S01.E01: Resurrection

[tkc]

Oh my, they did *not* just…

Fridging Maria Hill is so not cool, show, not cool!

Edited June 21, 2023 by tkc

[Spartan Girl]

FUCK THE MCU!!

Never trust them with a female character!

Also if that Everett Ross was a Skrull, where the hell is the real Ross?!

Edited June 21, 2023 by Spartan Girl

[paigow]

2 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

FUCK THE MCU!!

Never trust them with a female character!

Before everyone at Disney gets burned in effigy... note episode title...

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, paigow said:

Before everyone at Disney gets burned in effigy... note episode title...

Im pretty sure the title is a metaphor for Fury to get back in the game. And what better way to light a fire under him than killing off his partner? It’s the same old story. 🙄

Ot looks like Emilia Clarke is gonna wind up being another character that winds up the villain.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Well, fuck me Goddamn running. That's the last thing I expected. I'm gonna have to write something to get this nasty taste out of my mouth if that turns out to be permanent.

4 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Ot looks like Emilia Clarke is gonna wind up being another character that winds up the villain.

I was thinking that too, that Clarke and her eyebrows will serve as the Karli Morgenthau of this piece, which also bodes ill given how that turned out. It's even the same set-up; young woman wants to make things better for her people without much concern for how it affects anyone who gets in her way. I'm just....in shock, and I shouldn't be.

[angora]

The very fact that it's Secret Invasion gives me a slight hope that this is some sort of character Three-Card Monte, and this isn't the end for Maria Hill. But agreed--if this is real/permanent, that was a dirty move on the show's part. Especially since they also apparently killed Soren offscreen.

I'm getting intense Doctor Who "The Zygon Invasion" vibes from this setup: the children of the shapeshifting aliens who made the initial deal with a human authority to secretly take refuge on Earth don't want to hide themselves any longer. And they've apparently decided to take those very understandable feelings of displacement and anger and go full-blown terrorist. (As @Cobalt Stargazer said, very Karli Morgenthau.)

What I liked:

• MCU-style spycraft. I loved the glasses they used to track the backpacks in the crowd.
• The opening with Skrull!Ross being chased through the streets and across rooftops gave me flashbacks to the taxi chase in the first episode of Sherlock, which made me smile.
• Really liked the dynamic between Fury and Talos--the banter was fun, and you could feel the depth of the history between them in their more serious scenes.
• Talos in general. I like seeing how torn he is in his dealings here, obviously wanting to stop the attacks but not wanting to hurt his own people, especially since his daughter is involved. Ben Mendolsohn brought so much feeling to the line, "I said no."
• The scene in the bar between Fury and Hill. Again, you could feel the long history they shared.

Seeing Rhodey, it struck me--I wonder how well-equipped Stark Industries is to do maintenance on the braces that allow him to walk, now that Tony's gone.

The MCU films tend to be so "raceless," apart from a few pointed exceptions like Black Panther and Shang-Chi, that it's always interesting to see when the BIPOC characters do get to acknowledge their race. (i.e., I'm pretty sure Sam never even said the word "Black" until Falcon and the Winter Soldier.) I liked characters pointing out that Fury was going to stand out in Russia, even if the show then undermined that point when one of Sonya's MI-6 agents who picked him up was Black, and showing us multiple Skrulls with Black human forms in Russia.

[Spartan Girl]

47 minutes ago, Cobalt Stargazer said:

I was thinking that too, that Clarke and her eyebrows will serve as the Karli Morgenthau of this piece, which also bodes ill given how that turned out. It's even the same set-up; young woman wants to make things better for her people without much concern for how it affects anyone who gets in her way. I'm just....in shock, and I shouldn't be.

And just like that my old GOT wounds are reopened. I already am thinking Emilia Clarke deserves better.

[madhacker]

By doing that...the Skrulls made the same mistake that Loki did. They made it personal. She will be......Avenged.

If I was Nick, I'd reassemble the Agents of SHIELD notably Coulson and Melinda May (after proving they're the real one natch). They at least have some experience with this sort of stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[paigow]

Nick does not need any revenge motivation. He seemed intent on killing Gravik before Hill was shot. (And ended up partly dead)

[thuganomics85]

Well, then!  It's certainly possible this will somehow be one big ruse or it will get backtracked somehow, but if it holds true, then the MCU basically just looked at all of the complaints they have gotten recently about how they handle their women characters and we're like "Eh, whatever!  It's Maria Hill's time to die, now!"  I guess they really wanted to show they weren't going to pull any punches here, but we'll see if it ends up being worth it.

