Marvel Cinematic Universe general stuff

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121514624#Comment_121514624

This is what you're defending:

US actor Jonathan Majors has been found guilty of assaulting his then-girlfriend after a trial in New York.

The jury found Majors, known for playing Kang in the Marvel films, attacked British choreographer Grace Jabbari during an altercation in March.

She told the court she was left with a fractured finger, bruising, a cut behind her ear and "excruciating" pain.

Majors, 34, faces up to a year in jail, and has been dropped from starring roles in forthcoming Marvel movies.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67727425

Stupid superhero films aren't that important in all fairness. He should be barred for life, frankly.

Foxtrol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121514732#Comment_121514732

He was found guilty of:

1) being reckless and hurting her while getting his property back that she'd stolen, not going out to intentionally hurt her like the victim claimed under oath.

2) putting her back in the car when she was chasing him and he was trying to get away. We can all see in the video that it was not 'throwing her in like a football' like the prosecution claimed.

If people want to condemn him for the facts, those are them. Throwing out terms like 'physical manhandling', 'assault', and 'harassment' are accurate but either lazy or purposefully misleading.

Beyond what he is found guilty of everything else is purely people's opinion, mostly sourced through the media that has been very one sided in their coverage.

TheIrishGrover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121513470#Comment_121513470

I'm not going to comment on the case with the actor. Everyone has their own opinions.

But to below:

Man, the wheels truly have come off the MCU machine, it's unreal how quickly it all untangled - even if items like the Majors controversy is out of their control. The problem remains though: how do you follow-up Thanos - one of the all time great cinematic superhero villains - especially now that it's clear you can't continue as-is?

Seems like the the two options are:

recast Kang with someone else; a character already struggling to make an impact

Change villain altogether, but presumably that'll require whatever vague multiverse-tinged plot to go in the bin

As some have said above, alternate universe would certainly open the door for another actor.

Now bear in mind, my comments below are coming from someone who really has only the vaguest knowledge of the characters. But that's the audience that made the previous phases so successful. Do you want to not p*ss off the comic fans too much? Certainly. However do you want to appeal to as wide an audience as possible? Certainly.

As I (and others) mentioned in previous posts, he just does not have the same threat or gravitas that Thanos had. Here you have a character who has already been beaten by two relatively minor characters. Certainly not by a whole team of Avengers. They are trying to wedge him in as fast as possible into people's minds that he is the Biggest Bad Eva with his oh so sinister name "He who must not be named".... I mean "He who remains". It took many movies before Thanos had more than a couple of lines (Guardians?) and even then, he was behind the scenes.

But Kang has been beaten a couple of times already, the post credit scene in Ant-Man 3 was unintentionally laughable. So you have a situation where the bad guy isn't so much tough as... well, there's loads of him. That is annoying rather than intimidating - Oh, THIS guy again? Didn't we already kill him on that movie and that other show? (And that is not even taking into account his extremely annoying portrayal in Loki S2). So I think they could simply drop him as a character and people would move on. They might have a little titter along the lines of "Oooohhhhh yeah, remember that loser? lol" but if you had a more threatening and interesting character with interesting motivation then you could move on: Thanos' motivation was interesting. Killmonger's motivation was not only interesting but he was right. Kang's motivation? To kill those pesky Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? I don't know. Just generic "Rule the multiverse" stuff I suppose.

I know the rumour-mill is suggesting Dr Doom. Again, I know very little. I know he has had run-ins with the FF of course and also X-men (And what a great way to bring them all into the MCU) but, asking as a know-nothing, would he be sufficiently big-bad enough to involve the B-vengers? (Assuming the Avengers are all too expensive now)

Foxtrol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121515222#Comment_121515222

I am not defending it, I am stating the facts of the case. I understand why everyone wants this to be a cut and dry easy conclusion but it isn't.

All you're showing there is the misleading headlines and framing by the majority of the media and that you've clearly bought into it.

He wasn't found guilty of the more serious charges - what the victim claimed and the prosecutors built their case. The jurors didn't believe them or didn't have enough evidence. He was found guilty of the lesser ones, where the bar is very low.

