TVTropes Now available in the app store!
Open

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Go To

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

AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#106101: Jul 25th 2019 at 10:40:09 AM

My initial reaction to the bad press Shang Chi was receiving from China was that it was mostly if not necessarily exclusively propananda based on a desire to promote Chinese blockbuster movies coupled with a bias against actors who were not pure Han Chinese and/or ones from Hong Kong.

Huh, really? Wouldn't surprise me. But Simu Liu is ethnically pure Han Chinese from what I can tell, and while Tony Leung is a Hong Kong actor, he's also got some renown in the mainland for Hero and other such movies.

Edited by AlleyOop on Jul 25th 2019 at 1:40:24 PM

Hodor2 Since: Jan, 2015
#106102: Jul 25th 2019 at 11:12:08 AM

Well, maybe not quite that, but the criticisms I've seen through Reddit were comments about Liu not being good-looking enough in comparison to the appearance of caucassian heroes and the same applied to Awkwafina but in an offensive way- like they actually called her "squinty eyes" and said she looked like an anti-Chinese caricature. The idea seemed to be that a "real Chinese character" should look like a pop idol drama actor/actress.

So I'm not sure to what extent this criticism is based on the idea that the movie is insufficiently pandering to Chinese audiences (contrast with Disney's upcoming live action Mulan movie), which is not a completely unfair criticism given the whole Mandarin/Fu Manchu thing, versus being based in the idea that there's.... something wrong about Liu and Awkwafina because they don't look the way a Chinese person "should" look, but it seems like both.

Edit- I just looked up Tony Leung, and apparently around the time he was involved in Hero, he made statements defending the Tiannemen Square crackdown/massacre. So, I'd imagine that China is cool with him, if not the idea of a Chinese villain being opposed by a Chinese American hero.

Edited by Hodor2 on Jul 25th 2019 at 1:14:46 PM

TargetmasterJoe from Velocitron Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: I like big bots and I can not lie
#106103: Jul 25th 2019 at 11:13:10 AM

Cross posting from the box office thread:

Spider-Man: Far From Home finally scored $1 billion at the box office!

Now we can breathe easy that the next Spidey movie will be in the MCU. grin

windleopard from Nigeria Since: Nov, 2014 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
#106104: Jul 25th 2019 at 11:16:14 AM

Isn't comics Shang Chi half white?

Gaon Smoking Snake from Grim Up North Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
123tbones Since: Aug, 2015
#106107: Jul 25th 2019 at 12:17:28 PM

Can't wait for the next arachnid film.

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#106108: Jul 25th 2019 at 12:18:02 PM

Spider-Man: Homeward Bound

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Weirdguy149 Former King from Lumiose City Since: Jul, 2014 Relationship Status: I'd jump in front of a train for ya!
123tbones Since: Aug, 2015
#106110: Jul 25th 2019 at 12:20:23 PM

I was talking about Black Widow.

HandsomeRob Leader of the Holey Brotherhood from The land of broken records Since: Jan, 2015
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
#106111: Jul 25th 2019 at 12:21:19 PM

I want them to reveal Cap found a way to save Natasha from her death.

They owe us for repeating that bullshit with her after what they did to Gamora.

One Strip! One Strip!
Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#106112: Jul 25th 2019 at 12:28:43 PM

Think of it this way, when Captain America created a split timeline if you buy into that theory and believe he’d create all kinds of changes like saving Bucky early, stopping Hydra from growing inside SHIELD, organizing early anti-alien jerk defenses, and all that

In Cap’s grew old timeline Natasha is definitely alive and never dated Bruce

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#106113: Jul 25th 2019 at 12:29:27 PM

If Cap "saves" Natasha, it'll create a split timeline in which she's alive, but she'll still be dead in the main one. This was firmly established in Endgame.

You might ask if he could take her out of an alternate timeline and bring her into this one, as Gamora was. The answer to that should be obvious: if anyone can time-hop and save a character from death by bringing back a past version of them, then all dramatic stakes get thrown out the window. Deaths have to be final to carry emotional weight.

The only reason Gamora gets an exemption from this is because she is effectively "reset" to her pre-GOTG state, losing all the character development that occurred in those films, so that Quill has to woo her again and the dynamic between her and Nebula is reversed.

Edited by Fighteer on Jul 25th 2019 at 3:32:04 PM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#106114: Jul 25th 2019 at 12:29:42 PM

I really like the theory that Cap went back in time and became Mr. Rogers.

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#106115: Jul 25th 2019 at 12:32:03 PM

Yeah in the split timeline Cap grew old in, she’s super alive. But dead in the main one

Also, stealing a living Natasha from an alternate timeline is what the HISHE Endgame did

And then everyone drowned in All the Money

Edited by Bocaj on Jul 25th 2019 at 3:32:42 PM

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
HandsomeRob Leader of the Holey Brotherhood from The land of broken records Since: Jan, 2015
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
#106116: Jul 25th 2019 at 12:38:09 PM

The only reason Gamora gets an exemption from this is because she is effectively "reset" to her pre-GOTG state, losing all the character development that occurred in those films, so that Quill has to woo her again and the dynamic between her and Nebula is reversed.

