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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.
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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

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#70576: May 15th 2017 at 4:32:12 PM

Also...why is it that actors who played Hydra members are the ones who keep dying? This is already the third....

Remember that short in the DVD of Iron Man 3 where "the true Mandarin" has Trevor Slattery killed for pretending to be him on TV?

It's like that. Hydra doesn't appreciate all this publicity it's been getting. They are very busy trying to run a country right now and don't need people spilling their secrets.

edited 15th May '17 4:32:42 PM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#70577: May 15th 2017 at 4:39:06 PM

Done with Episode 7. The scenes between Ward and Harold were fucking great. Watching as Ward just keeps getting run through the wringer until he finally stabs and mutilates his own father is engaging. Wonderfully engaging. Madame Gao is delightfully evil, and I fucking love how she just waltzes into Rand and starts dealing in her own evil shit within the company without any way for Danny to get her to stop. Heck, Danny is actually pretty fucking good here, I almost forgot how he came off as so creepy and unsettling early on. He's doing stuff because it's the right thing, and he's going against the people in his company who are doing some seriously shady shit.

Which still makes me pissed off at how the show takes forever to get to this point when they should've cut down the first five episodes to be three episodes. People would've given this better reviews if they'd done that, and hell, I'd take a slower second half if it meant the first half was still good. So far this is definitely the weakest of the Netflix shows (though the strong character moments make me at least position this slightly above Daredevil Season 2), and that's mostly because it takes forever to get going, and even when it's good there's still some glaring flaws. Finn Jones is an alright actor but he sometimes comes off as unnecessarily stiff and wooden, in addition to the fight scenes with him often being weak. The editing during the fights is largely atrocious to watch and downright confusing. Danny and Colleen having sex out of seemingly nowhere...no. Just no. Hell, I don't even get too much of a sense of closeness between them. They play off each other better now, but in the early episodes they don't feel particularly close to each other.

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#70578: May 15th 2017 at 5:55:53 PM

Bump.

Done with Episode 8. The fight with Lewis Tan's character was great, kind of hilarious actually. I don't doubt he'll wind up coming back next season, he's too good of a character to possibly pass up on using again (plus the whole hint about him probably having a darker side when he's sober is ripe with potential). Ward dealing with his traumas is fun to watch, but the whole thing with Joy flat out hiring a private investigator (most likely Jessica Jones going by the dialogue) to dig up dirt on the people in the company trying to screw over Danny and the Meachum siblings is surprising but also kind of fitting. She's not that nice after all. If they'd actually managed to cut down the first five episodes to be three episodes, and the preview for critics ended with this one, this would've been so much better in terms of pacing and writing.

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
Anomalocaris20 from Sagittarius A* Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: Love blinded me (with science!)
#70579: May 15th 2017 at 6:47:15 PM

I'm glad to see you're enjoying the Meachum family. They're the best part about Iron Fist. And they get even better (or worse, from an in-universe perspective) going forward.

Unrelatedly, I have no doubt that Zhou will return. Lewis Tan is great.

Episode 6 was great but the Bride of Nine Spiders felt wasted, as you noted.

edited 15th May '17 6:48:07 PM by Anomalocaris20

You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!
alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#70580: May 15th 2017 at 10:46:56 PM

Your responses are pretty much my responses. Lewis Tan was so good as Zhou that I really wish they had cast him as Danny Rand.

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#70581: May 16th 2017 at 12:26:31 AM

[up] I don't, and not just because I still think that Danny Rand can be pretty much everything EXCEPT Asian. He was good in that scene because he had the luck to get directed by the best of the bunch who worked in that show AND because he had a role which allowed him to overact. But it was still overacting.

Anyway, I think that Joy isn't that nice was made clear pretty early when she exchanges an ORGAN for the pier they want and Ward looks positively shocked by what she has done. Iron Fist is a little bit like Ao S in that regard, a lot of what happens in the first episodes seem a little bit random, but they are all puzzle pieces for a big thematic whole.

Unsung it's a living from a tenement of clay Since: Jun, 2016
it's a living
#70582: May 16th 2017 at 2:04:10 AM

Edit: Oops.

edited 16th May '17 2:19:05 AM by Unsung

Unsung it's a living from a tenement of clay Since: Jun, 2016
it's a living
#70583: May 16th 2017 at 2:18:38 AM

Still seems like an unnecessary objection based on the idea that Danny would've been more accepted in K'un-Lun if he was Asian, which doesn't really seem to have much to support it. Danny's fish-out-of-water story rarely mentions his race. Him being a poor little rich kid who got beaten with sticks until he fell in line seems like the more difficult adjustment, and that could've happened to anyone.

