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

edvedd Darling. from At the boutique, dear. Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: We finish each other's sandwiches
LDragon2 Since: Dec, 2011
#37452: Jul 8th 2015 at 6:41:56 PM

Yeah, looking up the consensus, the main criticism lobbied at Ant-Man so far seems to be that it isn't very groundbreaking, feels too familiar, and that it could've been so much better had Edgar Wright remained on board.

We'll see if those hold water when it comes out.

edited 8th Jul '15 6:49:27 PM by LDragon2

comicwriter Since: Sep, 2011
#37453: Jul 8th 2015 at 6:57:49 PM

Honestly upon hearing that Hope Van Dyne had a much smaller role in Wright's version, I don't really care much for his idea at this point.

The Hollywood Reporter is claiming Marisa Tomei will cameo in Civil War as Aunt May.

edvedd Darling. from At the boutique, dear. Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: We finish each other's sandwiches
Darling.
#37454: Jul 8th 2015 at 7:03:00 PM

[up][up]It's not really a consensus yet anyway. 20+ reviews isn't a consensus.

Visit my Tumblr! I may say things. The Bureau Project
alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#37455: Jul 8th 2015 at 7:21:28 PM

Also, you can't really call something a "bomb" if it hasn't come out yet. A movie "bombing" has nothing to do with reviews and everything to do with how much money it makes (see: Jurassic World).

edvedd Darling. from At the boutique, dear. Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: We finish each other's sandwiches
Darling.
#37456: Jul 8th 2015 at 7:31:25 PM

But you see, Fanboys with a chip on their shoulder need a percentage to hold up so they can definitively show people how terrible a movie by X company is.

You liked Man of Steel? The RT score shows it's definitely bad and you shouldn't like it! 67% for Ant Man even though we haven't gotten all the reviews in? It's gonna be a bomb and you were a fool to be hopeful!

Individual opinions? I have no idea what those are but they sound gross and weird. tongue

I kid, but RT is given a bit too much weight sometimes. It's helpful for aggregating critical opinions, but it can't tell you whether you'll like something. Critics across the board pretty much hated Terminator Genisys, but quite a few people seem to like it well enough. Are they wrong?

edited 8th Jul '15 7:42:55 PM by edvedd

Visit my Tumblr! I may say things. The Bureau Project
LordofLore Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Consider his love an honor
#37457: Jul 8th 2015 at 7:54:03 PM

[up]x7 Judging by the Thor 2 team, no they aren't upfront about the teams having no say so even on the set.

edvedd Darling. from At the boutique, dear. Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: We finish each other's sandwiches
Darling.
#37458: Jul 8th 2015 at 7:56:20 PM

@Heatth: It's possible that Edgar would have had more freedom if the film had been made in Phase 1. Now, it's too late in the game for that.

edited 8th Jul '15 7:56:41 PM by edvedd

Visit my Tumblr! I may say things. The Bureau Project
Wackd Since: May, 2009
#37459: Jul 8th 2015 at 8:22:34 PM

Edgar Wright was involved with Ant-Man like half a decade before Iron Man was a twinkle in anyone's eye, so.

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.
comicwriter Since: Sep, 2011
#37460: Jul 8th 2015 at 8:22:44 PM

People completely misuse the term "bomb" to the point where it's entering You Keep Using That Word territory.

Heatth (X-Troper) Relationship Status: In Spades with myself
#37461: Jul 8th 2015 at 8:23:39 PM

[up][up][up][up]What do you mean by that?

[up][up][up]Oh, yeah, there is also that too. Ant-Man was really delayed, wasn't it?