Some articles do include the difference and what it means but they're buried in the article:

The mixed verdict signals the jury believed Majors recklessly assaulted his ex-girlfriend, but did not intentionally do so.

The mixed verdict also suggests the jury did not believe Majors intentionally committed aggravated harassment inside the SUV, but did believe he harassed her outside the vehicle by picking her off the ground and throwing her back inside.

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/jonathan-majors-verdict-domestic-violence-trial/story?id=105585064#:~:text=The%20actor%20was%20charged%20with%20assault%20and%20aggravated%20harassment%2C%20both%20misdemeanors.&text=Marvel%20star%20Jonathan%20Majors%20was,in%20a%20split%20verdict%20Monday.

Majors' biggest loss is in the court of public opinion, which is why he is no longer in his lucrative role. He fully deserves to lose the role based on putting himself in this mess and making himself so toxic but it is a fact that he wasn't found guilty of the more serious things the victim claimed.

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121519279#Comment_121519279

So you play the fake news card but are happy to cite "mainstream media" when it suits you.

There's no point in continuing with this. I'm delighted he's gone. The industry doesn't need scum.

flazio

Taking a break from the Majors news.

Netflix have an extended edition of Spider-Man No Way Home on their services.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121519400#Comment_121519400

What's extended about it? More Spider-Man?

eightieschewbaccy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121519440#Comment_121519440

Guessing it's that version that got a rerelease about six months later.

Foxtrol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121519372#Comment_121519372

Yeah, seems like it isn't as you've clearly gullably taken in the headlines and not even bothered to read the whole article you originally quoted, which states exactly what I've been saying:

But the jury declined to convict him on charges of aggravated harassment and assault with intent to cause physical harm.

A headline of "Majors found not guilty of intentionally assaulting then-girlfriend" is as dumb, yet accurate, as one that you posted. It isn't a nefarious media plot, headlines are short and people, including you, like easy answers and narratives - especially with entertainment news like this.

Like I've said before, you're entitled to your opinion of him, the guy doesn't sound great. You opinion is however based on your feelings due to headlines you've read rather than what the jury in this court case decided. The jury didn't believe the evidence at the core of the prosecution case and the statements of the victim.

pjohnson

Maybe there can be a new thread for those who want to debate a former MCU actor?

Hes no part of it now.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121519571#Comment_121519571

Agreed, though to be technical: has Marcel actually made any public or official announcement? AFAIK it's still presumed Majors is toast.

Agent Coulson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121519578#Comment_121519578

No Disney & Marvel haven't made any public statements on the matter.

More than likely getting all the balls in a row with the highly paid legal teams they have on call before they make any formal statement.

Anyway that is the end of nasty piece of work and a classic domestic abuser who most are glad to see the back of.

~Rebel~

According to Deadline a Disney rep did confirm he's been fired.

https://deadline.com/2023/12/jonathan-majors-marvel-fired-guilty-verdict-1235671790/

CNBC, Forbes, BBC etc have all reported the same, so he's gone alright.

Agent Coulson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121519620#Comment_121519620

Unnamed rep who spoke off the record.

Marvel Studios and the Walt Disney Co. dropped Majors from all future projects following the actor’s conviction for assault and harassment on Monday, according to a person close to the studio who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

https://apnews.com/article/jonathan-majors-marvel-disney-d20f14b2ddeb088e5d09cf5889238990#:~:text=Marvel%20Studios%20and%20the%20Walt,speak%20publicly%20on%20the%20matter.

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121519632#Comment_121519632

Interesting that Deadline don't have that clarification - theirs is a much more unequivocal;

"A studio rep confirmed the news about their decision to not move forward with Majors in the MCU."

Seems no doubt it's happened anyway.

Agent Coulson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121519641#Comment_121519641

They aren't naming the rep either though leaving it vague.

No he done and rightly so just a matter of crossing the T's and dotting the i's on the leagl papers now I'd imagine.

The White Wolf

I don't think following Thanos was a problem itself, moreso how underwhelming they wrote Kang.

