Weekly Streaming Recap: Week of 2/11/2022

The Book of Boba Fett Episode 7 (Disney+): As it turns out, all that time spent following Boba Fett in the desert with the Tusken Raiders amounted to nothing. The narrative resolution to the show it turns out is a conflict between Boba Fett and his Clone Wars-era mentor Cad Bane. It would have been more useful to showcase this relationship so the confrontation had some emotional resonance, but it is as if the show assumes that someone has watched all of Star Wars: The Clone Wars rather than explaining that to the audience. Ultimately there is too much going on in this finale to make anything resonate and there is a fundamental motivation question that remains unanswered as the show wraps up. The show does not answer, and does not even appear interested in answering, why Boba Fett is willing to give everything up in the world of bounty hunting to become a crime lord in Mos Espa. Is it because he wants to use it to get revenge on those who wronged him leading up to his stay in the Sarlacc Pit? If that’s the case, why is he not going after Han Solo who is still alive and recast with a younger actor already? Does running the criminal empire on Mos Espa pay more than bounty hunting? Din Djarin seems to make a pretty healthy living doing his bounty hunting work, as did Boba Fett during Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and the current comic book series from Marvel comics. If reading that comic and its seemingly unending series of tie-ins and events and watching a nearly 15-year-old animated show is needed to understand the title character’s motivations, the show has failed on a basic level.

Peacemaker Episode 7 (HBOMax): With a resolution to the conflict between White Dragon and Peacemaker, it is clear that this show is moving towards its finale. There is still the lingering question about what Judomaster is still doing in the show and why he’s working for the Butterflies, but the actor who plays him has some great comedic moments so it is kind of forgivable. Still, considering how the Butterflies work, it would make more sense for him to have been taken over by a Butterfly rather than have him just be a hired mercenary. Freddie Stroma continues to steal the show as Vigilante with a few great moments in this episode. Next week’s finale is shaping up to be an action-filled romp as the team heads off to defeat the food source for the Butterflies.

Smiling Friends (HBOMax): Adult Swim is an interesting network that features some of the most bizarre shows on television. It gets incredibly experimental with animation, even if the shows tend to be vulgar and graphic. Smiling Friends is just the latest and is a hilarious show that will capture audience imaginations. It is graphic, adult, gory, and hilarious. It pushes the boundaries of animation by mixing art styles, graphic styles, and even playing with 2D and 3D perspective. The only way to describe it that it is a mixture between Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Problem Solverz in the best possible way. This show is definitely not for children though, as to be expected from a show airing on Adult Swim.

You May Have Missed: (Warning: the following content contains spoilers for those who haven’t seen or caught up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Trailer (YouTube): A tv spot for this trailer aired during the Super Bowl and the full trailer is available online to view. The full trailer and tv spot indicate that this movie has the potential to either be great, or be a bloated mess that Scott Derrickson was right to try and distance himself from. It is fairly obvious now that Patrick Stewart will be reprising his role in the movie as Professor X along some other multiversal variants previously introduced. Ultron sentries, Zombie Wanda (only in the TV spot), and Strange Supreme appear from What If…? and, in the scene with Professor X that is almost certainly the MCU’s version of the Illuminati, there appears to be a person in an outfit that has a circular “4” insignia on it. The popular fan theory is that this will be the debut of John Krasinski’s Mr. Fantastic though a return from Ioan Gruffudd would be more than welcome as well. Also of note, the poster that was released for the movie alongside this trailer and tv spot features a shield that will be more than familiar to fans of What If…? and, if it is the case that Captain Carter appears in the movie, she will be a more than welcome addition to the cast. The trailer also indicates the return of Captain Marvel during an impending fight against Wanda and the debut of America Chavez who, in a world that is developing the Young Avengers, is sure to be a major player going forward.

In an ideal world, the return of Patrick Stewart will be the test of how far nostalgia-bating can go because his iteration of the character had a perfect send-off. Regardless of if this variation is designed to be an alternate version of Professor X (maybe the version from the 90s animated show that just got picked up for another season on Disney+) or the same one from X-Men through Logan, just before his death at the hands of the Wolverine clone, there is no good reason to bring the character back in that form. The character’s send-off in Logan is the perfect end for both the character and the iteration played by Patrick Stewart. James McAvoy’s iteration would have worked better in the confines of this story because his version has more cosmic roots than Patrick Stewart’s version since his Professor X dealt with a cosmic Dark Phoenix Saga and Apocalypse as the first mutant in existence. Stewart’s had some minor time travel, but at the same time most of his stories are a more grounded science fiction.

One final thought: the trailer is almost certainly misdirecting who the villain will be. Based on how WandaVision ended in 2021, in the event that Wanda is not the villain of the movie, it is a massive disservice to the story. The way the events of the trailer are framed indicate that Wanda will be a force to help but the way these scenes are cut appear to be intentional misdirects. Hopefully Elizabeth Olsen will be given room to act and not just be relegated to a sidekick role.