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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

Nightwire Since: Feb, 2010
#82426: Mar 14th 2018 at 3:15:15 AM

[up][up]My thoughts as well.

Overall I just feel indifferent to the Bruce/Natasha romance. No need to overreact.

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#82427: Mar 14th 2018 at 3:44:43 AM

I have a string of issues with Bruce/Natasha: He is nearly old enough to be her father, he can't have sex and she was freaking terrified of him in the Avengers. Plus, it really felt that they gave her the "calm down Hulk" role for one reason alone and that was because she was the only member of the team who happened to have a vagina. From a logical point of view, this role should have fallen to Thor from the get go because he is the only one of the Avengers who can easily take a punch from the Hulk. (and honestly, I loved that he tried it in Ragnarök, even though it didn't work, because why the hell shouldn't he?). And if not him, than Steve would have taken the risk personally instead of relegating it to the weakest member (physically, not in terms of fighting abilities) of the team.

All this said, though, it is part of canon now, and I trust Marcus and Mc Feely to end this stupid plot line in a way which works. God knows that they have had their work cut out retroactively fixing elements in Age of Ultron already.

NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#82428: Mar 14th 2018 at 6:23:31 AM

So bit of a Thread Hop here, but I figured I might as well share. I've gotten super behind on the MCU movies (I watched up through I think Iron Man 3, plus Guardians of the Galaxy, but nothing else) so I decided to go back and watch the whole thing in order from the beginning. I'm not particularly fussed about spoilers for stuff I haven't seen yet, so don't worry about tagging stuff if you don't want to.

So far I've rewatched Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Iron Man 2.

Iron Man: Robert Downey Jr pretty much carries the movie single-handedly, despite the fact that the cast includes a bunch of other A-listers. I was sort of surprised at how poorly the revelation about Stane being the bad guy came off on a repeat viewing, as I remember that working really well on my first watch. Bonus points for having a pretty good depiction of the military — the whole scene with the command center during Iron Man's first appearance, followed by the fight with the F-22s, is very well done. Stan Lee count: 1 (Tony mistakes him for Hugh Hefner at a party. Or maybe he's supposed to be playing Hefner, I'm not entirely sure.)

The Incredible Hulk: The Bruce Banner stuff was largely good, but the Hulk stuff was largely terrible. Watching Banner try to control his anger while also staying under the radar (and occasionally flipping out, like when he accidentally cut himself and thought he'd dropped some blood into a soda bottle) and generally trying to solve his problems without hulking out was actually pretty compelling. Whenever he goes Hulk, though, things pretty much stop being interesting (though the action scenes aren't bad as action scenes). Bonus points for having hilariously bad continuity during fights. The big one at the Generic Northeastern University is by far the worst offender: the quad of a college campus in town turns into a vast meadow surrounded by woods in order to provide space for Hulk to throw down, but still has bystanders running up to take cell phone video and the like. Additional bonus points for making the military look like complete idiots (repeatedly Shooting the Hulk, and in crowded urban areas to boot). Stan Lee count: 2 (dies? after drinking a bottle of soda contaminated with Hulk blood).

Iron Man 2: AKA "being an alcoholic playboy douchebag has consequences". I like how it illustrates the fact that Tony Stark is basically an asshole in addition to being a genius, and doesn't blow it off like the first Iron Man did. Tony is very hard to live with. This one is also better about letting the rest of the cast shine instead of making Robert Downey Jr do all the heavy lifting. First movie in the MCU to do the "save the budget for the last half hour, then pull out all the stops" thing, which I first actually noticed with The Avengers, though I think it works better here since the first three quarters of Iron Man 2 are actually good, whereas The Avengers I thought relied on plot-induced stupidity among the protagonist to keep them from wrapping things up 45 minutes in. Stan Lee count: still 2? (I didn't notice him, but I could have missed something.)

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#82429: Mar 14th 2018 at 7:04:00 AM

I think Hawkeye is actually the weakest Avenger

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#82430: Mar 14th 2018 at 7:31:28 AM

Not all Superheros have to have superpowers,saying he's the weakest in that regard is a little dismissive

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#82431: Mar 14th 2018 at 7:53:23 AM

Okay but Black Widow doesn't have powers either and she was called the weakest.

I'm just saying that between the two of them, she won the fight.