Lewis Tan is winking at the camera a fair bit during his scenes, but he's got the screen presence to get away with it. He's got more personality than Finn Jones and he's better at martial arts. He's only got eight minutes onscreen to sell us on the character, and the rest of the episode is fairly subdued, even downright mediocre, so I'm more inclined to credit the actor over the director. Kevin Tancharoen is a fine director, especially when it comes to action scenes, but saying he's the best of the bunch here based on an episode that's really not his best work? That's stretching it.

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#70584: May 16th 2017 at 3:14:49 AM

[up] The episode and the fight is clearly made in his style. And he is excellent in drawing the best out of the actors. They all bring some of their best performances.

Btw, I actually like the romance between Danny and Coleen. They are cute together in a "awww, those clueless, overly romantic teenagers" way.

comicwriter Since: Sep, 2011
AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#70586: May 16th 2017 at 7:24:22 AM

I just can't really see it with Danny and Colleen. I know a lot of the early reviews and fan buzz said that Colleen was much more interesting than Danny, but I think she's kind of bland. I just don't get a feeling of closeness between her and Danny. Unless I'm missing something, of course.

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
#70587: May 16th 2017 at 7:47:21 AM

The impression I get is that it's very much a physical attraction and appreciation for the others skill at punching septums

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
#70588: May 16th 2017 at 7:50:37 AM

Huh...guess that might make sense, I guess. Battle Couple then.

Ya know, even though Danny isn't really my favorite of the four Defenders and so far Iron Fist is probably one of my least favorite parts of anything from the TV side of the MCU (Probably situated somewhere around Daredevil Season 2 and Agent Carter Season 2), I still like him much better than Matt. Danny comes off as largely bland sometimes but I don't, like, want to repeatedly punch him in the face for being an idiot.

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#70589: May 16th 2017 at 8:01:21 AM

[up] He is my second fav defender after Jessica....Luke is okay, I guess, but being the "strong silent type" often makes him boring and Matt really p... me off, especially in season 2.

Wait a little bit concerning Colleen. You might understand the attraction of her character and their relationship around episode 10, even if you don't share the view.

Gaon Smoking Snake from Grim Up North Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
#70590: May 16th 2017 at 8:02:37 AM

Matt is my favorite, Danny is my second favorite, followed by JJ and LC.

I mostly like Danny for being the happy-go-lucky fellow among the violently grim Defenders team.

"All you Fascists bound to lose."
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#70591: May 16th 2017 at 8:04:55 AM

[up] Yeah, that is pretty much my reasoning, too. I mean, he is a flawed character, but his show is pretty aware of the fact, so I don't mind his flaws. What I hate is if the flaws of a character are sold as virtues.

AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#70592: May 16th 2017 at 8:06:11 AM

I like Luke the most. Like, I agree he does come off as kind of boring, but I kind of see him as almost being like the equivalent to Captain America.

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#70593: May 16th 2017 at 8:09:24 AM

[up] He falls in the type but I have an easier time to relate to Steve because he is so stubborn.

Gaon Smoking Snake from Grim Up North Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
#70594: May 16th 2017 at 8:10:00 AM

There's not a single one of the Defenders I hate, I really like them all as a character. I just find Luke the least interesting. But he's a great character, as Adric said, kind of a urban Captain America. I do wish he took himself less seriously from now on so he could be more like his comics self (who's a tad less dramatic).

Matt I like the most for biased reasons. As a Catholic who's had his share of punching people in the face, Matt's arc of "catholic struggling with his Blood Knight tendencies" reasonates with me.

"All you Fascists bound to lose."
VeryMelon Since: Jul, 2011 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#70595: May 16th 2017 at 8:10:55 AM

I don't have a favorite Defender. I like them all.

windleopard from Nigeria Since: Nov, 2014 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
#70596: May 16th 2017 at 8:11:57 AM

Calling Luke the "strong and silent type" is rather oversimplifying of him.

AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#70597: May 16th 2017 at 8:28:32 AM

Also, something else about the series: Claire's presence just feels really tacked on for the most part. She just feels mostly inconsequential.

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#70598: May 16th 2017 at 8:30:34 AM

[up] I really can't agree there...aside from Claire having her own little arc in the background, she contributes to the plot quite a bit.

Gaon Smoking Snake from Grim Up North Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#70600: May 16th 2017 at 8:33:33 AM

Like, she has barely any presence (which is jarring after how much presence she had in Luke Cage), she kinda disappears into the background, and I keep forgetting she's even in this show.

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?

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