#he literally in the comics is inspired by doctor strange and thor when making his superhero costume

[thetimelordbatgirl]

If it really turns out to be Wiccan/Billy Kaplan in Agatha All Along, stans of him have my prayers and sympathy for how the MCU is about to fuck up his character completely.

[mastcrmarksman]

Cliff Notes Version of Main 616 Verse

Some of these events have happened through plotting, discord, and wire, and why you may not find the threads on my blog.

ZERO Upon clint's return to new york post freefall events and the headcanon/blog lore events of ohio (reason for going sober) [ see this post ]

ONE He has been attempting to go sober, he's had a few relapses and has almost given up a few times, his longest stretch and it'd the one he is on now is five and a half months

TWO He was recruited for the Thunderbolts after several rejections from trying to start a new team or move back out to the west coast

THREE Carol Danvers is his sponsor, who has helped him out and been a friend toward him when he hasn't thought he has had any left. ( @ / danversiism is the Carol )

FOUR Even after the months and time he has dedicated to the Thunderbolts, he still has not felt that it is his team or that they are doing anything meaningful and he has been an unhappy "leader" om probation

SIDENOTE Additionally, I think TBolts 2022 did a shoddy job with the whole PR centric team and in general, it'd a short read with poor attempts at call backs and does not treat clint with respect. So in taking inspiration some other comic events and media at the time

FIVE Roxxon is the parent company of the PR agency that Mayor Cage is using for the Thunderbolts. Helen is a very good PR manager, and perhaps doesn't realize, that Roxxon owns her agency, as Roxxon is generally a corporate evil and anti superheroes, Roxxon had funded the Underage Hero Welfare Act which wasn't a good thing, as it genuinely arrested children / young heroes and vigilantes and put them in "schools" and mistreated them and attempted to brainwash them.

SIX So based on that, you imagine the idea of if Marvel had given Tbolts 2022 an actual plot and cared about the team, if they had perhaps taken an angle like introduce Roxxon since in past few years, it seems we are gearing towards a crossover wild Roxxon takedown event (Tony's new run is literally going to be Roxxon-Stark war. Thor's run has Roxxon trying to slander Thor to the public)

SEVEN While Clint has been quietly back in New York, he encountered a disheveled (for lack of better term) Hank Pym ( @ / pympartic ) and takes him in. Gets Hank to doctors and Doctor Strange, and manages to confirm this Hank alive and Ultron free. Not wanting to alert everyone, due to his own worries about Hank and respect for Hank's wishes, he tells no one about his appearance and takes Hank in. Hank Pym becomes his roommate rent free, and honestly has helped Clint find some stability by having someone living with him. He's kept Hank a secret, letting Hank be the one to dictate who knows he is alive or not

EIGHT Additionally, consequences for Clint's actions, he truly does not own the Bed Stuy building anymore and it's one of his biggest regrets. He does not live in Bed Stuy anymore, his new apartment is a two bedroom in a different neighborhood in Brooklyn arranged by Tbolts PR Manager, Helen, who happens to have a key by the way (canon fact).

NINE The combo of asking Carol's advice and her becoming his sponsor along for the fact, Clint has been living with Hank Pym and seeing him recover from his traumas, has lead to Clint really trying these days, and always managing to get back go sober because he likes being sober after his slips, as well as it has led Clint to opening his eyes with how dissatisfied with the state of the Thunderbolts.

TEN His roommate, Hank, has begun to make contact with more and more of their mutuals friends, letting them know he's alive and doing well amd this eventually leads to Clint getting back in contact with a lot with a more people.

ELEVEN Such as Tony ( @ / overclocks ) whom Clint has since asked for help from and announced he wants to be an Avenger again and is in the process of quitting the Thunderbolts, once he gets out the contract he signed but didn't necessary scruntize over details. Additionally, Tony has been kind enough to offer to help Clint and Hank out by allowing them to move into an old brownstone he still has (since your pr manger/boss having keys to your apartment is a red flag).

IN SUMMARY Clint's sponsor is Carol, he's sober and going on 6 months soon, he is quitting the Thunderbolts, focusing efforts to be Avenger worthy, he's moving into a vacant brownstone Tony owns, his roommate is Hank Pym back from "the dead" and he'd reconnecting with people such as kate bishop ( looks at dani @ / purplearchcr ) , steve rogers ( looks at dean @ / shieldslinger ), as well as making new connections ( looking at Cass spider zombie @ / spiderz0mbie ). Clint's in his recovery and redemption era.

This is in general the details I am working with when I write with everyone, and is my main 616 setting and plotlines I am developing or have had an increased interest in writing. So if you see these mentions in other threads, now you know.

There is going be shipping in this main verse in which Clint and Hank are gonna smooch (aka Pow and I are severely brainrotted over Hawkant. Clint should kiss his friend, should marry the old Ant Man and adopt kids with him).

Yet here's a little disclaimer / reminder. I am still multiship

(I love all my ship partners and the verses we develop 💜💕 shout out to lynn, aurora, archer, rain, rocky, pom, and ce. I love our ships so much i am looking at all of you)

I do have other 616 verses beautifully crafted with other writers/friends and based around my ship partners and our ships, and I have posts for those somewhere, or I will make a new own when I redo my connections page, but hey if you're writing partner you're my bestie and we could develop verses too).

[otterskin]

Pet Peeves in Thor Stuff

Inspired by a few posts doing this, so thought I’d vent and get it out here.

1. MCU Loki’s Name

I don’t care what the fan-run wikis say. All the official MCU material, including the text of the actual movies themselves, call him Loki Odinson or, for a brief period, Loki of Asgard. Loki Laufeyson is the name of a character from Marvel comics, and him having that name makes sense for that character’s backstory, which is very, very different from ‘adopted at birth and a late discovery’ MCU Loki. Incidentally, Norse Mythology Loki is not Loki Laufeyson, he’s Loki Laufeyjarson, which is a matronym because Laufey is his mother in most Norse Myths.

Loki in Thor 1 was Loki Odinson, Avengers was Loki of Asgard, and he certainly seemed fond of Odin again in Ragnarok and officially reclaimed the title Odinson in IW. He’s called Odinson over and over again in official Marvel publications such as the illustrated dictionary. Please stop using the wrong name. It’s weird and wrong to assume his name MUST default to his birth-father’s upon discovery of adoption, no matter what he’d been called his whole life. Especially when I think it’s pretty clear that Loki vehemently rejects any relationship with that namesake. He literally murdered Laufey to prove to Odin he had only one father, I don’t know how he could be more clear about his preferences.

And yes, I do think that this invalidates the fan-wikis as good sources of information. If they can’t get a name right, you probably shouldn’t trust anything in the article below it. Stick with canon publications.

2. The Transformation Spell

And heck, while we’re on this page, yes, the spell keeping Loki Asgardian is Odin’s. I don’t mind fanfic that posits a different origin, because hey, we’re just trying to have fun here, do what you want and I’ve probably read a lot of it already - but this is the canon explanation, please stop messaging me to tell me I’m wrong when I say it’s Odin’s spell doing it. Also, the reason it didn’t break when Odin died is because magic can outlive the caster, as Doctor Strange said. This ain’t the Phantom Menace.

(Incidentally, this dictionary is fun and even has entries for Huginn and Muninn!)

3. Step-brothers and Half-brothers are different things and neither is correct for Thor and Loki’s relationship. Nor is Odin Loki’s step-father.

I don’t see this in the Thor Fandom much, it’s more in articles and reviews I’ve read, but it’s kinda appalling how people don’t know the difference between brothers, step-brothers, half-brothers, and blood-brothers. Not being sure who your second cousin twice removed is I get, but I would hope that these are much more commonly understood. Just to get it off my chest, even though I’m sure no-one reading has ever thought different -

Step-brothers are when two unrelated families are joined by marriage. The children share no biological parents, but their parents are married. Unless Odin married Laufey at some point, he is not Loki’s step-father, and Thor is not Loki’s step-brother. (I mean, Odin’s had a long and probably very interesting and mysterious life, so I suppose it’s POSSIBLE he had a real bender at one point, but even if he had a Vegas wedding to the King of the Frost Giants and then decided to throw away the ring as if nothing had happened, the relationship he has with Loki has always been identified as ‘Father’).

Half-brothers are when children share one biological parent, but not two. So unless that bender with Laufey got REALLY crazy, Loki is not Thor’s half-brother either.