Kind of a slow start, but I do like how they are incorporating the spy thriller aspects her and trying to put their own spin to it, MCU style.  I was curious to see how they would make the Skrulls the villains since they were portrayed more positively on Captain Marvel, and I like the idea that it is actually a faction that has branched out and gain control thanks to the Blip (fuck you, Thanos!)  Definitely seem to be leaning into them being more "young and radical" with Gravik and G'iah being the main faces so far.

Loved getting lots of Fury and Talos.  Talos in particular is gaining grown at being one of my surprise favorite out of the entire MCU.  Ben Mendelsohn is always a delight!

It might have only been one scene, but Olivia Colman managed to make me love and already want more of Sonya.  Because she is Olivia Colman and everything she touches turns to gold!

Kingsley Ben-Adir was excellent in One Night in Miami, so hopefully Gravik won't be an one-note antagonist and will allow Kingsley to flex more for a bigger audience.

No matter how her characters end up being disappointments at the end, I will always love Emilia Clarke!

Hope the real Everett Ross is okay.

I wonder how many millions Don Cheadle gets every time he simply shows up on an MCU project to mainly spout exposition for a minute or two.  Not a bad gig, really!

Now that Guardians 3 made it a possibility, I wonder if the show will let Samuel L. Jackson finally do what he does best: say the F-word at least once!

[AimingforYoko]

God, I hope they really didn't do that. Marvel doesn't have enough good will left in the bank to start offing fan favorites in the first ep.

Otherwise, solid start. We'll see what's what.

[paigow]

All the pods controlled by Gravik... Was Ross there in a blurry camera pan?

[paigow]

8 hours ago, angora said:

I liked characters pointing out that Fury was going to stand out in Russia, even if the show then undermined that point when one of Sonya's MI-6 agents who picked him up was Black, and showing us multiple Skrulls with Black human forms in Russia.

Amazon made this guy Moscow CIA Station Chief

[Kel Varnsen]

If Hill gets taken out by a plain old single bullet that is going to suck. Just thinking about the tech in the MCU, bullet proof skin cream should be an option, not to mention the kind of tech to instantly cure a gun shot wound.

Also speaking of Tech it is kind of interesting that neither Tony or T'challa are around any more since it maybe helps explain why no one has invented a Skrull detector.

I did like this overall. It was pretty obvious who Talos's daughter was once they said they said she was missing. 

I always like seeing Ross as a badass spy. Not just because it is Tim from The Office but because it is completely different from the comics Ross I remember which I find funny.

10 hours ago, angora said:

The MCU films tend to be so "raceless," apart from a few pointed exceptions like Black Panther and Shang-Chi, that it's always interesting to see when the BIPOC characters do get to acknowledge their race. (i.e., I'm pretty sure Sam never even said the word "Black" until Falcon and the Winter Soldier.) I liked characters pointing out that Fury was going to stand out in Russia, even if the show then undermined that point when one of Sonya's MI-6 agents who picked him up was Black, and showing us multiple Skrulls with Black human forms in Russia.

The line about how he can call himself an old (certain phrase that describes spies but also is a slur against Black people) but Hill can't was also pretty funny.

Lastly, what the hell Captain Marvel? It's been like 30 years and you can't find a planet for the Skrulls to set up their home on? I feel like in that amount of time she could have taken over the Kree Homeworld and set up Skrulltown there and no one could have stopped her. Or that empty planet where Iron Man and friends fought Thanos. Or the one where the Guardians crashed in GOTG2.

[Guest]

Maria’s death reminded me a lot of Fury’s death in the Winter Soldier so it wouldn’t surprise if it is a fake-out. It also wouldn’t surprise if they were that stupid to fridge Maria in the first episode.

I do feel certain something (or multiple) things in the Fury/Talos/Hill dynamic is going to get a “shocking” reveal. 

Either way, I’m not loving that all the women are dead or getting a pretty negative portrayal. Emilia Clarke is a villain, Maria’s dead, Soren is dead, Carol abandoned the Skrulls and Olivia Coleman is more ruthless than Fury. Even before she died, Maria didn’t even get anything good to do other than be critical of Fury. While Fury and Talos are our sole “heroes” standing. 

