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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.
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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

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#127826: May 8th 2021 at 8:53:38 AM

One guardian per movie isn’t a bad attrition rate

Alas poor Yondu is the only one killed who didn’t get doubled in some way

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Watchtower Since: Jul, 2010
#127827: May 8th 2021 at 9:51:48 AM

Drax has a fundamental issue of being both a Flat Character (he's a Cloud Cuckoolander Barbarian Hero In Space) and a Static Character (he's already avenged his family by killing Ronan and doesn't have anything else driving him). It seems clear the MCU's straining to figure out what else to do with him, in part because he doesn't even have his comic version's powers or history to pilfer.

The most I can think of is introducing Moondragon as his secret still-alive daughter and seeing what can be done with that. And even then more signs point to him Passing the Torch to her which just leaves room for a Heroic Sacrifice to force it.

Edited by Watchtower on May 8th 2021 at 12:52:41 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
#127828: May 8th 2021 at 10:26:16 AM

My thought is similar. They introduce Moondragon as somehow having survived, she’s married to Phyla Vell. They team up with the Guardians for the plot. At the end of the movie, Drax goes off with them to reconnect with his daughter and get to know his daughter in law

It writes him out and gives him a happy ending. If no more Guardians movies are planned, have Mantis go with him so he’s off with his three daughters by birth, marriage, and adoption

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Anomalocaris20 from Sagittarius A* Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: Love blinded me (with science!)
#127829: May 8th 2021 at 1:01:54 PM

I'm fine with Guardians 3 being Bautista's last romp as Drax. You can't go on forever, and I'll be happy if he gets a nice send-off as opposed to just killed unceremoniously.

You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!
Aleistar Since: Feb, 2018 Relationship Status: Hugging my pillow
#127830: May 8th 2021 at 1:12:24 PM

I do wonder if it might be the last Guardians movie, if Bautista is openly talking about leaving. Or maybe it'll be the last movie with the originals and there'll be a shake up in the roster afterwords.

slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: May, 2013
The Head of the Hydra
#127831: May 8th 2021 at 1:17:42 PM

If Guardians 3 is Bautista‘s last ride then hopefully he can do something awesome one last time.

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
fredhot16 Don't want to leave but cannot pretend from Baton Rogue, Louisiana. Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: Too sexy for my shirt
Don't want to leave but cannot pretend
#127832: May 8th 2021 at 3:05:56 PM

Alright, I've got Iron Man 3 on my TV screen, just about to check it out!

I think it's the only Phase 2 movie that I haven't seen, right next to Thor: The Dark World, so why not crack that open and finish that part of the franchise?

Plus, I heard ~Handsome Rob say that Thor: The Dark World is better then Iron Man 3 and having seen Thor: The Dark World...I'm going to put that to the test. That movie existed and, well, that's about as much as I could give it. O.K, it did a little more then just exist but that's just me being kind.

...Also, I've never watched the movie but I have heard that a Imagine Dragons song, "Ready, Aim, Fire" is in the movie so there's that for me. I like Imagine Dragons.

Trans rights are human rights. TV Tropes is not a place for bigotry, cruelty, or dickishness, no matter who or their position.
God_of_Awesome Since: Jan, 2001
#127833: May 8th 2021 at 3:07:24 PM

IM 3 was worst?

I found IM 3 entertaining.

slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: May, 2013
The Head of the Hydra
#127834: May 8th 2021 at 3:13:19 PM

Well its among the badder Marvel movies.

Has one of the most awful villains in all of fiction.

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
HandsomeRob Leader of the Holey Brotherhood from The land of broken records Since: Jan, 2015
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
#127835: May 8th 2021 at 3:13:33 PM

[up][up][up]

I said I liked The Dark World more than Iron Man 3.

I don't know if you know much about IM 3, but for me that was a single part that sunk the entire thing for me, and I never disliked the Dark World the way others did, so that's it.

