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movie-magic · 3 years

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Disney Reveals 4 New Release Dates for Marvel Studios' 2024 Movies!

Following Marvel Studios' Phase 3 which climaxed with Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame , the studio's Phase 4 slate has been marked with new additions and endeavors from Disney+ series like WandaVision to multiversal storylines in Loki and a new Avenger in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings .

Even though Phase 4 has only just begun , Marvel Studios headed by Kevin Feige is always two steps ahead; and naturally, that leads fans to wonder just what's in store for the Marvel Cinematic Universe down the line.

As the first year of this current phase draws to a close, Disney is letting MCU fans, and the industry itself, in on what to expect come Phase 5.

Marvel's 2024 Release Dates Revealed

In addition to revealing that four Marvel Studios movies per year is now the new standard, Disney has also updated its 2024 slate with 4 to-be-announced MCU films:

- February 16, 2024

- May 3, 2024

- July 26, 2024

- November 8, 2024

In addition to these four films that are expected to launch Marvel's Phase 5, Marvel Studios has three additional 2023 films in the works but has yet to reveal their titles as well. Currently, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 , which follows Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania , is the last announced film for 2023's Phase 4 release schedule.

Now last December, Kevin Feige revealed that Fantastic 4 is being developed and expected to occupy one of those dates. It's also expected that Blade and Captain America 4 starring Anthony Mackie will be added to the mix.

Also, a Deadpool film is all but confirmed to fill a slot since Kevin Feige has said a release date has been set for the next Ryan Reynolds', antihero film.

Marvel's Phase 5 Slate to Stem from Disney+?

So what films does Marvel have in store for those final three Phase 4 slots, and what films await in Phase 5 come 2024?

It's possible that an Avengers 5 will occupy one of those slots; and since Kang the Conqueror looks to be Marvel's next big bad , a showdown between the time-traveling villain and team-up of our surviving Avengers and the freshman class is likely.

Other answers may lie in the studio's Disney+ schedule, especially since WandaVision 's Monica Rambeau and Kamala Khan from the soon-to-be-released Ms. Marvel are both set to star alongside Captain Marvel in The Marvels film.

In fact, a reliance on Disney+ might also be the reason for four MCU films in 2024 and beyond as Disney+ is expected to lay the groundwork for a new phase's characters and stories.

In addition, there are also rumors about Ghost Rider and the X-Men making their MCU debut which could lead to a film; and, considering Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ' success, perhaps a sequel for Marvel's newest hero?

It's possible that fans will get answers sooner than later as Disney is expected to announce a slew of new projects during their upcoming "Disney Plus Day" on November 12, 2021 .

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filmadaydiary · 3 years

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1/22/21 to 1/23/21

Marvel Part 3

This is the biggest chunk of the films by a bit, and a lot happens in here. I think there are four origin stories, and there’s even a sequel to one of those origins within the same group. A LOT happens, and in general things have been settled into a comfortable formula. And yet here we have some new directors, a lot of new characters, and some new takes on old favorites. Now that the MCU is so established, it seems people were more comfortable taking risks with these stories, and I think it pays off in audience satisfaction. Also, yes, we did watch seven movies in two days. What can I say? We’re good kids staying locked down.

1/22/21

Ant-Man – Peyton Reed, 2015

I’m very disappointed that this could have been an Edgar Wright movie. It comes so close, with the way Luis tells his stories and the structure of the final battle between the two tiny men. And yet it is definitely not Edgar Wright. It’s a pretty basic superhero origin story. That being said, Paul Rudd is a national treasure and absolutely carries this film. He is a delight to watch as the funny, clever lead, as he always is. He was made to be a quippy genius in a cool suit. Okay, that makes him sound like Iron Man. In a way, Ant-Man is Iron Man Lite. He’s not rich, he’s just an everyday guy. He is an engineer, but maybe not a genius. Most importantly, he’s genuinely funny, not rude, and he cares about his family. I do think the characterizations are what make this movie compelling, not the plot. It ties in very nicely to Civil War, and I enjoyed watching it directly before the epic crossover event. Having light-hearted characters with less worldly stakes keeps the MCU grounded and keeps superheroes from being too out of touch.

Captain America: Civil War – Joe and Anthony Russo, 2016

I hesitate to say this, but I think this might be my favorite movie in the MCU. I can’t quite put my finger on why, because there are certainly more epic team-ups, and I hate when friends fight. And yet, I still love this film. One, you get Hawkeye in a non-Avengers event, which is always terribly exciting. Two, you get the character intros of some of the best characters ever (Spider-Man and Black Panther). And three, you get an intense debate about morals that actually gives you something to talk about after you leave the theater. It feels rare to have a superhero movie that doesn’t have morals hitting you over the head with righteousness and love. This movie really makes you think about control and consequences. And I love a movie that makes you think. I’m also slightly biased because I had a great premiere experience, I got to see an early screening and the exclusivity made it more exciting too. It pulls on a lot of existing threads within the MCU and brings the conflict to a head in a spectacular way.

1/23/21

Spider-Man: Homecoming – Jon Watts, 2017

The stand-out role in Civil War, seeing Spider-Man on the big screen under Disney’s purview was certainly a treat. I appreciate that they didn’t go for yet another Peter Parker origin story, instead jumping in after he’s already become Spider-Man. We all know the story of the radioactive spider bite by now, so getting to see Spider-Man grow as a friendly neighborhood guy is delightful. It’s a high school coming-of-age movie that happens to feature superheroes. The stakes are brought down to a relatable level. Asking out the girl he likes is just as important as catching the bad guy, perhaps even more so. Tom Holland is the absolutely perfect casting choice, capturing both being an awkward teenager and being a web-slinging badass. And Tony Stark gets the opportunity to right his wrongs and step up to be a father figure for someone who desperately needs one. I do wish we got to focus on Peter’s story a little more, instead of using him as a pawn to fulfill Tony’s character arc. But that’s a small criticism for an otherwise lovely movie.

Black Panther – Ryan Coogler, 2018

Black Panther rocked the world when it came out, and rightfully so. Here we have a Black superhero who brings a respectful version of African traditions to the big screen. The worldbuilding of Wakanda is spectacular, showing that this hidden nation knows more about technology than anyone else in the world. It flies in the face of negative stereotypes about African peoples and blends aspects of tribalism in without making them feel like tokens. I think I like the Dora Milaje the best, the squad of women warriors who protect the king. They are so strong and beautiful with their shaved heads and spears and I love them. After Black Panther’s introduction in Civil War, it was nice to go into this movie and see what he dealt with in the weeks after his father’s death. Once again, seeing things in chronological order helped clarify any confusion I had about the timeline of things when they came out months apart in theaters. T’Challa had a really rough couple of weeks in there. Oh, and Michael B. Jordan is also excellent in his role as Killmonger. It’s a great movie for so many reasons.

Doctor Strange – Scott Derrickson, 2016

I feel like a lot of people don’t like this movie. It is true that Doctor Strange is a little bit like a discount Tony Stark, a man who thinks the rest of the world is below him because of his superior intellect. At least this movie has the decency to break him down to nothing before giving him ridiculous superpowers that serve to reaffirm that belief. I think this movie is fine. It’s definitely one of the more visually arresting films, which I always appreciate. On visuals alone, I’d pick this over something like Ant-Man or Thor 2. The concept is also relatively cool, making it seem like wizardry can be learned by anybody. However, it does feel out of place in the timeline. We’re getting close to the end of the line here, and all this movie does for the overarching plot is introduce the Time Stone. But while I think it’s a perfectly passable origin story, it doesn’t make sense here at this point in Phase 3 of the MCU. Plus Marvel didn’t really need another overpowered quippy white man. Again, this is a fun movie to watch, but for the first time in awhile, this is better on its own than in sequence.

Thor: Ragnarok – Taika Waititi, 2017

Taika Waititi is a creative genius and should be allowed to take over the entire film industry. What We Do in the Shadows is one of my favorite movies of all time and I’m so glad that he is now on the map and taking over the Thor franchise going forward. He took the goofy Thor we all know and love and turned up the humor without compromising character, adding in nods to the previous movies and the fans without offending anybody. To say nothing of Korg, arguably one of the best side characters we’ve seen in the MCU thus far. After seeing it for the first time on my birthday, my brother announced upon leaving the theater that this was his new favorite MCU movie. I do think that this ranks pretty highly for me. It makes Thor fun again. Plus it’s just a really good movie. Like it features characters we already know, and then uses characteristics we haven’t seen before to make them well-rounded and more interesting to watch. And it’s stylistically very well done too! The scene with Thor using his lightning and the flashback with the Valkyries and the fight on the rainbow bridge... It’s all so good. And I haven’t even mentioned Jeff Goldblum. There’s a very good reason my brother likes this movie so much. It’s because it’s excellent.

Ant-Man and the Wasp – Peyton Reed, 2018

Now, Thor: Ragnarok leads directly into Infinity War, so I do sort of wish we’d gone into that next. But it was more important for us to watch Infinity War and Endgame back to back, so we decided to throw the Ant-Man sequel in here. This movie is about what Ant-Man and his friends were up to immediately before the events of Infinity War, maybe even during, because he wasn’t in that movie. And it sets up some VERY important plot points for Endgame. It makes a lot of sense to release these in the order they did. This is still an okay movie, but it ultimately feels like filler. Which is a shame, because these are good characters. Paul Rudd is still a delight, and so is the supporting cast of thieves. At the end of the day, it does feel necessary to watch this movie at some point so that the other ones make sense, but it also doesn’t feel like it has much impact on its own. The villain is interesting enough, the dialogue is still snappy, but the most impactful part of the film is the end credits scene when you see the Pym family get dusted. It’s a preview of what’s to come, even more haunting if you know it’s coming. But the part of the movie that makes you sit up and pay attention should not be hidden away in the credits.

#filmblr #filmcommunity #filmmaking #Film Review #film

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lokiondisneyplus · 4 years

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Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD star Clark Gregg has weighed in on the narrative gap that has existed between the Marvel Cinematic and Television Universes in recent years, saying he both "did and didn't" miss the connection between them.

As fans know, in the early days of Agents of SHIELD airing on ABC, the events of the series would occasionally tie into the events of the Marvel movies being released on the big screen, including some cameos from MCU stars like Samuel L Jackson and Cobie Smulders.

Even Clark Gregg's character, Agent Coulson, first appeared on screen in Iron Man and made appearances in several films over the years, while Agents of SHIELD itself built up to the events of 2012's The Avengers and was affected by Captain America: Civil War too.

Unfortunately, by the time Agents of SHIELD season 6 rolled around and the MCU was heading towards the events of Avengers: Endgame, the connection between the Movie and TV universes was waning, with series star Ming-Na Wen eventually confirming that the show had "departed" from the MCU.

Speaking about whether he missed the connection between the show and the movies, Clark Gregg told Variety that there were both pros and cons to the divide.

"I guess I did and I didn't [miss the connection]," he said. "When you look back at season 1, and you look at the way it crossed over with Hydra and took the handcuffs off our poor writers when everyone was like 'What is this show?' — and Sam [Jackson] and Cobie Smulders came to play — I thought that was really thrilling."

"I missed that part of it, but I also felt like Agents of SHIELD really continued to evolve," he added.

