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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.

    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 Mrph1 on Jul 29th 2024 at 3:09:00 PM

uncertanSearcher It's always Season of the Witch from Germany Since: Oct, 2017
It's always Season of the Witch
#144326: Jul 19th 2022 at 10:13:01 PM

Earths Mightiest Heroes was actually what made me first look more into the actual comics, since it convinced me there might be worthwhile stuff there that I couldnt just get from watching the movies.

Who would have thought variety of products might be a good thing, even within the same IP.

slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: May, 2013
The Head of the Hydra
#144327: Jul 19th 2022 at 10:18:20 PM

Prolly one of the worst things about MCU synergy is how rigid it makes character casts.

For instance Avengers and Guardians adaptations fully embracing Smurfette Principle by only ever having just one girl on the team.

Despite the potential variety in characters from both franchises, Black Widow and Gamora are the only girls allowed. Anyone else is either a short guest-star or a later season cast addition.

Edited by slimcoder on Jul 19th 2022 at 10:19:14 AM

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
LDragon2 Since: Dec, 2011
#144328: Jul 19th 2022 at 11:07:50 PM

I gotta admit, with how aimless Phase Four has been, and the increasing reliance on fanservice and cameos in exchange for cohesion or proper direction, along with all the films now blending together, I've lost a lost of interest in the MCU.

It really feels like it is suffering a severe case of The Chris Carter Effect.

Anomalocaris20 from Sagittarius A* Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: Love blinded me (with science!)
#144329: Jul 20th 2022 at 12:04:20 AM

Same.

The only Phase 4 film that has really wowed me thus far is No Way Home, and even that is heavily qualified (I still fucking hate the way the plot kicks off, and Sandman becoming murderously antagonistic just because he's impatient to go home feels like an Ass Pull, but the satisfaction in having all the Spider-Men and villains together makes it worthwhile, and Dafoe and Molina still nailed their roles even almost two decades later).

Black Widow wasted Taskmaster, Shang-Chi was okay but pretty by-the-book, Eternals was boring, and I really disliked Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Not enough Doctor Strange, not enough Multiverse, and not nearly enough Madness.

You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#144330: Jul 20th 2022 at 5:29:43 AM

> What I really find a pity is the absence of strong Marvel animated series.

Same,I blame this largely on Disney,they're probably more interested in animated movies then they are animated tv shows

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
HasturHasturHastur from Wheah the fahkin baby wheel is, Jay Since: Nov, 2010
#144331: Jul 20th 2022 at 5:40:36 AM

2099 animated series. It needs to happen.

Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#144332: Jul 20th 2022 at 6:12:45 AM

We are getting Spidey and X-Men cartoons soon, right?

dcutter2 Since: Sep, 2013
#144333: Jul 20th 2022 at 6:16:33 AM

there's a Mcu spidey prequel series. Which frankly sounds like massive continuity headache.

Not heard of an X-Men one. No wait, I tell a lie, wasn't there a revival of the old Fox one coming?

XMenMutant22 The Feline Follies of Felix the Cat Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: Hoping Senpai notices me
#144334: Jul 20th 2022 at 7:19:20 AM

Yes, Marvel Studios is producing an animated prequel series for MCU Spider-Man, Freshman Year, alongside reviving X-Men: The Animated Series. Both shows are expected to be formally revealed at this week's San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, with other announcements.

MatthewWayne The Tapestry Weaver from Camp Echo One Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
The Tapestry Weaver
#144335: Jul 20th 2022 at 8:53:57 AM

I actually started watching that animated series just because I was bored, and was curious why the MCU likes to reference it so much.

Midway through Season 1 and I gotta say: man is Rogue so much more fun and interesting than she was in the Fox-Men movies. I feel really bad for Anna Paquin now.

"I'm Mr. Blue, woah-woah-ooh..."
HasturHasturHastur from Wheah the fahkin baby wheel is, Jay Since: Nov, 2010
#144336: Jul 20th 2022 at 9:01:08 AM

For a live-action X-Men series, I think a Morlocks one could make for a really good dark drama. Instead of just dwelling in the sewers, they would be a general collective of homeless mutants led by Callisto, with differing rationales - some would be there because their mutations are just too obvious, some are there because they have extremely destructive or poorly-controlled abilities and they do not want to risk a public flareup, and some are there willingly because they refuse to participate in human society while also hating both Xavier and Magneto and wanting nothing to do with them, as well as a select few on the run from Weapon X and/or Sinister, Dark Beast, or Sugar Man.

MatthewWayne The Tapestry Weaver from Camp Echo One Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
The Tapestry Weaver
#144337: Jul 20th 2022 at 9:22:39 AM

Hmmm. I kinda like that idea.

"I'm Mr. Blue, woah-woah-ooh..."
Protagonist506 from Oregon Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#144338: Jul 20th 2022 at 9:55:40 AM

With Phase IV, while there has been a few good movie (Shang Chi in particular kicked ass), I'd say the MCU has problems keeping up the hype it had with the pre-Endgame days, at least for me.

This is for a few reasons. A big one is that Endgame really felt almost like a conclusion to the MCU itself, something that everything was building up to. It's a Tough Act to Follow.

Though the other big thing is that they've tied up a lot of story-threads, a lot of major characters were killed off.

The most obvious examples would be Captain America and Iron Man, and Black Widow, all characters that I feel really defined the MCU. Thor is still around but Asgard's gone and so are a lot of his secondary characters. This has caused it the MCU to be a bit of a Ship of Theseus, with a lot of its original cast gone.

In addition there's been a bit of a thematical and tonal shift towards camp and more..."cosmic" settings. This isn't entirely a bad thing though a big part of me misses the more grounded-feeling stuff you see in earlier movies.

