Marvel's Movie/TV Universe v2 (SPOILERS)

[Accelerando]

Just came back from it too, and I actually think it's one of the best films of the MCU! And I agree with Adami, there are some of the Marvel flaws that I always complain about in it, but it's a film with thoughtful integrity and doesn't lose substance for cheap gags (*coughRAGNAROKcoughcough*).

This film does what I wished the Thor movies had done, and take the time to build their world to fully sell your audience. Wakanda is incredible, and I hope we get to revisit that place soon!

Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther left us wanting more after Civil War, and he doesn't disappoint. The other characters in the film are just fascinating. One of my favorite characters is Okoye played by Walking Dead's Danai Gurira. She is a strong and fierce warrior that commands the screen whenever she is present! Michael B Jordan's Killmonger is one of the best villains of this universe, and Andy Serkis's Klaw is just great. Lupita Nyong'o is becoming a Hollywood darling, and provides another solid performance.

The best superhero films are the ones that will leave you thinking afterwards. The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 2, and The Winter Solider all had deep messages that were woven in the film's DNA. Black Panther is as thoughtful as it comes, and it doesn't batter it over the head of the audiences.

Black Panther is a terrific super hero film that has both exciting and emotional moments that are thought provoking. Ryan Coogler is a talented young director that is on the rise.

Long live the King!!!

[Adami]

Looking back on all the characters (of substance), I think the only one I didn't like was the Get Out guy's. Not his acting, but the writing for him was incredibly weak.

Every other character was really great.

[Accelerando]

Same here. I think if they delved a little bit more for his hatred of Klaw, I think I could have bought his character. Unfortunately, it was glossed over.

I really liked the bond between T'Challa and Shuri. Felt like it came right from the pages of the comics.

If the MCU adds the Fantastic Four characters into their universe, I hope they use the Doomwar storyline. Shuri was such a badass in those issues!

[Adami]

Well not just his hatred for Klaue, but...


His entire motivation and character just seemed random. He went from T'Challah's best friend to completely supporting Killmonger and willing to lead Wakanda in into civil war because he randomly COMPLETELY agreed with everything Killmonger wanted to do? Meh.

[lonestar]

Loved it, I'd put it up in the upper, upper echelon of MCU movies. Definitely a different take, totally unexpected story direction, and it worked well.


Only one huge question I got (tiny font time kids)....  Where the fuck is the soul stone?

[Accelerando]

In the comics, Soul Stone was with Adam Warlock, who was teased at the end of Guardians of Galaxy, Vol 2. Im guessing he's popping up somewhere in Infinity War

[lonestar]

 

[Adami]

In the comics, Soul Stone was with Adam Warlock, who was teased at the end of Guardians of Galaxy, Vol 2. Im guessing he's popping up somewhere in Infinity War

Not according to James Gunn.

[jingle.boy]

In the comics, Soul Stone was with Adam Warlock, who was teased at the end of Guardians of Galaxy, Vol 2. Im guessing he's popping up somewhere in Infinity War

Not according to James Gunn.

And it once belonged to Adam Warlock, but in the Infinity Gauntlet storyline, Thanos took it from the In-Betweener. I'm sticking with my theory that the Soul Gem has to be related to the letter H, which still leaves Heimdall as my leading candidate.

[Zantera]

Black Panther was good - solid mid-tier Marvel movie providing fun popcorn entertainment for the moment but I think ultimately will be forgotten about in a year or two.

[jingle.boy]

I'm putting it Top 5 right now.  Nice bits of humour in there with Shuri, and this felt like a social hierarchy story with superhero elements.  jingle.son and I were talking on the way home from it that the best Marvel movies are NOT superhero movies first and foremost, but movies that happen to be about superheroes.

[lordxizor]

I enjoyed it as much as any of the better Marvel movies, but I'm not getting the hype that it's the best one yet. It pretty much followed the same formula the rest do.

[lonestar]

Bypassing the tiny font, but I'll give some spoiler space...














