#I understand why an American writing team could easily make him very hate-worthy

[modmad]

I feel like you're the only person I actually trust with characters these days- so how do you think the new DuckTales show should handle Gladstone?

Woah that’s a big compliment, also a big question! I’m sure I’ll be happy with what happens (I mean shucks I’m just glad it is happening), and besides I am just me I’m no writing expert. Having said that there are some hit/miss things I feel could easily happen with Gladstone, so I guess here’s my perspective;

Best case scenario: Accepting and embracing Gladstone as morally grey and using the benefits of a ‘wild card’ character. Now, it’s to be noted that I’m not expecting any character development or exploration for him, at least not in the first season. This show is probably going to be introducing him as a brand new character, as a lot of people (in the USA at least) have never heard of him, so most likely he’ll be introduced and set up simply as a rival to Donald. So far so good and fair enough, but what I’d love to see is the show taking advantage of this rare gift of an unusual character who is a power of self-interest. Gladstone can swing to either side of the good/bad spectrum depending on circumstances, but ultimately wouldn’t do anything to seriously jeopardise his family, or anyone else for that matter. There’s also the joy that ‘fairness’ plays into what happens to him and Donald; when Donald cheats, Gladstone wins outright. When Donald is honest and works hard, even if Gladstone wins the race or wins the prize, there is something that happens to makes it clear Donald actually came out a lot better than Gladstone did. Ideally, for me, the show would gradually lead to indications that Gladstone is a deeply isolated character; not simply because it makes sense psychologically, but because narratively it’s a very compelling source of story material, and gives his personality a great deal of intrigue. Whether they play it that Gladstone is aware of this loneliness or not doesn’t matter, but removing that aspect of melancholy from him reduces him to a very two-dimensional character, and not in the cartoon sense.

Worst case scenario: Pushing Gladstone into the vapid, annoying, just-plain-unlikeable antagonist corner. Similarly, making him too much like Glomgold- Glomgold fits well into the ‘evil twin’ stereotype and doesn’t much care if Scrooge and his nephews suffer (or even die, in some stories). Glomgold will do anything to win, whereas Gladstone certainly likes to win, but wouldn’t go out of his way to hurt Donald to do so (he’s too lazy, for one). They are opposites; Donald is unlucky, wildly passionate, and will work very hard if he has to, whereas Gladstone is lucky, aloof, and avoids work where-ever possible. He’s not a bad guy, he’s simply not a particularly good guy either; the ultimate chaotic neutral. My fear is that this subtlety could be run over in favour of just making him into an evil ‘anti-Donald’, which would feel lazy and destroy his appeal even as an antagonist. All the ‘bad guys’ in the Duckverse have some redeeming quality, some extra angle that makes you love them- you kind of want the Beagle Boys to get into the Money Bin, because they try so hard, and they’re adorable! You want to see Magica De Spell get hold of that dime, because she’s exciting, outrageous, and the stakes are so high! All I wish for is that Gladstone not simply be ‘the person that you hate because he’s an ass’- because then people won’t even love to hate him, it’ll just be a knee-jerk reaction of ‘oh god not this guy again’ whenever he shows up, which isn’t enjoyable on any level. We need to want to see Gladstone’s hilariously absurd luck- we need to want to see him fail because he hasn’t earned the right to win- and most of all we need to want to see him do the right thing, because as unusual as it is we know it’s possible- and that makes it infinitely rewarding when it happens.

(Tiny personal fear which is petty as hell: An annoying voice. Please, god, he’s supposed to be attractive and is canonically good at singing don’t give him an annoying voice. Make him brassy and brash sure but please...)

#TL:DR #Gladstone Gander #could go either way but I really hope they go for gold #Ducktales #I understand why an American writing team could easily make him very hate-worthy #but I really do hope they bring out the best version of that #Anonymous

[briangroth27]

Avengers Endgame Review

I absolutely loved Avengers Endgame! I was a little skeptical at first—there are still solo stories I want to see with some of the characters we're saying goodbye too and I'd prefer those to Avengers movies, honestly—but everyone behind this film really pulled it off. The pre-release hype did get to me eventually though and by the time the movie opened, I was absolutely pumped. I left the theater nearly completely satisfied and I definitely felt the weight of a decade of stories coming to an end with this film. Had this been the end of the MCU, it would’ve been a great one.

