TVTropes Now available in the app store!
Open

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Go To

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

GethKnight Since: Apr, 2010
#33451: May 10th 2015 at 8:34:10 PM

Specially when your sun powers make you pitch black (like a sunspot) and being in fire makes you fucking bright.

Sunspots are black because they're dimmer than the rest of the surrounding surface light. Sunspots are still bright as fuck.

Edited for context.

edited 10th May '15 8:35:26 PM by GethKnight

Heatth (X-Troper) Relationship Status: In Spades with myself
#33452: May 10th 2015 at 8:35:23 PM

[up]I meant visually. Visually comic Sunspot is a walking "sunspot". He is a pitch black man (with glowy white eyes and mouth, for reasons). He looks nothing like a blazing fire.

edited 10th May '15 8:37:06 PM by Heatth

GethKnight Since: Apr, 2010
#33453: May 10th 2015 at 8:36:36 PM

Ah, he looked like a humanoid Sun to me.

Addition: He's even got coronal mass ejections.

edited 10th May '15 8:39:09 PM by GethKnight

Heatth (X-Troper) Relationship Status: In Spades with myself
#33454: May 10th 2015 at 8:39:23 PM

[up]Exactly. To be fair, he is often depicted with a reddish aura surrounding him in the comics. But that aura doesn't compare to his sheer blackness. That is his most striking feature. It is nothing one would mistake for a "fire person".

Here his design around his first appearance (plus a bunch of other characters). More recent versions.

edited 10th May '15 8:45:56 PM by Heatth

zsax Since: Mar, 2015
#33455: May 10th 2015 at 8:52:17 PM

It's good to see Cannonball there.

Or as I used to call him: Sam-Ah'm invulnerable when Ah'm blastin'-Guthrie.

edited 10th May '15 8:52:40 PM by zsax

GethKnight Since: Apr, 2010
#33456: May 10th 2015 at 8:57:26 PM

Sunspot either looks like a demon or a tar monster.

zsax Since: Mar, 2015
#33457: May 10th 2015 at 8:59:50 PM

I think he looks very cool. He reminds me of cosmic powered characters like the Fallen One.

edited 10th May '15 9:00:04 PM by zsax

alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#33458: May 10th 2015 at 9:19:24 PM

Re: why Marvel can't just change the X-Men's origins so they aren't called "mutants" and can thus use them.

There's a very simple reason why Marvel can't do this: when they sold the rights to their properties, they didn't sell the word "mutant." The sold the rights to the X-Men and all associated characters/stories. That's why "mutant" can't be used — because it's heavily associated with the X-Men.

Now, could Marvel change the name of the group to something other than X-Men and would that allow them to use those characters?

1) Probably not, since the contract was very specific that Fox can keep these characters as long as they put out an X-Men movie within ten years and 2) even if they could, the name "X-Men" is so well known, changing it would do more harm than good.

So their options are: don't use the X-Men in the movies and find something else that can use instead of "mutant."

You don't have to like it (Marvel certainly doesn't), but it's never going to change as long as Fox makes money from X-Men movies.

This is why I never get when people complain about Marvel pushing the Inhumans. Why shouldn't they? They are never going to get the X-Men back, so why not push something else that hasn't received as much attention?

TheAirman Brightness from The vicinity of an area adjacent to a location Since: Feb, 2011 Relationship Status: Historians will say we were good friends.
Brightness
#33459: May 10th 2015 at 9:58:06 PM

Addition: He's even got coronal mass ejections.

Not gonna lie, I read that as "coronal mass erections."

PSN ID: FateSeraph | Switch friendcode: SW-0145-8835-0610 Congratulations! She/They
GethKnight Since: Apr, 2010
#33460: May 10th 2015 at 9:59:42 PM

What would be a different movie.

HandsomeRob Leader of the Holey Brotherhood from The land of broken records Since: Jan, 2015
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
#33461: May 10th 2015 at 10:01:56 PM

I'm surprised Marvel never had a plan in the event they wanted X Men back.

It never occurred to them to have some kind of deal in place? Or did they expect Fox to not still be making movies for this long (or for the movies to eventually go pear shaped).

