OK but whose idea was it to get Tom Hiddleston, a Classics graduate, to get into character as Loki and stand on a goat cart in Pompeii yelling to all the inhabitants about their impending doom in Latin, because honestly that seems like a kind of Christmas-and-birthday-combined level of treat for him.

This may be too early to call but...best MCU villain:

1) The complexity of this character. Never have I felt so conflicted over a villain since even though you know he’s a bad man, you just feel sorry for him. 

2) The movie did the “romance redeemed the villain” trope, but effectively. 

3) His fall from grace was well-done. You just feel he’s making the wrong choices, such as putting the ten rings back on again, breaking his promise to leave the warlord life. At the same time, you completely understand why he’s making these choices. 

4) Everything about this character was so human. Tony Leung really brought in a certain sadness with Wenwu, that you could feel his anguish and grief even as he commits acts of violence. Since Tony’s made a career out of playing complicated men dealing with loneliness, this comes as no surprise. 

5) The final showdown between Wenwu and Shang-Chi was enough to put this movie in my top 5. The way that Simu Liu and Tony Leung kept switching from rage to despair, from wanting to kill each other to hoping the other will stand down because there’s still love there...that’s what really made this movie work. They really nailed the dynamic of a father and son reluctantly battling each other, both wanting to win but not wanting to seriously hurt the other.

I’m sorry Killmonger...you’re still amazing, but I gotta give the Best MCU Villain crown to Wenwu/The Mandarin. 

I am so so so happy that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is getting so much positive reception. After I got home w my friends we couldn't do anything but talk about it and we sat in a bit of stunned silence for a bit because we realized that this is literally the first time that we've ever gotten such accurate representation. I got emotional three times throughout the film, not because of plot, but because of the little details that just connected with me so much as a Chinese diaspora kid.

That being said - if you're posting about it:

Please for the love of god stop calling Wenwu "the Mandarin." In the film he literally talks about how that name is an appropriation and literally makes fun of how america was scared of a moniker based on a goddamn citrus fruit. I know IMDb and the wikia list him a such, but quite frankly, it's wrong. Sorry not sorry. The name "Mandarin" is an appropriation so please call him by his actual name, 徐文武 (pronounced Xú Wénwǔ).

The appropriate pinyin spelling for Shang-Chi is Shangqi (officially his name is 徐尚氣, pronounced Xú Shàngqì). Shang-Chi is just the romanized version to make it easier for westerners to pronounce.

Do. Not. Call. Him. Shang. If you can say Mary Jane every time you talk about Spider-man's love interest you certainly can say Shangqi. Chi/qi isn't his middle name, it's literally part of his personal name. He very clearly did not give anyone permission to shorten his name to Shang. Refer to him by his proper name.

you know, I’m actually shocked that Marvel’s got the guts to take FATWS in this direction. to explore the ways in which the white Avengers have an easier time being accepted by society as heroes while Sam is left to struggle financially and emotionally, and how he’s even fucking encouraged as “doing the right thing” for giving up the shield as if he’s done the country a service by relieving them of having to look up to a black person as a leader and hero. it is sickeningly reflective of society now and fills me with a very real rage.

honey wake up new ship just dropped

STEPHEN’S OUT HERE LOOKING LIKE A WHOLE ASS DILF WITH THAT TOUCH OF GREY LOOK-

so, who broke the timeline?

May I ask where the hell was this offer when we needed it in Endgame?

Tom Hiddleston explains how Alligator Loki stole the spotlight on the set of Loki! 🐊

So in X-Men, Quicksilver is Peter Maximoff, not Pietro, because X-Men is not in the same universe as the Avengers.

In this Wandavision episode, we saw Peter Maximoff, not Pietro. It’s a different version, because Wanda couldn’t bring back Pietro like she did with Vision because Pietro’s body is long gone. Subconsciously, she made the next best thing.

Now, we know Wanda is going to be a major key in Dr. Strange: Multiverse of Madness

Wanda Maximoff just opened up the Multiverse, starting with the Multiverse version of her brother.

WANDA IS SO DAMN POWERFUL.

