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Welcome to the main discussion thread for the Marvel Cinematic Universe! I'm editing this OP and pinning it to establish some basic guidelines. All of the Media Forum rules still apply.

  • This thread is for talking about the live-action films, TV shows, animated works, and related content that use the Marvel brand, currently owned by Disney.
  • While mild digressions are okay, discussion of the comic books should go in this thread. Extended digressions may be thumped as off-topic.
  • Spoilers for new releases should not be discussed for at least two weeks. Rather, each title should have a dedicated thread where that sort of conversation is held. We can mention new releases in a general sense, but please be courteous to people who don't want to be spoiled.

[Edited by Fighteer]

    Original post 
Since Thor and now Captain America came out this year, I wanted to get what Tropers thought of the concept and execution of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general. Personally I love the idea and wonder why this idea hasn't been seriously tried before. It sorta seems to me like the DCAU in movie form (And well, ummm, with Marvel), and really 'gets' the comic book feel of a shared universe while not being completely alienating.

Edited by Fighteer on Dec 15th 2022 at 9:55:58 AM

Beatman1 Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Gone fishin'
#119101: Jul 14th 2020 at 12:05:13 PM

[up]Most of my reaction to how the US reacted to COVID is best suited to another forum given how off topic and profane it would be, but given everything, it is assuredly getting delayed.

Edited by Beatman1 on Jul 14th 2020 at 3:05:21 PM

RavenWilder Raven Wilder Since: Apr, 2009
Raven Wilder
#119102: Jul 14th 2020 at 12:18:31 PM

Re: power levels:

Sure, the plot can justify any character beating any other character, but how strong those characters are respective to each other affects what justifications you can use.

Like, Tony was able to beat Thanos, but that's because they set up a scenario where Tony was able to steal all the Infinity Stones and use them himself. That makes sense. Had Tony, without the Stones or even any Iron Man armor, punched Thanos to death with his bare hands, that'd be far less believable.

A normal human can give Spider-Man trouble ... if they bring the proper equipment and keep it a semi-long range fight. Once it becomes a fist fight, though, there's no reason that Spider-Man shouldn't be able to take down any ordinary human with one punch, and there's no reason said ordinary human should be able to dodge that punch.

Edited by RavenWilder on Jul 14th 2020 at 12:19:13 PM

"It takes an idiot to do cool things, that's why it's cool" - Haruhara Haruko
Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#119104: Jul 14th 2020 at 12:46:06 PM

QED.

Batgod is really an old meme that needs to die soon.

Batman as the know-it-all master of everything really goes against the very concept of the character and what makes him interesting, imO.

It's especially weird to see him doing so many things on a global scale in team books, while in his solo book, he still struggles with street crime.

Sorry for the DC off-topic grin

Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
C105 Too old for this from France Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
Too old for this
#119105: Jul 14th 2020 at 1:30:37 PM

Which goes to show that in comics basically any character can beat any other character if the story requires it. Makes for some maddeningly stupid defeats, but that's stories for you. At least the MCU has been moderately consistent so far in that regard.

And I too find Batman is often overpowered in comics because he's Batman. That's at least one thing Dawn of Justice did right: when facing a superpowered monster, Batman runs.

Edited by C105 on Jul 14th 2020 at 10:30:54 AM

Whatever your favourite work is, there is a Vocal Minority that considers it the Worst. Whatever. Ever!.
JoLuRo075 Since: Jan, 2019
#119106: Jul 14th 2020 at 1:32:52 PM

In the comics, Batman would surely have given Doomsday and Steppenwolf a fight.

Ultimatum Disasturbator from Second Star to the left (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Disasturbator
HandsomeRob Leader of the Holey Brotherhood from The land of broken records Since: Jan, 2015
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
#119108: Jul 14th 2020 at 6:38:33 PM

[up]

To be fair, he got pretty lucky there.

And to be fair on that Batman vs Hulk comic, it very much predates Batgod. Hulk might have also been far weaker back then.

One Strip! One Strip!
Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#119109: Jul 14th 2020 at 6:50:51 PM

There’s a lot of asspulls that take Hulk out of fights so he doesn’t just win everything

Hawkeye once accidentally turned him back to Bruce Banner with a sonic arrow which the narration explicitly said was a once in a lifetime fluke

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Blueace Surrounded by weirdoes from The End Of the World Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Surrounded by weirdoes
#119110: Jul 14th 2020 at 7:03:32 PM

Remember that one time in EMH he got him to transform by making him laugh really hard?