Full Spoilers...

I thought they did an excellent job of wrapping up the cliffhangers left by Infinity War as well as providing closure and a worthy conclusion to this era of the MCU. Trading the bombastic fights of Infinity War for really solid character work and interactions here (and swapping focus on Thanos (Josh Brolin) out for focus on the heroes themselves) was perfect. Done the other way around, I feel like this would've been exhausting. Instead, while it did feel full, it was always engaging and entertaining and didn’t feel like it was three hours long. The pacing worked really well to keep things moving briskly even with an insane amount of characters to service. The direction and action were solid, and the writing felt totally in-character for an enormous cast, which was a feat unto itself.

My favorite Avenger is Captain America (Chris Evans) and I was extremely satisfied with how his story ended. I do wish we’d gotten a Captain America 4 where Steve faces the rising Nazism among everyday American citizens we’re seeing in the real world: the last test for his resolve would be to see whether he still wanted to represent ideals that the American people now only use as excuses for their hate. Can he carry on if he’s seemingly the only one who believes we can be better? I feel like that could be Chris Evans’ Logan. However, I was surprisingly content with this end to his story, especially once I realized he’d get to end up with Peggy (Hayley Atwell) after all (though I thought he was going to drop into the 70s instead of his original time). In hindsight I wish they hadn’t had Steve and Sharon Carter kiss, but I’m more than willing to deal with that awkwardness and sacrifice that bit of comics canon for Steve getting a happy ending with his best gal. I’m satisfied with either interpretation of Cap’s story: knowing that things have to turn out a certain way, I can see him not saying anything about the future and always having been Peggy’s cryptic, never-named husband (his comment to Nat (Scarlett Johansson) at the beginning of the movie also signals that he’s ready to stop fighting), or, that he immediately decided to shape a better century by saving Bucky early and then proceeded to kick Hydra out of SHIELD & continue saving the world alongside Peggy and Bucky. I can buy either resolution to his character arc and I really liked that they didn’t kill him in the end. If they want to use him more, they can, but if this is the end for Evans then he got a happy one and that’s perfect. I’m hoping he’ll show up as a mentor to Sam (Anthony Mackie), now that he’s the new Captain America (also the result I was hoping for: the mantle of Cap as Steve wore it is about fighting for more than making up for your past mistakes. Sam embodies that much better than Bucky (Sebastian Stan) would (and his fight scenes will be a whole lot more unique given he can fly)). Steve standing up against Thanos’ entire army by himself was perfect, finally getting to say “Avengers Assemble!” was great, and getting to wield Mjolnir was an outrageously fun sequence! I can see both sides of the “Cap was/wasn’t truly worthy in Ultron” argument, but again, I’m cool with either explanation: either Steve was on the cusp of worthiness but hiding Bucky’s complicity in the murder of Tony’s (Robert Downey Jr.) parents held him back, or he realized he could always lift it and is such a decent guy that he didn’t want to upstage Thor (Chris Hemsworth). I also liked the quieter moments with Steve, like finally patching things up with Tony, trying to get Natasha back into the world (just like she had done for him back in Winter Soldier)—I’ve always loved their friendship—and running a support group for everyday citizens in the wake of the Snap to help them move forward, even if he couldn’t (that was also a nice way for him to pick up what Sam was doing for veterans). It was fun to let Steve have moments of levity about himself too, like the “America’s ass” joke and his reaction to hearing “I can do this all day.”

