I’ve been counting down the days until this week because I was so excited to see Shang-Chi in theaters. Of course, Marvel and DC kept me going with plenty of announcements and content to dive into this week. On top of that, Spooky season officially started this week, meaning I get to spend the next two months deep diving into all the best stories for Halloween and the fall. Even though it’s been a bit sad to see all my friends heading to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal and the opening night of Shang-Chi together, it’s kind of cool to know that I’m fourteen hours away, living vicariously through them! Now… On to the recap!
Marvel:
The newest MCU entry released this week. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings opens officially today. I had a chance to see it last night. I loved it. I said that if this movie had been released when my brothers were kids, we would have seen it a dozen times. If you have any type of passion for martial arts, Shang-Chi is like Marvel’s love letter to the sport. I’ll post my spoiler review on Tuesday, which means you’ll absolutely want to go see it before I post.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is in theaters now. Please ensure you are following your local theater’s health and mask guidelines while enjoying the film!
August 30th was Marvel’s 82nd birthday, and they celebrated by dropping 8 new publishing titles that will be released in the upcoming months. They say that these titles will help shape the Marvel brand as the “tentpoles” for Marvel. There’s the next step in Daredevil’s story, as his title just ended, an Avengers story featuring multiverse variants of the Avengers, two X-Men/Wolverine titles that seem to be telling the same story from different points of view in a Last Five Years vibe, a She-Hulk title to tie into her show, a Fantastic Fourtitle, and a new Moon-Girl and Devil Dinosaur story. I’m most looking forward to Timeless which promises a Kang the Conqueror story that will address the multiverse.
“The future of the Marvel Universe is here, and Timeless is where it all begins. When a threatening new timeline emerges, Kang the Conqueror must fight his way through the coming year to protect the main 616 timeline he’s worked centuries to solidify as his own. Jed MacKay, Kev Walker, Joe Bennett, Mark Bagley, and more provide a first look at what’s coming to the Marvel Universe in 2022 in a story that will prove…the Future is Timeless.”
Marvel.com
Personally, I love the concept that all aspects of a brand tie in together, that the stories that happen in the pages of a comic impact and affect the stories that are told on screen. While I can understand the difficulties of tying in and connecting these stories to all the moving parts of the brand, I think having tie-in series in print fill in the gaps between the on-screen stories that fans are desperate to know more about. I’m hoping these new titles, particularly Timeless, fill in those storytelling gaps between entries in the MCU.
These eight new titles release between December 2021 and February 2022 in comic shops and digital download.
This week’s multiverse gap on Disney+’s What If… took all of my disappointment in last week’s episode and went “we’ll fix it.” This week’s Dr. Strange episode fully embraced the dark and spooky vibes as they showed us what would have happened if Christine Palmer had died in an “Absolute Point” as the Ancient One called it. (Or a fixed point if a different Doctor had told the story. Side note: Why is What If… turning out to be more of the Doctor Who vibe I was expecting from Loki?) While the episode is an unfortunately perfect example of fridging poor Dr. Palmer, it’s an awesome step into how the iconic characters could serve to be the destruction of their own universes. It also marks the first time we really see an interaction between one of the characters and the Watcher. The over powered Dr. Strange begs the Watcher to intervene and save his universe, save Christine, but the Watcher refuses to protect the other timelines. Knowing what I do about the comics canon version of the Watcher, I think he’s going to break that rule sooner than later. Jeffery Wright as the Watcher and narrator of these stories has been really great, but this week gave us a little peek into what’s in store for his interaction with the characters.
New episodes of What If… air Wednesdays on Disney+. Episodes 1-4 now streaming.
DC:
Jeffery Wright gave me a bit of a thrill this week as The Batman trailer played ahead of Shang-Chi, marking my personal first time seeing Rob Pattison’s Batman, Wright’s Gordon, and the rest of the cast on the big screen. It’s so strange to think about how that trailer released just over a year ago and so many of us have only seen it on a computer or a phone screen. It was a rush seeing it up there.
The Batman is scheduled to be released in theaters March 4th, 2022
Of course, that’s not the only trailer DC released this week. Along with Fandome Fridays, DC announced the return of their virtual convention. Fandome was a two-day event last year, full of panels, sneak previews, interviews, and history relating to the DC Comics brand. I had a blast last year, watching on my laptop while FaceTiming my two best friends on my phone and commenting in the DCUniverse app chatrooms on a tablet. It was wild, but it was a really positive experience last year when it felt like there was no limit and no barriers to connecting with the rest of the comic community. I’m very excited to see it return.
DC Fandome occurs on October 16th, 2021. Sign up here for more information.
On the small screen side of things, HBOMax released the season three trailer of Doom Patrol. The transition from DC Universe streaming to HBOMax streaming has been a godsend for Titans, elevating almost every aspect of the production quality for that show, and it’s looking quite possible that Doom Patrol is going to follow suit. Doom Patrol featured the biggest names of any show on the DC Universe streaming site and it’s great to see how they’ve all embraced the insanity of the hot-mess team they portray. Season three promises a wealth of villains, zombies, and Michelle Gomez. And let’s be real, Brendan Fraser is on the show, so I’m tuning in as long as he’s there.
Doom Patrol season 3 premiers on HBOMax on September 23rd. Seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming.
This week in print, DC released a special 100 pages issue for Aquaman’s 80th anniversary. The anthology of Aquaman stories covers all eighty years of Aquaman lore and storytelling, including his relationship with Mera, set-up for the upcoming Jackson Hyde-led Aquaman title that ties into the Future State storyline, and a story set in the DC Bombshells earth. Like a lot of non-comics fans, I joked about Aquaman as a “lesser” hero for a long time. It wasn’t until Young Justice that I had any kind of interest in an Aquaman family storyline. Now, especially after Jason Momoa’s take on the character in the DCEU, I think he’s a prime example of how a company can grow and develop a character for different generations while keeping the soul of the story the same. I’m excited to see how Aquaman: The Becoming develops that mythology further.
Aquaman 80th Anniversary 100 Page Super Spectacular is available in stores and for digital download now. Aquaman: The Becoming releases September 21st.
All-in-all, this week was Marvel and screen heavy, not leaving me as much time to read as I wanted. However, the storm did give me a great grey day to lay around and listen to The Sandman on Audible, as the first volume is currently free to listen to. I’m a terrible comics fan, as I’ve never read The Sandman, but listening to the incredible cast and the fact that Neil Gaiman himself is narrating it? It’s delightfully spooky and creepy, perfect to set the mood for the beginning of halloween season!
Volume II will be released September 22nd, but Volume I is streaming for free until October 22nd on Audible.
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