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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

Eagal Since: Apr, 2012
#96626: Feb 9th 2019 at 6:29:53 AM

Avengers: Endgame Directors Were Nervous Captain Marvel Was 'Overly Powerful'

Carol OP. Plz nerf.

Ha, how's that for a page topper.

Edited by Eagal on Feb 9th 2019 at 6:30:07 AM

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#96627: Feb 9th 2019 at 8:23:40 AM

Misleading headline...what they are actually saying is that working with particularly powerful characters is always challenging because they feel that the audience needs to see the hero struggle, so if you have someone who is so much more powerful than, say, Cap, you need to be careful to figure out weaknesses.

HailMuffins Since: May, 2016 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
#96628: Feb 9th 2019 at 8:40:19 AM

Of course, a struggle need not be just a physical one (biggest mistake Superman writers make), but that much is true enough.

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#96629: Feb 9th 2019 at 8:42:00 AM

At least they're making the effort to challenge her despite her power.

I still can't get over the fact that Whedon's philosophy going into Age of Ultron was basically, "The heroes are invincible and no bad guy could ever beat them, so the real conflict needs to be internal."

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Discar Since: Jun, 2009
#96630: Feb 9th 2019 at 9:21:48 AM

For the first Avengers movie, that wasn't a bad plot. But having that be an ironclad rule, especially after they already learned their cooperation lessons in the first movie, was terrible.

That alone still wouldn't have been that bad. Ultron was a whole bunch of meh decisions leading up to a movie full of Fridge Logic.

Writing a post-post apocalypse LitRPG on RR. Also fanfic stuff.
J79 Since: Jan, 2015
#96631: Feb 9th 2019 at 9:23:58 AM

So I was wondering, if they ever put MODOK in the MCU, how would you design him so he doesnt look ridiculous (this is one case where sticking to the comic design wouldnt be a good idea)?

HailMuffins Since: May, 2016 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
#96633: Feb 9th 2019 at 9:26:37 AM

Put him in a surreal comedy movie a la Kung Fu Hustle, that way he won't break immersion.

Lymantria Tyrannoraptoran Reptiliomorph from Toronto Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: Historians will say we were good friends.
Gaon Smoking Snake from Grim Up North Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
#96635: Feb 9th 2019 at 9:31:52 AM

I think they should stick to his comics design. It's what makes him grand.

They just need to pit him against an appropriate hero to combat his silly shenanigans. He'd fit like a glove in the Ant-Man franchise for example.

If you were to redesign him to look less silly (which again, I find to be a bad idea), I'd have him be a mechanic stunted body in his usual proportions, with his very large head being a tv-screen showing his face in a exaggerated proportion rather than his actual head. So I'd lean more to the mechanic aspect of things. But again, I think he works fine as is.

"All you Fascists bound to lose."
Lymantria Tyrannoraptoran Reptiliomorph from Toronto Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: Historians will say we were good friends.
Tyrannoraptoran Reptiliomorph
#96636: Feb 9th 2019 at 9:33:58 AM

[up] I think, the reason they scrapped him from Winter Soldier is that, yes, they couldn't make him look good.

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Gaon Smoking Snake from Grim Up North Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
#96637: Feb 9th 2019 at 9:44:18 AM

I think with Winter Soldier they simply cycled through several Captain America villains until they realized that the situation worked best with a villain that's just a "regular guy". I've heard Red Skull, MODOK and Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker all being considered to fit the role of Pierce, but all being discarded eventually. Seems to me they realized the aesop of the film works best with Pierce (a regular bureaucrat) than an actual supervillain behind things.

Also: MODOK isn't in AOS, but there's a character who references him (saying he's "Designed Only for Killing" allá MODOK).

"All you Fascists bound to lose."
chasemaddigan I'm Sad Frogerson. Since: Oct, 2011
I'm Sad Frogerson.
#96638: Feb 9th 2019 at 10:11:29 AM

Well, MODOK does appear in the Iron Man 3 mobile game. And spoilers for a Endless Running Game, but it's revealed that this incarnation of MODOK is actually Aldrich Killian. Again.

