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Marvel Movies & TV: Phase 17
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A recap of Marvel’s SDCC presentation:
And the Wakanda Forever trailer:
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She-Hulk looks like it’s actually going to be fun.
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I think the look and the tone of that She Hulk trailer are terrible.
But I’m not subscribing to Disney+, so they won’t care what I think
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Meanwhile, behind the curtain, don’t like crunch in video games? It’s not limited to games:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/aug/03/marvel-disney-visual-effects-artists-speak-out
The short version? The usual story of management wanting very short notice, demanding work done “magically”. Translation: Work the staff into the ground.
It’s the same pattern seen in video games, that there is Bethesada or Bioware “magic”, but it’s nothing of the kind.
Be interesting to see where this goes, though like games, the wider audience is unlikely to care much about how the sausage is made.
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Yeah, they are getting squeezed in an industry that is getting squeezed.
From ‘Black Panther’ to ‘Cats,’ the VFX industry is in trouble — here’s why (inverse.com)
Interesting tidbit – – recently heard an interview with a television engineer who watched movies on one of the new ultra high definition televisions that will likely be standard fairly soon. He said that movies like Blade Runner and 2001 looked better, but that most new movies with a lot of CGI looked worse. Which means that the level of rendering for effects might need to be ratchetted up even more putting more stress on the VFX companies.
I could see a cut made for theatrical release as the VFX are still being done for the video release, but with the tight time between theaters to home screens and the entire process is so tight anyway, it just means more VFX artists are going to be asked to do more in less time for half the price.
Personally, I am starting to see a more “practical” approach in the lower budgets and independent films, but I’m often amazed how often CGI is used in televisions shows. There was one scene from some new sitcom where the comic hero was just walking across a street and the entire thing was greenscreened and collaged together.
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There was one scene from some new sitcom where the comic hero was just walking across a street and the entire thing was greenscreened and collaged together.
Yeah this DVD feature for Ugly Betty a few years back showed how even the most mundane stuff, and almost everything you see, is green screen and CGI.
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Who are the best Marvel ’70s characters left to adapt to the MCU?
Machine Man is an interesting one. He’d be a good character to include in a Watcher series.
Also, Aaron Stack was great in Waren Ellis’ and Stuart Immonen’s NEXTWAVE.
In fact, Nextwave was kind of a throwback to the older Marvel comics, and it is kind of an unofficial “Squadron Supreme” version of The Authority.
“I took The Authority and I stripped out all the plots, logic, character and sanity. It’s an absolute distillation of the superhero genre. No plot lines, characters, emotions, nothing whatsoever. It’s people posing in the street for no good reason. It is people getting kicked, and then exploding. It is a pure comic book, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. And afterwards, they will explode”. – Warren Ellis
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Who are the best Marvel ’70s characters left to adapt to the MCU?
Not sure how they could incorporate KILLRAVEN into the current MCU timeline, but that WAR OF THE WORLDS series by Don McGregor and various artists in the 1970s could be a great standalone Marvel film. KillRaven himself was a bit of a one-dimensional hero, but the book was filled with great supporting characters like Old Skull and Carmilla Frost and M’Shulla, and the storyline was classis — a band of freedom fighters trying to overthrow their oppressive captors (aka the Martians).
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Not sure how they could incorporate KILLRAVEN into the current MCU timeline, but that WAR OF THE WORLDS series by Don McGregor and various artists in the 1970s could be a great standalone Marvel film. KillRaven himself was a bit of a one-dimensional hero, but the book was filled with great supporting characters like Old Skull and Carmilla Frost and M’Shulla, and the storyline was classis — a band of freedom fighters trying to overthrow their oppressive captors (aka the Martians).
Yeah, it was an interesting series.
Obviously, the X-Men and spin-offs (like Alpha Flight) dominated Marvel in the 70’s but Marvel has adapted a lot of the characters already including Man-Thing, Ghost Rider and we’ve even seen Howard the Duck. Tomb of Dracula could be the source of a lot of interesting stories as well. It is interesting that Dracula, Frankenstein (including Nazi clones of the monster) and even Godzilla have appeared in the Marvel Universe (though Godzilla was somewhat replaced by Fin Fang Foom which today sounds a bit culturally deaf like Fu Manchu).
