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Edited by Mrph1 on Jul 29th 2024 at 3:09:00 PM
I thought Whedon wasn't doing Infinity War?
I've got fanfics for Frozen, Spectacular Spider-Man, Crash Bandicoot, and Spyro the Dragon.Before Age of Ultron I was worried about what angle Marvel would take with him. I knew that a repeat of skynet/terminator, Hal aso would bore me out of my mind. Therefore I love the concept of a robot who has human emotions to a certain degree, but is unable to understand what compassion really is. Never mind the whole creator theme which is addressed in the movie.
I think what Marvel really needs to do is pay attention to their marketing. They have to stop making promises they never intend to keep, thus creating false expectations.
They didn't have to make Ultron completely like Hal or Skynet, but when you consider that virtually everybody in the MCU is a constant snarker to the point of obnoxiousness, you can see why it was frustrating.
And him lifting a city into the air didn't exactly have me wetting myself given the ham fisted 'save everybody no matter what' sequence.
I rather like the fact that Marvel is bold enough to go full comic book from time to time and give us things like levitated landmasses, evil computer terminals, and....well, Ant Man. But they're smart enough to do it in a way that fits well within the more grounded aspects of their films and therefore doesn't obliterate the audience's suspension of disbelief. And that's not getting into the MCU's cosmic side which is promising to be a playground for bringing 616's more insane concepts to life. So yes. Have Ultron chuck a city towards Earth. Have him build a robot girlfriend even. Only problem is he fell short of the being the threat people were hoping he'd be. When we first saw Cap's broken shield in the trailer, we got duped into thinking that this guy was gonna be a BEAST. Worse still, is that we were already spoiled by DOFP which presented us with the utterly unnerving Sentinels. After that, we were half expecting Ultron (or his Prime body at least) to hit a similar mark which he sadly didn't.
edited 2nd Sep '15 8:22:38 AM by nervmeister
Thor's funny from time to time, but it's not snark; when Thor's the source of comedy, it's because of his role as The Comically Serious. The way his Viking doesn't quite mesh with the world or people around him, or the way he's Innocently Insensitive toward people.
Examples:
- Smashing the cup in Thor.
- Not really understanding what a coathook is and hanging up Mjolnir in Thor The Dark World.
- "The gates of Hell are filled with the screams of his victims," being absolutely not what Banner needed to hear in Avengers Age Of Ultron.
This also makes him a good target of snark for gags like Ultron's "Clearly, you've never made an omelet," crack.
Thor's absolutely hilarious at times, but it's not snark. A major element of snark is dryly insinuating that whatever someone else just said or did is disconnected from reality. As such, snark would be the antithesis of Thor's comedy; to be snarky, he would need to stop being a fish out of water and instead be comfortable enough with modern society to be able to make such witty cracks about other people.
That's rapey.
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Yeah...I guess we all expected Ultron to be darker than it was in the end. That's what I meant when I said that Disney has to rethink their marketing. Sure, showing all this imagery out of Tony's vision and the creepy version of "No strings on me" made for a really good and memorable trailer. But showing the Shield built up huge expectations, at least a situation in which the Avengers are hit hard. But while they are kind of defeated after Hulk's rampage, it is technically Scarlet Witch who defeats them, not necessarily Ultron.
I think the problem is that we don't see enough of what Ultron actually can do. His first appearance ends with him stealing the sceptre, but not because he is incredible powerful, but because he sneaks around and flees with it. And that is kind of a pattern. Each encounter is more a draw than a true defeat. Even when The Avengers go to the farm it seems like they are more hiding from the public than Ultron himself.
If we compare that to Loki: Before the final battle, he already managed to put together everything he needed and he destroyed the helicarrier. Ultron at this point has failed to kill any of the avengers, lost the help of the twins and Vision. The only thing he has is Black Widow...who then sends a message out, revealing his location.
