As awesome as this trailer was, I can't help but frown on almost EVERY single solo Marvel superhero film has the titular hero fighting a villain that's literally a clone of them. Ironman fought Iron Monger then guys who were using his same technology against him, Captain America fought the Winter Soldier and Red Skull, Hulk fought Abomination, Thor fought his brother Loki, and most recently we had Ant-Man fight Yellowjacket, who was pretty much a clone of Ant-Man in this continuity with the same technology. It's getting rather tiresome. I'm hoping Klaw gets more screentime than Killmonger to be quite honest. I know the ladies are wetting their panties at Michael B. Jordan landing the role for this film (after playing the Human Torch/Johnny Storm in that colossal flop that was Fox's latest attempt at the Fantastic Four), but I was left rolling my eyes at him wearing some discount copycat Black Panther armor. Now we know why the leaked images for the upcoming toyline for this film look so bad. It's literally just him and Black Panther costume changes. Is it too much to ask for T'Challa to wear the damn cape version of his costume in this? I mean he throws it off in Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite, but I was hoping for something here. Maybe I'm speaking too soon and there might be a throwback in the film when February rolls around, so I guess I'll have to wait and see on that front.
There's another gripe that I have with this trailer and it's the usage of a rap song for the background theme. I thought Marvel Studios would be better than this to do something so stereotypical when it comes to marketing, but that just utterly disappoints me as a black man to see that. It's 2017 - you don't need a rap song to promote a black film. That's as bad as almost every other moment in Luke Cage was either a rap song or some stereotypical black culture reference or moment. You take that couple it with reading articles like this online, where some of my fellow black people take this stuff FAR too seriously in terms of reactions. Where were you people when the other black superheroes were getting movies and/or TV shows? Where were you people when those black superheroes' comics got cancelled due to low sales and little support?
Don't get it confused either. I'm VERY happy to see Black Panther getting a solo film, but these reactions where people are acting like this is going to be a holiday when this movie drops (much like the same reactions when Wonder Woman's solo film debut occurred earlier this year) are a bit too much. It's just a damn movie. Twenty plus years ago, most of the casual fans wouldn't have given a flying fuck about this being a reality, so don't try to make it be like you're all lit for this now just because you are trying to fit in or going through emotions as the current MCU flavor of the month. If you're genuinely happy to see this, good for you - continue supporting the comic book industry by buying and reading comics and seeing these movies of the characters that you grew up loving.
I hate to keep saying it, but the more I see trailers for this movie, the less it's doing for my hype levels of actually seeing it in the theaters. Cool that we get a better look at the Parademons and other oddities from Apokalips and more of the teamwork that's abundant in this film, but that's about it. I was wrong about Marvel's Avengers when I was skeptical about that prior to that film's release and look where the Marvel Cinematic Universe stands now. I want to be optimistic here too, but everything to this point has been a swing and a miss after Man of Steel if I'm perfectly honest.
The series is centered on Black Bolt, portrayed by Anson Mount, and other members of the Inhuman Royal Family. Serinda Swan, Ken Leung, Eme Ikwuakor, Isabelle Cornish, Ellen Woglom, and Iwan Rheon also star. Marvel Studios announced an Inhumans film in 2014 as part of their Phase Three slate of films, with the species first introduced to the MCU in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The film was removed from Marvel Studios' slate in April 2016, and the Inhumans series was announced that November, to be partly filmed using IMAX cameras. Buck joined the series in October, and Mount was cast in February 2017. Filming took place from March to June 2017, at the former Naval Air Station Barbers Point airfield in Kalaeloa, Hawaii and various locations on the island of Oahu.
Inhumans debuted on IMAX screens on September 1, 2017 to unfavorable reviews, the first live-action television series to debut in IMAX. The theatrical run lasted two weeks, before the series premiered on ABC on September 29, and is scheduled to run for eight episodes.
Premise
After a military coup, the Inhuman Royal Family escape to Hawaii where they must save themselves and the world.
Cast and characters
Main
Anson Mount as Black Bolt:
The Head of the Inhuman Royal Family and King of Attilan, whose voice can cause destruction with the slightest whisper. Black Bolt went through the Terrigenesis process when he was 14. Showrunner Scott Buck said it was "a little bit difficult" to write for the character since he "does not speak, but yet he is our hero and the center of the show, so it does certainly present challenges in how you tell his story." Buck specifically ruled out the series using voice over, with Black Bolt instead seen communicating via sign language. Mount created his own sign system since the character is not from Earth and would not know Earth-based systems such as American Sign Language (ASL), and also studied orchestra conductors. Premiere director Roel Reiné told Mount to just use 15 or 16 signs, but Mount was intent on putting in the extra time to create an actual language, and borrowed the underlying rules of ASL but then "double-check[ed] my signs against ASL to make sure there is no overlap." This led to Mount creating a document for his language with over 50 pages to stay consistent. Sometimes the script would not include any specific lines for the character, and Mount would develop what he was signing himself. Mount felt that if he could develop the language over several seasons, it could become a full conlang equivalent to Klingon or Dothraki. Buck called Black Bolt enigmatic and fascinating because "a lot of times, we don't know what he's thinking." Lofton Shaw portrays a young Black Bolt.
Serinda Swan as Medusa:
The wife of Black Bolt and Queen of Attilan, who has the ability to control and move her hair. Swan described "an immense codependence between" Medusa and Black Bolt, with Medusa helping Black Bolt create his sign language and forming a connection together that creates "this symbiosis that keeps them intertwined". Swan took extra care to act alongside the character's hair as an additional appendage, before CGI was added to augment the 4 pounds (1.8 kg) wig she wore on set. Swan said that Medusa's hair would "have moods" as in the comics, and that it would move and react differently in various situations, such as being more restrained in public so as to not be distracting to others. V.I.P. portrays a young Medusa.
Ken Leung as Karnak:
Black Bolt's cousin and closest adviser, who can "see the fault in all things", avoiding errors, and acts as the Royal Family's strategist and philosopher. Executive producer Jeph Loeb explained that because of Karnak's ability, "everything he sees is flawed, so nothing is quite good enough for him. It’s at the point where the glass isn’t half empty, it’s shattered."
Eme Ikwuakor as Gorgon: Black Bolt's cousin and leader of Attilan's Royal Guard, who can generate seismic waves with his cattle-like hooves. Ikwuakor described Gorgon as "the guy who kind of acts before he thinks."
Isabelle Cornish as Crystal:
Medusa's sister and the youngest member of the Royal Family, who has the ability to control the elements. Cornish said Crystal is "really coming of age" and is going on "the journey of really coming into her adulthood and discovering more of her powers and things like that."
Ellen Woglom as Louise:
A human from Earth who works at Callisto Aerospace Control Center with a personal passion for space and things related to the Moon, and has been exposed to the Terrigen Mist. Woglom described Louise as "incredibly smart, incredibly focused" and a "fun", "quirky" character. She added that Louise "sort of has blinders on" about her love of space and the Moon, which "can sometimes cause her to maybe not pick up on social cues all the time, or maybe say things without thinking about them first." Buck noted Woglom's character was not from the comic books, but rather created for the series.
Iwan Rheon as Maximus:
Black Bolt's brother, who has a strong devotion to the people of Attilan and a desire to be king himself. Maximus lost the Inhuman gene when going through the Terrigenesis process, which led to the character being looked down on by other Inhumans. Rheon said Maximus is the "runt of the family which is kind of hard for him. Without his brother he'd be working down in the mines ... because he's the King's brother, he got pity, basically." Buck called Rheon's version of the character "a different, more complicated, more real, and more compelling version" than the comic counterpart as the writers "didn't want to create just a simple villain who's evil for the sake of being evil",with Rheon adding that "there are no villains ... It's not black and white. It's a lot of shades to the characters." He also compared the relationship between Maximus and Black Bolt to that of Loki and Thor in the MCU films. Rheon, who is Welsh, gave Maximus "an America-ish twang", but felt "it would be an incredible coincidence if everyone on the Moon had American accents" and so also kept the accent "a bit Moon-ish". Aidan Fiske portrays a young Maximus.
Crystal's 2,000-pound (910 kg) teleporting canine companion Lockjaw also appears in the series, created through CGI. Reiné stated that "nobody has done a full CG character on a TV series before. So Lockjaw is the first. It's a big responsibility for all of us." Mount called Lockjaw the "goofy sidekick", but felt that he had been integrated into the plot rather than just used as comic relief. Buck felt Lockjaw's storylines would "always [be] fairly simple" as a way to ensure the writers "don’t try to pretend that he’s anything other than" a dog and pull focus from the other characters.
