Welcome to Level Seven

Stewart, Samantha, and Ben talk about the Marvel related news coming from Disney's D23.

MS. MARVEL episodes 4 and 5 are Ms. Marvel's adventures in Pakistan . . .FIRST as a young woman navigating family and social scenarios and as a young hero navigating superheroing with the world hanging in the balance . . .THEN traveling back in time to the 1940s to SEE part of her family history and […]

Ben and Samantha cover the first two episodes of SHE-HULK! She-Hulk debuts! Hulk returns! Law is practiced! Bad guys are fought! And a new show is born . . . Next episode: WEREWOLF BY NIGHT! Spooky!

MS. MARVEL episodes 2 and 3 feature a superhero learning to be a superhero. A daughter learning to be a daughter. A young woman learning to navigate young adulthood. The team reunites to talk about it . . . Ben, Samantha, and Stewart have opinions . . . But we want to know what you think!!! […]

There was a LOT of news coming out of SDCC 2022. And there will be MORE coming soon from D23. For now, though, Ben and Samantha run through the announced movies and TV from the Marvel side of things. Post-credit, we talk about DC. It's a much shorter conversation.

It's time for the first MCU character to have a 4th movie to have his 4th movie. It's time for us to talk about it. It's all here: Thor Mighty Thor Many other gods Guardians Korg Rock music Goats Jokes…so many jokes… Ben's second most anticipated MCU appearance of a comic book favorite character As […]

We're back with another Disney+ series! This one was a lot of fun (for us – “us” being Ben and Samantha) and it got us thinking both about how things were when we were kids . . . and how things are for Ben, as a parent of teenagers! There was a real energetic vibe […]

The Multiverse mess begun in Spider-Man No Way Home . . . or maybe in Loki . . . come to a head here, as a young hero with universe jumping powers is threatened by a witch who wants her power. And Doctor Strange stands in the gap . . . So much going on […]

Moon Knight completes its limited series run with an ending that could lead into more . . . but also could very easily end right here. Either way, Ben and Samantha talk about “Asylum” and “Gods and Monsters”, following the format of our previous episode. Did we like it? Well, yes. Next: Dr Strange and […]

For the episode, because of some busy-ness and some scheduling difficulties, we combined to talk about episodes 3 and 4! In these episodes we are finally getting close to some answers. The answers we are getting close to seem to bring up more questions, but there's still two episodes to reveal everything, right? That's a […]

Moon Knight continues with episode two! Some mysteries are explained! Some mysteries get deeper! Some powers get revealed! Some suits get summoned! Also, we catch up on some feedback and Ben feels really bad about how long it took to get it . . .

A new series premieres! A new pilot episode debuts! A new hero arrives! It's MOON KNIGHT! This series is one of the most stand alone MCU entries since Iron Man! No references to events you may have missed if you weren't watching all the movies and TV series. No surprise returning characters. Just a new […]

MORBIUS has arrived! Finally! Ben goes solo on a spoiler-free review . . . Sort of a preview of his thoughts on the movie, Ben told Samantha and Stewart they could take this movie off and didn't need to feel the urgency of an MCU movie (even though this is technically an MCU movie). This […]

HAWKEYE ends here. And yet . . . perhaps this is just the beginning? All the threads get pulled together for a Christmas party. Bad guys show up, people fight, and in the end the question is finally answered: will Hawkeye get home in time for Christmas???

The past has a habit of creating problems for people. And if you're people who are also superhero people, the complications are even worse! So Clint and Kate are going to find out, anyway, as they move toward HAWKEYE's conclusion!

HAWKEYE's partnership with Kate continues to grow, even as Kate's mom disapproves. There are maguffins to find! And people getting in the way . . . including a Black Widow?!? (The most unsurprising surprise so far . . . but that doesn't mean it's not emotionally satisfying to see . . .) Will Clint be […]

We continue our coverage of WHAT IF…? with the SEASON FINALE . . . the Watcher is done watching! Now he's gathering a team, Avengers-style! Who does he gather? All the protagonists from the previous episodes! What are they going to do? Just take down a god-robot!

