gunsandspaceships

[gunsandspaceships]

Winter Soldier and the Red Room

A while back I saw a headcanon that Bucky Barnes, as Hydra's Winter Soldier, was involved in training Natasha Romanoff.

This headcanon contradicts canon.

Here are the facts:

Natasha first met the Winter Soldier in 2009 on a SHIELD mission in Odessa when he shot a bullet through her stomach.

Until 2014, she knew nothing about him except his reputation and the bullets he uses.

The Winter Soldier program belonged to Hydra, the Black Widow program belonged to the Red Room. Not only did they not work together, they were rivals.

In 1992, the Red Room owner General Dreykov sent the Red Guardian Alexei Shostakov and Black Widow Melina Vostokoff to steal data from the SHIELD/Hydra Institute in Ohio. Data on the mind control methods the Institute was researching for the Winter Soldier project.

In 1995, Alexei stole the data and burned down the Institute. After which Hydra agents pursued him and his fake family and tried to kill them.

So no, the Winter Soldier was not involved in training the Black Widows. But the research done to gain control of his mind was ultimately used to control the Black Widows, though not Natasha.

[gunsandspaceships]

Update on MCU Fandom Study Results

As it turned out, the outlier with 60 IQ simply skipped questions on both tests, since this person also had 50% written on their aggression score, which is achieved by simply pressing the "Next" button without actually answering the questions.

Now I'll have to edit the results. Thank you very much.

P.S. Don't be an asshole, don't play around with scientific research. Not a big deal this case is just a small fandom study for the fans. Although if I had not noticed the results would have been opposite to the real ones. What if you did that with a real study whose results matter?

[gunsandspaceships]

MCU Fandom Study. Results. Part 3: Psychological parameters

Aggression Rate

One participant was disqualified for entering a score without taking the test.

55.7% - Low 25.2% - Moderate 16.5% - Very Low 1.7% - Intense 0.9% - Extremely Intense

Each participant by % of aggressiveness:

IQ

16 participants declined to take the test or were unable to find the results. 1 participant was disqualified for entering a score without taking the test. As a result, the sample consisted of 99 people.

36.4% - Gifted 36.4% - Above Average 19.2% - Average 6.1% - Highly Gifted 2% - Below Average

Vertical - number of participants. Horizontal - IQ score.

Average IQ of the MCU Fandom on Tumblr: 125.

Conclusion on IQ: results for the fandom are heavily skewed towards above average IQ (including high and very high).

Neurotypical or Neurodivergent

Conclusion: the majority of participants (70.7%) identified themselves as neurodivergent, which is very different from the general population, where only ~20% identify as neurodivergent.

Disabilities

56% - No disabilities 21.6% - Mental disability 16.4% - Physical and mental disability 6% - Physical disability

Introversion-Extroversion

56% - Introvert 37.9% - Ambivert 6% - Extrovert

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MCU Fandom Study. Results. Part 2: Demographic data

To be precise, "the MCU Fandom" in this case is limited to: a) Tumblr users; b) those who agreed to participate in the survey.

Part 1

Age

47.4% - 18-24 years old 20.7% - Under 18 years old 16.4% - 31-40 years old 13.8% - 25-30 years old 0.9% - 41-50 years old 0.9% - Above 50 years old

Gender

63.8% - Cis-Female 19% - Nonbinary 12.9% - Trans-Male 3.4% - Cis-Male 0.9% - Trans-Female

Sexual orientation

40.5% - Bisexual/pansexual 22.4% - Heterosexual 16.4% - Asexual 11.2% - Homosexual 6.9% - Homosexual-lesbian 4.3% - Homosexual-gay 9.5% - Other

Education level

24.1% - Bachelor's degree 24.1% - Some college, no degree 17.2% - Less than high school diploma 16.4% - High school diploma or equivalent 8.6% - Master's or Professional degree 7.8% - Associate's degree 1.7% - PhD

Country

Political preferences

51.7% - Left (Liberal) 22.4% - Center (Moderate) 22.4% - Far left (Radical) 3.4% - Right (Concervative) 0% - Far right (Reactionary)

Religious preferences

31.9% - Agnostic 31.9% - Atheist 30.2% - Somewhat religious 6% - Highly religious

Conclusion on religious preferences: 63.8% of participants are not religious, which contrasts sharply with the general population (~70-85% are religious).

