The MCU Diaries: Essays On Marvel Storycraft & Meaning

If Sadie Sink is playing Jean Grey in Spider-Man: Brand New Day , the movie may be doing more than setting up the X-Men. It may be using Jean to expose the wounds behind Punisher, Hulk, and Peter Parker — while quietly building the control problem that leads toward Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars . That is why this possible Jean Grey reveal matters. Brand New Day already has Spider-Man, Punishe...

Read The Main Deadpool & Wolverine Essay This podcast episode is part of our MCU Diaries coverage of Deadpool & Wolverine , the Honda Odyssey fight, the Marvel multiverse, and the road to Avengers: Doomsday . Read the canonical article: Why The Honda Odyssey Fight Is The Heart Of Deadpool & Wolverine   Listen right here MCU Diaries Entry 6: Deadpool & Wolverine — Why This Movi...

Listen right here The Consent Line — What Quantumania is REALLY Doing from Mary & Blake — Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a messy movie with a sharp moral engine. In this entry, Blake defines The Quantumania Consent Line — the moment protection becomes control — and proves how Janet, Kang, and Scott each turn that question into the saga’s clearest test of agency. Spoilers: Full spoilers a...

Loki Season 2 gives Marvel’s multiverse the one thing it desperately needed: a real cost. For most of the Multiverse Saga, the MCU has asked the audience to care about timelines, variants, incursions, branching realities, and cosmic rules. But rules only matter when they force someone to make a choice. Loki Season 2 finally makes that idea emotional by turning the multiverse into something fragile...

Read The Full Doctor Strange Essay This podcast episode is part of our MCU Diaries coverage of Doctor Strange, moral debt, Doctor Doom, and Marvel’s Multiverse Saga. Read the full canonical essay: Doctor Strange, Moral Debt & Doom’s Path Explained   Listen right here The Multiverse of Madness Moral Debt: The Bill Always Comes Due from Mary & Blake — Doctor Strange is the saga’s multiv...

Listen right here MCU Diaries Emergency Entry: Spider-Man: Brand New Day Trailer — When the Mask Becomes Skin from Mary & Blake — The new trailer lands because it stops treating Peter Parker’s loss like background sadness and turns it into active story pressure. This is a Spider-Man movie where the hero’s erased identity starts writing itself into the body, and that gives Marvel a real clock a...

Listen right here Secret Wars isn’t a cameo buffet; it’s a story engine built on pressure, impossible choice, and irreversible consequence. Loki Season 1 is the cleanest on-screen blueprint. Spoilers: Full spoilers ahead (including Loki Season 1). Subscribe to Receive the Latest MCU Diaries Entries APPLE PODCASTS SPOTIFY YOUTUBE Episode Snapshot Secret Wars works when the multiverse stops being “o...

Listen right here Robert Downey Jr. coming back as Doctor Doom isn’t a “remember Iron Man?” victory lap. It’s Marvel making a very specific craft play: the mirror villain. Same DNA. Same obsession. Different moral math. Spoiler warning: full spoilers for Avengers: Age of Ultron, Civil War, Infinity War, and Endgame. Episode Snapshot In this pilot entry, we set the rulebook for the Doomsday era. We...

The MCU Diaries Host Blake Larsen chats the LOKI season 1 finale : episode 1.06 – For All Time, Always. Blake discusses why we have to go back to the beginning to understand the end, why Jonathan Majors is exceptional as He Who Remains, and why this episode feels like a Smashing Pumpkins song… CLICK HERE TO READ THE WRITTEN VERSION UNLOCK BONUS EPISODES, PREMIUM PODCASTS & MORE   ...

The MCU Diaries Host Blake Larsen chats LOKI: episode 1.05 – Journey Into Mystery. Blake discusses “theme vs. anti-theme”, why this might be his favorite MCU episode yet, and why there absolutely needs to be an Old Loki and Alligator Loki spinoff… CLICK HERE TO READ THE WRITTEN VERSION UNLOCK BONUS EPISODES, PREMIUM PODCASTS & MORE    Join The #NerdClan SUBSCRIBE TO GET...

The MCU Diaries Host Blake Larsen chats LOKI: episode 1.04 – The Nexus Event. Blake discusses the narrative use of twists, why the big twist for this episode is not the one you’re thinking of, and why he wants Loki’s hair flip put on a 24 hour loop… CLICK HERE TO READ THE WRITTEN VERSION UNLOCK BONUS EPISODES, PREMIUM PODCASTS & MORE    Join The #NerdClan SUBSCRIBE TO G...

The MCU Diaries Host Blake Larsen chats LOKI: episode 1.03 – Lamentis. Blake discusses why love is knowing and accepting fault, why there is an odd structure shift half way through the series, and why it feels like all is not what it seems… CLICK HERE TO READ THE WRITTEN VERSION UNLOCK BONUS EPISODES, PREMIUM PODCASTS & MORE    Join The #NerdClan SUBSCRIBE TO GET NOTIFICATIONS WHEN...

