Marvel Cinematic Universe
 

It's kind of hard to imagine that what started only 7 years ago has transformed into such a monumental juggernaut of a franchise. I figured with Avengers: Age of Ultron on the horizon and the Netflix experiment with Daredevil less than a month away it would be fun to start a dedicated thread to the idea. So, for fans of the Marvel movies/ TV shows/ comics, what do you like the most, what are your hopes or theories for the universe?

I'm stoked for Daredevil. I just happened to have read a few old DD comics from the late 80s and they made me like the character a lot more. I don't know what role all these Netflix series are going to have on the MCU as a whole though, since a Netflix show about a character very few non-nerds care about it going to have a limited audience, but the fact that it's being helmed by Whedon-associated people at least gives me hope that some of the magic will rub off.

I can see the Netflix stuff having some crossover with Agents of SHIELD, at least character wise, but I doubt we'll be seeing them show up in any movies. Maybe Luke Cage because he does become a Secret Avenger and staunch ally to Captain America during the Civil War, but it's really hard to say.

I'm kind of okay with that too, because one of the biggest questions I've always had relating to this experiment is are they big enough to go small? It's evident they've been wondering that too with the Netflix series' and I think the partnership is a great fit, as it gives some characters that don't fit into the more family oriented mold of the big movies, time out in the spotlight, even if it's just on the television screen.

Hell ya, perfect casting. Anything with this guy is great.

http://www.followingthenerd.com/site...il-kingpin.jpg

I'm mostly happy with the casting choices for Daredevil although I was holding out hope that Rosario Dawson would be playing Misty Knight. I am still hoping the character shows up because she's one of the coolest Marvel characters, but I suppose it would make more sense for her to show up in Iron Fists' Netflix show.

You know I've only ever seen Misty Knight in a couple of issues of Uncanny X-Men from back in the seventies, when her entire roll and explanation was being Jean Grey's roommate while she was living away from the X Mansion. I didn't even know she was a thing back then, so it's always amused me to hear people talking about Jean Grey's roommate.

I heard they were Making Dr strange with Keanu i think, im looking forward to that one..

I seem to remember hearing that too. I don't know what to think about that. If it were ten years ago I'm sure we would all be rolling our eyes at another movie studio making a comic book/video game/nerd book adaptation, and not even making an attempt at "getting it". But in this day and age we're used to Hollywood at least trying to get comic book movies right, so I now have an opposite knee-jerk reaction telling me that them casting Keanu must be some kind of mad genius I have yet to consider.

Of course, in the end this is probably just going to be an unintentionally hilarious cluster****.

Huh, I always thought it was her friend Colleen Wing who was Jean Grey's roommate.

You should check out the 3rd volume of Heroes for Hire for some fun Misty action. There's some hilariously awful malegaze pandering, with one particularly egregious cover, but there's also some great panels showing just how much ass she kicks.

They are but it's with Benedict Cumberbatch.

Nope, it was Misty Knight. I seem to remember her first appearance in the series being during the first Pheonix Saga, where her, Jean, Professor X, and Jean's parents are all having coffee in their apartment just before Firelord busts through a wall.

Oh thank god!

lol why against Keanu?

Im gonna be honest, my comic book on marvel and dc is very limited so idk alot about Dr strange's origin but i do know he's a magic based hero and to me would be refreshing setting for another Marvel movie cause most Marvel movies seem to be focusing only on super abilities not magic per se.

Lack of acting range? He's pretty one note. It's a great note though as proven in John Wick.

Arrogance isn't one of Keanu's defining traits, but it certainly is for Benedict Cumberbatch.

So? he didn't have alot of range in the matrix and those films were very successful and he played a good Constantine for DC so i think he would've done a decent job in Dr strange.

... You've never read Hellblazer before have you?

no.

So for the people following Agents of SHIELD there's a subplot going on with two characters, and here's my theory for what it's all about.

I stopped watching after a few episodes. I've heard that it's gotten a lot better, so I'll probably wait till the season finale and just watch both seasons at once.

Yeah, the first half of season 1 was pretty hard to get through. I think it was hard because expectations were so high and the show really failed to live up to them both due to the growing pains of the first season, but also because they had to just kill time till Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

I suspect season 2 will be up on Netflix come August or September.

I just love that last scene with Thomas the Tank Engine. It's pretty easy to tell that a lot of Edgar Wright's influence is still in this film, and while it's a shame that he is gone from the project, I think it will still be a good film.

Big fan of Corey Stolls from House of Cards. Paul Rudd will need to win me over as an action super hero. He's been so typecast these past few years as a kinda goof ball.

Edgar Wright had envisioned this movie as more of a goofball comedy-heist with action moments so I think the casting works. From what I've heard the split came because his idea was far more removed from the MCU than the producers wanted it to be, and considering the split happened just before the movie went into production I doubt there was much time to completely change what was originally intended. I think Paul Rudd will be more like an Indiana Jones, getting by largely on dumb luck augmented by skill.

It's a shame Edgar wright left the proyect but im on board with Paul Rudd. If the film indeed was intended as a goofball comedy action flick he's a good choice that trailer however had no indication its gonna be that type of film.

The effects look a little silly so i hope the film is equally as silly or else it's just gonna be another average super hero film.