Blood-brothers - So some people will use this phrase to refer to people who are related by blood, but that’s sort of an older phrase. However, for most elementary school kids and in the context of Norse Mythology, it has another meaning - two people, unrelated by birth, who undergo a ceremony that involves blood mixing as an oath of brotherhood. Norse-Myth Loki is usually depicted as blood-brothers with Odin (and, in a few rare stories I read, with Thor, instead, but that’s a long story about how Thor was slowly starting to replace Odin as chief patriarch and therefore subsuming a lot of his traits and relationships). However, in the MCU, neither of these meanings currently applies to Thor and Loki. They are not blood related, and they’ve not undergone any blood oath ceremony either (although you can bet your briskets I’d LOVE to see that and it’s been in my general prediction box/wish-list since 2011. Imagine how happy it’d make us to see Thor and Loki choose to have their relationship, rather than feeling like it was Odin’s decision and they’re just living with it.).

Brothers - if in doubt about any brotherly relationship, just say this and you won’t be wrong. Thor and Loki are brothers, or adopted brothers, full stop. So no more step-half-blood nonsense.

And to be clear, if you’re writing fanfic that re-imagines this relationship, this is in no way directed at you. I’m more venting at the dearth of articles, presumably written by university graduates with an English degree, who can’t seem to keep this straight.

4. Brother is a Proper Noun

While I’m on this brother train, a small grammatical note - ‘Father’, ‘Mother’, and ‘Brother’, if being used in place of a name, are proper nouns, which means they’re capitalized.

Ex. “Stop smearing your booger on my shirt, Brother.”

It’s not capitalized if it’s not being used in place of a name, but is simply referring to the noun.

Ex. 2 “My brother once ate a whole goat without noticing it was still alive.”

Ex. 3 “I never knew we had a sister.”

Sorry, sorry - but I see this mistake a lot while I’m reading and I daresay I make it myself all the time!

5. Frigga isn’t perfect

Real talk, one of my least favourite tropes in fiction is ‘Woman on a Pedestal’. I really feel it denies female characters agency if they’re made out to be perfect lovely angels loved by everyone. I’ve read a ton of great fics that explore the flaws Frigga is suggested to have in the MCU but never got the screen time to deal with, and they are some of my favourites. I’ve also read a ton where she’s endlessly patient, wise, righteous, and oh-so-much-better than that heartless Odin or oaf Thor, if only she’d been in charge the whole time, nothing would have gone wrong! It’s a matter of taste and I’d never tell anyone to not write what makes them happy, but I really do think Frigga’s a better character when you engage with her mistakes and oversights and less-than-noble aspects. Women in the MCU have really gotten a short shaft when it comes to character arcs, flaws, and general humanity. Almost all the mothers are on pedestals in it, and with that comes a lack of introspection. Frigga could be argued to be in that category, but at least there is some material to suggest her imperfections that can be exploited. (Unlike Quill and Stark’s mothers, say.)

I leave it up to everyone to interpret the character for themselves, but for me her weaknesses are that she

tends to deflect blame for her choices onto others, particularly Odin.

sometimes acts to smooth things over without really acknowledging hurt, either caused or experienced.

has a manipulative streak and isn’t afraid to leverage her sons’ affection for her to get them to do what she wants, which is often ‘smoothing things over’.

probably spoiled her kids a bit

has an allergy to giant knives

Personally I like these things about her. They come from her life as a peace-maker, both in her role as a politician and a Queen and in her role in the family. She’s loyal, clever, witty, a confidant, and had the best scene in Endgame by a long mile. Frigga is the mom we’ve seen the most of, and I would love to see more in any form.

AH.... that felt good. I might do another post on my problems with how Thor is sometimes portrayed, but that’s a whole other, very personal, thing. Thanks for reading this dumb thing.

[that-shamrock-vibe]

WandaVision: Dissecting the MCU’s Most Successful Superhero Couple

Disclaimer: I am only using the term WandaVision as the coupling name for Scarlet Witch and Vision. I am not centring this discussion on the upcoming Disney+ series but rather talking about the 6 year build up to it.

Introduction:

Despite the fact the likes of Hank Pym’s Ant-Man & Janet van Dyne’s Wasp along with Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman are Marvel Comics’ most prominent superhero couples, Scarlet Witch and Vision have always been that “unusual couple” that became a fan-favourite, didn’t diminish either character’s individual stories and, once the two were officially introduced into the MCU in 2015′s Avengers: Age of Ultron, became a hotly anticipated coupling by fans from their somewhat instant connection.

Not only is this comics-accurate love story finally being realised in the MCU, but the fact Kevin Feige feels as passionate about them as fans like I do that he is giving them their own series to shine, along with Wanda herself being involved in the MCU’s next big arc with exploring the Multiverse, I think it is safe to say that WandaVision have outshone the likes of Ant-Man and the Wasp and other couplings to become the MCU’s It couple.

Well, considering Disney+ released a new behind the scenes series called Marvel Legends last week with the first two episodes focusing on Wanda and Vision, despite them being no more than clip-reels of the characters MCU timeline, I wanted to delve in deeper and discuss how characters that were deemed B-worthy enough to be sent to streaming...which suddenly seems like the place to be...have suddenly become the hottest commodities in the MCU.

The Age of Miracles:

Wanda Maximoff first appeared in the MCU in an mid-credits scene for 2014′s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, adding the cherry on the top of what was already a glorious cake of a movie by unofficially introducing Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Sidebar, this was, at its time, very confusing for fans who believed that Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were owned by 20th Century Fox in their X-Men movies. However, after the announcement of the Maximoff twins in the MCU and Quicksilver appearing simultaneously in 2014′s X-Men: Days of Future Past, it was revealed that a deal was made between Fox and Disney that the twins would only have certain traits in either universe.

For the X-Men movies, they would be Mutants, have their origins as the children of Magneto and...even though this never happened...appear as members of the Brotherhood of Mutants.

For the MCU, the Maximoff twins are known as enhanced individuals gaining their powers from the Mind Stone after experimentation from HYDRA. There is no mention of them being Mutants, their parents were indirect victims of Stark Industries, and despite Pietro having his original speed physiology powers, Wanda started off with Psionic Manipulation rather than Chaos Magic as her comic-book counterpart has.

However, it has been confirmed by Kevin Feige that Wanda’s shapeless red energy is magic of the same elk to Doctor Strange, just untamed. Meaning the upcoming alternative sitcom reality Wanda has created in WandaVision restoring Vision, could be an application of her latent reality warping powers.

The Maximoff Twins were officially introduced in 2015′s Avengers: Age of Ultron originally as operatives of HYDRA, before moving on to serve Ultron until defecting from him after realising he was evil and joining the Avengers in their fight to save their home country Sokovia.

Vision meanwhile was officially introduced at the end of the second act for the movie but his predecessor JARVIS was first introduced in Iron Man way back when in 2008...the movie that started it all.

As Tony Stark’s A.I. assistant, JARVIS was stated by Stark to be a top of the range program that runs more of Stark Industries than anyone other than Pepper Potts as CEO. However, when Stark had the ingenious idea to create Ultron...otherwise known as RDJ wanting to steal Hank Pym’s most famous comic-book storyline...as a peacekeeping program to safeguard Earth from extra-terrestrial threats, in typical sci-fi fashion Ultron goes evil and seemingly destroys JARVIS.

However, JARVIS simply retreated into the server only to return after the Avengers acquire Ultron’s recently created synthetic android. The Science Bros. transfer JARVIS’ conscience into the synthetic body and with the help of Thor/s thunder charge Vision was born.

I have to say also, while superhero movie trailers do get me excited for said superhero movie, seeing the reveal of Vision in the final Age of Ultron trailer gave me that wow factor moment only X-Men trailers usually do.

Comics to Movies:

As I have always admitted, I am not as in-depth with the comics as the movies. However, Scarlet Witch and Vision are two characters I have followed pretty since I first found out about them in the mid-noughties as a teenager.

But what cemented the two as my favourite Marvel characters overall, from Comics, to Movies to TV, is the literal creation of the twin sons Wiccan and Speed who became key members in the Young Avengers.

