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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

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#49101: Jan 11th 2016 at 4:55:08 PM

Should Stan Lee die, I hope they start sticking portrays and/or Photos of him in the background. Or a statue. Wouldn't it be hilarious if a planet in Got G had a Lan Stee Statue?

PushoverMediaCritic I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out. from the Italy of America Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
#49102: Jan 11th 2016 at 5:11:08 PM

The saddest Excelsior.

PushoverMediaCritic I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out. from the Italy of America Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
#49104: Jan 11th 2016 at 5:16:15 PM

Um.

Anomalocaris20 from Sagittarius A* Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: Love blinded me (with science!)
#49105: Jan 11th 2016 at 5:16:16 PM

Stan Lee ain't dying yet. He's still actively working at Marvel despite being 93, so his health can't be too bad.

I mean, yeah, tragedy could always strike, but it's not like the man has one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel or something.

You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!
MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#49106: Jan 11th 2016 at 5:21:35 PM

Silly humans. There is no Stan Lee. There is only a Doombot.

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#49107: Jan 11th 2016 at 5:21:58 PM

Didn't he have some illness in his eyes? Either way, he will be close to hundred by the time Infinity war 2 comes out.

ultimatepheer Since: Mar, 2011
#49108: Jan 11th 2016 at 5:23:43 PM

[up][up]There is no Stan Lee.

There is only, and there has only ever been, DOOM

MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#49109: Jan 11th 2016 at 5:26:34 PM

I really do hope that Infinity War Part II ends with the reveal that Stan Lee is the Watcher.

Alternatively, he's the Beyonder and sends them all to his Battle World right after they beat Thanos.

alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#49110: Jan 11th 2016 at 5:29:40 PM

He's still actively working at Marvel despite being 93, so his health can't be too bad.
Stan Lee really hasn't "actively" worked at Marvel for about twenty years. After he stopped being their publisher in 1996, he hasn't really "worked" for Marvel other than as a kind of figurehead.

PushoverMediaCritic I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out. from the Italy of America Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
#49111: Jan 11th 2016 at 5:31:16 PM

And to be awesome. In the original sense of the word: awe-inspiring.

Anomalocaris20 from Sagittarius A* Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: Love blinded me (with science!)
#49112: Jan 11th 2016 at 5:31:38 PM

He's still involved to some degree, though, he's just not directly writing comics anymore.

Though he did release an autobiography in comic book form last year. I'd recommend reading it, it's pretty good and informative on both the man and the company.

You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!
alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#49113: Jan 11th 2016 at 5:36:08 PM

If you're interested in the history of Marvel Comics, I would also recommend Marvel Comics: The Untold Story by Sean Howe, which is pretty fascinating.

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#49114: Jan 11th 2016 at 5:38:15 PM

I have the autobiography. Its my next thing to read.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#49115: Jan 11th 2016 at 5:44:15 PM

I've heard allegations of Stan allegedly stealing credit from others, but I don't think there's much to this claim, is there?

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
comicwriter Since: Sep, 2011
#49116: Jan 11th 2016 at 5:50:57 PM

[up]There are very bitter disputes about that but yes there are a few hotly contested takes where it's argued that he takes more credit than he deserves, particularly with many of his collaborations with Jack Kirby.

edvedd Darling. from At the boutique, dear. Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: We finish each other's sandwiches
Darling.
#49117: Jan 11th 2016 at 5:51:18 PM

I don't suppose he was ever the best writer Marvel ever had, but he is the most visible.

I don't know about the allegations.

Visit my Tumblr! I may say things. The Bureau Project
AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#49118: Jan 11th 2016 at 5:52:09 PM

[up][up]

Is there any general consensus about most of those claims?

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
MousaThe14 Writer, Artist, Ignored from Northern Virginia Since: Jan, 2011 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
Writer, Artist, Ignored
#49119: Jan 11th 2016 at 5:53:49 PM

There is plenty. Stan Lee is not exactly what anyone would call humble. He says J. Jonah Jameson is based on himself and that may be more true than he realizes.

The Marvel Method of writing comics has so much individual artist input necessary that they practically wrote the whole danged things themselves and Stan Lee just added the dialogue.

I mean he's a funny dude, an excellent marketer, basically a perfect advertiser and hype man, it's why it's so easy to attribute stuff to him, he has that personality and writing style that makes him a fantastic face for something but he's not exactly a God of writing. Nor of appreciating the work of his partners.

For those unfamiliar, the Marvel Method is where the writer basically hands the artist a sort of summary paragraph or more of the comic and about how many pages it should be, then the artist pretty much makes the whole comic and then the writer comes back later to add dialogue to whatever the artist made.

edited 11th Jan '16 5:56:13 PM by MousaThe14

The Blog The Art
Anomalocaris20 from Sagittarius A* Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: Love blinded me (with science!)
#49120: Jan 11th 2016 at 5:58:02 PM

One thing I love about Lee's autobiography is that whenever Jack Kirby is on-panel, he has Kirby Dots around him, whether it's in the smoke from his cigar or angry fuming from his head.

edited 11th Jan '16 5:58:12 PM by Anomalocaris20

You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!
AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#49121: Jan 11th 2016 at 6:05:41 PM

It sounds like the Marvel method would be best to credit both Lee and Kirby, then. Lee would be the idea man, and Kirby would be the one who translated those ideas and added ones of his own.

Of course, I did read that Stan and Steve Ditko were somewhat at odds when it came to Spider-Man. Ditko put a sketch of Spider-Man swinging past some protesters and shaking his fist like he was angry at them (which was his intent). Stan made the dialogue where Spidey was giving them some support, just to kind of tick Ditko off. Plus, it was Stan's idea to make Norman Osborne the Green Goblin. Ditko wanted a random stranger that we'd never seen before.

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#49122: Jan 11th 2016 at 6:06:07 PM

Lee's specific Marvel Method of writing a comic was to basically tell the artist exactly what happened in the issue, talking on the phone (or in person) for an hour or two and then the artist would go and draw what he described and then Stan would add the dialogue.

What this meant, really, was that the artist was responsible for basically pacing out the entire issue and sometimes even plotting it out (Steve Ditko has said that, towards the end, he almost never spoke to Lee and instead just drew what he wanted and Lee would write whatever dialogue fit). That's why a lot of the time the credits would list Lee and the artist as "co-writers" or they would list the artist as "co-plotter."

Lee was a lot more visible than a lot of the artists, though (he was basically the face of Marvel), so it may have seemed that he took a lot of the credit (and, to be fair, he wasn't that quick to dispute people who called him the creator of Spider-Man or the FF).

edited 11th Jan '16 6:06:41 PM by alliterator

AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#49123: Jan 11th 2016 at 6:07:09 PM

Well to be fair, Ditko and Kirby were much more reclusive than Lee (Ditko especially).

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#49124: Jan 11th 2016 at 6:07:59 PM

Stan couldn't even keep names straight.

Like Bob Bruce David "Donald Blake" Banner or Peter Palmer

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#49125: Jan 11th 2016 at 6:08:50 PM

Alliterations get confusing after a while, man.

edited 11th Jan '16 6:09:21 PM by AdricDePsycho

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?

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