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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

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#95976: Jan 30th 2019 at 6:24:54 AM

Too confusing to the audience...it needs to understand how the Silver Surfer wanted to trick him and why the trick failed. That is hard to just visualize.

Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#95977: Jan 30th 2019 at 6:25:58 AM

Galactus isn't even humanoid. That is just how humans perceive him.

Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#95978: Jan 30th 2019 at 6:27:10 AM

> you could say that Galactus is attracted to worlds with a high concentration of people.

Or just have Galactus destroy worlds as he finds them,he's a natural force in the universe after all.

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#95979: Jan 30th 2019 at 6:31:13 AM

That wouldn't really line up with Thanos' reasoning though.

Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#95980: Jan 30th 2019 at 6:43:11 AM

Plus, if Galactus could feel worlds, he wouldn't need the Silver Surfer to scout for him.

Ikedatakeshi Baby dango from singapore Since: Nov, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
Baby dango
#95981: Jan 30th 2019 at 6:45:56 AM

Characterizing Galactus as only a force of the universe kinds of ignore that he was also once human(at least a human-looking alien) that had to become Galactus so that the current universe could exist. He has sometimes(depending on writer) expressed guilt and willing to listen to reason. If any cosmic entities should act human, he should be that one. Compared to say, Death, who really shouldn't be going around seducing Thanos into doing what she wants when she's the physical embodiment of death across the universe.

Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#95982: Jan 30th 2019 at 6:51:06 AM

Yeah, that is what he WAS. Galactus is an all-new entity from Galan. And I know that he could sometimes be reasoned with. I just like him better when he acts as a force of nature, not lowering himself to the needs of insects.

Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#95983: Jan 30th 2019 at 7:02:23 AM

Also, isn't there a tragic element to Galactus? I mean, he isn't really evil per se, he just wants to eat to survive (which is why I always liked the solution to put him somewhere where he can eat as much as he wants without destroying something important).

windleopard from Nigeria Since: Nov, 2014 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
#95984: Jan 30th 2019 at 7:03:44 AM

I've always found it odd when characters that are clearly sapient and sentient are described as "natural forces". At best, that just seems like them deluding themselves into thinking their actions don't mean anything to anyone and that they are above everyone else.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#95985: Jan 30th 2019 at 7:04:17 AM

You can call him tragic if you want, but he leans into his "necessity" with quite the passion, as I understand it. Also, his hunger requires "life force", and intelligent life is way up there on that scale, so either you have to have him constantly devastating primitive biospheres or killing intelligent beings. Having them be in "another universe" doesn't solve that problem from a moral perspective.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#95986: Jan 30th 2019 at 7:05:08 AM

No, that is actually what they are. Galactus has a place in the cosmic hierarchy, he is there to provide balance and to hold actually malevolent forces like Abraxas at bay.

Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
Ikedatakeshi Baby dango from singapore Since: Nov, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
Baby dango
#95987: Jan 30th 2019 at 7:05:44 AM

He does have memories of being Galan though, and considering he has been defeated by or befriended human beings, he doesn't always view them as insects. He's not a Lovecraft god, and has questioned his place in the universe and tried solving his hunger in other ways. I like him better when he's not just a force of nature, because then it might as well just be a giant space cloud. I prefer his distant, arrogant God-like demeanor as him distancing himself from his horrific acts. He shouldn't be killed because he is necessary, he shouldn't be judged because his actions are natural part of how the universe functions, but the human elements make him more a character.

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.
#95988: Jan 30th 2019 at 7:09:44 AM

I feel like different Marvel writers have different ideas of what Galactus is, and they don't care if their interpretation contradicts a different writer, they'll just write Galactus however they want anyway. Of course, that applies to all characters in comics, but with Galactus it's a bit more noticeable because they can't even agree on what he fundamentally is.

Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on Jan 30th 2019 at 8:10:06 AM

Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#95989: Jan 30th 2019 at 7:11:49 AM

I think him being a Blue-and-Orange Morality cosmic entity is pretty much consistent to all differing interpretations though.