Now yes, both characters have had lives separate from each other because, as I said before, they are still their own characters despite being also known as a couple. But while Wanda has had a somewhat twincestuous relationship with her brother in far comics history, and Vision had his own family of synthetic androids including daughter Viv, who was a playable character in Marvel’s Avengers Academy, I find the best in Marvel Comics writing was actually after their twins were reabsorbed into the demon Mephisto as they were fragments of his soul and Wanda went crazy heralding in the House of M.

Also, not only is Wanda apparently getting her Scarlet Witch moniker either during or after the MCU Multiverse arc, but also a more comics-accurate costume. Up until now Wanda’s costume in the MCU has been they street-casual which does suit the Wanda of Sokovia. Even when she joined the Avengers and got an upgraded costume it did seem more like something someone could wear for a casual day out...as proof, my sister dressed up as the MCU Scarlet Witch by finding clothes in standard clothing stores rather than costume outlets.

My favourite Scarlet Witch outfit to date has been her full-length red gown complete with headdress from the comics, the headdresses of Magneto’s daughters are so iconic that when Polaris crafted her own out of Magneto’s medallion in The Gifted I was fanboying so hard.

We already know Wanda will be wearing a Halloween costume inspired by her iconic comics suit in WandaVision, but if the Halloween costume looks that impressive, I cannot wait to see what her actual supersuit looks like.

Throughout the MCU:

Right from the start, I really enjoyed both Scarlet Witch and Vision in the MCU, despite Scarlet Witch still not to be known as Scarlet Witch to date in the MCU. But from when we see cameos of Wanda and Pietro as experiments of HYDRA, that one quick shot of Wanda displaying her powers I was sold.

Vision meanwhile gave himself a somewhat modified version of his comics-accurate cape because he saw Thor had a cape and wanted one. He could also wield Mjølnir, does this make him worthy? It must do despite the Avengers constant mithering about it. If you can wield Mjølnir you’re worthy.

Talking from a romance perspective, it was a big tease of the two getting together right up until 2018′s Avengers: Infinity War as while it was teased in 2016′s Captain America: Civil War, a romance wasn’t actually shown until we find them in Scotland.

Interestingly enough in the comics, the couple retire to New Jersey rather than Scotland.

Also, like a lot of heroes, both Wanda and Vision seemed to get an upgrade in powers every movie. We always got teases of both their full potentials in the quieter moments like when Pietro died and Wanda, feeling her twin dying, vaporised the surrounding Ultron Sentries in a moment of distraught heartache and when Vision destroyed the last Ultron Sentry.

But it wasn’t until Captain America: Civil War, where we learned that Wanda could control the Mind Stone powering Vision and Vision could easily severely injure another hero and then in Infinity War when either Vision created a human guise for himself or maybe Wanda did, while Wanda not only made short work of Thanos’ army but could also destroy the Mind Stone and, in Endgame take on and possibly defeat Thanos single-handed, that we got a true display of her powers.

MCU creatives have stated that Scarlet Witch is in fact the most powerful MCU hero after it was originally stated Captain Marvel was, so when Wanda finally upgrades and realises her true potential this should be fully realised making Scarlet Witch the most powerful MCU character.

WandaVision and MCU Future:

Here’s what we know about WandaVision:

Wanda finds herself in a sitcom television universe potentially of her own making after not only losing Vision, but not forgetting also Wanda has lost her family including her twin brother as well as friends and teammates Black Widow, Captain America and even Iron Man.

For someone who was late-teens early-twenties at the time of Age of Ultron, this makes her late-20s early-30s by the time of this series, my age, and so obviously all of this loss and grief will play havoc on one’s mind let alone everything else she has gone through.

Also Vision is back but I still don’t know to what extent that is, is he only back in this alternate sitcom reality or has Wanda willed him back into existence in the same way that she willed their twin sons into reality in the comics.

Speaking of which, we know the couple have twins in the series as when they’re in their 80s sitcom setting, we see two bassinettes and it’s hinted we will see them as teenagers.

It has to be Wiccan and Speed, it can’t not be. This would be a massive red mark on WandaVision’s scorecard if it isn’t. I have recently heard rumours they could be human-android hybrids to match the parents and someone even suggesting Viv could be one of the twins...but I can’t fathom why if the Young Avengers are coming into play with the confirmation of Kate Bishop, America Chavez and Stature, why these two core characters wouldn’t be at play.

The other hotly anticipated character introduction is Kathryn Hahn as Agnes...again if this isn’t Agatha Harkness then it is major tease. Agnes is surely an alias for Agatha Harkness who in the comics and even X-Men: Evolution was Scarlet Witch’s mentor for controlling her powers.

The only difference between the two incarnations is in every other version of the character Agatha is an old woman whereas Kathryn Hahn looks like Kathryn Hahn. It will also be great to see Agatha Harkness in a comedic setting as Kathryn Hahn is hilarious.

We also have returning MCU characters Jimmy Woo, Monica Rambeau and Darcy Lewis added to the series. All three may not be connected or they all could be working for SWORD which is the successor to SHIELD first seen in the post-credits scene for Spider-Man: Far From Home.

I’m thrilled to have Kat Dennings back in the MCU and considering both she and Randall Park have a history in comedy, the sitcom settings should suit them well.

I’m not sure why any of these characters are connected to Scarlet Witch or Vision considering all three are connected to separate heroes Ant-Man, Captain Marvel and Thor respectively, but any excuse to bring them back I’ll take it.

What is also more or less confirmed is the ending of WandaVision will see a massive witch fight between Wanda and Agnes resulting in Wanda tearing a hole in the multiverse starting the Multiverse arc in the MCU which will be picked up in Spider-Man 3 and resolved in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness with Wanda set to appear in both movies.

As for Vision’s fate post WandaVision, it is currently unknown where he will appear next if at all, and it may actually depend on the success of the series, but we know that Wiccan and Speed will become part of the Young Avengers so they’re staying on.

It is also worth noting that in the Young Avengers, a second version of Vision known as Jonas was a member of the team created through Nathaniel Richard’s neurokinetic armor gaining sentience after having Vision’s operating system downloaded into it.

Nathaniel Richards is a distant relative to Reed Richards aka Mister Fantastic who is set to appear in the upcoming Fantastic 4 movie, but is also a time remnant of Kang the Conqueror who is set to appear in the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantummania and may be alluded to in the upcoming Disney+ series Loki.

Nathaniel is also Iron Lad, who forms the Young Avengers as part of the Avengers Fail-Safe program. Do you see how this all ties together?

So basically even if we don’t see this Vision again after WandaVision, we may see Jonas in the Young Avengers.

As for the future for Scarlet Witch post-multiverse, if they are bringing in Wiccan and Speed, I really want the next big arc to be the Children’s Crusade. I know fans want House of M...WandaVision is possibly as close to House of M as we’re going to get.

Children’s Crusade is how Wiccan and Speed learn about and are reunited with their estranged mother who has lost her memories and is living in wedded bliss with Doctor Doom...who could easily be introduced in said Fantastic 4 movie.

Conclusion:

Whatever the future holds for Scarlet Witch and Vision, no one can deny that this love story has not only been an organic one, but with it set to be the running theme for WandaVision, this love story is most definitely one for the ages.

So that’s my analysis of the newest superhero superpowered couple currently at play in the MCU, what do you guys think? Is WandaVision a couple for the ages? Will they have a place in the MCU after the upcoming Disney+ series?

Post your comments and check out more MCU Reviews as well as other posts and WandaVision starting this Friday (Jan 15).

[9worldstales]

MCU Loki: Speculations on the “Loki” series

So, for the fun of it I’m gonna speculate on the whole “Loki” series.

For start Time Variance Authority.

In the comic the TVA seems to represent the lawful alignment. It doesn’t mean it will do the same in the “Loki” series, Marvel sometimes change things but let’s pretend they left this unchanged.

Before you start thinking this is a good thing, let’s remember the lawful alignment doesn’t define the moral axis of something, merely the ethical one. General Thunderbolt Ross and the Krees can be considered as lawful as Captain America and Rhodey, only the first two are lawful evil while the last two are lawful good.

Karl Mordo in “Doctor Strange” instead moves from lawful good to lawful evil.

For the TVA what matters are the rules. They are, of course, sure that respecting the rules is a good thing, and if this requires to wipe out an entire temporal line… well, no problem of theirs.

In short the TVA are your sort of guys who might decide that no, the Avengers shouldn’t have gone back in time and hamper with the timeline and save half of the universe because… it’s against their rules.

