Marvel Cinematic Universe thread v3 (no recent spoilers)

[ErHaO]

Really wanted to see Spidey, but unfortunately theaters are closed as of now, for at least a month... I was ready to pay the Disney+ premium thing, but unfortunately Spidey is not on that service (probably because Sony owns the rights).

I wasn't feeling phase 4 thus far, but this one will at the very least be nostalgia overload.

[lonestar]

I got a question for everyone, or maybe a discussion... Is it just me or is everyone more vested in Spidey than any other superhero? I think it's a given that he's an overwhelming favorite, and based on audience reactions last night and in previous films, he definitely ilicits a huge emotional response from people.

Do you all think it's because we relate to the awkward teen so much more than any other hero's story?

[The Letter M]

I got a question for everyone, or maybe a discussion... Is it just me or is everyone more vested in Spidey than any other superhero? I think it's a given that he's an overwhelming favorite, and based on audience reactions last night and in previous films, he definitely ilicits a huge emotional response from people.

Do you all think it's because we relate to the awkward teen so much more than any other hero's story?

Peter Parker was, is, and always will he very relatable to many demographics, and his lasting popularity is proof of that. He's had animated shows across nearly every decade over the last 50 years, TONS of merchandise, and is instantly recognizable. He is Marvel's most notable hero, which is why Sony hasn't given up on their rights to the characters under the Spider-Man umbrella. They know what they've got and since Tom's version has been so successful, I think they know to keep working with Marvel to produce cinema gold.

I'd say Spider-Man is up there with Superman and Batman in terms of hero popularity and recognition, which makes it all the funnier/weirder that Danny Elfman and Michael Giacchino will have scored films for both heroes as of next year (with The Batman coming in March). I actually made a chart that points out some fun connections between adaptations of Batman, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange:

Danny Elfman has score for all three heroes, as will Michael Giacchino; Sam Raimi has directed Spider-Man and Doctor Strange; Michael Keaton has been in both Batman and Spider-Man franchises, as has Tom Hardy (if you count Venom), and J.K. Simmons (if you count his turn as Commisioner Gordon in the DCEU).

-Marc.

[Zantera]

I can't speak for others but I grew up with Spider-Man and I was a subscriber of the comic books for maybe a decade, watched the animated show and played the video games. The movies came out at an important time and even though I'm 30 now, Spider-Man has just always stuck with me. I do think he's relatable because he faces a lot of every day issues many of us have - Spider-Man 2 (2004) being a great showcase of this how everything kinda piles on top of him but he keeps being a good inspirational figure and the 'with great power comes great responsibility' just resonates very well for me.

[Orbert]

I had a friend who collected Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Daredevil, so I was really familiar with those guys.  I guess that means I'm not sure how familiar or unfamiliar any of them are to the average person.  It always seemed like DC had the guys everyone knew - Superman and Batman - while Marvel had guys you may have heard of but that's about it.  Well, other than Spider-Man, but that was because they'd tried twice already to set up movie series with them.  When he wasn't around for a long time in the MCU, I thought it kinda made sense because he'd already been done twice, but then they managed to bring him in anyway, people weren't sick of the character, and they did the best version of him, too.

[The Letter M]

So the MCU has had an unprecedented year of releases, with 4 Films and 5 Disney+ tv projects, it's the most content they'll ever put out in a single calendar year. How would you all rank them, for those of you who have seen them all? Granted, Hawkeye still has one more episode, so feel free to come back and rank that after the finale airs on Wednesday. As for the films, I'd say:
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings
Eternals
Black Widow

And for the shows:
Loki
WandaVision
Hawkeye
What If?
The Falcon And The Winter Soldier

Looking ahead, the most recent film-release shuffle means that we're only getting three films next year as The Marvels got pushed back into 2023. We've got Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, Thor: Love And Thunder, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (which went from July 8th to November 11th, and given recent events, I'm glad they're getting an extra four months to work on the film). As far as Disney+ goes, we're getting four more series in Moon Knight, She-Hulk, Secret Invasion, and Ms. Marvel, as well as the I Am Groot mini-series, and the Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special.

So we're getting sequels in the theaters, and new characters on Disney+, which is a bit of the opposite of what we had this past year, with some new characters in the theaters (Yelena in BW, and all of Shang-Chi and Eternals), but on Disney+ we follow-up on existing film characters (Wanda, Sam and Bucky, all three of which were standing together at the end of Endgame at Tony's funeral, as well as Loki and Hawkeye).

-Marc.

[lonestar]

Combining both...

Spiderman
Wandavision (and this is very close second, I can't express how much this show impressed me)
Loki
Shang Chi
Hawkeye
Black Widow
Falcon and the Winter Soldier
What If?
Eternals

[cramx3]

My new coworker I'm training in Amsterdam is very upset.  He managed to get spiderman movie tickets and was going to go this week but the dutch went into full lockdown mode and now he can't go to the theater. 