Recurring
Sonya Balmores as Auran: A compatriot of Maximus, who becomes the new Head of the Royal Guards on Attilan during his coup. Balmores described Auran as "tough", "no nonsense" and someone who "get[s] the job done, whatever the job might be."
Henry Ian Cusick as Evan Declan: A geneticist who has been testing Inhumans on Earth.
Guest
Mike Moh as Triton: Black Bolt's cousin, who has the ability to live underwater. It took Moh three to five hours every day to have his makeup applied. Nicola Peltz as a human recently transformed into an Inhuman on Earth. Marco Rodriguez as Kitang: The head of the Genetic Council. Tom Wright: The head of the Callisto Aerospace Control Center.
Michael Buie as Agon: Black Bolt and Maximus' father and former king of Attilan.
Tanya Clarke as Rynda: Black Bolt and Maximus' mother and former queen of Attilan.
Ari Dalbert as Bronaja: A young Inhuman who has visions of the future.
Jason Quinn as Pulsus: An Inhuman with electric based powers.
Ty Quiamboa as a surfer who befriends Gorgon.
Moses Goods as Eldrac: An Inhuman "Doorway" that can teleport people anywhere.
Olo Alailima
Bridger Zadina Sumire Matsubara
Jamie Gray Hyder
Michael Trotter
Ptolemy Slocum Chad Buchanan
Episode Summaries:
Episode 1 - "Behold the Inhumans!"
During a mission on the island of Oahu to find a newly transformed Inhuman, Triton is attacked by a strike team, and escapes by jumping into the ocean. In Attilan, the secret city of the Inhumans on the Moon, Black Bolt, Medusa and other members of the Inhuman Royal Family learn that a recently destroyed Earth rover might reveal their society to the humans, before attending a Terrigenesis ceremony for two members of society, where they are exposed to Terrigen Mist to reveal their Inhuman powers. Later, Black Bolt's brother Maximus alerts the other members of the Royal Family to Triton's mission. Unhappy to hear Triton may be dead, Gorgon heads to Earth to find him. Maximus begins a coup on Attilan, including having the same strike team attempt to kill Gorgon on Earth. Karnak learns of what Maximus is doing, and begins to warn Medusa and her sister Crystal. Maximus attacks and shaves Medusa's head to suspend her powers. Crystal has her dog Lockjaw send Karnak to Earth for safety, and does the same with Medusa and Black Bolt.
Episode 2 - "Those Who Would Destroy Us"
Realizing they have all been stranded and separated on Earth, Karnak and Medusa begin to search for Black Bolt to reunite with him, while Gorgon waits for the fight to come to him. Crystal contacts Medusa on Earth, which is tracked by Auran. Louise investigates the missing Moon rover and learns of four strange anomalies coming from the Moon and landing in Hawaii. After his arrival on Earth, Black Bolt is arrested by the Honolulu Police. Auran finds and engages Medusa, who stabs her and escapes. Maximus addresses the people of Attilan as their new king, while Auran wakes up and is seen healing her stab wound.
Episode 3 - "Divide - And Conquer"
In flashbacks, a teenage Black Bolt (before undergoing his Terrigenesis) has no interest in the throne, which Maximus craves. After the brothers go through Terrigenesis, Kitang suggests locking Black Bolt for Attilan's protection, rejected by Agon. In the present, Black Bolt's fellow inmate Sammy is contacted by Evan Declan and given instructions to befriend the former. Louise watches the prison hoping to gain information while Medusa learns of Black Bolt's incarceration and heads there on foot. A prison riot ensues and Sammy breaks out Black Bolt, revealing himself as an Inhuman with heat powers. They board Declan's helicopter and escape. Medusa fails to reach them in time and forces a curious Louise to help her chase them. Maximus tasks Auran to kill Gorgon, sending a team, including the deadly Mordis. Her party forces Gorgon's to retreat. Crystal publicly opposes Maximus as king and escapes Attilan with Lockjaw. Maximus uses the chance to convince the Genetic Council of the Royal Family's incompetence and strengthen his position. Arriving on Earth with Crystal, Lockjaw is wounded in a car crash collision. All the while, Karnak is captured by a group of drug suppliers, who decide to keep him alive.
Episode 4 - "Make Way For... Medusa"
Declan, who is working for Maximus, takes Black Bolt and Sammy to his facility, to harvest Black Bolt's DNA for another Terrigenesis on Maximus. Maximus orders Tibor to prepare for the upcoming Terrigenesis, while his guards kill the rest of the Genetic Council. After losing the helicopter, Medusa and Louise manage to locate Declan's facility. Black Bolt and Sammy deduce Declan's malevolence and escape before being confronted by Auran's party. Medusa and Louise arrive as Mordis fires at Black Bolt, causing an explosion. Black Bolt escapes with Medusa and Louise, taking an unconscious Locus, a member of Auran's party with the power of locating people, with them to help find their family members. Meanwhile, Gorgon deserts his party in order to protect them and find Karnak, who begins to develop a romantic relationship with Jen, while Reno kills their fellow farmer. Elsewhere, Crystal meets Dave, who gets Audrey to examine and help Lockjaw.
Episode 5 - "Something Inhuman This Way Comes"
Karnak and Jen escape from Reno, who wounds her. Reno's customer kills him for his unreliability and orders his men to find the pair. Locus criticizes Black Bolt's politics, locating Karnak using her powers. Auran awakens in Declan's facility and secretly contacts Maximus, who orders her to let Declan continue researching on Black Bolt. After recapturing Sammy and learning of his powers, Mordis' party reunites with Auran, who decides to use Declan and Sammy to lure back Black Bolt. After stitching Jen's wounds, Karnak returns to the camp with her. They are later captured by the customers, only for Gorgon to arrive and rescue them. Escaping, Gorgon and Karnak are reunited with Black Bolt and Medusa. A dying Locus tells Medusa of Crystal's presence on Oahu and asks Black Bolt to reconsider his policies. Maximus decides to send more Inhumans to help Auran. Tibor encounters the opposition, who ask him to help overthrow Maximus. Audrey cures Lockjaw, who teleports Crystal and Dave away. The pair continues bonding. In flashbacks, Gorgon and Karnak scold each other for extreme behavior.
Episode 6 - "The Gentleman's Name is Gorgon"
Following a nightmare involving his family, Maximus has Eldrac send the supporting team to Declan's facility with one of them being Bronaja's father Loyolis. Auran sends the message to Medusa. Black Bolt takes Medusa and Louise to find Crystal while tasking Gorgon and Karnak to rescue Declan and Sammy. Crystal creates lightning to signal the others. Gorgon and Karnak defeat Auran's party and rescue the duo. Mordis tries to kill himself and everyone. Gorgon sacrifices himself and Mordis to save the others by collapsing the facility. Black Bolt's party reunites with Crystal and Lockjaw and go to Declan's facility. Audrey brings the police to Dave's barn to expose the Inhumans. Pretending to be Dave's girlfriend, Louise assures the police that Audrey was only being jealous. Meanwhile, Maximus figures out the assassination attempt by Tibor and the rebels. After killing Tibor and having the rebels taken away, he has Bronaja pledge his loyalty to him.
Episode 7 - "Havoc in the Hidden Land"
After Gorgon's sacrifice, Auran and her party are returned to Maximus to show good faith. She is disillusioned when she learns that Maximus' deeper agenda is a second Terrigenesis. Triton is revealed to be alive and reunites with the Royal Family, who learn that Black Bolt had predicted the coup and is prepared. The Family returns to Attilan for a parley with Maximus. Black Bolt agrees to allow Maximus to undergo Terrigenesis in exchange for reclaiming the throne. After securing Declan, Maximus violates the pact and demands the Family leave. Having learned from Declan's research, Karnak convinces Auran to give him her DNA so that he can use it to revive Gorgon through a second Terrigenesis, which seemingly fails. Triton kills Maximus’ bodyguards, captures him and sends him back to Black Bolt, who prepares to kill him before he tells Black Bolt that Attilan's survival depends on his, due to a failsafe. Gorgon awakens with a premature mind, to Declan's dismay.