Here they seem worried that Loki has changed things. I would argue that it’s the Avengers that went back in the past and change things but let’s explore what it means if Loki didn’t met up the same fate as the one of the ordinary timeline.

Well, for start the Bifrost doesn’t get repaired as Thor used the Tesseract to repair it.

This might mean that, for start the Nine Realms will have to do without Asgard’s protection but, in more MCU terms that Thor won’t be able to go back home. There’s to wonder if he’ll manage to make peace with Jane and reach for her when she will be possessed by the Aether.

If he doesn’t, as a result, the Aether can fall more easily in Malekit’s hands, who will attack Earth directly instead than Asgard.

We might not end up having Thanos because the Dark Elves win and wipe away people themselves, turning the whole series in a variation of “War of realms”.

Okay, no, I don’t think we’ll get “War of realms” but it’s a pity.

What I wonder if the fact that they have Loki and Moebius interact is because one is chaotic and the other is lawful and the theme of the story is going to be this.

Chaotic again, isn’t necessarily evil, it only means you don’t respect the rules.

Scott Lang from “Ant-Man” is chaotic good for example. The Vulture from “Spider Man Homecoming” is chaotic evil.

Same as Karl Mordo Loki tends to change his moral axis at need. Prior to “Thor” he’s chaotic good, in “The Avengers” he’s Chaotic evil, in “Avengers: Infinity War” he’s back on being Chaotic good again.

So the whole show can open the discussion of how respecting or not rules should be tied to moral values. We shouldn’t respect a law aimed at hurting others… but we shouldn’t break law carelessly either as there will be consequences.

For example…. There’s a scene showing Loki in Pompeii.

Should the people in the city be warned mount Somma (yeah, it’s mount Somma which erupted, what will remain of it after the eruption will be named Vesuvius) is about to erupt and therefore saved or should we let them all die because, after all, their death is kind of already happened from Loki and Mobius perspective?

It’s a question that, in a way, was opened and ignored in “Avengers: Endgame”. The Avengers decide to save all the people that were blipped away by Thanos… but what about the ones he killed previously?

The half of Asgardian refugees, Heimdall, Loki, the dwarves on Nidavellir, the people on Xandar he wiped away to get the power stone, the people that die in the battle of New York, that was still caused by Thanos even if he didn’t oversee it personally, Gamora’s family and people?

Thor arrives in Asgard and is forced to face that most of the people there will be dead… would it have been really bad if he warned them against Hela so that more could survive? If he saved his mom and then asked her to find an alternate way to get the same ending with the Dark Elves only this time it doesn’t include her dying?

It’s questions worth making because they touch our moral axis as, if we do nothing, we let those people die/dead.

For a greater good? How can we know the result and for who’s the greater good? For us?

So anyway this has the potential to be cool, because when the lines on the moral axis blur and you don’t know anymore if something is good or evil, the decisions are taken by the ethical axis.

And someone lawful would just say ‘the law says so therefore letting those people die has to be the good choice’ while someone chaotic would say ‘screw the law, it can’t be good, I’m gonna save my mom and worry about consequences later’.

And this is awesome material for a story.

Though, of course, they can also take inspiration from “Agent of Asgard” in which old Loki, despite thinking that nothing would change even if Loki were to try to be good, still changed the past so that Loki could have a better chance at life and could make a more informed decision in the end.

(the scene of Loki’s decision is “Agent of Asgard” is AWESOME and way better than whatever redemption arc the MCU came up with by the way so I’m all to get that if they do the appropriate work)

Going on.

In the comics Mobius is a bureaucrat, cloned for his job and who knows nothing else but it.

Of course Marvel can portray him differently but let’s assume they’ll run with this.

So it can be that for Mobius everything is just ‘data’ and people are merely ‘entities’ and this not because he’s evil but because that’s how he has been taught to live.

He studied all of Loki’s life, but that’s it, for him they probably were data, not someone’s life, just a list of facts with no emotional value attached.

Studying Loki’s life is a job, and he might dedicate to it with the same mind setting of a student studying Caesar’s life.

He might not stop to wonder how painful the stabbing was, how horrible it could have been to see that his son was among the stabbers, how desperately he attempted to protect himself as he tried to flee and how brutal the others were as they continued to stab him even when he fell and lay there defenceless.

All he might care for is he died in 15 March 44 BC, attacked by around 60 men and stabbed 23 times, one of the stabs given by Brutus and that’s it. And then on March 15th put on Tumblr a stabbed Caesar salad and joke on his death because, by now Caesar is no more viewed as a person, just as a historical record.

For Mobius Loki might be just a record and even if Loki sits in front of him, he’s no more than data and someone to use. If Mobius gets an arc in which he develops he might learn to view Loki as a person, which doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll stop being lawful.

He might learn to feel sorry for him but still say ‘but the law says this is it’ or he might shift his ethical axis.

It would still be an interesting plot.

And for Loki too there’s potential for things to be interesting because he might, for once, to feel in control.

Most of Loki’s life is dictated by him not being in control.

He didn’t get to decide to be a Frost Giant, picked up by Odin, raised by an Asgardian and revealed the truth too late. He didn’t get to decide to be the less favoured son and he came to believe nothing he would do would make him worthy in Odin’s eyes. He was sent by Thanos to conquer Earth, manipulated by the sceptre. And now the TVA has captured him and they’re forcing him to cooperate.

If he’s given the power to affect the past he might grow to believe he’s actually not forced to submit to other people’s choices but that he’s in control of his fate.

It’s part of the point of “Agent of Asgard”.

Old Loki came to believe no matter what he did, he couldn’t change things, he would always be the ‘god of lies’, but the Loki of “Agent of Asgard” instead decided he would be something else and became the master of his own fate.

It would be a good development.

Of course, I’ve not the slightest idea if Marvel will go according to this route.

There’s really too little to judge and I’ll admit I won’t like it much if the point is not so much to save Loki but save Lady Loki because, no offence to Lady Loki who might have an even worse past than Loki, but it’s Loki the character I grew to love and I wish would be saved.

Last but not least, as I feared the whole ‘You've literally stabbed people in the back like fifty times’ quote produced a lot of discussing when it shouldn’t have.

Like, we miss most of the content but, from the look of it, it’s not like Loki, on his own, decided to pay a visit to the TVA and to help them. They captured him, he even though they wanted to kill him, they very likely forced him to cooperate.

Now, in this case any guy with an ounce of brain does what Tony did when he was held captive by the Ten Rings and they asked him to build them weapons if they don’t want to end tortured or killed. They say ‘yes’, gain their trust and then build a Iron-Man suit behind their back with whom they can stab them. In the back, yeah, because that’s what people with a modicum intelligence and no magic hammer should do with guys who overpower them and held them captive.

It’s a basic survival skill, not a proof you’re untrustworthy. People don’t own captors to be trustworthy to them and this message must never be allowed to pass.

You has to be trustworthy with people who deserve it, not with people who force you to be subservient.

So yeah, I hope Loki will stab the TVA in the back because no matter how lawful an righteous they feel, they clearly impose to everyone their law and no matter how much they claim they make the world better, they’re clearly sacrificing people.

[nxsmss]

movies I watched in March

I made some changes about how I will post these. first of all, I won't be adding the cast and plot because I'm too lazy, sorry. second, I added if I would watch the movie again, and lastly I'm gonna post my reviews every week because doing it monthly makes the list too long imo

wonder woman

finding ohana

the lost city of z

promising young woman

the last sharknado: it's about time

secret society of second born royals

sentinelle

captain america civil war

doctor strange

guardians of the galaxy vol. 2

deadpool

instant family

spiderman homecoming

deadpool 2

rock it

groupies bleiben nicht zum frühstück

yes day

the amazing spiderman

mulan (2020)

happy death day 2U

contagion

jumanji

thor ragnarok

guns akimbo

black panther

infinity war

1. wonder woman

okay, first of all it's an amazing movie there's no doubt in that but there are just two tiny things that are bugging me and maybe it's just because it's a DC movie and my dad basically punched it into me to be a marvel fan since I was 10. so, i did not like those shots were the characters were either falling because of a punch or jumping several hundred meters. it just looks weird and unnatural in my opinion. and the other thing... could they give her any less clothing?!?! I know it's very comic accurate but c'mon