We continue our coverage of WHAT IF…? with a commentary styled episode. Sync your Disney+ account to 33 seconds in and watch along with us! If you want. It's totally not necessary. So what if Ultron won? Well, if Ultron won it would set up a cliffhanger ending that would be concluded in the next […]

HAWKEYE is here! And he brings with him . . . a new sidekick who wants to be him; Christmas cheer; fight scenes; a dog; a lot of looking back to the past; some hints to the future! Will Clint be home in time for Christmas? He'll need a Christmas miracle!

We've moved to new servers, and the move was fairly uneventful BUT we did lose on post in doing so… SO we are re-uploading our Spider-Man: No Way Home review. Sorry if this causes any problems for you! Spider-Man: No Way Home has COME and so has a host of new conversational topics! Things like […]

We moved to new servers for the website, which resulted in the lose of two posts. Sorry for the inconvenience if you get this episode twice! HAWKEYE is here! And he brings with him . . . a new sidekick who wants to be him; Christmas cheer; fight scenes; a dog; a lot of looking […]

Continuing our “WHAT IF” coverage, we take a look at an episode that's not our favorite. The “Party Thor” episode. It asks the question: “What if the MCU were a sitcom?”

THE ETERNALS are here!!! But is the vehicle they came in any good? No, not the Monolith inspired spaceship the characters use in the movie (that's so rad!!!) — we're talking about the movie that brought the characters into the MCU!!! Everyone seems to have an opinion about THE ETERNALS, and Samantha and Ben both […]

By now you probably know the answer to everyone's favorite Marvel related fake gameshow — “IS? IT? MCU!?!” — when it comes to VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE. If you don't know the answer, well, we spoil the ANSWER in the beginning of this episode, but we don't spoil the details. Not right away. This […]

What if Killmonger got an earlier start with his plan to destroy the colonizers and take over Wakanda? Well, his plan would start with rescuing Tony Stark from the Ten Rings! Join Ben and Samantha as they talk about it!

Ben rides solo again and explores the rules for putting a zombie apocalypse in your giant cinematic franchise. Ben makes some Star Trek connections, he doesn't sing the song by The Cranberries, he reads some listener feedback, and he waxes philosophical about horror movies and zombie tropes.

Ben flies solo in a very STRANGE episode of Welcome to Level Seven. In a world where Dr. Strange seems to be a much nicer guy, he loses something more precious than his ability to perform delicate, difficult surgeries. And that sets him on a path that leads to some awful consequences. Ben, too, faces […]

SHANG-CHI is here, and gives PHASE FOUR: the first theatrical only release the first story that moves things forward, not just referring or reacting to the past the first record breaking weekends the first Asian led cast and crew (not just for Phase Four, but for ALL of the MCU) the first new character origin […]

This episode was a pleasant surprise! Made even more pleasant when Ben wasn't paying attention to the credits, so the cast wasn't spoiled! And that meant the characters weren't spoiled! And that meant the Agents of SHIELD connection wasn't spoiled. Post credit conversation is about SPIDER-MAN NO WAY HOME trailer.

Chadwick Boseman returns to the character of Black Panther one last time before his passing, and his final performance is a story that explores ideas of family and how a good man can make a difference. Join Ben and Samantha as they talk about this episode . . . AND the final ETERNALS trailer.

What if… we got a chance to see Hayley Atwell play Agent Carter again? She may not be continuing her TV show, but she is returning to the screens. Just, from a different universe. The newest TV series from Disney+ has arrived, bringing with it the fractured multiverse that seemed to be created in LOKI. […]

Season 1 of Loki has concluded! Season 2 has been promised! And now, the Welcome to Level Seven crew is here to talk about it. What does it all mean? Where is this thing going? Also, how does it fix Agents of SHIELD‘s place in the MCU? Or maybe the better question: does it help […]

Black Widow has her own movie. Did she need it? No. Did we like it? Oh. Yeah. Part one of the MOVIE side of Phase Four begins here, and it's a look backward before we move forward.