Episode 8 - "...And Finally: Black Bolt"
Gorgon kills Declan and escapes. Karnak is arrested and locked in the "quiet room", later joined by Gorgon, whom he helps remember the past slightly. Maximus reveals that the failsafe needs his fingerprints once an hour to stabilize. Black Bolt plans an evacuation of the people to Earth if he can not topple Maximus. Crystal tells Eldrac of the plan. Maximus is rescued by the Royal Guards, finding Declan's body and no Terrigen crystals, which Medusa entrusts to Louise on Earth. Her boss agrees to provide settlement for the people of Attilan with help from his superiors. Karnak and Gorgon break out and join the Family. Medusa meets with Maximus and tries to reason with him, but to no avail. The Family broadcasts Attilan, revealing Maximus' preferences and offering the evacuation. Disillusioned, Auran deserts Maximus and joins the evacuation. Black Bolt confronts Maximus, who reveals that he faked the letter from Agon and Rynda involving Black Bolt's brain surgery, leading to the pair's deaths. Black Bolt locks Maximus in the bunker and leaves by Eldrac, who dies with Attilan. A cryptic message is shown on the Throne of Attilan. Now on Earth, Black Bolt and Medusa address every Inhuman present.
The Verdict:
Episode 1 - "Behold the Inhumans!"
I felt sorry for newcomers coming into this show without any prior knowledge of these characters and the MCU's treatment of Inhumans in this continuity in Agents of SHIELD up to this point. This show starts off with a lot of "assuming" that their target audience are familiar with these characters and are thrown head first into this world. Agents of SHIELD fans should be familiar with the fear of racism and discovery towards Inhumans by humankind, but to say that they have been on the dark side of the Moon (much like the comics) all of this time is a bit of a stretch after everything that has gone down in this timeline to this point without their intervention nor discovery until now, especially after the last few Inhuman-heavy storylines on Agents of SHIELD up to this point.
I was live-tweeting during this premiere during it's initial broadcast and found myself clarifying a lot of information that seemed to be glossed over in this premiere.
Black Bolt - Superhuman strength, flight, and endurance - consider him on Hulk and Thor's tier of power. His voice alone can destroy an entire city with it's destructive force. Medusa - Black Bolt's wife. Can manipulate her hair at will to the extremes much like Mr. Fantastic's elasticity. Maximus - Genius intellect, but suffers from the same jealousy complex that is found between Loki and Thor in this continuity. As a result, he is always plotting for his own benefit, often bending others to his will to do his bidding and attempt to overthrow his brother, Black Bolt, for the throne. Karnak - Masterful tactician. Adept at hand to hand combat as well. He can pinpoint any weakness in structures or even any individual. Crystal - Medusa's sister. Can control elements - lightning, fire, and ice. Her powers are a far cry from Storm's weather manipulation as she lacks Storm's control and experience. Gorgon - Half-Man/Half-Goat appearance. His powerful hooves allow him to create shockwaves and earthquakes by stomping the ground. He has some superhuman strength and endurance as well. Triton - Amphibious by nature. He cannot survive outside of water without special equipment crafted for him or he would perish.
This continuity seems to establish that Maximus is plotting for the better of Attilan's survival, but he is going about his plans the wrong way - another cliched theme that has been overused for the MCU up to this point.
Huge graphical oversight in this episode. When the soldiers ambush Gorgon, his feet don't have the hooved covering on them at all and he stomps the ground with NORMAL boots on to knock them to the ground. I will admit that Karnac's fight scene was pretty damn awesome along with the soundtrack for this episode.
Medusa's hair could have been a bit longer for my taste but what they did here works.
I was thinking that Medusa's hair was going to look as cheesy as Spawn's cape from his film in the mid-90's but I was happy to see that it wasn't that case at all. I was expecting a bit more force from it in her fight sequence, but I'll take what we were given here as a taste of her powers. It was a damn shame that she was shaved bald and rendered powerless (something a lot of casual viewers didn't seem to understand... i.e. No hair, no powers. Simple.) in a prompt manner here in this premiere during Maximus' coup.
Until they spoke her name, I had no idea who the chick was with Maximus was until they said she was Auran. She's radically different from comic book counterpart, even down to the power set and appearance. The character debuted in the comics in 2014, so since she's a newish character anyway, I guess Marvel felt like they had some very loose liberties to change her to fit this continuity without any backlash.
Episode 2 - "Those Who Would Destroy Us"
This episode starts the first of many odd monologue sequences as the Inhumans call each other over their communication devices. I thought it was going to a one off thing, but unfortunately this continues over the course of the next few episodes. I didn't mention Crystal in the previous episode because there was nothing really to talk about with her until now. Her character immediately starts off this episode with bursts of stupidity. She could have used her powers to dispatched Maximus and the guards in Black Bolt's mediation room or merely stayed hidden, but nope she ran in there and allowed herself and Lockjaw to be captured. We're treated to more careless moments from Crystal when she used Auran's comlink without even thinking that her communications would be bugged for Maximus could tap into where the Royal Family has escaped to.
Seriously, what is up with Maximus trying to flirt with Medusa and Crystal? Medusa turned him down painfully in the premiere so he's settling for the sister? Seems pretty odd that he's chasing ass when he already has Auran painfully loyal to him.
How the fuck does Gorgon take off his boots and he's got the normal hooves in those? That shit doesn't even make sense as his posture was different and everything. Consistency, please...
This Louise character seems like a poor man's iteration of the Arrowverse's Felicity Smoak without the credentials and street cred (approved by Cisco) to boot. If I were to have foresight to what role her character would play by the end of this mini-series, I would predict that she would be the Elisa Maza for the Inhumans, much like that character was for Goliath and his clan in the Gargoyles animated series as one of the few humans that they could truly trust and rely on.
From Karnac's fall and hitting his head, I guess the viewers are supposed to assume that his powers aren't guaranteed in terms of the analytical capabilities to pinpoint the best course of action and are actually flawed to a degree. Remember that he even had to do over his calculations in the previous episode before he could develop the best strategy to avoid getting killed.
If Medusa's the queen of Attilan, then how come she's not aware of Auran's healing powers? Just seemed pretty damn odd that she'd "kill" Auran, then would leave her body there without checking to make sure she died. Better yet, chop her head off so she can't regenerate at all.
I thought it was pretty cool that Maximus used the newfound Inhuman child's foresight powers to protect his own coup and solidify his hostile takeover of Attilan while painting the picture of the Royal Family as traitors within the eyes of the Inhuman public.
It seemed like rather odd pacing on this episode to have Black Bolt go from being recognized by all of the onlookers as the guy who mysteriously popped up in the middle of town to being able to waltz into a store for a change of clothes, only to be arrested and imprisoned within the next 5 minutes. Shouldn't the police have arrested him on sight in the first case instead of allowing him to run off?
It's stuff like this that serves as my issue with this show's pacing that's preventing me from getting totally immersed into this story.
Episode 3 - "Divide - And Conquer"
Maximus and his creepy bastard vibe of continuing to hit on Crystal to her dismay is getting disturbing at this point.
Auran got some back-up from more Inhumans that Maximus sent in to assist her in disposing of the Royal Family, including Mordis who they regard as Attilan's secret weapon other than Black Bolt. Once again, this show does nothing to explain what he can do and why does he have such a reputation to be feared among his fellow Inhumans. That being said, his personality was a rather pleasant addition with his sarcasm and smart ass remarks. Also, who the fuck are the rest of these Inhumans? Why do they have to keep Locust safe? Flora seems too much of a pacifist to be on a search and destroy mission.
My only issue with Gorgon's fight scene towards the end of this episode is that Gorgon should've opened with that shockwave stomp when he caught them off-guard and have his friends in the trees pick the rest off. To say this dude is supposed to be the head of their military, his combat strategy here was piss poor. Fighting Auran in a fist fight was stupid to say that he could've just mule kicked her and curb stomped her brains out to end that promptly.
This episode does a great job of shedding light on Maximus and Black Bolt's troubled upbringing as Black Bolt's powers manifests and Maximus' doesn't develop any of his own with both of these situations complicating matters for their family. I just found it rather hard to fathom that Black Bolt would have the spur of luck to find one of his own in the prison to help him escape while Medusa happens to find her way to that very same prison at the same time as Louise.