7.5/10

would I watch it again? probably ya

2. finding ohana

this was such a cute fun little movie. i really enjoyed. it's kinda like 'journey to the center of earth' just made for today's generation and it made me feel a little nostalgic. I fuxking loved ioane's throwing up noises

8/10

would I watch it again? hm I'm gonna go with yes

3. the lost city of z

its a good movie, i can't deny that and I should definitely give it a higher rating but I thought it was like this exciting adventure movie, which it wasn't, it is based on real events and I didn't know that starting this movie. what didnt help, was that I was really tired when I watched it. I fell asleep for a bit and even my dad fell asleep, which kinda says a lot cause he never falls asleep during a movie (only if it's really late, which it wasn't. we finished it before 11)

I have to admit I think my rating would be a lot higher if I went into this movie with a different mindset!! I feel sorry only giving it 4 stars :(

4/10

would I watch it again? yes when I'm in the right mood

4. promising young woman

oh I liked this, I really did and I can recommend watching this. I did like the end, not cassie's end tho, but u like that they all kind got what they deserve. (little spoiler I was really rooting for ryan and him turning out to be an ass kinda crushed me a little)

8/10

would I watch it again? hm not sure

5. the last sharknado: it's about time

my friends hate me for watching all of these movies and tbh I hate myself too for doing so🤦🏻‍♀️ they are all so terrible!! and I have no idea if they do that on purpose or not, I really hope so. it's just so fucking bad that it's funny again. the plot is just stupid and we do not talk about the special effects. I cant really give a serious rating to this movie because it would have to be like a 0. but I feel like I cant rate it like that because I still fuckifn enjoyed watching it haha

I fucking lost it when fin pulled the sword out of the stone and it was a chainsaw

would I watch it again? yes and I hate myself for this answer

6. secret society of second born royals

fun little family movie, makes me wish I was a second born haha. it's good, there was a very very unexpected twist in this movie that neither me or my family saw coming. I just think it wasn't exactly my type

4/10

would I watch it again? nah

7. sentinelle

yea um.. it's a no from me. it was kinda really boring and it felt like there wasn't happening anything. it was supposed to be an action movie but there was hardly any action in it

2/10

would I watch it again? no

8. captain america civil war

another one of my favorite marvel movies

10/10

would I watch it again? yes

9. doctor strange

dont know what to say hahaha but if i could be a character in the mcu i would very much like it if i was a sorceress

9/10

would I watch it again? yes

10. guardians of the galaxy vol. 2

I think this is in general one of the least favourite movies in the fandom but I like it a lot. think i actually like it more that the first one and I love that we saw more of yondu in this, I really like his "powers" and the end was really sad.

8.5/10

would I watch it again? yes

11. deadpool + 14. deadpool 2

love love love the deadpool movies!!! can only recommend them. I like the second a bit more tho. what I was disappointed in, before it was released they made such a big deal about the rating saying "oh its gonna be so brutal and blah blah blah" and then, both of the movies are rated age 16+. I remember, for the first one I was so excited and then i watched it and i was like "well.. that wasn't exactly how I thought it was gonna be but okay

8/10

8.5/10

would I watch it again? yup

12. instant family

this is one of my absolute favorite movies ever. god I love it so much and the end always makes me cry (not in a sad way)

10/10 definitely

would I watch it again? YES

13. spiderman homecoming

I dont know what it is with me and this movie but I just dont really like it. I cant explain it. I'm also not the biggest mcu spiderman fan (sorry, please dont hate on me)

5/10

would I watch it again? yes if I'm doing a mcu rewatch but I don't think I would ever pick homecoming to watch when I'm bored

15. rock it

this has to be one of my favourite childhood movies (I dont even knowing I can say childhood, I was like 10 when it came out haha) I feel so sorry for all you non german speakers that cant enjoy this movie as much as i/we do. god I love it so much😂 and why the fuck isn't the soundtrack on spotify, I hate it

if you're german and you didn't watch this movie as a child I am very sorry for you.

I can already see myself watching "groupies bleiben nicht zum frühstück" sometime soon🤦🏻‍♀️

10/10 (god I had to) actually no 9/10 because of the ending. I'd liked it more if they would have kicked her out of the school and they got the band back together

would I watch it again? duh

16. groupies bleiben nicht zum frühstück

yup, I watched it. and I dont like it that I did because my aggression level was already high when I started and this movie did not help with it. the main actress is just no. I'm not sure if it's her or the character but I absolutely do not like her performance in this. argh it makes me want to break something. the songs slap tho!!

this movie is just straight up 1D fanfiction from 2013

4/10 but the songs are definitely 10/10 (they definitely got inspired by green day)

would I watch it again? ugh I hope not.

17. yes day

oh I loved this movie!! fun little family movie. it only has 5.7 stars on IMDb which i totally dont get, should be higher imo. loved seeing edgar ramirez in something other than an action/thriller kinda movie.

9/10

would I watch it again? yes but I don't think anytime soon

18. the amazing spiderman

aahh the feelings I got watching this movie. like I was 12 again... I love it and this movie. andrew garfield is my favorite spiderman and no one can change my mind.

9/10

would I watch it again? yup

19. mulan (2020)

I liked it. I don't know/remember the original disney movie so maybe that's why I like it. to me it feels like they got inspired by the original movie and made a version for (young) adults. it definitely didn't feel like a kids movie

5/10

would I watch it again? I think so yea

20. happy death day 2u

naahh I didnt like this one. the first one was good (I think, I dont remember) but this one was really boring. if it wasn't for my dad I would've stopped the movie half way through

1/10

would I watch it again? no.

21. contagion

it's a very good and interesting movie but tbh i was a bit bored towards the end but maybe that was just because of my mood

6/10

would I watch it again? hm, yea probably

22. jumanji

I'm not really a fan of Dwayne Johnson but I like/tolerate him in this haha. it's a fun adventure movie, I really like it, can recommend. when I watched it in theaters I didn't know nick jonas was in it and when he showed up my sister and I completely lost it

8.5/10

would I watch it again? yes

23. thor ragnarok

another one of my favorite marvel movie. I think definitely top 5. cinematography, soundtrack, jeff goldblum, everything is just 😚👌🏼 I just realised I really miss heimdall. such an underrated character and I wish he didn't die in infinity war

god the memories I get watching this movie. I think since ultron, my family and i have been to the premiere/the first screening, whatever, of every marvel movie and for some reason this was monday midnight, no idea why... but we went anyways. my mom drank 2 liters of cola, we were home again at like 3am and everyone had to get up by like 7 the next day because of school and work.

10/10

would I watch it again? hell yes haha

24. guns akimbo

wow. I gotta say I went into this with very low expectations but I was pleasantly surprised. nice fun action movie but it also made you think about some serious issues afterwards. I loved the camera work on most of the action scenes.

7.5/10

would I watch it again? yea maybe

25. black panther

it's a fucking masterpiece!!

10/10

would I watch it again? stupid question

26. infinity war

painful

10/10

would I watch it again? another stupid question

[redstarwriting]

Dimension Hopper

Avengers x Reader

Request: “Hi!! I was wondering if I could request an imagine about a reader from our universe going to the marvel universe?? And she's super smart and strong but like, a little younger than Peter (15). I'm still not over Endgame so can she be confused when everything is normal and the Tony thing didn't happen, and the avengers are confused about why she is so happy about tony, idk just FLUFF PLEASE😊💖“

Word Count: 1,858

Genre: Fluff, Platonic

Warnings: Endgame spoilers, swearing, run on sentences

A/N: Not gonna lie, I got carried away on this one. I might make a part two to it to show just how close the reader gets with the rest of the Avengers in this specific story, and to show that she’s a strong ass girl as well. I already have ideas for it, and I really enjoyed writing this one. I hope y’all enjoy it as well! I’m working on all the other requests I have right now, so if you sent one in I’ll get to it as soon as I can!

───────────────────────────────────

Saying you felt like your heart was ripped out of your chest was an understatement. You’d just seen Endgame, and while you loved it and honestly had an out of body experience during it, Tony died. No more Iron Man in the MCU. Needless to say, you cried your eyes out. Even though he was a fictional character, he was your role model. You, like him, were very interested in engineering and science and things like that. In fact, you understood a lot of what Tony could do, and you’re only fourteen years old. You keep the fact that you can understand all the complicated engineering things that Tony talks about a secret, of course, considering the technology to actually pull off what he can do doesn’t actually exist in this world. You were working on that though. When you weren’t doing your schoolwork or reading comics or watching Marvel movies, you were out in your garage, working to become this world’s Tony Stark.

