Marvel Cinematic Universe general stuff

Penn · 12-02-2023 8:07pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120233089#Comment_120233089

It could be argued that Wakanda just didn't inform the Avengers or ask them for help. Wakanda was always extremely secretive, even if their resources etc are now more public.

I'm more surprised none of them showed up or were invited to T'Challa's funeral. I would have thought Marvel would have thrown up the dough to have a few of them there for that scene.

kerplun k · 12-02-2023 8:25pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120232835#Comment_120232835

My guess is that they are not in Wakanda because this isn’t an Avengers movie.

~Rebel~ · 13-02-2023 12:51am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120233148#Comment_120233148

It's a tricky one... I'd imagine the thought process is that as soon as you go down that road, then you're just creating a weaker version of the Tony Stark funeral scene. You also then have to take time to address why anyone there isn't involved in the broader story. So I think ultimately it loses you a lot more than it gets you. They needed to either get absolutely everyone to create a scene even more impactful than the Stark one, or else take this approach of framing it more intimately around Wakanda. I think they chose right to be honest.

Penn · 13-02-2023 1:01am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120234172#Comment_120234172

Yeah, fair points. Just felt like because Boseman actually died, they might have had some kind of Marvel goodbye for him. But at the same time, the funeral was very much steeped in African/Wakandan culture. Probably would have looked weird if they then cut to Dr.Strange, Hulk, Rhodey and Sam Wilson

flazio · 13-02-2023 6:46am

Boring real world answer is Covid. Still in the early days of vaccine distribution when this was filmed so cost of logistics to get the ducks in a row would have been too expensive (and I chose to believe that any Avenger actor would have been in it for free or donating their fee to cancer research in honour of Chadwick)

flazio · 15-02-2023 6:39am

Quantummania out this weekend and this gamer artists review is not looking too strong.

https://twitter.com/icklenellierose/status/1625646415580913664?t=fccA8a7MxzBLyofh2YOTbw&s=19

Brief_Lives · 15-02-2023 9:47am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120242399#Comment_120242399

There is a scathing review on the BBC website, their cultural section. I won't post it, as it is relatively spoilery, but the reviewer goes to town on this movie.

Penn · 15-02-2023 10:02am

Yeah seems to be very mixed reviews, verging towards bad. A real shame. My biggest worry going into this was that the inventiveness of manipulating sizes of people/objects in the real world would be replaced with just weird stuff more similar to Dr.Strange's mirror dimension and stuff like that.

Jonathan Majors seems to be getting the most praise from the film though. Really excited to see what he brings to it.

pixelburp · 15-02-2023 10:05am

Has always felt like the purpose of this film was simply to get Majors' Kang onto the cinematic playing-board. Obviously, techncailly introduced during Loki but I suspect there's still a conscious division between the two media at play within the creative rooms.

johnny_ultimate · 15-02-2023 10:35am

Reading the fairly dire reviews for this, I do have to wonder if Marvel Studios would ever consider taking a break of a year or two? Obviously it wouldn't happen until at least 2026 given already announced films, and frankly I'd be surprised if they don't already have three slots booked up in 2027. But it'd be interesting to see if they'd take a proper gap year so to speak to come back with a few films that have been given that extra time to really hone what they're trying to do.

I don't think it's particularly likely - I think it's far more likely they'll just play the X-Men card and maybe reintroduce some (previously dead) old favourites to temporarily reignite interest. But given worsening reviews and somewhat waning commercial success (only somewhat - I think GotG3 will be a decent hit for them), I do have to wonder if they'll stick with their 'three-films-a-year plus several TV shows' model for the rest of the decade.

pixelburp · 15-02-2023 10:41am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120242786#Comment_120242786

I've just been operating under the presumption that sooner or later, we're gonna get cameos from Chris Evans / Downey Jr. now that the Multiverse has been bedded in as the next Phase's big premise. Being also undecided if I reckon they'll be playing evl versions of their characters (there was a recent Cap. America run in the comics where - shock - he was an Agent of HYDRA all along)

Penn · 15-02-2023 11:11am

Phase 4 was always going to be awkward and a step back. They lost a lot of big characters, Infinity saga ended, setup required for next saga, a lot of new characters introduced, and then just a barrage of TV shows. I think Feige has already implied they're going to be shifting the balance a bit more of quality over quantity with the shows, which is great because it felt like shows were just constantly being announced.