Edited by Blueace on Jul 14th 2020 at 10:05:18 AM

Wake me up at your own risk.
Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#119111: Jul 14th 2020 at 7:05:45 PM

Fondly

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#119112: Jul 14th 2020 at 7:25:39 PM

Hulk (in the comics at least) really is just a big kid at heart. In the recent Immortal Hulk run, the Green Scar Hulk described Savage Hulk as the "the childhood he (Banner) got."

Disgusted, but not surprised
PushoverMediaCritic I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out. from the Italy of America (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
#119113: Jul 14th 2020 at 7:36:30 PM

Which makes that time Starfox tried to de-Hulk him by stimulating the pleasure sensors in his brain to make him orgasm even creepier.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#119114: Jul 14th 2020 at 7:43:24 PM

Starfox is a creepy, creepy character.

Disgusted, but not surprised
MileRun Since: Jan, 2001
#119115: Jul 14th 2020 at 7:53:49 PM

Can't let you do that, Starfox.

slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: Aug, 2015
The Head of the Hydra
#119116: Jul 14th 2020 at 8:03:23 PM

You can’t expect good things from a bunch of furries after all. tongue

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
HandsomeRob Leader of the Holey Brotherhood from The land of broken records Since: Jan, 2015
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
#119117: Jul 14th 2020 at 9:03:53 PM

Don't worry. Gamora stabbed him a while back in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Oh Starfox. Proving you don't have to be evil to be hated. You just need to have EXACTLY the wrong super power.

One Strip! One Strip!
KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#119118: Jul 14th 2020 at 11:14:50 PM

Hawkeye once accidentally turned him back to Bruce Banner with a sonic arrow which the narration explicitly said was a once in a lifetime fluke

Hawkeye also once beat a guy with the power to destroy the universe with TNT.

"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#119119: Jul 14th 2020 at 11:19:04 PM

One Cracked article listed Starfox as one of the creepiest characters in comics of all time.

Eros' superpower, besides achieving a preternatural douchebag look that is envied by Lacoste-shirt-wearing, collar-popping frat boys all over the world, is the ability to stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain. Yes, his name is Eros, and he gives you pleasure. That's the kind of things you only read on a male prostitute's business card.

It also included the Starfox vs. Hulk "fight" in their Most Hilariously Mismatched Fights in comics of all time article.

Luckily Hulk just punches the idiot, and when you have to count being punched by the Hulk as a 'lucky' result, then you may have just enacted the worst idea since, well, the guy who sat down and created Starfox in the first place.

Edited by M84 on Jul 15th 2020 at 2:22:02 AM

Disgusted, but not surprised
windleopard from Nigeria Since: Nov, 2014 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
#119120: Jul 14th 2020 at 11:22:35 PM

I didn't think much of Starfox initially, but Jessica Jones has mistly convinced me that no heroic character with mind control powers can truly work. That power is too common among villains for a reason.

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#119121: Jul 14th 2020 at 11:24:54 PM

You're going to make Hitoshi Shinso cry

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: Aug, 2015
The Head of the Hydra
#119122: Jul 14th 2020 at 11:26:03 PM

My Hero Academia does have a character who’s trying to be a hero (as [up] says, Shinso) with control powers who has to suffer issues with the perception that people assumed he will naturally turn into a villain because of said power.

Helps that the ability has very specific activation & can be easily shook off.

Edited by slimcoder on Jul 14th 2020 at 11:30:15 AM

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#119123: Jul 14th 2020 at 11:28:28 PM

It's one of those powers that can only really work for heroes if their version is very limited. And even then, it's gonna be questionable. Just look at all the debates about whether the Jedi Mind Trick is ethical.

In general, heroic characters with Psychic Powers including mind control are very aware of the ethical problems with mind control and for the most part refrain from ever using it. Martian Manhunter is a prime example. He has self-imposed limitations on his psychic powers akin to the self-imposed limitations his fellow superhero Superman places on his powers.

Edited by M84 on Jul 15th 2020 at 2:32:02 AM

Disgusted, but not surprised
KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#119124: Jul 14th 2020 at 11:30:54 PM

Marvel at least has Persuasion, who - from what I know of her - tends to consistently be pretty heroic, beyond the occasional writer going "she's related to Purple Man, she has to be eeeeevil!" that other writers then later ignore.

"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.
Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#119125: Jul 14th 2020 at 11:33:23 PM

I’m all for giving Starfox shit as long as we can acknowledge that all mutant psychics are just the worst

Forever liveblogging the Avengers

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