The Marvel cinematic universe is expanding, and more exciting projects are coming the way in the upcoming phases.
Even though there has been some serious criticism regarding the quality of the content Marvel Studios is putting out, or the downfall in the overall enthusiasm after Endgame or No Way Home.
It seems Daredevil was able to jolt some excitement in the fans along with some announcements regarding upcoming movies in the next phases like The Thunderbolts.
We also have Black Panther: Wakanda Forever at the doors to release soon in November. Then, other potential projects that are on the way are Daredevil: Born Again and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
But if you are one of those who haven’t caught up with MCU projects or looking to spark some old flames, as some good shows to binge on, here are a few that you can find on Disney+.
She-Hulk: Attorney At Law
It is not that we don’t appreciate or thoroughly enjoyed the high beats of the show, but that’s what it was, enjoyable at parts.
She-Hulk, what could have been an interesting adaptation to see She-Hulk, the cousin of Bruce Banner aka The Hulk on-screen has become more bad taste.
If you remove Daredevil and a few good cameos, the show is unarguably disappointing. Even Tatia Meslany played Attorney Jen Walters brilliantly and in fact, we would love to see her in MCU in other projects, in different settings interacting with other MCU characters.
But the show was badly constructed with underdeveloped characters. We can forget and forgive bad CGI, but an unconsequential eight episodes of just Jen hanging around was not exciting at all.
We think, even though all the sitcom style is appreciated and there should be room for experimentation, the show must be what it is essentially and unapologetically, which is a superhero show!!
The show does have its moments, but even those are mostly about cameos and related to sub-plots or side characters, not anything remarkable about Jen Walters or She-Hulk to connect with.
Also, some amount of pushed wokeness and agenda preposition towards feminism strangles the story and doesn’t let breathe room for characters to truly connect with the audience, and then actually know her struggle and conflicts including as a woman as well.
However, we highly appreciated the overall plot and uniqueness in the narrative along with little things like Jen breaking the fourth wall directly talking to the audience, making fun of Marvel’s repetitive storytelling formula, and more.
The Falcon and Winter Soldier
This has to be one of the most disappointing Marvel Disney+ shows because this could have been so much great considering the potential there to explore.
The premise alone is quite interesting where we see Steve Roger’s two best friends continue his mantle, his legacy honoring him and one of them is to actually carry his shield and become Captain America.
On paper, it feels like a great story to tell, but the execution was fairly to say quite bad.
The only thing that helped survive this show to a level one can go through is the chemistry between Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson along with some old characters coming back like Zemo and Sharon Carter.
Bringing a new Captain America who lets down the nation and finally turned into U.S Agent setting up for the upcoming MCU movie Thunderbolts was also good to see.
But there were just too many characters and so many sub-plots going on at the same time that it became all confusing.
There is not much focus on characters developing relationships, also no clear villain as to who they are, what they want, and what the stakes are.
What the show was truly lacking is coherency in the ideas the show was exploring. Even a few of them are really exciting and interesting to see especially things related to the legacy of the Captain America shield and Isaiah Bradley.
Iron Fist
Iron Fist is one of the only shows from the Defenderverse that missed it mark when you compare them to others like Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones.
It was released on Netflix in 2017 featuring Finn Jones as Danny Rand who returns to his home, in New York City after being presumed dead for 15 years.
After reaching home, he starts to reclaim his family’s business which is taken over by the Meachum family along with dealing with his secret identity as Iron Fist.
The overall series was still quite fun to watch but received huge negative reviews, mostly for valid reasons, and was canceled after two seasons.
With lots of going wrong with the show, Finn Jones doesn’t seem to be convincing and powerful as the protagonist, as Iron Fist. According to the criticism, Finn Jones lacked acting skills as well as martial art skills that were needed to ace the role.
Then, there was also the quality of the script that lacked limitations in character development and arcs to explore.
However, what really stood out from the show was the character of Colleen Wing who was exceptionally played by the actor Jessica Henwick.
I Am Groot
So. on the basis of cuteness, this show can just rank on the top! Since everyone loves Baby Groot, this show with animated shorts is a delight to watch.
I Am Groot is basically a collection of five one-minute animated shorts with utlimate cute exploration of Baby Groot doing things in his own little world.
Every second of this shows is delightful to watch. So if you haven’t watched, just binge through, and you finally get to see more of Baby Groot especially if you have craved for more, in Guardians of the Galaxy.
The show is inconsequential to a whole high-concept range of Marvel Disney+ shows but cmon! It’s Baby Groot! You have to see it!
The Punishers
The Punishers is essentially a Daredevil spin-off show as the protagonist of this show Frank Castle ( Jon Bernthal) appeared in Daredevil season two.
