Inhumans - A fairly unexciting season opener didn't give us any unrealistic ideas about what to expect with the rest of the season. Or rather series as the high cost of the show (which never looks like it was high budget) and comments from IMAX seem to guarantee that there will not be a second season.
It was basically eight hours explaining how the Inhumans moved from the moon to the Earth. I feel like a movie from Marvel Studios could've done that in three minutes and then given us a more interesting plot. Frankly, I'm with the fans who won't mind if this show is ignored from future MCU continuity and Marvel Studios eventually brings new versions into the movies.
The Punisher - A far more compelling series from Marvel Television and Netflix, 13 episodes of how Frank Castle wound up with his name being dragged through the mud publicly as he violently takes revenge on the men who ruined his family. Very violent (not as graphic as Punisher: War Zone, though), but very character-driven.
Runaways - Marvel Television's weekly series on Hulu was also a concept that had originally been intended to be a movie. Unlike Inhumans, however, this one benefited from expanding to a series because of the large number of characters to look deeper into.
Six kids in Los Angeles discover that their parents are part of a strange cult and witness a ritual that involves the death of a young woman. The kids begin to discover that they have super powers of their own and begin to investigate what their parents actually do.
As for the CW...
Supergirl - During the course of the series, a cult sprung up around Supergirl. While she discouraged it, it became clear that at least one person has a lot of information about Kryptonian religions. Discovering an ancient craft, the team at the DEO discover that it's actually from the future, containing members of the Legion of Superheroes in stasis, including Mon-El, Saturn Girl and Brainiac 5. J'Onn J'Onzz recovers his father from white Martians on Mars while Alex breaks up with Maggie after realizing they want different things from their relationship. A single mother in National City discovers that she is Reign, a Kryptonian punisher.
The Flash - As Wally leaves for Blue Valley, feeling overshadowed by Barry in Central City, Barry adds former police chief and current hard on his luck private eye Ralph Dibny to the team. Ralph is one of a dozen people who became metahumans thanks to dark matter exposure when Barry broke out of the speed force, Ralph having elastic powers. Caitlin finds unexpected fame as Killer Frost, leading her to consider how much of her is the frost villain. Barry and Iris finally marry as it becomes clear that the Thinker—aka Clifford DeVoe—is targeting Barry, particularly when he puts himself in the body of a telepathic metahuman and uses his old body to frame Barry for murder. Barry is put on trial, the outcome sure to shake up the show for the rest of the season.
Legends of Tomorrow - Something is tracking the crew on the Waverider as they continue to fix aberrations throughout Time, and Damian Darhk is back as a villain. During the events of the Crisis on Earth-X crossover event, Professor Stein is killed and Jax makes his exit.
Arrow - Oliver temporarily has Diggle take over as Green Arrow as the FBI investigation continues. Oliver marries Felicity as Team Arrow begins to fall apart.
Crisis on Earth-X - Barry and Iris' wedding is interrupted by Nazis from an alternate earth who won World War II. The two-night crossover event saw characters from Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow team up with resistance fighters from Earth-X to drive the Nazis from Earth-1. An exciting crossover made poignant with the self-sacrifice of Professor Stein, somewhat flawed in the ending by Barry and Iris choosing to finally simply marry with a justice, and Felicity deciding to marry Oliver and turning Barry and Iris' wedding into a double wedding.
Riverdale - The second season started strong with the near death of Archie's father and the introduction of Hiram Lodge, but the Black Hood plot began to dwarf everything else and not in a compelling way, so I quit watching the show.
Black Lightining - The CW's new show follows an African-American father with his two daughters who works at a principal at his school. After some issues he spots going on, he decides to resume his superhero identity as Black Lightning.
The show seems aimed at a more mature audience than the other superhero shows on the network. Interesting addition and we'll see how it develops going forward.
And on Fox...
The Gifted suffered through some scheduling headaches, but overall became a story about the Strucker family joining with a resistance group tasked by the X-Men to protect mutants. Some good character moments and some interesting developments, but probably better appreciated when you're not keeping up with so many shows.
Lucifer revealed that a force behind Lucifer's problems was a man who called himself "the Sinnerman" that Lucifer tracks down. Marcus Pierce turns out to be none other than Cain, the man cursed to walk the earth after killing his brother.
Gotham has had Bruce kill R'as Al Ghul and then nearly abandon his crimefighting life, becoming the playboy. After reviving from being frozen, Riddler puts a revived Butch known as Solomon Grundy in a fighting ring. Tensions between crime factions rise in Gotham.
And here's some movie reviews:
Thor: Ragnarok - The funniest Thor movie yet sees Thor realize that Loki is still alive and disguised as Odin on Asgard. Finding Odin on Earth just before his death, Thor and Loki are told of Hela, the Goddess of Death, their sister. When she appears, she makes her way to Asgard, stranding Thor and Loki on the planet of Sakaar, where Thor is put to fight against the Incredible Hulk in an arena.
I enjoyed the film a lot. Fast paced and colorful, it took the Thor series in a bold new direction it desperately needed. However, as Marvel Studios tends to only do trilogies, it may have only opened up new characters for them to use in the future. Still, perhaps the humor is a little off as many characters and elements from the Thor locale are disposed of with little or no ceremony.
Justice League - Parademons begin popping up on Earth as the villainous Steppenwolf seeks the Mother Boxes. Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince begin finding other super-powered individuals—Victor Stone, Barry Allen and Arthur Curry—to help them stop Steppenwolf.
This film didn't fare particularly well at the box office or with critics. To be fair, the film has issues, tonally different scenes and some particularly bad CGI for a high-profile superhero movie, coming off as a second-rate Avengers. But that's not to say the movie is bad. There's a clear story that is fairly easy to follow, unlike Batman v Superman. They manage to create a fairly good movie regardless of the aforementioned issues.