Needless to say, as soon as your parents park, you hurry to start working on your projects. You’ve already seen Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and the entire concept of it interested you. Different dimensions, the multiverse, it all was something that seemed to be calling out to you. So, needless to say, you were trying to find a way to travel to other dimensions, only safely. You don’t want to find out what that glitchy thing that happens in Spider-Verse actually feels like. You’re just grateful that your dad happens to own a weapons company, much like another super genius in the universe that you would like to travel to. That’s what allows you to develop and invent all the time. It’s quite convenient, actually. Nevertheless, you’re lost in your work, distracting yourself from your sadness about Tony Stark, and you don’t even realize how much time has passed. It’s a Saturday, and you saw the movie at a one o’clock showing, so you got out of it at around four o’clock, meaning you started working at around five since you went and ate dinner with your parents. Now, it is four in the morning. And you are tired. It’s not the first time you pass out at your crafting table, and it certainly won’t be the last.

Now, you’ve gotten pretty far on the designing and creating of the fancy touch technology that Tony uses in the movies, and you’ve been using it more and more. Laptops and touch screen phones are a thing of the past for you, but you haven’t shared anything you’ve discovered with the world yet. Why, you ask? You’re fourteen. Chances are no one would believe you and they’d probably just say your dad was the one who actually did it, and you’re not about to let the things you designed get credited to someone else, even if he helped create you. With the technology you’ve created though, you can do things that are way beyond thought of on this Earth. And that leads back to the task you have at hand. Dimension hopping. Although you’ve fallen asleep, diagnostics for the machine that will be used to help dimension hop are being run through over and over again. You finished the basics of it, now you just need to find the exact way it will actually work. Lucky for you, a successful way is found. You’re just sleeping when it is. Crazily enough, the program downloaded itself into your watch, and you must have moved around and hit something in your sleep, because you hopped a dimension. The only downside? You were asleep when it happened. So, imagine your shock when you wake up, and everything around you is abandoned. Your machinery and equipment are nowhere to be found. You glance down at your wrist, pulling up information on what the hell is going on from your watch that you designed. “April 28, 2019… but what happened to my lab…?” you mutter, confusion and utter devastation flooding your mind. You think for a second and realize something. What if you’re in a different dimension? You frantically begin typing, trying to figure out what’s happening. Before you can even begin to look at the search results, though, the ceiling behind you gets blasted through. You turn, seeing none other than Iron Man, Tony Stark himself, looking at you. “A kid? You’re the one who caused a surge of energy?” you hear him say, and you just stare at him. “Y-You’re-“

“Rogers, it’s just a kid. She’s not about to harm anyone. She’s not even armed with anything and she literally just woke up… no, believe me Barton, I know what falling asleep while inventing looks like. She’s got it written all over her face. And hair. Yeah, of course you can come in, I already told you she’s harmless.”

Tony steps out of his Iron Suit, looking directly at you, and you literally just stare at him with your mouth wide open. “What’s your name kid?”

“You’re real?! And alive!” you blurt out and Tony just stares at you. “Wha-” You cut Tony off by crushing him in a hug. “Woah! Okay, okay, hey,” he decides to let it happen, but he is pretty confused. Before the embrace is over, Steve Rogers, accompanied by Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff, and Clint Barton all walk through the door. Through the gigantic hole Tony had previously made in the ceiling flies Thor. You immediately pull back from Tony, and nearly start crying. “Nat’s alive too! Oh my god this is amazing!” You start freaking out, and now they’re all looking at you with a weird expression. “Okay, what’s going on?” Steve asks, approaching you. “You’re not old!”

“No, he’s old, he just looks young,” Tony says, and Steve gives him a look. You laugh, shaking your head. “No I know he’s like 101 years old, but he still looks like 25! He isn’t an old man on the outside!”

“What the hell is going on here, Stark?” Clint asks. “Yes, I am also wondering who this child is and why she is stating that we are all alive when it is obvious that we are all alive,” Thor says. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Tony tells him. “Okay, yeah I can imagine how this is weird but oh my god you guys don’t understand. I watched you guys die and now you’re here and I’m here and you’re all okay and you’re all together again and I’m just so happy you guys are amazing, Tony you’re my literal idol I want to be just like you and I’m so excited I finally get to meet you and I know I’m repeating myself and if this was typed out it would be a huge run on sentence and-”

“Wait, slow down, you watched us die?” Tony interrupts you, concern written all over his face. “Yes! And to be completely honest I have no idea how all of you are alive and I’m totally confused about it... does Thanos exist? Are you guys searching for the infinity stones? ‘Cause if not, you should totally do that before Thanos-”

“How do you know about the stones? And Thanos- who are you?” Tony asks, in obvious disbelief. “Oh, yeah! I forgot that part, my name is (Y/N), I’m fourteen years old, and I already told you I love you, but I love you. Like a lot. Like you inspired me to become an engineer... but seriously, how are you guys alive?”

“Well, we did fight Thanos in Wakanda, but he never got the chance to snap his fingers. Thor cut his head clean off with Stormbreaker and Doctor Strange used the time stone to bring Vision back and Cap and I decided to set aside our differences and start working together again. After a risk that big, it would be better for all of us to work together than be separated but that’s enough about that, you’re fourteen and you’re already an engineer?”

“Oh my god, that’s crazy! Everything I though I knew was a lie what the heck, this is insane! And you’re back together?! This is so great. I’m so happy I designed this watch so I could jump from my dimension to this dimension-”

“Your dimension to this dimension?”

“Yes, my dimension to your dimension.”

“You’re from a different dimension?”

“Yeah! Isn’t that cool! And so far, no glitches and my organs feel fine so I’d like to say this was a success, the only problem is I don’t entirely know how I got here,” you think out-loud, pulling up the hologram like technology that exists in this world already from your watch, beginning to type some things out. “So you invented that watch?” Tony asks, walking over to you to see what you were typing. “Uh-huh… it only took around two and a half months to design the watch itself and integrate the dimensional navigation software, but the technology used in it took me about six months to develop.” You can feel Tony’s eyes on you, but you just keep typing away. “How long did you say you were going to stay here?” you hear Bruce ask, and you shrug. “I didn’t say, but to be honest it looks like I’m stuck here because fun fact, this was somehow activated while I was asleep. I have no idea how to get back to my dimension, so…” you look at Tony, “Do you have a place I could stay until I figure it out?”

“Uh, yeah I do. I kind of want to talk to you about some things. I’ve noticed you don’t have an A.I. I could help you out with that, you’d be amazed at how much simpler it makes things,” Tony says, and your eyes widen. “Really?! I can have my own JARVIS?!”

“Hell yeah you can. Now with this watch, do you think that-“

“I hate to interrupt your science party, but are we just ignoring how she knows so much about us?” Natasha asks. “Oh! The dimension I’m from is hero-less. You guys exist in movies, I’ve seen every major battle you guys have had. Including one that won’t even happen because your timeline is different from the timeline that was created in my dimension,” you explain, not diverting your attention from your watch. “I have them all if you’d want to watch them. The actors look just like you guys, it’s pretty dope,” you inform and they all stare at you in disbelief. “You know, (Y/N), I think we’re gonna be good friends,” Tony tells you, and you smile. If you thought it was crazy that you discovered dimensional traveling, it’s even crazier that you just met not only your idol, but your future best friend. With the things he taught you, you went back to your dimension and released all of your tech, advancing the boring old Earth you knew. You constantly travelled between your dimension and the Avengers’ dimension, and because of Tony you always had a place to stay. You also may have brought Peter Parker to prom. Crazy how that works.

[scifigeneration]

RIP Stan Lee 1922- 2018

by Daryle Lockhart

Not many of us get to see the worlds we create turn into worldwide blockbusters. Not many of us can say that we were part of the creation of a cinematic universe. One that has those achievements on their resume? Stanley Martin Lieber - known to the galaxy as Stan Lee, the name synonymous with Marvel Comics. Stan died today at 95.

Before becoming the best-known cameo actor in Hollywood, Stan was a comic-book writer, editor, and publisher. He was formerly editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, and later its publisher and chairman before leaving the company to become its chairman emeritus.

Disney bought Marvel for $4 Billion and created Marvel Studios, which made years of stories available to be adapted into big-budget movies. 

