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
The joke pretty much goes that exact same way every time its used.
Guy gets forcibly stripped, and the women around him can't be assed to actually care about the problem, instead engaging in it by eying his body.
Now if it was done to a woman, it would obviously be played very differently but alas societal double standards.
Edited by slimcoder on May 23rd 2022 at 10:51:40 AM
"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."Yes, I'm aware of the double standards there.
Putting aside the specific circumstances and character behaviors and focusing purely on the concept of Shirtless Scene in a vacuum, I'm happy that the MCU has moved away from Male Gaze from the most part (at the very least, it's come a long way from Black Widow stripping in the back of Happy's car) but it'd be nice if they could also stop stripping their male heroes for audience titillation, too. Remember the pond of sight in Age of Ultron that exists for no reason other than to shoehorn in a shirtless Thor scene? Or that random, pointless shot of shirtless Ant-Man with Hope eyeing him up which I guess we're supposed to take as the one hint at them eventually hooking up?
You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!
Now now, the pond of sight was also there to clumsily set up future movies in the most forced way possible. Let's be fair here.
Y'know, I'm seeing fewer people upset about Thor being naked, and more people debating whether Thor being insanely ripped so soon after Avengers: Endgame underminds his arc in that film or not.
There's also some people who think Zeus is too goofy, but I don't get those complaints. I mean, it's Zeus.
"I'm Mr. Blue, woah-woah-ooh..."I would have preferred a mythology accurate body positive plus sized Thor for the duration of this film. Just to, y'knowz challenge what a hero can look like.
I do have a friend who told me before that he loves super heroes and cosplay, but that Endgame!Thor is the only costume he can do with his build.
Thor being out of shape in Endgame is because Hemsworth didn’t want to kill himself maintaining the dehydration muscles
The jokes about Thor being out of shape in the movie were absolutely mean spirited but his battle appearance at the end had the weight without being treated as a joke
I feel like there was probably a happy medium where Thor could look strong while not requiring the action star look. So it is a little disappointing.
Also, I do hope Zeus is a little goofy. It’d be a good contrast to Odin when their character designs overlap a little
Edited by Bocaj on May 24th 2022 at 10:39:00 AM
Forever liveblogging the AvengersI don't think this trailer gives us nearly enough Zeus to form an opinion on whether he's "too goofy", whatever that's supposed to mean.
Zeus is famously a sex pest, so the forced stripping scene seems entirely in-character for him. The gag about Jane and Valkyrie sitting back and enjoying it bugged me, though. Friends who participate in your sexual assault are not your friends.
Edited by TobiasDrake on May 24th 2022 at 8:27:39 AM
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.A few people I've seen are making unfair comparison's to Zeus's portrayal in the DCEU as a badass fighter and king of the gods. Which...yes, Zeus is a very strong and feared god in the actual myths, but not to that extent I believe.
Edited by MatthewWayne on May 24th 2022 at 8:51:40 AM
"I'm Mr. Blue, woah-woah-ooh..."He's a strong and feared fighter what with the lightning. But most Greek myths don't have a call for him to be that because the Pantheon rules over a time of uh mostly peace with very little in the ways of challengers.
Typhon was the worst they had to deal with and Typhon stole all of Zeus' muscles and dunked him into a cave in their first fight.
Besides a few instances like that, its mostly Olympian shenanigans featuring Zeus and his rampant animal based sexual assault. Interspersed with a few smitings.
Forever liveblogging the AvengersSo far as Zeus and fighting goes, it's worth noting that the mythical Zeus is basically a distance fighter. In terms of combat ability, he's mainly famous for hurling lightning bolts at his enemies.
And when I say hurling, I don't mean he shoots lightning like Emperor Palpatine or, well, Thor. The lightning is just a weapon he uses. His bolts are forged by Hephaestus, then delivered to him for use. He's literally just a cosmic spear-chucker.
Edited by TobiasDrake on May 24th 2022 at 9:01:36 AM
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Zeus in the DCEU is also dead as a doornail, so it's a toss-up.
Alternatively, American Gods rules (ie. Gods Need Prayer Badly): that they were genuinely that fearsome... in the age of antiquity, at the peak of their power and influence. Now that the Greek gods are not that seriously worshipped in the modern age, Zeus is now a retirement home sex pest.
EDIT: This fits more in the Thor thread.
As for gods, I don't really see any need to portray Zeus as particularly awesome. It's Zeus, man.
Edited by Gaon on May 24th 2022 at 9:05:37 AM
"All you Fascists bound to lose."![]()
![]()
![]()
He also had the adamantine sickle that he stole from Cronus, apparently the most weapon in Greek mythology. But the only time I can think of that he uses it was against Typhon and melee went very poorly for him.

Consider me someone else who isn't super down with the nude Thor gag. The Loki tattoo is amusing and sweet I guess, but I was rather hoping they wouldn't have to put Chris Hemsworth back on such a ridiculously restrictive diet after all that's been said about unrealistic beauty standards for athletic male bodies. As repugnantly tasteless as Fat Thor was handled in Endgame, it provided a good setup for Thor and Hemsworth to appear in future films with at least a somewhat less dehydrated body baseline.