When life catches up with podcasters, podcasters sometimes have to make adjustments – like recording about two episodes at the same time. And so Ben and Samantha are here to talk about LOKI episodes 4 and 5, leading into the SEASON (series?) finale next week! NOTE: You can get pre-release access to the raw recordings […]

Ben and Samantha talk about Loki and Sylvie who also talk. Loki and Sylvie also walk as they talk, and fight, and reveal powers, and reveal exposition, and then fail to escape the armageddon of planet Lamentis. It's a road trip without a road, and a fun exploration of the two Loki Variants.

The time travel shenanigans continue! And the plot thickens! There seem to be stakes . . . although we're not quite sure what they are. Oh, and Loki and Mobius sit and talk! A lot. Like, a LOT. Good thing we like them! When two guys who you'd listen to reading the phone book have […]

Why did Disney call it LOKI? Why didn't they call it “everything that Ben Avery likes”? Mostly because it's easier to say Loki . . . and no one knows who Ben Avery is. But Ben, Stewart, and Samantha enjoyed the first episode in the series, and they talk about:Movies that inspired this show (including […]

The season finale — or is it the SERIES finale? — is here, and we get an action packed ending! SEE Sam Wilson take up the shield! HEAR Sam Wilson make a speech! WITNESS Sam Wilson become Captain America! It's a monster sized episode and there's a reason – there's a lot going on in […]

It's the penultimate episode of the season. The best episode of the season? We'll find out after the season finale. In the meantime, this episode gives us insight into Isaiah Bradley, the end of Zemo's story (for now), John Walker getting a discharge and the visitor, and some montages.

If you didn't hate John Walker before, this is the episode that's supposed to push you over that edge . . . as John Walker gets pushed over an edge of his own. Also, Ben and Stewart make some predictions that probably don't come true. Probably.

As The Falcon and the Winter Soldier continues, the MCU's favorite odd couple continues their search for the flag smashers and some twists and turns come our way . . .

The new Captain America is here! And he's not Captain America . . . Meanwhile, the odd couple of the MCU, Sam and Bucky, are on the trail of the super soldier serum, and what they find is not what they expected! The question on people's minds seems to be, though, is this series what […]

The pilot episode of a new Marvel series has dropped! The Falcon and the Winter Soldier are back! Moving from the big screen to the small screen, do they bring the “cinematic” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with them? Is this “more of the same” or a “return to form”?

WandaVision comes to a conclusion, wrapping up all the loose plotlines and character arcs with a satisfying end. Except for the ones that were not wrapped up with a nice neat bow and were instead wrapped up with a less than completely satisfying end. But the important ones – Wanda, Vision, and Agatha – took […]

We wanted answers! We got some answers! We wanted big twists! We got some big twists! We wanted origin stories! We got some origin stories! We can't say things are getting good because they always were good, but we can say things are moving toward an ending. And ending with Agatha, with Hayward, and with […]

For this episode of the podcast, we're going to break the fourth wall and talk directly to the listeners! Which means we're not changing anything because we already do that . . . So much stuff happens in this episode! Stuff, stuff, and then more stuff! Mostly stuff that proves Ben basically wrong about almost […]

We've got a LOT happening in this episode, as we see kids and kids with powers and an uncle with powers and Vision on a mission. All told, WandaVision is delivering on the things that were promised and giving us lots to talk about!

Back to sitcom world in this episode! And we're back to the 80s! Wanda and Vision face some Growing Pains with their children, who are growing quickly and creating a Full House. But when SWORD interferes with these Family Matters, Wanda shows them Who's the Boss. Featuring a special guest star with some Family Ties.

And now for something completely different! From an opening that lets us nail down when this series is happening to startling declaration at the end of the episode, this episode of WandaVision reminds us what we're watching: it's not just a TV show, it's a TV show that's actually pushing forward the narrative of the […]

Wandavision continues! Moving forward into the late 60s and early 70s, we get a full nine months of pregnancy in less than a day (and less than 30 minutes)! And we get some glimpses at what's going on. Enough so that Ben makes some bold (probably WRONG but bold nonetheless) declarations. Post credit, we talk […]