Episode 4 - "Make Way For... Medusa"
This episode was mostly about the Inhumans each exploring their own individual relationships with the humans that they have found themselves in with the various humans that they have encountered on their various adventures thus far. We have another example of bad pacing here as just as fast as Black Bolt found a new ally in Declan, him and Sammy found themselves leaving his company after finding out that he was experimenting on Inhumans rather than helping them. On the other side of the coin, it seems that Louise proved to be a beneficial ally to Medusa in locating where Declan took Black Bolt.
I should have known that Karnak was going to get laid, given how Jen was throwing herself at him throughout the entire episode and the fact that they were playing that corny music in the background during all of their scenes together in this episode. To say Karnak is supposed to be smart, he was completely clueless that this girl was throwing herself at him when she started to undress in front of him without even being shy about it. Jen was throwing herself at Karnak like those other two guys she was with haven't touched her in years. Like good Lord boys, the girl has needs too y'know!
Auran's party was pretty damn stupid during the climax of this episode where they cornered Black Bolt and Sammy on the run. Mordis should've shot Black Bolt the second they spotted him since they knew how powerful he was. It's carelessness like this is why I wonder why in the world does Maximus has so much faith in Auran carrying out his plans. They even stood around like dumbfucks to allow Black Bolt to release that gas that would set the area off like a powder keg the moment Mordis lifted his visor. I get that Auran's power is that she's got "extra lives" (kinda like Darkanda from Power Rangers In Space) but doesn't mean she should walk into all of these situations so carelessly.
Crystal is just as bad as Auran too though. She managed to escape to Earth with Lockjaw, only to be instantly discovered by a wanderer in the area and requiring his help to treat Lockjaw. She should have known that he wasn't in any condition to be going anywhere after whatever Maximus' goons have done to him.
Episode 5 - "Something Inhuman This Way Comes"
Roughly three episodes later and they FINALLY tell us why Locust had to be protected... She can locate anything she wishes to find with her powers. If that was the case then why didn't Maximus use her in the first place or send her with Triton when Black Bolt was running his secret ops mission that kickstarted this ordeal that set the events of this mini-series into motion? Writing like this makes me wonder if Marvel Studios has the folks who have been writing the last few Netflix shows for them on payroll for this (Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Defenders, etc.) in terms of not thinking this stuff all the way through.
Louise brought up a great point here - the Royal Family have been ruling Attilan just as messed up as Maximus has in his own benefit. It's just that they were thinking for the benefit for those Inhumans' abilities for their society to function rather than the desires of their people instead of catering to Maximus' own personal gain. Medusa claims that they didn't have an agenda that Black Bolt agrees to reveal in due time. Then when is a better time to reveal this so-called big secret? I mean for fuck's sake, Black Bolt is already locked away in a regular basis for everyone's protection from his own powers like a prisoner, while the people who get less than desirable powers after Terrigenesis are forced to work in the mines like slaves. From what I have seen so far, Attilan isn't a paradise nor a utopia. It's just as fucked up as the so-called sanctuary that Daisy/Skye's mother was running for Inhumans a few seasons ago on Agents of SHIELD.
I have to admit that I busted out laughing when Karnak got knocked out with another blow to the head. Maybe that guy needs to start wearing some protective headgear like his comic book counterpart to prevent his tactical prowess to be hindered in the future. It seems like he got his wits back to him again, but common sense should have told him to at least go with Jen to get proper medical treatment. Jen was doing a rather shitty job of taking care of herself up to this point anyway until him and then later Gorgon came along to save her ass anyway. She would have been in that ditch with her buddies if Karnak didn't come along when he did.
This episode ends with the Royal Family (minus Crystal) reunited. Speaking of Crystal... holy fuck she looks and acts like Kara/Supergirl from the CW show of the same name. It's to the point in their similarities that it's borderline scary.
Episodes 6-8
This is an edit to this original article as I only covered the first 5 episodes in this mini-series before it's conclusion aired. Instead of discussing each episode individually, I'm going to merely sum this up for simplicity for my sanity and yours as it's been a few months since I sat down and watched this so I'm going from memory here.
The fight between Mordis' and the opposing Royal Family (Karnak and Gorgon) was pretty much the best thing in Episode 6, which led to Gorgon's noble sacrifice. If this mini-series did anything right, it's these action sequences. The rest of the writing though? Not so much. I did enjoy the reunion between Crystal and the rest of the Royal Family with their human allies though. We did get a few good laughs from that exchange.
Gorgon's sacrifice wasn't even allowed to linger in viewers' minds as Karnak got Auran to agree to use her blood (since she's some regenerating freak in this continuity like Wolverine/Logan) and force Gorgon's body to undergo a second Terrigenesis. It works of course (after teasing that it didn't at first...), but I don't see what was the point of killing Gorgon off just to bring him immediately back. Were the writers that desperate for shock value at this point of the show? Ugh, it's this mediocre writing that pisses me off with these superhero TV dramas. It's not just limited to Marvel's television properties on ABC and Netflix either, as DC's stuff on the CW are just as guilty of lazy writing.
All of this planning and deception was merely for Maximus to undergo a second Terrigenesis. I don't see why he went through all of this when he could have seen the doctor (Declan) in private and gotten what he wanted without much hassle, especially when Black Bolt had operations (secret ones, yes, but Maximus was part of the council and still managed to have agents on Earth to target and "kill" Triton at the start of the series) going to and from Earth in place.
The series' climax in Episode 8 comes in the form of Maximus and Black Bolt having their final confrontation as Attilan is set to self-destruct all around them. What happens is pretty anti-climatic as there's no big over the top physical encounter here. Maximus just reveals that he was the one who forged the letter from his parents' alleged "betrayal" over the maturation of his powers that led to Black Bolt killing them when he was a child. After realizing that there was no redemption for Maximus, Black Bolt merely utters a word to leave his brother buried underneath the rubble and debris of the destruction in his wake of the force of his voice and left him on the moon to die while the Inhumans escaped to Earth.
The series ends with the Inhumans set to formally reveal themselves to the officials that Louise works for, similar to the same manner that we opened this series in the first episode.
Man, this was a tough sell to everyone from start to finish. I applaud anyone who stuck with this after the first two episodes without any prior knowledge about these characters because even with prior knowledge and exposure to these characters made watching this enough of a chore, I cannot fathom how newcomers felt watching this. The thing that frustrates me the most about this iteration of the Inhumans is that I get where they were going with this and I applaud what they were TRYING to do here, but it could have been done with a much better execution and narrative direction.
Characters/Casting
You cannot look at Crystal and not see Kara/Supergirl from the CW show of the same name.
Most of the Royal Family I don't mind their casting outside of Crystal (Isabelle Cornish), but she comes off more annoying than she should. I guess that's the writers' way of playing up her youth. Same goes for Medusa (Serinda Swan), but that's how her comic book counterpart was, feeling like she always had something to prove as the queen of Attilan and as Black Bolt's wife. Louise's character and position in this show is a bit of an oddity as it honestly wasn't required to tell this story. To her credit, Ellen Woglom isn't a bad actress though. They could have kept this story confined within Attilan and tied the whole discovery of being within human society for the next season of Agents of SHIELD to be honest. Every time I see Auran (Sonya Balmores), I have to keep reminding myself that's not Alex Danvers aka Kara/Supergirl's lesbian sister from that CW show. She's not a bad actress, but just a little stoic in her emotions - almost the polar opposite of Misty Knight (Simone Missick)'s performance in Defenders and Luke Cage that annoys me so damn much.
Here, we find Maximus preparing for his millionth monologue for the local Inhumans play...
Out of the Royal Family, Maximus (Iwan Rheon) is the best actor and character of the cast from his depth and the amount of monologues that his performance demands in this. It's just a damn shame that I think he's Toby MaGuire in Spider-Man 3 every time when I look at him.
That's the image that popped up in my head EVERY SINGLE TIME I looked at Maximus during the first few episodes.
Anson Mount is doing his best that he can without speaking as Black Bolt, but I thought the lack of speech is hindering his performance rather than helping it with the MCU trying to be edgy/hipster with the use of sign language when the titular character had a form of telepathy for communication in the comics continuity.
Costumes/Action
This definitely isn't on par with the level of action that we're used to in the Netflix corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it's somewhere in a middle ground from what we have come to expect in terms of these fight sequences. It's definitely not up there with the effects and style that we saw in the previous season of Agents of SHIELD with the Ghost Rider, but they are at least trying to make this look good. It's a far cry from being compared to that embarrassment that goes for the action in DC's Legends of Tomorrow... If I had a minor gripe here, it is that a lot of the Inhumans' costumes could have used some better designs or some tailoring to be modernized. I was fine with Crystal's iconic look with her hair just merely being painted into her hair and Medusa's hair wasn't as long as I would desired it to be in this live-action take on these characters, but stuff like Black Bolt not wearing his full costume and Gorgon's hooves not being shown nor rendered properly annoyed me a bit.