[up][up][up]So what? I am honestly unsure of what conclusion you seem to want to imply.

edited 8th Jul '15 8:24:18 PM by Heatth

edvedd Darling. from At the boutique, dear. Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: We finish each other's sandwiches
Mukora Uniocular from a place Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: I made a point to burn all of the photographs
Uniocular
#37463: Jul 8th 2015 at 8:49:36 PM

Eh. I trust word-of-mouth more than professional reviews, and I know everyone I've seen talking about early screenings loved it. One even said it was better than Guardians of the Galaxy, which I find hard to believe, but it's enough to actually make me want to see it, whereas before I was just apathetic.

"It's so hard to be humble, knowing how great I am."
edvedd Darling. from At the boutique, dear. Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: We finish each other's sandwiches
Darling.
#37464: Jul 8th 2015 at 8:54:09 PM

But what about word of mouth from professional critics? tongue

I just like Drew. I always enjoy the insights he puts into his reviews.

Visit my Tumblr! I may say things. The Bureau Project
Mukora Uniocular from a place Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: I made a point to burn all of the photographs
Uniocular
#37465: Jul 8th 2015 at 8:59:45 PM

I mean, yeah. If you have a specific reviewer you really like who shares a lot of your opinions, that's understandable. I just don't, and I figure I'm not a reviewer, so just the general concept of "REVIEWERS HATE THIS" is completely meaningless to me.

"It's so hard to be humble, knowing how great I am."
alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#37467: Jul 9th 2015 at 12:31:37 AM

Hayley Atwell always gets great dubsmash partners.

AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#37468: Jul 9th 2015 at 2:57:06 AM

I actually didn't like GOTG that much, but if people are saying Ant-Man is funnier then I'm looking forward to it, in case it boils down to the style of humor involved.

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#37469: Jul 9th 2015 at 5:37:06 AM

John Campea said that Ant-Man might even be better than Iron Man...honestly, all I heart about the movie so far is that it is a good one. How good, I guess it is a matter of taste. But it is easy to say that the Wright version would have been better. We can't know that. Even good directors create a bomb once in a while.

Concerning the idea that Marvel is stifling the creativity of the directors...I think it is BS. There are preciously few directors out there whose reputation is so good that they can do whatever they want without the producer or the studio having a say. And a lot of those projects in which we know that this was the case, the result wasn't necessarily good (Star Wars Prequels anyone?).

I naturally might be wrong, but I pierced the following together: Iron Man was a movie which was a nightmare during production. Most of the scene had to be add-libbed, but thankfully they had mostly actors which could deal with this. Then Favreau made Iron Man II, but the script wasn't much to write home about and Favreau is (at least in my opinion) not the kind of director who would be able to recognize and salvage a mess (let's not forget that the next movie he made was Cowboy vs Aliens).

Thor 2 was a mess from start to finish and ended eventually in the hands of Alan Taylor, who got all freedom he wanted...until he presented Marvel the finished product. They salvaged what they could by adding more Loki into it and changed what would most likely have been an awful movie into a watchable one. Alan Taylor was naturally peeved that "his vision" got tampered with and went on to make Terminator Genysis.

Whedon got the Avengers, run with it, Marvel was happy with the result and gave him Age of Ultron. And then Whedon created a three hour movie, which resulted in Marvel cutting it down to a reasonable length. Which certainly didn't make the movie better, but let's be honest here, Whedon should have known that three hours are too long. Plus, nobody really liked Thor's vision quest in the first place. Either way, Whedon, who was perfectly happy with Marvel as long as the were perfectly happy with the The Avengers, was now peeved that they "destroyed his vision". (I am sensing a pattern here).

In my point of view, the directors get some pointers, but otherwise have the freedom to put their stamp on the movies in question. And if the Result is good from the get-go, as it was the case with The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel doesn't interfere. Gunn mentioned a while ago that they just rubberstamped his draft for Got G Vol 2.

So, yes, the movies have to fit into the universe, but I really don't see how that is an unreasonable demand. And if anything I am glad that Marvel does some quality control...even if I wished that they had told Whedon to shorten his script before the movie was finished.