I can't recall any example where he has been portrayed as a villain, in the classical sense.

Edited by Forenperser on Jan 30th 2019 at 4:12:04 PM

Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#95990: Jan 30th 2019 at 7:15:25 AM

Well, I hope the MCU will go for "Tragic but terrifying".

HailMuffins Since: May, 2016 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
#95991: Jan 30th 2019 at 7:36:02 AM

I'd rather they just go with the Eldritch Abomination angle that Kirby originally implied.

Make the whole deal a Cosmic Horror Story, don't explain where he came from or what he is. Lack of information is always much scarier than any backstory the writers can make up.

KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#95992: Jan 30th 2019 at 9:03:10 AM

Interpretations where he's just some scary unknowable space monster (like the Fantastic Four movie) tend to be a lot less interesting than interpretations that play up his cosmic force of nature aspects, largely because it reduces him to something simplistic and easily (narratively) punched in the face.

It's the same reason turning Darkseid from a god with an inherent cosmology into a simple evil space conqueror dude is boring as hell: the Blue And Orange / force of nature aspects to Galactus are what makes him so fascinating.

Gaon Smoking Snake from Grim Up North Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
#95993: Jan 30th 2019 at 9:03:40 AM

Galactus is broadly consistent when it comes to being characterized as a vastly powerful cosmic being of unfathomable nature. He always shows up with this aura of ancient reverence, power and wisdom and the sense you're little more than a bug on his windshield.

Myself, I like Galactus more when he's played a more lonely and tragic Punch-Clock Villain.

"All you Fascists bound to lose."
HailMuffins Since: May, 2016 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
#95994: Jan 30th 2019 at 9:22:42 AM

I only want that if they decide to adapt the Life-Bringer note , that was one of the last stories I read before I dropped comics altogether, and I really liked it. "And never stop pushing." Just great, all-around.

alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#95995: Jan 30th 2019 at 9:32:20 AM

Has that been retconed yet?
It wasn't retconned, exactly, but Galactus did revert back to his original self — he had to sacrifice his Life-Bringer self in order to save the galaxy from a horde of Ultrons. (It makes sense, I swear.)

Edited by alliterator on Jan 30th 2019 at 9:32:29 AM

HailMuffins Since: May, 2016 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
#95996: Jan 30th 2019 at 9:38:22 AM

[up]You say it does, but for me that's throwing away one of the best plotlines in years to appease that God of Evil The Status Quo.

I mean, what happened with just making someone die holding the line, Gandalf-style? Remember when Skurge did that, and it was the greatest thing since the invention of white bread? Couldn't they have just done that, maybe set up a new character to take the role of Galactus and maybe put some new stories in the comics?

alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#95997: Jan 30th 2019 at 9:42:05 AM

Remember when Skurge did that, and it was the greatest thing since the invention of white bread?
...You haven't been reading Asgardians of the Galaxy then, have you? It's a great book, but it also uses Skurge. Not a resurrected Skurge, that is — he's still dead, but he's just managed to escape Hel for the moment.

In any case, even Al Ewing knew that Galactus was going to be reverted back. He was actually going to do it himself at the end of The Ultimates, but he decided not to do it because he liked the fact that Galactus had changed. But there was no way that Marvel was going to leave him as the Life-Bringer, especially since they were bringing back the Fantastic Four. Same with Doom being a good guy. They are just too big in the pantheon of villains to change for very long. (And yet they keep pushing that boulder uphill...)

chasemaddigan I'm Sad Frogerson. Since: Oct, 2011
I'm Sad Frogerson.
#95998: Jan 30th 2019 at 10:04:15 AM

If they include Galactus in the MCU, they better bring in Robbie Reyes so they can recreate this scene:

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#95999: Jan 30th 2019 at 10:08:42 AM

they'll bring in Nick Cage as Ghost Rider again and you'll like it!

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013

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