5. Bill And Ted Face The Music

I’m not going to lie, movie watching was done this year. If I didn’t have a lot of December year end and year beginning articles to write, I might not even have Bill and Ted Face the Music on the list. I fully expect that Spider-Man No Way Home will push this off the list. But I haven’t seen that yet.

Bill and Ted Face the Music is a fun film, it’s a good end to the Bill and Ted “trilogy” that didn’t need to be a trilogy. It follows their kids as they try and find the music again before the world ends. Because Bill and Ted haven’t written the song that is going to save the world as the first movie predicted.

In my review, and I still stand by this, I’d watch the original two over and over, but Bill and Ted Face the Music just is fine. You can see some brief thoughts on it here. The movie just seems to lose some of the heart that the other ones have, which makes sense because it’s a long time later. But the year has slim movie pickings for me.

4. Dune

Another one I’m not sure would make the list in a normal year. Granted, I think it would because it’s such a gorgeous movie. Dune is a movie a Dune fans in the best way possible. It’s also a movie for Dune fans in the worst way possible. It tells the story and stays true to the first book too a fault. I like the book, but the first part is extremely dry and it’s not even on Arrakis yet.

But they get the look right, the casting is solid, and the music is great. Once the action kicks in, the last 30 minutes of the movie, it’s really fun. I want to see the second part because even more happens there. But I’m not going to be jumping for joy for the first part. I think if I watch both together, it’ll be very long, but I’ll appreciate it a lot.

3. Black Widow

I won’t lie, it’s Marvel from here on out. Marvel is a soft spot for me, but they did a good job on all their movies this year. I don’t think they messed up any of them. Black Widow is the lowest just because it was a nice Black Widow story, but after Endgame, I don’t need more Black Widow story. And while it sets up some characters, I don’t think it sets up enough, but I do like Yelena a lot.

This is my favorite Marvel spy movie, it’s more Bond like and more my style as compared to something like Captain America: Winter Soldier. Some of that is that it has more humor in it. Some is that Winter Soldier tries to be Bourne, which I thought was just okay and isn’t my style and Black Widow tries to be classic Bond which I like more.

2. The Eternals

The Eternals might not make some people’s lists, but I really enjoyed it. You can hear my thoughts on it on the 10 Minute Marvel Podcast here. But this is a different type of Marvel film. It is building a new team. And it builds a team in a very different way. It also creates a much larger world/universe to be dealt with within the MCU.

I think that the story plays out well. While I kind of get why it can feel rushed, I think the character motivations all make sense. And when they divide as to who they stand with, it makes sense. The acting was very solid as well in this movie. Gemma Chan and Lia McHugh really steal the show, but so many of the roles are well done.

1. Shang Chi And the Legend of the Ten Rings

My Top Marvel film and top movie I saw in 2021 is Shang-Chi. Disclaimer, this is before seeing Spider-Man: No Way Home, and I don’t know what to expect from that. But Shang Chi blended so much together really well. It felt most like a Marvel film for the new character introduced. And the humor in the movie is a lot of fun. I think the humor is better than the Eternals.

Plus, the action in the film is so nice. Clearly taking inspiration from the style of other movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, it is some of the best action I’ve seen. There is such artistry in how it is done and there are also some nods to anime in the fighting style at times as well.

That’s my list for 2021. The only other movie I could even consider, that I remember is the Addams Family animated film, my wife and I rented and watched the first one of those. It is a perfectly fine movie. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, but I’d also not tell people to skip it. It’s just a fun, pretty straightforward, movie without many twists are great jokes.

What are the best movies you saw for the first time this year?

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Comments/Questions?

Let me know your non-spoiler thoughts on The Eternals. I’ve heard very mixed reviews about it from some people loving it to other people hating it. Let me know your thoughts on their newest movie. Are you seeing it in theaters or waiting for Disney+? I’m hoping to go this weekend or early next week, though we’ll see if it makes it into the podcast in time.