Thanos had little screen time before "his" 2 main films, but when he did appear you got the picture; this guy will be a huge problem.

Compare that to Quantamania and the Conquerer is more or less singlehandedly dealt with by Ant Man....after all his talk about easily besting The Avengers across time to the point he can't even put a name to their face. It just didn't make sense.

To drive home the point I actually thought Loki handled him much better and more importantly, completely differently. It's all about writing for me, and they absolutely botched Kang in the one key film that they couldn't afford to get wrong. It was so bad I don't think this will even be much of a problem for Marvel if they just dropped the character.

Which isn't a good thing, because Kang can be an all time threat, and they got it wrong.

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121520339#Comment_121520339

I think a bigger part of the problem is the do your homework approach that they've taken with Disney+. I live 15 minutes walk from a Cineworld and I've my Unlimited card. If I didn't, no way would I be seeing stuff that mandates dozens of hours on Disney+ to get. There was none of that crap with Thanos. He was gradually teased out as a puppetmaster who went on to easily trounce the Hulk in his first few minutes onscreen in Infinity War.

McFly85

Marvels approach to Kang/the multiverse has generally been disappointing, because it feels like they’ve been playing it pretty safe. It’s just another thing to replace the infinity stones for the 616 heroes to deal with that allows for some cheap fan service.

Would have preferred to see them branch out and tell stories outside of 616 that would all build together for the Secret Wars.

Kang could have been introduced in another universes heroes film - a film where he actually wins and demonstrates exactly how much of a threat he is to the multiverse.

Instead he’s been beaten twice and to just have him keep coming back just because already feels a bit cheap. The more I think about it the more I think it’s probably better to just move on to F4/Dr Doom.

ancapailldorcha

616?

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121521570#Comment_121521570

Refers to the universe the MCU takes place in IIRC as all the timelines get arbitrary numbers to differentiate what universe each storyline takes place in.

McFly85

Yeah, the main marvel continuity is Earth-616, in the comics, at least. The MCU was designated Earth-199999 but refers to itself as Earth-616 which isn’t at all confusing!

The White Wolf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121521491#Comment_121521491

This would have been the smart thing to do in hindsight, and it would have also alleviated the pressure somewhat of trying to introduce too many new things into a well established universe.

A Multiverse handled well like how you outlined, would have meant never having to ever worry about doing a reboot. Maybe they can still salvage that.

Cotts72

Unlike the infinity saga they failed to build Kang as a legitimate big bad... Following most movies we saw a thanks threat coming or fury recruited someone... Granted post credits of quantumania they revealed the council of kangs...prior to that each movie should have had a legitimate end credits where Kang destroyed a universe or killed another avenger variant to set him up as the threat instead marvel decided to opt for humour/quirkiness to waste 10 mins of our time!

pixelburp

It probably didn't help all right that with every appearance, Kang has been defeated and/or killed; not really a great way to build suspense in fiction if your Big Bad keeps getting trounced by the heroes? Or appears as a bumbling stuttering scientist.

Compare that with Thanos where after a smattering of cameos, the first time he steps into a MCU movie he beats the shít outta the Hulk, and kills Loki (plus Heimdall). Boom. Instant threat, stakes immediately raised. It's boilerplate, writing 101 but it works. Just don't overuse it - hello Worf 👋

kerplun k

What makes it even worse for Kang is that he got schooled by Ant-Man. That’s just embarrassing.

Agent Coulson

Wyatt Russell is saying the ThunderBolts will start filming in March/April.

CastorTroy

First episode of What If season 2 out today with daily releases until the 30th.

Think someone was watching Blade Runner before making this. Really liked it.

Zero-Cool

My 5 year old is gone big into Groot since seeing the short Groot series on Disney. Anyone know if there's other GOTG/Groot stuff that's suitable for that age? The Christmas special is 12's so sounds a bit old. Would be cool if there was a kids cut of the Marvel films.

flazio

There's similar shorts with Doug and Karl Fredrickson from Up, one of Ed Ansers last pieces before he passed.