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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

MousaThe14 Writer, Artist, Ignored from Northern Virginia Since: Jan, 2011 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
Writer, Artist, Ignored
#25151: Jan 23rd 2015 at 6:45:08 AM

Well we could get Spider-man and his Amazing Frie- No no, that won't work either.

The Blog The Art
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#25152: Jan 23rd 2015 at 8:31:38 AM

There's always Not Sunfire...dammit.

GeekCodeRed Since: Sep, 2010
#25153: Jan 23rd 2015 at 8:59:25 AM

...maybe they could introduce Frozone into the Marvel universe?

Canid117 Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: Hello, I love you
#25154: Jan 23rd 2015 at 9:04:44 AM

Would there be a running gag that no one can tell the difference between him and Nick Fury Jr on the phone?

"War without fire is like sausages without mustard." - Jean Juvénal des Ursins
Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#25155: Jan 23rd 2015 at 9:14:53 AM

What about Firebird? I don't think she's tied to any property but the Avenges and the Rangers and I doubt anyone has the rights to the Rangers.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Tuckerscreator (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#25156: Jan 23rd 2015 at 11:21:18 AM

The android Human Torch made a cameo in First Avenger, so maybe he and Toro could join in and fulfill the fire part.

MousaThe14 Writer, Artist, Ignored from Northern Virginia Since: Jan, 2011 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
Writer, Artist, Ignored
#25157: Jan 23rd 2015 at 11:27:01 AM

*looks up Toro*

Seriously? We had a mini-Human torch once upon a time?

The Blog The Art
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#25158: Jan 23rd 2015 at 11:31:51 AM

Everyone had a kid sidekick in the 40's. It was a way to give the target demographic an Audience Surrogate they could relate to. Most of these characters have been swept under the rug except Robin, who became too famous to unceremoniously drop, and Bucky, who was brought back to life for the Winter Soldier storyline and retconned into a black ops assassin in an effort to justify his relationship to Cap in WWII - the idea being that while Captain America kicks in the front door and draws all enemy attention to him with his bright, spangly costume and shield, Bucky slips in the back door and neutralizes the target, grabs the MacGuffin, or otherwise achieves the mission objective.

Played completely straight, the Kid Sidekick is mostly a Discredited Trope for superheroes these days, as the tone of comics has shifted towards more serious storytelling, and as a result writers have become all too aware of the Unfortunate Implications involved when superheroes start recruiting Child Soldiers.

edited 23rd Jan '15 11:33:19 AM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Tuckerscreator (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#25159: Jan 23rd 2015 at 11:33:09 AM

He was pretty cool during the Winter Soldier arc. Steve told stories about him and Torch during WWII, and how they once used fire to put out a fire (absorbing half the blaze and putting out the other half by melting snow into rain).

GeekCodeRed Since: Sep, 2010
#25160: Jan 23rd 2015 at 11:53:01 AM

Not to mention, although Cap is famous for punching Hitler, the Human Torch was the one who killed him.

KarkatTheDalek Not as angry as the name would suggest. from Somwhere in Time/Space Since: Mar, 2012 Relationship Status: You're a beautiful woman, probably
Not as angry as the name would suggest.
#25161: Jan 23rd 2015 at 11:53:57 AM

Hell, Bucky and Toro even got their own sidekicks, the Young Allies, who also included a shockingly racist black stereotype!

edited 23rd Jan '15 11:54:21 AM by KarkatTheDalek

Oh God! Natural light!
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#25162: Jan 23rd 2015 at 11:54:54 AM

Shocking by today's standards, anyway. This was a time period when Superman said you could slap a Jap, after all.

Oriental people were depicted as yellow-skinned vampires who speak in deliberately bad Engrish.

edited 23rd Jan '15 11:55:25 AM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
KarkatTheDalek Not as angry as the name would suggest. from Somwhere in Time/Space Since: Mar, 2012 Relationship Status: You're a beautiful woman, probably
Not as angry as the name would suggest.
#25163: Jan 23rd 2015 at 11:57:28 AM

Well, that article gives several examples of that, I can assure you.

Christ.

Oh God! Natural light!
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#25164: Jan 23rd 2015 at 12:02:24 PM

It wasn't so long ago that blatant racism was considered totally acceptable, and regrettably, racism is still far more alive and well today than a lot of people realize.