There are ideas I like in Iron Man 3, but that single part messed it up for me completely.

I won't say more. You should watch for yourself and decide. You might be able to suss out what part I mean however.

Edited by HandsomeRob on May 8th 2021 at 10:13:54 AM

One Strip! One Strip!
Ayasugi Since: Oct, 2010
#127836: May 8th 2021 at 4:28:00 PM

Re: TDW, I've realized that I like the Asgardian royal family characterizations (other than "Thor is just depressed because he's pining for Jane") and character dynamics the best in that movie, so that's one thing going for it. Though as far as character stuff goes, IM 3 has Tony dealing with PTSD and deconstructing how his savior complex causes trouble, which are also interesting.

chasemaddigan I'm Sad Frogerson. Since: Oct, 2011
I'm Sad Frogerson.
#127837: May 8th 2021 at 5:21:28 PM

Iron Man 3 is a bit of a mixed bag for me. There's parts I do really like (the action scenes, attempting to explore Tony's PTSD, and how the military-industrial complex can use the perceived threat of terrorism as a way to seize power and wealth for themselves), but there's also a lot that doesn't work. Tony grabs the Idiot Ball hard at points, the villains are very underwhelming, and overall I think the film's advertising promised a different movie tonal wise that what it delivered. The trailers promised something more along the lines of Captain America: The Winter Soldiernote , and we instead got Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. So, you can understand why some people felt misled when the movie came out.

The Mandarin twist is something I think could've worked in theory, but Killian was just such a weak villain. LEGO Marvel's Avengers ridiculed this plot point in their Iron Man 3 level, when Killian rants how Tony will learn not to snub people he randomly meets at parties. That line's hilarious because that's literally the entire reason he hates Tony. If you do the bait-and-switch villain routine, you better make the real villain you have planned is just as good or better than the villain you started off with.

It's kind of interesting watching the movie with the knowledge that it was planned to be the finale for Tony's character, as RDJ's initial contract with Marvel had ran out by the point. It explains certain plot threads (Tony's removal of his arc reactor and suits at the ending, the whole "Tony is more than his armor" arc), and it makes them seem out of place when later films glossed over them. Age of Ultron ignored that Tony basically retired as Iron Man and didn't explain why he put on the armour again. Civil War did acknowledge that this led to Tony's relationship with Pepper being strained, at the least.

I'd argue Iron Man 3 has the least amount of impact on the MCU of the Phase Two films. Aside from removing Tony's arc reactor and explaining who that random guy was at Tony's funeral in Endgame, I struggle to think about the legacy this film left behind for the franchise. Even Thor: The Dark World is important to the overall story of the MCU. Iron Man 3 can be easily be skipped with very little being lost.

Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#127838: May 8th 2021 at 6:34:36 PM

I only saw IM 3 once, but I remember liking Tony's character arc in it (the whole PTSD aspect and eventually deciding to scale back on the superheroics).

Which of course got promptly undone by Age of Ultron, so that soured it.

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#127839: May 8th 2021 at 6:36:49 PM

Would it have fixed it if Tony had gone completely remote by Age of Ultron and only suits up because of Ultron undermining his network?

Only problem would be how Scarlet Witch would do the thing to him but if we're fixing Tony's arc already maybe fix the big elephant in the room that is Wanda in Age of Ultron.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
HandsomeRob Leader of the Holey Brotherhood from The land of broken records Since: Jan, 2015
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
#127840: May 8th 2021 at 6:37:17 PM

I kinda did as well.

Hell I liked that Tony spent the entire movie showing that Iron Man isn't just the suit. After all, he didn't just build the suit. He learned to use it as he built it. It's a tool uniquely made for him. It makes sense he'd be able to do cool shit without it.

And lets not forget the Barrel of Monkeys rescue.

Or we could call it the chain rescue if the above name sounds too dumb.