There's only one major plot point I was disappointed in: Black Widow's death to get the Soul Stone. I'm glad that they had her fight for it (clarifying that it was her choice, given the circumstances, rather than a fridging) and going out to save the universe does put a significant cap on her (so far underwritten) quest to clear her Red Ledger. However, I've always felt there was more story to cover with her (the details of that Ledger for one thing, as well as her attempts to overcome her past crimes and her mental conditioning) and she's my second-favorite of the original six Avengers, so it hurt a lot to lose her. I was sitting there thinking “now we’ve had to lose both Nat and Gamora (Zoe Saldana) to this dumb Stone?” That was a less-than-great look. It was also a bummer to have a cool moment where all the female heroes protected Spidey (Tom Holland)...except Natasha. At least her death wasn’t used to give the guys license to get violent. I liked that they gave the Avengers’ reaction to her death significant time to breathe, even if she didn’t get the grand funeral Tony did. She might be the one who was closest to all of them (except Thor) and she deserved that moment of silence from her friends (Banner’s distraught “I tried to bring her back” to Steve was another great beat). I’m very excited for Widow’s (finally!) upcoming solo film, and I wonder if it will focus on the Natasha from the alternate universe Steve created (if that is what he did), rather than the one who just died. The MCU doesn’t tend to do prequels unless they’re introducing new characters, so a random Black Widow film, while welcome, seems like an odd choice if it’s an origin story like the rumors say. Maybe it’s the origin of that timeline’s Natasha, who can continue on in new adventures should Johansson want to (and why wouldn’t the MCU, given she’s the only actor of the original six who can successfully open a non-Avengers movie)? Maybe Steve and Peggy (given Peggy’s dealings with the Black Widow program on her own show) rescued their timeline’s Romanoff from the KGB before her Red Ledger started filling up. If we could see Nat struggling between her programming and the better life Steve and Peggy could show her before she’s done the horrible things she’s hinted at, that could be a very cool arc. Regardless, Steve’s the one I thought I would leave this movie wanting more from the most, but it was Natasha that I feel like the filmmakers left a lot of cards off the table for.

I loved Tony’s moments with Nebula (Karen Gillan) at the start of the film and hated that he still blamed Steve for not letting him build his “suit of armor” around the planet. His Five Years Later family (Gwyneth Paltrow, Alexandra Rabe) was really sweet and I really enjoyed his interactions with and protectiveness of them, bringing me back around on liking his character to an extent I haven’t felt since the first Avengers movie. I totally understood why he wouldn’t want to change the past and erase all of that (and I was very relieved to hear that, as I didn’t want the Snap undone). Moments like meeting his father (John Slattery) just before his younger self was born were more great character bits, especially after the tumultuous relationship the two of them had. I would’ve liked a little more balance between the Pym science, Banner’s intelligence, and Stark’s input rather than Stark essentially inventing the working time machine on his own, but oh well. While I didn’t want to see Tony Stark Saves the Universe, this win over Thanos felt like enough of a team effort that it didn’t bother me, and his last line to Thanos—“I am Iron Man”—was perfect. I could easily see him coming back in future films as an AI, but I’d rather not. I feel like they’ve explored everything there is to with his character (though admittedly I’m not well-versed in Iron Man lore) and it feels like the MCU has moved on from him; even moved beyond his level of technology. It felt right that this era of the MCU would bookend Stark’s life as well, and the writers and directors made me feel for him and feel his loss, which is impressive given I haven’t liked him in the vast majority of his appearances.

Thor's depression worked really well for me and while I didn’t recognize it when I saw the film, after hearing the complaints about fat-shaming from the other characters I understand the offense some viewers felt. It wasn’t the fact that he got fat that was the problem, it was the other characters mocking him for it, and I wish more consideration had been given to that situation rather than going for easy jokes. Otherwise, Thor dealing with the guilt of not killing Thanos—leading to the death of half the universe—was really well done. The fact that he couldn’t change anything even when the team tracked down Thanos, only to realize that the Snap couldn’t be undone, was a huge moment for him and Hemsworth played his depression and resulting sedentary lifestyle very well. I loved most of his conversation with Frigga (Rene Russo) (minus the “eat better” jokes) and the tearful moment where he realized he was still worthy of Mjolnir was perfect. I also appreciated that (as others have pointed out) he didn't magically get his fit body back when he reclaimed all his power and status (according to Wikipedia, this was Hemsworth’s idea and it’s a brilliant one). I feel like that would’ve been another insulting development (an “only attractive people can be useful heroes” sensibility) that they thankfully avoided. Sending him off with the (As)Guardians of the Galaxy is a brilliant move (particularly given the turn in his solo franchise to a Guardians aesthetic) and I loved the argument between him and Quill about who would be leader. I really hope he’s in Guardians 3!

Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk finally embracing Banner’s intelligence (and Bruce embracing the Hulk in return) was a great move and I’m so glad they finally found somewhere new to take his character, rather than the constant push and pull of Hulk and Banner hating each other. I would’ve preferred Banner accepting that the Hulk was part of his psyche and he has serious anger issues rather than him being some separate “other guy,” but this works too. It was a nice of pace to see people excited to meet Hulk, rather than everyone being afraid of him. I also liked Bruce and Tony reuniting as Science Bros to figure out how to use the Pym Particles to create a time travel heist. Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) is my least-favorite of the six original Avengers, and this didn’t do much to change my opinion. The Avengers have never been shy about killing their enemies, so Hawkeye going Ronin to kill criminals didn’t feel like such a huge a fall (though it is a troubling example of man-pain in the wake of the deaths of his wife (Linda Cardellini) and kids (Ava Russo, Cade Woodward, Ben Sakamoto), whose losses do feel like fridging. However, I do like the parallel of Nat going to retrieve him from his vendetta, just like he made the call not to kill her when they first met and she was the violent criminal. His moment with Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) at the end was also a nice addition to their friendship.

Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang made for an excellent addition to the Avengers (and a great way to introduce the time travel capability), bringing levity to the proceedings with his off-kilter and genuinely sweet personality. Pushing time through him was a great sequence and I will always be happy for as much of this Ant-Man as we can get; these movies have made him a favorite of mine! I liked that they also let him get some drama out of the reunion with his now-five-years-older-daughter Cassie (Emma Fuhrmann) and I can’t wait to see more of how that relationship develops in the next Ant-Man and the Wasp film. I would have liked for Rocket (Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn) and Rhodey (Don Cheadle) to get meatier roles here, but I understand that there’s only so much screentime.

Nebula’s development into an Avenger was a great arc, especially as things got complicated with her past self, and I think she’s my favorite Guardian after this. After all the torment and literal torture Thanos has put her through, it was awesome to see her stand up to her past self and help defeat him. I do think she totally knew what she was doing by sending Natasha and Clint to Vormir, and that’s a character moment I wish they had let play out onscreen. I’m glad that it was past-Nebula who played the role of villain here, rather than Nebula getting the gauntlet from her father and becoming the story’s real villain, like what happened in The Infinity Gauntlet. I’m excited to see her search for Gamora and help continue turning her life around in the next Guardians!

I wish they had explained what was going on with Thanos “in” the Soul Stone at the end of Infinity War (I was really hoping it was punishment for not making a real trade of love to get the Stone, since what he felt for Gamora was not love and should not have been cosmically confirmed as such), but ultimately I didn’t need any more of him than we got here. It was cool that his younger self knew he would die to see his quest for the Stones fulfilled, and so was set in his determination to meet that destiny because it also meant he’d win. Thanos brought a very impressive battle and unforgettable scale to our heroes’ lives, but ultimately I feel like he could’ve been entirely dealt with in just this and Infinity War. Outside of the familial ties introduced in the Guardians movies, there was nothing relevant about Thanos that we couldn’t have learned from just these two Avengers films if he’d shown up for the first time at the beginning of Infinity War (his being behind the attack on New York could’ve been a reveal to all of us, not just Tony and Bruce). The Stones arc went on too long and Thanos never felt really menacing until these last two appearances, making me bored with the whole plot at least halfway through if not sooner (Guardians itself calls the Stones meaningless MacGuffins). I hope the MCU doesn’t try to build decade-long (or even 5-year) stories out of its other villains to try and match this, because they don’t need to. Galactus, for example, doesn’t need build-up; just let him appear in all of his planet-eating glory as a new problem for the Avengers to team up and stop.

