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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

slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: May, 2013
The Head of the Hydra
#84501: Apr 11th 2018 at 6:47:47 PM

[up] Its kinda vague but it happened several generations ago, in-universe.

One of the oldest quirk users is said to be very old.

edited 11th Apr '18 6:48:21 PM by slimcoder

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
Tuckerscreator (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#84502: Apr 11th 2018 at 6:48:14 PM

Now you know you made it big when your working with a billion dollar franchise, am I right?

It's the other way around. My Hero Academia is selling better than Marvel Comics! I'm not kidding, MHA is #43 on top-selling print comics in America, while the first Marvel title, ''Black Panther'', is at #54.

More info.

KarkatTheDalek Not as angry as the name would suggest. from Somwhere in Time/Space Since: Mar, 2012 Relationship Status: You're a beautiful woman, probably
Not as angry as the name would suggest.
#84503: Apr 11th 2018 at 6:49:08 PM

[up][up] Hmm...tricky, then...

Think it could work so that Steve could have become Cap in a pre-Quirk world?

edited 11th Apr '18 6:49:33 PM by KarkatTheDalek

Oh God! Natural light!
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#84504: Apr 11th 2018 at 6:53:23 PM

[up][up]The best-selling manga doing better than Marvel trades has been a fact for a while now if I'm not mistaken. They're not the absolute best-sellers (as the data shows), but the popular ones do very well.

slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: May, 2013
The Head of the Hydra
#84505: Apr 11th 2018 at 6:55:23 PM

[up][up] Maybe.

Quirks aren't shown to stretch that far back.

There more a recent thing sorta.

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
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.
#84506: Apr 11th 2018 at 7:39:45 PM

One: both Captain America and Iron Man have had abusive fathers, at least in the comics for the former. I think it's also more about whether it factors into their origin story, that's what's important.

Two: I'm so happy that Avengers and MHA are doing a cross-promotion! It's such perfect crossover fodder.

edited 11th Apr '18 7:48:00 PM by PushoverMediaCritic

Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#84508: Apr 11th 2018 at 7:59:21 PM

Come on Pool, that's low-hanging fruit :p

slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: May, 2013
The Head of the Hydra
#84509: Apr 11th 2018 at 8:01:48 PM

But no less relevant.

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#84510: Apr 11th 2018 at 9:32:20 PM

So, in my slow-and-not-very-steady MCU rewatch, I just finished Iron Man 3. This is the last one I've actually seen before, so going forward I guess it's just going to be an MCU watch rather than a rewatch.

My impression of Iron Man 3 the first time around was that it didn't make a whole lot of sense and generally prioritized cool action hero shit over telling a coherent story. I literally didn't understand what was going on for most of the movie other than "the glowy guys are bad, so Iron Man is punching them" (though admittedly some of that was forgetting things after the fact). Someone in this thread explained the gist of it, which was legitimately helpful. I'm not sure how well I'd have been able to follow it even on the rewatch without it.

The real problem seems to be that the movie is too meta for its own good. It spends all its time setting up twists to throw off the audience. The entire second half of the movie is twist after twist after twist, some of which are entirely unnecessary. None of the twists are bad in and of themselves (none of them feel like they're an Ass Pull or a Shocking Swerve), there's just too damn many without any room to breathe. It's too much to keep track of, which makes it too easy to lose the plot. (Also, the ending of "are you a bad enough dude to save the President and your girlfriend?!" was unnecessarily over-the-top.)

That said, the first half of the movie was way better than I remember it being. It was pretty intense. Uncomfortably so, honestly. The whole thing with terrorist attacks seemingly at random, Tony dealing with trauma from The Avengers, and people you care about getting hurt and leaving you unable to do anything to help them... all of it felt real in a way superhero movies rarely manage. It also showed some really solid character development for Tony — he actually talks to Pepper about his problems rather than just trying to hide it and deal with it himself. It still feels like Tony, but a Tony who's simultaneously more mature and more vulnerable. He's been hurt — he's still hurting — but that doesn't make him a completely different person. His back-and-forth with the kid was also really well written along the same vein.

The kid himself was well-written too, for that matter. He felt like a kid, not just a miniature adult, which is something that's remarkably hard to pull off well. Pity that whole part of the movie was basically unnecessary and added nothing to the plot. Simply have Tony's research indicate Miami and have him fly straight there instead of making a pit stop and the plot still would have worked fine.