Saw an interesting theory about the soul stone. It might have been in Wakanda throughout the movie, in the cavern where the magic plants were. It would explain not only their power (beyond what vibranium gave them) but would also explain how the consumption gave the person the ability to communicate with the dead. Just throwing it out there...

[Adami]

I’m gonna say something controversial.


I don’t care where the soul stone is.


In fact the infinity stones are immensely unimportant to me in general.

[jammindude]

I’m gonna say something controversial.


I don’t care where the soul stone is.


In fact the infinity stones are immensely unimportant to me in general.

Ok now you're just doing it on purpose.... 

[jingle.boy]

I really don't want it to be on Earth... that would make 3/6 of the gems made their way to Earth all at the same time.  I'd rather it was somewhere else.

[lonestar]

*throws rocks at Adami*

[Adami]

It’s true. I honestly just don’t care.

[faizoff]

I'm not too wrapped in the stone lore as well. I'll watch them unfold as they come and wait and see what they do. Can't wait for Infinity War.

[erwinrafael]

I enjoyed it as much as any of the better Marvel movies, but I'm not getting the hype that it's the best one yet. It pretty much followed the same formula the rest do.

The distinctive things for me with this movie:

1) it involved a political theme and confronted it head on, making it central to the whole story.
2) the world building is exceptionally well done and you can see the research that went into it.
3) it has the most well-rounded ensemble so far, especially the antagonist whose motivations are more complex than the usual MCU antagonist.

The clincher for me is the closing scene. It's a powerful metanarrative, celebrating the wonder of a young black person finally seeing his black hero being his own kind of cool.

Many bring up Blade as the first black superhero who made it to the mainstream. That's true, but how much did Blade proudly and unabashedly celebrate Afro-American culture? Not so much. Black Panther, on the other hand, is a celebration, from the music, to the language, to the set design, the costumes, and the characterization.

I also had a good laugh with the "colonizer!" punchline. As somebody who lives in a country who os struggling through the postcolonial experience and is still coming to terms with the "legacy" of US colonization, that joke voiced out my sentiments.

[BlackInk]

Saw this on friday. Liked it, but didn't love it like some seem to. There are some better MCU movies, and some worse. I feel like this one sits comfortably somewhere in the middle.

Killmonger was good though. Very charismatic presence.

[jammindude]

It’s true. I honestly just don’t care.

It’s just kindof weird because, in effect, you are saying that you aren’t interested in “the universe”.   Yes, Marvel has created individual super hero movies.  But to many people (myself included) the most fascinating and unprecedented thing that they’ve done, is to create a 400+ hour intertwining storyline encapsulated in its own universe.  The stones are, and always have been, the central theme of that overarching storyline.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

The stones are things that are vaguely referenced in hints and post credits scenes, and I'm fairly sure only people who are really big into the comics care about them at all.

I don't speak for everyone, obviously, but my interest in the Marvel movies is mostly based on fun characters and good actors. The stones don't really matter to me at all, and I think that's probably the case for most people who watch the movies. I don't really consider the overarching plot (or even the non-overarching plots) to be one of Marvel's selling points.

edit: I'd also mention that if I hadn't read people discussing them on here, I'd have no clue what the hell an Infinity Stone is, and definitely wouldn't have picked up on them being a thing in the movies.

[Adami]

Not really.

I love the universe. The stones are just a giant overarching macguffun. They play their role, but it’s the characters, world building, personal journeys, relationships, etc that I love.

At no point in Black Panther was I like “yea, racism is bad I guess BUT WHERE DAT SOUL STONE?!?”

Maybe it’s cause I also read comics every day. So I’m already used to a giant shared universe that relies on story, themes, etc to connect it, with the infinity stones just occasionally playing a role.

[jammindude]

I’m a bit baffled, but to each their own.

I mean, at the very least, you can’t deny that EVERYTHING has been leading up to The Infinity War.   And Thanos getting the stones is going to be *the plot* of that movie. 

