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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

Whowho Since: May, 2012
#36451: Jun 15th 2015 at 10:34:54 AM

He has enough love interests for once each to every film in every reboot for a good few decades.

Liz Allen, Betty Brant, Felicia Hardy, Mary Jane Watson, Gwen Stacy, Cindy Moon and Joe Quesada's daughter insert come to mind without any thought or research.

Spidy just has a massive, MASSIVE, supporting cast.

comicwriter Since: Sep, 2011
#36452: Jun 15th 2015 at 10:37:30 AM

Wolverine should be disqualified on the basis of being functionally immortal. Of course he has plenty of time to get laid!

[up]That's not even counting characters from other franchises he's dated.

edited 15th Jun '15 10:37:59 AM by comicwriter

Soble Since: Dec, 2013
#36453: Jun 15th 2015 at 10:51:06 AM

I'm starting to think Peter Parker is actually some kind of wish fulfillment character... bah.

I'M MR. MEESEEKS, LOOK AT ME!
Gaon Smoking Snake from Grim Up North Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
Anomalocaris20 from Sagittarius A* Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: Love blinded me (with science!)
#36456: Jun 15th 2015 at 11:29:38 AM

I know this was last page, but some spiders (Tarantulas, mainly) actually do spin webs out of the end of their limbs, rather than a gland near their rear.

You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!
SonOfSharknado Love is Love is Love Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
Love is Love is Love
#36457: Jun 15th 2015 at 12:16:32 PM

So, how to introduce Peter's family and character interactions without bogging down the film? I'll do it right now.

Smash cut into the opening, Peter swinging through the city. Suddenly, cell phone rings. Peter jumps onto a building and clings to it while he pulls out his phone and pulls up his mask.

"Hi, Aunt May. I know, I'll be home soon. I was just stuck on this paper, I had to go out for a walk. I'm sorry I didn't tell you where I was going. No, don't worry, I'll remember to pick up eggs on the way back."

Back to swinging. Beat up some crooks, take some pictures. Gets down to his regular clothes, goes to the store, grabs eggs, walks home. He bumps into Liz Allen and Flash Thompson and other ancillary characters. Bit of banter, Flash calls Peter a dweeb and gushes over Spidey, Allen tells him to lay off, implying she has a crush on Peter. Peter leaves, puts the eggs in the fridge, goes back to his room and sits down in front of his homework. Phone rings immediately.

"PARKER! WHERE ARE MY PICTURES OF SPIDER-MAN??"

Faceplant into desk.

My various fanfics.
Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#36458: Jun 15th 2015 at 12:26:33 PM

Frankly I could take or leave the freelance photographer stuff.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
comicwriter Since: Sep, 2011
#36459: Jun 15th 2015 at 12:36:09 PM

Okay this cracked me up. Poor Paul Bettany.

edited 15th Jun '15 12:36:18 PM by comicwriter

LordofLore Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Consider his love an honor
#36460: Jun 15th 2015 at 12:39:36 PM

If the MCU had decided to start with a adult Peter they should've had him in his JMS phase where he was a teacher at his old school.

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#36461: Jun 15th 2015 at 1:05:17 PM

I seem to remember a story arc where Peter actually did start transforming into an actual, giant spider, growing extra limbs first, then eventually going mad and cocooning people.

That's from the 90's cartoon, which also gave us such gems as the Green Goblin using the Spot's technology to cause Mary-Jane to be lost between dimensions, Carnage absorbing life energy in service to Dormammu, and Black Cat hooking up with Morbius, the Living Vampire.

We all loved it as kids, but looking back, it had some really cracktastic ideas.

edited 15th Jun '15 1:06:57 PM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Mukora Uniocular from a place Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: I made a point to burn all of the photographs
Uniocular
#36462: Jun 15th 2015 at 1:26:14 PM

That's what made it great, though.

"It's so hard to be humble, knowing how great I am."
VeryMelon Since: Jul, 2011 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#36463: Jun 15th 2015 at 1:28:30 PM

I especially liked how the show used villains like Carnage and the Red Skull.

SonOfSharknado Love is Love is Love Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
Love is Love is Love
#36464: Jun 15th 2015 at 2:00:25 PM

"We can't punch? Fuck you, serial killer!"

My various fanfics.
Heatth (X-Troper) Relationship Status: In Spades with myself
#36465: Jun 15th 2015 at 2:04:37 PM

That's from the 90's cartoon, which also gave us such gems as the Green Goblin using the Spot's technology to cause Mary-Jane to be lost between dimensions, Carnage absorbing life energy in service to Dormammu, and Black Cat hooking up with Morbius, the Living Vampire.

We all loved it as kids, but looking back, it had some really cracktastic ideas.

