Colors! Personality! Stakes! James Gunn closes out the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy with the wildly vivid Vol. 3. Crafting an intimate farewell against the fabric of Marvel cosmic, Gunn brings something that rarely finds its way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe: finality. It’s one last hurrah as the Guardians race against the clock to save a grievously injured teammate, touring through James Gunn’s warped imagination in a surprisingly personal goodbye. Like many superhero movies, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is overlong and stuffed to the brim with talented-but-shortchanged actors, but it helps that this is the best looking Marvel movie of the last ten years. Minor spoilers ahead…

The Marvel Cinematic Universe spins its wheels at full-tilt with the muddled, lethargic Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Jettisoning the fleet caper energy of its predecessors for more tedious teases of what’s coming next, the launch of the MCU’s Phase Five lands with an uninspired whimper. Jonathan Majors as Kang carries this lumbering sci-fi epic with suitable menace, but Quantumania forgets everything special — and charming — about its titular hero. Minor spoilers ahead…

Ryan Coogler pulls it out of the fire with the overstuffed, gorgeously wrenching Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. A powerful tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman combined with Marvel myth-making at its most thoughtful, the film admirably attempts to fill an irreparable void left by its star’s untimely passing. Wakanda Forever strikes sometimes delicate, sometimes clumsy balance between an all-caps comic book movie and an intimate tour through the stages of grief. Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, and Tenoch Huerta are the most formidable trifecta Marvel has seen in years. Minor spoilers ahead…

The eagerly-anticipated Spider-Man: No Way Home, Tom Holland’s third solo outing as the web-slinging superhero, is the shaggiest and certainly the most stylistically inert of the MCU Spideys. Overstuffed and frenetic, the film cracks open the Marvel Multiverse with sledgehammer pandering. It’s anything but artful, but there’s no denying the power of its crossover charms; even more impressively, No Way Home tackles heroic compassion in a way that finally strikes true to the heart of Spider-Man. Minor spoilers ahead…

The Marvel Cinematic Universe tries something a little different with Chloé Zhao’s Eternals, injecting the filmmaker’s trademark humanist drama into cosmic-level superheroics. There are plenty of things to like with this new approach, but much of it fights tooth and nail with the dullest iteration of Marvel formula; Eternals’ weighty themes are lost in a story that is lopsided, overstuffed, and brutally overlong. Minor spoilers ahead…

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is as fresh as Marvel has been in years. A moving tragedy about fathers, sons, and the crushing weight of filial expectations, director Daniel Destin Cretton wraps affecting drama within an effortlessly cool superhero origin story. The MCU’s first film with an Asian lead doesn’t disappoint - even with its muddy, CGI soup third act, there’s a voice within Shang-Chi’s kinetic action, and a powerful performance from screen legend Tony Leung as one of the MCU’s best villains. Minor spoilers ahead…

Spinning off from the adventures of Loki and the TVA, Marvel Studios’ What If…? explores the fractured branches of Phase Four’s next big thing: the Multiverse. Animated, self-contained episodes that ask the titular question, the series opens a cabinet full of possibilities, even if it feels a little inconsequential. With its journeys into entertaining parallel realities, What If…? is playful enough with its creativity and dazzling animation, but these half-hour jaunts feel more like curiosities than essential text. Three episodes watched for review, minor spoilers ahead…

Star power and the best street-level action this side of The Winter Soldier do a lot of the heavy lifting for the long-awaited, long-overdue Black Widow. Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh shine in Natasha Romanoff’s solo outing, but in the wake of Avengers: Endgame, it all feels a little inconsequential and oddly timed; what should be a moving swan song and a passing of the baton instead feels like a fleeting adventure straight out of the MCU’s early days. Nevertheless, Black Widow will delight fans of the character while simultaneously paving a bright future for the mantle. Minor spoilers ahead…

As the first series to usher in a new slate of original content on Disney Plus and the first Marvel Cinematic Universe project to grace our screens in over a year, WandaVision has a lot riding on its shoulders. And it’s largely excellent. Those critical of Marvel’s workmanlike superhero fare will find that WandaVision taps into some of the MCU’s wildest potential with two of its most compelling characters. Three episodes watched for review.

Captain Marvel, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first female-led superhero flick, sees the highly anticipated (and also unfortunately controversial) debut of Brie Larson as the titular super-heroine. Directed by indie film duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Captain Marvel is the living embodiment of some of the MCU’s worst tendencies, but still ends up being an enjoyable ride and a fine introduction for Carol Danvers. The film’s uneven pacing, muted character beats, and boring CGI spectacle leaves a lot on the table, but are outweighed by the script’s humor and Brie Larson’s fun and easy chemistry with Samuel L. Jackson. Mild spoilers ahead…

The home stretch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Phase Three is finally here, and the Russo brothers deliver an epic, brutal, and oftentimes scattered showdown with the Mad Titan Thanos. Buckling, even if never caving, under the weight of the preceding 18(!) films, Avengers: Infinity War can't quite live up to the high-water mark year the MCU has had, but it damn well tries and it's a minor miracle that the film works as well as it does. Mild spoilers ahead...

An uplifting celebration of blackness, Black Panther represents a momentous turning point in black cinema. Ryan Coogler has crafted one of the most poignant explorations of African culture and what it means to be black. The main character just happens to kick ass and wear a cat costume. Mild spoilers ahead...

Marvel's Runaways fails to capture the magic of its source material. While the comic is now considered a classic of the modern Marvel era, this new adaptation can't seem to muster the focus, charm, and creativity of the original. A disclaimer: as a huge fan of the original comic, it is impossible for me to review this show objectively. If you are looking for a review that can judge this show on its own merits, this one may not be for you. Mild spoilers ahead...

Justice League avoids DOA status like Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad, but Wonder Woman it is not. An attempt is made to inject much needed levity and fun to the franchise; however, a rotten foundation of previous stinkers, a cookie-cutter plot, and the worst comic book film villain in recent memory sabotage the film. Mild spoilers ahead...