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

RBluefish Since: Nov, 2013
#66901: Mar 8th 2017 at 7:35:14 PM

I believe Lupita Nyong'o is playing a villain in the movie? So presumably not a love interest.

No clue about Zendaya. There were those rumors about her playing Mary Jane, but it seems likely at this point that those were unfortunately bogus.

"We'll take the next chance, and the next, until we win, or the chances are spent."
LordVatek Not really a lord of anything Since: Sep, 2014
Not really a lord of anything
#66902: Mar 8th 2017 at 7:36:05 PM

Zendaya isn't. The love interest in Homecoming is Liz Allen, played by Laura Harrier.

edited 8th Mar '17 7:37:56 PM by LordVatek

This song needs more love.
PincerMove Since: Feb, 2017
#66903: Mar 8th 2017 at 7:40:09 PM

I'm pretty sure Mary Jane is the love interest for Spider-Man. But if we're sticking to them pretending she's totally not Mary Jane no really we're not being suspicious you're being suspicious, you have Laura Harrier, who is also African American.

And yes, they did confirm about Lupita Nyong'o. Sidenote, did Black Panther have the all female bodyguards thing before Colonel Qaddafi did it? Cause if not, that seems really really bad. Hell, it seems bad anyway.

edited 8th Mar '17 7:40:47 PM by PincerMove

LordVatek Not really a lord of anything Since: Sep, 2014
KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#66905: Mar 8th 2017 at 7:43:55 PM

Is Valkyrie a love interest? I don't remember them confirming a romantic arc between them, but then I could have missed that infodump.

[up] And, to add, there is no good reason to keep her being Mary Jane a secret (and the origin of the rumor is a less-than-credible online news site that basically made it up, one of those "I heard it in a bar" things), so let's not call Lying Creator on this.

edited 8th Mar '17 7:46:36 PM by KnownUnknown

AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#66906: Mar 8th 2017 at 7:45:14 PM

None confirmed but ever since Valkyrie was even announced to be in the movie people were teasing that she would become a replacement love interest over Jane.

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#66907: Mar 8th 2017 at 7:45:45 PM

I do like that Spider-Man tries to avoid rehashing the same supporting cast with every reboot. It makes things a bit less samey. It's too bad we aren't getting J. K. Simmons as Jameson anymore.

KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#66908: Mar 8th 2017 at 7:47:16 PM

[up][up] Can I get a source for those teases? Not trying to put you on the spot, just curious.

It's just, "Valkyrie's replacing Jane as Thor's love interests" does also seem more likely to be something the fans are reading into than something the writers are actually stating.

edited 8th Mar '17 7:52:00 PM by KnownUnknown

KarkatTheDalek Not as angry as the name would suggest. from Somwhere in Time/Space Since: Mar, 2012 Relationship Status: You're a beautiful woman, probably
Not as angry as the name would suggest.
#66909: Mar 8th 2017 at 7:47:53 PM

I'm pretty sure Mary Jane is the love interest for Spider-Man. But if we're sticking to them pretending she's totally not Mary Jane no really we're not being suspicious you're being suspicious, you have Laura Harrier, who is also African American.

I'd rather not just make assumptions about this - we have no hard evidence that she's playing Mary Jane (and if she was, why would they keep it a secret?).

And yes, they did confirm about Lupita Nyong'o.

Do you have a source for that? I believe the character she's playing was a villain in the comics.

Sidenote, did Black Panther have the all female bodyguards thing before Colonel Qaddafi did it? Cause if not, that seems really really bad. Hell, it seems bad anyway.

They first appeared in 1998, so...I presume after?

Though I'm curious what this has to do with anything.

Oh God! Natural light!
PincerMove Since: Feb, 2017
#66910: Mar 8th 2017 at 7:51:58 PM

And the Arkham Knight is not Jason Todd, the characters of Lost are not in purgatory, Hunter Zoloman is not Zoom in Flash, Ned Stark is the main character of Game Of Thrones, Naomie Harris is not Moneypenny, Bucky is not in The Winter Soldier, Star Trek Into Darkness is not about Khan...

You do get that they are allowed to lie to you, right? When people correctly guess exactly what a writer intends, they don't just scrap the entire movie and start over from scratch, they lie to your face and tell you that you didn't get it right, in order that it still be a suprise.

KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#66911: Mar 8th 2017 at 7:52:33 PM

I'd take Word of God over nonsensical rumors written by hack news sites any day.

edited 8th Mar '17 7:55:18 PM by KnownUnknown

KarkatTheDalek Not as angry as the name would suggest. from Somwhere in Time/Space Since: Mar, 2012 Relationship Status: You're a beautiful woman, probably
Not as angry as the name would suggest.
#66912: Mar 8th 2017 at 7:53:14 PM

[up][up] Alright, but what reliable evidence do you have that she's Mary Jane?

edited 8th Mar '17 7:53:27 PM by KarkatTheDalek

Oh God! Natural light!
PincerMove Since: Feb, 2017
#66913: Mar 8th 2017 at 7:53:38 PM

Process of freaking elimination. I'm pretty sure she's not doing the press briefings and having a big deal made about her because she's not going to factor into the story or any future ones in any significant way.

edited 8th Mar '17 7:54:13 PM by PincerMove

RBluefish Since: Nov, 2013
#66914: Mar 8th 2017 at 7:53:55 PM

I'd love it if Zendaya is MJ, but I sadly don't expect it to happen. Now I'm open to being proven wrong on this, of course, but that's just my prediction.

"We'll take the next chance, and the next, until we win, or the chances are spent."
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#66915: Mar 8th 2017 at 7:54:01 PM

Okay but why lie? She's a high school student not some secret agent. There's no plausible reason for Mary Jane to hide her identity.

LordVatek Not really a lord of anything Since: Sep, 2014
Not really a lord of anything
#66916: Mar 8th 2017 at 7:54:27 PM

Or, and I know this is crazy, she's a completely original character made for the movie.

This song needs more love.
Pseudopartition Screaming Into The Void from The Cretaeceous Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
Screaming Into The Void
#66917: Mar 8th 2017 at 7:54:28 PM

It's too bad we aren't getting J. K. Simmons as Jameson anymore.
Yeah, I hated the Raimi movies, but Simmons was perfect.

KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#66918: Mar 8th 2017 at 7:56:10 PM

It helps that there's, again, no reason to lie. There's no twist value in her character turning out to be Mary Jane, because she's a character with a plot everybody knows already. It wouldn't add anything to the experience to not know who she is beforehand.

In fact, since MJ is a character the fans would already know it would actually be worse for hype to hide the fact that she's in the movie than it would be to simply state it - because with the politics surrounding MJ's removal in the comics her presence would charge up the fandom.

A studio having a character guaranteed to get a positive reaction from the paying public in the story and then refusing to advertise their presence in the film isn't a likely alternative to simply not having the character in the first place.

edited 8th Mar '17 8:00:13 PM by KnownUnknown

Nightwire Since: Feb, 2010
#66919: Mar 8th 2017 at 7:58:57 PM

And even if she turns out to be Mary Jane, who cares?

RBluefish Since: Nov, 2013
#66920: Mar 8th 2017 at 7:59:54 PM

Well, it'll be a case of one of the most iconic love interests in Western media being made into a black woman. So people invested in racial representation will care deeply.

"We'll take the next chance, and the next, until we win, or the chances are spent."
PincerMove Since: Feb, 2017
#66921: Mar 8th 2017 at 8:00:22 PM

Okay but why lie? She's a high school student not some secret agent. There's no plausible reason for Mary Jane to hide her identity.
...you do understand that these movies aren't real, don't you? Scarlett Johansen is not the worlds greatest assassin and spy, she's an actress. Zendaya is not lying to protect her life, she's doing it cause she was told to by the producers.

KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#66922: Mar 8th 2017 at 8:01:53 PM

[up][up] In which case it makes even more sense to actually say so beforehand. If they're hiding it, that looks like they're trying to downplay and hide the fact that the love interest is black, which would itself look bad.

[up] Which they're doing because...? You're saying a lot of "movie people lie, so of course they're lying now!" conclusion jumping, and not a lot of explaining why they would even bother doing so. Trust me, if there's anyone who always lies to the public for a calculated reason, it's the movie industry.

Good lies mean hype. Bad lies mean lost profit. Marvel knows the difference between them.

edited 8th Mar '17 8:06:04 PM by KnownUnknown

PincerMove Since: Feb, 2017
#66923: Mar 8th 2017 at 8:02:31 PM

Even though his other love interest in the movie is black.

Beatman1 Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Gone fishin'
#66924: Mar 8th 2017 at 8:02:58 PM

[up][up][up][up]And others will scream to high heaven about not being faithful to the material.

Then again we just had this problem. And while I could talk about black women are desexualized by fandoms, let's get some confirmation first.

[up][up][up]It's more "why hide she's Mary Jane unless you know it will infuriate people?"

edited 8th Mar '17 8:03:54 PM by Beatman1

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#66925: Mar 8th 2017 at 8:03:51 PM

[up][up][up][up]What I'm saying is that there's no plausible reason to not say "This actress is Mary Jane." Now it could theoretically be an in-universe twist which explains why they'd tell us she has a different name but what would be the in-universe reason for Mary Jane lying?

edit: I doubt we're getting a "Ben Kingsley isn't really the Mandarin" twist so why not just tell us upfront who she is?

edited 8th Mar '17 8:05:06 PM by Kostya


Total posts: 186,763
Top