"And once they got to season 4, and there were three separate pods [of episodes] — Ghost Rider, LMDs, and the Framework — I thought this is what happens when these gutsy writers aren’t tied too closely to all that.

"They get to really just tear it apart and start it over with a new corner of the Marvel Universe every season, sometimes two or three times in a season."

Agents of SHIELD is now coming to an end with its seventh and final season, and Marvel boss Kevin Feige has since announced a whole slate of Marvel TV programming coming to streaming service Disney+ over the next few years.The new TV shows will play a major part in Marvel's plans for Phase 4 and beyond, and Gregg admits that he thinks it "would really be interesting to start the experiment over" in this bigger-budget era of Marvel television.

"I don't know specifically what kind of resources those [shows] are getting," he began.

"I will say, as someone who loves storytelling and television, it's been exciting to watch — from Watchmen to Game of Thrones — what's being done cinematically on what used to be called TV.

"So in fairness, the world really changed around us. I was always proud of us for being the first ones through the door in terms of the Marvel stuff, trying to bring that to a weekly television format," he continued.

"I feel like ABC did a great job of trying to adapt to us as we tried to adapt to them. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say boy, that would really be interesting to start the experiment over, doing 10 episodes or 12 episodes the way Tom Hiddleston told me he was doing with that kind of budget and that Marvel Cinematic production team.

"Although, it's hard for me to even think about that, just because I'm so proud of what our crew and visual effects people and cast did within the constraints of our budgets and resources."

Agents of SHIELD season 7 will premiere on May 27 on ABC in the US. Seasons 1-5 are available to watch on Disney+ now.

Is Clark Gregg accidentally confirming a second season of Loki??

#Loki #Clark Gregg #Agents of SHIELD #Tom Hiddleston #MCU #Disney+#Ming-Na Wen

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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The Incredible Hulk’s Diminished Legacy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

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Love it or hate it, one of the things that makes the Marvel Cinematic Universe work is the long term synergy. With Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, over a decade of movies came together to pull off one of the most entertaining spectacles of our time. It’s a universe that, for the most part, feels consistent and it builds on itself as each movie feels like an essential cog in a larger machine.

Some cogs are bigger than the others, though, and when it comes to “the others,” one can’t help but notice that 2008’s Incredible Hulk is something of a black sheep in the Marvel movie roster. These days, they’re just starting to dust it off as a property with the return of Tim Roth’s Abomination in She-Hulk and William Hurt’s General Ross’ gradually increasing role in the universe itself (he’ll appear in Black Widow and possibly other projects soon enough).

Now, there are plenty of reasons why Incredible Hulk is the green-skinned stepchild of the MCU. It made the least amount of money (about $42 million less than Captain America: The First Avenger, which was the second worst showing), the lead actor was recast afterwards, and its status as a Universal co-production meant that it would be the only movie in the first three Marvel phases that would not get its own sequel, no matter how popular Hulk was in the Avengers movies and Thor: Ragnarok.

It’s not like the MCU acted like Incredible Hulk never happened, but the creators definitely had a tendency to shove it into the corner and be somewhat vague about its existence. It became easier as the MCU became rich with more and more properties, but early on, it was very much the rage-filled elephant in the room.

The Hulk Design

There were a couple of ads for Avengers: Endgame that included shots from all the previous MCU movies in chronological order. For one, when it came to Incredible Hulk, all it had to show for it was Hulk’s fist bursting through the wall. In another, they just used shots from later movies and hoped nobody would notice. That’s because CGI or not, Ed Norton’s Hulk and Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk were two very different beasts. Not only did they roughly resemble their actors, but Norton’s Hulk was more of a giant, angry bodybuilder with green skin while Ruffalo’s came off as more Cro-Magnon, like a shaved gorilla.

It means that while they could talk about Hulk’s exploits, they could never really show any flashbacks, as it would just look awkward. Similarly, Incredible Hulk filmed a cut opening where Banner tried to shoot himself, but the Hulk wouldn’t allow it. While it was a bit too extreme to show, Banner at least got to talk about it happening in Avengers.

The Effect on the World of the MCU

When you look at the events of Incredible Hulk, it keeps things focused on the characters and not the world at large. Sure, it would have been bigger news if the Abomination defeated the Hulk and went on an even bigger rampage, but that problem was nipped in the bud. If you’re a citizen of Marvel Earth, all there is to know is that some soda has been recalled and there was a monster fight in Harlem.

In the movies themselves, the only time the Harlem fight is brought up is in the background of Iron Man 2, where Nick Fury’s map signals it as a place of interest.

With the exception of the Hulk straight-up existing, the most lip service his movie got early on was the scene in Captain America: The First Avenger where Steve gave blood for further study. They needed something to give Emil Blonsky down the line and turn him into an angry Ninja Turtle.

Speaking of…

Whatever Happened to the Abomination?

Of Marvel’s Phase 1 villains, one died, a couple vanished confusingly into space only to come back later, and three were taken into custody. Ending up in custody means you’ll be back soon enough because prisons usually can’t hold the type of enemies who can throw down with the Avengers. Usually.

In other words, it’s pretty damn impressive that the Abomination has been kept off the grid since the Hulk choked him out in Harlem. She-Hulk will be his first real appearance since then, but his name has been on the tongue of Phil Coulson on Agents of SHIELD a few times.

The scene of Tony Stark appearing at the end of Incredible Hulk to confront General Ross is something that came off as a big deal at the time, but afterwards didn’t make too much sense. Piggybacking off the Iron Man post-credits scene, Stark was seemingly trying to recruit the Hulk into the Avengers. That didn’t exactly jibe with what they were going for afterwards, so they released a short film to make sense out of everything.

The Consultant featured Agent Coulson and Agent Sitwell discussing the unfortunate decision by the World Security Council to demand the Abomination join the team. After all, Blonsky is a decorated veteran and the Harlem incident could easily be blamed on Banner. Fury wasn’t in a position to refuse the Council, so the only hope was that General Ross – the guy in charge of Blonsky’s captivity – turned them down. And so, they sent Tony Stark. That final scene in Incredible Hulk was reframed as Tony Stark obnoxiously asking for the keys to Abomination for the Avengers and Ross being so annoyed by his antics that he straight-up refused.

Afterwards, Abomination was namedropped a couple of times in Agents of SHIELD, which is par for the course considering early Agents of SHIELD was about reminding us about stuff that happened in the movies and saying, “We’re part of all that!” According to the show, Abomination was kept in a special prison in Alaska that only a select few know about. There was an episode where SHIELD’s main prison lost power and one of the writers realized that they probably needed to note that Abomination wasn’t going to be an issue in this situation.

But hey, at least he finished his story. The Leader on the other hand…

Samuel Sterns and the Fate of the Leader

At the time, it was the right play. Tim Blake Nelson played the kind of surprise villain you’d find in your average CGI animated Disney movie. As Mr. Blue, he existed as Bruce Banner’s potential salvation, only to be revealed to be kind of over-the-line and sinister in terms of his gamma experiments. After turning Blonsky into the Abomination, Sterns was knocked to the floor and a sample of Banner’s irradiated blood dripped into the open wound on his head. Sterns seemed especially jazzed with a crazed expression as his head started throbbing and increasing in size.

And then…nothing! Not even a mention in a different movie or Agents of SHIELD. That’s what happens when you set up a villain for a sequel and then have legal reasons keeping you from making that sequel. That said, there is a follow-up to what the hell happened with Sterns.

Back in 2012, a prequel comic was released to coincide with the first Avengers movie. The Avengers Prelude: Fury’s Big Week showed that the events of Iron Man 2, Thor, and Incredible Hulk all happened over the course of a few days. We got to see those storylines from the perspective of SHIELD, especially a very overwhelmed and fatigued Nick Fury. That makes sense for the stuff with Tony Stark in Iron Man 2 as well as Mjolnir and the Destroyer in Thor, but what of Incredible Hulk?

As shown in this story, Black Widow was in the background of its events, keeping an eye on everything and realizing that she was way in over her head. She played clean-up on the Sterns situation by coming across his giant, mutated head in the aftermath. Sterns was quick to figure out her homeland from traces of her accent and thought to bribe her in some way, but she stonewalled him with a couple of bullets to the legs.

A year later, Sterns was shown floating in a tank, unconscious, as various SHIELD scientists studied him.

Will we ever see the Leader pop up in the MCU? I can’t imagine Tim Blake Nelson is too busy to appear on She-Hulk at some point.

Betty Ross

Bruce Banner’s old flame is now nothing but a footnote. Considering Banner moved on to another relationship and then another planet, there was never a reason to reintroduce Betty. The only nods to her were Tony Stark naming his Hulkbuster armor “Veronica” (get it?) and the Russo Brothers saying in an interview that Betty was one of those turned to dust by Thanos.

Maybe one day we’ll see Red She-Hulk. Don’t hold your breath, though.

Thunderbolt Ross

General Thaddeus Ross does the heavy lifting for keeping Incredible Hulk relevant. The guy came back for Captain America: Civil War, a movie that didn’t even have the Hulk in it! But it did give him the Henry Gyrich role in a time when Gyrich was probably off-limits since he was considered part of the X-Men corner of Marvel (he already had a very minor role in the first X-Men movie). A familiar face, Ross got to be the government liaison type who spoke with logic, but came off as an antagonistic killjoy.

Right or wrong, Ross’ insistence that the Avengers sign with the Sokovia Accords ruined the team in the face of Thanos’ rampage against the cosmos. He still got to show his respects as Tony Stark’s funeral at the end of Endgame.

Yet, that’s not the last we’ll see of him. In Black Widow, Ross is shown in the trailers. We don’t know his role quite yet, but there’s a lot of fan speculation that Ross might tie into the next roster of the Avengers. Maybe a team that’s government sanctioned and controlled. Maybe a team that’s an awful lot like the Thunderbolts.

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It does seem that as the MCU reaches further and further outward, it looks back more and more on the events of Incredible Hulk. Then again, I doubt we’ll be seeing Ty Burrell’s Leonard Samson turn into a gamma-irradiated psychiatrist with long, luxurious hair any time soon.

The post The Incredible Hulk’s Diminished Legacy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe appeared first on Den of Geek.

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zsweber-studios · 4 years

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The Era of Mediocrity

2019 was a really big year for me. It was the year that I really started taking care of myself and began moving towards a more mentally healthy situation. I started going out to events more often, filling my life with fun memories and awesome situations, got a good plan for the next few years of my life, and all in all truly grew as a person in a way that I hadn’t for a long time.

However...2019 was also the year that I realized that we are living in the Era of Mediocrity, at least when it comes to big budget companies that control most of the entertainment we consume. This is directed at the Walt Disney Company and the Pokemon Company, mainly, but on a more personal level I was made aware of this through RWBY.

RWBY opened my eyes to the fact that a lot of the entertainment I’d come to love over the past few years has become...less than stellar than how it once was. Between Volume 6 and now Volume 7, I have seen a terrible shift in the way the writing is handled. The plots don’t make sense, the characters no longer feel real, and the whole narrative of each Volume seems to bend to the whim of the protagonists, promoting their actions as good and justified when they are anything but.