One Strip! One Strip!
Blueace Surrounded by weirdoes from The End Of the World Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Surrounded by weirdoes
#127841: May 8th 2021 at 6:37:55 PM

Iron Man 3 is the most ignored movie overall, isn't it? Like, the events on it are never brought up again.

Wake me up at your own risk.
Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#127842: May 8th 2021 at 6:47:31 PM

Besides Pepper putting on the suit again in Endgame? Probably.

Maybe Shang-Chi will do some continuity nods.

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#127843: May 8th 2021 at 6:49:41 PM

The events are alluded to in Civil War. It has more of an effect on Tony's arc than the Incredible Hulk does for Hulk and that's considered in continuity too.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Aleistar Since: Feb, 2018 Relationship Status: Hugging my pillow
#127844: May 8th 2021 at 7:10:55 PM

I think the "most ignored movie" award probably goes to Incredible Hulk if only because outside of some characters it's largely inconsequential to the broader MCU.

Watchtower Since: Jul, 2010
#127845: May 8th 2021 at 7:12:59 PM

Iron Man 3 suffers the hardest from Age of Ultron slamming a reset button because Whedon just wanted to do a sequel to his own movie. Hydra's treated like it's on the cusp of extermination and SHIELD being broken really doesn't affect much, and The Dark World is treated like a complete one-off side story. But there's no way to reconcile Tony's arc from IM3 to AoU without putting a bunch more work that Whedon doesn't have time for so the movie just...doesn't do it. It took Civil War deconstructing that reset and the other MCU movies developing his character and relationship with Pepper on and off screen for it to really link up.

As for everything else there's hope in Shang-Chi actually cashing in on both the Ten Rings nods and the Mandarin twist now that we're finally seeing the real Ten Rings and the real Mandarin in the fray. And there's always room for a more classic version of AIM to appear - lot of Marvel media lately has really emphasized Monica Rappaccini as the true head of AIM while leaving room for M.O.D.O.K. to do other stuff. Real question is what becomes of Trevor Slattery.

Falrinn Since: Dec, 2014
#127846: May 8th 2021 at 7:14:22 PM

Iron Man 3 didn't bring a whole lot new to the table as far as the overall status quo of the Marvel universe. It mattered for Tony's character arc, but most of the story was fairly self-contained. There's not really much that can be followed up on.

Shang-Chi might acknowledge the existence of the fake Mandarin, but I don't expect much more than a cameo.

And if AIM ever shows up again it will probably be under new leadership and will be portrayed much closer to their comic book counterparts.

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#127847: May 8th 2021 at 7:15:16 PM

I can easily see a situation where AIM had to go underground after that whole thing with their boss trying to kill the president

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
chasemaddigan I'm Sad Frogerson. Since: Oct, 2011
I'm Sad Frogerson.
#127848: May 8th 2021 at 7:23:01 PM

[up] I think it's often glossed over by the series how the vice-president was in on a conspiracy to assassinate the president. In any other universe, that'd be one of the bigger political scandals in history. In the MCU, it's not even the biggest scandal of that administration.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Trevor Slattery appears in Shang-Chi locked up in Wenwu's dungeon or something. Just to really acknowledge that they're formally addressing the twist in Iron Man 3 is being undone.

And this talk of MODOK reminds me how the Iron Man 3 mobile game revealed that Killian was turned into MODOK in that game as well. How many other Iron Man villains will be turned into?

Edited by chasemaddigan on May 8th 2021 at 10:25:05 AM

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#127849: May 8th 2021 at 7:25:53 PM

Let’s turn him into the unicorn, one of Iron Man’s dumbest looking villains

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
DeathsApprentice The Ultimate Lifeform from The Ark Since: Aug, 2011 Relationship Status: Is that a kind of food?
The Ultimate Lifeform
#127850: May 8th 2021 at 7:39:38 PM

I really hope we end up getting a Truer to the Text AIM in the MCU. Always bummed me out how different they were in IM 3 from the mad science organization that they are in the comics.

When we're done, there won't be anything left.

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