Watch It or Don't Bother?
Black Bolt's expression here pretty much sums up my thoughts about this show as a whole.
If you're a casual fan looking to watch this to learn about The Inhumans, I honestly can't recommend this show on a good conscience, especially from these first five episodes. It's a tough sell for newcomers and does very little to introduce these characters properly without assuming you have prior knowledge upon these characters from their comic book counterparts. Fans of these characters might fine something to like here, but overall it's a tough sell no matter how you look at this. I wouldn't call this Marvel's worst television endeavor (Iron Fist on Netflix still stands as the worst for me) as there's definitely some details that need to be ironed out properly, but we haven't seen this show dwell down lower than Iron Fist nor Heroes Reborn levels of stupidity.
At the end of the day, it was a nice idea on paper but poorly executed. The previous season of Agents of SHIELD saw Marvel Studios repair the damage done to Ghost Rider by FOX, so I remain optimistic that if the MCU wants to do more with these characters they can be salvaged as co-stars on that series. I had a lot of hope for a well-done adaptation of the Inhumans for their MCU debut, but was skeptical right off the bat that a TV series was the right way to go. Maybe someday we'll get a better take on these characters, but right now, I'm positive that they will be taking an indefinite backseat with the X-Men and Fantastic Four underneath Marvel Studios' roof now.
From this 3 minute teaser, it seems like we're getting more of the same from Constantine that we saw from Justice League Dark. Speaking of which, I'm a little confused here. Is this set after his debunked live-action TV series or is it following Constantine after the events of Justice League Dark? I'm confused as they are using the same art style and possibly the same studio as the latter.
These "what-if" Hitler won World War II, along with these parallel reality stories seem to be a hit with DC Comics and their animation as of late, with this new Freedom Fighters being no different. I remember The Ray had a VERY minor cameo appearance throughout the course of Justice League Unlimited's run, but never had any focus on himself. I'm interested in why DC chose now of all times to test him out with a series of his own. He would be a prime candidate to join the Legends of Tomorrow cast in a future season though. I'll keep my out for this though as DC Comics' animation endeavors haven't missed a beat over the past few years.
The series stars Stephen Moyer and Amy Acker as ordinary parents who take their family on the run after they discover their children's mutant abilities. Sean Teale, Natalie Alyn Lind, Percy Hynes White, Coby Bell, Jamie Chung, Blair Redford, and Emma Dumont also star in the show. The series received a put pilot commitment at Fox after a previous attempted X-Men television series did not move forward at the network in 2016; The Gifted was ordered to series in May 2017.
The Gifted began airing on October 2, 2017, and is set to run for 10 episodes. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics, particularly for its social commentary and cast.
Premise
Two ordinary parents take their family on the run from the government when they discover that their children have mutant abilities, and join an underground community of mutants who have to fight to survive.
Cast and characters
Main
Stephen Moyer as Reed Strucker:
A father trying to balance his family responsibilities with his job as a district attorney. Moyer said of the character, "He thinks he’s doing the right thing by moving [the mutants]. He does know these camps aren’t particularly nice. He knows a few people he’s captured have disappeared. He also knows this could happen to his kids. He has no choice but to go on the run." Reed was originally "more obviously out for himself and slightly less interested in his kids, slightly less interested in the marriage", but this was changed in reshoots of the pilot to make the character more likeable.
Amy Acker as Caitlin Strucker:
A mother and nurse struggling with her split from Reed and "increasingly challenging" teenage children. Showrunner Matt Nix said that though Caitlin does not have mutant powers, she is not "just a mom" or "just the doctor" in the series, and "over the course of the show I really love the idea of showing the evolution of a suburban mom into an underground warrior." Acker added that the character "was actually quite happy with the life that she had, and that all gets flipped around, pushing her to become who she should be."
Sean Teale as Marcos Diaz / Eclipse:
A rebellious mutant who can absorb and manipulate photons. Eclipse was rejected by his human parents, and grew up smuggling drugs from Mexico to the United States. The mutant underground uses him to smuggle mutants to safety in Mexico.The character was created for the series, but takes inspiration from comic characters such as Sunspot and Wolverine.
Natalie Alyn Lind as Lauren Strucker: One of the series' central children, a "perfect" kid.
Percy Hynes White as Andy Strucker: One of the series' central children, a sensitive loner who keeps to himself.
Coby Bell as Jace Turner: A man struggling with the cold-blooded requirements of his job.
Jamie Chung as Clarice Fong / Blink:
A "sarcastic, lively" mutant with teleportation powers. An "independently minded" member of the mutant underground, Blink begins the series using her abilities as "a way out of situations she doesn't want to be in", but her abilities and relationship to them evolve throughout the series. Nix wanted to use the series as a chance to develop the character further than her appearance in the film X-Men: Days of Future Past, where she was portrayed by Fan Bingbing. Chung wears heavy-duty contact lenses to portray Blink's mutant eyes.
Blair Redford as John Proudstar / Thunderbird:
A strong-willed mutant, leader of the underground community. Nix said the character is "dealing with his own issues of feeling the weight of thousands of years of Apache history and mutant history and an obligation to both families." Thunderbird is famous for being killed off shortly after his introduction in the comics, and though Nix said that this would not happen in the series, it will explore "the relationship of this guy to the Thunderbird of the comics".
Emma Dumont as Lorna Dane / Polaris:
A brave and loyal mutant whose abilities include controlling magnetism. She is introduced as being "unstable" due to bipolar disorder. In the series there is "some awareness" that Polaris is the daughter of Magneto, leading to the question "does she accept the mantle of her birthright? Is it her job to be Magneto in his absence?" The character is depicted with green hair, as she is in the comics, but "subdued shades of green". Dumont took mechanical engineering classes at Georgia State University to help understand the character's abilities. Nix did not originally intend to have the character in the show, and only added her as a love interest for Eclipse, but later noted that she "emerges as a central character" for the series.
Recurring
Garret Dillahunt as Roderick Campbell:
A mutant researcher contracted by Sentinel Services, who is on a "morally dubious" mission. Nix compared the series' adaptation of the comic character to the changes made when adapting the character William Stryker for the X-Men films.
Elena Satine as Dreamer: A mutant that can "add or subtract" others' memories.
Guest
Dinarte de Freitas as Pedro: A light-blue, leonine mutant that can "project fear".
Hayley Lovitt as Sage: A mutant with eidetic memory. Jeff Daniel Phillips as Fade: A mutant bartender. Jermaine Rivers as Shatter: A mutant who can turn his skin into a hard, protective crystal. Sharon Gless as Ellen Strucker: Reed's mother. Zach Roerig as Pulse: A mutant who can disable other mutant's abilities.
Derek James Jones as Trader: A mutant who can cloud other's vision to hide.
Jaxon Rose Moore as Grace Turner: Jace Turner's daughter.
Frances Turner as Paula Turner: Jace Turner's wife.
In Atlanta, Georgia, the mutant Clarice Fong escapes from prison with her teleporting abilities, and is rescued from police by members of a mutant underground that aims to protect persecuted mutants from the government. During this, Lorna Dane / Polaris is captured by the police, and is later asked by district attorney Reed Strucker to cooperate with him in exchange for a reduced sentence. Strucker's own children, Lauren and Andy, go to their school dance that night, where Andy is attacked by bullies. The stress causes Andy's mutant abilities to manifest, and he telekinetically causes major damage to the school. Lauren helps him escape, revealing that she is also a mutant. The pair and their parents are forced to go into hiding immediately by the arrival of the anti-mutant Sentinel Services agency. Reed convinces a member of the underground, Marcos Diaz, to help them in exchange for information on Polaris, but Turner and Sentinel Services also arrive at their meeting. Fong is able to teleport everyone to safety, except for Reed, who is captured.