In Daredevil, he was introduced more as an antagonist to Matt Murdock aka The Punisher, and later he gets his own solo series The Punishers continuing his mission to avenge his dead family.
But over time, he finds that there is a bigger conspiracy in the play and the whole criminal underground which he has to stand against and fight in the most lethal way possible.
Even though the show received mixed reviews, it was a good show in itself, very true to its core and the beliefs of its hero/anti-hero.
Especially Jon Bernthal has done exceptionally well playing the role of Frank Castle aka The Punisher.
The problem with the show was nothing of sort standing out and its predictability. With a slow beginning, it does become interesting at the point, but it remains quite fluctuating in its dramatic value.
Apart from that, his being someone who chose brutality and violence to fight crime or injustice, even though his motive is right, and his background is understandable, can be problematic in portraying him as a glorified hero.
The show still does a great job of not doing that, but it becomes very difficult when you make a whole show on such a character. It is a tightrope to walk on.
Another interesting piece of news that going around regarding his character is that he might be making an appearance in the upcoming Disney+ show Daredevil: Born Again which will also mark another Defenderverse character into MCU after Matt Murdock aka Daredevil and Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin.
Werewolf By Night
So, Werewolf By Night is technically a ‘Marvel Studios’ special presentation and not a TV series from them.
Well, since we don’t know what that means, let’s just bring them into the party. So this one is not an exciting addition to the MCU Disney+ collection.
It features the story of this werewolf masquerading as a monster hunter highlighting the horror tropes of the 50s era. There are many gruesome kills as well to give it a feel.
Ms. Marvel
This is a much more recent addition to the Marvel Disney+ series line-up and also an entirely different turf, ie. teen superheroes.
Well, it is due to say that MCU’s first teen superhero came off strong and with great potential also exploring an entirely different culture.
The show is about Kamala Khan, a Pakistani American living in New Jersey who is a huge fan of Captain Marvel and gets to become a superhero of herself, named Ms. Marvel.
The beginning of the show was really good, however, it does feel to be scattered in later episodes with so much going on.
Then there is Clichy’s weak group of villains which goes as fast as they come. Also, there is a lot of lazy writing going on.
But the show is definitely entertaining and has a strong foundation to build more. Well, Kamala Khan aka Ms Marvel is going to show on big screen in the upcoming MCU movie The Marvels movie along with Captain Marvel.
The Defenders
Once the Netflix originals, later brought to Disney+ shows Daredevil, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage an interesting mini MCU was established apart from the Canon.
There was no confirmation of them being in the MCU apart from the occasional nods to the New York Avengers attack or other MCU heroes every now and then.
The Defenders was a crossover event between these different worlds already set up and was quite exciting to look forward to.
It was such a delight for Marvel fans, especially for the ones who were really into those four different Netflix shows, colliding their world together.
The overall plot of the show was compelling and strong. The dynamic between these different characters was also unique and completely organic to the respect of their own temperaments and worldview.
Even though it was a good crossover event with some great highlights, it was far from perfect. There was so much drag in the writing of the show. The pacing was quite off.
Since, they haven’t done a really good job of introducing each character, their worlds, and where they were last in their own show, the audience who were watching the show who haven’t seen others might get lost.
But if you went on to ignore these little flaws, the show was really good with many fan service scenes as well.
Hawkeye
Hawkeye certainly wasn’t an ambitious Marvel project and also it wasn’t giving any much expectations to be more than it seems.
But it was indeed a surprise! Arguably, it is one of the best Marvel TV show in 2022, a complete entertainer with a great storyline, and finally!, much more fleshed out and screentime getting Hawkeye.
Also, this show reminded us how we love to see Jeremy Renner on-screen, also the introduction of the new Marvel hero Kate Bishop, another or next Hawkeye or Hawkette.
And how you can miss the reintroduction of a major Marvel villain straight up from Defenderverse, the Kingpin aka Wilson Fisk played by Vincent D’ Onofrio.
Another character introduced in the show was Echo who is also going to be an important part of MCU, also coming with her own solo show as well.
The overall vibe of the show was quite fun and Christmassy, and it was also marketed as a Christmas-time TV show, another great theme to explore by Marvel.
What If?
A break from live-action shows, What If? Is a fresh breath of air, an animated, sort of anthology series of short episodes featuring an exploration of possibilities in the MCU to the respect of some changes.
The show explores the themes of ‘What If’ like what If Agent Carter was to receive the super soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers or others.
Well, most of these ‘What If’ scenarios were really interesting and even made you want to watch it as a full-blown live-action movie, but others made you think what if they hadn’t gone for this scenario?