Economic class of family in childhood

65.5% - Middle class 32.8% - Poor/Working class 1.7% - Rich

Current economic class

62.9% - Middle class 33.6% - Poor/Working class 3.4% - Rich

Conclusion on economic class: the middle class is indeed (as we often hear) getting smaller with time. However, in our sample we can see that the poor class has only increased by one person, while the rich class has doubled.

[gunsandspaceships]

Tony Stark is Elon Musk?

There is a tendency to think that they are the same. A lot of dirt is poured on Tony because people imagined that he is just like Musk or Musk is just like him.

And this makes me a little confused. Because I don't remember Musk caring about people and saving the world. I don't remember his employees loving him the way Stark Industries employees love their boss. I don't remember him constantly risking his life and health for the lives of other people. I don't remember him spending much of his money on keeping the Earth safe and on scholarships for students. I don't even remember him inventing the technologies he is associated with.

I also don't remember Tony playing politician and trying to get his hands on the government. I don't remember him trying to take away people's social security. I don't remember him supporting far-right views, being a Nazi or a transphobe.

But I remember that he is a wonderful father and a faithful husband. I remember his work in clean energy, him fighting Hydra and other villains, helping to clean up after and paying for the damage, funding the Avengers, school and university students, and many, many other things he did.

So maybe these people who put Tony and Musk on the same level should just shut the fuck up?

[gunsandspaceships]

Labels

"We should stop making billionaire characters heroes because some of real billionaires are assholes".

"We need to stop making any German characters good guys in 1940s because some of the Germans were Nazis".

"We should stop showing NPD characters with any positive traits because some of them are evil manipulators".

"We should stop casting black actors in films about medieval Europe because most of the people there were white".

"We should stop making female characters strong because some real women are physically weaker than men".

"We should stop this transgender lunacy because most people are cisgender".

Oops...

[gunsandspaceships]

MCU Fandom Study. Results. Part 1: MCU preferences

To be precise, "the MCU Fandom" in this case is limited to: a) Tumblr users; b) those who agreed to participate in the survey.

The sample consists of 116 people. Some charts include more answers (if multiple were allowed). In those some answers were disqualified due to violation of the survey topic (answers outside the MCU) or unclear wording that cannot be displayed on the graph. Fortunately, there were few of them.

Years in the Fandom

In the next 4 charts (pertaining to specific movies or characters), some answers were disqualified: TV, Netflix and Disney+ series, films that are now part of the Marvel Multiverse but were not originally created as such (Deadpool 1-2, X-Men, old Spider-Man movies, etc), "Depends on the movie" answers in characters, etc.

First MCU Movie

Favorite MCU Movie

By the number of participants. This is a multiple-choice question.

Top Favorite MCU Movies (by % of participants):

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (27.6%)

Iron Man (25%)

The Avengers (22.4%)

Iron Man 3 (16.4%)

Guardians of the Galaxy/Thor: Ragnarok (12.9%)

Avengers: Endgame/Iron Man 2/Captain America: Civil War/Spider-Man: No Way Home/Black Panther (9.5%)

Captain America: The First Avenger (8.6%)

Avengers: Infinity War/Black Widow/Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (7.8%)

Avengers: Age of Ultron (6.9%)

Thor/Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (6%)

Least Favorite MCU Movie

By the number of participants. This is a multiple-choice question.

In this chart "Ant-Man and the Wasp:" is "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania".

Overall, this is where most of the Multiverse Saga films win (lose).

Top Least Favorite MCU Movies (by % of participants):

Thor: Love and Thunder (17.2%)

Eternals/Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (15.5%)

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (14.7%)

Avengers: Endgame (12.9%)

The Incredible Hulk (8.6%)

The Marvels/Spider-Man: No Way Home (6.9%)

Thor/Thor: The Dark World (6%)

Captain America: Civil War/Avengers: Age of Ultron/Avengers: Infinity War/Black Widow (5.2%)

Captain America: The First Avenger (4.3%)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier/Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings/Black Panther: Wakanda Forever/Guardians of the Galaxy 3/Deadpool & Wolverine (3.4%)

Conclusion for the Favorite/Least Favorite Movies: almost no one likes the new movies (the Multiverse Saga) with a few exceptions (GotG 3, SM:NWH and maybe Deadpool & Wolverine). Opinions are divided on Endgame, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Thor, Civil War, Age of Ultron, Infinity War, Black Widow, GotG 3, CA:TFA and TWS. Fans love and hate them.

