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

LordofLore Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Consider his love an honor
#38951: Jul 24th 2015 at 12:18:56 AM

@Ronan: That would be because he started out as a Fantastic Four villain and then sort of morphed into a Captain Marvel(Mar-Vell) villain(he's the boss of Yon-Rogg) much like Thanos started out as a Darkseid expy for Iron Man to fight but was brought back for Captain Marvel(Mar-Vell)and after his death turned into pretty much just an Avengers villain. Ronan is on the same side as Quill, Nova, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, Groot and the others for Annihilation, Annihilation Conquest and the other Cosmic Marvel events. The only time in those stories where he's against the Guardians is when he throws Quill into the Negative Zone as revenge for Quill making it so easy for Ultron to take over the Kree Empire when he worked as a consult for the Kree(Qull doesn't really blame him for throwing him). He's also on one of the most OP Marvel teams I've ever seen, the Annihilators.

Have a funny Ronan moment.

edited 24th Jul '15 1:05:48 AM by LordofLore

Mukora Uniocular from a place Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: I made a point to burn all of the photographs
Uniocular
#38952: Jul 24th 2015 at 12:59:08 AM

Bad things include... Peter Parker dancing, dancing Peter Parker
Um excuse you.

That's basically the only good scene in the movie.

"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.
#38953: Jul 24th 2015 at 1:00:48 AM

I mean, it's not a great scene, but this Peter Parker is a dork. He danced like a dork. I mean, it's not like it was out of place for him or Sam Raimi's occasional goofiness.

Visit my Tumblr! I may say things. The Bureau Project
DrFurball Since: Jan, 2001
#38954: Jul 24th 2015 at 1:15:36 AM

[up] Never thought I'd see someone else say that they got the joke of that scene. Thank you! Now I don't feel like an idiot for seeing that as "Peter's trying to be cool, but just because he has more confidence doesn't change that he's still a dweeb and now he's doing what he THINKS is cool. Such as dancing."

And you're right in that Sam Raimi has a goofy sense of humor. Like in Evil Dead 2 when Ash's severed hand runs away from him, laughing, until he puts a bucket on it...then he holds said bucket down with some books, one of them being "A Farewell to Arms".

AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#38955: Jul 24th 2015 at 1:19:54 AM

People like to give Toby Maguire a lot of shit, but I thought he did pretty alright as Peter. The problem is he can't stop being Peter even when he should be being Spider-Man, and at that point it makes one wonder if he's as successful as he is because he can't act.

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#38956: Jul 24th 2015 at 8:06:11 AM

i want an agent venom movie so badly. i honestly feel that flash venom is one of the best ideas marvel has had in the last few years.

I agree wholeheartedly. Agent Venom is the counterpoint to the idea that superhero stories are bad because they don't end - or, more accurately, they sequel infinitely.

Agent Venom is an amazing story but a key part of why it works is because of the deep history in both of these characters.

Venom, in and of himself, is a character that takes at least two prior movies to even set up. One more to establish Spider-Man, one to establish the black costume and how it's different from Spider-Man's regular powerset, and one to establish Venom and how he's different from either Spider-Man or Black Suit Spider-Man.

Agent Venom? That's, like, movie 5 at the earliest. There's a lot of setup that has to go into making this story work, but when it's done, the result is one of the best characters the Spider-Man franchise has ever had.

On Tobey Maguire

Eh, I didn't like his Peter either. He overshot the dweeb mark and found himself firmly in wuss territory. Peter's a dork and a terrible flake, but he's a pretty self-assured dork; he does not behave as though he would break down crying the moment the Green Goblin pointed a glider at him, even in his civilian identity.

edited 24th Jul '15 8:07:31 AM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#38957: Jul 24th 2015 at 8:09:06 AM

Who's Venom in the Agent Venom series? Last I heard of him Flash Thompson was in the suit.

Theokal3 Since: Jan, 2012
#38958: Jul 24th 2015 at 8:11:01 AM

Tobey McGuire wasn't horrible, as he did do the geek part well. But whereas Peter usually is despicted as growing out of it, or at least changing his attitude while masked, McGuire was like this all the time, and after a time it became grating. He did throw some jokes so I can't say he failed to play the jokester personality, but after a while it was irritating. Not that Andrew Garfield is perfect either but he at least made the character more interesting.

alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#38959: Jul 24th 2015 at 8:19:39 AM

[up][up] He's still Flash Thompson. And after Secret Wars, there's going to be a new book called Venom: Spaceknight.

spashthebandragon thebandragoness from USA Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
thebandragoness
#38960: Jul 24th 2015 at 8:20:07 AM

I'm pretty sure the closest thing to a "joke" Spider-Man said in Spider-Man 3 was "I'm the sheriff around these parts!" Ha ha ha. What a hilarious quip. I can't stop laughing. It's so witty. Ha. Ha.

I've got fanfics for Frozen, Spectacular Spider-Man, Crash Bandicoot, and Spyro the Dragon.
alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#38961: Jul 24th 2015 at 8:21:30 AM

[up] What a story, Mark.

edited 24th Jul '15 8:23:26 AM by alliterator

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#38962: Jul 24th 2015 at 8:22:40 AM

Garfield was working off a better script in the sense that his Peter Parker was allowed to grow and develop (and only cry if there is a really good reason to), but he is also the better actor imho. Plus, he played the role with so much enthusiasm. I always appreciate it when it feels like the actor really likes the role and not the paycheck or the fame.