As far as ideas that Marvel owns outside of the MCU, StrikeForce Morituri and Squadron Supreme could make entertaining series.
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Echo set photos of Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin:
https://www.instagram.com/p/ChC0Nl_gVPh/
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Echo set photos of Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin
“set photos of Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin”
“set photos of Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin”
“set photos of Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin”
“set photos of Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin”
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KINGPIN KINGPIN kingping kingping ingping ping ing ing
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and we’ve even seen Howard the Duck
We’re still missing a real comedy show in the Marvel TV roster. I could see a Taika Waititi Howard the Duck.
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We’re still missing a real comedy show in the Marvel TV roster. I could see a Taika Waititi Howard the Duck.
Howard the Duck showed up in the final Wakanda battle scene in ENDGAME, so we can assume he stuck around afterwards and is still on Earth somewhere.
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The actress playing She-Hulk said in an interview it is Marvel’s first sitcom. Maybe Howard will guest star.
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KINGPIN KINGPIN kingping kingping ingping ping ing ing
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Oscar winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter (Black Panther, Amistad, Malcolm X) has joined Marvel's upcoming "Blade" starring Mahershala Ali
— Will Mavity (@mavericksmovies) August 9, 2022
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The reviews are in on SHE-HULK:
https://mashable.com/article/she-hulk-attorney-at-law-review
https://www.indiewire.com/2022/08/she-hulk-review-1234752393/
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Yeah, the events of the Eternals pretty much destroyed every creation myth, religious doctrine and scientific theory about the origin of the Earth and yet the citizens of the MCU have continued to go about their daily lives without going crazy and kicking the shit out of one another. Hey ho.
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Yeah, the events of the Eternals pretty much destroyed every creation myth, religious doctrine and scientific theory about the origin of the Earth and yet the citizens of the MCU have continued to go about their daily lives without going crazy and kicking the shit out of one another. Hey ho.
True. I was thinking the other day that someone should at some point say, “A literal biblical apocalypse is going on all around us everywhere and no one is talking about it. Instead, they’re turning it into memes.”
Which, in a sense, is true about the way a lot of people feel about the real world today. It will be funny if all these people are fine with Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man, She-Hulk, Spider-Man and everything, but as soon as mutants come out into the open, they all lose their minds over it.
I mean, you get into an argument with a guy at the bar, you might worry if he has a gun on him. Now you got to worry if he can set you on fire with his mind or has poisonous stingers in his fingernails or some other crazy crap.
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you get into an argument with a guy at the bar, you might worry if he has a gun on him
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Which, in a sense, is true about the way a lot of people feel about the real world today. It will be funny if all these people are fine with Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man, She-Hulk, Spider-Man and everything, but as soon as mutants come out into the open, they all lose their minds over it.
There is a way to make some sense of that I think and that’s numbers and setting.
If you look at a different prejudice like racism or homophobia there has been the kind of person happy to see Sammy Davies Jr or Liberace on the TV but not a black family or gay couple move into their block.
The science heroes are fine but mutants not has always been a problematic concept but it does tend to work best in the comics when they take it down to that suburban level, that as you say some random kid has the power to kill you. It doesn’t work when you see them all battling Galactus in Time Square and there’s really no difference between them.
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Which, in a sense, is true about the way a lot of people feel about the real world today. It will be funny if all these people are fine with Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man, She-Hulk, Spider-Man and everything, but as soon as mutants come out into the open, they all lose their minds over it.
There is a way to make some sense of that I think and that’s numbers and setting.
If you look at a different prejudice like racism or homophobia there has been the kind of person happy to see Sammy Davies Jr or Liberace on the TV but not a black family or gay couple move into their block.