My one unequivocal positive is Kingsley Ben-Adir. He had very little screen time and he nailed the tone necessary. The shapeshifting reveal that he had been watching Fury the whole episode was amazing. 

14 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Ot looks like Emilia Clarke is gonna wind up being another character that winds up the villain.

I would be shocked if she doesn’t get the double agent or redemption plot. 

[Lady Calypso]

Well, that's annoying if that ending isn't a fake-out. Maria Hill has always been underused in the MCU and THIS is her potential exit? Getting tricked by a Skrull and shot and left to die? I get the idea of a character being tricked by a Skrull is tempting in a series about Skrulls being undetected, but there were certainly other characters to choose from that wasn't a beloved character who never got a chance to shine in the first place. It's not like she's had massive development, either. Which is what makes this more disappointing, if it's not a fake-out. 

The ideas stemming from this episode are interesting enough, but man did they do ALL the women dirty in some way:

• Maria dies and is essentially fridged for Fury's arc;
• G'iah is an antagonist who will likely be redeemed at some point but she is still going to be a massive part of this massive evil plan to destroy the world;
• Sonya is an antagonist who is going to be portrayed as someone getting in Fury's way;
• Soren is killed offscreen, oops!

And that's literally all of the women on this show, the only two female regulars are antagonists and one will clearly be redeemed, but probably not before she helps kill a bunch of people in the process, and the other who is probably going to make some massive mistakes that will also get people killed. 

I didn't completely hate this episode, mind you. I really like Talos and I think his relationship with his daughter could be great to watch. I also liked Sonya's scenes with Fury, as that could be an interesting dynamic. And as much as I bemoan about G'iah's redemption arc, I do think Emilia Clarke is a great actress who has already added some layers to the character.

Plus, I do think that Gravik is a solid villain thus far. I did kind of like the explanation that G'iah gave to Beto about how that particular community worked (Skrulls who weren't warriors getting to be their true selves, and why warriors still wore human faces). 

Obviously it's still early so maybe the series will turn around on the two female characters they have, but with how few major kills they've done thus far, even all the major kills they HAVE done in this saga have pretty much been all female characters.

[Starfish35]

If that sticks…..:not cool, show. ☹️ I thought for sure she was going to turn Skrull after she was shot, but then they zoomed out and she never turned…….what?!?! 

Other than that, yeah, I was disappointed that G’iah double-crossed her dad, but I did think that was a bit too easy, so I wasn’t shocked about that.  

Withholding judgment for now, but I do hope this doesn’t turn out to be another Falcon and the Winter Soldier.  That series was such a disappointment. 
 

[wmdekooning]

7 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Kind of a slow start, but I do like how they are incorporating the spy thriller aspects her and trying to put their own spin to it, MCU style.

I enjoyed the intro with Ross and “Prescod”. The actor playing Prescod was suitably unhinged/seemingly unreliable with regard to his explanation of the Skrull plot.

As a personal aside, the portrayal had me expecting Prescod to mention that the Skrulls were after our precious bodily fluids…

[Raja]

4 hours ago, paigow said:

Amazon made this guy Moscow CIA Station Chief

If I remember my Clancy everybody knows CIA station chiefs as the position wasn't undercover. I was remembering the assassin that went after Chris Pine's Jack Ryan in the Russian hotel and an ex boyfriend from the 90 Day Fiance franchise and now the folks on FBI International. I guess while not Chicago there's enough Black folk in eastern Europe to make Hitler roll over in Hell.

[Guest]

19 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Also if that Everett Ross was a Skrull, where the hell is the real Ross?!

The show gave a really easy out for this by showing the people in the mind probe machines. 

 

1 hour ago, Starfish35 said:

I thought for sure she was going to turn Skrull after she was shot, but then they zoomed out and she never turned…….what?!?! 

 

The fact that she didn’t turn Skrull is the one thing making me uncertain. I would be shocked if one of the main heroes at the start of the show wasn’t secretly a Skrull (or a different Skrull in Talos’s case) and it would make a lot of sense for it to be Maria. She started the show working with Ross and they added the, mostly pointless, scene of Rhodey saying Hill and Fury were AWOL. But Gravik’s plan doesn’t really work if a dead Skrull is found at the site of the bombing. Hill and Fury being seen at the site of the bombing does makes sense for the plan. Maybe the shot didn’t kill her or they could go with the standard trope of an alien race figuring out how to disguise their identity even after death. 