But it all came from a decision in the late 1950s, when Timely Comics (which would become Marvel) assigned Lee to come up with a new superhero team. Stan's wife Joan suggested that he take on the challenge using stories he actually wanted to write. That advice lead to a different take on the superhero archetype - complex characters with bad moods, money problems, etc. It’s pretty common to see heroes like that now,  but it was relatively unheard of before the Marvel era. 

The first superhero group Lee and artist Jack Kirby created together was the Fantastic Four. The adventures of the first family of Marvel was a hit. This lead to other creations with Kirby, like the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, and the X-Men. He created Daredevil with Bill Everett, and with Steve Ditko, who died earlier this year in June - created Doctor Strange and Spider-Man. 

Stan’s vision of Marvel brought New York City to the world - even making sure we all knew the state motto - “Excelsior”!

I personally grew up a big fan of the man, as Fantastic Four was literally the first science fiction story I ever read. I met Stan in 2006 in Los Angeles and he was one of the few famous people I’ve ever asked for an autograph. 

To say he’ll be missed is an understatement. But I’d like to think that we will be able to draw on his creations and co-creation as inspiration to build a better future. 

[soaringlanddormitory]

Okay so now that Infinity War is on the brain, who is everyone’s favorite Marvel superhero?

Gosh I love Infinity War [aka: I’m a nerd for Marvel, mostly kjgbdf] Thank you for this question!!

Ethan has to say that his favorite Superhero would be Peter Quill!! Or better known as Star-Lord!! He loves the character in general, and he would defend him from anyone who blames him for the outcome of Infinity War.

Hang thinks Doctor Strange’s abilities are really cool!! So she has to pick him!! She also thinks that he’s pretty clever, and that the fact he could see numerous possibilities in things could be really useful!!

Lyron wouldn’t exactly call him superhero, but he isn’t too interested in the heroes’ stories anyway. If something, he’d rather say his favorite one is Loki. But if he REALLY has to pick one, he’d pick Ant-Man!!

Miray absolutely loves Iron Man!! The fact that he doesn’t really have a superpower but he’s got the brains and also tons of money is what makes him really special!!

Everlyn would take a while to pick who she likes most, but it’d end up as Hulk!! She just loves the idea of how a man could suddenly transform to such a big creature after a situation. Also loved the part where Hulk did something to Loki.

Shizuya has to say that from all of the heroes, his favorite would probably be Black Panther!! Like he’s just an inspiring person to him!! And also the fact that he cried on Black Panther made the whole movie even more special to him.

Sung has to admit- His favorite would DEFINITELY be Captain America!! He actually has comics of him back at home and he even some in the dorm!! He just found his history really cool and he quickly got attached to the character.

Yuliya didn’t know too much about the movies UNTIL the whole dorm decided to binge watch it during one of the breaks, and she suffered from the lack of sleep but- Honestly, she really likes The Vision!!

Christelle is absolutely in love with Scarlet Witch. She’s a queen and you can never change her mind about that. She actually loves strong females in general and now that she knows how Scarlet Witch is? Bam! Favorite.

Dai has already been stated but he loved Spider-Man! Friendly neighborhood guy!! He cried on Spider-Man movies, and there’s that too!! He’s just such a great character, and Dai is absolutely in love with the kind of character he is.

Kaoru would joke around his favorite is Wolverine just because he calls Tetsuji that sometimes but in reality, his favorite is Deadpool. He just finds the movies with him very funny and he would watch it all over again if he wished too.

Masae is sad that Hercules never had a movie [Dai talked to her about it]… but her favorite would be Thor!! I mean, no matter what mythology the characters are based on, she’d actually be really interested in those kinds of stuff!!

Henrique’s favorite would probably be Colossus!! After watching Deadpool a couple of times with his “children”- he could see that he lowkey relates to him in a kind of way he can never explain. He’s literally a man of steel too!

Lina isn’t too fond of Marvel like the others, but she does enjoy it!! Black Widow is her favorite Superhero!! She just really likes her character and her outfit!! Bless!! She’d love to cosplay as her one day because of it!!

Mi would have to say that her favorite is Jessica Jones!! She’s well informed that she isn’t too well compared to the other people’s favorites, but she really loves this character!!

Tatsuya prefers DC, and he won’t say his favorite to Dai out of spite to show that DC is better but in reality, he actually really likes Groot. He thinks baby Groot is cute and the fact that he has a rebel phase makes him laugh internally.

Takashi absolutely loves Thor was well just like his mother!! For the same reasons!! While Kazuo surprisingly enjoys Ant-Man a lot [and Takara teases him because he’s technically small] while Manami really loves the Guradians of the Galaxy in general!!

Takara also loves the Guardians of the Galaxy, but she finds Drax very funny so she quickly began liking him the most from all the heroes!!

Takeshi doesn’t think superheroes are cute, but he likes Groot! Groot is pretty cute when he was still small…. Also maybe Rocket, Raccoons are pretty cute too. He prefers Samurai Movies or shows!

I have a feeling that Toshio literally has?? no favorite?? because he loves them all!! Michiko barely knows a thing about them because she’s not that interested but she finds it cute when Toshio gushes about it because he does that sometimes. Sachi also doesn’t know them too well, but she does have an interest on Scarlet Witch!!

Touma would most likely be interested with anyone from the X-Men in all honesty, while Ichika actually prefers the Fantastic Four. They don’t usually talk about superheroes though!

Riku doesn’t care about it. At all. He’d rather stay and study instead of watching some movies, while Himari enjoys Captain Marvel! 

Hiro and Tsubaki wouldn’t say they have a favorite?? Their favorite superheroes in general would be their parents, not some movie action star.

Adrin and Trineli literally know nothing about them, they only end up watching movies that show up in like cartoon show because they prefer those over long movies. Koichi doesn’t care [because he’s like his dad and prefers DC]. Yoshiki really loves Daredevil while Suzumi doesn’t… really watch action stuff yet… or read any of that too…

Tamotsu likes every Marvel Movie, and he can’t pinpoint his favorite- if you ask him, his favorites would change every time so there’s that gkjdfbg

Rutna and Killian are all for Guardians of the Galaxy!! While Yuriko isn’t a big fan of Marvel so...

Hideko would say Spider-Man!! Then there’s Saniya who argues that the Original Avengers are the best. 

Boris and Cheryl agree that the Inhumans are the best ones

Seiza doesn’t really care about the movies??? But well, she has to say that Iron Man was nice to watch.

Tame actually enjoys Thor too! But she won’t ever talk about it. Ever..

Rito gets tossed to next year by Dai when he answers Batman

[ivegotsomethingtosay]

Logan (movie review)

Unpopular opinion: Fox is actually pretty good at making superhero movies. And this is coming from the guy who thinks that Fant4stic was a war crime. Believe it or not, Fox’s model for making comic-to-film adaptations feels a lot more conducive to great movies than Marvel Studios (and especially Warner/DC, but that’s a discussion for a different day). Sure, all Marvel movies are at least “good,” and occasionally you’ll get a nugget of gold like Guardians of the Galaxy, but for the most part, their films feels like pre-packaged Lunchable meals: everything is exactly how it should be, everything is nice and non-offensive and practically identical when you start stripping away the cellophane.

Fox’s “universe” (if you even want to call it that) is a complete mess. None of the movies share any aesthetic similarities, their chronology makes no sense, they range violently in quality from completely unwatchable to instantly memorable. And yet, that’s exactly why they work. When Marvel puts out something daring and original, it feels like a deviation from the norm. Fox, on the other hand, seems to be putting out one great movie for every unspeakable pile of shit. For every X-Men Apocalypse, there’s an X-Men First Class. For every Fant4stic, there’s a Deadpool. And now, we have Logan, a Wolverine film which has the guts to not even put the word “Wolverine” in the title (something I’m sure the marketing department had a ulcer over).

The film follows an older version of it’s titular hero in an alternate universe (??? again, chronology be damned) where mutants existed, at least for a time, as comic book legends instead of social pariahs. Emphasis on the “existed” because apparently now, the mutant gene has died out. Logan and a now-senile Charles Xavier are living as faded legends on the south side of the Mexican boarder, trying to survive in a world that’s starting to look more like the early stages of the Mad Max universe than anything Marvel ever cooked up. This all changes when Logan meets a young mutant girl, Laura, who’s on the run from a secret government agency, and needs him help to reach a haven mutant community up North.

