Sometimes, I like to give myself a side quest. The ideal quest is fun, challenging enough to provide a sense of accomplishment, but ultimately meaningless. AMCmageddon definitely fell into this category.

This month, the promotional push for Avengers: Doomsday hit critical mass to the point that I decided wanted to do something to get excited for the 39th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

(Pause for the trailer, and to take in the fact that Iron Man was eighteen years and thirty-eight films ago.)

Now, there are people out there on the Internet suggesting that to properly prepare for this cinematic event, one should, an minimum, re-watch all the films, and that to really appreciate it, one should also re-visit several of the Disney+ series, the X-Men films, and the McGuire and Garfield Spider-man movies for good measure.

I am not one of those people, and I will not be doing that.

(If it would bring you joy, though? Have fun!)

Instead, I decided to re-watch every theatrically released MCU film that contains a Captain America, a Black Widow, or both.

Why?

I like Cap; I like the Widows, and it felt like it would give a decent review of what has come before without being an insane number of movies.

In fact, it comes to twelve, which is a lot, but way more manageable than thirty-eight.

For this quest, I gave myself two additional rules:

1. Films are to be watched in chronological, not release order. (Mostly to put Black Widow after Civil War, not Endgame)

2. Once a Marine, always a Marine. (Which means that Walker counts for Captain America, as does Sam, but only post-Endgame, not for his cameo in Ant-Man. Since we only meet them post Red Room, Natasha, Yelena and Ruth all count as Widows in their MCU appearances)

Fun facts I have discovered:

1. Caps and Widows have an extraordinary level character of overlap. Out of twelve movies in which at least one appears, two-thirds of them have both.

2. Out of the four movies that don’t, only Captain America: The First Avenger, is just Cap, and I cannot be alone in my suspicions about Natalie Dormer’s character.

(For the curious, the three movies with a Widow but no Cap are: Iron Man 2, Black Widow, and Spider-man: Brand New Day.)

So that’s what I’ve been up to this month. On to the news!

From my Desk

Believe it or not—given what I have disclosed in the intro—I am back at work, which is good for me, and eventually good for this section of the newsletter because I’ll be able to tell you what I’m working on. At some point.

In the meantime, still looking for the next gig.

What I’m Reading and Watching

The History of Concrete begins with the filmmaker’s narration: “The time between projects is hard.” So, this movie had my number from jump. Honestly, if it had just been a documentary about the history of concrete, it would have had my number. Instead, it’s about lots of things: living in 21st century New York City, the housing crisis, the environment, and yes, concrete.

Book club started reading We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry, a novel about the Danvers, MA High School varsity field hockey team. I’m only 3 chapters in, and I’ve already recommended it to several friends and all the ladies in my pottery class. So, consider yourselves now in that club.

From the Cutting Room Floor of the Duolingo Dystopia

This one’s for Uncle Dave.

Feel better soon! I’m sure you’ll be back on the (metaphorical) dance floor in no time.

And That’s the Nearly Monthly News!

Got any good side quests of your own going? Bracing for Doomsday? Drop me a line! Otherwise, I’ll see you next month!