Wait, I don't remember how badly the execution itself was, but I certainly have no problem these as concepts. Hell, the only one I think it is a bit of a stretch is Carnage working with Dormammu (doesn't Dormmamu have better things to do?). Why wouldn't Green Goblin use Spot's technology if he could get his hand on it? And why not Black Cat/Morbiusnote ?

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#36466: Jun 15th 2015 at 2:04:59 PM

"I can't drink blood? Fine. I feed on PLASMA!" "...what's plasma?" "It's blood, mother*cker."

[up] Morbius is a vampire. Gobbo using Spot's technology was a way to do The Night Gwen Stacy Died for kids, having Mary-Jane get thrown off the bridge and then somehow trapped between dimensions for the rest of the series. Carnage and Dormammu teaming up was how the show approached the character of Carnage; he couldn't kill people in a permanent fashion, so they had Baron Mordo present him with his symbiote rather than just sort of getting it from Eddie's, and then Mordo recruited him to steal life energy from people and fuel Dormammu's entry into this dimension, via hitting them with his tendrils; this allowed everyone to come back to life after he was defeated.

edited 15th Jun '15 2:08:27 PM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#36467: Jun 15th 2015 at 2:07:57 PM

Its amazing that spider-man was as charmingly bad as it was considering all the censorship it was under.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#36468: Jun 15th 2015 at 2:09:26 PM

The biggest fault with the cartoon's depiction of Carnage is on Brian Michael Bendis, who was apparently only familiar with that version and so when he wrote Carnage into the start of New Avengers, he had him running around the prison stealing life energy.

edited 15th Jun '15 2:09:48 PM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#36469: Jun 15th 2015 at 2:11:42 PM

Doesn't Marvel have, like, character bibles or something that have the basics that new writers need to know?

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
stingerbrg Since: Jun, 2009
#36470: Jun 15th 2015 at 2:12:33 PM

Many franchises do, and yet many writers ignore them anyway. Some just rely on the fan wikis.

LordofLore Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Consider his love an honor
#36471: Jun 15th 2015 at 2:12:53 PM

Same guy who forgot how the Cancerverse worked(and that Death existed there before it ended thanks to Thanos so people could actually die there unlike what he based his story on). He doesn't read the bibles.

edited 15th Jun '15 2:15:49 PM by LordofLore

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#36472: Jun 15th 2015 at 2:14:02 PM

bendiiiiiiiiis

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#36473: Jun 15th 2015 at 2:14:15 PM

It was more forgivable when Ultimate Carnage was absorbing life energy because that was an alternate universe version of the character, and sort of made sense given his relationship to Ultimate Venom, also a very different character.

But when he portrayed the 616 Carnage doing that, it was just...so utterly wrong.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Heatth (X-Troper) Relationship Status: In Spades with myself
#36474: Jun 15th 2015 at 4:09:11 PM

@Drake 36466,

Okay, those sound really silly and of dumb. But, as I've said it is because of execution, not the concepts themselves.

Btw, I had forgotten about the obsession American cartoons had with never killing anyone. I have grown up with mostly unedited anime, so the concept of not allowing death "because children" still sounds baffling to me.

Soble Since: Dec, 2013
#36475: Jun 15th 2015 at 4:36:52 PM

Either way, we have to establish Peter's entire supporting cast and status quo all over again. Peter's origin at this point isn't important to storytelling, but his relationship with his aunt and the press and his job and each of his friends is important.

Strongly agreed.

So, how to introduce Peter's family and character interactions without bogging down the film? I'll do it right now.

Frankly I could take or leave the freelance photographer stuff.

With the quasi-realistic tone of the Marvel movies, I think it'd be something pretty subtle. Peter could have a blink-or-you'll-miss it cameo in an early scene where the Avengers are fighting people, either helping mid-battle with a quick web or merely covering the story for the Bugle, then later, Spidey shows up in a "suit-up/New Avenger role call," and then later, there'll be some dramatic heart-to-heart between him and another Avenger, and he'll reference Aunt May or Mary Jane.

And if the licensing weren't a problem, I'd have him offhandedly reference stopping "Rhino, Electro, and the Lizard a few years ago," but none of the Avengers remember, or think it was somebody else.

Anyway, they've got to do something, because Peter's big moment in Civil War is his unmasking, but doing that to this Peter would have zero emotional impact on the audience. It'd be like killing a major supervillain in his first appear-

...

We all loved it as kids, but looking back, it had some really cracktastic ideas.

So that's what it was. I liked the Carnage episodes. I think they did a much better portrayal of Venom in Spectacular, though.

[up]

The censorship of the Spider Man cartoon is even funnier when you consider that The Punisher, Carnage, and Wolverine were there as well.

edited 15th Jun '15 5:00:41 PM by Soble

I'M MR. MEESEEKS, LOOK AT ME!

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