First of all, a fair word of warning. If you haven't seen Infinity War, expect this article to be littered with spoilers.

10 years, 18 films and a hell of a lot of source material. Never before have we seen a series of films as successful and as meticulous as the ones that take place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Laying the Foundation

I recently offended a wonderful keyboard warrior on Twitter when I said that I'd "never been as emotionally messed up from a film as this one did." This badass beast of boredom replied:

Thing is, this person was missing the point. Whilst there are hundreds of other films that can provide an emotional trifle of feels, none of them would have the same impact as Infinity War did.

Let's break this down a tiny bit.

There are years of source material for each of these characters. There are people who have developed a connection with these characters since they first laid eyes on their first panel. Some may have fallen in love with them much later but have still had the chance to understand and appreciate them.

It's what makes these films different to others.

Comics aside, no other series of films have developed their characters to the extent Marvel has. This is where their origin stories have played a massive part in laying the foundation of what Infinity War was.

Establishing the Characters

If you've seen all 18 films that came before IW, it's clear that the introduction of Thanos was predetermined from the start. Whether Marvel Studios ever expected the films to be as big as they are today is another question but you can't engineer the success the films have experienced.

As far back as Thor(2011), we were introduced to the concept of an energy source capable of controlling people's minds and of opening portals to space, which led to the Battle of New York. This energy source was the Space Stone, (shown as the Tesseract at this stage) the Infinity Stone that has the power to control portals into space and other dimensions. Of course, the stone is capable of much more but we've only seen a fraction of this.

In Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), the Tesseract makes another appearance as a weapon of Hydra's, where they're trying to harness its power to create weapons.

This then carries over into 2012's The Avengers where again, the Space Stone plays a fairly large role in the film. It's at this point the entire fate of the MCU is twisted on its axis. Not only does the universe change but we also see a massive shift in the direction of its characters - especially Tony Stark.

Arguably, the main protagonist within the MCU is Tony Stark (with Captain America coming in close second following the events of Age of Ultron (2015)). Not only does his character undergo one of the largest transformations in Avengers since his first appearance in Iron Man (2008) but we get to experience the impact his PTSD is having and it's followed throughout all of the films until and during Infinity War.

Stark's Vulnerabilities

It's in IW where his vulnerabilities continue to be exploited by the circumstantial and environmental challenges he faces. He's haunted by the loss of his parents through the fear of losing Peter Parker because of his responsibility to him - almost as a father figure. His actions and choices are constantly questioned since the outcome of Ultron, and Civil War left his trust in people hanging in the balance.

Loss plays a huge part in Stark's continuing transformation and will certainly play a massive part in Avengers 5.

The number of themes explored across all MCU films have grown exponentially over the years and are becoming increasingly nuanced as the films develop.

Loss, transformation, vengeance, resurrection and sacrifice are amongst the MCU's primary themes. It's incredible to think that whilst they may not be cinematographical marvels (pardon the pun), there are several layers within these films that continue to explore the vulnerabilities we as humans experience. Translating that into these god-like fictional characters make them just as relatable as our friends or family.

Whether or not you're a fan of these films, it's difficult to deny the impact these films have had not just on the comic-book film sub-genre but on films in general.

Alright. It's been a while since we published anything on here so I hope this was satisfying enough. More to come!

In the meantime, listen to the podcast.

• Karan

Do you find it difficult to find something to watch on Netflix? Is it a struggle? A hindrance? A first world problem? No longer will it be.

This new series of posts will look at which shows you should watch along with a short snippet of what it's about and a mini review.

You'll get suggestions from both Kushal and Karan, both of whom have a variety of tastes (at times very similar) when it comes to shows and movies.

This time we've got a bunch of recommendations for you in the form of Marvel's Iron Fist, the final member of the Defenders, a series also set to release on Netflix in mid-2017, The Angriest Man in Brooklyn, Robin Williams' final film before his passing in 2014, and

1. Iron Fist

Six Word Synopsis

Thoughts

2. The Angriest Man in Brooklyn

Six Word Synopsis

Thoughts

3. Burning Sands

Six Word Synopsis

Five dudes pledge for a fraternity.

Thoughts

Here's a different one for you. It's about fraternities (something that has been done to death in Hollywood). But it's different. What makes it different? It gives a unique perspective on black fraternities. Featuring a host of young talent that you may/may have not seen before (as well as a supporting role by Trevante Rhodes from Moonlight), this film is heavily inspired by Black History and is inspired by events director Gerard McMurray experienced himself.

4. Grimm

Six Word Synopsis

Basically it's about fairy tales IRL.

Thoughts

Honestly, this ones something that'll be discussed in episode 45 of the Movieville Podcast.

Alright, that's it for the first edition of What to Watch on Netflix. have any suggestions? Tweet us!

Karan - @MovievilleKazed
Kushal - @KushalJoshi

That's it.

Welcome, to the Movieville Sessions.

Myself and Kushal have been recording this podcast for over a year now and have done 13 episodes since we started.

The Movieville Sessions is the culmination of the work we've been putting in and will chronicle the process of where we are to where we're going. Where that is we don't know yet, but we're not getting hung up on that. What's important is that we document the journey of getting wherever it is we're going.

It won't be for everyone, and quite honestly the videos' true purpose is for us to see where we go. But if we manage to pull in some new listeners, then we're all for it.

We're on Instagram and also on SoundCloud so it's easier for everyone to listen to.

Do get in touch if you have any questions or fancy a chat.
kazed@movieville.org for Karan and kushal@movieville.org for Kushal.

Thank you for reading this post and following us on our journey so far.

Karan

This episode, Karan and Kushal revisit the Academy Awards and see if their predictions were on point. We also discuss the Moonlight screwjob as well as the state of the society we're living in and how this screwjob relates to it. 