I'm still cringing at the revelation that X-Men: Days of Future Past is actually the worst thing that could have happened for the Xmen franchise since it ensured that Marvel still can't use them ever.

edited 10th May '15 10:02:15 PM by HandsomeRob

One Strip! One Strip!
vandro Shop Owner from The little shop that wasn't Since: Jul, 2009
Shop Owner
#33462: May 10th 2015 at 10:17:23 PM

So Dust is an Afghani Sunni Muslim Mutant, while Ms Marvel 2014 is a Pakistani-American Inhuman...What branch are her family?

[up] They are Bryan Singer's toys, like god always intended.

edited 10th May '15 10:18:12 PM by vandro

alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#33463: May 10th 2015 at 10:34:44 PM

Marvel didn't have a plan because Marvel was just trying to get out of bankruptcy at the time. I mean, Marvel went bankrupt in 1996 and had to drag themselves back to solvency. So they took a look at all of their properties and said, "Okay, well, we need money and we know movies will make a lot of money, so let's sell some of these properties to movie studios so we can get a lot of money."

And they did. They got a lot of money. The Blade movies made money, the Spider-Man movies made money, and the X-Men movies made money. (There were, of course, misses, but none of them were abject failures, except for perhaps Elektra.)

And then around 2005, they decided that they didn't want to license out their characters anymore and wanted to make movies for themselves. Keep this in mind though: they were not a movie studio. They had never been a movie studio. Marvel Entertainment was a comic book company and a toy company. They hadn't done anything like this before, so they basically borrowed a bunch of money with their entire character portfolio as collateral and made Iron Man.

And, thankfully, it was a hit.

Tuckerscreator (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#33464: May 10th 2015 at 10:43:06 PM

At most, I expect any crossover between the MCU and X-men 'verses would be an alternate reality event; the Avengers discovering a world where mutants have evolved, and the X-men discovering a world where people with powers are revered. And they gotta fight, etc.

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#33465: May 11th 2015 at 12:57:40 AM

[up][up]Which is especially surprising if you look at the circumstances. I mean, they picked a main actor who was back then known for his drug addiction and unreliability on set (they actually put a clause in RDJ contract that he would have to pay an insane high fee if he should revert back to old habit and jeopardize the production), a director who was pretty much at the start of his career and word is that the script was sketchy at best and a lot of the scenes were more or less completely add-libbed and improvised.

Concerning the X-Men: I don't like the current Movie series, and one of the reasons is that what should be about a team-up of very diverse characters who all have their own storylines has become pretty much the Wolverine-show under Fox's mantle. But I know that other people like it, so all power to them. I hope that at one point in the future the rights either revert back or Fox does a proper reboot. Until then, I am actually pretty happy that they are not in the MCU. Even if the rights revert back, I would prefer it if Marvel would create an own universe just for them.

The Fantastic Four are another matter. I want them back with Marvel as fast as possible because I want their rogue gallery in Got G. And it would be nice if they were finally able to figure out the rights which are in limbo like Namor.

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#33466: May 11th 2015 at 1:17:44 AM

BTW, I think that there are actually a few characters with either interesting powers or backstories they could adapt, and which are clearly connected with The Avengers. My favourites are: Amadeus Cho - Who I find interesting because he actually has no powers at all but his mind.

Cloud 9 - A mutant who is able to control a cloud

Manifold - An Australian Aboriginal who is able to...break through reality? Either way he can bring whole teams from one place to another in seconds. That sounds really handy.

Rage - the ability is actually very meh (the usual: Very strong and a good fighter), but the backstory sounds very interesting because the guy is actually a 12 year old in an adult body.

Silverclaw - Can shift-change into different jungle animals.

Squirrel Girl - More or less exactly what it sounds like, but it sounds also like a lot of fun.

Striker - can control electricity, but what I actually might make the character worthwhile is the background of being trained to be attention-seeking by a mother who wanted him to become a famous actor.