Episode 2: "rX"
Fong falls unconscious from the effort of teleporting the group back to the underground's hideout, losing control of her abilities. Portals begin to open to an unknown road, causing an accident that is brought to the attention of police. Caitlin, a nurse, offers to look for some medication that may help Fong, and races to a nearby hospital that still treats mutants with Diaz, where they use an old injury to gain access to the medication. In prison, Polaris has a collar placed on her that gives her a shock whenever she tries to use her abilities. She faces discrimination and attacks from the other prisoners, and when she pushes through the pain of her collar to fight back she is confined to solitary. Reed is interrogated by Turner, who tries various techniques to get Reed's cooperation, including interrogating Reed's mother. Caitlin and Diaz return in time to help Fong before her portals cause major damage and force the underground to evacuate. Reed agrees to give Turner the location of the underground in exchange for the freedom of himself and his family.
The Verdict:
Episode 1: "eXposed"
Call me nuts, but this show started off just like how I always wanted a X-Men TV series to begin. Teenagers attempting to live their normal lives until that fateful day occurs that lands them into a stressful situation that triggers their hidden powers. It always happens in the comics like this when young adolescents first discover their powers. It's easier for some to cope with this change to their lives and bodies, while harder for others once those powers trigger for the first time. This show did an excellent job in terms of pacing as well. Unlike the flop that was Heroes Reborn, they didn't drag out the reveal with the siblings BOTH having powers and worked it into the pacing and laid out the action at an easy to digest pace. I appreciated the dilemma that was introduced for the Strucker family right off the bat that forced the parents to make a choice based on how they would accept or reject their own children after they were revealed to be mutants. In the comics continuity, the parents are usually always quick to send their kids away to Professor Xavier's school or kick them out, so it was a breath of fresh air to see how a family would truly react in this situation in a believable, realistic manner. I've been a fan of Amy Acker since the Angel (Buffyverse) days as Fred and later Illyria, so I knew she was going to deliver in the acting department, but Stephen Moyer definitely delivered here as her husband in this role.
The X-Men shout-outs and references were galore in this episode. I appreciated that this series takes place in the established X-Men live-action film universe but it's not tied down to it. The mutant underground movement merely states that the Brotherhood and the X-Men haven't been active in an undisclosed time period, so that leaves the audience to interpret that this series either takes place before or after the continuity's current shift/fix after the events of Days of Future Past. The First Class films are still in the 70s/80s timeframe, so we don't know how those events have affected the present day future for both outcomes of this continuity. As a result, it makes for some potential fun writing here. That being said, you don't have to even see those films to appreciate this show; that's the beauty of the writing here.
This is essentially what a X-Men live-action TV series needs to be - Individuals struggling to survive and cope with their newfound powers and abilities within a world of people who hates and fear them because they don't understand what they are. That's a simple theme that seems to be forgotten about in the live-action films at times and a simple concept that's really all required to convey the message of the source material that the X-Men comics have thrived on for several decades.
I thought the mutant underground faction was introduced very well. Eclipse and Polaris were quickly established as the resident bad-asses while Thunderbird and Blink were left enough of an impact in this premiere to make me care about how their characters would develop as this show went on. I'm surprised at the mutants that they have chosen for this series, especially with Blink (Jamie Chung) who was previously featured in Days of Future Past and Thunderbird who has a reputation of being killed off hilariously in a prompt fashion in his comics introduction. Eclipse was cooked up specifically for this TV series while Polaris is the estranged daughter of Magneto, but no idea if this TV series is going to lean towards that revelation by the time this season is over. Andy and Lauren Strucker are loosely based off of the Strucker twins from Marvel Comics who were collectively known as Fenris. Marvel Studios used part of their origin for Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver's backstories in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
The Sentinel Services government agency served as the perfect antagonist here as well. It wasn't over the top, much like the traditional Sentinels from the comics, but these new mechanical hunter drones served the same purpose - search and destroy, without passion nor emotion.
There's a lot that the rest of the superhero TV dramas could learn from this show. Great pacing, even better writing and characters, and the special effects doesn't look low budget in the least. When your superhero TV show looks worse than an episode of Power Rangers then it's back to the drawing board. Yeah I'm looking right at the DC Comics base shows on The CW when I say that too.
Episode 2: "rX"
This was pretty much an episode to show off Amy Acker's acting chops and further paint the picture on how their society views and treats mutantkind from two perspectives - one from Polaris' own as a mutant confined in prison without the use of her powers, thanks to one of the Genosha-style mutant power inhibitors while the other perspective was from Caitlin Strucker (Amy Acker) as she aids Eclipse in getting medicine to treat Blink, whose portal opening powers are spiraling out of control due to her declining state of health.
While I wasn't too thrilled with the whole mini-adventure as Eclipse and Caitlin went to a local hospital to steal the medicine they needed to treat Blink, I thought it was an interesting display on these two worlds. Eclipse opened Caitlin's rather naive eyes about how much different the world treats mutants and those people associated with them, compared to her ordinary life before her own children were revealed to be mutants. Lauren's flashback to the ordeal where her family encounter a young mutant in the local bowling alley facing discrimination from the locals was an interesting preview for how Lauren expected her own father to treat her and her brother in a similar situation. I think the whole ordeal with Lauren leaving her blood everywhere they seem to go is going to bite them in the ass sooner more than later given how sophisticated the Sentinel Services' resources are being portrayed.
On the other side of the spectrum in this narrative for this episode, Polaris was learning to cope with her own situation in prison. This episode introduces the mutant power dampening collars that savvy X-Men fans will recognize from Genosha in the comics (and used in the 90's animated series along with the short-lived Wolverine and the X-Men animated series that oddly had similar technology developed by Forge). This technology isn't foolproof, so I'm anxious to see if Polaris and the other mutants in confinement devise a strategy to counter against it. If I were to guess, there might be a way to work around it given the electromagnetic nature of her powers.
We end this episode with Reed caving to Sentinel Services' demands to give up the location of the mutant underground headquarters to guarantee the safety of his family which is the only thing that he cares about. It's funny too as this show continues to draw comparisons to Heroes Reborn as Noah Bennett (Jack Coleman) found himself in similar situations in that mini-series. Only time will tell whether or not this trend will continue over the course of this season, but for now, this show is outclassing that show at every corner with superior writing.
Watch It or Don't Bother?
I couldn't help but chuckle to myself during this scene, thinking that this was Shoney's from the Season 3 premiere of Rick and Morty.
After the very satisfying premiere and follow-up with the second episode, I think this series is off to be a great series based in the X-Men universe. This is definitely going to hold my interest for the long haul, unlike Legion did earlier this year where I mentally checked out by the end of the first episode. With this series, I'm sold on seeing where this goes. I would best describe it as "Heroes Reborn Done Right" instead of half-assing it like NBC did a few years ago. If you're a fan of the X-Men universe or a newcomer, there's something for everyone to enjoy here. I'm looking forward to see how this show pans out over the course of this season.
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is a fighting video game developed and published by Capcom. It is the sixth main entry in the Marvel vs. Capcom series of crossover games. Like previous installments, players control characters from both the Marvel Comics and Capcom universes to compete in tag team battles. Infinite features two-on-two fights, as opposed to the three-on-three format used in its preceding titles. The series' traditional character assists have been removed; instead, the game incorporates a tag-based combo system, which allows players to instantly switch between their two characters to form continuous combos. It also introduces a new gameplay mechanic in the form of the Infinity Stones, which temporarily bestow players with unique abilities and stat boosts depending on the type of stone selected.
Infinite was announced during Sony's PlayStation Experience event in December 2016. Capcom initially lost the use of the Marvel license in 2012, after The Walt Disney Company decided to focus on self-publishing its own gaming titles; however, Capcom was able to reacquire the license after Disney dissolved their console gaming division. Infinite was designed to be more accessible than previous Marvel vs. Capcom games, resulting in several changes to the series' fundamental mechanics. The game also features a larger emphasis on storytelling, with the series' first cinematic story mode. The plot follows the heroes of the Marvel and Capcom universes, who must work together to save their merged worlds against a new threat, Ultron Sigma.
Infinite was released in September 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. The game received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its new gameplay elements, but criticized its presentation and character roster.
Story:
Death is visited by Jedah Dohma, who proposes an alliance to achieve equilibrium between life and death on both their worlds. Needing the six Infinity Stones to do so, Death deceives Thanos and Ultron into aiding her, granting Thanos the Space Stone and sending Ultron to retrieve the Reality Stone from Abel City. Sigma intercepts Ultron, and the two forge an alliance. They betray the others and use the Space and Reality Stones to merge the two dimensions and fuse themselves into a single being named "Ultron Sigma". To wipe out biological life, they begin unleashing an evolved form of the Sigma Virus that turns organic creatures to synthetic beings under their control. An alliance of heroes from both worlds is formed, and they rescue Thanos from imprisonment. They secure him in a containment field at Avengers Tower, but Thor becomes infected and escapes. To gain their trust, Thanos reveals the locations of the remaining four Infinity Stones, and teams of heroes are dispatched to find them.
