
Ms. Marvel: Episode 2 “Crushed” Review

Yes, it’s Marvel Wednesday and I’m kind of late to the party and almost forgot this was happening, but here we are! Without further ado, let’s get talk about Moon Knight – Spoilers ahead for episode 2 “Summon the Suit”!
Steven Grant has to face the consequences of digging into the reasons behind his crumbling life. Will this newfound information free him or trap him even more?
It’s Wednesday and at this point, we all know that means it’s Marvel day on the blog! Today’s review is for What If … T’Challa Became a Star-Lord? Proceed with caution, because there are spoilers!!
When you outsource a job, it can go awry. So, instead of abducting a young Peter Quill, Yondu and the Ravagers take in T’Challa, altering future events entirely.
This episode was so much more after my taste! This is exactly the kind of “what if” scenario I was looking for!!
Let’s start off by saying that this episode was dedicated to our hero, our inspiration Chadwick Boseman. I wasn’t prepared for how emotional I got at hearing him voice T’Challa, but I’m so happy it exists. And on top of that, he got such a beautiful episode about family and kinship, paralleling what a bright light he was.
While I’m still no fan of the overexposed animation style and I don’t think that the characters look like their live-action counterparts, I can 100% say that I’m now more on board with the story ideas. What If … T’Challa Became a Star-Lord was not just fun to watch, but also showed far more drastic differences in the universe, prompted by just one small change. Let’s break it down:
Ultimately, I enjoyed that there was a certain focus on nature vs. nurture, found family as well as the one you are born into. There were really several beautiful (albeit short) parent-child-moments and those always go straight to my heart. I can’t deny that some changes just felt weird, but I liked this episode a lot! I may or may not have shed some tears when the dedication popped up on the screen, but what can you do? In the end, I’m a big softie.
So, as I’ve mentioned last week, I won’t be able to post reviews or recaps of Loki as soon as the episode airs each time, but I will always post on the day it releases. I hope you’ll all bear with me on those days and beware of spoilers moving forward!!
Loki is integrated into the TVA as a special consultant. No one trusts him, but can he still weasel his way into their hearts?
I’m having a blast with this show. I wasn’t sure if they’d be able to keep up these episodes that are on the long side or not, but I think it really works for the format. There’s a lot of new information, considering the timelines, variants, new characters and so on, which makes me glad they aren’t rushing it or making me, as the viewer, feel overwhelmed. Yes, there is always intrigue and a bit of a cliffhanger, but that is only suitable for a show that airs weekly and needs to keep people hooked.
Let’s break down what we learned and found out this episode:
Fun fact: Roxxcart has been mentioned several times within the MCU before and seemed to have been some sort of evil corporation. Considering that they now seemed to have caused the apocalypse in 2050, they really did proper foreshadowing with it before.
The show continues to juxtaposition deep existential questions with bouts of humor. I think Loki is the perfect character for that kind of content and the TVA the perfect setting. I honestly didn’t expect them to reveal the whole Lady Loki thing so early on, but it was massively satisfying to have been right on the matter. I can’t wait to see what happens next week and the rest of the season, because they just unleashed pure chaos. I’ve tried to keep this review a bit shorter, as I’ve really just recapped most things in previous posts and they got a bit out of hand, but I hope you still enjoy them and I’ll see you again next Wednesday!
Ravonna Renslayer insert: Last week, I mentioned that Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s character was not mentioned by name, but a couple hours after the episode aired, it was confirmed she was portraying Ravonna Renslayer. I thought it would be fun to imagine her bigger part in the MCU based on comic information, even if she supposedly is quite different here.
The thing is that Ravonna definitely isn’t a purely “good” character, so it’s fascinating to me that she is a judge within the TVA. Through tumultuous events, she was often associated with Kang the Conqueror, who is scheduled to appear in Ant-Man 3 (Quantumania), which could mean a link for future appearances for her outside of Loki!
You know the drill, people. This post contains SPOILERS for episode 2 of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Read this at your own discretion.
Sam and Bucky team up to deal with a global threat, while the world gets to know the new Captain America.
After last week, I knew what topics The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was likely going to touch upon during its run, but I had no idea how they were going to go about it. I was surprised by the in depth character drama we got and so pleased to see it moving along quickly in terms of plot, however, still giving us plenty of introspection in this second episode. There are always one or two really well choreographed action sequences in the episode, but a lot of it is character work and I’m here for it.