Ultimately it feels like Iron Man 3 was trying to be two different movies: a hard look at superheroes as human beings with traumas and fears and loved ones just like the rest of us, and an ultra self-aware superhero movie meant for audiences who had grown used to "the superhero movie" and designed to keep them on their toes. Either of those could have been a solid movie on its own, but in Iron Man 3, the issues raised in the first part fall by the wayside in the second part, and the second part is poorly paced and feels rushed because it didn't benefit from any development in the first half. Since it had interesting ideas but flawed execution, I'd put it above So Okay, It's Average but I can't quite call it good.

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
comicwriter Since: Sep, 2011
#84511: Apr 11th 2018 at 9:39:16 PM

More new footage.

edited 11th Apr '18 9:39:54 PM by comicwriter

Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#84513: Apr 11th 2018 at 9:50:15 PM

[up][up][up] We've discussed Iron Man 3 probably more than any other subject over the last few years, but the consensus if there is one is usually that it's a film with some good ideas and compelling moments, but that ultimately shits the bed in favor of an awful, bland and uninteresting villain and completely drops the ball on all the interesting things it was setting up in the first half in favor of a generic superhero climax at the end devoid of any real emotional weight.

edited 11th Apr '18 9:50:30 PM by Draghinazzo

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#84514: Apr 11th 2018 at 9:58:11 PM

The Consensus sounds like a superhero team

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Tuckerscreator (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#84515: Apr 11th 2018 at 10:03:02 PM

They always agree on everything, their unity cannot be stopped!

ComicFan Since: Sep, 2016
#84516: Apr 11th 2018 at 10:07:30 PM

My Hero Academia and Avengers: Infinity War cross promotion

KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#84517: Apr 11th 2018 at 10:33:25 PM

[up]*4: The thing I'm geeking out about the most is that someone called the Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes onscreen.

Now all they have to do is have someone say Avengers Assemble.

AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#84518: Apr 11th 2018 at 11:01:40 PM

I don't know what it is but the voices on the characters always come out sounding kind of tinny and choppy in these ads. They're not quite sped up, but the gaps between words are spliced out so it sounds like they're jumping from one word to another. It sounds much nicer and more evenly paced in the proper movies.

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#84519: Apr 11th 2018 at 11:05:59 PM

Deku will be sad when he learns that the Avengers were killed by Stain

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#84520: Apr 11th 2018 at 11:06:59 PM

Inhumans? Relevant? Nah, I feel that the fandom has collectively decided that the show doesn't exist.

And, I know that was posted a while back, but I don't think that Hope was ever romantically involved with Cross. They were allies on the board and kind of friends, but there is no indication whatsoever that they were lovers...not that Cross wasn't interested.

Mizerous Pet Owner from Hell Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: Brewing the love potion
Pet Owner
#84521: Apr 11th 2018 at 11:34:41 PM

Why can't we get a decent Marvel anime? Spider-Man would be perfect or Gwen.

edited 11th Apr '18 11:34:59 PM by Mizerous

Just Makima.
Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#84522: Apr 11th 2018 at 11:42:10 PM

Oh dip, I have the Iron Man and Wolverine animes and I keep forgetting to watch them. I was also going to watch the disc warriors thing but then I read the synopsis and lolno.

Hell, Shooter's run on Avengers practically was an animes.

edited 11th Apr '18 11:42:44 PM by Bocaj

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: May, 2013
The Head of the Hydra
#84523: Apr 11th 2018 at 11:47:50 PM

Well its because Marvel can't seem to make a good animated feature these days.

Hell their cartoons have been a laughingstock till that new Spider-Man show.

Sure DC has had its issues namely the films based on The New 52 or Go but overall they still dominate the animated landscape.

Not sure about live-action though, which is more popular or widely-regarded, DC or Marvel's live-action TV shows?

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#84524: Apr 11th 2018 at 11:53:56 PM

I've heard good, vague things about Black Lightning, bad things about Arrow and Flash, and that Legends of Tomorrow exists. I think Supergirl is a thing too but I mostly heard people are pissed about Mon-El

Marvel has Agents of SHIELD (good. Fite me), Inhumans (bad), Agent Carter (we'll call it a draw), and the Netflixes which are acclaimed but have its low points (DD s2, Iron Fist, some will say Defenders and JJ s2)

edited 11th Apr '18 11:55:18 PM by Bocaj

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#84525: Apr 11th 2018 at 11:55:07 PM

Probably Marvel? They've had stinkers and a myriad of problems, but I'd still say Daredevil, JJ and Luke Cage are better regarded than the CW shows which are generally considered melodramatic and repetitive if not outright bad sometimes like Gotham.


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