Favorite MCU Character

By the number of participants. This is a multiple-choice question.

Top Favorite MCU Characters (by % of participants):

Tony Stark (37%)

Loki (33.6%)

Bucky Barnes (26.7%)

Peter Parker (20.7%)

Natasha Romanoff (14.7%)

Steve Rogers/Wanda Maximoff (12.9%)

Matt Murdock/Yelena Belova (8.6%)

Clint Barton/Stephen Strange/Rocket (7.8%)

Moon Knight/Bruce Banner (6.9%)

Sam Wilson (6%)

Least Favorite MCU Character

By the number of participants. This is a multiple-choice question.

Nobody is our winner (39.7%). But it won't get into the Top below.

Top Least Favorite MCU Characters (by % of participants):

Steve Rogers (13.8%)

Peter Quill (5.2%)

Wanda Maximoff/Clint Barton (4.3%)

Odin/Carol Danvers/Thanos/Thor/Tony Stark (3.4%)

Quentin Beck/Bucky Barnes/Stephen Strange/James Rhodes/Jennifer Walters/Peter Parker/Sam Wilson (2.6%)

Favorite MCU Ship

By the number of participants. This is a multiple-choice question.

"None" is again the most popular answer. 25% of participants don't ship MCU characters.

Top Favorite MCU Ships (by % of participants):

Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes (17.2%)

Tony Stark/Pepper Potts (10.3%)

Tony Stark/Loki (9.5%)

Tony Stark/Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson/Bucky Barnes (7.8%)

Tony Stark/Stephen Strange (6.9%)

Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes (5.2%)

Agatha/Rio & Bucky Barnes/Natasha Romanoff (4.3%)

Thor/Jane Foster & Loki/Mobius & Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanoff & Yelena Belova/Kate Bishop (3.4%)

Peter Parker/MJ (2.6%)

Team Iron Man or Team Cap

Marvel Comics Readers

Fanfiction Writers

[gunsandspaceships]

At the request of those interested, I am reopening the form until 1 am UTC.

MCU Fandom Study

Since almost 82% voted yes in this initial poll, I am launching the study.

What is it about: this is an anonymous survey of individuals who identify themselves as part of the MCU fandom. The purpose of the survey is to collect statistics on preferences and psychological parameters.

Here is the link to the survey > LINK

The more people participate, the more accurate the results will be. Please share the link with your friends who are part of the MCU fandom, whether they are on Tumblr or not. But please do not include people who are not part of the fandom in the survey.

At the end of the data collection period, I will create graphs and publish them on my blog (at the moment I am setting one week: February 8-15, but if there are not enough participants during this period, I will have to extend it).

[gunsandspaceships]

Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark AVENGERS: ENDGAME

[gunsandspaceships]

The week has come to an end, the minimum number of respondents has been reached, which means that I am closing the data collection and starting to process it.

Over the next few days I will analyze the information I have collected, create graphs and publish them here.

MCU Fandom Study

Since almost 82% voted yes in this initial poll, I am launching the study.

What is it about: this is an anonymous survey of individuals who identify themselves as part of the MCU fandom. The purpose of the survey is to collect statistics on preferences and psychological parameters.

Here is the link to the survey > LINK

The more people participate, the more accurate the results will be. Please share the link with your friends who are part of the MCU fandom, whether they are on Tumblr or not. But please do not include people who are not part of the fandom in the survey.

At the end of the data collection period, I will create graphs and publish them on my blog (at the moment I am setting one week: February 8-15, but if there are not enough participants during this period, I will have to extend it).

[gunsandspaceships]

MCU Timeline: Phases One and Two

Phase One

Iron Man: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 The Incredible Hulk Iron Man 2: Part 1, Part 2 Thor Captain America: The First Avenger The Avengers

Phase Two

Iron Man 3 Thor: The Dark World Captain America: The Winter Soldier Guardians of the Galaxy Avengers: Age of Ultron Ant-Man

[gunsandspaceships]

👏 Brilliant

A Valentine's Poem for Pepper Roses are red, Violets are bitchin', Enjoy your breakfast in bed, Ignore the fire in the kitchen.

[gunsandspaceships]

Update #2: Classification of Timeline consistency in the MCU

a) among movies, b) for Phase 1 and 2.

Good ones:

Iron Man

Thor

Captain America: The First Avenger

The Avengers

Iron Man 3

Thor: The Dark World

Guardians of the Galaxy

Have some serious issues:

The Incredible Hulk

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Absolute mess:

Iron Man 2

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Ant-Man

[gunsandspaceships]

YAY! We did it! Minimum sample reached.

