We are in a golden age of television for those like me who are comic book and science-fiction fans.
We started with the “Daredevil: Born Again” reboot over on Disney Plus, which ran from March through April. In a way, it started just as gritty as the Netflix series it was rebooting, but the Wilson Fisk as mayor subplot was one that really resonated. That storyline in the comics is always interesting when it has popped up (most recently in Jonathan Hickman’s “Ultimate Spider-Man”).
I guess there was also a new season of Severance that came out.
In the middle of April, we got a return of “Doctor Who,” with a new companion and two stellar new episodes to kick the season off. I really loved the meta blending of animation, fourth wall breaking and other references in the Lux episode. What a way to make an animated character Mr. Ring a Ding voiced by Alan Cumming threatening.
Somewhere in that same time frame, we had season two of “The Last of Us” kick off on HBOMax, the adaptation of a popular video game series. That one may not be as big of a cup of tea for me as the other.
And then, somehow bookending Star Wars Day has been the return of Season Two of Andor. This year, creator Tony Gilroy has envisioned each batch of three episodes as a mini-movie leading viewers from four years before the Battle of Yavin right to the adventures that start in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” And that building meant the first three episodes set some things up that don’t fully connect until episode 8 of the series. Episode 8, though, remains one of those hours of television that transcends genre storytelling, the powder keg you’ve been seeing being primed finally igniting and the spark of revolution finally landing home. I’m sad there will only be three more episodes airing as I’m writing this column, but happy Gilroy has connected and deepened so many of the events in Rogue One to make the Rebel Alliance’s rise one that actually feels it has stakes.
And in the midst of all that, Marvel released Thunderbolts* (also now known as The New Avengers). And that was a solid film whose third act actually surprised me that was the way they went for conflict resolution.
This summer, we have a new Alien series by Noah Hawley on Hulu, an animated Predator film, as well as Superman and Fantastic Four movies all on the docket.