My gf back home couldn't get any theater tickets she said, at least not in the near future and is worried she'll be spoiled now. 

I wonder if Disney will consider allowing this to be streamed sooner than later?  I don't personally care.  I am likely going to watch Shang Chi on my flight home, I started it on the way here but my sleeping pills took over.

[hefdaddy42]

I wonder if Disney will consider allowing this to be streamed sooner than later?

Disney doesn't get a vote on that.  It's a Sony film.

[lordxizor]

I wonder if Disney will consider allowing this to be streamed sooner than later?

Disney doesn't get a vote on that.  It's a Sony film.

It is still going on Disney+, if I recall correctly. It would be nice if Sony and Disney could work out a deal for it to go on D+ in countries where theaters are closed.

[hefdaddy42]

I wonder if Disney will consider allowing this to be streamed sooner than later?

Disney doesn't get a vote on that.  It's a Sony film.

It is still going on Disney+, if I recall correctly. It would be nice if Sony and Disney could work out a deal for it to go on D+ in countries where theaters are closed.

The Sony films will at some point be shared with Disney +, if memory serves, but I don't think that starts with this film.

I could be wrong.

[lordxizor]

I wonder if Disney will consider allowing this to be streamed sooner than later?

Disney doesn't get a vote on that.  It's a Sony film.

It is still going on Disney+, if I recall correctly. It would be nice if Sony and Disney could work out a deal for it to go on D+ in countries where theaters are closed.

The Sony films will at some point be shared with Disney +, if memory serves, but I don't think that starts with this film.

I could be wrong.

You're right. It doesn't start until films released in 2022 and they do go to Netflix for 18 months prior to coming to D+.

[bosk1]

Here's my ranking so far:

1.  Wandavision:  Incredibly creative AND emotional.  Loved pretty much everything about this show.
2.  Spiderman:  I hesitate to put it this high, because it is still too new for me to not fanboy out and overlook things that may bug me about it later.  But for now, it's definitely up here.
3.  Loki:  Better than I expected.  I really liked it and am excited about where this (and the Kang saga) is going to go in the future.
4.  Falcon and the Winter Soldier:  Really nice blend of standard superhero action and deep dive into character background and psychology.  Very well done overall.  It's a shame that some of the occasional clunkiness was just a result of Covid. 
5.  Shang Chi:  Really really good at times; flat at others.  But not a bad addition to the MCU
6.  Black Widow:  The movie we really didn't need, but I love how threads of it are being picked up in other Marvel properties. 
7.  What If?:  This is the point where I really stop caring about Marvel content.  Mildly amusing at times, but not much more than that.
8.  Eternals:  Utter trash.  I highly doubt I will ever watch again, unless necessary to be reminded of any threads that may become important later. 

Hawkeye will likely be somewhere in my top 4, but I am not going to rank it until seeing the final episode.

[lonestar]

Totally agree on Wandavision..it'd be a top MCU product overall for me, just genius.

Black Widow was worth it if it only gave us Yelena...I just love that character.

[The Letter M]

Totally agree on Wandavision..it'd be a top MCU product overall for me, just genius.

Black Widow was worth it if it only gave us Yelena...I just love that character.

Viewing BW as a vehicle to launch Yelena Belova into the MCU improves the film quite a bit for me.

I wonder if Disney will consider allowing this to be streamed sooner than later?

Disney doesn't get a vote on that.  It's a Sony film.

It is still going on Disney+, if I recall correctly. It would be nice if Sony and Disney could work out a deal for it to go on D+ in countries where theaters are closed.

The Sony films will at some point be shared with Disney +, if memory serves, but I don't think that starts with this film.

I could be wrong.

You're right. It doesn't start until films released in 2022 and they do go to Netflix for 18 months prior to coming to D+.

Yeah so it's really unsure when Disney+ may get No Way Home, but they should get Homecoming and Far From Home at some point fairly soon, along with the other Spider-Man films and putting them under the Marvel Legacy Films (like the old Fox Marvel films are).

-Marc.

[jingle.boy]

Multiverse of Madness Trailer (ie, Spider Man end credits scene)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt_UqUm38BI

[Lonk]

Multiverse of Madness Trailer (ie, Spider Man end credits scene)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt_UqUm38BI

"Things just got out of hand"  Really excited for this

[jingle.boy]

Looks like the Dr. Strange What If episode is gonna be essential watching for those that may have skipped it.

[bosk1]

If any "What If?" episode comes to be considered "essential watching" for anything in the real MCU, I think that should be considered the death knell for the MCU.

[jammindude]

I think “essential” might be a slight overstatement.

If there’s one thing the MCU has done extremely well, it’s comic book storytelling. The type of storytelling where something can exist within its own story and it “asterisks” A story line from a different comic so that the references there if you wish to get a deeper understanding of what’s going on. But in the story at hand, there’s a very brief and truncated exposition so that anyone who doesn’t go to the asterisk side issue isn’t lost.

