And Just Like That .... Another TV Jumble Blog

Also my last TV Jumble blog of the year. You know the drill, stuff I've been watching over the last few weeks. Let's get into it.

And Just Like That: It's somewhat odd to think of Sex And The City as a franchise but it is one. It was a popular book, then TV series that ran for six seasons, spawned two theatrical movies, a prequel series that ran for two seasons and now a sequel series, sadly lacking Samantha Jones. Still, the first four episodes have seen Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte navigate their social circles in lieu of their former friend's absence while also dealing with widowhood, getting older and learning more about the world around them. Four episodes in and there's no denying this sequel has lacked the magic of it's original series and some of it's attempts of presenting more diversity has been dicey at best. Hopefully the show will get it's groove for the remainder of the season.

Chucky: For a movie franchise that has spawned six sequels and an unnecessary reboot, taking the most evil doll for a cable series could've been easily been a mixed bag. After watching this eight episode first season, I can definitely say this series was an overwhelming success. Chucky works just as well on the small screen as he did on the big and straight to streaming. Te uses of classic characters such as Tiffany, Andy, Kyle and Nica along with new protagonists such as Jake, Devon, Lexy and the unfortunate Junior worked brilliantly. This show was a joy to watch from start to finosh and I'm really pleased that it will be returning for seconds.

Dexter: New Blood: With only three episodes left, this show definitely feels like it's shaping up to be a mid-tier season/series for me. It's not quite recaptured the heights of the first few seasons but it's also managed to avoid the lows of the last few seasons as well. It was nice having appearances from both Angel and the Trinity in episodes along with Angela becoming more aware of who her boyfriend really was. Less good has been Harrison, who has become somewhat annoying to watch while Kurt definitely could be a more compelling antagonist for Dexter. He's become rather underwhelming, in spite of his efforts to come between Dexter and Harrison.

Hawkeye: It's been a mostly good year for the MCU's debut with Disney+ shows and ending this year was this delightful six part series, focusing on Clint Barton and new protege Kate Bishop. As a pairing the two of them were excellent to watch, Lucky the Pizza Dog was obviously adorable too. The use of the Christmas worked in the show's favour, Maya was set up well for her own Disney+ series and it was nice to see Yelena again. Minor quibbles, would be Eleanor's painfully obvious villainy and perhaps Wilson Fisk being a tiny bit underused. Other than that, I still had a really good time watching this series.

Pennyworth: I wasn't a huge fan of the first season of this Alfred Pennyworth based series but upon learning that it had been renewed for a third one, I decided to give the second season a go. I'm glad I did as I actually found myself enjoying this season a lot more than expected. Like Gotham before it, this show found it's strength by reveling in being utter batshit crazy and became more enjoyable as a result. Whether it was the gang working together against the Stormcloud plot, Thomas and Martha getting to be parents to a girl, Alfred's reunion with his father or even the oddball romance with Bet and Katie, this season definitely hit it's stride. I'm looking to seeing what next year's time jump brings for this show.

The Flash: After the last two seasons being sadly poor, a part of me has felt ready to bail on the show. Fortunately this five part event has managed to breathe some life into things. It's not quite as good as crossover events from series past but both Reverse Flash and Despero certainly gave Barry the ring around. Not to mention some welcome returns from Ray Palmer and Damien Darhk, hints of future events for other characters and of course, other characters about to return. It's a good start and here's hoping the quality can be maintained when the show returns in March.

• Netflix have cancelled Cowboy Bebop after one season.
• David Tennant's Around The World In 80 Days has been renewed for a second series. It will premiere on BBC1 on Boxing Day.
• BBC3 will relaunch as a terrestrial channel again from February.
• American Dad has been renewed for two more seasons.
• Turner & Hooch has been cancelled after one season on Disney+
• A prequel series for Walker is in early development from the CW.
• UK viewers can see The Resident on Disney+ from next month.
• The third season of Atlanta will premiere in March on Starz.

