Marvel Cinematic Universe

It would be pretty lousy.

Also of all the super powered heroes, it would invoke Black Guy Dies First hence the Unfortunate Implications.

Yeah if he had to die I'd especially rather it not be taking a bullet for Cap.

That gif set has one interesting fact, Chris Hemsworth is flying down in the second one, meaning he can fly in reality!

I always find it kinda depressing that the Iron Man suit is always completely CGI.

In the past they at least had RDJ or Don Cheadle on set and wearing CGI markers while they did stunts. [1]◊

I'm guessing RDJ's injuries while doing his own stunts in Iron Man 3 put a stop to it. He finished shooting AOU WAY before the other actors, which would indicate most of the Iron Man scenes are entirely CGI or done with generic stuntmen/stand-ins.

Honestly, what worries me the most is that Rhodey's death in this movie would explain a great deal, such as Tony's rather dower disposition in the trailers, as well as his advertised stance in Civil War.

Of course, Ultron himself could probably cause this on his own, but if Rhodey died...I do think it would serve as an effective symbol for Tony's failure with Ultron. Not to mention how there are no plans for another Iron Man movie, so there's really nothing that they need him for...

...I'm starting to dread this movie a little.

edited 6th Mar '15 9:39:34 PM by KarkatTheDalek

Again, just to reiterate this here, Whedon has never said he's killing anyone off and has in fact suggested the opposite, that in a shared universe getting the okay to kill someone is going to be a much harder thing to accomplish.

edited 6th Mar '15 10:06:11 PM by comicwriter

I honestly won't mind Rhodey dying...for one, his character is pretty boring, and two, it might give Tony a believable push to go all fanatic in Civil War. The other "logical" candidate is Nick Fury, now that SHIELD is gone, but I somehow doubt that Marvel would let go of the actor who as apparently so much fun in his role and is ready to turn up in their TV shows that easily.

Our newest Avenger joins the fray!◊

Lol, stuff like that reminds me of the first scenes of Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

That actually looks pretty good.

It really does.

Anyway, as for Whedon not being allowed to kill off characters...that article seemed mostly to be talking about actual members the Avengers. I'm not sure if War Machine counts as one of them. Besides, is Rhodey really a character that they're likely to make a movie out of?

You don't actually have to kill off someone to make a good film. For instance, you could kill off Iron Man, or Cap in Avengers 2, or you could leave them being enemies in Civil War. Which is really more resonant?

I agree...the importance in a good story is that the actions of the characters have consequences. The more far reaching, the better. Death is only one possible consequence, and imho, the most boring one.

Cool story. I'm sick of Black Dude Dies First and the MCU of all places is not a franchise where I feel it needs to be happening. Particularly if it's to motivate his white buddy.

Looks good.

edited 7th Mar '15 8:07:46 AM by comicwriter

Coulson died first. He came back, yeah, but the fact remains, he died first.

I'm sick of people throwing around the Black Dude Dies First trope like it means that a black character can never die just because they're black. Also the use of the phrase "cool story" whenever someone presents a dissenting opinion, it's condescending and dismissive.

edited 7th Mar '15 8:10:45 AM by Khfan429

And I'm sick of black characters getting thrown under the bus to motivate the white protagonists.

Oh I'd be fine if he almost immediately came back like Coulson did.

edited 7th Mar '15 8:13:22 AM by comicwriter

It's happened once in the MCU, applied specifically to a black guy. But it's not uncommon for supporting characters to die for the sake of motivating the protagonist. And that's what Rhodey ultimately is, a supporting character. Should he be granted special immunity because he also happens to be a black guy?

edited 7th Mar '15 8:16:07 AM by Khfan429

Yes, because equality can't be achieved if "treating a member of a minority group just like everyone else" can be read as "being equally willing to kill of one of the half-dozen black guys as you as you are to kill one of the two-dozen white guys."

And it happens in films in general quite a bit, hence the trope. The MCU doesn't exist in a vacuum.

In a franchise that's as bad with diversity as the MCU has historically been? With the Avengers in particular being a big offender? And that just pulled the same trope in AOS? No, I absolutely do not believe they need to be killing off one of their few non-white superheroes in this film.

EDIT: 'ed

edited 7th Mar '15 8:22:06 AM by comicwriter

This, basically◊.

There are so few non-white characters in the MCU that this fact does deserve special consideration when a writer starts going, "Well, I need to kill someone." White people in the MCU are more expendable than non-whites because there is a surplus of them.

For me this is not a question of skin colour but a question of what the character brings to the table. In case of Ao S I felt that it was an odd decision which hopefully was motivated by the actor having other obligations, because from a story-telling point of view, there was still a lot left to explore with this particular character (and a part of me still expects him to pop up again). But if someone would ask me which characters are the ones I would kill off, my answer would be Rhodey and Nick Fury, and that they happen to be black has no bearing whatsoever to it. Rhodey I would pick because it is a character who never came "into it's own". He adds nothing to the MCU another character can't provide - in fact, he is the male equivalent to an underwritten love interest. His only role is to be Tony Starks best friend, and after the first movie, they never really explored his character further. He is just there to either nag or to provide back-up. Everyone complains about Hawkeye being boring, but in Hawkeye I see at least a lot of potential. But Rhodey? We already have fighting suits and soldiers in the MCU. He is the most expendable of all the Superheroes.

Nick Fury on the other hand is a great character, and it might be fun to see him popping up unexpectedly again and again. But then, wouldn't it be neater to give the character a heroic last stand in order to bow out of the MCU in a truly badass way?

Skin color can't be divorced from the equation. At the end of the day you're still arguing for the two black guys to die even if you claim it's just a coincidence that they're both black while the white people get to live.

edited 7th Mar '15 8:36:40 AM by comicwriter

Maybe because it is a coincidence? An unfortunate one, but still a coincidence. And it's not the two black guys, Falcon's still around, as is Heimdall, and with Black Panther just on the horizon to make his debut it's not like the MCU snaps back to being all-white.

edited 7th Mar '15 8:39:18 AM by Khfan429

Race issues are not always the result of intentional malice so "It's unfortunate but it's not intentional!" means nothing. As someone put it a few posts up even if killing them isn't racially motivated you still need to take into consideration the small number of characters (especially heroes) of color vs. the gazillion white characters.

And whoo. A grand total of three.

edited 7th Mar '15 8:41:02 AM by comicwriter