And if I can’t make it, let me know what topics you’d want covered in the upcoming weeks. I’m always looking for more comics to read as well as characters to cover. I might cover the Sinister Six coming up here soon as Spider-Man No Way Home isn’t that far away from coming out. Right now the rumors are that we’ll be getting a Sinister Six group of some sort in the movie, but we’ll have to wait and see. You can leave a comment below or over on Twitter @TheScando or with #10MinMarvel.

I will say, don’t tweet the leaked images to me from Spider-Man No Way Home. I’m trying to avoid spoilers on both that and the Eternals still at this point.

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If you want to checkout the ScreenCrush video that goes into more detail on the Spider-Man No Way Home trailer, I have it below.

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We also have a Patreon, which you can find at https://patreon.com/nerdologists. The money raised there goes into helping improve the quality of this podcast, the Malts and Meeples YouTube channel as well as the Nerdologists.com website. Thank you for considering supporting us with your financial contributions.

Comments/Questions

Let me know your thoughts on Marvel Dice Throne, or if you have any questions about the game as I have played Dice Throne. And let me know if there’s a topic you want me to cover leading into The Eternals coming up in just over a week.

You can let me know your thoughts and questions over on Twitter. Tweet them to me @TheScando or with #10MinMarvel. You can also leave them in the comments section below.

I’ll see you next time.

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Thanks For Listening

Thank you so much for checking out the podcast. I hope that you are enjoying 10 Minute Marvel. If you are, there are a few ways that you can help the podcast. Sharing it with your friends helps the podcast grow. Also leaving a rating and review or subscribing makes the podcast show up higher on podcast services. You can find the podcast on iTunes, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify.

Another way you can help support is over at Patreon. The support from there goes back into the 10 Minute Marvel podcast to improve the quality as well as to help improve the Malts and Meeples YouTube channel and Nerdologists.com website. Thank you for considering supporting us there.

Comments/Questions

Let me know your thoughts on the shift to the movie schedule. It’s a bummer obviously, but was it the right call for Disney?

And are you excited to see The Eternals? Is this one that you’ll go see in theaters or wait for it to come out on Disney+?

You can let me know all of that in the comment section below. Or over on Twitter, tweet your thoughts to me @TheScando or with #10MinMarvel. And let me know what you want covered in the upcoming weeks. Was it interesting to learn about the powers of the upcoming characters? Should I focus more on comics and their storylines, let me know.

I’ll see you next time.

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August 24th

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Yes, it’s finally here. We get to see Spider-Man No Way Home. And this trailer looks crazy in a good way. As a lot of reviewers of these things who do breakdowns have pointed out, it looks like we might be getting Sinister Six set-up for this or at least something across the multiverse. This trailer has a lot going on in it, but mainly seems to be a Spiderverse set-up and borrow from the comics One More Day. In One More Day Aunt May is shot and dying, so Spider-Man goes to Strange to save her. He says no, so he makes a deal with Mephisto, unfortunately that undoes Peter and MJ’s marriage and causes everyone to forget him. It’s not a well love story, I thought it was okay, but definitely borrowing from that.

Nightbooks

Honestly, knew nothing about this before watching the trailer. And after watching the trailer, I have to say this looks odd. I’m not sure what I think about it, I’m not sure if it’s based on anything, though, I’m guessing it is. This looks like a true horror film but it also looks like kids on bikes sort of film. Looks like a bit of a confused mess, but we’ll see when reviews come out.

August 19th

The Eternals

Anything Marvel and I’m going to be interested. And I thought that the first trailer was good, but this one sells me on it more. It definitely gives you more plot for what is going on in the movie. And I think with The Eternals that was needed. It would be too easy to just rely on the Marvel name, and I think they do a good job of balancing it. Showing us some plot but not too much. Especially for characters that average Marvel fans don’t know. Even I only know some about them. But this looks really cool and I feel like there’ll be a good payoff, going forward, for this film.

August 17th

Star Wars Visions

So quick little breakdown of what this is. It’s an anime style anthology show with different anime studios creating Star Wars stories. It is coming out with the first episode on September 22nd.

This looks amazing and crazy all that the same time. It is truly anime not like My Neighbor Totoro, but like Cowboy Bebop, Gurren Lagann and more. The animation looks simply amazing throughout this whole thing and it seems like it is going to have sweet little episodes about family and pod racing to crazy lightsaber battles and high stakes. I don’t know if all the episodes will be amazing, but I am really excited to check this out.

