We saw it today and, despite some issues with hi deeply rooted it was in MCU lore with which we had a varying degree of familiarity, the film was exciting, it was fun, the acting was good, and we got to enjoy some of the newer wave of Marvel heroes.

First, though, the tie-ins… there will be things going on that you’ll have no idea about if you have not seen the previous Captain America films, the Avengers films, The Eternals film, the Falcon and the Winter Soldier TV series, the Edward Norton-starring The Incredible Hulk (not the Eric Bana-led Hulk), The Black Widow to a lesser degree, and I think that’s it.

I had seen all of that save The Eternals. Nate has seen all but The Eternals, FatWS, and Incredible Hulk. Katie has only seen the CapAm, Avengers, and Hulk films. Thankfully, Nathan cheated with YouTube and was able to fill us all in on The Eternals stuff since that whole thing (I’m not going to spoil it) was completely foreign to us.

Moving on… Anthony Mackie is a lot of fun as Sam Wilson/Falcon/Captain America. I really dig the guy and hope he still has some films left in his MCU contract. Having Danny Ramirez back as Sam’s “guy in the chair” and new “guy in the air” Joaquin Torres is great. I liked Ramirez in Top Gun: Maverick and hope he’s destined for good things. Ramirez and Mackie have a great dynamic and that made this film highly enjoyable even without all the necessary back knowledge.

Of course not having William Hurt return as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross was sad (RIP Mr. Hurt) but Harrison Ford was a decent fill in for the general turned Commander in Chief. He can easily achieve the visible anger necessary to channel his new alter ego.

Giancarlo Esposito has gotta be one of Hollywood’s better bad guys of the last decade or so and he did not falter here. Tim Blake Nelson was an interesting casting choice for his role but I dug it.

Having Carl Lumbley reprise his role from Falcon and the Winter Soldier but with a twist was awesome. He’s always a welcome cast addition. I also dug newcomer Shira Haas as President Ross’ security advisor Ruth Bat-Seraph.

The special effects were great, the action was fairy unrelenting, it made sense and even made me want to watch The Eternals which is an accomplishment given my aversion to that film, and it was a solid whodunit.

Was it great? No. But I would put it in the upper half of MCU content rankings, I think. It’s certainly one of the best non-Spider-Man films to come from MCU phases 4&5, which may not actually be the endorsement I intend it to be given how bad most of it has been.

I liked it, okay? I’d watch it again. Without hesitation. Really!