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Edited by Mrph1 on Jul 29th 2024 at 3:09:00 PM
- Pearce: (expires)
- Widow: (stares transfixed) Oh...
- Fury: What is it? Is he a Skrull? The Red Skull? A red Skrull?
- Widow: No, he's just...I never realized how pretty he is.
- Fury: Really.
- Widow: I'd like to see you look this good at 80.
I was positive Ben Kingsley wasn't the real Mandarin from the moment I first saw IM 3's trailer. Not only are their now shots of the Mandarin using his powers, there's not one scene with Iron Man/Tony Stark and the Mandarin together, or even any actual dialogue held between the two of them.
I remember that there were theories that the Clairvoyant in AOS Season One was actually the Arnim Zola AI after Winter Soldier came out. And then it was immediately disproven (I actually enjoyed Garrett being the Clairvoyant because Bill Paxton was just having so much fun in the role).
I thought it was possible that the stinger to Civil War would be for the Thunderbolts — it would be a nice reversal of Iron Man's stinger, where instead of Fury telling Stark about the Avengers Initiative, it would be Ross telling Zemo about the Thunderbolts Initiative.
Zemo in the MCU doesn't have any skills that would warrant putting him in a Thunderbolts team. He's a former black ops agent, that's all. America has plenty of black ops agents of its own, and there's plenty more in the rest of the world, without needing to recruit someone whose defining purpose is hating the Avengers.
Also, it's kind of hard to offer either threats or bribes to a man who no longer has any interest in living.
There aren't really any surviving MCU villains who would make sense for a Thunderbolts team.
Zemo's role in a hypothetical Thunderbolts would be cerebral. He has more than proven he is a brilliant counter-intelligence agent, Man was able to play the Avengers and the UN like A GODDAMN FIDDLEEEEEE.
No mean feat.
Of course this whole concept of evil dudes as a black-ops team in general works best in comic-books.
edited 30th Apr '17 10:07:11 AM by Gaon
"All you Fascists bound to lose."When Zemo and the Masters of Evil founded the Thunderbolts, it was by pretending to be heroes until the mask stuck for some of them. The part where the team became the Marvel equivalent of Suicide Squad didn't come until later, and the former would be more interesting for the MCU, I think, especially if some of the current roster will be leaving and/or stepping back after Avengers 4. The vacuum of power left by Onslaught is what let the Thunderbolts to form in the first place, so maybe Thanos could allow for something similar.
On the surface, you could do better than Zemo for a member of the team. But I don't think you handpick Zemo for the team— rather, Zemo recruits himself. Assuming the whole thing isn't his idea to begin with.
And assuming it happens at all, which I've always acknowledged it probably won't.
edited 30th Apr '17 11:51:10 AM by Unsung
It properly will if for no other reason than the need to keep the universe going. For all the comic book lore out there, a LOT of it is kind of similar, repeats itself or is simply not a good read. The Thunderbolds are easily one of the more creative ideas the writers had. In addition, I doubt that they are done with Zemo yet.
Yeah people seem to be focused too much on the more recent version of Thunderbolts, which was basically just Marvel's attempt at doing a ripoff of the Suicide Squad. (Still a great series though.)
The initial premise of the Thunderbolts as a team of villains pretending to be good guys could still work. Especially if as teased, the MCU really is a different place after Avengers 4 and some of the big mainstays aren't around anymore.
Another theory of mine actually got debunked long ago while the movie I was theorizing about isn't even out yet!
...Don't worry, this one's nowhere near as bizarre as Black Widow becoming Fem Thor.
Back when everyone was assuming that the MCU versions of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver would be Inhumans, and before the first changes to the Phase Three slate, I assumed that they would go off to be the Audience Surrogate characters in the Inhumans movie, discovering Attilan and learning about Inhuman society and the Royal Family along with the viewers, and that Quicksilver and Crystal would end in a relationship as in the comics.
Really, this theory was just an excuse for me to hope for a scene in Infinity War where Crystal meets Captain America and makes a comment about how attractive he is in reference to another Chris Evans-portrayed Marvel character Crystal has romanced in the comics... only to remember that Pietro is standing right there.
Yes, I'm complete trash, but it's a moot point since Inhumans is now getting a show instead of a movie and Quicksilver had to die in Age of Ultron because Joss Whedon.
Black Widow as Thor
◊, you say?
edited 30th Apr '17 12:17:20 PM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.I think the main reason why Quicksilver had to die in the MCU is because Speedsters are always problematic in any narrative unless you give them serious limitations. I mean, there is a reason why most of the villains in The Flash are also Speedsters, because, let's be honest here, in most filler episodes he actually has to stop running around for no reason whatsoever to give the villain at least a chance to do something.
Speedsters have a habit of getting Worfed more frequently and more stupidly than most other powersets due to their Story-Breaker Power. Keeping the speedster from just solving everything in the blink of an eye generally requires finding a way to take him out, and those range from everyone just having convenient use of the few powers that can actually trump speedsters - psychics are generally the go-to for defeating them - to pants-on-head stupid instances of obvious jobbing such as being taken out by Captain America doing a clothesline.
edited 30th Apr '17 12:50:49 PM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.In the Avengers comics I've been reading, Quicksilver is constantly running into punches and walls.
Its such a pattern that he actually developed an ultimate move where he runs into a wall and nearly dies on purpose.
Forever liveblogging the AvengersEh, the easiest way to counter speedsters is with the Flying Brick powerset. They can't really hit someone who's flying, and even if they could, most speedsters don't have the punching force to actually hurt them.
edited 30th Apr '17 1:11:26 PM by RavenWilder

No joke, I did once consider that the Mandarin was a decoy for the real villain in Iron Man 3, because I noticed the trailers had no footage of him fighting or using powers or something. But it was just a momentary thought, not a serious theory.
I did incorrectly think that Pierce in TWS was going to turn out to be the Red Skull. Didn't want it to happen, because it would make his motives Hijacked by Ganon, considered it was possible when they showed Black Widow's holo-face mask. One exchange in particularnote I thought was going to lead right into Widow and Pierce's Scooby-Doo reveal, and then he was bleeding out on the floor and I thought: "...oh. I guess it's kinda late now if any secret identity reveal was going to happen."
edited 29th Apr '17 10:11:20 PM by Tuckerscreator