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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

wehrmacht belongs to the hurricane from the garden of everything Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
belongs to the hurricane
#49701: Jan 19th 2016 at 10:59:57 AM

at the risk of bringing back this discussion again, the twist behind the mandarin was fine, but killian himself is just as underwhelming as most of the other MCU villains.

i should also probably finish daredevil and start jessica jones sometime, though that won't be for a while i think.

edited 19th Jan '16 11:01:12 AM by wehrmacht

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#49702: Jan 19th 2016 at 11:01:42 AM

To each their own. I loved Killian. I thought he was fantastic and a flawless adaptation of the Mandarin.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
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.
#49703: Jan 19th 2016 at 11:04:23 AM

Ultron is 7 Bajillion percent Uncanny Valley, which is what makes him so good of a villain.

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#49704: Jan 19th 2016 at 11:06:25 AM

I do like Ultron.

If I had the focus to list things in a list form, he'd be in the upper half of said list.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
unknowing from somewhere.. Since: Mar, 2014
#49705: Jan 19th 2016 at 11:07:36 AM

[up][up]But the rest of the movie, he is just a tony stark evil counterpart(because that is what we need it, ANOTHER evil tony stark) who dosent manage to pull his weight as villian.

Iron monger vs Iron man is by far one of the best fight in the MCU(with Antman vs yellowjacket and Bucky vs Cap) so I will give them that.

edited 19th Jan '16 11:09:11 AM by unknowing

"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"
Wackd Since: May, 2009
#49706: Jan 19th 2016 at 11:08:49 AM

Seeing Jeff Bridges play a hard-hearted corporate megalomaniac was all kinds of incredible.

Honestly, Christopher Eccleston and Lee Pace playing deep-throated stoics should've offered the same opertunity for hilarious contrast. Not sure what happened there.

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.
wehrmacht belongs to the hurricane from the garden of everything Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
belongs to the hurricane
#49707: Jan 19th 2016 at 11:09:43 AM

as far as the corrupt corporate executives go, obadiah stane is probably my favorite.

jeff bridges 2stronk.

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.
#49708: Jan 19th 2016 at 11:14:29 AM

[up][up][up]Careful- Ultron doesn't like being compared to Stark. That thar's how you lose arms 'round these parts.

edited 19th Jan '16 11:14:48 AM by PushoverMediaCritic

Eagal Since: Apr, 2012
#49709: Jan 19th 2016 at 11:19:21 AM

Loki is a schmuck.

Thus far the most memorable one of the bunch for me is probably Ronan.

wehrmacht belongs to the hurricane from the garden of everything Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
belongs to the hurricane
#49710: Jan 19th 2016 at 11:19:56 AM

ronan is another one of those villains people gas up, but which I just found ok. he was a good fit for the movie he was in, though.

edited 19th Jan '16 11:20:20 AM by wehrmacht

LordofLore Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Consider his love an honor
#49711: Jan 19th 2016 at 11:37:10 AM

I'm still sort of sad they didn't leave even a splinter of Ultron alive for a movie a decade or more from now and had to have a "this is the final Ultron drone and he has no way to get out of it and is locked away from the internet" talk.

There's almost the exact same set up in a Avengers story(the one with Ultron taking over Tony's armor and transforming his body into a copy of Janet since "she's perfect")with the Avengers thinking they've finally finished Ultron off with a virus and stopped him from fleeing to another body but the story ends with Ultron's head flashing on a computer on the crashed helicarrier(that it hacked before)before disappearing.

A while later a robotic enemy race quickly takes over the Kree empire and erects a barrier to stop other empires from helping the Kree. After the Nova, Ronan/Gamora, Phyla/Moondragon books reach their final issues before the main book starts this is the cliffhanger on the leader of the enemies. The main issue then shows how good Ultron is at hacking.

edited 19th Jan '16 12:07:08 PM by LordofLore

comicwriter Since: Sep, 2011
#49712: Jan 19th 2016 at 11:48:48 AM

Ultron is the easiest villain in the world to bring back should they ever decide to. Just say before he the final battle he put some of his code in a USB somewhere just in case.

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#49713: Jan 19th 2016 at 11:53:14 AM

It wasn't worth leaving a loose end for people to complain about

If they want to bring back Ultron, they will. He's been brought back from sillier before, in the comics.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#49714: Jan 19th 2016 at 11:55:45 AM

As Bocaj said, it wasn't worth the loose end. Writing the films isn't like writing the comics. There's no guarantee of an infinite number of future installments to leave plot points open for.

How many people are still waiting to see that follow-up movie with the Leader?