[lawrbk]

14 hours ago, madhacker said:

By doing that...the Skrulls made the same mistake that Loki did. They made it personal. She will be......Avenged.

If I was Nick, I'd reassemble the Agents of SHIELD notably Coulson and Melinda May (after proving they're the real one natch). They at least have some experience with this sort of stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

my daughter told me there was an MCU tweet about what to watch prior to SI that said Agents of SHIELD. Which seemed odd. Maybe it’s because they just killed off fury’s right hand? Again. Is project TAHITI still working? 
 

im seriously so mad if this is the end for Hill. I love her and Cobie. (Based on Winter Soldier deleted scenes, director commentary and age of Ultron’s wearing of Steve’s jacket, maria was always my headcanon for who Steve may have been referring to when he told Nat their kiss went his first since 1945. I was bummed she wasn’t in Civil War after her role in WS.) 

as for Ga’ih, I’m not writing her off yet.did she play them or was she played by Gravik?

[greekmom]

Well a new show to hate watch.

First the writing. Looks like it was totally written by an AI.  Second, the actors deserve better. You have some A+ actors who probably joined the MCU to make some decent money (see Ruffalo's reasons for doing Hulk) - these guys deserve better than this garbage.

I also see how they are saving $$ by keeping Talos and G'aia in their human form than having them revert back to their Skrull form. Guess the actors must be happy they don't have to sit for 5+ hours in the makeup chair.

No one is ever dead dead in the MCU. Maria Hill will be back.  But missed opportunity for Fury (Samuel Jackson) to throw out a 'Motherfucker'.  I guess because it's Disney.

So basically the Skrulls are not happy living on Earth and want to take over. The Asgardians were ok enough and set up a new New Asgard in Norway and make a go of it.  So the Skrulls couldn't just be happy with a piece of land (seems that they are ok with high radiation areas) and name it new Skrull or whatever and make a go of their own little "kingdom"?? They want the whole pie?  And when Carol Danvers and Fury first promised them a new home back in the 90s, Carol didn't bother to follow up in 30 years due to .... reasons????  Yeah, poor poor writing. She couldn't just find some planet that the Skrulls could live at?

Oh and Talos wife's death. Guess that's part of the mystery that G'aia will turn back to the good side'?  G'aia would have never left unless she was emotionally involved with the villain dude.  She and Monica seemed that they were going to be really good friends. I don't buy it.

Sloppy sloppy writing by a computer.

[Spartan Girl]

13 minutes ago, greekmom said:

So basically the Skrulls are not happy living on Earth and want to take over. The Asgardians were ok enough and set up a new New Asgard in Norway and make a go of it.  So the Skrulls couldn't just be happy with a piece of land (seems that they are ok with high radiation areas) and name it new Skrull or whatever and make a go of their own little "kingdom"?? They want the whole pie?  And when Carol Danvers and Fury first promised them a new home back in the 90s, Carol didn't bother to follow up in 30 years due to .... reasons????  Yeah, poor poor writing. She couldn't just find some planet that the Skrulls could live at?

 

Why do I have the feeling that Carol is going to get more crap from the Skrulls and Monica for letting them down than Steve will ever get from anyone in the MCU for abandoning his friends to hire create his own unearned happy ending?

Edited June 22, 2023 by Spartan Girl

[Kel Varnsen]

15 minutes ago, greekmom said:

also see how they are saving $$ by keeping Talos and G'aia in their human form than having them revert back to their Skrull form. Guess the actors must be happy they don't have to sit for 5+ hours in the makeup chair.

As much as that is obviously for money saving, I did like the creative way they showed the change for that one Skrull guy when he showed up at the nuclear plant. How his face changed as he pulled his hat off. Because I remember watching captain Marvel and thinking how those were the best shape shifting effects I had ever seen. So they obviously aren't cheap.

Quote

And when Carol Danvers and Fury first promised them a new home back in the 90s, Carol didn't bother to follow up in 30 years due to .... reasons???? Yeah, poor poor writing. She couldn't just find some planet that the Skrulls could live at?