Stranger Things Season 4

Yes, another show that I’m extremely excited for with a tiny bit of new footage, let’s talk about Stranger Things season 4. Stranger Things obviously hasn’t been around for too long and we don’t have a release date for it yet. It just says 2022. Note that all seasons of Stranger Things have been around different holidays, Christmas, Halloween, and the 4th of July. I hope and it’s been speculated that they put a 2022 date on it because it’s going to drop around New Years, fingers crossed.

I’m ready to hang out with these kids on bikes again, and I’ll be curious to see what they do with the experiments and taking Eleven back to where it first started. There is a garbage book that does some of the history of what happened, but I’d skip it, it’s a very poor ripoff. But I’d maybe checkout the book Firestarter by Stephen King to see where some inspiration might be drawn from if things go back in time a little bit. Plus when will Hopper come back?

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

So, I wasn’t extremely interested in the previous Ghostbusters reboot or twist. Nothing drew me into the story that they were telling. It seemed like Ghostbusters all over again, which the people we already knew but different people playing them. This, on the other hand, seems to be building upon the Ghostbusters lore, for better or worse. And I think there’s something about 80’s nostalgia now that just is seen best through the eyes of kids. I’m genuinely interested in this film. Will I see it in theaters, very unlikely, but do I want to watch it as a $5 rental, sure.

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Plus, there is a Marvel board game on Kickstarter right now, Marvel United X–Men. This is a follow-up to a successful Kickstarter last year for Marvel United which focused more on the Avengers characters. This is a very fun cooperative board game that the whole family can enjoy. If what I talk about sounds interesting I would definitely check it out before the Kickstarter is done in under 48 hours.

And the video I promised:

Thanks For Listening

I hope that you are enjoying the podcast. If you are, there are two ways that you can support the podcast and this website. First you can leave a rating and review, subscribe, or share the podcast with your friends. That helps the more people find the podcast and join into the 10 Minute Marvel community. You can find the podcast over on iTunes, YouTube Music, Spotify, and Stitcher.

The other way is over on Patreon. Nerdologists.com, with 10 Minute Marvel and Malts and Meeples YouTube channel, has a Patreon. All the support over there goes into helping the podcast, YouTube channel, and website grow and improve. Any financial support you can give is greatly appreciated as well.

Any Questions or Comments?

Let me know in the the comment section below or over on Twitter. Find me on Twitter @TheScando or use #10MinMarvel. I want to know which Marvel movie you are most excited for? And what did you think of the first look at The Eternals?

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Black Widow

Like I said, I hope the first one I see in theaters in a Marvel film, and hopefully all the Marvel films make it to the theater. I’m hoping that Black Widow will be as awesome as it looks. What I’m really curious is what the film will be setting up for phase 4. I think that it feels like it should have a lot that it sets up, I’m hoping hinting at a villain or a character or some sort, throughout the film.

Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

More Marvel, no doubt that was going to happen. When they announced more of the cast, I thought that it looked really good. And we know that the plot is going to be some sort of tournament, and if there’s a lot of awesome martial arts, that’s a great thing. I also like that it’s a completely new character to me. I know he’s in the comics, but I haven’t really run across him, so it’s cool to have something that feels so new.

The Eternals

I mean, even more Marvel, no shock there. And out of all of them coming out, I think I’m most interested in this one. Though Shang Chi is close. The Eternals has a massive cast, and a really interesting cast. I’m curious to see another team show up. And what Neil Gaiman wrote, I thought it was really interesting. I’ve checked it out a few times and it’s been really good each read with new things that I pick up. I don’t know what they are doing for the story as well, which is interesting, but I hope it brings in some of what Gaiman wrote.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

I’m always interested in a Ghostbusters. I do need to see the last one, but I’m always just kind of interested in it. I like Paul Rudd, and it has a pretty unique looking cast. I hope that it keeps some of the awkward goofiness that the originals have. I mean, basically the first one is great, and the second one is good, but it is made by the actors. So I’m hoping this one will be as well.