We start the episode with neither Sam nor Bucky, but John Walker instead. I think it was evident by everyone’s reaction to last week’s final scene that he had quickly become one of the most hated characters in the MCU without ever having spoken so much as a word. We could have easily not seen his side of the story or his struggle with taking on the mantle of Captain America, but The Falcon and the Winter Soldier made sure this was a balanced way of portraying the issue (still doesn’t mean I have to like him though).
From the glimpse we got, John Walker isn’t a bad man. He’s a soldier, and a very capable one at that. Having received several medals of honor and showing great skill with the shield, he knows how big a shoes he has to fill. I don’t think he takes it lightly to put on the mantle of Captain America (although he would likely prefer to punch his way out of a situation rather than use diplomacy) and I can see why the government took interest in him, but … nothing will change the fact that he is not Steve Rogers and Steve intended for that shield to go to someone else. Like Sam said in the pilot episode “these symbols are nothing without the men and women that give them meaning” and I cannot see Walker carry that same kind of hope.
Let’s check out what we learned about him:
But on to more important things and the actual leads of this show – Sam and Bucky! As a lot of us predicted, it did not sit well with Bucky to find that Sam had given up the shield. He did not hesitate to confront him, despite not having talked to Sam and having ignored his texts the past couple of months. Immediately, as soon as they got back together again, they proved once more what an incredible duo they are. Not just are they able to carry emotional scenes, but their comedic timing is off the charts. I laughed out loud so many times and was really happy to have them paired up this episode.
Now, where are we moving with those two in terms of plot:
Fun fact: Isaiah Bradley’s grandson Eli/Elijah, who opened the door, will likely become a hero called Patriot, who is a member of the Young Avengers. Not every, but a lot of the shows/upcoming movie of the new MCU phase have had teases for the Young Avengers, with Wiccan and Speed in WandaVision, Kate Bishop in the upcoming Hawkeye series, America Chavez in the Multiverse of Madness, Riri Williams as Iron Heart in the show of the same name, Cassie Lang aka Stinger in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantummania and ultimately Kamala Khan as Ms Marvel in her own show as well.
Overall, I enjoyed this episode very much, which was overall solid. I loved that Bucky and Sam are finally together on screen again, even though I very much understood how necessary it was to show their current state of minds apart from one another in the pilot. This show is moving at a really nice pace and I think it will be able to tell a good story in the remaining four episodes.
Back in the day, and I say it weirdly like that on purpose even though I mean only a mere three years ago, I used to do weekly reviews of single episodes of certain shows. More accurately Doctor Who, because that was really the only show I did that for (check out the last review here). But, something about WandaVision, along with a little poll on Twitter, has compelled me to take up the weekly reviews again. So, I want to warn you that these posts will not be spoiler-free, but rather my unfiltered thoughts right after the episodes have aired!
Wanda and Vision have moved to the lovely town of WestView. They try their best to fit in and seem as regular as they can, however, it does not take long before they realize that something is off. Strange things keep happening, but are Wanda and Vision prepared to face reality?
I have waited for this show for what feels like forever. WandaVision was the very reason I got a Disney+ subscription in the first place and I am so very happy that it is out now and that I LOVE it. With Marvel’s entire slate moving to the Disney platform, I was worried about the content a little bit, but with WandaVision they have proven they are not afraid of going into a weird direction.
Modeled after 1950s to 60s sitcoms such as Bewitched, the first two episodes of the new Marvel series take you on a ridiculous ride full of laugh-tracks, tailored theme songs and animated intros. Everything our two leads do is both extremely over the top and very in character for who they are supposed to be. It is fun to watch, but at the same time they keep the viewer wondering what all of this is about. Much as the trailer was confusing, you do not get a lot of insight throughout the first two episodes. They do, however, manage to create a wonderful feeling of dread on top of the silliness and jokes. Something is off and you are very aware of it, it’s just about figuring out what that something is now.
Well, here is where it might get really spoiler-y, because these are some of the most important observations I have made (at least I think they are important):
I think that is all for now on my part. I am sure there was much more to observe, especially since Agnes will likely play a vital part as well and I haven’t even touched on her yet. I am so looking forward to exploring more decades, styles of television and just plain story with WandaVision! Also, if you noticed in my post that I am referring to Wanda more than both, her and Vision, it is solely because something tells me he is not quite real. I would love for them to be able to be together again, but I am not sure Marvel is that charitable towards my feelings. I think a lot of this is possibly just all done for Wanda.