Geek Girl in Hollywood: Marvel’s TV may be better than its movies

I just started watching “Luke Cage.” Sadly, since I’m my own boss, I couldn’t call in with a terrible cold to binge-watch the entire thing. I’d know I was lying, and I’d totally fire me. Anyway, though I’m not through it (and not reading spoilers is killing me), there is a lot that stands out here.

First of all, the music. Creator Cheo Hodari Coker has a long history with music, and there is a feel to this show’s soundtrack that absolutely slays. Beyond that, the performances are amazing. It’s beautifully lit. I know talking about how pretty a show/film is usually a bad sign but here, it’s absolutely not. It’s just one more piece of awesomeness to add to the pile.

Maybe you’ve watched more than me. Maybe you haven’t started yet. I’m sure you’ve seen all the rave reviews. Here’s why I’m writing about it: Marvel has absolutely conquered the airwaves (yes, I know that word is archaic) with its television universe, maybe even more than its films have.

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Sure, the films are amazing. I adore them, and the box office tells me you do, too. Not every one was great (I’m looking at you, “Thor: The Dark World”), but “Captain America: Civil War” pretty much blew my mind. The reason I’m actually a little bit more in love with their Netflix TV universe — “Luke Cage,” “Jessica Jones,” “Daredevil” — is that we get to spend real time with characters we love. (I adored ABC’s “Agent Carter” for different and myriad reasons, but I’m concentrating on the Netflix stuff here.) We get to take 12 hours to learn about them, rather than two. We’ve still got the crossovers, the larger story involving the Avengers, sure. But we also have a connection by looking at a backstory you can’t get in film.

We go deep, not just with the heroes but with the villains. We get to know them as more than just a guy twirling his mustache or a girl in black leather with an angry face. We learn who they are and why they’re like this. There are no punches pulled here, because there is no traditional network to clean things up. It’s gritty, it’s dark, and it’s not for the kiddies.

In a way, spending a lot of time with characters instead of just seeing bits of them on the big screen makes it feel more like the comics. I’ve been reading about Ms. Marvel for a long time, so I’ve gotten to know who she is, why she feels the way she does and how she reacts to mundane things, as well as the larger events in the world. It makes me feel like I can identify with her even more, having seen her flaws and her triumphs over so much time. Getting as many shows that interconnect as we are is giving me a new fantasy world to play in. It’s pretty darn awesome.

So, who’s in for an Iron Fist show?