The science heroes are fine but mutants not has always been a problematic concept but it does tend to work best in the comics when they take it down to that suburban level, that as you say some random kid has the power to kill you. It doesn’t work when you see them all battling Galactus in Time Square and there’s really no difference between them.
There’s also a difference between someone who gets their powers from an experiment or an accident, and someone who’s born with them, and that their powers are as likely to be 4 extra mouths on their neck, or tentacle arms, and they’re not a superhero but just in school with your kids? Like you say, there are plenty of people who are fine with minorities on TV but not in their neighbourhood and that’s what mutants represent.
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There’s also a difference between someone who gets their powers from an experiment or an accident, and someone who’s born with them, and that their powers are as likely to be 4 extra mouths on their neck, or tentacle arms, and they’re not a superhero but just in school with your kids?
There was an early-2000s book called Muties which is almost entirely forgotten now but told some one-shot stories along these lines. It was a pretty good take on mutant kids in a more mundane day-to-day setting and the first issue (involving a school shooter) was really memorable for me.
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We remember Chadwick Boseman who left this Earth two years ago on this date
Gone but never forgotten! #RIPChadwickBoseman #WakandaForever pic.twitter.com/G6iFZCHrrq
— Geek Vibes Nation (@GeekVibesNation) August 28, 2022
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It takes a lot to get me excited about a new Disney+ Marvel series these days.
This might be enough.
Ben Kingsley to Reprise Trevor Slattery Role in Marvel Studios’ Wonder Man Series at Disney+
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‘Fantastic Four’: ‘WandaVision’ Director Matt Shakman in Talks to Helm
Hey, I had forgotten that all of WandaVision was directed by the same guy. That’s cool, hope he gets it (as I really liked the direction in WandaVision).
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Secret Invasion looks like it might be good… but yeah…
Also, not sure what that other thing is… but the girl looks like Jessic Jones… and I’m assuming she’s not her… =P
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Sooo they’re making a Thunderbolts movie… without Zemo… and without Hawkeye… and with 3 (4) people who use a shield for a weapon…
Mind you, it’s a pretty good team for a movie, but they should’ve just called it “Super Soldiers” ’cause that’s kinda what this is… I kinda hope they’ll at least give USAgent and Red Guardian their Shields… fuck it, give one too bucky too, they can change the name to Agents of SHIELDs.
Oh and PLEEEEASE change the look of Task Master… shit, change the character while we’re at it… but at the very least the look. That Red Guardian costume is pretty shitty too.
Soooo yeah, cool line-up, good that they’re finally using the name Thunderbolts for a movie, which I’ve been saying for decades they should… but REALLY weird there’s no Zemo and no Hawkeye considering they’re 2 of the remaining pre-endgame MCU actors/characters.
Lastly, I want to say “oh I hope this is more like CA: Winter Solider”, buuut I think we all know we’re waaay beyond that at this point… but hey, who knows, maybe this is the Russo bros comeback.
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Digital fan art of Bryce Dallas Howard as Jean Grey:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CiIScWQs8zr/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
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Apparently, there’s controversy because Sabra is gonna be in Captain America: New World Order.
People have to find some reason to be pissed at Marvel.
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This looks interesting:
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Apparently, there’s controversy because Sabra is gonna be in Captain America: New World Order.
People have to find some reason to be pissed at Marvel.
I thought maybe the “Ariel is black?!” outrage might be enough to gloss over other things for a while. But the internet does love to be angry.
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Yeah, that was not “heartbreaking”, she was being her usual passive-agressive self… but another great example of narrative spin…
How long will Brie Larson play Captain Marvel?
"I don't know. Does anyone want me to do it again?" https://t.co/lyxUEr5y6V pic.twitter.com/sz78oVWKBD
— Variety (@Variety) September 10, 2022
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Passive-aggressive is also spin. You could just read it as an honest answer: it’s not in her hands, it depends on Marvel.
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We’ve seen a lot of this kind of will-they-won’t-they thing from MCU actors in the past, particularly when contracts are being renegotiated/renewed. I suspect that might be at play here.