Raya and the Last Dragon

An animated fantasy film from Disney, this one looks really interesting and unique. The clip that they showed for D3 was great. I don’t know a ton about it but interesting concept, some magic and fantasy, it is really interesting.

Morbius

My main question for this film is will Morbius show up in Spider-Man 3. It seems like they are sticking everything in there. I suspect that movie will be a mess, I have yet to see Venom either. but Morbius is an interesting for Sony to go with. This is definitely a checkout after the fact. I am not sure that this will be good, but it probably will be entertaining.

Tomb Raider 2

I loved the first Tomb Raider. I thought the story was good for a video game movie. Alicia Vikander knocked it out of the park as Lara Croft, and it had such a feeling of the video game, which has a good story as well. I am actually a bit shocked that this is getting a sequel and I wouldn’t be surprised if this one is pushed back from it’s March 19th projected opening.

Godzilla vs Kong

I like both of the Godzilla movies. I think that the first was better, but the second, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, wasn’t bad either. I love the idea of Godzilla and King Kong facing off, and then I’d guess teaming up against some other monster. Now, how crazy must a monster be if those two need to team up, who knows, but I’m excited to see.

Dune

Yet another film that got moved from it’s 2020 release date. I like the book, though I have trouble getting through it. And the cast looks amazing for Dune. I’m curious after several attempts at it being made before it if it will be as good as the trailer made it look, but I’m really hoping it will be epic and grand, like it looks like it should be.

Spider-Man 3

Even more Marvel, I forgot that this is now slated for December of 2021. I am really looking forward to this movie. This movie seems like it is going to be nuts. We are getting so many actors reprising their roles, I talked about it on 10 Minute Marvel two weeks ago. I want to see what will happen with three different Spider-man actors on the screen, I’m hoping all at once.

Mortal Kombat

Let me be very clear, I expect that this film will be hot garbage. But I also expect that it’ll be really entertaining. I like that it’s not a big name cast, and I am interested in what influence James Wan will have on it, because of his involvement with the Saw franchise. But really, I just want this to be a dumb and entertaining film with some cool fights.

Now, besides the four Marvel films, probably won’t see any of those in theaters, but I do want to see them all. I’m hoping that there’ll be some other sleeper hits that I need to checkout. I still need to see the likes of Knives Out from this past year and maybe Tenet though anything that Christopher Nolan does I’m only kind of interested in, which I know is shocking.

What movie are you looking forward to seeing in 2021?

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It’s been a fun few weeks for the podcast, and I want to thank everyone who has found it. If you are enjoying the podcast, please consider sharing it with your friends, subscribing, or leaving a rating and review. Those help more people find the podcast and help 10 Minute Marvel grow. You can find the podcast over on iTunes, YouTube Music, Spotify, and Stitcher. All of those things help the podcast continue to grow.

If you want to get a hold of the podcast, feel free to leave a comment below. Or you can find me on Twitter @TheScando or with #10MinMarvel. I’m always looking for new comics to read, theories on up coming Phase 4, and more.

I’ll see you next time!

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Any of those rumors excite you all that much? But more so, did the final Black Widow trailer make you more or less interested in the movie? And, if you are a board game fan, or even if you’re curious to try a hobby board game, does Marvel Champions sound interesting, like something you’d want to try? Let me know in the comments below, or on Twitter by tweeting to me @TheScando or by using #10MinMarvel.

Thank you to everyone who is listening to the podcast, those listens mean a lot to me. If you’d be willing to help out the podcast, we’re on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play Music. Please consider leaving a rating and review, those help more people find the podcast and join into the 10 Minute Marvel community.

Share questions, ideas for articles, or comments with us!

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So there was a lot of news from the Marvel world this past week. We had the Disney Expo (D23), but that was over shadowed with Sony and Disney breaking up.

I try to unpack some of that and what some of my thoughts are on it. I can see both sides really, but there was some other information that came out and I’m still slightly hopeful that they can work something out.

But in more fun news, we got some more of Disney+ streaming shows and a date for Black Panther 2, plus some more casting news.

If you have questions or comments, you can tweet at me, at @TheScando, or use #10MinMarvel.