SDCC 2019 - Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase 4 Announcement (Spoilers Included)

They sat out SDCC last year and this year upon their return, Marvel decided to go big with the announcement of five movies and five streaming shows on upcoming service, Disney+

So, here's a look of what we can actually expect in the next two years from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Black Widow: Due for release on May 1st 2020, this prequel movie will see Scarlett Johansson reprise her role as Natasha Romanov in a movie that is rumoured to be set during the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. Joining Johansson here will be David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, O. T. Fagbenle as Rick Mason, Rachel Weisz as Melina/Iron Maiden as well as Ray Winstone in an undisclosed role. The main antagonist for this movie will be Taskmaster. Filming for this movie started in May.

Eternals: Due for released on November 6th 2020, this movie will focus on a space battle between the titular group and their enemies, the Deviants. Rounding off the cast for this movie are Angelina Jolie as Thena, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma Hayek as Ajak, the leader of the Eternals, Lia McHugh as Sprite and Don Lee as Gilgamesh. There's still some more casting for this movie to be confirmed but filming will begin in September in London for this one.

Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings: Due for a February 12th 2021 release, this movie had been fast tracked by Kevin Feige since December 2018 and we now know that the title character will be played by Simu Liu with Tony Leung Chiu-wai portraying the Mandarin and Awkwafina also cast in a role in the film. Filming for this movie will take place in Australia within the next few months.

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness: Due for a May 7th 2021 release, Benedict Cumberbatch's surgeon turned magical superhero will be getting a second solo outing and this time he'll be backed up by Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch as Nightmare has been confirmed as the main antagonist for this movie. This movie will also be tied into Olsen's upcoming Disney+ series, WandaVision, the latter which will stream prior to this movie's release.

Thor: Love And Thunder: Due for a November 5th 2021 release, I think we were all shocked earlier last week to find out that Chris Hemsworth was getting a fourth solo movie and with director Taika Waititi returning following the success of Thor: Ragnorak, this movie will not only see Thor reunite with Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie as the latter looks for a queen but in a major surprise, Natalie Portman will not only reprise her role as Jane Foster but she'll also be playing Lady Thor for good measure too. Between finally confirming Valkyrie's bisexuality and giving us Lady Thor, this movie isn't messing about.

Elsewhere, there was another surprise announcement of Mahershala Ali being confirmed as Blade for an upcoming movie while sequels for Black Panther, Guardians Of The Galaxy and Captain Marvel were confirmed with hints of mutants eventually making it into the main cinematic movies. However the fourth phase will seemingly be about the five above movies I mentioned and five upcoming television series, leading to this bit.

With Disney+ due to debut in the next few months, MCU fans will have a big incentive to watch the five upcoming series they're planning as these series will tie into the main cinematic universe in a fairly big way. First up will be The Falcon And The Winter Soldier with both Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan reprising their respective roles with Emily VanCamp and Daniel Brühl set to reprise their roles as Sharon Carter and Baron Helmut Zemo from August 2020. Then it'll be WandaVision, focusing on the relationship with Olsen's Scarlet Witch and Paul Bettany's Vision while Teyonah Parris will appear as an adult version of Monica Rambeau while Loki will see Tom Hiddleston's mischievous trickster in a post Avengers: Endgame timeline. Both those series will debut in early 2021. After that, we've got What If…?, an animated anthology series with Jeffrey Wright voicing the Watcher and several familiar characters appearing in rather different circumstances, with a mid 2021 date being earmarked for it's release. The last series then will be Hawkeye with Jeremy Renner reprising the title role but also handing it over to Kate Bishop. This show will debut in late 2021.

Meanwhile it's also been confirmed that Marvel's Agents Of SHIELD will end after seven seasons. The show currently into it's sixth season, airing on both ABC and E4 respectively will be the most successful of Marvel live action show in spite of it often being ignored by the MCU itself (although Clark Gregg did recently play Agent Coulson in Captain Marvel). I stopped watching the show a few seasons back but it's incredible that the show lasted as long as it did. I also think that following it's imminent demise, the only Marvel shows we'll be getting for the foreseeable future will be on Disney+

So that's the next two years for the MCU sorted then. What were the most exciting announcements for you? Which movie or streaming shows are you most eager to see? Was there something you wish had been announced but wasn't?