But as I said - the more the better and the survey will be available for another two days.

MCU Fandom Study

Since almost 82% voted yes in this initial poll, I am launching the study.

What is it about: this is an anonymous survey of individuals who identify themselves as part of the MCU fandom. The purpose of the survey is to collect statistics on preferences and psychological parameters.

Here is the link to the survey > LINK

The more people participate, the more accurate the results will be. Please share the link with your friends who are part of the MCU fandom, whether they are on Tumblr or not. But please do not include people who are not part of the fandom in the survey.

At the end of the data collection period, I will create graphs and publish them on my blog (at the moment I am setting one week: February 8-15, but if there are not enough participants during this period, I will have to extend it).

[gunsandspaceships]

MCU Timeline: Ant-Man

The timeline of this movie is quite a puzzle.

1960s - Hank Pym serves in the US Army.

Early 1970 - Dr. Pym creates the first Pym Particles.

Note: if we are dealing with 2015 in this movie, and we are (AoU events are mentioned), then Dr. Pym has understated the number of years that have passed. We know from Endgame that he already had the particles by April 1970.

1980 - Hope van Dyne is born.

1987:

Janet van Dyne, Hank's wife, sacrifices herself on a S.H.I.E.L.D. mission and disappears into the Quantum Realm. Hank avoids their daughter for two weeks.

Hope begins to practice martial arts.

1987 - 1997 - Dr. Pym learns everything he can about the quantum realm to bring his wife back, but there is not enough information.

After 1988 - Hank sends Hope to boarding school.

1989:

Construction of the Triskelion. Hank Pym resigns from S.H.I.E.L.D. after their attempt to replicate his particles.

Pym founds his own company, Pym Technologies.

1990s - WHIH NewsFront is created.

~2000 - Darren Cross graduates from MIT at age 20.

2000s:

Pym takes on young Darren Cross as his assistant.

Years later Hank is voted out of his company by Cross and his own daughter. Cross becomes CEO of Pym Tech.

Cross begins his own research into Pym particles.

Scott Lang commits several high-profile burglaries but somehow manages to avoid prison.

~September 24, 2008 - Cassie Lang is born.

2009-2012 - Scott Lang works at Vista Corp.

2012 - Scott Lang is fired from Vista because he told people that the company was overcharging its customers. He commits a crime to give money back to the people and is sentenced to 5 years in state prison.

Note: there are some minor f*ck ups with the timeline in this movie, but this one is major. There are two versions of when and how the Vista case happened.

This newspaper is from the movie, and we can logically assume it is dated 2005 (see photo and diagram above). According to it, Scott worked at Vista in 2004, and in 2005, he was fired, committed the heist, and was caught. There is an obvious problem with this dating - he was released from prison after 3 years (and it was his first time) in 2015, not 2008. A gap of several years does not make sense.

WHIH NewsFront extras claim that the heist took place 3 years before Scott's release (makes sense), so in 2012 and 2015 respectively. But it's odd that Scott allowed himself to be caught so easily (he was spotted on every camera) after a career of high-profile burglaries already on his record (and the fact that he'd never been to prison before).

I included the second option in the timeline because it fits more chronologically, but none of the sources are convincing enough to be considered reliable.

2012 - 2014 - Scott and Luis are cellmates.

2012 - 2015 - Hank Pym watches Lang.

Note: why would he watch him in prison? Just a point to 2005 option here.

2014 - Luis is released from San Quentin Penitentiary after serving time for stealing two smoothie machines.

Before July 2015 - Kurt is released from Folsom State Prison after serving 5 years.

2014 - July 17, 2015 - Luis' girlfriend left him, his mother died, father got deported, but he got the van.

April - August 2015 - people collect the technology left over from Ultron and sell it on the black market.

Summer 2015 - record drought in California.

Summer-Fall 2015 - Senate Hearings on Ultron and Sokovia.

Between July 13 and 16, 2015:

WHIH NewsFront interviews Scott Lang and Darren Cross.

Stark Industries announces new scholarships for promising students from urban city schools.

Tony Stark continues to address public concerns about Bruce Banner by saying they are "Baseless" and "Irresponsible".

The main events take place from July to the end of October 2015.

Between July 14 and 17, 2015 - Darren Cross presents his battle suit - the Yellowjacket. After that he cold-bloodedly murders one of the visitors in a restroom.