Okay, while I’m still mixed on the whole “Peggy was a better Captain America than Steve” trend that I was seeing from the previous episode, I’m fully convinced that T’Challa really would have made a better Star-Lord than Peter Quill.

Not only did he redeem Korath, but he got Thanos to change his ways just by talking to him. Plus, T’Challa seems to be a beloved folk hero among the people whereas Peter was just this dude who people didn’t mind having around.

EDIT: Oh, and he saved Drax’s family too? Damn, Yondu really kidnapped the wrong kid lol.

loki episode five spoiler:

"what was your nexus "i killed

event?" thor"

Holy shit. Just saw Shang-Chi and it is IT. Before getting into the Chinese cultural parts of it, I'd like to note that it had a solid plot and wonderfully developed characters. The worldbuilding and CGI and the relationship building was absolutely phenomenal and I was absolutely hooked. The fight choreography was THE best choreography I've ever seen in the entirety of the MCU and the cinematography is amazing.

Now, onto the Chinese cultural references.

My god. I've never felt so seen. As a Chinese woman living in a western diaspora I've genuinely never seen something that so genuinely felt right and that truly felt like it connected to me personally. There were so many little details that I could connect to that made me feel emotional because I've never had any media that connected to me this way. It was so well done and it was so obviously done by people who lived through it.

(minor) Spoilers ahead! Just small details about the Chinese Diaspora experience in the movie.

Some little details that stood out to me included:

The food! All the food shown on screen was Chinese food - be it homemade food or dim sum platters - and those were exactly the types of plates that I grew up eating.

When Shang-Chi took off his shoes to go into Katy's house and she was wearing slippers inside the house

When he was walking through the little Chinatown area and there were the fruit cardboard boxes outside the Chinese groceries and the white sketchy dim sum sign with English on top of the Chinese

Katy struggling with her Chinese as a diaspora kid because she's only a heritage speaker and her first language is english

When Katy was struggling to pronounce Shang-Chi's Chinese name asldhhdjskala I felt that

Katy sticking to her English name despite also having a Chinese name bc she's a diaspora kid and is used to using the English name

Every single one of the magical creatures inside Ta Lo were inspired by Chinese mythology.

THE DRAGON IS A PROPER CHINESE DRAGON

Katy's parents comparing her to others and asking her to "get a better job" with her H. B. from Berkeley (I felt that)

The whole thing about familial expectations and relationships in Chinese families?? Bro. I felt that. Holy shit.

So. Much. Mandarin. I can't explain how happy I am to hear that language. Many western movies have a tendency to mainly use English with an accent but this movie used a LOT of (accurate!) mando and it makes me so happy

The architecture?? The art?? Phenomenal. Amazing. So accurate.

The shrine to the mother and the other deceased looks EXACTLY like every single Chinese cemetery I've been to, down to the photos and the incense and the fruits and all the people paying tribute to it.

The martial arts?? Oh my god. So good. I recognize it. Having trained in it and having watched multiple family members practice varying Chinese martial arts over the years I can't express how fucking happy I was to see arts such as Tai Chi and Wing Chun and Wushu on screen. I could recognize it. The forms, the movements - I can't explain how, but it felt right. It felt familiar. It felt so wonderfully connected to me.

There's probably more but it's late at night so more to come later, maybe. I'm going to just bask in the fact that this was a fantastic movie for chinese representation and I felt so seen. I went to see it with several other Chinese friends and. We came away so happy. We felt seen. We felt heard. I can't express how much this meant to us.

Representation matters.

Natasha: I’m kind of crushing on someone, but I’m worried about telling you who it is, because you’re not going to like it

Yelena: Just rip the bandage off.

Natasha: It’s Y/N.

Yelena: Put the bandage back on.

Simu Liu is also a Mobius stan what an icon

"Daughter. Sister. Avenger." 😭

Confirmed bisexual Loki?!

Drunk, singing Loki?!?

Loki reminiscing about his Mama?!

Loki shattering a glass and shouting "Another!"?!

Sylvie?!

CONFIRMED BISEXUAL LOKI?!?!

dear diary ✍🏻✍🏻