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SecretAsianMan

Marvel Netflix shows (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, etc.)

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You become Iron Fist by besting the heart of a dragon!

I doubt they move to a character other than Danny though.

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Yeah, Luke Cage kind of went on a downward spiral after the first three or four episodes.

 

Though I liked the politician lady to the end, it was a bad move to trade in the somewhat interesting dance club bad guy from the beginning for the stupid superhero crazy bad guy. Basically, shit got bad as soon as the show remembered that it was a Marvel product and therefore needed superhero antics.

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Despite (inadvertently) creating this thread, I completely dropped off watching any of them after Daredevil.  I should really get back to it.  One quick question, does the order I watch the shows matter at all?  By that I mean should I watch them in chronological order by release date or are they independent enough that watching newer shows first won't spoil anything?  I'm considering watching Daredevil season 2 first since I've seen season 1 already.

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On 2/10/2017 at 0:58 AM, SecretAsianMan said:

Despite (inadvertently) creating this thread, I completely dropped off watching any of them after Daredevil.  I should really get back to it.  One quick question, does the order I watch the shows matter at all?  By that I mean should I watch them in chronological order by release date or are they independent enough that watching newer shows first won't spoil anything?  I'm considering watching Daredevil season 2 first since I've seen season 1 already.

 

Luke Cage as a character is introduced in Jessica Jones so you should probably watch Jessica Jones before watching Luke Cage.

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I started watching Jessica Jones over the weekend.  I'm not quite done with the season yet (2 or 3 episodes left) but I'm liking it far more than I anticipated and am really regretting not watching it sooner.  I'm probably going to be repeating some stuff that's been said and I think it's been long enough that I won't be hiding spoilers.

 

I think what I'm liking the most is that this is a show about a damaged, flawed person who just happens to have a superpower rather than being a show about said power.  Obviously she uses it to great effect in the show but it's hardly a centerpiece which is something I appreciate.  I liked Daredevil for being gritty but felt it was too gritty with often unnecessary levels of violence for the sake of it.  JJ feels like it hits a much more satisfying level of grit without overdoing it, though I will say I was more impressed by the action in DD.  The fights in JJ seemed fine but not especially outstanding.

 

The other thing that I really love is the depiction of detective work.  This kind of stuff is like candy to me.  I love a good hardboiled detective story, especially when they actually show the steps and don't just rely on informants to do the legwork for them.  I really appreciate some of the ways JJ's powers are used in this respect.  She's not beating up a string of goons for info (at least that's not her intent when she starts), instead she uses her strength as a shortcut to picking a lock.  One scene in particular I really liked was her propping herself between building several stories high while surveilling a suspect.  It dropped off towards the back part of the season but understandably so.

 

I don't know a lot about the comic version of JJ which in retrospect made the series better for me.  I like the Marvel movies but since they feature the really big characters I'm more familiar with their comic counterparts and that carries a lot of expectation into a viewing.  The one thing I did take the time to look up was Kilgrave and I'm really glad they didn't go with a more "accurate" depiction as the Purple Man would have been far too ridiculous to take seriously.  On paper I would think he wouldn't make for a good antagonist but in practice I have to admit it works well.  It believably puts fear and dread into a main character who probably wouldn't feel those things otherwise.

 

My biggest complaint is something that others have brought up here, namely some plot stuff.  Such things are par for the course so I'm trying to not let it ruin anything but at times it still eats at me.

 

I'm also finding myself looking forward to Luke Cage based on his appearances here.

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I cut cable a long time ago so I don't currently have a way of watching Legion without paying for individual episodes.  I might get around to it eventually but for now I have a sufficient Netflix back catalog to get through.

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I really should go back and rewatch Jessica Jones after the amount of positive posts here. It was so bored of it almost immediately and at the time it sent me to sleep, but I just cannot believe that there isn't all this good stuff in that show.

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2 hours ago, Cordeos said:

Have you watched any Legion? its also about a damaged superhero, its also very visually interesting.

While we're only two episodes in, it's also an entirely different show than anything else comic book related.  In a very good way for me.

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I've been sick the last few days which gave me the time to finish up both Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.

 

Overall I liked JJ better.  As I stated before the framing of a detective story really worked for me.  I liked how her powers were almost irrelevant to the show.  They came in handy certainly but the show isn't really about them.  And while I would normally want it, I felt it was a smart move not to explore too heavily into the origin of her powers.  One thing I would have liked a bit more exploration on is how she became immune to Kilgrave but I won't dwell on it.