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#37470: Jul 9th 2015 at 5:39:40 AM

And, btw, if Ant-man is really as good as they say and is also a box office success, I have a huge "told you so" opportunity, because that's what I predicted month ago.

LordofLore Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Consider his love an honor
#37471: Jul 9th 2015 at 5:48:13 AM

Actually the script to Gotg had to be rewritten partly IIRC. Not by Marvel/Disney or because they didn't like it but by Gunn himself because he didn't like some of the things included like the Novas actually having their iconic helmets and their tech(and also some characters like Richard Rider and some other hero and supporting characters IIRC). From the way the original script is talked about it seems like it had more of a focus on the universe than the later script. It was changed so late that they even had concept art for several different versions of the Nova suits with helmets on.

The director of Thor 2 also hated that he had two of his actors stolen from filming for a few days by Marvel because they wanted to film the stinger on the Gotg set which they didn't tell the director about until the actors were already gone so filming had to stop until they got back. This and Marvel cutting scenes from the script and later from the finished film is what caused him and the rest of the team to decide not to work on another Marvel/Disney movie.

edited 9th Jul '15 5:49:43 AM by LordofLore

alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#37472: Jul 9th 2015 at 6:55:14 AM

Plus, nobody really liked Thor's vision quest in the first place. Either way, Whedon, who was perfectly happy with Marvel as long as the were perfectly happy with the The Avengers, was now peeved that they "destroyed his vision". (I am sensing a pattern here).

1) The Thor vision quest was Marvel's idea. Joss said that he wanted the Hawkeye farm scenes, but Marvel wanted the cave scenes and to lose the farm scenes (they compromised). Joss ended up cutting most of the vision quest because test audiences didn't like it, but still had to keep some of it because the plot wouldn't work otherwise.

2) Joss never said anything about them "destroying his vision." At all. I'm not sure where you got that. He said that after Age of Ultron he was burnt out, but he still has a good relationship with Marvel. If anything, the first Avengers film was also heavily executive meddled with (Joss says that there is only one scene from his first draft that made it into the movie - the first scene with Black Widow).

edited 9th Jul '15 6:55:49 AM by alliterator

jakobitis Doctor of Doctorates from Somewhere, somewhen Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: I'd need a PowerPoint presentation
Doctor of Doctorates
#37473: Jul 9th 2015 at 7:02:00 AM

Well... I am trying to avoid actually reading reviews to dodge spoilers but I have to say, I am really, really psyched for Ant-Man right now. Enough of the Wright script seems to have survived to pique my interest (the Thomas The Tank Engine visual gag/cut is vintage Wright) but even despite all the shenanigans it looks and sounds like it could be a very decent film in it's own right.

"These 'no-nonsense' solutions of yours just don't hold water in a complex world of jet-powered apes and time travel."
Soble Since: Dec, 2013
#37474: Jul 9th 2015 at 7:02:49 AM

[up](x6)

How is Peggy in Civil War? Are we getting another Peggy flashback, or... I guess Sharon visits her in the hospital?

[down]

Literally everywhere else I've looked has called it the best movie since Winter Soldier.

You know I've heard Winter Soldier called "one of the best Marvel films" but... why? I haven't read any reviews on it. I know I liked it, because I'm a sucker for badass fight scenes, but why is it one of the best? The plot twist, when I think about it, really only seemed to affect that film and Agents of SHIELD. HYDRA became a footnote afterward, to the point where fighting them was a picnic by Age of Ultron.

Unless Ant Man, Daredevil, or Guardians of the Galaxy brought them up, and I doubt it in the latter.

So, if the plot twist was why everyone else loved it, I can't say I share that reason.

edited 9th Jul '15 7:05:14 AM by Soble

I'M MR. MEESEEKS, LOOK AT ME!
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#37475: Jul 9th 2015 at 7:03:54 AM

Probably the same way she was in Winter Soldier: a very old woman.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.

Total posts: 186,763
Top