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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.
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    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

RavenWilder Since: Apr, 2009
#93401: Jan 1st 2019 at 11:20:53 PM

People might wanna clarify which Peter they're talking about. Right now we've got two of 'em headlining separate film series.

slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: May, 2013
The Head of the Hydra
#93402: Jan 1st 2019 at 11:22:59 PM

Well considering the topic is about relationships sorta, the obvious answer is Parker.

Cause we all know Quill ain't got no game. tongue

I'm honestly not sure what Gamora sees in him. [lol]

"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.
#93403: Jan 1st 2019 at 11:27:27 PM

Honestly, when it comes to Wakanda specifically, it might be punching up. Peter is a poor kid from New York who is pretty smart. Shuri is the princess of the most technologically advanced and powerful country on earth, and she's also one of, if not the most, intelligent people on the planet.

That said, I also totally want Peter, Shuri, and teen Groot hanging out. Maybe they can play video games and Shuri can help Peter on his homework.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#93404: Jan 2nd 2019 at 3:21:26 AM

If Tony is going to be out permanently after Endgame, someone will have to take over as the technological center of the Avengers. Shuri and Wakanda are perfectly positioned for that.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Punisher286 Since: Jan, 2016
#93405: Jan 2nd 2019 at 5:49:32 AM

I'm pretty sure that Spidey and Shuri would get along really well. Shuri is cute, really smart, witty, funny, and around Peter's age. Also she even seems to have an appreciation for American culture as well. And Peter is a likeable witty guy to. So I could see them bonding. Not necessarily romantically, but as buddies.

I could also see Rocket maybe liking them as (although perhaps being reluctant to openly admit it at first).

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#93406: Jan 2nd 2019 at 5:53:14 AM

Spidey and Shuri sitting in a tree k i s s i n g

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#93407: Jan 2nd 2019 at 5:54:30 AM

The idea of T'Challa acting like an overprotective big brother is pretty amusing.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#93408: Jan 2nd 2019 at 6:30:20 AM

Not really. the overprotective father/brother is a terrible sexist trope. The only reason homecoming got away with it (kind of) was because it was the villain doing it.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#93409: Jan 2nd 2019 at 6:44:18 AM

Even when the "big brother" is protecting a male? I would find Tony and T'Challa bickering about whether Peter and Shuri should be allowed to date utterly hilarious.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
windleopard from Nigeria Since: Nov, 2014 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
#93410: Jan 2nd 2019 at 6:46:03 AM

Why would Tony have any say in who Peter dates? He's not the kid's dad.

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#93411: Jan 2nd 2019 at 6:47:25 AM

he practically has adopted him

But yeah,Aunt May would have something to say

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#93412: Jan 2nd 2019 at 6:47:35 AM

He's kind of adopted him. I haven't watched Homecoming yet since they won't fucking release it for online rental, so I don't know the exact dynamic between Aunt May, Tony, and Peter.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#93413: Jan 2nd 2019 at 6:55:14 AM

A 16 year old is old enough to decide alone who to date. The only thing parents can and should do at this point is giving them a packet of condoms and warn them to be careful.

Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#93414: Jan 2nd 2019 at 6:56:37 AM

While everybody is talking about geniuses, remind me, was it ever established that MCU Thanos is a genius?

In the comics he is one, even more so than the likes of Reed Richards and Dr Doom.

Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#93415: Jan 2nd 2019 at 7:01:36 AM

[up][up] Please stop projecting your values into the films. It derails the conversation to no good purpose.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Brandon Deadly Vu! from Between Thanksgiving and Christmas (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
Deadly Vu!
#93416: Jan 2nd 2019 at 7:04:47 AM

A comment a friend of mine made regarding the upcoming Captain Marvel film.

"I hope Stan Lee's cameo consists of him overhearing the name Captain Marvel, and saying 'Marvel? What a stupid name'."

Like creepy stories? Check out my book!
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#93417: Jan 2nd 2019 at 7:04:54 AM

Not keen him being smart,he's a self declared genius which is how he convinced himself he needed to wipe out half the universe

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#93418: Jan 2nd 2019 at 7:10:34 AM

The only thing Thanos had to be was powerful enough that he could kill and plunder for decades without anyone being able to stop him and enough of a tactician to pull off his plan.

We can leave the evil genius status to Doctor Doom.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#93419: Jan 2nd 2019 at 7:20:44 AM

He must have been intelligent enough to concoct his master plan and carry it through. This includes:

  • Evading capture and execution as a heretic for his views.
  • Recruiting, indoctrinating, and training acolytes to become his "children" and execute his will.
  • Raising an army and leading it competently enough to conquer and decimate entire planets.
  • Coming up with the plan to acquire and use the Infinity Stones.