As you can see above, we're back on SoundCloud now, because why shouldn't we offer the podcast on as many free platforms as we can?

As usual, you can listen on iTunes on iOS devices or Acast on iOS and Android devices.

We're now on Instagram and YouTube, so check us out on Instagram and YouTube.

This month also marks the first episode of the Movieville Sessions, which can be found on our YouTube channel above.

Resources:

Partially Derivative: http://partiallyderivative.com/podcast/2016/09/27/s2e14-the-model-is-racist?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PartiallyDerivative+%28Partially+Derivative%29

Mel Gibson: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k-kyKv_kKGU

Things that Mel Gibson has said: http://gawker.com/5582644/all-the-terrible-things-mel-gibson-has-said-on-the-record

Public sector leaders white civil service bme: https://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2016/may/07/public-sector-leaders-white-civil-service-bme

Girl statue at Wall Street: http://uk.businessinsider.com/stage-street-global-advisors-girl-statue-in-front-of-wall-street-bull-2017-3?r=US&IR=T

PWC Survey: http://uk.businessinsider.com/pwc-survey-many-see-no-need-for-equal-representation-on-boards-2016-10?r=US&IR=T/#the-majority-of-those-surveyed-dont-think-women-need-to-have-half-the-board-seats-1

Gender pay gap report: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/gender-pay-gap-reporting

Gender pay act: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Pay_Act_1970

Econtalk: http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2016/08/munger_on_slave.html

TUC: https://www.tuc.org.uk/equality-issues/black-workers/labour-market/black-workers-degrees-earn-quarter-less-white

Gender pay gap by ethnicity: https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Gender-Pay-Gap-by-Ethnicity-in-Britain-Final-Briefing.pdf 

Shadow Great Game Partition: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shadow-Great-Game-Untold-Partition/dp/8172238746

With Episode 44 just over the horizon, we figured what better way to remind you of what you've missed so far. These updates will provide a bit of insight as to what you can expect to hear each month

Episode 44 will be centred around awards season and we'll be addressing some of the winners and losers of the big Academy. Especially considering the weird eff-up that occurred during the Academy Awards, we have plenty to talk about.

In episode 42 of the podcast, we provided our predictions and briefly discussed why we thought they deserved specific awards.

Episode 44 we'll be revisiting episode 42, what happened during the 2017 Academy Awards and of course, we'll be catching up with each other.

Expect an analysis of Logan, how it fits in today's world and where it leaves the X-Men franchise.

Listen to the Movieville Podcast on iTunes, Soundcloud Acast or Overcast.

Title music has been taken from Rogue One opening.

Please note: This podcast was recorded before the recent death of Carrie Fisher.

In this final episode of the 2016, we got really, really excited about Rogue One, which released in early December. Kushal tells us about the true meaning of Rogue One and how it relates to the canon of Star Wars.

Carrie, you will be greatly missed by us and fans alike. May the Force be with you.

Listen on iTunes on iOS devices or Acast on iOS and Android devices.

Resources:

Ahsoka Novel: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Ahsoka_(novel)

Rogue One: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3748528/?ref

Hell on Wheels: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1699748/?ref

Myself and Kushal are huge fans of film. I suppose that's obvious, considering the name of the site. We've seen countless films and discussed them for hours and we learn something each time.

What I've found from watching films with Kushal is that it doesn't matter how simple the film may seem, there's always some kind of underlying message.

Finding these messages is part of what make watching films intriguing.

This leads me to the topic of episode 39 of the podcast. This month, we carried out another exercise similar to the 'Skyfalling... With Style' episode a couple of months back.

We put a film on, paused, and discussed where appropriate. This month we did it with Southpaw, the emotionally heavy drama starring Jake Gyllenhaal written by Kurt Sutter (Sons of Anarchy) and directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer).

Check out the podcast below, on iTunes or add it to your subscriptions using your favourite podcast app (Overcast, Acast, Stitcher)

Damn, this episode was deep. After a monthly long hiatus from Karan, he and Kushal reunited to continue the Movieville Podcast. This month, they discussed what things have happened in the month Karan's been away, what they've both watched as well as what they thought go Suicide Squad. Quite possibly one of the most insightful episodes so far. Possibly.

Listen to the podcast on iTunes and on Stitcher, available on both Android and iOS, or right here:

Resources:

Zeeland

Avengers tower - Strange trailer

Driving on the Left

Demolition

3D Animated Batman

3D Animated Green Lantern

The Batman

Gene Wilder

Robin Tattoo

In case you didn't know, myself and Kushal are from two diferent generations. We're about 10 years apart, but we share many of the same interests. Every so often, however, we'll find that we just don't see eye to eye - this was one of those occasions.

This episode, Kushal and I have a casual chat about favourite TV shows from both our childhoods to now. Two people from (pretty much) different generations.

Listen to the podcast on iTunes.

Follow us on Twitter:
Karan: @Movievillekazed
Kushal: @Kushaljoshi

Resources

The Cathode Ray Tube Site

Shows that prematurely end

Firefly

Penny Dreadful

Shows that may/may have not ended the right way

Veep

Banshee

Sopranos

Old ass shows that only Kushal knows about

Airwolf

Knight Rider

Manimal

Street Hawk

Automan

Hulk

Dr Who

Star Trek

Animated

Johnny Quest

X-men

Spider-man

Jetsons

*Old ass animated that only Kushal knows because he’s an old ass *

Dungeons and Dragons (YouTube)

Flintstones

Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends

He-Man

Others mentioned
Game of Thrones
Mr Robot
Grey's Anatomy
Scandal
Sons of Anarchy
Boston Legal
Breaking Bad
The Office - UK
The Office - USA
Suits
Sense8
Black Sails
Pokemon Go