Superman Is About the Anti-War Vibe Shift
Supervillains used to be foreign enemies. Now the villain is a defense contractor who wants to start a regime change war.
Superheroes
Cancel Culture Monkeys and Military Industrial Menaces: James Gunn's Superman Is a Silly Delight
Superman is not "Superwoke."
Thunderbolts* Is a Therapy Session for the Marvel Movie Universe
The latest installment of the MCU is a movie about superhero has-beens fighting a depressive episode.
Review: Is the New Captain America Movie an Allegory for Donald Trump?
Brave New World was shot long before the new Trump term, but the parallels are hard to overlook.
The New Captain America Film Has Important Lessons for Trump and Biden Stans
In Captain America: Brave New World, a power-hungry president makes reckless choices and withholds vital information—but even he looks competent compared to Biden and Trump.
Venom: The Last Dance Is a Camp Buddy Comedy Disguised as a Comic Book Movie
The series ends with an oddly sweet romp about a mismatched couple on a zany road trip across the American West.
Joker: Folie à Deux Is a Miserable Musical Slog
The comic-book sequel is a dull, dismal, event-free recap of its predecessor.
With Deadpool & Wolverine, Marvel Has Lost the Plot
A sad, shallow, and pandering movie that shows the MCU has no real stories left to tell.
Madame Web Is a Low Point for Superhero Movies
Listless and incoherent, it's a sign of the genre's struggles.
Review: Loki Reckons With the Peril of Power
In the second season of his eponymous Marvel series, Loki becomes both more human and more godlike.
The Marvels Is the Tedious Culmination of a Lot of Superhero Homework
In the director's own words, this is "a sequel to five different things."
The Flash Makes the Case Against the Multiverse
A listless, cynical wrap-up to a decade of chaotic superhero storytelling.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Does Cinematic Diversity Right
The Little Mermaid was a dull exercise in box-checking. Spider-Verse uses its diverse cast as an opportunity for narrative delights.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Is a Marvel Superhero Movie Made in Poor Taste. And It's Better for It.
In 2018, director James Gunn was fired from the film for gross tweets. But this comic book sequel shows the value of his gross-out sensibility.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Is Ambitious but Disappointing
There's real grief in this superhero sequel. But it falls prey to too many Marvel movie problems.
Black Adam Is a Dreary Superhero Slugfest
The new DC Comics-based film wants to critique the superhero status quo. Instead, it ends up supporting it.
The Dark Knight Rises Was a Cautionary Tale About Populism
Ten years after its release, the final film of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is possibly even more relevant.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Isn't Strange or Mad Enough
A Sam Raimi fun house burdened by the Marvel universe's not-so-glorious purpose
Morbius Is a Superhero Vampire Movie That Really Sucks
Jared Leto stars in a not-quite-Marvel film that inadvertently demonstrates the strengths of the MCU.
The Batman Wrestles With a Gloomy, Problematic Billionaire Version of Batman
It's a Batman movie that seems distinctly uncomfortable with the idea of Batman.
Death on the Nile Is a Lifeless, Plodding Take on Agatha Christie
Kenneth Branagh's murder mystery lacks glamour.
The Eternals
The film is suffused with the patronizing notion that good superheroes are benign despots who know what's best for the rest of us.
Spider-Man: No Way Home Is a Spider-Man Movie About How Much You Enjoyed All the Other Spider-Man Movies
It's the two Spider-Mans meme in $200 million movie form.
Diversity Can't Save Eternals. It's a Cosmic Disaster.
Marvel's latest superhero epic is a boring movie about boring people.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage Might Be the Worst Movie of the Year
It's a crude, ugly derivative of a crude, ugly film.
James Gunn's The Suicide Squad Is a Movie About Being Canceled (by a Giant Starfish Monster)
The most subversive thing about the movie is that the director was allowed to make it at all.
Black Widow Is a Step Back for the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Is the biggest brand in movies better off on the small screen?
WandaVision
The show perfectly encapsulates the feelings of grief, confusion, and isolation born of the pandemic.
The Snyder Cut of Justice League Is an Internet Fan Theory Come to Life
It’s a victory for fans made possible by the evolution of streaming technology.
Even Voldemort Masks Up in New Public Service Announcement
WarnerMedia, the Ad Council, and the CDC are infantilizing us and insulting our intelligence.
Watchmen
The new HBO show explores how systems of authority fail those for whom they are ostensibly responsible.
HBO's Dazzling Watchmen Was a Show About the Limits and Dangers of Power
Damon Lindelof’s remix of Alan Moore’s seminal graphic novel took on race, policing, and political power in an alternate-present America.
The Boys
What if the superheroes everyone loved and looked up to were actually awful people?
Spider-Man: Far From Home Pits Spidey Against Fake News
The latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is fun, frivolous, and forgettable.
The Hellboy Reboot Is a Damned Awful Movie
Director Neil Marshall's revival is a sad imitation of Guillermo del Toro's comic-book movie masterpiece.
Shazam! Is a Captain Marvel Movie Worth Seeing
A charming, lightweight superhero movie that works hard to please.
Captain Marvel Is a Message Movie Without a Message
Marvel's first female-fronted superhero film is a woke superhero fantasy scared to take any risks.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Is the Next Step in Superhero Movie Evolution
A joyous, energetic Spider-Man remix shows what superhero movies can be.
Comics Legend Stan Lee Was the Godfather of Shared World Storytelling
Without him, Hollywood as we know it might not exist.
Why Stan Lee's Flaws Were Part of His Virtues
Less creator than editor, pathetic company man, purveyor of childish nonsense? No amount of next-level quasi-sophisticated Stan Lee critique can avoid the proper conclusion: He was the Man.