Although the real weakest is Tony Stark outside his suit without a box of scraps.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#82432: Mar 14th 2018 at 8:00:29 AM

> doesn't have powers

Aside from these you mean

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
windleopard from Nigeria Since: Nov, 2014 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
#82433: Mar 14th 2018 at 8:02:20 AM

Also the "it wasn't built up to enough" isn't really much of a believable complaint, given that Natasha was in one movie (which didn't feature Bruce) and Bruce was a cameo in one movie (which didn't feature Natasha) in the entirety of Phase Two. So no duh there was no buidup to it.

Well, yeah, that's the point. It was brought into a movie with no foundation laid for it and poorly handled. That is a believable complaint.

> doesn't have powers Aside from these you mean

We're talking about the movie version not the comic version.

edited 14th Mar '18 8:07:43 AM by windleopard

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#82434: Mar 14th 2018 at 8:03:22 AM

We're talking the movies though.

I mean I'm pretty sure we are. I was responding to a post about the Bruce/Natasha romance in Age of Ultron.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#82435: Mar 14th 2018 at 8:03:26 AM

Honestly, I specifically I clarified that Black Widow is the weakest in the sense of physically being the least able to withstand a punch from the Hulk, not in the sense of how much of a fighter she is. She is the smallest and her fighting ability is based on agility, not muscle mass, and she doesn't wear any kind of armour. Granted, now that Wanda is also part of the team, she is the second less able to withstand a Hulk punch, unless Wanda is able to use her abilities to protect herself.

On a totally different note, a really interesting article why Marvel picked Ironman as the first movie:

https://weminoredinfilm.com/2018/03/14/how-marvel-studios-picked-iron-man-to-be-its-first-self-produced-movie/

edited 14th Mar '18 8:04:40 AM by Swanpride

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#82436: Mar 14th 2018 at 8:05:01 AM

Most normal non-enchanced people wouldn't survive a punch from the Hulk.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#82437: Mar 14th 2018 at 8:06:08 AM

[up] Which is exactly why calming him down should be Thor's job, not anyone else's

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#82438: Mar 14th 2018 at 8:07:06 AM

I don't disagree there.

It nearly worked on Sakaar.

But alas. The glare of the spotlight. The roar of the crowds. Hulk just wants to be loved.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Tuckerscreator (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#82439: Mar 14th 2018 at 8:07:43 AM

Stan Lee count: still 2? (I didn't notice him, but I could have missed something.)

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#82440: Mar 14th 2018 at 8:08:25 AM

Hulk could probably beat Hela,it's a pity he never got to hulk smaah

edited 14th Mar '18 8:08:40 AM by Ultimatum

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#82441: Mar 14th 2018 at 8:19:01 AM

Mmm. Debatable.

She seemed at least as physically strong as Thor and Thor can go punchies with Hulk. And she seemed to have some kind of healing factor so she'd win by attrition.

Unless he just literally threw her off Asgard. Which they really should have tried.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#82442: Mar 14th 2018 at 8:19:09 AM

[up][up]Oh hey, I did notice that scene, I just didn't realize that was Stan Lee. He doesn't look much like Stan Lee when he's dressed like Larry King. (But he does when he's dressed like Hugh Hefner? Go figure.)

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#82443: Mar 14th 2018 at 8:28:51 AM

> And she seemed to have some kind of healing factor so she'd win by attrition.

So does Hulk,and Hulk just gets angrier the longer you fight him

i suppose if she had fought Hulk one on one and lost Ragnarok would never happened

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#82444: Mar 14th 2018 at 8:45:21 AM

I got the impression that as long as Asgard existed it was impossible to kill her. Her power was also continuously increasing.

wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#82445: Mar 14th 2018 at 8:48:59 AM

I kinda wish Hela had killed people in ways other than stabbing. Cause it got a little repetitive, plus is she Goddess of Death or Goddess of Increasingly Large Knives?

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#82446: Mar 14th 2018 at 8:49:50 AM

She tried to kill people with a giant wolf but that's basically killing someone with a bunch of knives on a hinge.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#82447: Mar 14th 2018 at 8:49:52 AM

She does have necromancy powers so they didn't ignore the goddess of death thing entirely.

AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#82448: Mar 14th 2018 at 9:49:46 AM

I think that was more a result of the flame. It was strange that she couldn't perform more traditional necromancy at will.

wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#82449: Mar 14th 2018 at 9:54:07 AM

Thor having to fight zombie Warriors Three would have been really, really sad :(

AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#82450: Mar 14th 2018 at 10:18:04 AM

But probably a more fulfilling use of the characters.


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