Now Playing Podcast Presents: The Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe) Retrospective Series

It will be 2015 before the Avengers assemble on the big screen again, but Disney and Marvel will fill that time with films focusing on individual Avengers and their disassembled heroics. Earlier this year we had Iron Man 3, and now Disney hopes to catch lightning in a bottle again with the help of a thunder god in Thor: The Dark World. The mighty Avenger must once again fighting an ancient enemy of Asgard, continue arguing with Odin over how best to rule the kingdom, and all the while try to romance his human love interest Jane Foster. Are the Now Playing hosts excited for Thor's return, or just glad to have Loki back on screen? Listen to our review to find out!

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Avengers Series Episode 7

The Avengers broke box office records taking in more at the US box office in the opening weekend than any other film. With such popularity the world was primed for a follow-up. Now, almost one year to the day later, Marvel Studios’ next film Iron Man 3 has been delivered, and came in second only to The Avengers in its opening weekend. The new film features a Tony Stark solo mission against his comic book nemesis The Mandarin in a storyline taken from the Warren Ellis Extremis comic arc. But without Jon Favreau directing and without a Hulk can the armored Avenger still shine? Listen to Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart’s review to find out!

THE AVENGERS! Breaking worldwide box office records this super-hero team-up is a film that seems impossible to make, and yet they did! After a year of reviewing movies based on Marvel Comics characters, listen to Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob's review of this blockbuster film! Did it make a year's worth of viewing worth it, or did it fail to come together? Listen to find out!

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Avengers Series Episode 6

THE AVENGERS! Breaking worldwide box office records this super-hero team-up is a film that seems impossible to make, and yet they did! After a year of reviewing movies based on Marvel Comics characters, listen to Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob’s review of this blockbuster film! Did it make a year’s worth of viewing worth it, or did it fail to come together? Listen to find out!

Avengers Series Episode 5

By the summer of 2011 fans were ready for Avengers, but Marvel Studios still had some groundwork to lay before they could assemble. And in July the final character, the First Avenger, was introduced to audiences. But the fifth film in Marvel’s series might be the hardest sell yet, a World War II period piece with a goody-goody hero. With Fantastic Four’s Chris Evans donning the red, white, and blue outfit, did Captain America: The First Avenger stand alone, or was it just biding the time for ten more months until The Avengers was released? Listen to hear Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie’s review of this film as well as the short A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer.

Avengers Series Episode 4

In three films Marvel had created a cinematic universe based on science. Iron Man used advanced technology to power an armored suit; Bruce Banner used genetic manipulation and medicine to create The Incredible Hulk. But in their fourth film leading up to The Avengers they brought in a new element straight out of Norse mythology-Thor, the god of thunder. With a mighty hammer, a winged helmet, and a flowing red cape, Thor and his fellow Asgardians fought off the evil Ice Giants, but for his cocky war-mongering Thor was banished to earth, stripped of his powers. Can a thunder god fit in with an otherwise science based Cinematic Universe, and is his story a compelling one? Listen to Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob to find out as they review Thor, and the Blu Ray bonus short The Consultant!

Avengers Series Episode 3

The first Iron Man film set the gold (and red) standard for Marvel superheroes in movies, but Marvel Studios knew the pressure was high to build up to The Avengers so just two years later Iron Man 2 was released. Jon Favreau was back behind the camera, and Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow were still starring, but now Don Cheadle dons the War Machine suit, Sam Rockwell and Mickey Rourke team up as villains, and S.H.I.E.L.D. has a much larger presence in the form of Nick Fury, Agent Coulson, and Scarlett Johansson’s Natalie “Black Widow” Rushman. The film is certainly bigger than the first, but is it better? Listen to Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob’s review to find out!

Avengers Series Episode 2

Mere months after Iron Man went supersonic at the box office Marvel’s second issue of its Avengers movie series smashed its way into theaters-The Incredible Hulk! But after Ang Lee’s film disappointed just a few years earlier Hulk’s biggest enemy was audience expectations. Behind-the-scenes strife between producer/star Edward Norton and Marvel Studios only helped to add to audience superhero fatigue in a summer that also included The Dark Knight, and Hulk went on to be the lowest grossing Marvel studio film to date. Is Hulk truly Incredible, or is it as toxic as Bruce Banner’s blood? Listen to Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob to find out!

Avengers Series Episode 1

Who would win in a fight, Thor or the Hulk? In comic books, team-ups are the stuff of legend, fulfilling geeky desires while also increasing comic sales. But what can easily be done on the page is not so easy to transition to the screen, which may make this summer’s The Avengers the most ambitious movie ever. Bringing together the larger-than-life characters of Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Captain America, Hawkeye, and Black Widow all led by Nick Fury, the cast is as impressive as the characters. Now, leading up to The Avengers, Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie are reviewing each of Marvel Studios’ films.

In our first review we look at 2008’s Iron Man. Starring Robert Downey Jr, who had been more famous for his off-screen performances than his on-screen roles, and featuring a superhero that was not well known outside the comic reading crowds, the film went on to be the second highest grossing film of the year (bested only by another costumed billionaire vigilante-Batman) and remains the highest grossing film in The Avengers franchise. Does this series get off on the right foot? Listen to our review to find out!

First Blade, then X-Men, then Spider-Man...Marvel's summer blockbuster films were just getting bigger and bigger, so expectations were high when Hulk smashed out of the small screen and into a big screen feature film. Directed by Ang Lee, coming right off his acclaim for Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, this was a Hulk that stayed more true to the comic book incarnation of the green giant, but also dared to be a psychological drama as well. Is this a strong film worthy of its hero, or a puny attempt to cash in on a Marvel character? Listen to Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie to find out!

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