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Here's the first full look at M'Baku's new costume in #WakandaForever! Photos & details: https://t.co/yEhbMowc69 pic.twitter.com/ofljxOFa8H
— MCU – The Direct (@MCU_Direct) September 13, 2022
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My opinion is not “spin”, it’s just my opinion… an article spinning a narrative is spin. Why are we even debating this?
I don’t know, man, it seemed like you wanted to discuss Larson’s statement there.
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Marvel Studios Defends Controversial Captain America 4 Superhero Casting
For those unclear on why it could be controversial:
https://www.polygon.com/23351148/marvel-cinematic-universe-sabra-shira-haas
Even more obviously, and perhaps more troublingly, Sabra is a proud and unapologetic agent of Israel’s intelligence service, the Mossad — a role which casts her not only as a superhero for a sovereign state, but one who makes no bones about her support for political policies that are, at minimum, deeply and painfully divisive. That comes through loud and clear in her first appearance, during which she attacks the Hulk, presuming him, somewhat improbably, to be in league with a group of Arab terrorists. In the battle that follows, a young Palestinian boy is fatally caught in the crossfire — leading Sabra to reconsider, for the first time, the bullish, ethnic militarism around which she has built her superhero career.
Not that the lesson stuck: Indeed, later writers have, if anything, leaned even harder into ethnic and jingoistic elements of Sabra’s character. In a later Hulk story by longtime scribe Peter David, Sabra drags the title character into a long, unwinnable, and ultimately self-destructive battle that serves pointedly (if perhaps a little on-the-nose) as a metaphor for the entirety of Israeli and Palestinian history: “I’m not fighting a woman. I’m fighting the Zionist recruiting board,” thinks the Hulk.
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As for Brie Larson, tbh… I can’t name offhand which actress would be a good replacement if the role was recast.
I’ve seen the videos of Brie in the MCU interviews and press conferences. Not that Brie is a saint, but how much
of that is on her, and how much is on anti-women tweets from guys wanting to give it their own spin and control the
narrative? 50/50? 60/40?I mean, look at all the bovine excrement on all the MCU heroines… Like this tweet message here:
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Black Widow was very well-liked and popular (I rewatched Avengers not long ago and that opening interrogation scene is excellent, and she’s a pretty important part of the film throughout.)
Wandavision was also well-liked and popular – the only real complaints I’ve heard about Wanda are that the latest Dr Strange film took a bit of a broad brush approach to her character and did a bit of a disservice to her various complexities.
Everyone seems to agree that Ms Marvel is very likeable, the talk of being childish is more about the tone of the show I think.
Similarly with Jane Foster as Thor the criticism of the movie mainly has been the overly jokey and uneven tone.
Even with Captain Marvel and She-Hulk, I think the complaints are as much that the material is mediocre as they are about the characters/actors. I don’t think I’ve heard anyone say a bad word about Maslany, for example.
Really we have to be careful about accepting tweets like this as the truth, as they’re often trying to cherry-pick things to shape a narrative that doesn’t necessarily exist.
Like we said in that other thread, most of these kinds of complaints come from a very small minority of the audience, and I don’t think amplifying their voice and pretending they represent a mainstream viewpoint is very helpful.
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All of the MCU heroes can indeed be regarded as assholes, if one is inclined to see them as such.
Well, except for that one…
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Like we said in that other thread, most of these kinds of complaints come from a very small minority of the audience, and I don’t think amplifying their voice and pretending they represent a mainstream viewpoint is very helpful.
True – the people complaining about the people that complain are also a small minority as most people don’t care about that when it comes to pop culture. Often, I wonder if many people on either side of this exaggerated debate actually watches the material – movies or television shows.
My main problem with most of the Marvel shows is that they do not seem that ambitious. Someone pointed out that the Disney+ series feel like they were based on movie scripts that were not quite good enough for the big screen. It’s a little ironic for me as I feel like the Marvel movies lately feel more like they were based on a television show – like the Star Trek movies, for example. However, I’m sure that is a natural result of being based on decades of comics – another long running serial medium.