Hell, just last year, I was listening to one of my favorite radio programs where people write in whatever problems they have and the DJs take calls to try and answer it, and one of the write-ins they got was a woman in an up-scale neighborhood asking if there's a way to keep black and Hispanic kids from coming to her house while Trick-or-Treating.

It was the first time I head OPP turn into "Everyone dogpile on this terrible person because their question is, itself, the problem."

edited 23rd Jan '15 12:04:56 PM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
KarkatTheDalek Not as angry as the name would suggest. from Somwhere in Time/Space Since: Mar, 2012 Relationship Status: You're a beautiful woman, probably
Not as angry as the name would suggest.
#25166: Jan 23rd 2015 at 12:18:49 PM

[up] Hmm...I wonder how this factors into the main plot.

Oh God! Natural light!
higherbrainpattern Since: Apr, 2012
#25167: Jan 23rd 2015 at 1:27:31 PM

[up] Possibly setting up Black Panther?

comicwriter Since: Sep, 2011
#25168: Jan 23rd 2015 at 1:29:40 PM

Probably, but I think he may also have a part to play in how Ultron obtains the metal to upgrade his body.

edited 23rd Jan '15 1:30:33 PM by comicwriter

Whowho Since: May, 2012
#25169: Jan 23rd 2015 at 1:45:02 PM

@Brother Voodoo

To be fair, if you want to do Brother Voodoo right, casting Chiwetel Ejiofor is a bloody good first step.

It also helps that Brother Voodoo recently got pushed to diversify the role of Sorcerer Supreme.

Actually, I know Brother Voodoo inherited the title from Doctor Strange, but who had it before strange? I realise I don't actually know this.

Also, it helps that Voodoo is a real thing and playing it accurately is far more interesting than giving the hollywood version.

It is becoming quite evident that every one of Marvel's franchises has a major black supporting cast member.

Rody, Falcon, Hemdiel, Nick Fury, Gamora. The Hulk franchise is the exception.

edited 23rd Jan '15 1:45:30 PM by Whowho

comicwriter Since: Sep, 2011
#25170: Jan 23rd 2015 at 1:49:22 PM

And that's mostly because Hulk was unfortunately a Stillborn Franchise.

LordofLore Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Consider his love an honor
#25171: Jan 23rd 2015 at 1:53:44 PM

Sorceror's Supreme of MC at different points in time, dimensions or alternative realities:

  • Clea
  • Illyana Rasputina
  • Tony Stark
  • Doctor Doom
  • Brother Voodoo
  • Ancient One
  • Merlin
  • Wiccan
  • Bruce Banner
Try to guess which ones are from alternative realities.

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#25172: Jan 23rd 2015 at 1:59:18 PM

Are there any prominent black actors whose religion is Voudoun? If they're going to use Brother Voodoo they should probably cast one of them and take his advice on how to portray it without being offensive.

Hodor2 Since: Jan, 2015
#25173: Jan 23rd 2015 at 2:04:52 PM

Not that I can find from a quick Google search. I guess any actor who is of Haitian descent is likely at least familiar with it.

I hadn't heard of Brother Voodoo, but looking him up, the actor is a good fit. Also, I find it interesting that similarly to Strange, he has a background as an intellectual and someone who might be expected to have a "logical" mind.

With both of them as well as Iron Fist, I see the character is being portrayed as something of a Flat-Earth Atheist, and acknowledging how they shouldn't be able to do the stuff they are doing. Maybe less so with Brother Voodoo since the comic seems to present Voudoun pretty realistically even if the powers the guy gets from it are less realistic.

edited 23rd Jan '15 2:05:21 PM by Hodor2

comicwriter Since: Sep, 2011
#25174: Jan 23rd 2015 at 2:16:51 PM

I think as long as they have consultants who can tell them whether or not it's being portrayed respectfully, it shouldn't be an issue.

[up][up][up]Clea was Sorcerer Supreme in Earth X right?

LordofLore Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Consider his love an honor
#25175: Jan 23rd 2015 at 2:23:00 PM

[up]Yes, but also unless things have changed since I last read a book with her the mainline 616 Clea is Sorceress Supreme of the Dark Dimension.


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