Revisiting the MCU: Iron Man and the blueprint for the coming franchise

New to this series? Obviously, this is my first entry. But why not start by reading my preamble to this series before cracking on with this one. Which I’ll be updating as I continue to write more.

To begin my series of talking about the Marvel Cinematic Universe from the beginning; We dig into 2008’s Iron Man. The first big movie release from Marvel Studios, when the wider MCU was but a glint in their collective eye.

There is a lot I could dig into when talking about this movie. But the most appropriate point feels like how this movie was acted as the springboard that launched the thing that altered the course of movies for the coming decade. And how we ended up losing something along the way.

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Batman Arkham – The Problem with Escalation

I don’t want to come across as some kind of shill, but every now and then Xbox’s Game Pass will sump something onto my lap that really takes me to a place. A few weeks ago, the duel release of Rocksteady’s Batman Arkham games fell into my downloads. Like an old glove, I found myself slipping into these gems again without much argument.

Playing both Arkham Asylum and Arkham City in quick succession, I came to realise that both games are actually very different from one another. While both fantastic pieces of video games craftsmanship and storytelling, both shine in totally different ways. With two short years between 2009’s Asylum and 2011’s City, it’s astounding how different a direction Rocksteady went with the follow up to their marque release.

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Titanfall 2 had a hell of a campaign that we should revisit

With all this talk of Apex Legends and the dwindling sense of spite that came with Respawn releasing a new first person shooter that wasn’t Titanfall 3; a lot of people have been taking this opportunity to look back at Titanfall 2 and remember/realise what made that game such a highlight when it came out in late 2016.

While the second game under the franchise banner, Titanfall 2 was the first game with a campaign, using its established world and lore to tell a story to put on top of the amazing concept piece that was the first Titanfall.

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