 

LC was only ok to me.  It was too much of a gangster story with some vibes of blacksploitation thrown in.  I have nothing against either of those things, they just don't do it for me.  I found a lot of the decisions made on both sides questionable with respect to their goals.  I also disliked the heavy reliance on the MCU.  In JJ the presence of the MCU was subtle and understated giving reasonable context to the people's perception of a superpowered individual among them.  In LC it was made into a central plot element.  From the special bullets made of alien metal to the powered suit* that's used in the climax the show makes you very aware that it exists in the Avengers' world, to the show's detriment in my opinion.  I do have to admit though I like the use of Claire to tie the Netflix shows together.

 

One thing that bothered me about both shows (and also bothered me about Daredevil) was the level of violence.  Its especially bad in JJ which has straight up dismemberment in it.  In JJ it works to show just how twisted Kilgrave is but I still found it off putting.  I get the gritty realism but you can do that without resorting to buckets of blood.

 

I've started watching Season 2 of Daredevil and I think based on a casual reference to Frank Castle in Luke Cage that season 2 is supposed to take place before LC.  Oh well.

 

*As an aside, I found it amusing that Hammertech was the brand of choice for all of these since it was portrayed as laughably incompetent in Iron Man 2 up until Vanko fixed it.

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I'm trucking along with Daredevil Season 2 and one thing I've noticed I'm enjoying more is the action sequences.  Jessica Jones was a great detective story and psychological study.  Luke Cage was very urban and motivated.  But despite both characters having super strength, I found the action bits lacking.  Granted both of them only really face one opponent that poses them a significant physical threat (Jessica facing the Kilgraved Luke Cage and Luke facing the power suited Diamonback) but those fights just weren't interesting to me apart from the story context.  One thing I really appreciated in the first season of Daredevil and I'm glad seems to be continuing on is the action choreography.  The fights are very showy with lots of unnecessary flips and other moves, but I find them far more entertaining than the other shows.  Hopefully Iron Fist will deliver in this respect too (although I have other reservations about that show, most of which stem from issues I have with the comic itself).

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I finished up Daredevil last night.  Despite my previous confessions of liking the action (which I still do) I think the parts of the season I found the most interesting were the parts where he wasn't DD.  I was pretty into the Punisher's trial (minus the conspiracy portion) and really dug some of the great moments it gave Foggy.  It also shows what a shitty person Matt Murdock is.  He drags Foggy into something he REALLY doesn't want to get involved in then makes him do all the work (even though it ends up being some of Foggy's best moments) and toys with Karen even though he has to realize what a bad idea it is.  If he didn't intend on telling her almost right away he was DD, how the hell did he expect to not hurt her like he did?  Also, Karen supposedly having really good journalistic chops and yet not at all wondering about the elderly blind guy holding a huge knife in Matt's apartment while the hot girl is lying in his bed seemed really out of place to me but whatever.  He's also an arrogant jerk, refusing to accept help he clearly needs and deciding that attacking the Hand head on is a good idea despite the fact that he was getting his ass kicked by them until Stick literally tells him how to win.

 

Speaking of the Hand, I didn't really care for a lot of the DD side of the plot.  Early on in his first fight with Punisher he gets shot in the head and for a while seems to have suffered some hearing loss from it, but this went nowhere.  I was hoping it was going to be a recurring problem he would have to deal with but nope.  Everything involving the Hand seemed pretty dumb too.  Matt continually dismissing the "mysticism" of the group would have been fine, except this is a post-Avengers world where literal gods and monsters are known quantities.  DD doesn't quite hit you over the head with the MCU as much as the other shows do but its still supposed to exist in this continuity so I find his skepticism a little baffling.  I didn't much care for the season's ending either.  It didn't actually address any of the questions that were brought up and felt like a cheap way out.

 

I think so far of the three shows I liked Jessica Jones the most.  I'll see what Iron Fist is like but I'm really skeptical.  Early previews are not encouraging and I have some pretty big issues with the original comic that seem like they're carried on in the series.  I admit I am excited for The Defenders though.  I'm a sucker for these team ups.

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Man Iron Fist doesn't sound like a good time but I really wanna see it for Colleen Wing and Misty Knight and I hope they can carry the show.

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On 2017-03-10 at 7:09 AM, SecretAsianMan said:

 I admit I am excited for The Defenders though.  I'm a sucker for these team ups.

 

Going to be totally honest here, while it's possible for a decent show to be fashioned out of these characters, on a superpower level they basically are all just good at beating people up which seems like a recipe for a dull team up.

