Marvel

120 movies, 1 book, 1 interview in this series

The Marvel movie universe is vast... and Now Playing Podcast has reviewed them all! From the earliest TV experiments and low-budget oddities to the glossy blockbusters that built a cinematic universe. We’re talking the made-for-TV Captain America and Hulk films, the ’80s and ’90s misfires, Dolph Lundgren’s Punisher, Howard the Duck, Elektra, and every major theatrical release through the rise and dominance of the MCU.

Hits, misses, cult favorites, and outright disasters. Decades of shifting tones, studio deals, and creative swings that paved the way for today’s superhero landscape.

Our hosts examine the entire Marvel movie legacy to see how we got from rubber ears and shaky fight scenes to billion-dollar team-ups.

Movie Reviews

Now Playing Approved

Black Panther

Hakuna Wakanda

Reviewed Feb 20, 2018
King T'Challa returns home to the reclusive, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to serve as his country's new leader. However, T'Challa soon finds that he is challenged for the throne by factions within his own country as well as without. Using powers reserved to Wakandan kings, T'Challa assumes the Black Panther mantle to join with ex-girlfriend Nakia, the queen-mother, his princess-kid sister, members of the Dora Milaje (the Wakandan 'special forces') and an American secret agent, to prevent Wakanda from being dragged into a world war. Genres: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction

Avengers: Infinity War

The hosts bet on the Deadpool...and we don't mean Ryan Re...

Reviewed May 1, 2018
As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment - the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain. Genres: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
Now Playing Approved

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Anyone can wear the mask? Tell that to Andrew Garfield. N...

Reviewed Dec 18, 2018
Struggling to find his place in the world while juggling school and family, Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales is unexpectedly bitten by a radioactive spider and develops unfathomable powers just like the one and only Spider-Man. While wrestling with the implications of his new abilities, Miles discovers a super collider created by the madman Wilson "Kingpin" Fisk, causing others from across the Spider-Verse to be inadvertently transported to his dimension. Genres: Action, Adventure, Animation, Science Fiction

Dark Phoenix

Class Dismissed

Reviewed Jun 11, 2019
The X-Men face their most formidable and powerful foe when one of their own, Jean Grey, starts to spiral out of control. During a rescue mission in outer space, Jean is nearly killed when she's hit by a mysterious cosmic force. Once she returns home, this force not only makes her infinitely more powerful, but far more unstable. The X-Men must now band together to save her soul and battle aliens that want to use Grey's new abilities to rule the galaxy. Genres: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction

Book Reviews

Interviews