Topic: The Marvel Thread

@RogerRoger It’s an valid concern. I am likewise a big fan of Comic based entertainment and Star Wars. Throw in Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and basically most nerd culture stuff. (Although I’ve never quite caught the Star Trek bug fully. I like the reboot movies though… But I digress…). And as a big MCU fan even I have trouble keeping up. The pandemic has slowed things down naturally, in addition to the nice wrap-up produced by Endgame and Far From Home that you mention; and now they are in this weird space of losing some of the momentum from the Infinity saga due to filming production delays, and yet they haven’t let things settle down enough to not feel saturated by the content. The TV shows have served to keep the IP relevant, but I think the movies are stumbling out of the gate, comparatively speaking (and granted, when you are comparing to prior success that was box-office record breaking, then it’s tough to compare). I still haven’t seen Black Widow, nor finished all available TV output. I know I’ll like them when I see them but I’m satisfied to wait. I might try to see Shang-Chi in the theater though, but with COVID raging again I might want to wait.

@RogerRoger, @Th3solution. Yeah, I'm really interested in seeing how Star Wars holds up under the same treatment as the MCU. While it makes some sense in terms of the latter since they have dozens of different heroes to adapt which helps add potential longevity in case some need to retire (or others flop), in terms of SW everything has the original trilogy at it's core in the end and I wonder how many degrees of separation it can endure before (the average viewer) loses interest.

@RogerRoger I'm hoping Star Wars is safer in the oversaturation department as you can do so many different stories in different timelines; focusing on various aspects/people of the universe, it doesn't feel like it has to tie into one big story.

I think Star Wars will lend itself well to yearly content drop on the live action, subsidised by an animated series for us extra enthusiastic people.

As you say, we don't need constant content. Star Wars hopefully can lend itself well to a yearly new series and a new movie every 2/3 years I think (or hope).

New What If is out tomorrow, the title is "What if... Zombies?!" and that is the best title Marvel Studios has ever thought of.

Really really hope that Ditko and Lee’s estates win their court case against Marvel. Lots of idiotic fans thinking that the estates getting the copyrights would mean the end of Marvel but no, it means that creators would be actually paid for their work.

@RogerRoger One of the main reasons I’m trying to get through Falcon & the WS is because I hear there’s a little connection between it and the Black Widow movie and I want to complete it first before watching BW. Good to hear that the film holds up.

@RogerRoger @Th3solution I thought the connection was so insigificant that if I hadn't watched FWS then I would have just said "who's that?". Having watched FWS, I just said "oh" lol.

Unfortunately I didn't hugely rate Black Widow, it's a bit too sappy for me which is unfortunate because Black Widow is one of my favourite avengers in the movies and has been since CA:TWS. Her character has been better served in every other film she's been in (except Iron Man 2).

I did enjoy Winstone though but I will always enjoy Winstone. I loved how he looked basically the same in all the photoshopped historical pictures and they didn't go for a Scum/Quadrophenia-era de aging. I say loved, more like I just thought it was really funny.

Red Guardian was good too and the film could have done with more of him. I liked Taskmaster but I probably would have gone with a different interpretation if I was making it. It's done plenty in origin films but it can be annoying when they kind of add extra motive for an already perfectly acceptable villain to arbitrarily tie them to a hero.

I think BW fits better after FWS but it's just a bit of a random film and beyond springboarding some new characters, I doubt it will get mentioned much in future. It feels like it's the new Incredible Hulk of the MCU. Just a film that came out under weird circumstances that will probably get forgotten.

If anyone wants to watch a really good Ray Winstone film, I recommend Sexy Beast that also stars Ben Kingsley who played Iron Man 3's "Mandarin".

(Proceeds to duck out of this thread to avoid Shang Chi spoilers as I haven't seen that movie yet!)

@ralphdibny Another great Winstone film is 44 inch Chest, a masterpiece in all ways. Also has Ian McShane, John Hurt.