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While I don't totally disagree, the same could be said about each individual show and thus far the high points of those shows aren't the moments where fist meets face.  I don't anticipate it to be like the Avengers where it's just a lot of eye candy.  There are absolutely going to be some fights but in my mind they've established enough credit with the shows that I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt here. 

 

Keep in mind I'm saying all this before having seen Iron Fist.

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I'm excited for Defenders too. I think it could be unique.

 

Jessica Jones was my favorite. I don't know how to word this... I think Daredevil was probably the "best" show, but I enjoyed JJ the most. DD just has some great stuff with Kingpin, Elektra, Punisher. It's a great show. But JJ really grabbed me. Luke Cage I felt like was too long. I feel like there were episodes I loved, and then ones I didn't. The acid bath one comes to mind. I'm no doctor, but that one felt really baffling to me. Then again, these are comic book shows, so whatever. I did enjoy it overall.

 

I'm not excited about Iron Fist. I wasn't before the reviews rolled in. But I'm sure I'll watch it just because. But I am excited for Defenders.

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That pretty well sums up how I feel about everything thus far too.  Despite my trepidation I will probably watch Iron Fist, but I anticipate it being a slog.

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Jesus Christ I've seen half the first episode but so far it is so freaking bad. 

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Man I want to like Iron Fist. I actually like Danny Rand, against all expectations, as a person - I am 100% positive I'm in the minority here - but as a superhero he's so super bland.

 

I like the fights?? I'm a sucker for martial arts, even when they're not super fantastic.

 

I'm bad.

 

And then there's... Danny's like a weeaboo for monks.

 

And then there's... Colleen with the super stilted delivery of al her bushido code stuff?? Danny's delivery feels real, even if we all know it's problematic. At least I can believe HE believes what he says. But every time she mentions bushido, I cringe instinctively.

 

God it's one of those shows I know is bad but I still enjoy despite all that. And I could never recommend it to anyone, but I'm going to finish it.

 

Worst Netflix Marvel show to date, without a doubt.

 

Blargh.

 

BLARGH!

 

I'm currently finishing up episode six as I write this. Hopefully it gets better in the second half. (Hah!)

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3 hours ago, Twig said:

Worst Netflix Marvel show to date, without a doubt.

 

I definitely second this.

It's certainly not the worst show I've ever seen, but when contrasted to how I've devoured some of the other Marvel shows... Iron Fist sort of reminds me of the start of Agents of SHIELD quality-wise

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Agents of SHIELD had a certain cheesy charm to it that kept me going. I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as people told me it was. 

 

This, though... (Two episodes later, it didn't get better...)

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I finished it because apparently I didn't want to do anything productive or even anything good. ):

 

Man, just don't watch Iron Fist. ):

 

Someone recommend me some good martial arts FLIX to make up for this disaster. ):

 

Here's one good thing I'll say about the show: Ward was really compelling. I mean, he was a terrible person, but he was sympathetic in a way that none of the good guys were, and none of the bad guys, either. He's my favorite character in the show. Maybe the only character I wanted to watch, really? I really liked his arc. I suppose that's consistent, in a way, with why I like the previous Marvel series. They're much less black and white than the movies tend to be, and Ward embodies that aspect in a way that nobody else in Iron Fist does.

 

In summary: 

 

 

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Ugh.  I didn't watch it at all despite it sitting in my queue all weekend.  Every time I went to try my brain screamed at me to stop so instead I started watching the OTHER tv comicbook universe (Arrow).  From what I've heard I really don't want to watch it but I'm afraid of missing something in the Defenders because they're trying really hard to tie all these together.  I'm a dumb plot guy who hates missing out on details like that.  Maybe I should just read a plot summary.

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I feel really unexcited about Iron Fist. And I'm not even worried about missing out on anything. I feel like we'll be alright to just head into Defenders without it. Like you said - maybe just read Wikipedia.

 

The Arrowverse et al, I've watched a bit. Like, very little bit. But I enjoy those shows more than I thought I would. At least from the little bit I've seen. (I'm still on season one of all those shows, so take that into consideration). Arrow is cooler than I expected. Kind of feels like a poor man's Daredevil x Iron Man or something. And Flash is pretty fun. Supergirl is actually my favorite of the lot by a long shot. It just feels unique. It's like... I don't know if you took Devils Wears Prada and made it a super hero show. It balances as a sort of office comedy/drama thing really well with Supergirl then kicking ass. And then you've got Legends Of Tomorrow which I feel like is really bad but in a fun way. It's actually pretty stupid and feels SyFy quality. But again, still kind of fun. But not good.

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