Trauma and Chaos: On MCU Phase 4 (Plus, A Sprinkle of Philosophy)

Host TK is joined by pop culture scholar Christopher Maverick to discuss the big ideas of Phase 4 of the MCU so far... and a whole lot more. After Mav catches us up on the exciting happenings over on his pop culture and comics podcasts, we talk about what we think is working (or not working - Mav explains why he didn’t like the final of Loki) about Phase 4 so far. This leads us to consider: To what extent should we evaluate a Marvel Disney+ series for its value as an individual story versus for its role in the overarching story web? What makes a good series a good series and is there a different metric for the MCU? Will the MCU's experiment in translating comics-style storytelling (i.e. the multiverse!) to screens big and small continue to succeed? In discussing the emerging themes of Phase 4, we respond to the Nerdist.com article: "The MCU's Unanswerable Question: Freedom or Security?" Finally, we discuss a little bit of moral philosophy, including Kantianism versus utilitarianism in the MCU. And shoutout to Friend Daniel who inspired me to bring Dostoevsky's "The Grand Inquisitor" into the conversation. Oh, and we talk about Hawkeye a surprising amount! Follow: @anidea_podcast on Instagram and Twitter Christopher Maverick: chrismaverick.com The VoxPopcast: voxpopcast.com/wp and @voxpopcast on Instagram and Twitter The Oh Gosh, Oh Golly, Oh Wow! Podcast: goshgollywow.com Artwork by Brooke Pender: @bpenderillustrations on Instagram Music by Demeter Salvia