On top of the other planets I previously mentioned there is also the one that Thanos retired to. Captain Marvel has even been to that one.

[paigow]

15 minutes ago, greekmom said:

And when Carol Danvers and Fury first promised them a new home back in the 90s, Carol didn't bother to follow up in 30 years due to .... reasons????  Yeah, poor poor writing. She couldn't just find some planet that the Skrulls could live at?

Easy to see why many Skrulls feel betrayed and angry..

[Raja]

48 minutes ago, greekmom said:

also see how they are saving $$ by keeping Talos and G'aia in their human form than having them revert back to their Skrull form. Guess the actors must be happy they don't have to sit for 5+ hours in the makeup chair.

K.E.V.I.N.  said they were too expensive and our fathers were happy with Lou Ferrigno painted green.

[Lady Calypso]

1 hour ago, greekmom said:

No one is ever dead dead in the MCU. Maria Hill will be back.  But missed opportunity for Fury (Samuel Jackson) to throw out a 'Motherfucker'.  I guess because it's Disney.

Well, not necessarily true. Men are usually never dead-dead, but the women usually stay dead, except for very rare cases (I think there's only two I can think of that have fallen under this category, while with the men, it's in the double digits).

Thinking about this first episode, I'm even more disappointed in their choice to kill Maria. Now, logically, I can see the benefits to going this way. Having a beloved character killed by someone who she thinks is her friend, only to be a Skrull, ups the tension on who is a Skrull and who isn't. That's interesting development, and that'll provide a lot of tension and possible twists throughout the series.

That being said, the way they handled it did not work. Maria's an underdeveloped character. She may be beloved, but she hasn't gotten a lot to do on her own, and now she never will. Killing her off makes people feel something, but not necessarily just sad.

Plus, her death scene was SUPER rushed. It happened all within a minute, maybe a minute and a half. Fury doesn't even really mourn her death because he's running off so the camera can shoot from above to see her dead with blood pooling around her. He literally leaves her there right after she dies; there's not much reaction from him, which was an odd choice. I'm sure he will next episode, but usually, death scenes are more drawn out. This one was very much about Fury and Gravik, not about Maria.

Also, the way she died was 100% fridging, which is such backsliding after the MCU has worked to make the female characters have agency after the first three Phases where they were more supporting characters for the men. Maria dies FOR shock value and for Fury's arc, not out of anything that makes sense for her character. She's used as a plot device, nothing more, which is such backwards thinking. And especially for a series that has limited female characters to begin with, killing off a character after eleven years in the way that they did is disrespectful to the actress and the character.

It's just a shame, that's all. It sours me of the series immediately and, although I will watch, it ticks a massive negative for the series.

[Kel Varnsen]

58 minutes ago, Raja said:

K.E.V.I.N.  said they were too expensive and our fathers were happy with Lou Ferrigno painted green.

Speaking of K.E.V.I.N if this series ends on a big fight that conveniently ties up all the loose ends, it's going to look really stupid.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, greekmom said:

And when Carol Danvers and Fury first promised them a new home back in the 90s, Carol didn't bother to follow up in 30 years due to .... reasons????  Yeah, poor poor writing. She couldn't just find some planet that the Skrulls could live at?

That doesn’t really bother me that much. They didn’t just need any planet they could survive on but one where they wouldn’t be found by the Kree. 

2 hours ago, greekmom said:

So basically the Skrulls are not happy living on Earth and want to take over. The Asgardians were ok enough and set up a new New Asgard in Norway and make a go of it.  So the Skrulls couldn't just be happy with a piece of land (seems that they are ok with high radiation areas) and name it new Skrull or whatever and make a go of their own little "kingdom"?? They want the whole pie?

The big difference is that the Asgardians can live as themselves. The Skrulls weren’t given permission to live to make that community. Their abilities mean that they will never be left on alone on Earth. Most governments would either see them as a threat or attempt to weaponize their abilities. 

[Kel Varnsen]

40 minutes ago, Dani said:

That doesn’t really bother me that much. They didn’t just need any planet they could survive on but one where they wouldn’t be found by the Kree. 

My expectations for The Marvels are super high. Because at the end of Captain Marvel she told Yon Rogg that she was coming for the Supreme Intelligence and was basically going to shut down the Kree Empire. But in 2014 the empire was still a thing since in GOTG they were signing a treaty with Xandar. Then now we see the Skrulls still don't have a home. So the writers will need to do a really good job explaining what exactly distracted Carol for all those years. Especially with the whole year delay that the movie has had.

