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Edited by Mrph1 on Jul 29th 2024 at 3:09:00 PM
Wakanda's the most technologically-advanced, powerful, and wealthy nation in the world. It's not a third-world or a first-world country, it's a... zeroth-world, or something. I don't think it's really a neo-colonization risk even with its borders opened.
I think the biggest difference between isolationist Wakanda and Build-the-Wall America is that Wakanda also hasn't interfered with other countries, which makes an isolationist stance less hypocritical (albeit still tribalistic and flawed from a globalist viewpoint). That and, you know, the film ends with T'challa and by extension Wakanda in general rejecting that philosophy.
edited 1st Mar '18 2:50:12 PM by Anomalocaris20
You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!You don't want to see Dr Strange get drunk off his ass and blow up something with the eye of agamotto during his party?
Forever liveblogging the AvengersYou don't want Mordo to steal an extra cloak of levitation and become uh Mister Odd?
Forever liveblogging the AvengersGosh, if I can rant for a bit, that's easily the worst part of the MCU, not even how shitty the villains are but how they always have the same powers as the heroes. It's just aggravating.
"And when the last law was down and the Devil turned round on you, where would you hide, the laws all being flat?"I'm fine with a sequel as long as they call it Doctor Strange-er.
Well technically Bucky has the same powers as Steve (although he's not the main villain of Winter Soldier), so he's also a good example.
And I think the various Iron Man movies have done a good job with villains having the same powerset (including if you count the MCU Vulture).
I kind of like the MCU version of Yellowjacket and think that's a decently justified take on "villain with the same powers".
Killmonger is definitely one of the better examples though.
Edit- Ah, "evil version of the hero" is a bit different than "villain with the same powerset". In that case, I'd say the good examples of that are Ironmonger, Killmonger, Ego, and Bucky. And I guess Vulture as well, since he's definitely an evil version of Tony, but not an exact match in terms of either powers or personality. And of course Ultron in the MCU is also an evil Tony. But he's a so so take on an evil Tony and a pretty bad adaptation of Ultron.
edited 1st Mar '18 3:54:06 PM by Hodor2
Good question, as I like both of them.
I think Loki is more of the opposite of Thor than anything and they have an interesting sort of Hourglass Plot thing going on.
Hela is kind of like an evil version of both Thor and Loki (well, eviler in Loki's case) because of how she takes the blood knight conqueror idea both have bought into at various points and takes it farther. And while she looks and acts kind of like Loki, the overwhelming force of her powers is more like Thor.
Which makes sense, because Hela pretty much explains various moments of Odin freaking out at his sons' behavior, because we now understand he thought each of them was becoming or was another Hela.
edited 1st Mar '18 3:57:41 PM by Hodor2
There's a reason most of the villains of the first films use the hero's powerset; it's easier to have a supervillain's power source be the same as the hero's since it means you don't have to devote screentime to a second superpower-origin. Not to mention the idea of two people gaining superpowers in the same timeframe can come across as stretching the Willing Suspension of Disbelief.
Thor can get away with it because their powers are never really explained; they're just gods, of course they'll have weird powers.
You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!The Winter Soldier isn't a villain. He is a tool.
We had so far:
Ironman vs Ironmonger (though to a certain degree all villains of Ironman are a negative mirror of himself)
Captain America vs Red Skull
Shield vs Hydra
Hulk vs Abomination
Ant-man vs Yellowjacket (or the good mentee vs the bad mentee)
Black Panther vs Killmonger
Of this line-up, I think Hydra is the best villain and also the instance in which the "dark side" was explored the best, as a very real pitfall.
I don't really count Kassilius, because he is more a henchmen to Dormamamu. And the Thor villains have a too different power-set to be a dark mirror of him.
The hero having to symbolically overcome his dark side is also a classic comic book plot.
edited 1st Mar '18 4:07:17 PM by Swanpride
Even discounting Kassilius as a mere henchmen, I would think there should be allowance for operating under the same power system.
Forever liveblogging the AvengersA lot of the critics I saw said they were fine with Killmonger being part of this trend again because in this case, it was thematically consistent with what the movie was going for (What T'Challa thinks Wakanda represents vs. what Killmonger does, complete with Killmonger's mask having a more aggressive face) and that Killmonger was simply given much better writing than someone like Yellowjacket, Whiplash or Kaecilius.
Kaecilius is the one example that really is sore for me, though. In almost every other case I can see what they were going for (Ant-Man shrinks, so his bad guys is someone else who can shrink and fight him on his own turf, Abomination is someone powerful enough to go toe to toe with Hulk, ect.), but with Strange, given that his powers are less physical than someone like Black Panther or Hulk, I feel they could have gotten away with a more esoteric threat like Shuma-Gorath or just Dormammu outright.
Basically, the overabundance of Evil Counterparts is sort of a Necessary Weasel for a genre that has an expectation of an epic fight scene, but Strange doesn't really have that excuse.
edited 1st Mar '18 4:18:44 PM by comicwriter
In fairness to the MCU it's not like most of these villains had drastically different powers in the comics. Evil Counterpart is a pretty common trope in superhero stories.

My guess:
5/7/21: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
7/30/21: New franchise? Spider-Man 3
11/5/21: Doctor Strange 2
2/18/22: Captain Marvel? New franchise
7/29/22: Ant-Man 3? Or some new franchise (Black Widow?)
Edit: Apparently Spider-Man has a sequel in 2019.
edited 1st Mar '18 2:50:43 PM by shatterstar