July-October - Cross experiments on animals.

July 17, 2015 - Scott Lang is released from San Quentin after serving only 3 years of a 5-year sentence. He stays in Luis's apartment for the next few months.

End of July 2015 - Steve Rogers attends updated museum exhibit dedicated to his heroic efforts in WWII.

Late August/Early September - Scott finds a job at Baskin-Robbins.

Note: The job search process takes time. Much of that time is spent waiting for employers to respond. Considering that Scott had given up on finding a job and had been rejected by everyone except Baskin-Robbins (and logically we will assume that he has already tried to get a job in his specialty using his master's degree), he had spent some time on it. Is there a chance that it was only a few days or a week or two? None.

First half of September - Hank Pym sets a trap for Scott.

Shortly before September 24 - Scott is fired from Baskin-Robbins.

~September 24:

Cassie Lang's birthday.

Note: this is not the day Scott got fired from Baskin-Robbins. Everyone (Scott, Luis, Kurt, and Dave) are wearing different clothes.

Note the fallen leaves. It's clearly fall. It would actually be closer to November, but Marvel screwed up by showing all green upstate New York a few weeks later and setting the Pym Tech heist date for early October.

Night - Scott decides to steal from Hank so he can pay child support and see his daughter sooner than 377 days.

~September 25 - Scott performs "fixing the cable" trick at Hank's house.

~September 25-27 - Scott, Luis, Kurt and Dave prepare for the heist.

September 28:

Night - the heist/Hank's trap.

September 29:

Test drive of the Ant-Man suit.

~8 pm - Scott returns the suit to the exact place he took it from and is arrested by the police, called by Hope.

10 pm - Hank arranges his escape.

September 30:

Morning - Scott wakes up in Pym's house and meets Hope.

7:52 am - Paxton is informed that Hank Pym was the fake "lawyer" who visited Scott last night.

Cross conducted his first successful test on an animal.

Hope returns home and tells Hank and Scott that they now only have a few days left to steal the Yellowjacket.

September 30 - October 8 - Ant-Man training.

Note: calculated based on the participants' clothing changes.

8:55 am, October 7 - Hank tells Hope and Scott the truth about Janet.

October 8:

Day - Scott goes on a test mission to steal a signal decoy from "Stark's old warehouse," which has recently become the Avengers' Compound.

10:20 pm - back in SF. Cross comes to Pym's house to kill him, but is scared away by Hope's presence. He invites Hank to Pym Tech tomorrow.

Night - Luis, Kurt and Dave join the mission.

October 9 (Friday):

Early morning - Scott visits a sleeping Cassie.

8 pm - Pym Tech heist.

8:16 pm - the HQ is destroyed. Hank is wounded.

Note: here on Darren's phone we can see "Friday, 9 October" and time "8:18".

Scott fights Darren and defeats him by going subatomic. He then manages to return from the quantum realm.

~October - Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider and becomes Spider-Man.

Note: this is an approximation at this point as I will need to match it up with the CW which I will make the next timeline for.

Second half of October:

Scott visits a recovering Hank.

Scott and Hope kiss.

Hank shows Hope the Wasp suit.

Cassie does her first cartwheel.

Evening - Scott is having dinner with Cassie, Paxton and Maggie. Paxton informs him that he cleared him of the charges.

Night - Luis tells Scott that Sam Wilson is looking for him.

End of 2015 - biography "The life and times of industrialist Howard Stark" is published.

MCU Phase One Timelines Iron Man 3 Timeline Thor: The Dark World Timeline CA:TWS Timeline GotG Timeline Avengers: Age of Ultron Timeline

[gunsandspaceships]

MCU Viewing Order

I see a lot of newcomers to the fandom start watching the MCU in internal chronological (timeline) order, with the first Cap, then Captain Marvel, and only then Iron Man 1.

This doesn't make much sense to me for the following reasons:

This order is not actually chronological. There are many events that happened in the MCU before WWII that are shown in other movies.

There is a reason why the films were released in this certain order and divided into phases and sagas. This creates thematic and plot continuity and also gradually introduces us to the world and characters. Whereas the internal chronological order is not created for this.

Therefore, I recommend that anyone planning to start watching the MCU movies watch them in the order they were released.

OR, I have an alternative, non-traditional option. I actually recommend you do what I did - start with Iron Man 3 and then follow the release order.