And I think that is the main problem. Not his human traits but that he is strangely incompetent for an all-knowing robot.
Each encounter is more a draw than a true defeat.
That's because if Ultron defeated them, he would have just killed them, which would kind of end the movie. He did, however, use the Scarlet Witch to defeat them, which was smart.
Before the final battle, he already managed to put together everything he needed and he destroyed the helicarrier.
Loki did not destroy the helicarrier. He had Hawkeye cause the helicarrier to shut down, but they were able to get it back online in time.
Actually, if you look at it, Loki was pretty much defeated in all his fights as well, it was just that he wanted to be defeated, which made him seem more in control.
edited 2nd Sep '15 8:31:52 AM by alliterator
This right here is what I think people who felt Ultron wasn't a threat meant. He's never presented (to them) as being the cause of the Avengers setbacks in his movie. He never gets a real win, unlike Loki did, so why should they believe he even can win?
edited 2nd Sep '15 8:34:55 AM by VeryMelon
No, I agree with Melon. That's her victory, and she was an ally of his, not an underling.
If the only thing Ultron has that's threatening is Witch, than his defeat becomes inevitable the moment he loses her, which is about halfway through the movie when she turns Face.
I found Ultron plenty threatening but, y'know, credit where it's due. Ultron shouldn't get to claim credit for the fact that a different character entirely was very dangerous through no fault of his. He did not create her, he did not control her.
In general, Marvel seems particularly fond of Threat By Association. Character X was in my employ when they did this awesome and intimidating thing, so that means I'm awesome and intimidating by association too. Thanos especially has suffered for this, as the only imposing things he's done so far is employ dangerous people who did imposing things; he has no actual menace of his own.
edited 2nd Sep '15 9:20:30 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
But, again, he was smart enough to employ her. That's like saying Loki shouldn't get credit for when Hawkeye almost crashes the helicarrier. He's the boss.
I do agree that it's inevitable he will lose when Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver leave him. They were his big guns and without them, he's pretty much a robot whom the Avengers have shown they can defeat. Which is why I think he makes a ton of bodies to try and overwhelm them with numbers, as opposed to getting inside their heads through Wanda.
Nick Fury was smart enough to employ the Avengers but that doesn't mean he could win a fight with the Abomination. Nick Fury versus the entire Avengers team would be an incredibly anticlimactic battle.
People were expecting Ultron to be a physical challenge in his own right, as a consequence of being the primary villain, from whom all threat is derived.
edited 2nd Sep '15 9:22:15 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.That reminds me.
Having no knowledge of the comics, when I first saw the official trailer and the scene with the Hulkbuster, I actually thought it was one of the Iron Man suit Ultron took control of and modified, and Hulk was willingly jumping into the scene trying to stop it.
It's funny how far away from the truth it was. XD
Continuously reading, studying, and (hopefully) growing.Nick Fury was smart enough to employ the Avengers but that doesn't mean he could win a fight with the Abomination.
But a win for the Avengers is a win for Nick Fury, wouldn't you say?
People were expecting Ultron to be a physical challenge in his own right, as a consequence of being the primary villain, from whom all threat is derived.
I don't really think anybody, aside from Thanos himself, could be a physical challenge for all the Avengers. This is a team with both Thor and the Hulk. Loki wasn't a physical challenge and he was the primary villain, too.
Ultron easily could have been a physical challenge for all the Avengers. All he needed to do was have his drones actually be worth anything at all in a fight. When even Hawkeye and Black Widow can effortlessly slaughter the drones en masse because they're evidently made from paper-mache, it defangs Ultron's threat potential significantly.
His vibranium chassis also doesn't accomplish much of anything either. It looks cool but gets curbstomped in every fight he's in.
edited 2nd Sep '15 9:31:31 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.

EDIT: Though I kind of cant help but wonder now how Whedon will interpret Thanos's crush on the Reaper.
edited 1st Sep '15 7:51:08 PM by nervmeister