In Valkanda, Ryu and Hulk are captured by Black Panther and Monster Hunter, but are interrupted by Captain America and Chun-Li's arrival. Panther refuses to surrender the Time Stone, but Ultron Sigma's drones arrive and spread the virus, infecting a Dah'ren Mohran. Ryu and Hulk defeat the creature, and Panther agrees to give them the Stone. Dante, Arthur and Doctor Strange travel to the Dark Kingdom, where Ghost Rider and Morrigan Aensland are pursuing a soul-stealing thief. Morrigan leads them to Jedah, who is using the Soul Stone to feed souls to a Symbiote creature, hoping to use it against Ultron Sigma. The heroes battle Dormammu and Firebrand, but Jedah escapes with the Stone.
While Doctor Light, Iron Man, Spencer and Hawkeye build a weapon to harness the Infinity Stones, Ultron Sigma attacks Avengers Tower. In the carnage, Thanos is released and attacks Ultron Sigma, cracking the Reality Stone and forcing him to retreat. As Chris’s team is pursued by the Symbiote, the heroes return to repel it. They use their Stones to destroy the Symbiote and the falling core, but are infected in the process. With hours left until they are turned, the heroes head for Xgard. While one group distracts Ultron Sigma, the rest infiltrate Sigma’s laboratory to finish their weapon, the Infinity Buster. When Thanos learns of Death and Jedah’s partnership, he becomes enraged and betrays the heroes, creating a mechanized gauntlet that absorbs Ryu’s Satsui no Hadō before departing. Dante returns to the Dark Kingdom and reclaims the Soul Stone from Jedah. He arrives in Xgard and pretends to surrender the Stone, but because they have no souls, Ultron Sigma is overwhelmed by the Stone and transformed into Ultron Omega. The Soul Stone purges the Sigma Virus within Thor, returning him to normal. The others appear and install the Infinity Buster into X, who uses it to destroy Ultron Omega.
In the aftermath, the virus is neutralized, but since the Reality Stone was cracked, the universes cannot be separated again. The heroes agree to protect the new world and split the Infinity Stones between them to keep them safe. In a post-credits scene, Jedah tells Death that he has another plan, but Thanos arrives seeking vengeance against them. Believing the Satsui no Hadō is capable of killing Death, he attacks them with a Hadouken.
Gameplay:
Like its predecessors, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is a 2D fighting game in which players compete against each other in tag team combat using characters from both the Marvel Comics and Capcom universes. Players must knock out the opposing team by repeatedly attacking the opponent and draining their health bar. Infinite features two-on-two partner battles, similar to Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes and earlier installments in the franchise. Unlike past entries, the game does not allow players to use traditional call-in assist attacks from off-screen characters; instead, Infinite utilizes a "free-form" tag system, known as "Active Switch", which shares similarities with Marvel vs. Capcom 3's "Team Aerial Combo" system and Street Fighter X Tekken's "Switch Cancel" system.Players can immediately switch between their team members at any point, even while mid-air or during attack animations. This provides players with the abilities to create their own offensive or defensive assists through the tag system and form continuous combos between their two characters.Alternatively, players can sacrifice meter from their Hyper Combo Gauge to perform the newly introduced "Counter Switch" mechanic, which tags in their partner character while the opponent is attacking them, providing the opportunity to counterattack and free the character trapped in the enemy's combo. The game also features several playable stages that combine notable locations from Marvel and Capcom franchises, such as Valkanda, a fusion of Val Habar and Wakanda, and XGard, a fusion of Abel City and Asgard.
Soul Stone Infinity Stone locks the opposition into a box that limits their movements
Infinite moves away from the button layout previously used in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and instead employs a control scheme more similar to Marvel vs. Capcom 2, which includes four attack buttons, consisting of two pairs of light and heavy punches and kicks, and two additional buttons used for swapping characters and activating Infinity Stone powers. To improve accessibility, the game includes an "auto-combo" system which allows players to repeatedly press the light punch button to automatically perform both ground and air combos. In addition, certain Hyper Combos can now be activated by simply pressing the two heavy attack buttons, as opposed to the specific joystick and button combinations required in previous titles.
Infinite also implements the Infinity Stones as a gameplay mechanic, similar to Marvel Super Heroes, where each stone grants unique abilities. Before the match begins, each player selects one of the six Infinity Stones – Power, Space, Time, Reality, Mind, and Soul – which bestows one ability that can be activated at any time, known as the "Infinity Surge". For example, the Power Stone produces a knockback effect when used, while the Space Stone pulls an opponent closer to the player character. A second, stronger ability called the "Infinity Storm" can be activated after a player fills their Infinity meter at least halfway, giving them a significant boost for a limited time, similar to the X-Factor system from Marvel vs. Capcom 3. The boost is determined by the chosen Infinity Stone; for example, the Power Stone increases the user's damage output and combo ability, while the Space Stone traps an opponent within a confined area that severely limits their movement.
The game offers various offline and online single-player and multiplayer game modes. The offline features include Story Mode, a two-hour cinematic story campaign; Arcade Mode, a classic arcade game experience where players fight against several AI-controlled opponents before confronting the final boss characters Ultron Sigma and Ultron Omega; Mission Mode, where players can complete tutorial missions and character-specific challenges; Training Mode, where players can practice their fighting abilities and adjust various training field parameters; Versus Player 2, where two players can battle against each other locally; Versus CPU, where players can battle solo against an AI-controlled opponent; and Collection Mode, where extras unlocked through gameplay are stored, including story cutscenes, character and stage information, concept artwork, and audio tracks. Online multiplayer includes ranked and casual matches, global leaderboards, replays, and eight-player lobbies with spectating. The online mode also introduces the Beginners League, a special league designated for low-ranking players to compete for graduation into higher ranks.
Playable Characters:
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite features a base roster of 30 playable characters, consisting of both new and returning heroes and villains in the Marvel vs. Capcom series. Additional characters will also be released post-launch as downloadable content (DLC). According to Producer Mike Evans and Associate Producer Peter Rosas, the development team examined the strengths and weaknesses of each returning character and adjusted them by providing new moves and abilities, hoping to make every fighter viable. In terms of roster selection, characters were chosen based on two aspects: their potential interactions within the story and their gameplay style. The developers sought to include a variety of different character archetypes, from small, nimble characters, such as Strider Hiryu, to large, brawler-type characters, such as the Hulk. The Marvel characters' designs were proposed by Capcom's research and development team in Japan, who took inspiration from both the characters' comic book and film appearances. Marvel staff members worked closely with the team, providing feedback to maintain the authenticity of their characters' portrayals. While speaking at E3 2017, Evans explained how they picked the roster based on which characters Marvel was currently pushing or planning to push in the future.
New characters to the franchise are listed below in bold.
The "2017 Character Pass" includes six DLC fighters: Black Panther, Black Widow, Monster Hunter, Sigma, Venom, and Winter Soldier. Black Panther, Monster Hunter, and Sigma will be released on October 17, 2017, while the rest will come before the end of 2017. Players can also obtain the Superior Spider-Man alternate costume by pre-ordering Spider-Man: Homecoming through the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One online stores before October 24, 2017.
The Verdict:
As most of you guys know, I royally suck at the Marvel vs. Capcom games. I have mentioned that time and time again, but I wanted to give my impressions on this game as I actually enjoy watching it being played at high level on the competitive tournament scene.