I doubt they'll take a year off, but at the very least I think Phase 4 has shown them they need to calm the f*ck down. They rushed too quickly into Blade and have set themselves back with it. They let Taika Waititi do whatever he wanted with Love & Thunder because Waititi was the hot property, and it was awful. They cast Harry Styles as Eros because he's popular, and as everyone knows, the Venn diagram of Harry Styles fans and the Eternals 2 target audience is practically just one circle.

Phase 4 was always going to be awkward, but they made it really hard on themselves. There's a hell of a lot to like in Phase 4, but going forward they just need to focus. Not every film has to be a key part in the "Saga". It's best to shape the films around the characters and what their story needs to be, while inserting whatever world-building or saga related stuff where it fits, rather than the film being about the "Saga" and trying to fit the character's story around that.

pixelburp · 15-02-2023 11:19am

With the introduction of the X-Men, some "once off" movies would be nice; just self-contained stories of Jo Mutant having adventures within the running time - with only conceptual overlap with the broader world. Pick some appropriate genres to match the tone of each character, could be fun.

Only because the stable of characters in the X-Men is so large, with so many characters who could easily shoulder their own solo film - IMO there's an argument the failed "Origins" approach tried by Fox be attempted again. The MCU has been good with letting single characters shine in their own movies - moreso the older ones than latter-day films, so IMO there's hope that happens here.

The old films did often feel like they became "Wolverine, plus friends" during the Singer era, then "Rogue, plus friends" during the reboot - each time 'cos Hugh Jackman and Jennifer Lawrence were the biggest stars. One thing the MCU has rarely been: bar Downey Jr, it was always led by its characters than any star power.

pjohnson · 15-02-2023 11:34am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120242998#Comment_120242998

Yeah this whole post endgame period is just spinning the wheels until they start with mutants.

That should allow for more variance if they bring in genre switching team iterations like X-Factor, X-Force, New Mutants etc.

Marvel havent forgotten how to make good movies, I just think they dont have a great batch of characters/team to use in these phases.

Very surprised at the Shaky reviews Quantumania is getting, Rudd headlining a pretty strong cast would forced it to work I'd have taught.

The White Wolf · 15-02-2023 2:59pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120242786#Comment_120242786

They'll cut what they can from the Disney + slate and plough on, there's no other choice. Echo more or less seems gone and if they have any sense they'll cut down the episode run for Daredevil.

It's a concern that the same writer here is writing Kang Dynasty.

Penn · 15-02-2023 3:07pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120243979#Comment_120243979

At one point they were just announcing shows for the sake of it. I'm still shocked we're getting an Agatha Harkness show, just because she was popular in WandaVision. Vision is apparantly getting a show. There was going to be a Wakanda show, plus an Okoye/Midnight Angels show (or maybe they were going to be one show, who the f*ck even knows at this point). Armour Wars was meant to be a show but is now going to be a film. Echo, the show no-one throughout the entire Multiverse has asked for. Ironheart, which is due to lead into Armour Wars. Wonder Man, which could be fun.

But Feige seems to be aware of this and they're going to scale some things back.

"I do think one of the powerful aspects of being at Marvel Studios is having these films and shows hit the zeitgeist," Feige says in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly.

"It is harder to hit the zeitgeist when there's so much product out there — and so much 'content,' as they say, which is a word that I hate. [Laughs] But we want Marvel Studios and the MCU projects to really stand out and stand above. So, people will see that as we get further into Phase 5 and 6. The pace at which we're putting out the Disney+ shows will change so they can each get a chance to shine."

Asked whether that meant Marvel would do more to space shows out or put out fewer shows per year, Feige responded, "Both, I think."