What about "the True Mandarin" from All Hail the King? Do you think we'll be seeing Iron Man 4 in Phase 4 or 5? Are we talking another ten years before anything comes of that? Twenty? Maybe it just never will.

edited 19th Jan '16 11:56:47 AM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Eagal Since: Apr, 2012
#49715: Jan 19th 2016 at 12:03:48 PM

True Mandarin, in all his farcical glory, can remain as far away from the legit MCU as possible for all I care.

comicwriter Since: Sep, 2011
#49716: Jan 19th 2016 at 12:39:20 PM

We're getting a Civil War prequel comic about the New Avengers.

[1]

CAPTAIN AMERICA: ROAD TO WAR #1

WILL CORONA PILGRIM (W) • ANDREA DI VITO (A) COVER BY RON LIM

VARIANT COVER BY FRANCESCO MATTINA

VARIANT COVER BY TBA

• CAPTAIN AMERICA and BLACK WIDOW must train the new Avengers recruits to work together as a team.

• Their first mission: stop the giant robot, ULTIMO!

• Featuring SCARLET WITCH, VISION, FALCON and WAR MACHINE!

• Bonus TALES OF SUSPENSE #58 included.

48 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T+ …$4.99

Whowho Since: May, 2012
#49717: Jan 19th 2016 at 12:49:21 PM

I would be open to the true mandarin being a black Panther villain, but really I'm happy to have him be an unseen figure in the background.

Ronan was so good, I'm really against the script killing him off, but I guess there's endless possibilities for bringing him back when it comes to the Cosmic.

Darren Cross still surprises me with how interesting a character he is, I'd be happy for him to take a dark rein role.

Edit: [up] YES please tell me the MCU is at the point where giant robots can turn up with no explanation.

edited 19th Jan '16 12:53:00 PM by Whowho

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#49718: Jan 19th 2016 at 12:52:12 PM

Well regarding Ronan, the GOTG cartoon does bring him back. Or rather, Nebula does.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Whowho Since: May, 2012
#49719: Jan 19th 2016 at 12:54:45 PM

Is that in the same continuity? I know a lot of cartoons take place in a suspiciously similar universe.

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#49720: Jan 19th 2016 at 12:57:16 PM

I think its just a suspiciously similar universe

But Korath is alive and one of the Thanos sibs with Nebula and Gamora

And Cosmo speaks and is head of security for Knowhere

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Anomalocaris20 from Sagittarius A* Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: Love blinded me (with science!)
#49721: Jan 19th 2016 at 1:33:39 PM

I like the idea of the true Mandarin never actually appearing. It goes to show that superheroes can't find and defeat EVERY criminal in the world.

Like Nick Fury said at the end of AOU, trouble never ends.

You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!
jakobitis Doctor of Doctorates from Somewhere, somewhen Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: I'd need a PowerPoint presentation
Doctor of Doctorates
#49722: Jan 19th 2016 at 1:42:17 PM

The two TV Big Bads are definitely head and shoulders above ANY of the big screen big bads of the MCU. Not coincidentally, this is largely because a 13 hour season gives time to actually develop them as characters instead of just 'punched out to seal victory' material.

Of the screen villains, Pierce is probably the best although really he's not actually that much more complex than any of the others. It's just Robert Redford being so goddamn awesome it makes him seem a whole lot more interesting and fresh than he really is.

"These 'no-nonsense' solutions of yours just don't hold water in a complex world of jet-powered apes and time travel."
Tuckerscreator (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#49724: Jan 19th 2016 at 2:06:51 PM

[up][up]I agree with that. In the wrong hands he could've ended up just another Obadiah Stane clone, but Redford gives him a whole ton of personality and believability even if it's clear he'll turn out to be the bad guy. Some of his expressions are pretty amusing on a rewatch, such as his "yeah, I'm the head of Hydra" shrug or how he sneaks a second peek at Fury's bad eye.

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#49725: Jan 19th 2016 at 2:17:19 PM

A lot of what makes Pierce work is his conviction in his own righteousness. He's the hero of his own story and that makes him feel more three-dimensional. It's easy to see that he is 100% convinced that his course of action is the right one.

This same conviction of belief and goal is what made Loki so fascinating. It's what put Ronan so far above Malekith despite basically being the exact same goddamn character.

I suspect it's why people were so let down by Killian. I love the bastard, but the fact is, Fake!Mandarin was an ugly ethnic stereotype but there was a righteousness to his ideals that had a lot of people wanting to see him played straight, while Killian was unashamedly a greedy, amoral opportunist.

People like to see villains who genuinely believe in what they're doing.

Both Fisk and Kilgrave have that righteousness. They may be a crime lord and a serial rapist, but damn if they don't act like they piss gold.

edited 19th Jan '16 2:18:44 PM by TobiasDrake

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

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