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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

SonOfSharknado Love is Love is Love Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
Love is Love is Love
#75076: Sep 29th 2017 at 9:57:21 PM

I lived in 2016 too, ya know.

My various fanfics.
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#75077: Sep 29th 2017 at 9:58:44 PM

Prove it.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#75078: Sep 29th 2017 at 9:58:57 PM

As did I. I wouldn't recommend it.

AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#75079: Sep 29th 2017 at 9:59:56 PM

2016 was the worst year of my life, let's just leave it at that before we get too off topic.

Inhumans sucked.

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
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.
#75080: Sep 29th 2017 at 10:00:07 PM

2016 was real bad, but I think 2017 has beaten it in terrible so far, and that's saying A LOT.

Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#75081: Sep 29th 2017 at 10:00:38 PM

[up] Are you kidding me?

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
TheMageofFire Since: May, 2012
#75082: Sep 29th 2017 at 10:00:59 PM

Jesus, I thought Adric was older than me, but I have a good five on you.

AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#75083: Sep 29th 2017 at 10:02:01 PM

Wow, I'm a few years shy of 30. Now I just feel old.

SonOfSharknado Love is Love is Love Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
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.
#75085: Sep 29th 2017 at 10:03:05 PM

[up][up][up][up]Just the sheer number of natural disasters alone beats all the celebrity deaths last year. Not to mention that last year, we had the threat of President Trump while this year we have President Trump.

[up]I'm 20.

edited 29th Sep '17 10:04:26 PM by PushoverMediaCritic

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#75086: Sep 29th 2017 at 10:03:53 PM

Yeah, so far 2017 has panned out exactly the way XKCD said it would.

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
#75087: Sep 29th 2017 at 10:06:05 PM

God damn it, is there anybody in this thread who's 18 or younger?

Y'all are all old.

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
HandsomeRob Leader of the Holey Brotherhood from The land of broken records Since: Jan, 2015
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
#75088: Sep 29th 2017 at 10:06:22 PM

My current age is the same as a Empress of Tomorrow, and that's all I'm going to say about it.

Not sure if that makes me older than Tobias, but I'm definitely older than Adric like most of you.

Now I'm curious as to whether we have anyone here older than 40. I mean, it's more than likely, but it'd be interesting to actually hear it.

One Strip! One Strip!
Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#75089: Sep 29th 2017 at 10:07:39 PM

[up][up][up][up] Yes, both are terrible things, but at the same things, it shouldn't outweigh the good deeds of those who fought for their good rights, not to mention that Trump is not accomplishing much of what he wants. And the Far-Right losing in three important European countries, so I wouldn't call 2017 another dark year like 2016 but a year of emerging hope.

And FYI, I'm 19 years old.

edited 29th Sep '17 10:08:15 PM by Luigisan98

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#75090: Sep 29th 2017 at 10:12:54 PM

I'm turning 25 next year. You never think you're going to be old, until you are.

Only 2 episodes of DD left...barring a colossal fuck-up in the finale which I don't see happening this was pretty good.

Not looking forward to the mess I heard season 2 is ):

AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#75091: Sep 29th 2017 at 10:14:05 PM

Watch Jessica Jones before you get to that.

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#75092: Sep 29th 2017 at 10:15:35 PM

I've already seen both JJ and Luke Cage, this is just me catching up with something overdue.

AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#75093: Sep 29th 2017 at 10:16:53 PM

Then I suggest buckling up and bracing yourself for Season 2 and for Iron Fist. Mostly Iron Fist. Of course Inhumans has made me lose the urge to rag on that to the same extent.

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
thatindiantroper Since: Feb, 2015
#75094: Sep 29th 2017 at 10:19:36 PM

I'm 22 which feels weirdly old, but I had a mid life crisis at 14 so I guess I'm weird like that.

Still least I got a few more years to go than that crypt keeper with the dragon avatar up there.

LordVatek Not really a lord of anything Since: Sep, 2014
Not really a lord of anything
#75095: Sep 29th 2017 at 11:05:22 PM

I'm turning 21 in a few weeks.

And yes Inhumans was awful. I couldn't even finish it.

This song needs more love.
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#75096: Sep 30th 2017 at 1:19:29 AM

Ok so I'm finally done with season 1 of DD (I promised myself I wasn't gonna stay up to finish it tonight but fuck it, you know? I'll just set an alarm for tomorrow so I don't wake up at 3PM like I usually do now).

I said earlier that this looked like it was probably the most consistent of the Marvel Netflix shows (well, as far as season 1 goes), and it turns out that was pretty much correct.

The characters are all pretty good - Matt (as of season 1 anyways) is probably my second favorite of the Defenders behind Jessica. What I find most interesting (in some ways, more than the man himself) was how the show dealt with his powers and communicating his experience to the audience. "A world of fire" was almost poetic, really. There are already some inklings of what I'm told will be a very annoying "thou shalt not kill" type of storyline that will rear its ugly head in season 2, and who knows how much that will try my patience, but for now I find him fairly easy to get behind. Foggy, Karen, and Ben made a great supporting cast - the former especially had me laughing at multiple points, and I was pretty sad to find out Ben actually bit the bullet because I wasn't expecting that.