Edited June 22, 2023 by Kel Varnsen

[Guest]

42 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

So the writers will need to do a really good job explaining what exactly distracted Carol for all those years.

I want them to explain but I also don’t agree that it not happening means Carol was distracted. Taking down the Kree empire and finding the Skrulls a safe home are big endeavors even for someone with Carol’s power. They can easily write it in a way that isn’t Carol simply abandoning them and still caused them to get frustrated and angry. 

3 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Why do I have the feeling that Carol is going to get more crap from the Skrulls and Monica for letting them down than Steve will ever get from anyone in the MCU for abandoning his friends to hire create his own unearned happy ending?

This is what worries me. Even more than Cap’s ending, Strange hasn’t received anywhere near enough criticism for his actions in No Way Home and MoM. Tony gets the noble sacrifice and is basically proven right after being directly responsible for a ridiculous number of villains. 

Particularly since everyone involved should be very well aware that Carol will receive more scrutiny than other characters. This will show if they learned anything from the criticism of how they handled Wanda. 

[tennisgurl]

I swear, this had better be a fake out or I'm going to throw hands over this. If she's actually dead for real they did her massively dirty, and this is on top of a show that is already not exactly doing great when it comes to its female characters. I have defended the MCU's use of female characters before, and I think that they have been doing a lot better as of late, but this is leaving a really bad taste in my mouth. Not only is Maria Hill abruptly killed to give Fury more angst and get him more invested in the fight, but Soren is killed offscreen to give her family more angst, the only new female character we've met is being set up as an antagonist, if not a real villain, and G'iah went from a cute little kid to a terrorist. I'm sure that G'iah will be redeemed but she's still someone who helped kill tons of innocent people and is only turning to the side of good because the main bad guy killed her mom, not because she realized that genocide was bad. Seriously, if this really is the end for Maria this really sucks. She's always been underused and I thought that this would be a good time for her to shine, but instead she gets suddenly gut shot before getting to do anything cool, not even getting a badass or meaningful death, all in the name of "raising the stakes" and being a part of Nick's journey. 

I also think that this whole conflict feels a bit contrived. Why exactly has it taken so long for them to find the Skrulls a new home? They cant just do what the Asguardians did and create a new city in some radioactive place that no one else would want? People know about aliens now, why cant they just tell people who they are? Carol couldn't have found some planet that would take them? There are so many inhabitable planets around that seem to have room for people, why cant they set up a colony there or immigrate somewhere else? I can guess on my own why they might not do this, like other aliens and humans don't trust the Skrulls because their shapeshifters, but since that's never stated, it really does feel like Nick and Carol just couldn't be arsed to do anything to help these people. I guess in that case I would be pissed off too, although not enough to slaughter every living thing on an entire planet.

That all being said, there was a lot here that I did like. Nick Fury having to get his groove back should be a fun arc for him to go through, and Sam Jackson is doing a great job. The cast in general is excellent, we have Sam Jackson, we have Ben Mendelsohn back again as Talos, which is very welcome, he's a great character and I already love his relationship with Nick, you can really see the history between them. We also get Olivia Coleman as spymaster Sonya, who's going to be a really fun character and clearly has an interesting history with Nick, and its always great to see Emilia Clarke, she's a great actress and if they want to redeem G'iah they are clearly going to need to lean on her talent to pull it off. I was also pleasantly surprised to see Martin Freeman show up briefly, hopefully the real Ross is alright and is still hanging out in Wakanda. 

I liked all of the comments about how much Nick stands out in Russia, it led to a lot of funny lines and it felt very real. I also really liked the start of the episode, it felt very spy thriller with an MCU flair, its what I want from this show. 

[Cobalt Stargazer]

3 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Then now we see the Skrulls still don't have a home. So the writers will need to do a really good job explaining what exactly distracted Carol for all those years.

Especially since Monica seemed annoyed at the mention of her during WandaVision, and given how close they were when Monica was a kid there has to be some reason for that. If Carol wasn't helping the Skrulls look for a place to relocate and she also wasn't with her family in Louisiana, where was she? That 'hi' in the trailer for The Marvels was very much, "Oh, hello, person I haven't seen for a while." Awkward.