In spite of that, I can’t say that RWBY is a bad show, because it’s not. The animation is stunning--for something that started out with such stilted and jarring animation for anything that wasn’t a fight scene, this series has grown beautifully, as have how the voice actors in showing their skills and getting into the characters. It’s showing us a wider world, and seeing that worldbuilding is wonderful to me, a writer and worldbuilder.

However, it all hinges on expectations. After Volume 3, we were promised--in less words than actions, perhaps--that the show would get more serious, that it would treat the story with as much realism as it could while abiding by the fantasy. And yet, the writing in the recent Volumes has fallen short numerous times. Too many things happen in ways that don’t feel real, that don’t feel right, and it took me out of the show so much, that I dropped it.

But RWBY’s not the main reason for my frustration--it’s merely the tip of the iceberg. The true frustrations I have are with Disney and Pokemon.

This year saw the end of two incredible franchises under Disney’s wings--with Endgame finishing off the massive three-phase mission for the MCU, and Rise of Skywalker finishing off the new Star Wars trilogy. Now, I had no expectations that Rise of Skywalker would be a good movie. While I don’t hate the Last Jedi, it made it clear to me that the series was held together by pipe-cleaners and Elmers glue.

However, what I was frustrated with was Endgame. I was actually very excited to see this movie--I had loved Infinity War, and still do. It was one of the best movies to come out in 2018, honestly. However, the movie that followed was a poorly written fanfiction disguised as a Marvel movie. The characters were given unfulfilling storylines, treated like cardboard cutouts thrown into situations that didn’t make sense, and given direction that did not give them room to grow.

I mean, we all know about the wedding/funeral situation by now, right?

In spite of that...like with RWBY, I can’t say it was a bad movie. It just failed to be a good one in so many ways. The writing fell flat, the direction was terrible, but the fight scenes? The Avengers Assemble and final battle alone are some of my favorite movie moments of the series, and they just barely manage to save this movie from being a bad movie, to just a mediocre movie.

Along with Endgame, Disney released a few other movies as well--however, both of them were live-action remakes. Now, I will give credit where credit is due, and say that the live-action Aladdin does stand out from the original a bit--it adds to the story and gives it a new flavor that is nice...but it’s not great. It’s a good movie, but not one that I’ve felt inclined to return to--not even for any specific scene, like with Endgame’s Avengers Assemble.

On the other hand, though, we have the live-action Lion King. A movie that is almost frame-for-frame the exact same movie as the original 1994 Lion King movie. There are a few scenes here and there that were added in, but they weren’t necessary, and they didn’t add anything of substance to the story. It was, essentially, just a high-definition version of the Lion King, and with the expressions and actions, not a good one.

It finally sank in, for me, with Pokemon Sword and Shield, and especially with the new DLCs coming out this year. We had revealed to us that a Dex cut was coming and that only some of the old Pokemon would be returning to the new game. And yet, with the new DLCs, almost all of the old Pokemon will become available in the new games--but for an extra thirty dollars.

That was when I realized that the big companies have figured out that they don’t need to try anymore to make money.

Let me take you back in time, if I could, to 2004 and Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen. FireRed was my first Pokemon game, and I loved it. I still do, I still play with my old Gameboy from time to time. But, the important thing here is that these games came with a nice little feature that was a series of islands you could explore to, travel to, that were exciting and new. It’s an area that hasn’t shown up in any game since--the Sevii Islands.

The Pokemon SW//SH DLC coming out this year feels like that--it feels like the Sevii Islands from FR//LG, or the Battle Frontier from DPP. Its an area where you can get access to more and new Pokemon, maybe even legendaries, and face new and exciting adventures and challenges. However, the DLC costs extra, and doesn’t come with the base game.

They can call it a DLC all they want, but the truth is obvious--this is the rest of the game, the Battle Frontier, the Sevii Islands, that in previous games would’ve been baked into the game itself, but is now being sold for half of the main game’s total. This is the rest of the game, because they know they can give us something mediocre to keep us satisfied, and milk us for more money to give us the rest of the game.

Disney knows they’ll still make ridiculous money from their movies, so why bother making something original or new? Why give a series a satisfying ending, when you can just slap something quickly together and throw it out, and still make ridiculous money off of it? Why bother putting in the time, effort, and resources to make a full and incredible game, when you can just hold back and suck your players dry for more.

The point I’m trying to make is that the titans of the entertainment business are growing old, Disney especially. They’ve lost focus, and are now focused only on making money, and no longer on making art--or, at the very least, providing a service.

So where does that leave us? Well, the other name I’d give this is the Era of Indie. Small creators, small groups of people, are where I’ve found most of my enjoyment and entertainment for the past two years now. The Adventure Zone is a podcast that has better writing, character growth, and humor than any of the other shows I’ve already listed. Epithet Erased is a webseries that might not have the most eye-catching animation, but its concept, writing, and humor are wonderful and zany. Hollow Knight is a surprisingly dark game that costs a fraction of what SW//SH cost, and yet it is my favorite game on the Switch to date. And once Silksong comes out, I’m going to be going crazy for that, too.

And these are only the ones I, myself love--there are many others out there, too. The big names are letting us down, but that means that the young, the new, and the small can have a chance to grow. And, while I might not know exactly what will happen in the next ten years, I can say this.

I’m excited to see where the Era of Indie truly takes us next.

#rwby #pokemon #pokemon swsh #avengers #marvel #avengers endgame #endgame #star wars #star wars rise of skywalker #rise of skywalker #lion king 2019 #aladdin 2019 #live action lion king #live action aladdin #hollow knight #epithet erased #the adventure zone #silksong

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spideycentral · 5 years

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Why Some Classic Spidey Villains Are Being Reimagined

We've known for a while that we're getting a fresh take on the likes of Molten Man and Hydro-Man in Spider-Man: Far From Home but what's wrong with the comic book versions of these villains?

"The real nerdy inside joke here is that they're based on B-level Spider-Man baddies," executive producer Eric Carroll explains. "There is actually a villain in the comics called Hydro-Man, who's a guy made out of water but wears a t-shirt and has a haircut..." In other words, they were too silly to be adapted in a straightforward manner, hence why they're now "Elementals."

Carroll adds that the idea was to make them "kind of scary and threatening...for all the comic fans keeping score, it'll be fun to see Hydro-Man brought to the big screen in a way we think is pretty cool."

Did Spider-Man And Nick Fury Meet In Avengers: Endgame?

Spider-Man and Nick Fury were both at Tony Stark's funeral, so why does the former S.H.I.E.L.D. Director say that it's nice to meet him in the teaser trailer? While we've since assumed that it was a line recorded solely for that preview, Jon Watts has now further confused matters! "No, it's not a fake-out," he claims. "They actually talk about why they didn't talk in that...it's not a fake-out. But there is more to [this subject] than meets the eye." What if Peter's parents were S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and killed in the line of duty? (they worked for the C.I.A. in the comics)

Mysterio's Helmet Will Be VFX

That's right, if you were hoping for some behind the scenes photos of Jake Gyllenhaal walking around with a fishbowl helmet on his head, you're going to be pretty disappointed as it's 100% CGI.

"When we introduce a new character [from the comics], we try to boil them down to what is iconic about them and hang on to that," Carroll explains, "but also in a way that translates to film, because obviously some of this is a little bit goofy."

"But speaking of goofy," he continues, "Mysterio will have a fishbowl helmet. It'll be added digitally."

We're Not Getting A "Dark" Take On Peter Parker

Peter may be mourning for Iron Man in Spider-Man: Far From Home but that doesn't mean we should expect a dark take on the superhero. "[This] isn't the start of a new, dark 'emo' phase for Peter," Watts confirms. "Even though he's gone through all these dramatic and traumatic events, he's still the same Peter Parker we know and love." "It's seeing how he deals with those things that's interesting for me," Watts concludes.

Iron Man's Secret Lab

In the trailers for the movie, we've seen Peter Parker working in what appears to be a hi-tech lab of some sort (and there's a lot of speculation that it's where he creates that red and black costume).

Well, the magazine reveals that this is actually a secret workshop in the back of the Stark Jet which includes a huge robotic arm and plenty of tools so, yes, it's easy to imagine the wall-crawler using it here.

The Action Is Bigger And Better

"A lot of the stunts are really more explosive than in the first one," claims Ned actor Jacob Batalon. "I feel like Homecoming was more about getting your feet wet; this one really goes for it."

That's a sentiment Tom Holland agrees with. "A lot of the action in Homecoming was kind of private, more contained. This one is much more global. We've got a lot of screaming extras!"

Where The Stealth Suit Comes From...

"Nick Fury provides Spidey with this outfit," Carroll reveals, "which is very much in the world of what you see with Black Widow and other S.H.I.E.L.D. characters." However, it still features some familiar elements.

Michael Mooney, an associate costume designer on the movie, explains that "The new suit still has the good old-fashioned web-shooters. It's a slightly different model in order to make them fit on, but they're the tried and tested bog-standard shooters."

...And How It Differs To Peter's Other Costumes

It may have the same web-shooters but there is one crucial difference here. "His Stark suit, which we saw in Homecoming, has all the tech built underneath it," says Graham Churchyard, the costume FX supervisor. "This one isn't made by Stark, so all the tech is on the outside; it's a lot more armoured, but still very mobile."

He adds that, "It's made by Robyn Gebhart, who's worked on every Spider-Man costume since the Tobey Maguire days. She knows the ins and outs of a Spider-Man costume."

"Michelle Jones"

We know that MJ's first name is Michelle but the magazine refers to her as Michelle Jones and that pretty much confirms that while she may be a different take on Mary Jane Watson, she's also a totally new character. "It's cool to be small in the beginning of a series, and grow into something later,"Zendaya says.

As for whether romance will blossom between MJ and Peter Parker, the actress chose her words carefully. "There's no hooking up in this movie. Of course, there's chemistry between the characters. They're, what, 16 year old kids going on a cool trip together, trying to figure out what they're feeling, or if they even have a feeling. Maybe we don't, maybe we're just friends."

Where Does It Fit In The MCU's Timeline

We know that Spider-Man: Far From Home takes place after Avengers: Endgame but is it part of Phase 3 or Phase 4? While it was previously reported to be the start of the latter, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has since said it closes out Phase 3, so which is it?

"Kevin said recently that this movie is technically the end of Phase 3," director Jon Watts says, "so I'll defer to Kevin on Phase-related questions!" Well, that pretty much answers that as it is ultimately down to Feige whether this movie is ends or opens a Phase.

Why Nick Fury Targets Spider-Man

It's pretty weird that Nick Fury would choose to track down Spider-Man on his summer vacation to help battle The Elementals, right? "You know, you have to think of Fury's perspective as well," Watts says. "He' was Snapped out for the last five years, just like Spidey, then brought back." "So now you have this character who's always known everything, always been in charge, who literally created the Avengers...and he's on the back foot, probably for the first time in his life. He needs to rebuild his team, and he's got a high school kid dodging his calls. He's not going to be happy!"

How Does The Multiverse Fit Into The Movie?

"God, it's tough," Watts says when asked about the Marvel Multiverse. "I mean, after the events of Endgame, it kind of feels like anything is possible."

"Time travel, switching dimensions, old Cap...I mean who knows?" The filmmaker did, however, make it clear that at least one element from Avengers: Endgame won't be touched on here. "We don't do any time travel. I can say that. The Russos already did that!"

