To Infinity and Beyond: The Marvel Cinematic Universe

[Pombar]

Once again, no Marvel movie release in China, so no Dr Strange 2 until it hits torrents. Thanks, whatever troll in production hid a Tiananmen Square reference in Shang Chi.

But Moon Knight I enjoyed. Didn't know a damn thing about the character besides comedy panels about Dracula owing him money, and thoroughly enjoyed it. But I suppose I am predisposed to enjoy The Wacky Adventures of British Museum Employee #308

 

[Adrenaline]

I liked Multiverse a lot, even though it had a lot less multiversing than I expected. But that was actually a good thing because it focused on specific bits of story and developed them well. I really liked Wanda as a villain, I really liked the Illuminati, I liked the action, I liked how it really felt like a Sam Raimi movie at certain points. It was just a really fun movie.

 

[Troa11]

Saw this last night. Frankly I kept forgetting in the lead up to watching it that it was a Sam Raimi movie. Not sure how, because I love his stuff.

About 20 minutes in I was violently reminded of this fact and then I when I realized it, I started seeing it everywhere. And I loved it and giggled to myself throughout. Frankly didn't care about any character or story development - whether it was done well or not - I enjoyed the story enough. I just enjoyed watching Raimi have fun again after Sony and Spider-Man 3 nearly killed him.

 

[Octopus Prime]

When people kept telling me it was an extremely Sam Raimi movie, I was assuming they meant Spider-Man-ish. Or I was hoping in my heart of hearts, Darkman (though Undead Strange sure as hell looks like Darkman). But nope. It’s the other kind of Sam Raimi kovie

 

[Pombar]

If any character refers to the MCU as 616 and thinks it's correct, it should be a sign that they know less than they think.

Aren't they correct?

The movies aren't sharing a multiverse with the comics, and so their 616 won't be the comics' 616?

 

[Vaeran]

Let's go.

 

[Octopus Prime]

I am completely here for this

 

[SpoonyBard]

Oh hey they (mostly) brought back the original show logo it was first announced with. I'll accept this compromise.

And I am also completely here for big green lawyer.

 

[Rascally Badger]

I am very hopeful the show will be good, but I think the effects in that trailer look kind of bad.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

OK, so it's not just me. Its the one little bugbear here but everything else seems spot on.

 

[SpoonyBard]

I'm hoping some effects are still unfinished, but that's probably wishful thinking.

 

[Beta Metroid]

What's the point of Disney's tyrannical takeover of all media if they won't even throw all the money at their things? Disney, you own everything! Nothing you put out should ever have people wondering whether or not it's finished!

 

[Adrenaline]

The point of taking over all media is that you don't have to put effort into things looking finished because people don't have other options

 

[Exposition Owl]

I like what I hear of the writing from that trailer, and I’m encouraged by the fact that the production leads are women. Still, ya gotta love comic books, the medium in which a male hulk becomes a giant ogre, but a female hulk just becomes a taller, more muscular woman with green skin.

 

[Octopus Prime]

I was hoping they’d use her redesign from Jason Aaron’s Avengers run;

 

[Adrenaline]

I like what I hear of the writing from that trailer, and I’m encouraged by the fact that the production leads are women. Still, ya gotta love comic books, the medium in which a male hulk becomes a giant ogre, but a female hulk just becomes a taller, more muscular woman with green skin.

This is true, but one of the interesting things about Jennifer is that when she hulks out she's still mostly in control (with plenty of exceptions). The hulk as a monstrous ogre is a reflection of Bruce's childhood trauma and mental issues. This is undercut by the fact that every female Hulk has Jennifer's body type and every male Hulk has Bruce's.

 

[Octopus Prime]

To be fair, sometimes male Hulks look like giant xenomorph lizards and sometimes female hulks are birds.

You know, the four body types

 

[Adrenaline]

Those are gamma mutates but I wouldn't call them Hulks

 

[Octopus Prime]

One is explicitly Bruce Banner, so he counts;

 

[YangusKhan]

Why does it matter that she's Bruce Banner's cousin? Is their family genetically predisposed to getting Hulkified when blasted with gamma radiation?

 

[Octopus Prime]

It’s kind of vaguely implied that that’s the case, but it otherwise doesn’t matter any more than Scrooge being Donald Ducks uncle matters to their relationship.

 

[Mr Bean]

Depending on if they crib anything from the Slott run from years ago, there’s still the chance Jen will bulk up after engaging in intergalactic jurisprudence via boxing match.

I do hope they steal my favorite story from that run where Spider-man sues JJJ for slander.

 

[BEAT]

If they're gonna do all CGI instead of just getting a tall lady, they should have made her look like... Not just a tall lady.

 

[BEAT]

The answer, of course, is that CGI artists are the only major part of Hollywood that doesn't have a decades-old union.

 

[SpoonyBard]

Oh the one hand I'm still bummed about the change to her power-set, hard light manipulation just isn't as interesting as the body morphing she originally has, and with the varying quality of MCU D+ shows thus far I feel I need to temper my expectations accordingly.

But on the other, at least they seemed to nail the casting. The tone feels very appropriate for Ms. Marvel, and I hope they treat the faith-based parts with respect.

Fingers will remain crossed I guess!

 

[Exposition Owl]

Oh the one hand I'm still bummed about the change to her power-set, hard light manipulation just isn't as interesting as the body morphing she originally has

That’s true, but it’s hard for me to imagine a CG embiggened fist that isn’t very obviously CG, especially on a TV budget. I haven’t seen a lot of studios create convincing realistic human skin textures, and I suspect it would stand out especially if the body parts in question were unnaturally large.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

I like the change in powers a lot. Her being a more boring, teen Plastic Man, was a really weird choice to associate with Captain Marvel. Giving her Green Lantern-ish powers fits the whole Captain Marvel M.O. a lot better.

 

[Pombar]

Also means less stepping on the toes of the presumably-upcoming Mr Fantastic.

 

[BEAT]

I would absolutely stomp on the toes of mr fantastic

 

[Johnny Unusual]

I would absolutely stomp on the toes of mr fantastic

Frankly, I'd rather have two stretchy folks. It's not like there's a lack of "strong" or "agile" dudes. As long as you can visualize it in a way that is distinct (Kamala often does shrinking and being a giant, too) I don't feel I'd worry about that. The more silliness, the better, frankly.