I always figured an Ant-Man movie was proof that Marvel was scraping the bottom of the barrel for superheroes, but it never occurred to me the possibility of unique, sci-fi awesomeness. Officially stoked. Now I'm curious whether, considering that she's been so associated with the Avengers for so long rather than the X-Men, whether Scarlet Witch may or may not be completely off the table. Marvel and Sony seem to be on speaking terms, so who says Marvel and Fox can't kiss and make up a little bit by the time a third Avengers movie comes around?

And I'm up to episode 11 of Daredevil. Amazing. Doesn't have the same scope as Arrow, but I don't have to make allowances for CW'ness, and it only took half a season for the "Crazy ****-O-Meter" to reach season finale proportions. Haven't even finished it and I'm already praying to Thor for a season 2.

Scarlet Witch and Quiksilver are in the next Avengers movie. They're in the trailers man!

I'm not much of a trailers kinda guy.

Understandable. Marvel's trailers are usually pretty poor anyway.

Despite living in one.

Hey, my dad may be white trash, but I'm pure recycling, baby.

I doubt FOX is going to give up their rights to the X-Men anytime soon, but I wouldn't be surprised if they quietly sell the rights for the Fantastic Four back by the end of the year.

I think what really sets Daredevil apart is the fight choreography. It really reminds me of Jackie Chan movies where he spends most of the movie getting his ass kicked and just scraping by. While there are only a few scenes in particular where Daredevil is truly up against a formidable foe, I do like how even when he fights the henchmen, they still stand a chance and land a few blows. Even when they go down they're not in that unconscious and therefore completely removed as a threat way. And then there's this scene from Episode 2 which reminds me so much of the hallway fight scene from Oldboy.

Yeah that scene was so great. I love how the fight would be almost over for about five seconds, with Daredevil looking like he was about to collapse, then one of the henchmen would stumble over and Daredevil would have to find a fourth or fifth wind. The camera work was great too. It was so slow and steady, especially when it settled on that long shot down the hallway, that it really made the fight feel exhausting to watch... in a good way.



I'm already trying to figure out what they're gonna do with season 2. Adapt Reborn Again? The whole Electra story arc?

You're more up on Marvel continuity than I, so I really don't know.

Does he hit people without making contact? Half of those punches didn't even look like they hit the people he was fighting. That was AWFUL.

Looked a lot better on my large screen TV last night. Very convincing. There's a ton of punches where it's hard to believe he's not making contact!

So, when the police fished you out of that dumpster your mother chucked you in, did they drop you on your head?

Bad choreography is bad.. what can I say? I liked the Ant Man trailer.

Well I just finished it last night so here are some of my parting thoughts, both spoiler-free and spoilers.

It starts out great, with a lot of energy, but I do think it fumbles a little bit towards the next. Not enough to keep me from losing interest or forgetting details, but I had wished the show maintained its momentum. The only thing I think the show did completely wrong was give any reason or motivation as to why Vanessa was so quick to want to be with Fisk. She seemed like a pretty reasonable person and there was never any hints that she wanted him for his money, or secretly coveted the power he could provide, or was secretly a sociopath, or was even naive enough to believe that Fisk really wanted to make Hell's Kitchen a better place. They went out on a date, she was perturbed by the Russians entrance and the swift ending of the date, had to mull it over and decided that it was worth being with Fisk. I dunno, I would have liked a scene or something that would have given some kind of clue, like her alone in an awful apartment that betrays the kind of grace and dignity she exudes.

Now onto the good. I think Wilson Fisk is the best villain of the MCU so far as he's just charismatic enough to get behind and want to believe his lies, but just uncanny enough to be weary of. His explosive violent mood swings and imposing stature really make him something to be feared. Vincent D'Onofrio sells the hell out of the character and makes you actually kind of feel sorry for him in Episode 12. While all the actors and actresses did a phenomenal job, D'Onofrio really was the standout actor for the series.

It seems that the action and fight choreography are where the main points of contention are, and while I'll admit there are a few hits that don't quite look like the connect, I'm overall very satisfied by the fight scenes. I actually found them quite refreshing as they didn't overly rely on rapid cut editing and reminded me more of Jackie Chan's Hong Kong movies. I was also a fan of actually watching him get hurt, because nothing builds up an action character than getting the crapped kicked out of them. It's very refreshing from the fight scenes in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D where Agent May or Mockingbird can take down an entire room without batting an eye, or at worst getting thrown across the room. It lended more weight to the scenes and made them all the more cathartic when Daredevil did manage to take down some goons with relative ease. And then of course there's the single take fight scene from episode 2 that was just pure awesome.

I also really liked the tone. I was a little worried that they were going to take advantage of the Netflix distribution and go all dark and gritty Nolan'y on it, but they didn't and for that I am forever grateful. It had the proper tone for a TV-MA crime drama, with enough levity to not feel like there was no hope. While there were casualties on both sides, the ending was the best ending you could hope for given the circumstances and it didn't feel forced or mismatched to how the show started out. One weird thing though, I thought TV-MA meant all swear words were allowed, but evidently not, or the producers just didn't want to go that far, but it was a little funny how "shit" became the go-to pejorative when "fuck" would have been more appropriate and in tune with the characters of the show. I dunno, it kind of reminded me Breaking Bad in that regard. It's not a criticism, just an observation.

Now I'm going to get into some spoilers/ theories/ observations that might spoil part of the show