Balancing Practical And Visual Effects

"It's really inspiring to actually be on location, blowing things up," Watts says when asked about the increased level of action in this movie. "It's very different than when you're, you know, against greenscreen on a stage in Atlanta. You feel that the world exists outside the frame."

"When you're dealing with Mysterio, who's flying around, or Spider-Man, who shoots webs and jumps really far, there's only so much you can get away with practically." However, he made a point of starting with a "real-life shot" and enhancing that rather than creating something totally from scratch.

Why Spider-Man: Far From Home Is A Good Palette Cleanser

Ant-Man and Ant-Man and The Wasp served as palette cleansers after Avengers: Age of Ultron and Avengers: Infinity War, and this time it's down to the wall-crawler to take on that role. "We think it's fun to sort of counter-programme with our movies," says Carroll. "After Endgame, this is a like a dessert - something where you can relax and not worry about it getting too dark, because it's a Spider-Man movie."

Is Sandman In The Movie?

In terms of the Elementals, we know that Hydro-Man and Molten Man are being re-imagined, but what about that rock/sand-like creature in Mexico? Is that a new take on Sandman? "We went digging and found characters," Carroll teases in regards to him and another unseen Elemental. "I'm not going to say exactly which ones yet, because we want to leave some dots for fans to connect."

Is Jon Watts Willing To Return For A Sequel?

Asked what might come next for the wall-crawler in the MCU, Watts says: "He's such a relatable character. I've never had a problem coming up with something new for Peter Parker to do, because I could watch Peter Parker do anything."

Does that mean he's already hard at work developing a third chapter? "It's always at the back of my mind, but I try to stay focused on one movie at a time," he says, refusing to get into specifics about what that could possible entail.

What Tom Holland Hopes To Do Next

As for Tom Holland's hopes for the future, he says he's "excited" for that. As for which villain he'd like to face next, the actor said: "I know you want me to say Venom! That's who you want me to say!" "I don't know. Honestly, that's way above my level. I just fight whoever they put in front of me..." Well, if recent rumours are to be believed, that could indeed end up being Tom Hardy's Venom.

#sm:ffh #article #ffh spoilers #long post

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ryanmeft · 5 years

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MCU Phases 4 and 5 Wishlist

Last night at San Diego Comic Con, Marvel dropped their pants and coated the audience in a thick, rich layer of big-and-small screen announcements. Briefly recapped: across Phases 4 or 5 (not that that means anything), we’re getting Black Widow, The Eternals, Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther 2, Captain Marvel 2, the Fantastic Four and Blade. On the streaming front, the previously announced series were all confirmed, and in a move most probably didn’t see coming, Marvel added a series based on their often bizarre What if? Series, which speculates on what might have happened had some element of continuity gone a different way (and which has become a bit moot in the comics in an era where continuity is gleefully mixed and nixed whenever an editor wants a sales boost).

As folks might be aware, I’m not a huge fan of Disney, skipping almost all their movies, but I have a severe weakness for the MCU. There’s a lot of wish lists going around as to what we want to happen in these movies and series, but as you know if you’ve read my blog before, the correct answers are mine. Since you can rest assured these answers are the best, I graciously share them with you now. Remember, I’m never wrong.

Mjolnir Gets Retired

I am totally down with Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster as the God of Thunder. There will be those who call to give her the same powers and weapons Thor had, but why would we want to do that? In the comics, she’s still Jane Foster while Thor is still Thor, and with Chris Hemsworth also in the film, there’s no reason to think that won’t be the case here. Instead of simply “Female Thor”, she needs her own set of traits and skills. Start with giving her a new weapon; a magical spear would be just right. Mjolnir got its greatest moment of glory in Endgame, and from a sheer story perspective, it is time to retire the venerated hammer.

Rebellion in Wakanda

I’m going to be in the minority on this, but: the Dora Milaje have gotten shafted in the MCU thus far. In the best of the comics, they are the king’s guard, but they are also a group of women with independent minds and goals who don’t always agree with the king. In fact, members have rebelled several times. In the movies to date, they exist to devote total fealty to T’Challa, never once seriously questioning anything he does. This is a terrible fate to befall an actor with Danai Gurira’s fire. Instead of existing merely to poke holes in things on behalf of a (male) ruler, it’s time these ass-kicking ladies got to play a more important, and complex, role.

Christoph Waltz as Doom

This idea isn’t mine, but was passed on by a friend who is clearly brilliant. There’s not much to say about this one: the actor who made his reputation playing two very different roles in Quenton Tarantino films is the perfect choice for the literally tin-plated dictator. As for the rest of the cast, Keanu Reeves is the favorite for Reed, but I have another idea in mind for him...

The Master of Time

That said: it’s about time to get Kang involved in this universe. When it became obvious that Endgame was going to involve time travel, I slapped together what I thought was a pretty good post-credits tease that would introduce both him and the Fantastic Four side of the universe. Obviously, nothing like that happened, and there were no Avengers movies or mass team-ups of any kind announced at SDCC. Yet with time travel established, the potential to bring in this reality-warping mega-baddie is always there.

Don’t Undo Iron Man 3

Yes, fans are shooting their shorts over the fact that the real Mandarin will be the villain of the Shang-Chi movie. But those of us who don’t rub the comics on ourselves regularly recognize the truth: Iron Man 3 had a great twist that was one of the few truly creative decisions in a modern blockbuster, and it would be a shame to overturn on the whim of a handful of hardliners. Have a “real” Mandarin, but keep Ben Kingsley’s washed-up, hedonistic actor on the books. Maybe even give him a cameo.

Unrelenting Nightmare

Director Scott Derickson has already said he wants to use Nightmare, a being who feeds off his namesake, in the Doctor Strange sequel, and given that it is apparently multiverse-focused (and that Strange has few interesting villains), this is probably a given. Marvel has been after Keanu Reeves for a long time; most people seem to want him for Reed Richards, but may I humbly suggest we go against the hype and cast him as a dimension-devouring trickster deity instead? As a side note, please, please follow up on Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Baron Mordo. He was the best part of the first film, and it’d be a shame to let him trail off into the ether.

Take Some Risks in Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel was fun. It was not the kind of movie that took risks, however, or blew anyone away, despite amazing box office numbers. CM will be an idol for little girls; it’s time to think outside the box, utilize the oddness of Marvel’s galactic properties, and make her next movie one that can rival the time-hopping chances DC has taken with Wonder Woman. Brie Larson needs more to do than pose heroically and hit things.

Where’s Spider-Man?

More of a question answered than a wish: a lot of people are freaking out because Spider-Man was not mentioned last night, despite a post-credits tease that’s impossible to ignore. Relax: the deal between Marvel and Sony likely just means Sony has to finalize plans and sign off on the next film before Marvel can announce it. Far From Home cracked 800 million at the box office, and the refurbishing of Spidey’s tarnished reputation by Marvel is one big reason Sony’s own dull, uninspired Venom series is now a viable money-maker. It would be the height of stupidity for Sony to pull out of the deal now; expect Spider-Man: Homeboy or whatever it is called to be announced for 2021 before much time passes.

Make What If? Truly Bizarre

As a series, What If? wasn’t always great, but it was always interesting. There are some obvious concepts they could include in the series, and probably on the top of most people’s lists is “What If Iron Man had survived Endgame?” Old Man Tony would be absolutely delicious, but we can get stranger than that. This series should be a chance to explore concepts that would never fly in a massive, internationally-marketed blockbuster movie. Think stuff like “What If Loki had been Thor?” or “What If Peggy Carter had been Captain America?” Get wild up in this.

Make Loki a Reverse Doctor Who

Loki became a far less evil, far more complex character by the time he was dispatched in Infinity War. The Loki that will star in the series, however, is the one from Avengers, before all that character development. Audiences didn’t truly and completely fall in love with him until he went from evil god of chaos to a more ambivalent trickster figure, so pulling off sympathy for this older Loki across an entire series will be difficult. The obvious answer is to make him a sort of reverse Doctor: instead of an eternally-helpful alien who influences everyone he meets for the better, he’s an alien out for himself who is gradually influenced by those he meets to be (a little) better.

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scifrey · 5 years

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My Very Spoilery Endgame Review - What I Liked, What Annoyed Me, and Two Questions I Am Left With

I was very satisfied and enjoyed it very much. The theater burst into applause in several instances and it was great to celebrate the end of an era with fellow fans.

Now for the spoilery critiques and praise.

My favorite moments were:

Thor reconciling his self-image and self-worth with his mother

“I’m still worthy.”

Loki escaping and (hopefully) living in at least one timeline - because if Steve went back to “trim the branches” then this means he returned the Tesseract to 1970. Which means the branch where Loki snagged the Tesseract and was not imprisoned on Asgard may have endured*.

Ken Jeong’s cameo.

Stan Lee’s cameo.

Banner coming to terms with who and what he is and living comfortably with the Hulk.

Basically everyone really leaning into the self-love and self-value by the end of the film.

“That is America’s Ass”.

“I could do this all day.” “Yeah, I know.”

“How can I? You’re taking all the stupid with you.”

“Ha! I knew it!”

“I am Iron Man.”

Scott finding Cassie alive.

Wong’s exasperated reply to Strange’s “Is that everyone?”

Nebula’s redemption. This is a princess (as Squidward calls Thanos “sire”) who saves her own damn self.

How the thing that gave the game away to Thanos was actually really clever and well executed; this wasn’t a “heroes are just stupid this one time” (like how Quill screwed the pooch in Infinity War when they had the damn glove). It was something that I genuinely hadn’t thought of, and I assume no one, not even Nebula, would have thought of. It worked. And it worked well.

All the ladies supporting Carol in the final battle - which was awesome but also felt a bit like the moment was added only so the Russos could check it off a “don’t piss off the feminists” list.

How the final battle set it up well for the next phase - I liked how the Glove Relay was from an OG Avenger (Hawkeye) to the new Avengers - Black Panther, Spider-man, and Captain Marvel.

“I love you 3000″.

Falcon!Cap - finally! Yay!

The sound of the armor that started it all being forged as the endcap of the credits.

However.

I wish Bucky and Steve had also had a meaningful moment at the end, like Steve and Sam, something that made it clear that even though Steve was older now, he was no less Bucky’s best pal.

I'm very, very annoyed that they Fridged Natasha. I mean, I get it. Someone had to die. And we all knew Hawkeye was going to go back to his family, so it wouldn’t be him. And I do love how they did the death, how Nat and Clint fought with one another to the be the one to make the sacrifice. And her death would have been especially cheap if Bruce had just Snapped her Back. I get it.

And if there wasn’t a long history of Fridging female character to ensure the male ones have enough Man-Pain to have a character arc and impetus to be a hero, then you know what? This would have been a really moving sacrifice. It would have really worked.

But there is. And in light of that, it’s left me... itchy. Uncomfortable. Because in the context of the film alone it was a great death. But in the context of the history of comic book narratives, it sucked.

Also, what does this mean for the Black Widow movie? Will it actually be a prequel? Will it be Budapest? And if it is Budapest, will they use the same actors, or cast new, younger ones?

I also don't understand the narrative reason why they had to make so many fat jokes around Thor.