Marvel is kind of its own movie industry, and the shows are more like the B-movies of the Marvel universe. Again, a little ironic as I think Marvel Comics as we know them were actually based on taking B-movies and turning them into superhero comics. Spider-Man is kind of The Fly combined with Superboy. The Hulk is Jekyll and Hyde, Frankenstein’s monster and the Amazing Colossal Man then thrown up against other monsters and villains from various versions of King Kong to mad scientists from other monster and alien movies. The original Captain Mar-Vell was straight up Klaatu from THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL but with superpowers. Even the Kree Sentry from the first issue (originally a villain in FF) was basically Gort from the movie.
Same for later periods too. Tomb of Dracula and Werewolf by Night were influenced by the Hammer films that had become popular on Fright Night style shows the comics readers in the 70’s would have been watching. Luke Cage “Power Man” and Shang-Chi emerged from the popular blaxploitation and kung fu movie crazes. Even Dazzler was a result of 80’s pop, new disco and rock light shows. In fact, I was a bit surprised Dazzler didn’t see a resurgence during the height of the diva craze with acts like Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. Still, people probably would’ve thought she was a Jem and the Holograms rip off.
So, Marvel has never really been that ambitious in originality, but they were damn good at taking what was immediately popular in the culture and turning it into a Marvel product. These comics were not really riding on nostalgia when they were published. They were trying to stay current. Same for the really hot period before Marvel even started making movies. The Ultimates, Authority, New X-Men, etc, were looking at the movies and television shows that were hot and then applying that to the comics they were publishing.
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My main problem with most of the Marvel shows is that they do not seem that ambitious. Someone pointed out that the Disney+ series feel like they were based on movie scripts that were not quite good enough for the big screen. It’s a little ironic for me as I feel like the Marvel movies lately feel more like they were based on a television show – like the Star Trek movies, for example. However, I’m sure that is a natural result of being based on decades of comics – another long running serial medium.
Yeah, I feel like the Disney+ TV shows, combined with the quick availability of the movies just a couple of months after release, has taken away from the movie side a bit by making it all just feel like part of the same mass of MCU Product.
And I do think the MCU TV shows have often felt like watered- down movies. Not so much Wandavision, which (although it turned out a bit underwhelming for me) was clearly designed for the TV format; but stuff like FAWS or Hawkeye or Moon Knight has a very strong feeling of being a movie script with a couple of extra hours of nothingy padding stuck in the middle.
I think Disney+ especially has played a big role in the sense of it being a conveyor belt of samey, middling quality stuff over the last couple of years.
With the exception of No Way Home, which for me was the last great MCU movie.
Although hopefully not the last great MCU movie.
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We have all heard of the review bombing
I analysed the review bombing earlier because Rotten Tomatoes started adding review numbers. Those numbers are really low. For a typical big TV release there are 5000 reviews versus 25m legal viewers. It’s sound to noise ratio on a level we’ve never seen before.
There’s no doubt racist or misogynistic views are driving a proportion of this but Dave is spot on we have to careful not to feed the beast. The temptation is always to fight the beast, that we can slay it with retweets and online petitions but we need to take a step back sometimes. That every time I reply to Johann15600009 on Twitter with 8 followers all I do is amplify his view. I’d turn the reach of that post from 8 to 158. The next person turns it to 1058.
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Admittedly there’s an active effort on all sides to make the argument louder – on one side to attack the firms making the content, and on the other to allow the firms who make the content to better position themselves as valiantly defending against these attacks – but even so, it’s easily ignored if you choose to.
I choose to; life is too short to waste on self-absorbed asshats.
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Yeah but it’s all just noise isn’t it.