With the exception of IW and EG (which truly are must see’s), the MCU has always done this pretty brilliantly. I believe that will continue.

[Lonk]

At this point, I would consider anything Marvel releases essential to the overall story.

[The Letter M]

So I noticed that, if you look closely at the mirror-dimension'd Marvel Studios logo in the trailer, it shows past versions of the MARVEL logo that have shown in front of Marvel movies, including ones that weren't part of the MCU, which *really* doesn't help the rumors that past non-MCU Marvel franchises might make some appearances in this film, including past versions of the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and who knows what else.

Can't wait for this one. Unless She-Hulk or Moon Knight drop sometime between now and May 6th, we're in for a 5.5 month MCU content drought until DSITMOM premieres.

-Marc.

[jingle.boy]

I saw a YT vlogger that showed some concept artwork of Strange being questioned by Prof X.

[cramx3]

I watched Shang Chi on my flight yesterday, one of the better Marvel movies IMO.  I couldn't stand the gf character though, but I think it's the actress, I found her annoying in Crazy Rich Asians too.

[The Letter M]

I watched Shang Chi on my flight yesterday, one of the better Marvel movies IMO.  I couldn't stand the gf character though, but I think it's the actress, I found her annoying in Crazy Rich Asians too.

You mean Katy, right? They're just friends, as Katy would tell you, but yeah, I could see how some might not like Awkwafina. I thought she was fun/funny in her role as Katy, though!

-Marc.

[jammindude]

Huh weird. I never saw the crazy rich Asian movie, but I adored her in the 2nd Jumanji film. Her pretending to be Danny DeVito was a scream.

[bosk1]

Hot take:  Other than Spider Man, the D+ MCU phase 4 shows are better than any of the MCU phase 4 films. 

My daughter wanted to watch Engame, so we're sitting here watching it.  And I'm just reminded of what a spectacular piece of work it is.  In fact, a lot of phase 3 was just incredible.  But for Infinity War and Endgame...anticipation was off the charts, the energy at the theaters was through the roof, and those two films absolutely lived up to all of that.  They were magic.  And that is never coming back.  At least, not at that level.  I know I've said this many, many times now, but kudos to Marvel studios for pulling off such an amazing run of films up to that point.  I don't think anything can ever live up to that, and I'm grateful for the stories we got. 

[lonestar]

Nothing hot about that take at all... The D+ shows have been good to outstanding, and I'd put Wandavision up against any of the MCU films from any phase.

[DoctorAction]

Yeah, I don't expect them to repeat that success.

But I do have the faith to wait and see what they do unfold over the next few years.

[The Letter M]

Yeah, I would agree that the five Disney+ shows have been, on the whole, better than Marvel Studios' theatrical output this year.

Granted, the pandemic had shuffled things around A LOT since we were supposed to get Black Widow and Eternals in 2020 (with Shang-Chi and Spider-Man still in 2021, and Doctor Strange ITMOM originally in May 2021, BEFORE Spider-Man), as well as WandaVision and TFATWS also in 2020, so 2021 ended up becoming VERY packed with MCU Content.

I think things will be far better this year as far as the films go, with three fairly anticipated sequels coming up, and several new shows (some featuring new characters) on Disney+. Hopefully things get settled with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, though, but I wouldn't be surprised if they swap it with another film, or just delay it. Apparently Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania is already in post-production, while BP2 and The Marvels are still filming (and are set to come out before Quantumania).

-Marc.

[HOF]

We just finished off Loki tonight. I think that might be the most interesting of the Disney+ series so far.

Did anyone else get Paula Abdul’s Straight Up Now Tell Me stuck in their head while watching the show?

[Adami]

Looks like we're getting a first Moon Knight trailer this monday.


This is one of my top characters from the comics, and I will be the first to admit that I am very nervous about it being on Disney as opposed to a Netflix series, given how god damn brutal the character is. I just hope they do him justice and don't make it really funny.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Looks like we're getting a first Moon Knight trailer this monday.


This is one of my top characters from the comics, and I will be the first to admit that I am very nervous about it being on Disney as opposed to a Netflix series, given how god damn brutal the character is. I just hope they do him justice and don't make it really funny.

Moon Knight is one of my favorites too, and while I do agree with you in general, I think if it was completely devoid of humor it would ultimately end up making it not fun to watch. Now I'm not saying make it a constant barrage of one-liners, but some humor (when used correctly) is always good, in my opinion.

[Adami]

Some? Definitely. But that’s why I said “really funny”.

[The Letter M]

Given the tone of the teaser we got last year of Moon Knight, along with that brief glimpse of him giving a beatdown on someone in a bathroom, I think we'll see something that is as dark and heavy as Disney+/Marvel will give us. If it's at least HALF as gritty as Daredevil, then I'll be happy. Either way, I think the strength of the show will be Oscar Isaac's acting.

-Marc.