I mean, yeah, it makes sense he was depressed and stopped taking care of his heath, and self-medicated with booze and food. This was a strong and meaningful narrative and I really liked that he was given the opportunity to mourn, to question his purpose, to become more than just muscles and a hammer in terms of character construction. That he could grieve and struggle, and be filled with crippling regret that kept him indoors and hiding, and filled self-loathing.

As a character choice it made sense. And I liked that he was still a powerful warrior while chubby, and that he didn’t magically become slim again when he suited up. It was wonderful to see him be no less powerful, dangerous, dedicated, and no less kick ass while sporting a keg instead of a sixpack.

But they leaned awfully hard on that “fat joke” button and by the time Rhodey said “Cheez Whiz?” I was over it. Its got tedious and frankly a bit insulting.

Teasing someone for suffering because he lost literally everyone he loved is not cool. The jokes fell flat, for good reason. They were cruel.

And when the Russos announced that they had included the MCU's first openly gay character I was hoping that it would be a main character, not some rando dude in a talk therapy meeting. I wanted Bucky and Sam to confess feelings, or Bucky to Steve even if Steve couldn’t return them, or Valkyrie to at least have a wife in New Asgard, or something.

But TBH it didn't surprise me that they made it some nameless dude in group support. Like J.K. Rowling, the Russos are happy to queerbait but too cowardly to commit, and they always have been. I’d be annoyed but it’s not worth the energy.

At least when the guy mentioned his boyfriend it was a “no big deal” mention, and nobody made a “are you cool with this, Cap?” thing to really point out that ooooo, this dude is queer.

But those are my only gripes. The rest of it was thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying.

Especially all the little call backs. The "I am Iron Man" and “I could do this all day” stuff - it felt like little gifts to the fandom.

However, I have two questions.

1) When people were Snapped Back, were they Snapped to their previous exact geographical location? Because if so, what about people who had been in transit? Did people who were Snapped Away while in a plane just... appear mid-sky and plummet to their deaths? Were people on spaceships Snapped Back into the void of cold space? We saw in Infinity War that helicopters crashed into city streets - the pilot, that means, was Snapped Away. When that pilot came back, where did he come back? Did Bruce think to Snap them all into safe places? (I mean, I assume the Stones accounted for Spacial Drift and the location of planets in orbit... maybe it accounted for people who would have Snapped Back into deadly situations?)

2) I do love that Steve and Peggy got their life together At that point Pegs would have been like... at least 10 years older than Steve? Maybe 15? What would her neighbors think of Sugar Momma Peggy Carter and her Very Much Younger (Looking) Husband?

Did she introduce him to anyone? Did they have neighborhood BBQs? At that point everyone would have known who Captain America/Steve Rogers was so did no one recognize him? What did they say? (Did we get Beardy Steve back???) They had kids, canonically, so was Steve able to attend their T-BAll games and school plays?

One assumes that Sugar Baby Steve would have been the House Husband, because Pegs was running Shield and Steve was out of the game. He’d never be able to show his face at SHIELD because Howard would recognize him, and so would Arnim Zola, so HYDRA would have known that Captain America survived and I imagine they would have given anything to get him into the Chair.

It makes me think that Sugar Baby House Husband Steve would have been very isolated and possibly lonely. Maybe he had a few neighbor friends, but can you image how torturous it must have been to live so privately? To know that Bucky was out there suffering and being tortured and brainwashed and that he couldn’t do anything about it? He couldn’t go save his best pal?

That Peggy could never bring him to the SHIELD Christmas party, to visit her new baby godson Anthony, never attend anything with him.

And it makes me think Steve had to vanish from her life right when his earlier self entered it so like... as soon as she started getting sick enough with Alzheimer's he had to leave.

Because that’s when younger Steve came into her life, and started visiting her in the nursing home.

But he had to abandon her when she needed him most, and that is very tragic. How did Steve reconcile that with himself? Especially with returning to a future where she was dead and his friends were alive and he didn’t need to be the Secret Sugar Baby House Husband any more?

All in all, it was very enjoyable and I will watch it again.

And I look forward to the FanFic.

* This means that Loki in that branch also likely did not participate in the battle against the Dark Elves. His character growth in that moment was likely delayed, but I believe he ultimately would have processed his extreme confusion, self-loathing, and hatred of his betrayal by his “family” Thor enough to join forces with him against the destruction of the universe when it mattered. Perhaps having the extra time to do so might have even served him better. I don’t know if this means Odin chose to die and Hela was released, thus triggering the destruction of Asgard. I don’t know what this would have meant for Ragnarock - possibly with Odin as the King when he died the defenses would have been better (though I argue the culture and peace of Asgard thrived under Loki, especially with his dismantling of the Empire and the valuing of the Arts) and they would have saved Asgard or at least not lost so many.

And if Asgard had not survived, perhaps in this version something different may have happened, and Loki wouldn’t on the survivor ship. Perhaps he was on a different ship. Perhaps he wasn’t present for the battle at all and in a completely different part of the universe.

If he was elsewhere this means

a) The Asgardian survivors would have lived because Thanos wouldn’t have targeted the ship, and Thor would have been less self-loathing.

b) When Thanos found Loki with the Tesseract in this branch, it’s likely Loki was able to ingratiate himself to Thanos and gave the Stone to him without Thor there to tip his hand toward an immediate betrayal murder attempt. I subscribe to the theory that Loki was just as mind-controlled during The Avengers and the Battle of New York as Barton (though I wouldn’t call Loki totally innocent in everything) and that he had been suffering from extreme mental health issues following his unsuccessful attempted suicide. In this case, he would be willing to play the long game to get his revenge on his abuser Thanos. Then, later, hopefully, he joins Thor’s side to save the universe against Thanos (as he did against the Dark Elves)- betraying Thanos and perhaps stopping the Snap before it happened in that timeline. Or if not stopping the Snap, perhaps being a part of the new Avengers if he survived it, or joining in the final battle if he was Snapped Away.

Anyway - I have lots of Loki Thoughts. Feel free to adopt any Plot Bunnies this may have generated in reading this.

#Avengers: Endgame #Review #spoilters #Endgame #Avengers #Storytelling #Loki #Endgame Loki #head cannon #theories #loki theory

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popwasabi · 5 years

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My MCU Phase 4 Wishlist

So, over a decade and 23 fucking films later an era of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe has finally concluded with “Spider-man: Far From Home” premiering last week.

It’s still staggering just how robust this franchise is considering in just eleven years’ time it already has amassed nearly as many films as the James Bond franchise and is arguably a more bankable series at this point than “Star Wars.” Though it’s not a perfect series by any stretch its success is nonetheless tied to its consistent, often magnetic charm and grand action set pieces and Phase 3 showed that it was even capable of some complex and nuanced growth. The third phase tackled deeper more emotional issues for our favorite super heroes while also giving many of its directors more free reign to do as they please with their scripts. Not always perfectly but it was more often than not hugely successful at reaching audiences on a personal level.

(Sometimes with mixed results...)

But as much as “Endgame” was a near perfect sendoff for this franchise, The Mouse isn’t done by any stretch with churning these films out seemingly until the end of time, so with that mind where should Disney go from here since it looks like the franchise will continue on indefinitely?

There’s a lot of ways to envision success for the MCU, and some wheels are already in motion between next year’s “Eternals” and Disney+’s streaming MCU shows but what would it really take for this series to get to the next level? Well this writer has some ideas and is more than happy to share a few of them.

Make the Villains More Prominent (and stop killing them off!)

Less so in Phase 3 but consistently throughout most of the series has been a total lack in quality villain performances and story-telling. Whether they are generic mustache-twirlers, essentially dark mirrors of the hero or just plain half-baked characters, the MCU has really done a disservice to its robust catalogue of rogues by often wasting the talents of great actors and actresses all to just check a box in a super hero script.

And on top of that they are consistently dead by the end of each film giving them no chance for growth in a sequel. I mean it’s not like we haven’t seen that work before right?

(Case in point)

For phase 4, especially in the wake of two thirds of the Marvel’s Holy Trinity out of the picture, villains should take center stage now more than ever. The heroes of this newer, younger and developing Avengers are probably not ready for the responsibility of protecting the world and the universe as evidenced by the near catastrophic mess Spider-man commits in “Far From Home” and to have the villains of this next phase take advantage of that would be a smart move.

These villains need to be prominent, larger than life and command a nuance to them that much of the older films did not have. A character like Norman Osborn for instance could step in to fill the power vacuum left behind by Stark’s shadow as the new tech futurist of Earth but of course without the responsibility and good intentions of Iron Man. Doctor Doom could be a counter to Black Panther’s Wakanda as a polar opposite of nations in Latveria. And bringing on a character like Mephisto could further expand the mystical side of the MCU that started to be explored in “Dr. Strange.”

(But seriously, Marvel Studios, if I don’t get Toby Stephens as Norman Osborn I will riot...)

Either way, these villains need to carry on for more than one film for a change. Only Thanos, Vulture and Loki have managed to get past their first movies but if Phase 4 is going to be more distinctive it needs to have these villains come together in some way, perhaps even a *gasp* team-up! Having the villains form a super team to fight a younger more inexperienced Avengers could provide for some great drama and welcome change to the usual “fight an army of nameless goons, aliens and/or robots” of the previous era.

In any case, Kevin Feige and The Mouse need to have their sights set on truly developing these villains beyond just simple one-offs and into fully fleshed out characters that can continue to be trouble for our heroes across the series.

Expand the Cosmic Spectrum of the MCU

The MCU is a science fiction series, if that didn’t already occur to you before, what with it’s iron-suited heroes, super soldiers and in these last two phases space aliens. With the latter the next phase really needs to lean into this and all its possibilities.

There’s a wealth of characters and worlds to explore on the cosmic level of Marvel Comics that not just the Guardians of the Galaxy can be a part of and Disney would be smart to bring even more properties into this real estate of the MCU.

It should namely start with Adam Warlock who was teased in the mid-credits scene of “Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2.” Warlock has long been a favorite character of mind, dating back to reading my dad’s old copies of the Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity Watch. He’s a charismatic character who effectively blends both the cosmic and mystical side of the Marvel Universe together that can lead to a wealth of possibilities across the new MCU. Who should play him is purely subjective at this point but I can tell you right now Zach Efron isn’t even my fourth choice on that particular ladder.

(Maaaaaybe?)

With the Fox deal, Disney also has the option to bring Silver Surfer and Galactus into the mix which they absolutely should at some point. Beta Ray Bill is also said to be making his debut in “Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3” who can take over for Thor as Chris Hemsworth will eventually move on from the franchise at some point. Guardians will eventually need to retire too of course which opens up the possibility for the Infinity Watch with characters like Moon Dragon, Maxam and Pip the Troll and don’t tell me any of them wouldn’t work on the big screen. If Rocket Racoon can be a fan favorite Moon Dragon, Pip and Maxam can definitely make it too.

Either way the Marvel Universe is big fucking place and Disney would be dumb to not explore more of it for future franchises.

Make better Original Scores

Johan Goransson’s Oscar win for Best Original Score for his work on “Black Panther” was a watershed moment for this franchise because it showed how super hero music can still be relevant. Imagine Christopher Reeve’s “Superman” without John Williams theme music or Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” without Hans Zimmer’s prominent percussion echoing the legend of Batman. Its not nearly as memorable and I feel the MCU has largely short-changed itself by not putting a higher emphasis on original scores during its decade-long run.