I really liked the movie’s fresh take on time travel: you can go back and change the past, but not in your own timeline (since the future you came from is now your past), and any changes you do make will result in a new timeline. That’s a cool way to preserve the events of the MCU while letting them go back and muck around with their history at the same time. I left the theater thinking that it’s possible to play this all as one timeline that didn’t branch at all if Kevin Feige and the rest of the MCU’s architects decide to. As I said, I can see Steve finally retiring to have a life of his own, saying nothing and knowing that things will turn out OK (though I really want to see him meet Red Skull (Ross Marquand) when he returned the Soul Stone!). The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) could have helped him restore the Tesseract and Aether to their former states using the Time Stone (as someone else pointed out online). Loki’s (Tom Hiddleston) escape from Avengers Tower with the Tesseract and eventual recapture could be the entire basis of his upcoming Disney+ series, given we never knew SHIELD was even involved with his arrest at the end of the first Avengers. His brief escape could’ve always happened. Present-Nebula might not have killed Past-Nebula at all, given she’s an alien cyborg and her internal organs might work or even just be arranged differently than we’d expect. My initial read of the end of the battle was that Tony had sent Thanos’ army back in time and erased their memories via his Snap (since he didn’t want to change history), not that he killed them. I suppose Past-Gamora’s existence in the present after the battle is the only loose end that can’t be taken both ways. If they do want to create a whole lot of alternate timelines, that works too…especially since I feel like the next big event is going to be Secret Wars (the more recent one, not the original).

Regardless of the potential new Marvel Cinematic Multiverse, I hope they use the Snap to its fullest potential going forward. Not only would it be a global disaster to lose half the population, but bringing them all back would throw things into disarray all over again. Nations would have fallen, new regimes emerged (Latveria, anyone?), superheroes going to extremes to keep the peace, and super-villains turning over new leaves when they realized how petty their crimes were. The possibilities for interesting stories are endless! It should affect everything going forward, from Far From Home to the remaining TV shows and beyond. They’ve created a world where the events of the films can have a huge, undeniable impact on everything else, and they should honor that shared universe. The only thing the Snap shouldn’t result in is the creation of mutants, because that would remove their “we’re supposed to be here” argument and the connection to the real-world people they’re supposed to represent along with it.

There are too many awesome moments and character beats to list here, so here are a few off the top of my head that I loved. Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) getting to be the queen of New Asgard.  Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) finally getting to team up with the Avengers. Wanda and Carol (Brie Larson) completely destroying Thanos at just about every turn. A much better use of Captain America saying “Hail Hydra” than in the comics. Time travel allowing them to not only revisit some of their greatest hits, but to bring back many of the actors who appeared later, forming a more tightly-knit world. Tony and Peter’s farewell. Black Widow becoming the leader of the Avengers. Hulk holding up the Avengers facility like the mountain in the original Secret Wars. James D’Arcy as Jarvis, finally getting to break the TV/movie barrier as the first TV-original MCU character to appear in the movies (go watch Agent Carter; it’s fantastic!).  Stan Lee’s last cameo happening in this film, which just feels right. Cap/Iron Man/Thor vs. Thanos. Everyone vs. Thanos. 

This was definitely a worthy conclusion to this era of the MCU. I’m really glad that they resisted the urge to tease what’s next by omitting any post-credit scenes or tags on the end of the film. The only thing at the end of the credits—the sound of Tony making the Iron Man suit from his first film—was the perfect touch. Let things rest for now. The massive credit sequence with all of the stars getting their own card was great, and I liked the page they took out of Star Trek VI's book (having the original six Avengers sign their names onscreen) too. That was classy. 

There are a few lingering questions about just what timelines might have been created (or not), but nothing that hurt the experience of the movie for me. There are more stories I wish we could be seeing with Cap and Widow, but that would likely always be the case no matter when they retired. Regardless, the filmmakers had a lot to wrap up and to do so to the extent that they did is truly impressive. The actors were all at the top of their game with a lot of really good material to work with, making this an excellent and supremely emotionally satisfying movie! I can’t wait to watch it again when I get it on home video!

I'd give it an A(vengers)!

#avengers #endgame #avengers endgame #mcu