The White Wolf · 15-02-2023 4:17pm

I also hate the word content Kevin.

flazio · 15-02-2023 4:21pm

I'm neither happy or sad about less shows and movies, I'm just content. 😈

pjohnson · 15-02-2023 4:55pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120244035#Comment_120244035

And again the quality of those characters is questionable as, aside from Vision, none of those characters have even managed a solo comic run in their own right as its unlikely it would appeal to anyone. Maybe a one-shot or single volume at best but they just aren't interesting characters individually.

They need tighter quality control and not just relying on slapping "Marvel" on anything and expecting a win.

EoinMcLovin · 15-02-2023 9:25pm

Full EW interview with Kevin Feige

https://ew.com/movies/kevin-feige-marvel-phase-5-exclusive-interview/

Some interesting details

Thaddeus Ross is now the US President in the MCU
Daredevil : Born Again could contain more stand alone episodes than a single storyline

Loughc · 15-02-2023 9:31pm

Something tells me phase 6 could be the last phase for the MCU. It’s rapidly dying I can’t see it continuing in its current incarnation. Be interesting how they change things up after phase 6.

pjohnson · 15-02-2023 9:40pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120245778#Comment_120245778

Mutants or bust.

pixelburp · 15-02-2023 9:40pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120245778#Comment_120245778

Far too soon to predict. It depends on how Phase 5 goes, and particularly the big Endgame sized event at the end of it.

Apart from CoVid having an effect on Black Widow etc I don't believe the MCU has seen any major dip in box office taking that might suggest it was dying.

Loughc · 15-02-2023 9:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120245828#Comment_120245828

Did eternals not under perform? And I’m assuming ant man will massively under perform as well giving how it’s being slated in reviews.

pjohnson · 15-02-2023 9:48pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120245828#Comment_120245828

The quality is taking a major beating/decline.

silverharp · 16-02-2023 6:48pm

not seeing an Ant-Man Thread but the critics have given this a low score. I reckon this film should do better than Eternals though , it cost around the same to make though.

https://twitter.com/ERCboxoffice/status/1626271475903922178

CastorTroy · 17-02-2023 1:20am

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/marvel-star-wars-tv-shows-movies-slowdown-1235326681/

Seems plans for Marvel Disney+ series have changed for this year with only Secret Invasion and Loki getting released.

We were also meant to get Echo, Ironheart, Agatha and What If...?

The White Wolf · 17-02-2023 3:04pm

Just out of Quantamania and found it to be decent enough fare that went by quickly. I'm not sure where the setting up future films criticism is coming from as I found it stood on its own for better or worse. It's a criticism I've seen from typically shill sites, so I assume Disney didn't roll out the red carpet for them.

2 major criticisms would be the state of MODOK (I let out an audible fook off when his mask was lifted) and the ending, which I understand was reshot very late in the day (evident by one of the actors' hair colour). Seriously - it's possibly the worst ending to a film I've seen in the franchise or any film for a long time.

pixelburp · 17-02-2023 3:08pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120251241#Comment_120251241

Makes sense, and is kinda basic stuff Disney should have glommed onto: saturating a market wears out patience and goodwill - especially when the quality was so half àssed as it was with Star Wars. At least with the MCU there's a broad-strokes plan, and deliberate intent towards something.

I said it in the thread itself on the TV forum, but Andor singlehandedly restored my faith in SW cos before that show - I was done. Far too much slapdash material, too much resting presumption I'd watch any old nostalgic nonsense 'cos Star Wars, Please Applaud. The Boba Fett show was like something too shoddy and tired even SyFy or the CW would have passed on.

Foxtrol · 17-02-2023 4:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120253117#Comment_120253117

Put my detailed thoughts on the movie in the Quantumania thread and feel pretty similar to you.

Has its issues but it was fun, time flew by without any drag, and most of it was visually pleasing. It is a great movie representation a more 'out there' comic book - something that is pretty rarely tried (it is several steps up on the weirdness of GotG).

Also agree that if you takeaway knowing Kang is the upcoming big bad for the MCU, this movie would absolutely stand on its own.

Audience reviews so far aren't lining up to the critics at all.

Marvel Cinematic Universe general stuff

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