Thirty Minute Reviews

The countdown reaches the film that rescued Thor. Adam makes the case that Thor: Ragnarok is a joyous, gorgeous reinvention, Taika Waititi handed a failing franchise and remaking it in his own voice, and also the film whose relentless comedy comes at a real cost. Why Hela is one of Marvel's most wasted great villains, how the movie laughs its way past Asgard's destruction and Odin's death, and why the tonal lesson it taught Marvel curdled completely by Love and Thunder.

Marvel returned to Hall H, and Adam breaks it down live. Ryan Gosling as Ghost Rider, Black Panther 3 dated for December 2028 with a new T'Challa, and the Avengers assembling for Doomsday, but the real story is what the panel signals. Why the missing X-Men reveal is strategic, what Kevin Feige means when he says the MCU is now "streamlined," and why the post-Secret Wars slate points to a grounded, paranormal soft reboot that backseats the cosmic. Plus the case that Marvel should have taken this breather years ago.

The first full Avengers: Doomsday trailer finally dropped, and Adam argues the timing says more than the footage. Why Marvel sat on a strong trailer until the last possible moment, what that hesitation says about the December collision with Dune: Part Three, and why "Dunesday" is not the Barbenheimer repeat everyone's calling it. Plus the real question hanging over the film: were Infinity War and Endgame the Russos, or were they Markus and McFeely? And with the slate beyond Secret Wars nearly empty, what does Comic-Con need to deliver this weekend?

Five movies, the most June had to offer all year, ranked worst to best for a spot in the best-of-the-year tournament. Adam runs them down: a film that's ashamed of itself to an ending that's so deflating the movie is completely forgotten. Which one takes the automatic bid, and where the halfway-point board stands.

Please note we repeatedly say that The Devil Wears Prada 2 won the automatic bid from May, this is inaccurate. The correct winner was The Mandalorian and Grogu.

The countdown reaches Spider-Man's MCU debut and the first film of the Sony-Marvel deal. Adam digs into why Michael Keaton's Vulture is one of Marvel's best and most sympathetic villains, why that homecoming car ride is one of the great scenes in the Infinity Saga, and the problem underneath it all: Peter Parker never gets to be the hero of his own movie because Tony Stark's shadow swallows the whole franchise. Plus the argument the MCU keeps refusing to make about Stark's legacy, from the Vulture to Mysterio to Damage Control.

Twelve state attorneys general have sued to block Paramount's $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, and Adam read the entire complaint. A breakdown of the market-concentration math that makes this deal presumptively illegal, why a single company controlling CBS, CNN, HBO, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network is a blackout waiting to happen, and the receipts on what happened to Fox's output after Disney swallowed it. Plus the argument that actually decides the case: nobody can start a new Warner Bros., and the Backrooms and Amazing Digital Circus success stories prove it.

The countdown reaches the last film James Gunn directed before the firing, and Adam makes the case that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is better than the first, and the entry most burdened by the machine around it. Why nearly every character arc here exists to clear the decks for Infinity War, how the Yondu rehabilitation works despite its setup, why the found-family theme rings hollow for a team that acts like coworkers, and why Guardians is the sub-franchise the crossovers damaged most. Plus the Awesome Mix Vol. 2 and the needle-drop grammar it taught the entire MCU. A full 5 out of 5. Next week: Spider-Man: Homecoming.

The countdown reaches the MCU's first real foray into magic. Adam argues that Doctor Strange is one of Marvel's most visually stunning films, the Mirror Dimension, the reverse-destruction climax, a hero who wins by outsmarting rather than outfighting, and also one of its most structurally broken. Why the movie's whole arc about learning humility is undercut by a plot that rewards Strange for ignoring everyone, how that contradiction becomes the entire franchise's pattern, and why the endless lore-dumping turns a good movie into a textbook. A visually-carried 4 out of 5. Next up, things get colorful.

With a new Supergirl in theaters, the revisionist history is coming, and so is the inevitable claim that the 1984 Helen Slater film was secretly great all along. Adam watched it the night after the new release to head that off. Let's look at why the original is a one-star mess of missing urgency and plot-convenience, how its passive, paragon-of-femininity Kara has no agency in her own story, and why the new film's jaded, active Kara is a vastly improved character by comparison. Plus: why the Star Wars prequel rehabilitation probably won't happen here.

Adam revisits Captain America: Civil War as part of the Countdown to Doomsday and looks at why the movie was such an important turning point for the MCU. The episode covers how Civil War steadied Marvel after a bumpy Phase Two, introduced Black Panther and Spider-Man without derailing the story, and created the fracture that made Infinity War and Endgame possible. Adam also digs into the wider 2016 context, including the way Civil War arrived alongside Batman v Superman and helped turn Marvel vs. DC from normal franchise debate into a larger culture-war proxy fight. From the airport battle to the rise of Snyderverse discourse, this episode uses Civil War to unpack how superhero movies became more than just superhero movies.