I'm kind of surprised that they took the direction they did with Fisk - I admit I'm not that well-versed in the Daredevil comics, but as far as I know mainstream Kingpin isn't known for being a sensitive, vulnerable, thoughtful colossus of a man with a rich inner life and who has trouble with people. It's honestly a really compelling performance on D'onofrio's part - despite him being a Psychopathic Manchild involved in some extremely terrible things I genuinely empathized with him at points and felt sorry for him, albeit as the show went on it got harder and harder to do that. There is one kind of big problem with the direction they went with him, but overall I would say he is a strong point of the show.

The show's pacing is very even. I loved Jessica Jones season 1 and thought it was a great show, but the cat and mouse game and the way it played out really created some big problems in making things feel more drawn out than they should have been and was probably the biggest issue with the series. That doesn't happen here; something's always going on and there's a nice flow and sense of propulsion to what happens, with one thing leading to the other in a satisfying way.

In terms of plot structure as well, there were no terrible decisions like what happened when Cottonmouth died in Luke Cage, leading to a second half that was a mixed bag at best and the villain who replaced him just didn't get the job done. The season started out good and maintained that bar throughout, leading to a satisfying conclusion.

...with all that being said I have a couple of problems.

- This is a little bit nitpicky, but one of the writers has kind of a melodramatic streak. It works with Wilson and his conversations with Vanessa since he likes to talk big, but there were a few lines I felt just came off wrong; the first one was Karen's bit about the "dark corners" of the city, which was honestly corny the first time I saw it and I don't think it was any better this time either.

The second one (and this one is actually tied into a bigger problem) is Claire saying how she can't fall in love with Matt or whatever because of what he is and what he's doing. Now I don't have a problem with the plot point itself or their romance turning out this way (sort of), but it just seems like an awkward thing for Claire to say because they barely knew each other at that point, and because of that the plot point and the line itself falls flat since it feels like something that should have happened near the end of the season instead of around the middle.

- I can kinda see where the complaints of Yellow Peril stereotypes come from. It's apparently much worse in season 2 from what I'm told, but all the seeds are here: we have dark, mysterious organizations from the East wreaking havoc on the city, and that's mostly what the asian characters are. Madame Gao probably got off the best since she has a certain amount of charisma and gravitas to make her a worthwhile character, but yeah I'm not looking forward to this getting worse.

- I like Fisk a lot as a character, he's compelling and well-acted, but it's sort of hard to deny that he had as much a hand in his own undoing as Matt and everybody else which I think undercuts his status as a villain a little. His angry outbursts are a perfectly legitimate character flaw, but it's what causes him most of his problems and arguably what leads to his initial group disintegrating, because he continuously feels the need to off them to cover up his mistakes or when they make him upset. The reason why I don't think this kills the show or anything is that villains having a hand in their own undoing isn't exactly a new concept, and D'onofrio is just killing it so hard that it's easier to overlook.

But yeah, this is the most consistent of the season 1's. I think Jessica Jones had more ambitious subject matter, hit higher highs and has a more compelling main character, but its pacing and plot structure were very noticeable issues. Luke Cage had a perfect first half and dealt with themes and ideas we rarely see represented in mainstream television, but its second half was underwhelming thanks to its terrible villain being unable to fill the shoes of the first one's.

So that's that I guess, I'll try and finish season 2 soon and get to Iron Fist (which is what I was mostly looking forward to, to see what everyone was talking about).

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#75097: Sep 30th 2017 at 2:25:35 AM

[up] The main problem is that Daredevil season 1 went through a lot of effort to make us like the various criminals - honestly, I was actually upset about the Russian guy dying despite him being involved in human trafficking and his men having kidnapped Claire earlier on - thinking about it, I was upset about most of the characters dying - but only cared to make the Asian characters threatening and mysterious.

Anyway Inhumans....the first two episodes sucked and currently I don't see how they will salvage this. There is a little bit potential with Black Bolt having to interact with people while not being able to talk, but that is pretty much it. I still will watch the whole thing, but I haven't seen a show with a script that terrible since I watched the pilot of Beauty and the Beast (the CW remake, not the original show). Even Supergirl did better and that show had an offputting pilot.

Also, I better don't mention how old I am.....

edited 30th Sep '17 2:28:17 AM by Swanpride

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.
#75098: Sep 30th 2017 at 3:14:17 AM

After having just watched the first two episode of Inhumans, it's not terrible. The writing falls flat in some places, the music can be out-of-place, the story is cliche and predictable, the direction is REALLY bad in some scenes, and the set design leaves a bit to be desired.

On the other hand, none of the actors are actually doing a bad job with their performances and Black Bolt's actor is pretty good, especially with how much he's able to do with so little. I can also see what they were trying to do with the set design and I respect it, though it could've been done better.

All in all, I'm tentatively looking forward to the rest of the episodes, because there is potential here for something good, it's just not being done as well as it could be.

VeryMelon Since: Jul, 2011 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#75099: Sep 30th 2017 at 5:18:23 AM

I'm 25 right now. I actually thought Indiantroper was older than me.


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