[greekmom]

2 hours ago, Dani said:

That doesn’t really bother me that much. They didn’t just need any planet they could survive on but one where they wouldn’t be found by the Kree. 

The big difference is that the Asgardians can live as themselves. The Skrulls weren’t given permission to live to make that community. Their abilities mean that they will never be left on alone on Earth. Most governments would either see them as a threat or attempt to weaponize their abilities. 

Did they even ask?

[dmeets]

Kevin Feige: "Why are they so upset? We just killed her, at least we didn't reveal that she was a bad guy all along!"

I was thinking Skrull too at first (I can't remember how long the shot on her lingered... maybe she's still bleeding out and hasn't truly died yet and thus didn't shapeshift back?) but then very first credit was "Guest Star: Cobie Smulders" followed by "Guest Star: Martin Freeman" so doesn't look like she'll be back unless it's at the very end of the series (same for the whereabouts of the real Everett Ross). Quite a surprise that they took two of the highest billed actors in the promos, reveal them to actually just be special guests and write them off in the first 50 minutes of the series.

Another reason I think Hill might really be dead is that I'm not sure the show will be bold enough to reveal any actual superheroes as Skrulls so they'll need other ways for the show to affect the MCU going forward.

Convenient that Skrulls happen to be immune to nuclear radiation, so that they can just arrange a few terrorist attacks to piss the nuclear superpowers off and then let the humans exterminate each other.

[shantown]

Everyone here has made excellent points, so I'm not sure how much more I can really add. I do think this could be a very good show, but that the universe just got too big for them to really handle everything that would be involved here. "He's on SABRE" with a literal handwave is not great way to explain why Fury hasn't been around. He and Carol being "busy" is not a great way to explain why it's taken 30+ years to find a safe place, planet or otherwise, for the Skrulls. What were they doing between 1995 and 2012? Maria has been criminally underused since being introduced (especially post-WS) and to bring her back just to kill her off is frustrating on several levels. Having a secret vigilante group operating abroad led by a young woman with what she believes are good intentions but are in opposition to Shield's/the US gov'ts intentions... well that just seems like lazy writing.

I think they wanted to have a grounded spy thriller, and goodness that's what I wanted too, but the show exists in a universe with magic and futuristic science and aliens and time travel and superpowers. You can't pick and choose with universal elements you want to include and which to ignore (I mean you can, but we're all going to make endless lists of what what left out!). 

Anyway, I like the cast they've assembled here, but that's not enough to sell me on the show. I know that eventually the old characters are going to die/retire/move on and the MCU is going to continue but I just don't know if I'm ready for that yet in terms of a character's story being cut short. 

[Cobalt Stargazer]

3 hours ago, greekmom said:

Did they even ask?

From a story perspective, that actually makes sense. Presumably the Skrulls were just living their lives and not bothering anyone when the Kree decided to target them for extermination, so they've already been persecuted and slaughtered for no other reason than they exist. Even with Carol's assurances that she would help them, trust in outsiders wouldn't scan with what's already happened, and if Danvers has abandoned her self-proclaimed responsibilities because of whatever, who else would they look to?

[Guest]

1 hour ago, greekmom said:

Did they even ask?

No clue but it’s only been one episode. I would hope we are going to get more backstory. But it wouldn’t surprise if they didn’t specifically ask and that various governments made it clear they weren’t welcome or wouldn’t really be free. This is the world that created the Sokovia accords and where we have seen numerous powerful people locked up or used. 

Personally, I am in wait and see mode for most of the issues. Given how central what happened with Carol is to the story I don’t think it is going to be just handwaved away. I expect we will get some explanation. I am more concerned the explanation will throw Carol under the bus.

The one exception on my wait and see approach is the decision to kill Maria. Even if it is a fake out it was a horrible decision and they deserve a lot of flak for that for treating her solely as a chess piece rather than an important character. 

[wmdekooning]

6 hours ago, Raja said:

K.E.V.I.N.  said they were too expensive and our fathers were happy with Lou Ferrigno painted green.

I told a young fella after one of the “Avengers” movies exactly how The Hulk was simply a man painted green when I was about his age.

He looked at me like I was insane…

[greekmom]

Just now, wmdekooning said:

I told a young fella after one of the “Avengers” movies exactly how The Hulk was simply a man painted green when I was about his age.