(*Bwaaaaaam BWAAAAAAAAAMMMM* I can hear this gif)

Phase 3 has definitely done a better job with this of course, Michael Giacchino’s work on Spider-man is solid, Alan Silvestri’s return to Avengers especially the “Portals” scene is epic as hell and again Goransson’s score is part of the reason we knew exactly what was coming next when Cap said “I know somewhere” before we even saw an image of Wakanda. But Phase 4, in my opinion, needs to make this more important as we introduce new characters.

Music has a way of echoing memories and ideas that we’ll immediately associate with an event or in this case a character and with the MCU heading into uncharted territory with what’s looks like even more unique characters, adding memorable music will help audiences identify with them. A catchy tune can go a long way to making a good scene greater just ask the binary sunset in “A New Hope” and it can make a character truly standout.

Imagine the next Avenger’s films if you will as all these new heroes come together on screen all their theme music coming together to culminate in one epic version of the Avengers suite. It will be glorious if done right and the MCU needs to make this happen with inventive composers and film scores in Phase 4.

Save the X-Men for Phase 5

I know with the Fox deal and the whimpering flameout of “Dark Phoenix” fans are clamoring to see what Disney and Marvel Studios can do to bring in everyone’s favorite team of mutants but I say “hold up.”

As much as I would love to see a (hopefully) more faithful rendition of the X-Men I think we need a breather from Professor X, Cyclops, Beast and especially Wolverine. The X-Men franchise has been going on for over two decades and as much as we would all like to see these mutants get some much needed redemption after “Apocalypse” and “Dark Phoenix” I think general audiences need a breather. Yes, The MCU brought in Spider-man barely two years after the “Amazing” franchise which flamed out badly as well but Spider-man, even by its franchise standards, had a considerably smaller catalogue left behind when he made his debut in “Civil War.”

I think teasing the reappearance of the X-Men in Phase 4 is probably fine. Maybe dropping clues on the existence of mutants, maybe mentioning an alternate universe they come from because chances are their backstory will be retconned but either way the X-Men should be left on the backburner for Phase 4.

(Deadpool though? Keep’em coming.)

Make Phase 5 all about the emergence of mutants, build them up as a great new team for the MCU and perhaps even pit them against the Avengers down the road. Either way, let the X-Men have a break for now. They need it after what Fox did to them.

Bring in Diverse New Heroes

Oh, here comes that dreaded word that makes the slimiest denizens of the internet overreact and proclaim they’re not the “oversensitive” ones (in all CAPs of course).

The MCU had its fun with its main cast of primarily white Marvel staples over the past decade and if they’re going to show that they have new ideas and new stories to tell it should begin by bringing in browner heroes.

“Black Panther” was largely a breath of fresh air for the franchise because it told a very personal and relatable story to the society we live, primarily on the struggles of being a minority. The story wasn’t a simple good vs evil tale or nonspecific theme about family and love but of something deeply wrong in the world and it’s the reason it resonated as much it did.

The MCU is already making way for its first Asian American hero in Shang Chi, which is a good start but it shouldn’t end there either. Diverse heroes should be its next flagship for the new era of the MCU. Bring in Amadeus Cho, Ms. Marvel, and hell start teasing Miles Morales.

(And don’t give me that bullshit that black Spider-man can’t appeal to mass audiences...)

I can already hear the idiots shouting at the screen right now about “white erasure” or some other bull shit about reverse racism and/or forced diversity. First of all, these people would bitch about diversity no matter what way it was brought in. If a hero is turned from white to brown it’s “Why can’t they bring in a new brown hero?” If they bring in a new brown hero it’s “Why are they bringing in a new brown hero? No one cares.” And if people do care it’s “Forced diversity.” All I have to say to you people is you keep shifting around the goal posts so much to the point that it makes me wonder what you are actually angry about?

The MCU needs brand new blood and given that it again made a talking Raccoon a fan favorite there’s nothing that tells me this is a bad time to bring in more brown heroes from Marvel’s lesser known catalog. It isn’t that I or even other minority fans hate white heroes (I wrote an entire article on how much I love the MCU’s Captain America afterall) but for the sake of showing that these diverse heroes matter and giving them a chance to shine on the big screen this is needed. It wasn’t long ago that barely anybody knew who Black Panther was, now you have folks throwing up “Wakanda Forever” signs on their Instagram and social media and reading his graphic novels. So, open your mind up a bit and stop being a child about “forced diversity.” Thor was still epic as hell when he brought down Storm Breaker in “Infinity War,” Captain America still inspires patriotism in even the most cynical of souls and Iron Man saved the universe with a snap of his fingers. Your white heroes (and fragility) stories will survive a little spice in this franchise.

How the MCU truly proceeds from here will be interesting. There are already projects in motion of course and fans should probably be excited for it regardless of what I have written here but I do truly hope a lot of these happen in Phase 4. Marvel needs better more consistent villains going forward, the cosmic side of the comics deserves more exploration, better soundtracks will make these movies better, the X-Men need a break, and after 23 movies we could stand add a few more brown people to the mix.

Hopefully The Mouse is listening…

“Huhah! I own all future box office revenue regardless anyways, you peasants. Huhah!”

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theprocrastinatingalien · 5 years

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Superhero Movie News Roundup - New Mutants, Black Widow, Morbius and The Suicide Squad.

Hey Earthlings! Back with a quick round up of recent superhero movie news. So without obstacle, let's get stuck in.

NEW MUTANTS

This film, set in the X-MEN universe, has had something of a rocky road to get to the big screen... and that road keeps getting rockier. It was due in cinemas back in early 2018, pushed back to early 2019, and then a further knockback to later in the year. It's also doubtful it'll even get to the 'big screen', possibly settling down on streaming channel instead. Before it can get that landing, there'll be some reshoots, with the plan to add a new character to the movie.

So here's the news... those reshoots haven't happened yet, in fact there doesn't even seem to be a plan for them. What's making it harder is getting the existing cast back together, with word on the street being Anya Taylor-Joy has no interest in returning to set, having not had the best time the first around. This might just be speculation, of course, but it doesn't seem like the planned August release will happen. With Disney buying Fox, it'll be interesting to see how this movie fits into the grand scheme of things.

Personally, I feel that Marvel will draw a line across the X-MEN universe as we know it, wiping the slate (almost) clean for the mutants to enter the MCU. What's the 'almost'? Deadpool. The very nature of the character means Wade Wilson (and actor Ryan Reynolds) could enter the shared universe without a recast. These NEW MUTANTS though, might be done before they've started.

MORBIUS

Over at Sony, following their first release in the Spiderverse - that doesn't actually involve Spider-Man - VENOM, pace is picking up at the next entry... MORBIUS, the Living Vampire. Actor Jared Leto was confirmed to play the title character, and now we have a few more names to add.

Adria Arjona has been added as Martine Bancroft, Morbius' fiancé. Former Time Lord, Matt Smith has signed up as Loxias Crown and most recently we have news that Jared Harris and Tyrese Gibson have joined the cast in unknown roles.

I'm not sure what I think of Sony's shared Marvel Universe. I didn't mind VENOM though, and I will certainly give MORBIUS a go, especially with the likes of Smith and Harris added to the mix. The question is, does this mean those actors now can't appear in the MCU itself?

BLACK WIDOW

This week sees the release of the 21st MCU entry, CAPTAIN MARVEL, and then it really is just a short wait (less than two months) before the mega-event AVENGERS: ENDGAME. What comes after the phase three finale? Well, phase four (or whatever it's going to be called) starts with SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME, but really after that very little is known.

2020 was obviously meant to kick of with GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 3, but then James Gunn got the boot from Disney, and the project hurtled into limbo. Word is Gunn's script will still be used and all the cast are onboard... there's just no director right now. We also have rumblings that THE ETERNALS will fall in 2020, which would make sense considering one of the characters will be Thanos' bro Starfox… but right now all the interest is on BLACK WIDOW.

Scarlett Johansson's debut was way back in 2010, in IRON MAN 2, and could be seen as the leading lady of the MCU, with appearances in CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR and all four AVENGERS movies. The fact we know this movie is coming doesn't spoil anything for the character in ENDGAME, as word is the film will take us through Natasha Romanoff's past, watching her train and go on missions as an assassin.

With a director (Cate Shortland) and writers in place, it's now time to look a potential casting - other than Johansson - and ignoring the rumours that either Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye or Sebastian Stan's Winter Soldier could play a part in the movie - we now know that producers are looking for a female character, as close to 'Black Widow' type as possible to play second lead.

What's interesting here is we've got a rumour on who the front runner is for this character. Whilst Alice Englert, Dar Zuzovsky and Florence Pugh are supposedly up for the part, the name that leads the pack is... Emma Watson? Yep, it looks like HARRY POTTER'S Hermione Granger could be joining the MCU as a kick-ass assassin.

Not sure what I think of that, but I'll take it over the ridiculous rumour that Daniel Radcliffe could play Wolverine (luckily, just a joke the actor started)… but Watson isn't someone I'd have thought of. Still, I have faith in Marvel and their choices, so if she does indeed sign on, I'll assume she's the best person for the job.

THE SUICIDE SQUAD.

I've already mentioned James Gunn being given the push from Disney, now unable to complete his GOTG trilogy. Warner Brothers have welcomed him with open arms though, and he's be drafted in to roll out the Suicide Squad for another adventure. As we know though, the DCEU is all over the place. Ben Affleck is no longer Batman (can we please dispel those rumours that Robert Pattinson is taking on the cowl?!), and Amy Adams thinks she's done as Lois Lane. Well, now we have another actor out of the mix... Will Smith will not be returning as Deadshot.

It's a bit of a shame really, as I thought he was one of the best bits in the first film, right behind Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn - but scheduling conflicts mean Smith has bowed out... and we already have a new actor stepping into his shoes... Idris Elba.

I'm a big Elba fan, and whilst I'd rather the continuity of Smith's return, if we have to have a replacement, I'm more than happy with Elba's casting. It sounds like Gunn is doing something of a soft reboot, rather than a direct sequel, bringing in a new batch of characters, Robbie will be back as Harley, and I should imagine (but don't know for certain) Joel Kinnaman will be returning as Rick Flagg. I'm looking forward to seeing Elba join Robbie in Gunn's take on volatile group... but I do have a big question... will The Joker be back? If so, will it still be Jared Leto? I mean, considering we've got a JOKER film starring Joaquin Phoenix coming, surely they can't do a recast and gives a third actor portraying the killer clown? Time will tell on that one.

That's it for now. I'm watching CAPTAIN MARVEL on Saturday. Fingers crossed it's a good one!

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undertheinfluencerd · 3 years

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Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

While Marvel’s Phase 4 has been mostly backward-looking for its first outings, in terms of reusing character, Shang-Chi is finally here to change things up. The MCU’s first martial arts fantasy epic is certainly different and unquestionably bold, but does it work, and will Marvel fans take to it as one of the strongest origin stories so far? How does it stand as a new branch for the MCU to nurture in other words?