This isn't the work of a moron. I don't know if he's supposed to be seen as a genius at the level of Stark, Banner, or Shuri — there is no indication in the films of this, at least. Stupid, though, he ain't.

If there's any one thing that bugs me about Infinity War, it's where Thanos got his army of disposable monster minions. His children I can see, and obviously he'd need an army of some sort, but there's no explanation of where it came from or why it's composed of generic monsters instead of, say, recruits from the planets he's captured or something. Sauron in Lord of the Rings has armies composed of a mixture of orcs and goblins of various subraces, plus a variety of humans from different lands that are loyal to him. Generic movie monsters are just boring.

Edited by Fighteer on Jan 2nd 2019 at 10:36:24 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Punisher286 Since: Jan, 2016
#93420: Jan 2nd 2019 at 7:54:03 AM

He's also had an entire army of Chitauri, complete with ships, that he could just essentially lend to Loki in The Avengers, don't forget about that one.

The guy seemingly has tons of resources at his disposal.

Gaon Smoking Snake from Grim Up North Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
#93421: Jan 2nd 2019 at 7:57:30 AM

As it's been mentioned, Thanos had a lot of scientific knowledge in his original version, but there's a broad implication something similar holds for his MCU version.

Besides his lapses into borderline scientific jargon when explaining his evil plan ("this universe is finite, its resources finite"), when he explains his backstory to Strange, he talks about how he calculated the end of Titan's resources and how he proposed a solution to the leaders of Titan to save the planet from extinction. Going by his wording and description, he makes it sound like he was some kind of scientist back when he was in Titan, as his story gives off vibes of Kal-El studying Krypton and realizing its about to go boom. There's also his recurring tendency to implant his children with cybernetic parts.

[up] [up]If I had to guess, maybe Thanos bred The Outriders via genetic engineering.

Edited by Gaon on Jan 2nd 2019 at 7:57:43 AM

"All you Fascists bound to lose."
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#93422: Jan 2nd 2019 at 8:01:12 AM

Yes, it's an established trope that villains have infinite offscreen resources, but it's a lazy one and Infinity War does so many other tropes well that it's a little jarring.

I also wonder what happens to his army once he snaps his fingers and retires. Does it disband? Do half of the remaining Outriders die along with everything else? Are there other ships out there cruising the galaxy for planets to conquer that will just drift on aimlessly now that it was done without them?

Having watched the movie several times now, I'm not completely clear about whether Wakanda is attacked by the giant mothership that we saw Thanos use or by just a single one of those ring-ships. If the latter, there are a ton more out there.

Edited by Fighteer on Jan 2nd 2019 at 11:13:39 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
jakobitis Doctor of Doctorates from Somewhere, somewhen Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: I'd need a PowerPoint presentation
Doctor of Doctorates
#93423: Jan 2nd 2019 at 8:19:06 AM

Thanos doesn't show any particular sign of being a scientific genius but he has shown himself to be an (at the very least) competent strategist and tactician and he seems a decent enough leader so he definitely has some smarts. But how Titan intelligence relates to human intelligence is unclear. Thanos might be smart by human levels but average by his race's (whereas comic Thanos is definitely smart for a titan.)

"These 'no-nonsense' solutions of yours just don't hold water in a complex world of jet-powered apes and time travel."
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#93424: Jan 2nd 2019 at 8:25:17 AM

Is "Titan" a species? I suppose that makes sense since his homeworld is named Titan, but I got the impression, possibly from the historical and cultural implications of that name, that it denoted a (small) group of superbeings rather than just another kind of folk like Xandarians, Asgardians, humans, etc.

If everyone from his homeworld was as monstrously powerful as he is seen to be, then it seems unlikely that they'd all die out due to resource starvation, or that it would make an effective demonstration scenario for his philosophy.

Edited by Fighteer on Jan 2nd 2019 at 11:26:09 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#93425: Jan 2nd 2019 at 8:25:41 AM

We also never really find out how Thanos was the lone survivor of Titan. Maybe that's related to his vast resources.

[up]In the comics at least, Titanians are actually a weaker offshoot of Earth's Eternals, who were themselves a human subspecies. Most Titanians are thus Human Aliens — Thanos looks the way he does because he's a Mutant with a Deviant appearance. His combination of Eternal and Deviant heritage made him far more powerful than the average Titanian Eternal.

Who knows what the heck MCU Thanos is.

Edited by M84 on Jan 3rd 2019 at 12:28:15 AM

Disgusted, but not surprised

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