@nathanSF ahh cool, haven't seen that one actually. I think I have the dvd somewhere though so I'll have to check it out!

Eternals’ post credit scene leaking somehow has me even less interested than I was before. I just… don’t really care that much about that side of the MCU anymore despite being a life-long Marvel fan of the comics and having gone to see all the movies since Iron Man in the cinema.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Have you watched any of the Marvel Disney+ shows yet? Namely Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, and WandaVision?
With some of the points you bring up about the characters, I’m wondering how you’ll get along with those shows, which in some really delve deeper into side content and characterization of these people. I especially think you’ll like Loki and WandaVision, based on what you said above. I don’t know though. I also thought you’d like NieR Automata and you hated that 😂. Falcon and the WS might be harder to take because you like Chris Evans as Cap. But I think it carries on the storyline pretty nicely.

Personally, IMO, Captain America. The Winter Soldier is the best MCU film. It plays more as a thriller than a superhero film. I don't include Guardians of the Galaxy or Thor Ragnorak, as they are a different superhero (comedy/action) genre.
Far from Home was my least liked film. It was all pretty pointless and gave me very little to care about. Plus Spider-Man is incongruent with big monsters/threats. He's a friendly neighbourhood guy and fits in best with real, physical 'no-bigger than a truck' dangers. Having a grieving Peter Parker, Skrulls settling in, and Parker outed as a villain could have been done in an one of 14,000,0605 ways that didn't include meta sfx and cgi.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Haha, you know I have to give you a hard time. 😛 Well I’ll keep trying nonetheless - I can always fall back on luckily pointing you into the direction of DOS2, which was a home run I think. 😄

As far as your Avengers and CA Winter Soldier thoughts, I’d mostly agree — although I quite enjoyed The Avengers. I think some of it is nostalgia because it was the first successful mash-up of its kind, and was such a genius idea at the time. Like you say, subsequently the cross over movies have been done multiple times over, and to greater effect and higher quality. But it was the first big step into this larger assemblage of multiple isolated characters and their stories into one overarching interchanging universe. The fact they pulled it off to the degree of quality they did was impressive.

And I did not know that is Ashley Johnson! Wow, even the Marvel nerd that I am, you taught me something new! (…Ever the teacher 😄) I knew she seemed a little familiar, but somehow I just whiffed on making the connection.

And spot on with CA: WS. Somehow that movie just works so well, despite (or maybe because of) the change in tone to the more spy thriller / realistic style. Redford is great in it and I really enjoyed the twist. I always love it when a movie or game throws me a twist I wasn’t expecting. Just like we were talking about with Squid Game.

So I just read that the upcoming Insomniac Wolverine game's lead writer also wrote Spec Ops: The Line. Now although I havent played it (it's in what remains of my PS3 backlog), I have heard a lot about how great the game is... particularly its gritty narrative and adult themes. Seems like a real nice marriage of project and talent to me 😁

So I finally was able to take the time to watch Black Widow. I don’t have much to add to what other people have said, and I’d consider it mostly a middling affair for the MCU — which is not a bad thing, considering the usual quality of their output.

I know we harp on it a lot, but for me the main thing that dragged the experience down was the consistency of the Russian accents. The side characters had more believable accents, Ray Winstone being the best, imo. But most of the main character actors and actresses were all over the place. Which is too bad, because the script was good and had that sharp humor the MCU is known for, and the comedic timing was spot on, but the way the accents sounded often pulled me out of the moment. It’s the same issue that exists with Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch with her drift in and out of accents, but here it was several characters putting on an accent so it seemed to stick out more if someone had a lazy line delivery.

The same basic principle applied to the action sequences. They were really good for the most part and I think the underlying choreography for the fights scenes was right up there almost as good as Captain America: Winter Soldier. What held it back was the occasional obvious stunt doubling and a couple of the actors not quite being able to pull off a believable looking flashy and ornate acrobatic move set. In other words, there were times when I could tell the exact moment that the action switched from a stunt double to the actual actor, which is something I hadn’t noticed before in the Marvel movies. I wonder how much the filming and editing process was effected and hampered by the pandemic.

