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  • Assorted musings:

    1. Did anybody else think that before you could see his face, Mephisto initially sounded like Benedict Cumberbatch? For a second I genuinely thought it really was gonna be Dormammu and not Mephisto. And given that in the next scene he appeared in and thereafter, he ditched the American accent, I'm pretty sure the fake-out was intentional.
    2. Speaking of Dormammu: by summoning Dormammu's power to Earth, Zelma totally just nulled and voided Dr Strange's bargain with Dormammu, didn't she? Dormammu can now argue that he was not the one who first violated the terms of the agreement; that it was an Earthling. I wonder if that'll end up being the reason Clea has to come looking for Strange's help in MoM's post-credits scene... after all, we have no specific timeframe for that scene.
    3. It seems to me that Riri basically just cribbed (and improved) BARF. Brain-scanning tech that creates a virtual reproduction of dead loved ones for a little cough therapy session? That's literally what Tony demoed when unveiling the September Grant for MIT students. Riri improved on it because now the virtual loved one can think autonomously, and the simulation only needs a single projector built into the armor rather than multiple projectors from a swarm of drones. Riri really went all-in on the whole "if I take something Iron Man did and do it better, people will take me seriously" thing.
    4. I'm glad they had Riri actually take the deal with Mephisto, as she's far more interesting as a morally compromised antihero, as the show's been portraying her all along. She has that in common with Strange, I guess! Magic really does seem to corrupt or harm almost everyone who's used it so far: Agatha, Wanda, Billy, Strange, Mordo, Riri, Parker, even the Ancient One a little... even most of Agatha's coven got sacrificed. Donnie Blaise opened a portal to a hell dimension! And Zelma seems likely to be helping Parker soon. So far, only Wong, Jennifer Kale and Ned Leeds have really escaped any noticeable consequences, and if the comics are anything to go by, then being a magic user bodes ill for Ned... satanic panic is real, kids! Magic: not even once!
    5. I wonder if Mephisto had anything to do with the generational curse placed on Alice's family.
    6. This is really just more of the "Ironheart cribs a lot from BARF" point, but "planned contingency protocol to fake a defeat so you can sneak up on your opponent" is straight from the Mysterio playbook.
    7. Why are they talking about Riri being a once-in-a-generation genius when Riri knows full well what Shuri's capable of?
    8. Do we think Riri ACTUALLY brought Natalie back from the dead, or is this more like a Scarlet Witch dealio in which she's actually just stolen a variant of Natalie from another timeline?
    9. Why on earth did Zeke go back to his house almost immediately after a prison break? Is he stupid? I mean I know he had his bionics and probably felt untouchable, but even still.
    10. So after people were complaining that the Multiverse Saga hasn't done enough to make everything feel connected, this show is continuing story threads from:
      • Iron Man (Stane family legacy)
      • Civil War (BARF, MIT, the September Grant and the Stark Legacy)
      • Doctor Strange (Dormammu)
      • Wakanda Forever (obviously)
      • Agatha All Along (Mephisto)

    • Re Benedict Mephistobatch, it definitely didn't sound like Sacha Baron Cohen at first, but I didn't hear Benedict. I think The Hood/Parker makes a comment about his voice but I assume any voice change is just Mephisto finding which voice they find the most comfortable. When both Parker and Riri are sitting at the pizza table it's clear they aren't 100% there with the jarring camera cuts.

      Re Dormammu summoning & agreements. I think that works out and I like it. I did a little digging and due to the events of Spider-man FFH and NWH we know those take place in 2024, and Multiverse or Madness right after also in 2024. Wakanda Forever has a deleted scene that has it starting in 2024, but since it has a "one year later" scene, would put it in 2025. Then Ironheart is supposedly six months after Wakanda Forever. However Multiverse of Madness ends with Strange growing a third eye, then the mid credits has him not worried about and utilizing the third eye. So that scene could have happened anytime. (Although that scene talks about incursions, but it could still tie in).

      Re BARF I wonder if she built her own or borrowed and improved on Tony.

      Re Taking the deal. As soon as she asked the clarifying question, "And you only want me, it will only affect me?" I knew she was going to take the deal. At that point she's already accepted it in her head and was trying to talk herself out of it, but she couldn't. It was such a great scene.

      Re Generational Curse. I expect Mephisto helped Agatha obtain the Darkhold, but I think the family curse was just Agatha. Any manifestation of the curse that we saw was just Billy.

      Re Mysterio. I hope he faked his death and returns someday. He's one of my favorite villains.

      Re Once in a lifetime genius. Shuri and Wakanda don't make themselves known to the larger world. Outside of Wakanda few know who Shuri actually is and even if they do, she just has Wakanda technology, no one knows Shuri made it,

      Re Natalie. Riri fails to create a duplicate Natalie after the first one is deleted in the magic deal. Riri has no idea why it fails a second time. To me this means someone else (Mephisto) was involved the first time. Second the new Natalie isn't aware of the old Natalie or what is going on, which is to say a different Natalie, but I'm not sure Riri knows what she's brought back since she was surprised Natalie could interact with her. Since one of the themes of the show was death/acceptance, I think she brought dead Natalie back.

      Re Zeke. To destroy the flowers again. He hates flowers.

      Re Connections. Also Thor and his hammer.

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