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.
Edited by Mrph1 on Jul 29th 2024 at 3:09:00 PM
Wasn't sure whether to post this in this thread or the BVS one, but I was thinking of a scene that really stuck with me- it's in Ant Man where Luis remembers that mook he knocked on conscious and drags him to safety before the building explodes.
It's such a great scene and demonstration of heroism, I think in part because the audience either forgot about the guy or might have expected the movie to have forgotten about him with bad consequences. So when Luis remembers him, it really has an impact.
Looking at the (relative) coherence and consistency of MCU, it makes me even more baffled that Warner Bros chose Zack Snyder of all directors to kickstart DCEU.
Seriously, his most well known flaw is his inability to write a coherent story. He shouldn't be in charge of any film franchise whatsoever.
Continuously reading, studying, and (hopefully) growing.
You and I are basically in full agreement there. Some exec at Warner obviously likes him because they keep giving him projects, and to be fair he has his strengths as a filmmaker (his action sequences are great for the most part) and a distinct directorial style, but if DC actually wants to have these films be these serious theme-driven dramas, Snyder is an awful choice for that. They needed another Nolan (in the sense of a filmmaker with a distinct style that can tell a functional and compelling story, not necessarily one with a similar style to him per se), not him. I still insist that if Nolan himself had been in charge of Man of Steel that movie would have probably been much better.
Regarding the MCU I would hope they don't get THAT complacent. Civil War will probably be pretty good, but I don't know what to expect from there.
edited 28th Mar '16 8:36:09 PM by wehrmacht
Actually, you know who I would have picked to direct BVS?
He's a master of consistency and logical flow of narratives, city and law/crime, as well as having two characters facing off each other. Also, Nolan refers him as one of his key influences.
edited 28th Mar '16 8:39:37 PM by dRoy
Continuously reading, studying, and (hopefully) growing.
X6: I did like how Ant Man managed to make the characters genuinely heroic in spite of them otherwise being kind of... not.
Like, Scott committed Corporate Espionage and was being hired to do it again, and just wanted his Daughter's love. Luis was pretty much just a bro throughout and I loved ever second he was onscreen. Hank was genuinely remorseful even as he went through with a convoluted plan instead of just, you know, having Shrunk Ant Man and a bunch of Ants walk in and blow the building up.
I especially loved how Scott was called out on his Robin Hood act by pointing out that this one was actually not heroic but stupid and the easy way to get what he wanted.
I am not sure if Nolan would have been the best man for the DCEU. After all, the weakest part of the Nolan trilogy is Batman himself, and we are supposed to follow those character over multiple movies. It can't be some high-brow concept every time. But independent from who is actually directing those movies, they need a Kevin Feige, someone who has a clear plan which major plot points each movie needs to hit to get to the next one, while also being comfortable with mostly allowing the directors to do their job without forcing a very specific vision on them (despite what some people claim, the different franchises within the MCU all have their own tone).
@wehrmacht: Not sure about executives, but one of the producers on both Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman (and 300, Watchmen, Sucker Punch, the upcoming DCEU films, etc.) is Snyder's wife, Deborah. She probably plays a major role in getting these movies made with Zack in the director's chair in the first place.
"Cynic, n. — A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be." - The Devil's DictionaryYeah. I prefer the Arrowverse, but it has a lot of problems. No one is going to hold it against you for liking the DCEU more.
Writing a post-post apocalypse LitRPG on RR. Also fanfic stuff.I don't like the Arrowverse but I at least genuinely enjoyed decent amounts of Arrow and Flash which is more than I can say for Man of Steel.
I opted not to see Bv S because I wanted to see Zootopia and I'd rather not encourage WB's poor behavior by making Zack Washed Out Greys Snyder the director to start out this franchise thing with.
The Blog The Art- Phase 1: Iron Man and The Avengers were great, Captain American: The First Avenger was good, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Iron Man 2 were average.
- Phase 2: Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy were great, Ant-Man was good, The Avengers: Age of Ultron was decent, Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 were above average.
I'd personally give it to Phase 2.
Going back and having revisited The First Avenger, it really is a pretty good, solid movie for Cap. And Winter Soldier does a great job of actually making the first movie even better, since there's all kinds of foreshadowing in The First Avenger regarding Bucky eventually becoming the Winter Soldier.
In fact, I wish the MCU would bring back Joe Johnston and give him another movie to direct, since he did a great job with first Cap movie. :(
edited 29th Mar '16 9:52:39 AM by higherbrainpattern
I don't think Marvel has made a movie yet that topped Iron Man 1, but Phase 2 has an edge over Phase 1 because I connected stronger with more of the films (Particularly Winter Soldier, Iron Man 3, and Guardians of the Galaxy). Even though there were a few disappointments, I thin it worked more often than not.
I'd say Phase 2 is better by leaps and bounds, as while I liked some of Phase 1 well enough the only one I'd rank among my favorites of the franchise is The Avengers.
Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

I actually don't dislike Sucker Punch as most people, but yeah he really has no place saying anything when his movies have been divisive at best. It's one thing to be excited about your characters and say that you're offering something different, but Marvel calls DC their "Distinguished Competition". You could return some of that respect back to them.