There's no guarantee that will happen. In fact, I'm hoping it doesn't, and not just due to my overwhelming grudge against Quill that colours almost all my thoughts about him.

It would be great Character Development for the man who's lost so much and who handles losing those things so badly to finally learn to move past that. A new Gamora who rejects him as a lover would be perfect for that. It would also allow a new path for both of them, which is something quite a few people want.

One Strip! One Strip!
KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#106117: Jul 25th 2019 at 12:39:47 PM

Chances are the movie’s still going to be about him wooing her, even if she says no and means no, so its only going to make it marginally better tbh.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Jul 25th 2019 at 12:40:22 PM

Anomalocaris20 from Sagittarius A* Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: Love blinded me (with science!)
#106118: Jul 25th 2019 at 12:40:35 PM

Can The Scorpion get a film too, if Spider-Man and Black Widow are getting them? Make a whole Arachnid Cinematic Universe.

Maybe even buy rights to The Tick.

Edited by Anomalocaris20 on Jul 25th 2019 at 3:41:01 PM

You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!
Hodor2 Since: Jan, 2015
#106119: Jul 25th 2019 at 12:40:58 PM

I like the theory that Steve will go to Voromir and confront the Red Skull, who will mockingly tell him, "a life for a life, Rogers, that's the rule".

Then Steve will tell him "offer accepted" before throwing a screaming Red Skull into the abyss.

At this point, we'll see a living Natasha back on Earth. I don't know. Maybe in Budapest.

Edit- This is assuming that the Red Skull was bullshitting about the sacrificing a loved one thing and that in actuality, getting the Soul Stone "just" requires sacrificing one's own life or the life of someone else.

Edited by Hodor2 on Jul 25th 2019 at 2:43:28 PM

HandsomeRob Leader of the Holey Brotherhood from The land of broken records Since: Jan, 2015
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
#106120: Jul 25th 2019 at 12:43:42 PM

...that would be beautiful.

And yeah, I expect Quill to try. But I want him to fail, for reasons related to my grudge, and because I think it'd be a better story.

Hopefully, Gunn agrees with me. I believe he wrote the stuff for the Guardiants, so we assume he had some input on everything that happened with them in both Infinity War and Endgame.

So Gamora's new Status Quo is part of his plan...I hope.

One Strip! One Strip!
Tuckerscreator (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#106121: Jul 25th 2019 at 12:45:52 PM

wild mass guessGuardians 3 will end with Gamora rejecting Quill and Adam Warlock, and hooking up with Mantis. Then Peter and Adam will date each other.wild mass guess

Edited by Tuckerscreator on Jul 25th 2019 at 12:46:43 PM

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#106122: Jul 25th 2019 at 12:53:04 PM

Steve loves.... to hate Red Skull

Alas he’s not really alive and also he floats

[up] Acceptable

Edited by Bocaj on Jul 25th 2019 at 3:53:20 PM

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
HailMuffins Since: May, 2016 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
#106123: Jul 25th 2019 at 12:56:14 PM

[up][up]...you know, I'd watch that.

For my part, minus the grudge I agree with Rob.

I'd also add that getting Peter and Gamora together again would be just a rehash of a plot thread we already went through.

Edited by HailMuffins on Jul 25th 2019 at 4:57:19 PM

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#106124: Jul 25th 2019 at 1:00:18 PM

I'm not saying I want a rehash of the first two Guardians films. You know Peter is going to try to win Gamora again, and whether he succeeds or not is up to the story writers. Quill is supposed to be a jerk; whether you find that lovable or not is entirely subjective.

The problem with Adam Warlock in that mix is that he has very serious superpowers, so he'd overshadow the rest of the Guardians as much as, if not more than Thor would. The team-as-family dynamic only works if they're coequals, at least within a reasonable range, so that they all depend on each other. If one is so much stronger that the others are barely hangers on, it's messed up. Consider all the effort the various Justice League series put in to nerf Superman or put him on a bus for exactly this reason.

Now, I wouldn't put it past Gunn to explore this to show exactly why it's a bad idea, but the status quo established by the end should not have Adam as part of the Guardians.

Edited by Fighteer on Jul 25th 2019 at 4:03:45 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: May, 2013
The Head of the Hydra
#106125: Jul 25th 2019 at 1:34:26 PM

Okay the idea of throwing Skull over the cliff is dumb cause the guy can float.

He’s visibly levitating off the ground, what the fuck do you honestly expect to happen there?

Edited by slimcoder on Jul 25th 2019 at 1:34:35 AM

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."

Total posts: 186,763
Top