No. Really.

unknowing from somewhere.. Since: Mar, 2014
#96639: Feb 9th 2019 at 10:16:16 AM

[up][up]To be fair, Pierce isnt the only big bad, is more HYDRA serving as sort of evil superteam.

Edited by unknowing on Feb 9th 2019 at 2:16:35 PM

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HandsomeRob Leader of the Holey Brotherhood from The land of broken records Since: Jan, 2015
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
#96640: Feb 9th 2019 at 10:18:46 AM

I still can't get over the fact that Whedon's philosophy going into Age of Ultron was basically, "The heroes are invincible and no bad guy could ever beat them, so the real conflict needs to be internal."

To be fair, there's an entire movie that proves this idea isn't totally wrong.

And another movie that further proves it when you think about it.

Hell, the first movie has these 6 people fight off an alien invasion.

Yeah, it had no place in AOU, but it's not totally crazy.

Edited by HandsomeRob on Feb 9th 2019 at 11:19:18 AM

One Strip! One Strip!
KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#96641: Feb 9th 2019 at 10:23:15 AM

Just looked it up. No, MODOK was not in Agents of SHIELD. There is, however, a character who indirectly references him.

Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#96642: Feb 9th 2019 at 10:49:39 AM

Do you mean Ivanov?

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HandsomeRob Leader of the Holey Brotherhood from The land of broken records Since: Jan, 2015
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
#96644: Feb 9th 2019 at 10:59:47 AM

Yeah. That was mentioned a page or two back. We were all in the middle of another conversation so I think it was missed.

God speed Oreo. God speed.

One Strip! One Strip!
HalfFaust Since: Jan, 2019
#96645: Feb 9th 2019 at 12:59:09 PM

Re power level: eh, that's pretty par for the course in superhero stuff. Even in Avengers, you had a god on one end and skilled humans on the other, so even if Captain Marvel ends up more powerful than Thor it's kind of the same narrative problem.

Re MODOK: Just literally translating the design into live action would certainly be some combination of body horror, unintentionally funny, uncanny valley, etc. Maybe a screen but then that's going into Zola's aesthetic.

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.
#96646: Feb 9th 2019 at 1:19:19 PM

Isn't MODOK seen in-universe as a combination of Body Horror, Unintentionally Hilarious, Uncanny Valley, etc? Like, isn't that supposed to be MODOK's whole deal, is that he's horrifying, slightly comical, and immensely disturbing? If audiences aren't sure whether to laugh, cry, or scream, that sounds like the character has been faithfully adapted to live-action. Especially if they show him as a normal human for a while before he's mutated.

Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on Feb 9th 2019 at 2:20:23 AM

jakobitis Doctor of Doctorates from Somewhere, somewhen Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: I'd need a PowerPoint presentation
Doctor of Doctorates
#96647: Feb 9th 2019 at 1:58:54 PM

Earth's Mightiest Heroes took that tack with Modok, when Thor and the Wasp first encountered him they were equal parts confused, amused and perturbed. Eventually "amused" won out but initially the God Of Thunder whose has fought dragons and demons and sorcerers in ALL NINE REALMS had no idea what the heck to make of MODOK. He's just THAT weird.

"These 'no-nonsense' solutions of yours just don't hold water in a complex world of jet-powered apes and time travel."
SonOfSharknado Love is Love is Love Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
Love is Love is Love
#96648: Feb 9th 2019 at 3:12:28 PM

"That... that is a VERY big head."

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HailMuffins Since: May, 2016 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
#96649: Feb 9th 2019 at 3:14:03 PM

In fairness, most people react the same way to the Guardians, particularly Groot.

[up]Oh my!

Read that in the voice of George Takei.

Edited by HailMuffins on Feb 9th 2019 at 8:14:57 AM

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#96650: Feb 9th 2019 at 6:21:50 PM

Well, the character who referenced MODOK and Ao S got his head cut off and could control a robot looking like himself with said head after...it was actually pretty gruesome. They did the whole thing were they hinted that this could be a take on MODOK, but they never made it official so I guess they could still use the character in the movies down the line if they wanted to. MODOK is a little bit above the kind of characters Ao S is usually allowed to play with.


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