Trauma - can see the worst fears of his enemy and then pretend to be this worst fear

Veil - Can turn herself into gas (an ability which will eventually kill her)

And then there are also not "smaller" titles like Cloud and Dagger...I wonder if the TV-show they are currently working on might be about them. After all, there was one in development a couple of years ago already.

jakobitis Doctor of Doctorates from Somewhere, somewhen Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: I'd need a PowerPoint presentation
Doctor of Doctorates
#33467: May 11th 2015 at 1:41:58 AM

I have a question - is Jarvis (the Paul Bettany voiced one) an AI or just a really, REALLY advanced program? Because Tony referred to Jarvis as 'he' and he/it does seem to have an actual personality (servile snarker, specifically) and the ability to act (semi?) autonomously - Jarvis apparently actually runs a lot of Stark's company... BUT the Mind Gem seemed to get Bruce and Tony thinking that they could create an AI, which suggests they hadn't yet. Now the big graphical Ultron thingy was much bigger and more 'advanced' looking than the Jarvis one, but could there be different 'levels' of A.I.? I am not a techy person as you've probably gathered and this confused me.

"These 'no-nonsense' solutions of yours just don't hold water in a complex world of jet-powered apes and time travel."
LordofLore Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Consider his love an honor
#33468: May 11th 2015 at 1:55:33 AM

JARVIS seems to be a VI until combined with the Mind Stone, part of a copy of Ultron's mind and lightning from Mjolnir at which point he turns into a full AI but can't really be counted as JARVIS any longer.

Zarek Rollin' rollin' rollin' from Jakku Since: Sep, 2012 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
Rollin' rollin' rollin'
#33469: May 11th 2015 at 5:14:45 AM

It seems to me like Jarvis is extremely intelligent for a computer, but his intellect is still comparatively limited and/or subhuman. Ultron and Vision are as intelligent as humans (or even moreso) and capable of learning like humans.

"We're home, Chewie."
jakobitis Doctor of Doctorates from Somewhere, somewhen Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: I'd need a PowerPoint presentation
Doctor of Doctorates
#33470: May 11th 2015 at 5:21:25 AM

Guess that makes sense, in MCU terms anyway. It was just confusing me a little. So Friday is as 'smart' as Jarvis... but not quite as much as Vision?

"These 'no-nonsense' solutions of yours just don't hold water in a complex world of jet-powered apes and time travel."
MetaFour AXTE INCAL AXTUCE MUN from A Place (Old Master)
AXTE INCAL AXTUCE MUN
#33471: May 11th 2015 at 5:36:10 AM

Why does Ultron have lips?

C105 Too old for this from France Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
Too old for this
#33472: May 11th 2015 at 5:45:58 AM

[up][up]My take is that JARVIS and FRIDAY are very advanced computer programs with an extremely user-friendly interface (or, in JARVIS case, user-snarky, which is not surprising considering who programmed him/it). They can handle a fair number of situations but can't probably evolve beyond their programming. Ultron and Vision are full-blown artificial intelligences, identical (or possibly superior) in terms of capabilities to that of a human.

Tony calls JARVIS a "him" because he's a One Of Us (who never talked about an appliance as it was a person?) and probably grew attached to his interface, the same way he liked to verbally abuse his duncebot.

Basically, if JARVIS was a GPS, he would probably snark when you don't follow his directions, but keep trying to give them, possibly trying to understand why you did not follow them the first time and adapt his algorithm accordingly if that is a criteria he can put into numbers (i.e. "you seem to give preference to itineraries with a nice view"). An Ultron/Vision-like AI would react exactly like a human would do in such a situation (although Ultron would more than likely blow your head off at some point or lead you into a trap, but that's where my analogy ceases to be relevant).

Whatever your favourite work is, there is a Vocal Minority that considers it the Worst. Whatever. Ever!.
spashthebandragon thebandragoness from USA Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
thebandragoness
#33473: May 11th 2015 at 5:46:48 AM

[up][up]Because EVERYTHING IN MOVIES MUST BE MOTION CAPTURE NOW.

edited 11th May '15 5:47:04 AM by spashthebandragon

I've got fanfics for Frozen, Spectacular Spider-Man, Crash Bandicoot, and Spyro the Dragon.
Heatth (X-Troper) Relationship Status: In Spades with myself
#33475: May 11th 2015 at 5:49:45 AM

@Swanpride,

These are mostly very interesting characters, but also all very obscure. Amadeus Cho might be the highest profile there, and that is saying something.

You including Striker and Veil made me wonder if they could even do an Avengers Academy thing. I think it would work better as a series, but then there are problems with the budget. Regardless, I would love to see these characters in the MCU.

edited 11th May '15 5:50:08 AM by Heatth


Total posts: 186,763
Top