The MCU Diaries Host Blake Larsen chats LOKI: episode 1.02 – The Variant. Blake discusses how the show goes beyond it’s “hook”, Free Will vs. Determinism, and why The Falcon And The Winter Soldier should be furiously taking notes from Loki… CLICK HERE TO READ THE WRITTEN VERSION UNLOCK BONUS EPISODES, PREMIUM PODCASTS & MORE    Join The #NerdClan SUBSCRIBE TO GET...

The MCU Diaries Host Blake Larsen chats the LOKI season 1 premiere : episode 1.01 – Glorious Purpose. Blake discusses the exquisite use of exposition to break down character, how the show uses striking visuals and action to highlight the exposition, and why that leads to such an incredible emotional payoff by episode’s end… CLICK HERE TO READ THE WRITTEN VERSION UNLOCK BONUS EPIS...

The MCU Diaries Host Blake Larsen chats The Falcon And The Winter Soldier season 1 finale : episode 1.06 – One People, One World. Blake discusses Thesis and Antithesis, the cathartic arcs for Sam and Bucky, and why this episode is the MCU at it’s best, but also it’s very worst. CLICK HERE TO READ THE WRITTEN VERSION UNLOCK BONUS EPISODES, PREMIUM PODCASTS & MORE    Join The #...

The MCU Diaries Host Blake Larsen chats The Falcon And The Winter Soldier: episode 1.05 – Truth. Blake discusses the push and pull of the main character’s stasis, getting the big fight out of the way, and why THAT cameo is such a big deal for the MCU… CLICK HERE TO READ THE WRITTEN VERSION UNLOCK BONUS EPISODES, PREMIUM PODCASTS & MORE    Join The #NerdClan SUBSCRIBE TO GET N...

The MCU Diaries Host Blake Larsen chats The Falcon And The Winter Soldier: episode 1.04 – The Whole World Is Watching. Blake discusses the significance of THAT final shot, the emotional fulcrum of this series, and why a freshman psychology major would have done better than the American government… CLICK HERE TO READ THE WRITTEN VERSION UNLOCK BONUS EPISODES, PREMIUM PODCASTS & MORE...

The MCU Diaries Host Blake Larsen chats The Falcon And The Winter Soldier: episode 1.03 – The Power Broker. Blake discusses the plot informing character, another gotcha cliffhanger, and why this felt like John Wick Lite… CLICK HERE TO READ THE WRITTEN VERSION UNLOCK BONUS EPISODES, PREMIUM PODCASTS & MORE    Join The #NerdClan SUBSCRIBE TO GET NOTIFICATIONS WHEN NEW EPISODES ARE RE...

The MCU Diaries Host Blake Larsen chats The Falcon And The Winter Soldier: episode 1.02 – The Star Spangled Man. Blake discusses what it means to be “Captain America”, emotional validation versus choosing what’s right, and why there is no chance John Walker remains Cap beyond this series… CLICK HERE TO READ THE WRITTEN VERSION UNLOCK BONUS EPISODES, PREMIUM PODCASTS &...

The MCU Diaries Host Blake Larsen chats the season 1 premiere of The Falcon And The Winter Soldier: 1.01 – New World Order Blake discusses how TFWTS echoes previous MCU films, our characters defining their purpose in new world, excellent direction in the therapy session, and why the episode begins and ends with “Captain America”… Click HERE for the written version of this e...

The MCU Diaries Host Blake Larsen holds a wrap up and review for season 1 of WandaVision with help from special guest Mary Larsen… Mary and Blake break down the entire WandaVision season, our favorite moments, best characters, worst moments, how it affects the MCU, and much more… UNLOCK BONUS EPISODES, PREMIUM PODCASTS & MORE    Join The #NerdClan SUBSCRIBE TO GET NOTIFICATIONS WHE...

The MCU Diaries Host Blake Larsen chats the season 1 finale of WandaVision — episode 1.09″The Series Finale”. Blake discusses why  “The Series Finale” is a deeply satisfying conclusion to the operative theme of the story and it shows the viewer that not all good things must end. Rather, they must transform. Click HERE for the written version of this episode UNLOCK BONUS EPISODES,...

The MCU Diaries Host Blake Larsen chats the penultimate WandaVision episode – 1.08 “Previously On”. Blake discusses how the penultimate episode of WandaVision serves as an exercise in Wanda’s fragile psychology while also exhibiting a magnificent balance of exposition, plot, and character. Click HERE for the written version of this episode UNLOCK BONUS EPISODES, PREMIUM PODCASTS...

The MCU Diaries Host Blake Larsen chats WandaVision episode 1.07 “Breaking The Fourth Wall”. Blake discusses how the this episode drops a major MCU bomb on us, but keeps laser focus on its main character while warning us to be careful what you wish for. Click HERE for the written version of this episode UNLOCK BONUS EPISODES, PREMIUM PODCASTS & MORE    Join The #NerdClan SUBSCRIBE...

The MCU Diaries Host Blake Larsen chats WandaVision episode 1.06 “All-New Halloween Spooktacular”. Blake discusses how this Malcom In The Middle version of WandaVision is a creepy experiment framed by an existential crisis where the devil’s in the details. Click HERE for the written version of this episode UNLOCK BONUS EPISODES, PREMIUM PODCASTS & MORE    Join The #NerdClan SUBSCRI...