Spring is about to be sprung, Looters… and we know, you can’t wait to shake off the winter chill and enjoy some nice weathre. But just in case there’s still a rainy day or two, we’ve got more recs for you that are available from the most popular streaming services – sometimes, they even intersect with the franchises we feature!
We want to give you a round-up regularly of some of the best you can stream to compliment your loot when it arrives, and this month we’re launching into the cosmos with our COSMIC theme, which you should be receiving soon and featuring these titles included across Loot Crate, Loot Crate DX and Loot Wear from March!
Captain Marvel
As we all well know by now, even though Nick Fury kept a lid on her existence for the first 20 features of the MCU’s tenure, Captain Marvel’s big-screen title is Carol Danvers’ first foray onto the big screen. She’s been a force in the comics, in one incarnation or another, for decades though, and Carol has appeared in several Marvel animated series over the years. In her Ms. Marvel years, she turned up all the way back on X-Men: The Animated Series, through to the more recent Super Hero Squad Show; it wasn’t really until Marvel’s Avengers Assemble that her current Captain Marvel look made its triumphant debut. Sadly, that show and most of the Marvel animated titles are hard to find on streaming services at the moment unless you pay to rent them from Amazon Prime or elsewhere. (Once Disney+ hits later this year, expect to find them there.) If you have Hulu Live TV right now you can watch Avengers Assemble on demand, as well as see Carol’s appearances in Marvel’s Spider-Man and the most excellent Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors. (In the meantime, enjoy this supercut of her animated appearances!)
Alien Anthology
Oh, the ups and downs of the HBO catalogue. While we aren’t exactly going anywhere with our HBO subscriptions while they keep cranking out such incredible original programming, their currently-available movie library is a revolving door that sometimes does you a major solid, and others leaves you bereft of the goodies you were seeking. Until very recently, the entire Alien anthology – i.e. the first four films starring Sigourney Weaver – as well as a few other titles including Alien vs. Predator and Alien: Covenant were all readily available to stream on HBO Go/HBO Now. Not anymore; presently, you’ll need to rent them somewhere. Or get those Blurays out! Or watch this pretty nifty trailer (above) for the six short films dropping next month to celebrate Alien‘s 40th anniversary!
Lost In Space
We were anticipating something pretty original when Lost In Space premiered on Netflix last year, and it definitely delivered on a completely different Robinson family than we’d ever seen before: One with complicated family issues, who aren’t as alone in their castaway crisis as previous versions. (There’s a whole damn colony!) There are nifty twists aplenty in this series, not the least of which is Parker Posey’s uniquely conniving Dr. Smith. We don’t have a release date for Lost In Space‘s upcoming second season yet, but now is a great time to get caught up on Netflix, if you haven’t dived in yet. (p.s. as we noted in last week’s Friday Five, the original 1960’s Lost In Space is also available to stream, on Hulu. You can skip the 1997 feature film version, though. Seriously. Skip it.)
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Can this be?! A fan fave that is currently available to stream on both of the big two streaming services? Oh, yes: If you want to dive into Star Trek: The Next Generation (featured in this month’s Loot Wear), you’re in luck because currently all seven seasons of the Trek milestone series is available to stream on both Netflix and Hulu! Get in on those Holodeck adventures, and discuss whether “The Best of Both Worlds” is or isn’t the greatest two-parter in the history of the franchise to your heart’s content. (Spoiler: It is.) If you’re really in the Trek mood, we’d also recommend dipping your toes into Deep Space Nine or Voyager which are also readily available, but let’s be honest there’s a LOT of TNG to get through if you’re all in. In the meantime, enjoy this terrific reel of bloopers. (Sir Pat Stew is the goofiest, bless him.)
Guardians of the Galaxy
So the easiest option you have if you want to get your Guardians on this month, provided you’ve got Netflix, is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2; we would presume that the much-beloved sequel will hang out on the service at least until later this year when Disney+ launches. And who doesn’t want to revisit every single Yondu scene and get emotional as you can be in the process? (*sob* Mary Poppins!) If you’re itching to see the original GotG, you’ll have to either rent it or break out the home video discs, if you have ’em. Speaking of rentals, the animated Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy series is for rent on Amazon Prime and it’s pretty outstanding. As is this promotional video (above) that James Gunn & cast did with THE HOFF to promote Vol. 2 on home video, which is still one the weirdest and best pieces of Marvel marketing we’ve ever seen. Well done.
Rick and Morty
Yep, this one hasn’t changed much from the last time we featured Rick & Morty in one of our crates – and now they have their own crate, so hey, good timing! Hulu is still the streaming home of pretty much all things Adult Swim, so if you want to catch up with your favorite dysfunctional granddad and grandson tag team, that’s the place to do it. Especially if you’re brand-new to this insane animated epic, because all three seasons released so-far are here to stream – which puts you in the perfect position to binge before the long-awaited Season 4 debuts later this year! While you’re getting your snacks ready, enjoy this Moonmen music video from the show featuring the unmistakable vocal stylings of special guest star Jemaine Clement. Yeah, that’s a jam.