Watchtower Since: Jul, 2010
#38963: Jul 24th 2015 at 8:30:16 AM

Y'know, it's pretty funny that The Amazing Spider Man and 21 Jump Street came out in the same year, because the latter makes a damn good point on why Maguire's performance doesn't ring as well as it used to. Back in the early 2000s, the stereotypes of the muscle-bound Jerk Jock picking on the defenseless socially-awkward nerd were still relevant, at least in the eyes of Hollywood. But society's changed a lot over the past ten years, and those roles don't really work anymore.

edited 24th Jul '15 8:32:14 AM by Watchtower

ultimatepheer Since: Mar, 2011
#38964: Jul 24th 2015 at 8:38:28 AM

I'm just gonna say I'm not a fan of Spider-man in general.

None of his movies appealed to me all that much. The original trilogy came of as trite and overall stupid and bland, while the duology tried way too hard to be The Dark Knight.

alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#38965: Jul 24th 2015 at 8:38:50 AM

I would love a Spider-Gwen movie.

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#38966: Jul 24th 2015 at 8:40:26 AM

[up][up][up]I was one of the few fans which were disappointed with the original Spider-man movies from the get go. I thought that their idea of Peter Parker was too goofy (especially since the version I had most in mind back then was the one of the 1990s animated series, which had it's goody moments too, but did allow the character to develop).

edited 24th Jul '15 8:40:40 AM by Swanpride

spashthebandragon thebandragoness from USA Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
thebandragoness
#38967: Jul 24th 2015 at 8:59:55 AM

[up][up][up]Considering Spider-Man has been around since the 1960s with a massive number of comics, TV shows, video games, etc, I think it's a little unfair to judge the worth of the character solely on the quality of the, like, five mediocre movies released since the year 2000.

I've got fanfics for Frozen, Spectacular Spider-Man, Crash Bandicoot, and Spyro the Dragon.
VeryMelon Since: Jul, 2011 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#38968: Jul 24th 2015 at 9:06:38 AM

At this time, I find myself only liking the first 2 Raimi Spider-Man movies. the 3 Spider-Man movies after that are the ones I can't really like.

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#38969: Jul 24th 2015 at 9:07:35 AM

I think it's entirely fair to judge a character based solely on what media you've been exposed to that contains that character. People form opinions based on those things they've experienced and not on the ones they haven't. This is specifically why a bad adaptation is a bad thing.

Done well, an adaptation will spark new interest and get people wanting more. Done poorly, an adaptation will reaffirm why the person never got into this in the first place.

edited 24th Jul '15 9:08:08 AM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
ultimatepheer Since: Mar, 2011
#38970: Jul 24th 2015 at 9:09:01 AM

[up],[up][up][up]The thing is, what I get from Spider-man mostly consists of his whole great powers great responsibility thing... and the universe keeps crapping on him. I don't think any non-X-men character has that much trouble in their personal life.

edited 24th Jul '15 9:09:22 AM by ultimatepheer

spashthebandragon thebandragoness from USA Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
thebandragoness
#38971: Jul 24th 2015 at 9:09:33 AM

[up][up]How is that the slightest bit fair? I've never seen the Transformers TV series, but by your logic, it would be totally fair of me to assume all the Transformers media ever is crap because the Michael Bay movies suck?

[up]Well, yeah, Spider-Man stories are basically a soap opera with superheroes thrown in. But I'd argue that if everything went swimmingly for Peter, it'd be kinda boring.

I do wish the writers would allow Peter to get a happy ending for once, but, well, that's just the nature of comic book characters.

edited 24th Jul '15 9:20:04 AM by spashthebandragon

I've got fanfics for Frozen, Spectacular Spider-Man, Crash Bandicoot, and Spyro the Dragon.
VeryMelon Since: Jul, 2011 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#38972: Jul 24th 2015 at 9:11:39 AM

It's only unfair to fans of that character if you go into a topic about that character and start shitposting about that character like that bad adaptation is all that character is.

Theokal3 Since: Jan, 2012
#38973: Jul 24th 2015 at 9:12:46 AM

I personally used to love the first two Spider-Man movies and already was less thrilled about the third when it came out. Since then however, I realize the three of them were all a bit cheesy and cliché at time (though I still think the second movie was pretty nice overall). I liked the first Amazing Spider-Man overall, minus some small issues. And the third one.... yeaaaaaaaah, I have mixed feelings. Some parts were great (still amazed they managed to make Electro work in a movie for example), other not so much (the way Electro got his accident was so cartoonishly forced I couldn't help but find it laughable). Overall, none of these movies were horrible but none of them were perfect either. Let's hope Marvel can find a proper balance.

But even though I kinda wish we could have seen more of Amazing, I do think it was a good thing Sony and Marvel found an agreement; aside from the fact I wanted my favourite teenage superhero to be in the MCU, what I got from Sony's projects after Amazing suggested they no longer had any clear idea of what to do with the characters and were starting to get desperate (I mean, a Sinister Six movie was stretched already, but an Aunt May movie? Seriously? ... unless if it was about her as Golden Oldie^^). At least Marvel I hope should be able to do appreciable Spider-Man movies. And thanks to Spider-Man starting in Civil War, we will probably not need to see his origin for the third time.

edited 24th Jul '15 9:16:04 AM by Theokal3

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#38974: Jul 24th 2015 at 9:15:40 AM

Well, I guess the existence of the two Amazing Spider-man movies means that Marvel will not choose to adapt the Gwen Stacy storyline...at least I hope that they don't. Because for all what went wrong with the second movie, that part was actually very well done, and I am not in the mood for a repeat anytime soon.

Which makes me wonder...which Storylines would we like to see getting adapted? Other than a proper Venom, naturally (though I would prefer that one in a later movie, when Peter is better established as a character).

VeryMelon Since: Jul, 2011 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#38975: Jul 24th 2015 at 9:16:50 AM

Something from after the 90's era Spider-Man comics.


Total posts: 186,763
Top