In fact, I’m almost nervous about Infinity War at this point.  Everything is riding on this film.   With the exception of The Force Awakens, it may be the single most hyped film in cinematic history.  But there is **SO MUCH** going on that I don’t see how they pull it off without things getting too muddled.  My wife and I counted somewhere in the realm of 12 major superhero characters?   And that’s not even including GotG!!   And then on top of that...how many side players that aren’t necessarily heroes like Loki and Nebula?  They are literally throwing everything but the kitchen sink at this movie and I’m almost worried that they’ve bitten off more than they can chew.   It’s either going to be amazing, or the iceburg that rips the side of the ship open. 

[jammindude]

Holy crap!!!! I’m just getting to the “mirror Universe” shows involving the Framework!! Mind....blown!!!

[soupytwist]

Saw this on friday. Liked it, but didn't love it like some seem to. There are some better MCU movies, and some worse. I feel like this one sits comfortably somewhere in the middle.

Killmonger was good though. Very charismatic presence.

This would sum up my opinion too.  Middle to Upper Middle range.....Thought the first half was amazing, but everything after the waterfall scene felt rather predictable.  Killmonger who had been a great feel into a rather typical villain once he became king - and the final battle felt a little flat too.

[jingle.boy]

The final battle was somewhat short, but served it's purpose.  The only thing I didn't like (which has been mentioned), was W'Kabi's willingness to turn his back on the T'Challa just because Killmonger brought Klaue's body.  Then he's willing to go along with the plan to create this global uprising, go to civil war, and then suddenly realize it was a dumbass move.  That felt a little too contrived.

At no point in Black Panther was I like “yea, racism is bad I guess BUT WHERE DAT SOUL STONE?!?”

Me either, which is why I'm glad it wasn't part of the Black Panther story.

Holy crap!!!! I’m just getting to the “mirror Universe” shows involving the Framework!! Mind....blown!!!

Enjoy my man.  Those were some of the most gripping episodes.

[Podaar]

Saw it this weekend. It was good but I'm unsure of what the hype of "greatest Marvel ever" is all about and I actually felt let down by some aspects of it.

Letitia Wright as Shuri was the stand out performance for me, closely follows by Danai Gurira and Chadwick Boseman who were all great.

As others have said I thought the world building was top notch and visually stunning. The motivations for some characters felt a bit thin. The truly "wow" action moments had all been spoiled by the trailers so I was a bit disappointed there.

[Adami]

It's definitely not one of the greatest Marvel films. Though I'd still put it in my top 6 or so.


The reason it's so important is because of how it's handling other cultures, social commentary, characterizations, etc. It's doing things other comic book movies have never done before. So it's important.

It's also really good. It's being WAY overblown and people are wrongly equating important/new/good with best ever.

People did the same thing with Wonder Woman. It was important and new, and therefore people just assumed it was the greatest one ever. It happens. It'll pass.

[King Postwhore]

I absolutely loved it.  Great emotion from T'Challa showing strength and compassion, love and hate.  I felt the same with Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.

[BlackInk]

I actually thought it was a bit disappointing that Wakanda was so super technologically advanced. I would’ve liked it more if it was a bit more grounded. It was a bit too sci-fi for me.

[bosk1]

Cool MCU timeline:  https://collider.com/mcu-timeline-explained/#phase-one-avengers

I've seen several of these pop up throughout the years, but this one seems to strike a very good balance between detail and simplicity.

[Adami]

Cool MCU timeline:  https://collider.com/mcu-timeline-explained/#phase-one-avengers

I've seen several of these pop up throughout the years, but this one seems to strike a very good balance between detail and simplicity.

Cool!

I've decided that before Avengers 4, I'm gonna do a massive rewatch in chronological order.

So starting with Cap 1, then go see Cap Marvel in theaters, then move on from there. Which would obviously include the Guardians in movies back to back.

[jingle.boy]

Jingle kids and I are doing that now. We're up to GOTG, and going to watch both of them back-to-back for continuity. I have to figure out where to move Dr Strange - before Civile War, or after Spidey.