Leviticus 19:34
HasturHasturHastur from Wheah the fahkin baby wheel is, Jay Since: Nov, 2010
#144339: Jul 20th 2022 at 10:15:06 AM

I'd definitely want the Morlocks series to be tonally closer to the Netflix-verse and focus less on action and more on the interpersonal dynamics of the society and Callisto's struggles to protect and provide for her people, and understand their struggles. The big climax would be the Marauders invading, probably to retrieve someone who fled from Sinister.

Avenger09 Since: May, 2014
#144340: Jul 20th 2022 at 10:59:18 AM

This fan art I found is the best looking concept for a MCU Rogue I've seen.

Though I think it could use some of that Multiverse of Madness colour. https://www.artstation.com/artwork/oOlgQO

Edited by Avenger09 on Jul 21st 2022 at 11:53:27 AM

fanman "To watch it all burn." from Earth-Prime/Earth-1218 Since: Feb, 2022 Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
"To watch it all burn."
#144341: Jul 20th 2022 at 11:22:43 AM

I'm still a fan of the MCU, but I can understand why people are losing interest. I've seen a pessimistic analogy on Reddit that Phase 4 is like sidequests after the final boss while a commenter responded with a more optimistic analogy that Phase 4 is booting up the sequel but needing to go through another tutorial and beginner's levels while waiting for the good stuff to begin.

Altris from the Vortex Since: Aug, 2019 Relationship Status: Not caught up in your love affair
#144342: Jul 20th 2022 at 11:30:10 AM

Phase four is like doing pre-expansion quests. You just did some super cool stuff, and the stuff you're doing now is technically plot-relevant but mostly setup for the next super cool stuff.

So, let's hang an anchor from the sun... also my Tumblr
slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: May, 2013
The Head of the Hydra
#144343: Jul 20th 2022 at 11:47:42 AM

Speaking of animated series, it always annoys me that Ultimate Spider-Man during its Spider-Verse arc wound up creating the worst version of Spider-Girl imaginable.

For one thing it was a basic-ass gender-flip, no Mayday but Petra Parker which is basically them reusing Peter's model and just adding lipstick.

Even worse is that they made Petra a total misandrist. Cause girl version of Peter has to hate boys despite regular Peter not being sexist in way........

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
RavenWilder Since: Apr, 2009
#144344: Jul 20th 2022 at 12:02:03 PM

Haven't seen the show, but if Petra Parker still goes to school with Flash Thompson and works for J. Jonah Jameson ... that could give one a rather sour view on men.

slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: May, 2013
The Head of the Hydra
#144345: Jul 20th 2022 at 12:04:42 PM

Thats the thing though Petra is from the gender-flip universe so its basically just the same universe only the genders are flipped.

Her Green Goblin is also a woman, and also sexist with apparently both of them having difficulty comprehending a male hero.

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#144346: Jul 20th 2022 at 12:07:16 PM

I've been wondering for a while how Freshman Year would navigate the continuity hurdle that is Spidey's rogues gallery. Like, especially with No Way Home now establishing that he's never met any of his most iconic nemeses, the villain cast is going to have a hard time finding big name characters to put in.

I'm not so worried about that now. Given that it will probably only be six episodes long and feature one villain, maybe two, I don't think it's much of a concern.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
jjjj2 from Arrakis Since: Jul, 2015
#144347: Jul 20th 2022 at 12:10:55 PM

Wait where did you hear it would be six episodes or around that length? I mean I would agree that would be the best course of action, have a minor villain be the bad guy for a short amount of time, but I can't find anything in the links provided.

Edit: Nvmind, you said probably...

Edited by jjjj2 on Jul 20th 2022 at 3:15:19 PM

You can only write so much in your forum signature. It's not fair that I want to write a piece of writing yet it will cut me off in the mid
HandsomeRob Leader of the Holey Brotherhood from The land of broken records Since: Jan, 2015
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
#144348: Jul 20th 2022 at 12:11:13 PM

I'm trying to remember: Freshman Year takes place before he was recruited by Tony for the events of the Airport battle right?

Because there's a much better time frame to place it in: in between the events of Homecoming and Infinity War.

We know a bit of time passes before everything with Thanos goes down, so it might be a better choice to set it then, and slip in a few of Pete's lesser rogues.

Hell, you could potentially follow up on the stuff with the Scorpion from the end of Far From Home.

One Strip! One Strip!
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#144349: Jul 20th 2022 at 12:15:57 PM

Wait where did you hear it would be six episodes or around that length? I mean I would agree that would be the best course of action, have a minor villain be the bad guy for a short amount of time, but I can't find anything in the links provided.

I didn't. That's why I said "probably".

I've been under the impression that this would be a real TV show; 20-something episodes where Spidey fights a new villain in every episode. But Marvel Studios doesn't make real TV shows. They make short 6-episode serialized miniseries, featuring a couple of villains. Marvel Studios "shows" are very long movies cut into a half-dozen slices for ease of consumption.

And Freshman Year is a Marvel Studios show. So. It's probably going to be a very long prequel movie cut into a half-dozen slices, where Spidey gets his powers and then fights one or two villains.

So there's little risk of continuity problems.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Jul 20th 2022 at 12:17:15 PM

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
MatthewWayne The Tapestry Weaver from Camp Echo One Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
The Tapestry Weaver
#144350: Jul 20th 2022 at 12:19:01 PM

[up][up] Having a little under a year to try to cover Peter fighting a major bad guy or two sounds like it would be a little...cramped.

"I'm Mr. Blue, woah-woah-ooh..."

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