He looked at me like I was insane…

Count me in as well in the group that watched a painted green guy with painted green slip on sandals fighting the bad dudes. 

[wmdekooning]

1 minute ago, greekmom said:

Count me in as well in the group that watched a painted green guy with painted green slip on sandals fighting the bad dudes. 

And they were never equally super-powered bad dudes or hordes of aliens.  Just plain aul’ bad dudes and random jerks.

And we liked it!

(Though now I’m thinking The Incredible Hulk vs Bionic Sasquatch from the “Six Million Dollar Man” was a missed opportunity…

[Kel Varnsen]

On 6/22/2023 at 11:40 AM, Cobalt Stargazer said:

Especially since Monica seemed annoyed at the mention of her during WandaVision, and given how close they were when Monica was a kid there has to be some reason for that. If Carol wasn't helping the Skrulls look for a place to relocate and she also wasn't with her family in Louisiana, where was she? That 'hi' in the trailer for The Marvels was very much, "Oh, hello, person I haven't seen for a while." Awkward.

Plus she doesn't seem to have been going to war with the Kree either. It will be interesting to see how they make The Marvel's a current story without it being full of flashbacks.

On 6/22/2023 at 12:44 PM, dmeets said:

Kevin Feige: "Why are they so upset? We just killed her, at least we didn't reveal that she was a bad guy all along!"

I kind of think I wouldn't have minded if they killed Hill, except for how lame it was. Just simply getting shot in the stomach by a regular old gun (not even a space gun). Then the cheesy overhead shot as she dies. They could have made her death way better.

I was also thinking about Talos and his daughter and I wonder how he knows it is her when she is in human form? How does he know it isn't another Skrull who copied her human look?

Edited June 24, 2023 by Kel Varnsen

[Raja]

28 minutes ago, wmdekooning said:

I told a young fella after one of the “Avengers” movies exactly how The Hulk was simply a man painted green when I was about his age.

He looked at me like I was insane…

Seriously I think Big Lou didn't have to compete with regular actors, even retired football players, and pro wrestlers juicing up like himself and Arnold 

[Enigma X]

I hope Maria isn't dead, but I liked it a lot. Honestly, I am more upset at what little Maria Hill/Cobie Smulders has been given to do in the past than what happened here. I think we are going to lose a few of my fave characters in this show.

[Linderhill]

My question is what happened to Goose the Flerken.  Wouldn't he be able to detect Skrulls? Granted its been 30 years but we don't know the life span of Flerkens.

[Affogato]

9 hours ago, Linderhill said:

My question is what happened to Goose the Flerken.  Wouldn't he be able to detect Skrulls? Granted its been 30 years but we don't know the life span of Flerkens.

Or the kids may be around. 

[Morrigan2575]

As soon as I saw she wasn't in the credits I knew they were going to "kill" her. That being said I think she's only Mostly Dead....I'm sure Tahiti is still a magical place...LMDs are a thing in MCU right?

I enjoy a good espionage thriller and so far so good. Emilia Clarke still can't act but, given her character I'm assuming she'll turn out to be "good" in the end.

Ben Mendelsohn continues to be brilliant, and I enjoy Talos. Olivia Coleman was wonderfully entertaining but, I expected nothing less

 

[Raja]

1 hour ago, Morrigan2575 said:

As soon as I saw she wasn't in the credits I knew they were going to "kill" her. That being said I think she's only Mostly Dead....I'm sure Tahiti is still a magical place...LMDs are a thing in MCU right?

 

 

Only in the multiverse right now. Although Tony Stark did throw out the LMD ideal in the first Avengers movie 

[Tachi Rocinante]

That fake beard is 70s cop show bad.

[Raja]

On 6/21/2023 at 9:07 AM, angora said:

Seeing Rhodey, it struck me--I wonder how well-equipped Stark Industries is to do maintenance on the braces that allow him to walk, now that Tony's gone.

If everything required Mr Stark for basic maintenance that is not an industry. While there might not be any major breakthroughs until Riri Williams of Black Panther Wakanda Forever finishes at MIT the robotic assist legs and War Machine armor, which the USAF was running with added Hammer Tech weapons before any nanotech add ons was working with Stark not being there everyday.

 

The episode itself was a slow start with a shock ending. But then my best Disney+ series Andor started that way