For the most part, Marvel’s MCU origin stories have been particularly strong. Even ignoring the usual issues with over-emphasis on exposition, comic book movie fans love to see new superheroes take up the mantle. It’s traditionally been in MCU sequels where struggles have been more obvious – apart from Captain America’s seemingly bullet-proof sub-franchise of course. In that respect, Shang-Chi had reason to be confident, even with a vastly different focus to the other MCU kickstarter projects. But at the same time, with the expectations of fans built on 24 movies and billions of dollars, aiming for something different was never going to be completely straightforward. Particularly with the issues presented by the industry at the moment.

Related: Why Shang-Chi’s Avengers Cameo Looks Different From Endgame

Early box office results suggest Shang-Chi is going incredibly well and a 90%+ Rotten Tomatoes review score into opening weekend is always a very good sign. That is a testament to what Simu Liu and director Destin Daniel Cretton have achieved. That said, though, Shang-Chi has some teething issues, even for a movie that is very good overall. In the interest of balance, here’s everything that worked incredibly well in Shang-Chi and the few areas where it perhaps missed the mark.

As with any MCU origin story, there’s a lot of necessary exposition in Shang-Chi. The majority of this is conveyed via flashback, which works, and could have been a little jarring was the narrative importance of the past not been handled well. That typically means there is less space for character, which is often particularly true of a movie with such major fantastical elements and action set-pieces, but not in Shang-Chi. Simu Liu positively radiates charisma, even as he guards his character (to protect his secrets), promising an awful lot more in the MCU’s future. Awkwafina’s Katy is not just the audience’s eyes in Shang-Chi’s world, but she’s also the breakout character (the same way Ratcatcher was in The Suicide Squad and Michael Pena’s Luis was in Ant-Man). The fact that she returns in future, as set up by the end, can only be a good thing. Add to that, the performances of legends like Tony Leung and Michelle Yeoh – not just in combat, but in quieter moments – and it’s a truly great group.

Speaking of Tony Leung, his Wenwu – wrongly named The Mandarin or “The Real Mandarin” throughout the marketing – makes a strong claim to be one of the best human MCU villains alongside Michael B Jordan’s Killmonger. Even faced with being overshadowed by a colossal winged demon in the final act, Leung’s dramatic chops back up his stunning martial arts work to create a bad guy who is not only empathetic but compelling in his cause. He is in pain, haunted by his own part in his wife’s death, and corrupted by the power of the Ten Rings and what lies beyond Ta Lo’s portal. Though he also had a more traditional hunger for power before meeting Shang-Chi’s mother, he puts that one-dimensional motivation aside to be a man pushed to desperate, catastrophic measures by his grief. To contrast that with how Iron Man 3 originally portrayed the supposedly same character is night and day.

While the dynamic between Wenwu, Shang-Chi, and Xialing is great, Shang-Chi is best when it’s examining their personal story. Unfortunately, the shift in gears in the third act that sees them arrive in Ta Lo and face the impending arrival of the Dweller-in-Darkness feels like a similar situation that undermined how good The Avengers was. Suddenly adding the Dweller as the final act “big boss”, plus an army of otherwise unmentioned flying soul sucker drones is very much like Whedon’s use of the Chitauri army to escalate matters for the heroes in his final act back in 2012. That’s not to say there aren’t impressive moments in the battle – and who doesn’t want to see what amounts to the MCU’s first kaiju on kaiju battle? – but there’s not quite enough tension when the personal story is ripped away.

Related: Is Shang-Chi Officially An Avenger Now?

The benefit of adding a martial arts master to the MCU is immediately obvious as soon as Shang-Chi gets into its combat groove. The opening fight sequence on the bus careening down San Francisco’s famous hills is remarkable and it’s far from the best. Elsewhere, Tony Leung, Simu Liu, Andy Le, Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhan, and young Arnold Sun (a revelation as teen Shang-Chi in training flashbacks) all put together gravity-defying martial arts set-pieces that are unlike anything seen in the MCU. So far, the MCU brand of martial arts has looked more like the bruising style of Florian Munteanu’s Razor Fist, but here there’s balletic grace mashed up with the physical drunken boxer humor of Kung Fu Hustle (referenced lovingly not only in a poster in Shang-Chi’s wall, but also in the casting of Yuen Wah as Ta Lo Master Guang Bo. The slow-motion can get a little over-indulgent, but there’s no doubting the obscene skill involved.

Despite the mastery of the fight choreography and the incredible environmental designs that go into Ta Lo in particular, some of Shang-Chi‘s CGI is on a par with the worst moments of Black Panther‘s notorious early trailers. There’s more than one regrettable ragdoll sequence, including part of the otherwise excellent bus fight, and while the Great Protector battling the Dweller-in-Darkness is a fun spectacle, some of it is too muddied by an attempt to presumably hide the heavy effects work involved. The moment that sees Shang-Chi run up the otherworldly beast, in particular, is near-impossible to follow.

The MCU has been accused before of being too focused on shoe-horning humor in to meet the expectations of the lucrative family audience, and even some of the best Marvel movies too have clunking gags in them. Shang-Chi, though, brilliantly balances humor and heart and drama. Awkwafina’s Katy and Sir Ben Kingsley’s return as Trevor Slattery take care of much of the leg work, but Simu Liu’s comic background helps a great deal, though his jokes come less frequently than his “sidekicks”. There’s never any attempt to really undermine heavy, dramatic moments with humor, which is where Marvel stumbles a lot and crucially, Shang-Chi being an insider on his lore means there’s no reductive mockery of the mythology behind his powers and his family.

Shang-Chi is a stand-alone almost to the same degree as a Phase 1 movie, and that’s great, but there are obviously expectations to tie it back to the rest of the MCU, and – as ever – use its end as a stepping stone to what comes next. Had that ended with Wong’s recruitment of Shang-Chi and Katy and the impromptu, hilarious karaoke sessions, that would have been perfectly fine, but then Shang-Chi‘s mid-credits scene goes too far. Captain Marvel and Bruce Banner’s inclusions feel too much like big-name appearances for the sake of familiarity, particularly because both add very little to the discussion on the Ten Rings other than a bemused shrug. They’re there so that Marvel can remind the audience that there’s always something bigger coming, but it didn’t need to be done this way when Wong’s mysterious tease of what he needed Shang-Chi for was satisfying enough.

Related: How Marvel Retconned Its Iron Man 3 Mandarin Controversy

Now that there are 25 MCU movies and a number of Disney+ Marvel shows to throw into the mix, the requirement to do Marvel homework before each release is getting to the point where casual audiences simply will not do it. Luckily, Shang-Chi exists on its own merit strongly and without the crutch of the rest of the franchise, meaning any pre-watching is limited. Yes, there are nods to the post-Endgame world in posters about Snap Anxiety, and Wong and Tim Roth’s Abomination appear, but the only substantial link is to Trevor Slattery’s arc in Iron Man 3, and he is played in such a way that he’s no more than a jester brought along to help Morris become the next most memeable Marvel character. His arc is entirely explained within Shang-Chi anyway, so that serves as all the required reminder. The reason this is such a big plus for Shang-Chi is that it has to be how Marvel moves forward when establishing new MCU IPs, like X-Men, Fantastic Four, Blade, and whoever else comes along: not everything has to be tied to the nostalgia machine. Shang-Chi proves it’s still possible to strike out onto a new branch without everything being a set-up for when the next cameo will happen.

While Tony Leung’s Wenwu is great (particularly in how he retcons Iron Man 3‘s Mandarin mistake), and the fight sequences involving both are hugely entertaining, it’s difficult not to feel that both Razor Fist and – even more so – Death Dealer aren’t rather undernourished. The former’s complexity is as limited as you might expect from someone who drives around in an SUV with his own name spraypainted on the side (even when it’s achingly hinted for about two seconds that he fears for his master’s mental health), and the latter is a plot device killed off for effect. Neither is given anything like the charisma to hide their lack of development and backstory and it’s a real shame. At least Razor Fist’s likely return might afford more of an opportunity.

Not only is Shang-Chi a great stand-alone, but it is fundamentally different from what MCU fans have seen over the past decade. While it has the same hallmarks of familial conflict and daddy issues as lots of previous Marvel movies, it balances that with martial arts, new mysticism, a dragon, a giant kaiju-like demon, and the suggestion that more lands like Wakanda can exist beyond portals to other realms. There can be no accusations of deferring to type or Shang-Chi being somehow formulaic, and after 24 films, that is an impressive thing to be able to state. It also makes forthcoming new creative endeavors – like Eternals – that have a similar burden of expectation to be new and exciting a lot easier to back to succeed with the audience. The start of Phase 4 has looked backward a little more than some may like, but Shang-Chi is bold and unafraid to be wildly different to its stable-mates, and that should give future MCU creators cause for confidence.

Next: Every Upcoming Marvel Movie Release Date (2021 To 2023)

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ramajmedia · 5 years

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MCU: 10 Characters We Never Expected To See Again Who Are Returning In Phase 4

Following this year’s Comic-Con and Disney’s D23 Expo, the full slate for the MCU’s Phase 4 has been announced. There have been plenty of delightful surprises, like the casting of Kit Harington as the Black Knight or the Disney+ series confirmed for Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, and Moon Knight.

RELATED: 10 Characters Who Should Probably Retire From The MCU Soon

In addition to all the new characters being added to the franchise, some that we thought had been forgotten by Marvel Studios have been confirmed to be returning... in some form or another. From a female Thor to resurrected dead characters, you just can't (usually) keep a comic book character down, can you?

10 Jane Foster

MCU fans became so bored with Jane Foster’s one-dimensional characterization and bland romance with Thor that no-one batted an eye when she was nowhere to be seen in Thor: Ragnarok and the couple’s off-screen breakup was mentioned. The least interested of all was Natalie Portman, who had grown sick of being given no interesting dialogue, if she was given any dialogue at all.

It’s not Portman’s fault that Jane was so uninteresting; the writers failed her. Now, after reinvigorating the Thor character with a dose of comedy in Ragnarok, Taika Waititi is looking to do the same for Jane Foster as she takes on the mantle of Thor in 2021’s Thor: Love and Thunder.

9 Vision

In one of the final scenes in Avengers: Infinity War, Vision died twice. First, Scarlet Witch removed the Mind Stone from his head and destroyed it to stop Thanos from getting it. Then, Thanos used the Time Stone to reverse time and ripped the Mind Stone out of Vision’s head himself. Vision wasn’t anywhere to be seen in Avengers: Endgame, even with all the time travel and new timelines being created, and for all intents and purposes, he’d be forever dead.

Still, he’ll be co-starring in a series with Wanda Maximoff called WandaVision on Disney+. One fan theory is that Wanda will use her magical mutant powers to manipulate reality and bring him back to life, albeit creating “the Multiverse of Madness” in the process.

8 Sharon Carter

As great as Emily VanCamp was in the second and third Captain America movies, it became awkward when her character Sharon Carter – the niece of Peggy Carter – drummed up a romance with Steve Rogers. It’s especially creepy now that Steve has gone back in time and married Peggy.

RELATED: The 5 Best (And 5 Worst) Couples In The MCU

Still, none of that can be blamed on VanCamp. Marvel is giving her a second chance in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, in which she’ll have a supporting role.

