Welcome to the main discussion thread for the Marvel Cinematic Universe! This pinned post is here 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 without spoiler tagging 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.
If you're posting tagged spoilers, make sure that the film or series is clearly identified outside the spoiler tagging. People need to know what will be spoiled before they choose to read the post.
Edited by Mrph1 on Jul 29th 2024 at 3:09:00 PM
Random thought of the day: among the MCU Avengers, who is the best and worst at playing poker?
Of the founding members, I imagine Tony, Natasha and Clint are probably the most experienced. Tony gambles wildly and doesn't win often, but when he does it's very flashy. The other two are just very good at mind games.
Steve probably has some experience, but isn't good at bluffing. He probably hates playing with Tony, though, considering that the latter plays so wildly that he can't really come up with a good game plan.
Thor pre-Endgame timeskip probably didn't even know how to play and wasn't that interested. Post he would probably like it but be a terrible loser and frequently the first eliminated.
Bruce, at least pre-Endgame, probably abstains from it. Post, I don't know if he'd be all that interested but he probably plays it to have fun and hang out more than anything.
I feel like out of all the members up to Endgame, Rhodey and Nebula would be the best at poker because they have the best poker faces. What I'd be more interested in would be a poker game between the Guardians because you know there'd be a lot of cheater bullshit going on there.
The legend has returned.Most of them wouldn't even know how to play poker.
![]()
![]()
![]()
It should be noted that Bucky is no longer as effective as he was as the Winter Soldier because he lost the single-minded drive to kill and complete the mission.
He's a man now, not a living weapon and that comes with lessened effectiveness.
Edited by slimcoder on Mar 13th 2021 at 12:24:41 PM
"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."From the more extended roster I feel:
- Scott and Strange are probably pretty good at it. Scott is a career conman of sorts (by way of burglary) and a misdirection artist, so he's probably very good at bluffing and misdirection while in a Obfuscating Stupidity fashion.
- Strange just has Nerves of Steel from his career as a brain surgeon and his perpetually trembling hands also oughta throw everybody off (hard to read his movements because his hands are shaking regardless).
- Scott and Strange are also the ones who'd have an easier time cheating (Scott with regular misdirection and sleight of hand, Strange with conjuration).
- T'challa is a brilliant player but he freezes as a tell.
Between the Guardians:
- Drax is terrible and keeps saying out loud the cards he's holding because he can't quite grasp the logistics of the game (over his tendency for Brutal Honesty).
- Gamora (RIP) has probably very instincts for it but has little patience for it and gets bored/angry fast.
- Quill loves it and is decent but his self-confidence can show and be a tell. Basically Stark's poker counterpart.
- Rocket cheats his ass off every time and will vehemently deny even if he's caught red-handed. Has never even tried to play fair.
- Groot doesn't really care about poker.
Between the Avengers? Few hours. Guardians? Five minutes.
Also:
- Nebula's good but is driven to murderous rage at the slightest incovenience.
- Mantis has been banned of the game because of her empathetic abilities so she mostly fetches snacks for everybody and watches the action enthused.
For some other Avengers I forgot about:
- Wanda has been banned as well due similar issue as Mantis (in her case telepathic abilities and illusion crafting) so they mostly eat snacks together and watch the game.
- Vision knows all the poker strategies and can in theory play well except he's absolutely dogshit at bluffing.
Thor finally wins a poker game... at Loki’s expense
He’s thrilled!
Forever liveblogging the AvengersI'd see Hope and Pepper to be rather decent at the game (Pepper is after all a quite successful businesswoman and Hope managed to work undercover for some time).
Fury would probably also be quite good, on par with Natasha and Clint.
And for some reason I imagine Carol to be the sort of player who goes all-in after a couple of deals.
It occurs to me that if they got Bruce to be interested in the game he would probably be very hard to read (even if not very good). A guy who has spent so much time keeping his emotions in check should have no problem keeping a poker face.
Edited by C105 on Mar 13th 2021 at 9:41:25 PM
Whatever your favourite work is, there is a Vocal Minority that considers it the Worst. Whatever. Ever!.This of course opens another whole can of worms.
MCU villain poker.
- Obadiah Stane is an old pro. Knows the ins and outs of every hand and probably won a bunch of poker championships when he was a young lad (alongside, one presumes, bowling). You're damned if you play against him.
- General Ross is decent but tries to cheat badly whenever he's losing and claims the US government authorized him.
- Loki is excellent, but tends to repeat the same tricks so he is more of a "smash-grab" player who breaks down after multiple hours/gamess.
- Alexander Pierce is god-tier, can lie and play like nobody's business. Stane's only rival at the villain table.
- Ego the Living Planet goes on and on about himself and just makes the game boring as shit for everyone else.
- Killmonger's too hot-headed for it, flips the table whenever he starts to lose. Gives soem killer speeches though.
- Thanos can read most like a book but he insists on everybody halving their chips and playing with a halved deck for perfect balance. Nobody likes him.
![]()
Bonus:
- Hela: Tries to kill everyone else as soon as she loses or is even close to doing so. Would probably end banned for life before a game night was even finished.
- Klaue: Average skill, makes a lot of snide and snarky comments while playing.
- Ghost: Pretty damn good, at times beats Stane and Pierce.
- Mysterio: Is always, always cheating with illusions.
- WandaVision spoiler: Agatha: Plays everyone else for fools and magically makes people lose.
Edited by VengefulBale on Mar 13th 2021 at 2:50:00 PM
Prettiest Meta Knight Gijinka, nglAlso, I think Sam would probably be decent at it, but I don't how often he would win. Bucky, though, I see one of two ways: either he's not that interested in and prefers just to hang out, or he's very good at bluffing/has a good poker face but tends to choke in the late game from second-guessing himself.
Rocket always asks Bucky to bet his arm so Bucky avoids playing when he's involved.
"All you Fascists bound to lose."Zemo would get the other players to take each other out by tricking them into thinking someone else is the bigger threat.
If that's even possible in poker.
One Strip! One Strip!"I raise."
"With what, Helmut?"
"Mission report, December 16, 1991."
"All you Fascists bound to lose."

All I hope is that the writers remember that Bucky is a powerful super soldier, who can easily beat Black Widow in a physical fight and match Captain America at times. So they should not make him a victim of The Worf Effect.