Right off the bat, I want to give my impressions of the actual gameplay system here in play. Gone are the assists from the last few MvC games and teams are back down to a 2v2 format, along with the Infinity Gems... err Stones from Marvel Super Heroes are back. At first glance, I thought the Stones were a bit lame but they definitely serve to balance out particular weaknesses and shortcomings with particular characters. You want a quick get out of jail card? Use the Time Stone for handy teleport/air dash. You want a better projectile? Use the Reality Stone for a homing projectile that's just as good, if not better than Sentinel drones. Want a free wall bounce? Use the Power Stone for easily knockback move that set your opponent up for an easy wall bounce. Mind Stone gives you a funky grapple move that stuns your opponent for easy follow-ups (think She-Hulk's command grab from MvC3). Space Stone controls space (naturally) by drawing your opponent near you (think Magneto's Attraction special from UMvC3). Last but not least, the Soul Stone can siphon health from your opponents while the Infinity Storm can revive a fallen teammate. So there's a lot to think about in terms of selecting these Stones to benefit your potential teams. Speaking of teams, I like that this game took a page from Street Fighter X Tekken and encourages players to keep tagging in and out. That way you make moves safer on block and could potentially mix your opponent up to open them up to even crazier combos. That's the main thing I love watching about seeing matches of this game in competitive play, but actually playing this and being on the receiving end of those tactics sucks majorly. It's still the same feeling of helplessness as someone "styles" on you in the previous MvC titles with the touch of death combos where you just watch your entire lifebar deplete. There's no X-Factor either, so comebacks are a lot harder to come by in this game. One could argue that the Infinity Storms make comebacks possible, but after you lose a single character, it's rough battle to turn the title back into your favor unless you're running with the Soul Stone and can revive a fallen teammate. It just makes me sad that beneath the surface of so many other shortcomings with this game, there's actually a pretty damn good system mechanic behind this game. It's a damn shame too as more people would be willing to give this game a fair chance if Capcom/Marvel didn't make this into the ongoing joke since it's initial announcement.
That being said, let's talk about the rest of the features in this game...
In terms of the Story Mode, I found the usage of these characters and their worlds from both sides of the spectrum were criminally underused to their full potential to say that the so-called Story Mode was the biggest part of the marketing for this game when it only has like maybe two-three moments that I genuinely enjoyed.
In terms of the narrative, I appreciated some parts of it, such as the Civil War shoutout with Ironman, Captain Marvel, and Captain America butting heads throughout the story, the fastball special between Hulk and Ryu, the clash between Dante and Jedah, Gamora and Strider teaming up for space ninja action, Ironman inventing the "Infinity Buster" for Mega Man X, and of course - the moment with Thanos stealing the Satsui no Hadou from Ryu. The rest of the Story Mode just comes off as poor writing and a lot of head-scratching moments, especially with the ending where everyone just goes "Fuck it, we'll just keep the two universes combined and don't try to use the Infinity Stones to fix everything." It makes me think that Capcom and Marvel got more Story Mode content on the way down the road as it seems pretty stupid to leave the door open with the worlds still combined, along with Thanos taking the Satsui no Hadou without any consequence. The latter makes me think that Akuma will be added as DLC at some point without a shadow of a doubt. Then again, that would probably be the perfect excuse Capcom would use to make a new expansion, much like the recently announced Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition.
To make a long story short, the Story Mode here is much like the one from Injustice 2, whereas you play through it once and really don't care about it. Unfortunately, this Story Mode only has one set ending and not two separate endings with branching/alternating paths and/or character choices like Injustice 2's Story Mode featured.
While I appreciate that this game has a basic tutorial within the Mission Mode to help newcomers learn the basics, I felt that there's not enough core mechanics explained for helping newcomers get past amateur hour. I know the "hardcore" players will say that you can always watch YouTube tutorial videos made by the community to level up your game, but not everyone is going to go that extra mile and would actually like to have those resources within the game. I would go onto saying that I found this game to be harder than its predecessor to get the hang of. The individual character missions actually are helpful this time around (MvC3's were completely impractical for actual player matches) to understanding when and where you should active switch to extend combos with your teammate, so you get a better sense of what you would need in terms of team building and combo creation. Is it too much to ask for a few advanced techniques to be included in the tutorial too? The game doesn't inform players of vital information that they could benefit from, such as the fact that you can hold down the Active Switch button to Counter Switch when you have two bars of meter on the Hyper Combo guage to swap characters to break combos or actually can control both characters individually during the Soul Stone Infinity Stone by holding the Active Switch button. It's omissions like these is quite puzzling to me if Capcom wanted this game to be more accessible to newcomers and veterans alike.
In the video below, you can watch me botch my way throughout Arcade Mode throughout my first playthrough of that mode when I rented this game from Redbox. The mode ends with a battle against Ultron Sigma and Ultron Omega as the final bosses. Sadly, there's nothing to see after completing this mode other than the ending credits. I don't know what is Capcom's deal in terms of doing the bare minimum when it comes to character endings.
From the few matches I played of this before taking my rental back to Redbox, I have to say this netcode is amazing for the most part, especially for Week 1 when I was playing it after launch. The best thing that their online component has is the ability to rematch immediately following a match. Ranked it's only limited to roughly best out of three bouts, but Player Matches you can rematch instantly and go straight back into the action without all of that hassle of going back to the main lobby, reselecting characters and stones, and getting back into the match. This is a welcome addition for players who wish to do long sets with friends or randoms. I wish Tekken 7 had this feature to be quite honest. It's quite jarring to me that this isn't a standard feature in fighting games now. So in regards of the Online component, thumbs up.
Unfortunately, I can't speak too much about the Beginner League as I didn't dabble in that for long, but I found myself getting wrecked players in that regardless, despite their lower rankings. I'm going to chuck that to everyone being low ranked in the week of the release, so I guess that barrier of entry seems like it wouldn't be like walking into a brick wall the longer this game is out and the veterans level up and hit higher ranks to boot them out of Beginner League. That's merely me speculating, so your experience may vary.
Visuals
From left to right: Chun-Li (post-Day 1 patch), Chun-Li (before Day 1 visual patch), Dante (Devil May Cry 3 appearance), Dante (MvCI appearance)
In terms of visuals, players and critics have been criticizing what the hell was Capcom thinking in terms of designing the character models for this game. To say that the bulk of the roster have carried over from the previous game, it's ridiculous that the bulk of the character models look this bad even after the Day 1 visual update patch to fix a lot of these issues. Chun-Li definitely looks better now, but there's too many hit or miss moments in the visual presentation of this game to distract casuals and newcomers to give this a fair chance.
Need more proof? Look at Ghost Rider's Level 3 Hyper Combo in this game in comparison to his previous one in UMvC3. If that's not bad enough, it's the same story across the board for a lot of the returning cast members.
Sound
With all of the visual shortcomings, the music in this game is pretty top notch, especially for Marvel's side of the cast. Captain Marvel and Gamora's themes stand out for sure as some of the best, while you can't sleep on Strider's stylish remix of his theme from his most recent title.
Other things I would change/improve on the sound though, would be the add more impact to the hit sound effects. For some characters, it sounds fine but others it's like meh off the impact off some of their attacks. I dunno, as a guy coming from playing Tekken 7 and Injustice 2, it seems like those two games did a great job of making every attack feel like it had an impact. On top of that, they need to redub some of the character lines because a lot of the voice actors here sound either bored or uninterested in playing these characters. Perfect example? Compare Nova's lines here compared to his lines in UMvC3. It's like day and night.
Buy It or Don't Bother?
If you're a "Mahvel" fan or rather a hardcore MvC player of the crossover Vs. games from Capcom to this point, then this is going to be right up your alley as you'll feel right at home after a few matches. The new tag mechanic takes some getting used to, same for the new magic series layout, but in no time you'll be back to your staple combos (with some adjustments, of course) and strategies from MvC3/UMvC3.
If you're a fan of Marvel Comics and their narrative storytelling, then this game might not be for you in the least. Casual fans will get some fun out of beginner league and being able to do some flashy stuff in matches thanks to auto combos and easy hyper combo inputs that were included to help out newcomers, but that asset goes out of the window instantly when versed against a seasoned player who knows what they are doing. If you're looking for a lot of single player content then you're going to be painfully disappointed here. There's just the Mission Modes (with individual character trials and a very basic tutorial), Story Mode, and Arcade Mode (that doesn't even have any individual character endings at all). Somehow Capcom managed to cook up a retail release with just as much bare bones content as Street Fighter V... No wait, I take that back, at least this game has a Story Mode at launch, so that's one positive in that regard.
Like I mentioned in the early parts of this review, there's a rewarding system mechanic in play for this game that many players will enjoy if they are willing to overlook the negatives with this game. Sadly, that's a lot to ask for a lot of players. At the end of the day, each player is going to have to ask themselves is it worth the $59.99 price tag (plus the price of the Season Pass for all future DLC) to invest in something they potentially might not like or are they willing to bite the bullet and scrap in for the long haul with this game?