The thing is how the noise is amplified for profit – Twitter thrives on engagement, and to drive that it’ll put stuff that makes you angry on your timeline – usually culture war bullshit. Similarly the 24-hour news cycle is increasingly driven by sensationalism, and you’ll frequently see Fox News and other channels breathlessly reporting on whatever has been decreed to be “woke nonsense” this week. That screenshotted tweet is genuine because that person likely sees a ton of that opinion across their social media feeds, much of it from actual misogynists. And it becomes harder and harder to ignore and starts to drive more towards real-world consequences, like the bomb threats against children’s hospitals in the US due to the anti-trans moral panic – which partially began with people getting angry about LGBT representation in pop culture.
Now, as you note this is all largely manufactured and doesn’t reflect reality – like “everybody knew” that Star Trek Discovery and Picard were shit and unpopular, even though when DISCO was on Netflix and they started doing a top ten it was in there every week, same with Picard on Amazon Prime, while Lower Decks – which gets far more favourable commentary from fans hasn’t been in Amazon’s top 10 at all for the UK/Ireland this year. And despite the evidence that seems to back up this sort of stuff, social media chatter still seems to drive decision-making by executives in these companies, like the Morbius re-release. You’d think that Snakes on a Plane would have been enough to convince them that maybe social media isn’t to be trusted (and I say this as someone who went to see Snakes in the cinema and enjoyed it)
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Ancient internet wisdom say: Do not feed the trolls.
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Ancient internet wisdom say: Do not feed the trolls.
OK, but have you considered that feeding the trolls makes for a good return on investment for our shareholders?
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Ancient internet wisdom say: Do not feed the trolls.
OK, but have you considered that feeding the trolls makes for a good return on investment for our shareholders?
So what you’re saying is capitalism is to blame?
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Ancient internet wisdom say: Do not feed the trolls.
OK, but have you considered that feeding the trolls makes for a good return on investment for our shareholders?
So what you’re saying is capitalism is to blame?
Or is capitalism what we have to thank for being able to watch The Eternals at home on opening night on a tablet while sitting on the toilet, as intended?
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Ancient internet wisdom say: Do not feed the trolls.
OK, but have you considered that feeding the trolls makes for a good return on investment for our shareholders?
So what you’re saying is capitalism is to blame?
I’m not explicitly saying it, but you know, if the shoe fits we should expropriate it and return it to the people.
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Or is capitalism what we have to thank for being able to watch The Eternals at home on opening night on a tablet while sitting on the toilet, as intended?
Yes…. “thank”
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Ancient internet wisdom say: Do not feed the trolls.
OK, but have you considered that feeding the trolls makes for a good return on investment for our shareholders?
So what you’re saying is capitalism is to blame?
I’m not explicitly saying it, but you know, if the shoe fits we should expropriate it and return it to the people.
Follow up question: So we should burn everything to the ground?
PleasesayyesPleasesayyesPleasesayyesPleasesayyes
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Ancient internet wisdom say: Do not feed the trolls.
OK, but have you considered that feeding the trolls makes for a good return on investment for our shareholders?
So what you’re saying is capitalism is to blame?
I’m not explicitly saying it, but you know, if the shoe fits we should expropriate it and return it to the people.
Follow up question: So we should burn everything to the ground?
PleasesayyesPleasesayyesPleasesayyesPleasesayyes
2 users thanked author for this post.
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Ancient internet wisdom say: Do not feed the trolls.
OK, but have you considered that feeding the trolls makes for a good return on investment for our shareholders?
So what you’re saying is capitalism is to blame?
I’m not explicitly saying it, but you know, if the shoe fits we should expropriate it and return it to the people.
Follow up question: So we should burn everything to the ground?
PleasesayyesPleasesayyesPleasesayyesPleasesayyes
The American Way is not to burn down the local, American area but to instead find a foreign country and set fire to it instead.
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I’ve been thinking lately about how the MCU is following the regular pattern of the comics.
You have the established characters have adventures for awhile (Phases 1-3) then have a big crossover event that establishes a new status quo and kills character(s) and/or removes some from the board (Infinity War/Endgame). You then have characters take on new roles and explore the new state of things. This era will end in a major crossover that resets the status quo again (Phase 4-6).
