT: Best Videogame Adaptations on Netflix
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Marvel Collection Movies

What Do You Need To Watch Before Doctor Strange 2

Many of the MCU movies and shows can be enjoyed without having seen any of the other MCU movies or shows. However, most of them are improved with some context gleamed from the other stories. Therefore, I would like to suggest which shows I think you should try and watch before going to see Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, if you have time.

Read Next: Thor: Love and Thunder Review

Doctor Strange 2 is out on May 2. I am writing this in April. These are only predictions for what films and shows will be relevant to best enjoy the new Doctor Strange movie, based on having seen pretty much everything in the MCU myself.

This list is in release order:

Doctor Strange: It is very likely Multiverse of Madness will assume you have watched the movie that introduces Doctor Strange. If you watch the sequel first I’m confident you’ll be able to pick up the key points, but it’s still a good idea to have an introduction to the characters. Likelihood of being important: 4/5

Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame: Characters from Doctor Strange had major roles in the two Thanos movies, but more than this, a large number of the stories released after Endgame have referred to the events of these movies in some way. Putting this on the list opens a can of worms, because if you want to watch Infinity War you really should really watch some of the other films first, but that’s just how the MCU is now. It’s only a guess that this will be relevant, though. Likelihood of being important: 2/5

WandaVision: This seems to be the story that directly precedes Multiverse of Madness. Wanda is featured heavily in all the marketing materials for the new film, and WandaVision tells you how she got there. Likelihood of being important: 5/5

Loki: This films dives heavily into the multiverse aspect of the MCU. I don’t think there were any direct indications that Doctor Strange 2 will pick up threads from Loki, but it’s very easy to guess that it will, just based onthe fact that both stories centre around the multiverse, and Loki did leave some big ol’ threads lying around. It’s totally possible they won’t be touched until Loki Season 2, though, so this one is just a guess. Likelihood of being important: 2/5

Spider-Man: No Way Home: It was the last movie released inthe MCU and Doctor Strange had a starring role. The plot revolved around the multiverse. I would be surprised if this wasn’t referenced in some way. As with the Avengers movies mentioned above, you probably don’t want to watch this without seeing some of the other Spider-Man movies. Likelihood of being important: 3/5

Summary

What films do you need to watch before Doctor Strange 2?

The films most likely to have significance to the plot of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness are the original Doctor Strange movie (for introducing the characters and rules of magic in the MCU) and WandaVision (as the direct prequel from Wanda’s perspective, and for introducing ideas that will likely make a return in this movie). Endgame and Loki could be significant as well.