As for the story, it turned out to be pretty good, although I had a hard time really investing myself in the plight of Natasha and Yelena. Their chemistry didn’t really hit its stride until late in the movie. And even then, I’m not sure how I feel about the clear indication that we’ll be seeing more of Yelena in future TV and movies. The post-credits scene with Julia Louis-Dreyfuss was a great nod to what’s to come, but I just wish it was another actress taking on the role. With all due respect to Florence Pugh, the role seems a tad too big for her. But I hope I’m proved wrong

Perhaps some of the lack of my investment in the movie was subliminally related to my knowledge that not only is Natasha dead in the regular MCU timeline but also the lawsuit and souring of relationships between Scarlett Johannsen and Marvel/Disney. It shouldn’t affect my feeings in the movie, but I think it was in the back of my mind.

And that’s a lot of negativity up there for a movie that I’d say was a solid good time and I would recommend to anyone who likes the MCU and these characters. 😄. And it’s also ironic that I started out saying I didn’t have a lot to add and then followed it up with a wall of text. 😂

@RogerRoger The way I’ve been lagging behind on things, I’m not sure when I’ll watch Hawkeye, but I’m definitely going to. I haven’t even watched all the What If..? episodes. Need to see Shang-Chi and Eternals too. And I think the next Spidey movie isn’t too far away either.

But yeah, I really liked the chemistry between Hawkeye and Widow and so I’ll be curious how it transitions over to his own show. The fact that Natasha’s sister has been assigned to take a hit out on him makes for a compelling storyline, but there’s got to be more to it than that to hold the public interest.

Hey folks. I only have a PS4. Planning on getting a PS5 in the future but clearly there isn't a timeline for when I could possibly get one because, well, you know lol. (and even if I could easily grab one, I'm not in a rush).
Anyway, with that being my situation...
1. Could any of you guys speak to whether I should buy & play
Spider-Man: Miles Morales on the PS4 or just wait til I get a PS5 (whenever that may be).
2. Marvel's Avengers is worth the single player story right? I was thinking of buying it when it goes on sale anywhere between $15-$20 (or your local equivalent). It dropped to $20 before but I missed it and didn't pull the trigger.
3. I hope the X-Men get a new game. Perhaps this Wolverine game in 202X will drop hints of the team when it releases.

Just went to see Eternals in my first Imax screen. Wow. That was one of the best movies I've watched this year. I did feel like a wrinkly old man by the end of it considering how long it was but it was action packed, gorgeous, diverse, and different from any other Marvel film. Please go and see this movie (plus, stay for the 2 post credit scenes. you won't regret it)!

Went to see Eternals. Not good. Not good at all. Like if Jupiter Ascending was MCU-adjacent. It’s ok to be exposition heavy but dear me, there’s not even a good payoff. My disappointment with the MCU movies post-Endgame continues.

I’ve watched 6/9 of What If?… at this point and I do enjoy it. Of the first 6 episodes, there are definitely some that are better than others. It’s a fun concept, and really only enjoyable for the Uber-fans of the MCU; it’s clever the way they re-enact exact scenes from the movies and then start to change things. Sure, it’s a little fan-fictiony at times, but it’s all made a little more grounded due to the mutliverse concept that Marvel seems to be doubling down on. I have not idea whether these episodes will build on one another to create a whole new cohesive narrative, or whether each episode will just remain a “Well that was fun…” diversion by itself.

Having just watched the Killmonger episode, I will also say that the voice acting is pretty impressive — in the sense they really got some good sound-alikes when needed alongside the original character actors. Some are better than others, but shout-out to the actors for Tony Stark and Red Skull, who mimicked the original actors well.

In a related arena, I was surprised to see that Shang-Chi is already set to come to Disney+. I think it releases on Nov 12th. It feels like I was just considering going to see it in the theater 2 weeks ago.