The big difference between the comics and the MCU is that in the comics, dead and inactive characters come back to resume their original roles while their replacements do the same. This will be problematic in the MCU as you are dealing with real people who age. Phase 6 wraps up in 2025. Even if they somehow got RDJ back, he’d be 60 at that point. But really at that point outside of a cameo, it would be realistic to say Iron Man as we have known him is not coming back. Maybe we get a multiversal variant played by a younger actor. Whether they are accepted would remain to be seen.
The aging conundrum is real. Their choices are to dig into the depths of the Marvel catalog for new characters or recast. They have been doing both. I think the Fantastic Four and the X-Men will give the MCU some extra life but even that has its limits. It may be that by the 2030s, they will have to reboot the entire franchise. They also have to factor in how to attract and engage a new generation of viewers while keeping the original fans coming back for more.
It will be interesting to see how it all unfolds.
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Then there is the whole continuity issue. They have had some glitches the longer it goes on and having so many movies and TV series to track, the more it becomes an unwieldy monster that drives the process.
It’s easier to wave away continuity issues in comics with retcons and flat out ignoring stories. The MCU simply doesn’t have the volume of stories that the comics do that allows storytellers to play fast and loose with continuity. As a matter of fact, having continuity that crosses projects and media is the big selling point. “Everything’s connected and everything matters!” We have already seen where having everything tie together to tell these big continuing stories will often require sacrificing character development and good storytelling in the service of the great story arc. Movies and television series become simply chapters whose main function is to move characters and story from one point in the over arc to another. Everything has to tie together to serve the Great Continuity.
Continuity in comics at the Big Two is already a mind-numbing mess that never gets better. I look at the Ultimate line at Marvel. It was supposed to be an easy entry point but eventually, it became a headache. With more movies and series coming, the MCU is becoming a continuity headache.
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It is striking that there really hasn’t been such a large juggernaut quite like it. Star Wars and Star Trek are the only comparable franchises but they are entire separate universes. To go from the tight confines of Iron Man to the cosmic Endgame is a massive transformation. Absurd even.
There really is no previous blueprint to follow at this point. They kinda need to pare down rather than expand so they can restart and tell a new story with a driving central momentum to carry the films along.
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The aging conundrum is real. Their choices are to dig into the depths of the Marvel catalog for new characters or recast.
At the moment with things like Captain America and Ironheart the solution seems to be legacy. Before we forget that worked pretty well for DC in the comics for a couple of decades, a few of us here would have grown up never reading Barry Allen or Hal Jordan as the leads in those comics.
My feeling is we’re a long way off looking at reboot as a solution, Feige is looking at legacy characters and the wider catalogue, but it probably will eventually happen. It’s interesting in a way how the movies reflect the comics in that Marvel have always been reluctant to reboot and DC do it regularly. So since 2008 we’ve had one actor play Tony Stark and three play Bruce Wayne.
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The MCU already has established the idea of passing the mantle from one individual to the next. Scott Lang was not the first Ant-Man, nor Hope Pym the first Wasp, since Henry and Janet Pym were there first; “Black Panther” is a legacy title passed from leader to leader in Wakanda; the US government tried to make John Walker the next Captain America, and so on. Even the membership of the Avengers changed at the end of AGE OF ULTRON.
Rather than reboot the franchise with new, younger versions of the same characters, I would prefer to let the originals step back and make way for a new breed of superheroes, whether or not they take on the codenames of the heroes they “replace”. It would be wonderful to see an aging Bruce Banner give advice and support to the new Hulkling, or Clint Barton being a mentor to Kate Bishop as she leads the New Avengers.
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Apparently, there’s controversy because Sabra is gonna be in Captain America: New World Order.
People should wait to see what they do with the character. I doubt the movie will uncritically praise all of Israel’s policies.
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Apparently, there’s controversy because Sabra is gonna be in Captain America: New World Order.
People should wait to see what they do with the character. I doubt the movie will uncritically praise all of Israel’s policies.
“But I don’t want to wait till I have all the facts. I want to rage NOW!!!“
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