Overall, this anthology animated series was really well done, especially in terms of squeezing these themes within a short episode.
This is definitely Marvel Studios getting experimental and unique, something different from their formulaic narratives.
Earlier these ‘what if’ scenarios were excluded from MCU, but later it is said to be part of MCU Cannon which can be possible as MCU is exploring the multiverse theme in this phase and later phases as well.
Some of these episodes were really creative and mixed genres like zombie, whodunnit, and more, whereas some episode like ‘Party Thor’ was more like a joke stretched long enough to put in an episode.
Another major criticism regarding the show that stoop up was the bland and stiff nature of the animation along with the repetitive style of animation in all the stories.
So basically whether we see Black Panther in space or Zombie Avengers, they look essentially the same in how they were animated using the stylistic choices.
Jessica Jones
Jessica Jones has a merit to be as good as Daredevil which is, according to us is the best Marvel TV property ever!
Some might even rank the show at the top or second last when it comes to the best Marvel TV shows, but we think this ranking is more suitable provided the overall factors in the show.
Undoubtedly, one of the best, for sure where Jessica Jones is this powerful individual along with a really good private detective.
The show definitely touches upon some dark themes and storylines that are not usual to MCU which is a fresh breath of air.
Moon Knight
Moon Knight, is a surprisingly Marvel Disney+ show because it is so good that you can enlist in one of the best TV shows of the year or the decade, and not just as a ‘superhero’ show.
At least, it is, hands-down the best Marvel Studio production where it seems a talented pool of writers and directors came together to come up with a masterpiece.
The performances in the show are so captivating, especially from Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke playing protagonist and antagonist in the show.
Isaac brilliantly plays two different characters Marc Spector and Steve Grant, two personalities of the same person who is also sharing his body with an Egyptian Moon Good named Knoshu who chose him as an avatar to imbue superhero powers.
The show mildly focuses on the aspect of a vigilante or just a person with a dissociative identity disorder, and very accurately so as well.
And that’s pretty much the complaint regarding the show; it focuses on that aspect very less which could have been so much more interesting to see, but instead, it becomes a lot about two groups of people chasing some McGuffins.
But the show was truly one of the best Marvel shows to watch.
Loki
Loki, the show becomes the point of excitement post Avengers: Endgame entering this new world of the multiverse, also introducing the possibility of Kang, the conqueror being the big bad in the next MCU phase.
The show accounts for the Loki shown in the Endgame who vanished using the Tesseract at the time Avengers time-traveling to 2012 New York.
So, to begin with, we weren’t going with the Loki who evolved through the years, almost made amends with his brother Thor, tried to save him, fought with him, and even lost his life protecting him against Thanos.
Loki was the year one of the Marvel Disney+ show which was about the alien God taken by this mysterious time organization and then being recruited to fix time holes caused by his own variants.
It was so fun to see so much more of Loki played by Tom Hiddleston who have now a bigger part to play in Marvel Multiverse.
Even though the show was really good, we still felt that there was so much more potential to explore in a multiversal, time-traveling, and quantum leap-type show. However, we are indeed getting the second season to fix that.
WandaVision
WandaVision is the fruit of Marvel’s bravery and creative energy merging together to produce something that is so non-Marvel, not the type of formulaic and repetitive stupidity and over-reliance on cameos rather than story.
You see this biggest movie studio in Hollywood taking bold risks and even getting criticism on the format, a lot of them, fairly so as well.
But still, WandaVision managed to become more than just a great effort from Marvel Studios with a TV-like format to the narrative, embracing the plot to a larger extent, but all in the service of the story.
We see Wanda and Vision ( Isn’t he die in Infinity War?) together in this 50s TV show format world revealing to be actually in a show-like setting.
If for some reason, you haven’t watched the show, we won’t be spoiling it for you, but this has to be the most creative and offbeat superhero show by Marvel Studios so far.
There are so much of mystery elements in the show that keep you hooked towards the end for the gradual revealings. Not to forget the show’s sitcom format in the earlier most part and all the crazy plot twists coming out one by one.
Daredevil
Unarguably, Daredevil is the best show by Marvel s far also one of the best superhero TV shows ever, and also a great series in general as well.
The show didn’t go for any Marvel formula. Rather was as comic-accurate as it can be. It was mostly resourced from Frank Miller’s Daredevil version which is much more darker.
The dedicated fan base of the show was so much that even if it was canceled on Netflix, Kevin Feige went on to revive the characters and bring them to the MCU Canon.
Daredevil’s cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home become such a huge craze and then again in much recent show She-Hulk: Attorney At Law.
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