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
It seems like Fury is working with SWORD and is in space though.
It doesn't seem like SHIELD is a thing anymore anyway.
Edited by Cortez on Apr 19th 2021 at 5:19:36 AM
Random thought, but with the X-Men being introduced to the MCU, I had an idea on how SWORD (which, coincidentally was introduced in the X-books) might have potentially been introduced as the MCU version of Weapon X.
Think about it. SHIELD's purpose is to defend the Earth against super-threats, which is reflected in its name — a shield's purpose is to protect. SWORD in the comics has a similar purpose, but its name suggests otherwise — a sword is a weapon, its purpose is to attack. Jonathan Hickman also made a Retcon that SHIELD originated as one of two organizations, the Brotherhoods of the Shield and the Spear — again, one to protect and one to attack. And while SHIELD is all about protecting Earth from superhumans, Weapon X is all about... well, weaponizing them.
Of course, that isn't the direction the MCU is actually heading, but it's fun for me to think about What Might Have Been.
Trope Editor (he/him)![]()
I never said it was SHIELD. What I said was that it's probably wrapped up in whatever the Avengers' organization is now.
The very first other option that could come to mind with Fury in space is that he's doing something with the Skrulls, which is possible given Talos' presence in Far From Home and the fact that Secret Wars, which is why I'm not immediately jumping onto the idea that what we saw was the MCU equivalent of The Peak (S.W.O.R.D headquarters).
Speaking of Talos, it occurs that one of Talos' lines in Far From Home was "everyone is asking where the Avengers are," which gave off the impression that the Avengers hadn't been seen for a long time - maybe even since Endgame. But the tv shows are confirming that at least a couple Avengers are still on Earth, or at least were two months before Endgame. I wonder if Bucky and Sam know what's going on, and are just keeping the secret from the public at the moment.
Edited by KnownUnknown on Apr 19th 2021 at 2:20:53 AM
Fury faked his death so I assume he’s basically doing whatever he wants
Forever liveblogging the AvengersI'm pretty curious about two moments in the teaser.
First, that scene where Mandarin and young Shang Chi are in a restaurant (?) and Mandarin unleashes his powers. I'm making an assumption here, but it kind of gives me the sense of a mobster sending a message to someone who hasn't paid their protection money in regular installments.
By the way, interesting that the Mandarin wears both modern business attire and "Asiatic warlord gear" at various points.
Also, I'm interested in the scene of young Shang Chi being trained in fighting and having a knife to someone's throat. I can't tell if that's the Mandaring himself or someone else that he's practicing with. If the latter, I wonder if it's one of those things (cf. the Red Room) that ends with Children Forced to Kill.
Speaking of the latter, the page for the movie really needs a Training from Hell entry, because it's abundantly clear that Shang Chi's martial arts training involved that.
Edited by Hodor2 on Apr 19th 2021 at 5:09:40 AM
That makes sense. I know there are some issues with basing tropes on what is scene in a trailer. And I'm not quite sure how I'd approach writing the example. But what with the beatings and punching a tree, the Training from Hell seems pretty straightforward.
Apparently Zach Cherry
is in the Shang-Chi bus scene after previously being the "Do a flip" guy in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Ultimate Fantastic Four played with the idea that the Skrulls were peaceful and that the Chitauri were merely an extremist faction that wanted to conquer the galaxy. This turned out to be a complete lie, but it's possible the MCU will do something similar where it turns out that the Skrulls from Captain Marvel are good but there are still extremist factions within the species.
Perhaps the Skrull antagonists will be Kree Quislings rather than an extremist faction in the typical sense.
Alternatively, they might just be Kree who have managed to replicate Skrull physiology enough to do it themselves with some clever gene editing.
Though I generally think the most likely scenario will be a splinter group that Talos will be not happy to see still around.
Secret Invasion being billed as a three-way war between the Skrulls we know, ultra-revanchist extremist Skrulls and collaborator Skrulls selling out to the Kree would make for a suitably dramatic espionage show. Three different factions composed of shapeshifters going at it. Truly espionage taken to the next level.
"All you Fascists bound to lose."Emilia Clarke would be a great choice for Jessica Drew.
Regarding the Skrulls, not all people are good, so it makes sense that not all Skrulls are either. And in the real world, extremists within good causes/victimized groups are a real thing. I think the issue with the Skrulls in the comics is that they are too frequently presented as Always Chaotic Evil.
Oh, regarding Shang Chi, I hope that The Stinger is Scott and Jimmy inviting him to join the West Coast Avengers. Scott will naturally be wearing an eyepatch and a longcoat.
Edited by Hodor2 on Apr 20th 2021 at 3:13:05 AM
Well, at least it wouldn't be the Great Lakes Avengers.
'Cause that would just be silly.
Trope Editor (he/him)My only wish for Secret Invasion is that Talos doesn't die. That's pretty much it.
I'm probably not going to get it.
Jimmy pulling a Krillin and dressing like Piccolo Nick Fury for no reason would be pretty funny.
Jokes aside, though, I do wonder what Shang Chi's after credits scenes or in-movie references and foreshadows are going to build up. It feels like it's actually trying to carve out a new portion of the universe, so it could be anything.
Maybe it'll have a connection to Ironheart or Armor Wars, given that since Mandarin is Shang's dad in this continuity he now has an Iron Man connection he didn't before.
Edited by KnownUnknown on Apr 20th 2021 at 1:53:35 AM

If they stick the landing with him, this could potentially be the most relatable MCU protagonist yet.
The legend has returned.