7 Agent Woo

Randall Park was hilarious in Ant-Man and the Wasp as Agent Jimmy Woo, the FBI man-in-black assigned to keep an eye on Scott Lang while he was under house arrest. Woo’s interactions with Scott about close-up magic and whether or not a dinner invitation had been extended were hysterical, and one of the highlights of the movie.

However, since it was such a small part, no-one was expecting him to take on a larger role in the MCU’s future. Lo and behold, in Disney+’s WandaVision, he’ll be back in an unspecified capacity, possibly as the FBI agent assigned to watch over Scarlet Witch.

6 Loki

Loki seemingly completed his character arc in Avengers: Infinity War. After years of villainy or heroism as a cover for villainy, he finally did something undeniably heroic. He came after Thanos with a blade to save his brother. He ended up getting killed in the process, but he’d finally learned to be good after discovering that Thor thought the world of him.

RELATED: 5 Things Confirmed For Loki's Disney+ Series (& 5 Fan Theories)

However, in Avengers: Endgame, after he evaded capture and stole the Space Stone, he created a new timeline in 2012 where anything can happen – and we’ll see what does happen in a Disney+ series in 2021. This will be an interesting turn for the MCU. The show will essentially present a hypothetical character arc for Loki, starting from scratch with entirely different events.

5 The Mandarin

In the comics, the Mandarin is Iron Man’s arch nemesis. Jon Favreau wanted to introduce him in the first movie, but decided against it, comparing him to Emperor Palpatine – slowly build to a big reveal in the third movie. However, after helming the first two Iron Man movies, Favreau handed the reins over to Shane Black, who featured the Mandarin in Iron Man 3, but totally botched it.

The Mandarin we came to fear and anticipate across months of posters and trailers turned out to be a soccer hooligan. Marvel is looking to rectify that with the real Mandarin, due to show up in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

4 Helmut Zemo

Baron Zemo is an exceptional MCU villain for two reasons: 1) his plan was a success, as he managed to tear the Avengers apart almost irreparably, and 2) he did it without any superpowers or special gadgets. He was left alive at the end of Captain America: Civil War, since Black Panther saved him from killing himself and told him, “the living are not done with you yet.”

However, it did seem like the MCU was done with him. As it turns out, that’s not true. He’ll be back next year in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier to terrorize Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes.

3 Monica Rambeau

Earlier this year, Captain Marvel introduced us to a young Monica Rambeau, played by Akira Akbar, Carol Danvers’ best friend’s daughter who idolized her. There was every chance that this was setting her up for a future as a superhero, since the character has taken on various superhero alter egos in the comics.

RELATED: WandaVision: 10 Fan Theories About Monica Rambeau's Role

The MCU has so many characters and it has so many forgotten teases like this that it didn’t seem likely that Monica had a future in the franchise. Thankfully, that’s not the case and she’ll be appearing as an adult in WandaVision, played by Teyonah Parris.

2 Darcy Lewis

Kat Dennings played Darcy Lewis as the comic relief in the first two Thor movies. After those two, she disappeared. As Jane Foster’s best friend, since there was no more Jane, there was no more need for Darcy. It’s a shame, because the third Thor movie was the one that turned the franchise into 100% comic relief. She would’ve fitted right in.

With Jane returning to the MCU in Thor: Love and Thunder, Darcy will also be reappearing, but not alongside her. She’ll instead be showing up in Disney+’s WandaVision, which is being described as 50% comic book spectacle and 50% sitcom.

1 Black Widow

This one is only true for passive moviegoers who hadn’t been keeping up to date with Marvel’s announcements. Anyone in the know was aware that Black Widow was getting a solo movie in 2020 months ago. For those fans, the surprise was when the character was killed off in Avengers: Endgame – and it was definitely, definitively permanent, too, because it was a sacrifice on Vormir to secure the Soul Stone for Earth’s mightiest heroes.

For the most casual fans, the surprise is her return. Her first standalone outing will kick off Phase 4 next year, and of course, it’ll be a prequel – but maybe not an origin story.

NEXT: 10 Supporting MCU Characters That Could Return In A Big Way

source https://screenrant.com/mcu-unexpected-characters-returning-phase-4/

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Reactions Arrive Online

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It’s time for a solo superhero movie like no other, and Marvel Studios is setting out to deliver just that with their new MCU Phase 4 entry Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which is set after the events of Avengers: Endgame.

Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12) directed, with Kim’s Convenience star Simu Liu cast as Shang-Chi, a skilled martial artist who is trying to live a normal life in San Francisco despite being trained at a young age to be an assassin by his father Wenwu (Tony Leung). The movie examines Shang-Chi’s origins but in the present day we see him get drawn further into the clandestine Ten Rings organization, and he is ultimately forced to confront the past he thought he left behind.

Along with Chloé Zhao’s Eternals, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is one of Marvel’s 2021 blockbuster gambles. Both movies introduce new characters from the comics who will have a huge impact on the MCU going forwards, while more audience-familiar installments like Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder prepare to release in their wake.

It is unclear how much of an impact the events of Marvel’s multiverse-exploding Disney+ series Loki will have on Shang-Chi’s story at this stage, but no doubt all will become clear when the film finally debuts early next month after several delays.

Liu has been hyping up Marvel fans over on Twitter, posting “We are the underdog; the underestimated. We are the ceiling-breakers. We are the celebration of culture and joy that will persevere after an embattled year. We are the surprise. I’m fired the f**k up to make history on September 3rd; JOIN US.”

Awkwafina, Meng’er Zhang, Fala Chen, Florian Munteanu, Benedict Wong and Michelle Yeoh star alongside Liu in Shang-Chi, which Marvel maestro Kevin Feige hopes will be a game-changer.

“When you have the opportunity to showcase a hero that looks like a huge segment of the globe that feels like they haven’t been showcased, the magic can happen if you deliver,” he told THR. “I think Destin (Daniel Cretton) and Simu have delivered for this movie.”

Most MCU projects tie in to other upcoming Marvel Studios films and Shang-Chi is no different, with Feige confirming that “there is a direct line of where [Shang-Chi] heads to next.”

Ahead of its release, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is in the midst of being screened for select audiences, including various film critics.

Here’s what people are saying about the film so far…

Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings is PHENOMENAL. Get hyped. Even fight scene/action sequence is better than the last. @SimuLiu fully embraces the marvel superhero role. Amazing imagery. Killer soundtrack. You’ll want to see this on the big screen. #shangchi

— Wendy Lee Szany (@WendyLeeSzany) August 17, 2021

If #ShangChi is the first real indicator of what the MCU has in store going forward, then this phase is gonna be great. One of their best origin story flicks and some of the best pure action Marvel's ever done!

— Mike Cecchini (@wayoutstuff) August 18, 2021

#ShangChi is fantastic. It's full of INCREDIBLE, beautifully choreographed fight scenes and full of badass women. Get ready to know Simu Liu's name if you don't already. Marvel has another hit on its hands. pic.twitter.com/3efV1kzJ7O

— Kirsten (@KirstenAcuna) August 17, 2021

#ShangChi has some of the best fight scenes of any MCU movie, sometimes thrilling, other times just stunningly beautiful. @SimuLiu & @awkwafina are a fantastic pairing.

— Peter Sciretta (@PeterSciretta) August 17, 2021

Shang-Chi is a blast! Marvel delivers a wuxia/fantasy/superhero movie mash-up that’s a lot more fun than how the trailers have been selling it. Exciting action, great cast (Tony Leung rules, of course). This is the MCU back doing its thing on a high level again. #ShangChi pic.twitter.com/eW9bxF9QNB

— Aaron Neuwirth (@AaronsPS4) August 17, 2021

#ShangChi is an action packed adventure that checks all the summer blockbuster boxes. Simu shines bringing a long overdue comics character to the silver screen. The fighting is another level and it has some hilarious moments throughout it. pic.twitter.com/bGruxuqMHb

— Dorian Parks (@DorianParksnRec) August 17, 2021

OK, Shang-Chi is part Shakespearen family tragedy, part mythological epic, part martial arts masterpiece. It is fucking awesome. Never expected it to be THIS good. Stay for both credit scenes. Can't believe how much I loved this movie.

— John Campea (@johncampea) August 17, 2021

#ShangChi kicked ass! Come for the killer fight scenes, dark mysticism, and martial arts mayhem, but stay for the thoughtful rumination on family, grief, and legacy. The whole cast is terrific! Simu Liu is a superstar. Tony Leung and Michelle Yeoh are international treasures. pic.twitter.com/Rt7QAWK1T3

— Dan Casey (@DanCasey) August 17, 2021

#ShangChi is an absolute triumph, unexpectedly spiritual and emotionally complex, with some of the very best action in the MCU. @SimuLiu is your new favorite Avenger and the movie’s myriad influences (everything from Jackie Chan to Hayao Miyazaki) pay off big time). Astounding.🐉 pic.twitter.com/72Yubnb4KV

— Drew Taylor (@DrewTailored) August 17, 2021

I WATCHED #SHANGCHI!!! It’s an amazing blend of East meets West! Hong Kong martial arts action comes to the #MCU & CHANGES THE GAME!!! It’s emotional, beautiful & HILARIOUS! This isn’t like ANY MCU film to date. WOW! #Marvel #MCU @shangchi @MarvelStudios @SimuLiu @awkwafina pic.twitter.com/iEEJ0v1DXA

— POC Culture (@POC_Culture) August 17, 2021

#ShangChi is incredible. Like nothing we’ve seen in the mcu before, you are not prepared for it trust me. Also a darker film than I expected which is something new for marvel. Everyone is about to have a new favourite hero see this on the biggest screen you can! pic.twitter.com/byATkr0yja

— Prabh (@dipperdeep) August 17, 2021

#shangchi is the perfect balance of fun, heart and action! And when I say action, I mean jaw dropping action! @SimuLiu is the perfect addition to the #MCU! pic.twitter.com/D29Pll741Y

— The Illuminerdi (@The_Illuminerdi) August 17, 2021

I really dug #ShangChi! There is a lot not in the trailers (maybe avoid ads in the next couple of weeks I fear will show more?) and it has its own vibe and distinct elements that make it stand out and not feel like a standard origin story. And Simu Liu makes for an awesome hero.

— Eric Goldman (@TheEricGoldman) August 17, 2021

I had high hopes for #ShangChi — happy to report it was everything I wanted it to be and more! Charming, hilarious, great performances all around, cool AF action sequences, and strong character arcs. Also arguably Marvel’s best villain in years. pic.twitter.com/WFA9uXXa6X

— Caralynn Lippo (@caralynn_marie) August 18, 2021

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings earns the title of the best superhero film of 2021 so far. The action scenes are simply spectacular, especially the train & skyscraper scene. Best martial arts I’ve seen in a long time. Simu Liu & Awkwafina are terrific. #ShangChi pic.twitter.com/M0EEMJqKu3

— Scott Menzel (@ScottDMenzel) August 17, 2021

#shangchi is one of the best MCU films ever!!!! The filmmakers know how to capture the fight choreography with long takes and quick action. (No shaky cam!) The family story is touching. Tony Leung is perfect as "The Mandarin." Simu Liu and Awkwafina are a great duo on the screen. pic.twitter.com/UaxQqU6zlQ

— John Nguyen (@JohnSpartan300) August 17, 2021

Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will be released on September 3.

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