Okay yeah, if this is sounding a lot like Children-of-Men-but-with-X-Men, you wouldn’t be wrong. I couldn’t shake the feeling throughout the whole movie that I’d seen this exact same game before with different players. While it kept taking me out of the moment, I wouldn’t classify it as a flaw. If you’re going to pull inspiration from anything, pull it from one of the best movies of the 21st century. Couple that with the aforementioned callbacks to George Miller, and you’ve got one of the more inventive things to come out of the superhero genre in quite some time. I wouldn’t put it on the same pedestal as The Dark Knight as some critics have been doing, but they’re certainly of the same ilk. This is one of those “superhero” movie that’s more concerned with the definition of a “superhero” than setting up a shared universe or, as had been the case in recent times, pitting iconic characters up against each other. Whenever the film uses iconography, Logan’s place in the popular culture, Laura’s importance in the New X-Men, etc., it’s always for a narrative purpose. For example, Fox could totally do a stand alone sequel with Laura (and they fucking should because holy. shit. this. girl. is. fantastic) we’re not expecting it by the end of the film in the same way we’re expecting Steven Strange to show up in the next Thor movie at the end of Doctor Strange.

And in a way, this makes the “world building” all the more satisfying. The film is at its best when it lets the characters be characters, when it lets the audience get invested in their problems, in their tiny successes and huge failures. By the end, it doesn’t matter weather or not we just watched two hours of franchise leg work; we genuinely want to see what happens next.

Much of this is thanks to the actors. I don’t even need to tell you how good Dafne Keen is, you’ve probably already heard it from literally everyone else who’s seen the movie. Throughout the whole movie I couldn’t help drawing comparisons to Millie Bobby Brown in Stranger Things, but the best point of reference would be Haley Joel Osment in the Sixth Sense. Here is a child who’s been robbed of a normal childhood, who’s had to recon with death in ways other kids will never have to in their entire lives. Keen’s Laura understands this, as well as her place in the world around her, and it’s what makes the performance so brilliant, so thrilling, and so devastating when you break it down.

Jackman is great, no surprise there. He has been doing this for almost two decades, so slipping back into a character he had such a hand in making a pop culture icon feels simple and instantly heroic. The real surprise for me, however, was Patrick Stewart. I’ll spoil nothing by saying that pretty much all of the hard-hitting, brutal intensity you’ve likely heard about in relation to the film comes from how it handles his character. Seriously, for those of you who’ve looked up to Professor X as something more than a bald guy in a floating wheel chair, this might be something of a traumatic experience. And yet, one has to give writer director James Mangold props for daring to take his story to this place, and to Fox for even allowing him to do it in the first place. These are some big risks, especially given characters that are beloved to so many, but the rewards are even bigger.

Well… almost all of the rewards. You see, there’s a lot we think of when we hear “R-rated superhero movie.” There’s violence, there’s death, there’s, in the case of Deadpool, a lot of dirty jokes. What the R-rating gives Logan the opportunity to do is take narrative risks that PG-13 movies wouldn’t be able to do without alienating their audience. However, it also gives Mangold and co. the freedom to do just about everything else, and the movie is at it’s weakest when it flaunts it’s R-rating around like an exposed dick. Every time someone (usually Logan) yells “FUCK,” what it feels like they’re yelling is “ISN’T THIS COOL? AREN’T WE SOOO EDGY??” It sucked me right out of the moment. Some of the violence felt the same way to. I feel it important to say “some” because some of the violence was really fantastic. Some of it also felt pornographic. While this isn’t a problem unique to Logan and something I firmly believe all superhero movies should take a long hard look at, adding extra amounts of blood and gore only accentuated the problem.

Never the less, Logan exceeded my expectations. Even if it doesn’t attain the classic status I think some critics are prematurely crowing it with, I wouldn’t be surprised if people were still speaking fondly of it many years down the road. I’d like to think that when we remember the X-Men films, specifically Hugh Jackman’s take on Wolverine, Logan will be the first thing that comes to mind.

OVERALL RATING: 8 / 10 SEE IT OR SKIP IT: See it.

[chicagoindiecritics]

New from Kevin Wozniak on Kevflix: Best Movies of 2019 – Best Movie Moments

Every year when I begin to look back at the movies of 2019 and begin to make my lists, this is always my favorite list to make.  It is a tough list to make, but always an exciting and interesting list to make.  I get to look back and look at my favorite moments of the year in movies. Whether it was a scene or a moment that scared me, thrilled me, caused an emotional reaction, or one of just pure entertainment, these are the ones that knocked me out in 2019.  Here are my picks for the best movie moments of 2019.

  SPOILERS AHEAD

SPOILERS AHEAD

SPOILERS AHEAD

SPOILERS AHEAD

SPOILERS AHEAD

  You’ve been warned.

          10. LANDING ON NEPTUNE – AD ASTRA 

The third act of James Gray’s brilliant sci-fi film is one of great filmmaking and visual effects.  Astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) is on the tail end of his mission and goes to Neptune to find his father and this scene literally took my breath away.  Just the sheer idea of traveling that far into space is unbelievable, but this also sets the movie up for its big emotional climax.  It’s a gorgeous scene and the best part of James Gray’s stunning achievement.

    9. SOCCER BALL PREGNANCY – GREENER GRASS 

Greener Grass was one of the weirdest movies I saw in 2019, yet one that I grew to love the more I thought about it and the more I saw it.  This is a twisted, hilarious, dark comedy that is full of bits and scenes of bizarre behavior.  My favorite bit, and one that is making me laugh as I type this out, is a simple one and one you have to see to understand, as explaining it doesn’t do it justice.  During a neighborhood soccer game, Lisa (pictured above, played by Dawn Luebbe) takes the soccer ball as it was kicked out of bounds, sticks under her dress, and from that point on is pregnant.  This is a recurring bit throughout the movie, which included a baby shower, the child being born, and family pictures.  Again, it’s strange stuff, but it is also the funniest running joke of 2019.

    8. OPENING SHOT – CLIMAX

Gaspar Noé films are films that stick with you.  He completely immerses you into them and makes you feel some kind of way when watching them, usually a feeling of discomfort or horror.  The opening to his latest film, Climax, is no different.  This five-minute, uncut introduction features over a dozen actors dancing their hearts out to techno music.  It is an exhausting, hypnotic shot, filled with slick camera moves, stunning colors, and crazy dance movements that sets us up for what is to come in this horrifying, claustrophobic trip.

    7. FINAL SHOT – PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE  

Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of Lady on Fire is a movie that has stuck with me since I saw it back in October.  It is a beautiful love story about two women who’s love grows stronger and deeper the more they observe each other, yet they know their relationship cannot last.  The final shot of the film a master stroke from Sciamma and powerhouse acting from Adèle Haenel.  Marianne (Noémie Merlant) and Héloïse’s (Haenel) relationship has ended when Héloïse was forced to get married.  Having not seen each other since, Marianne sees Héloïse at a concert on the other side of theater.  Vivaldi’s “Concerto No. 2”, a callback to an earlier scene, begins to play and we watch Héloïse go through a whirlwind of emotions.  We watch as she remembers everything about her time with Marainne, the good times, the bad times, the times that they laughed, and the times they cried.  Sciamma doesn’t cut from Haenel and we watch for a solid two minutes as the emotions rush through her.  It’s a beautiful final shot in one of the most beautiful movies of the year.

    6. “I AM IRON MAN” – AVENGERS: ENDGAME

“I am Iron Man.”  These words shook the comic book movie landscape forever and kicked off one of the biggest franchises in cinematic history.  Eleven years later, these words are more powerful than ever.  When it seemed like Thanos had gotten the best of the Avengers once again, capturing all the infinity stones on the infinity gauntlet, he tries to snap everything in existence away, only to realize Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) has taken the stones and made his own gauntlet on his suit.  Iron Man then utters the words, “I…am…Iron Man.”, then snaps Thanos and everything he brought away, saving the galaxy.  These would be last words Tony Stark would ever say and it was the perfect end to a character arc, coming full circle from the time he said them at that press conference back in 2008 to his dying words in 2019.

    5. “IT’S GONNA HAPPEN” – THE IRISHMAN 

There were a number of scenes from Martin Scorsese’s three-and-a-half-hour gangster masterpiece that I could have chosen here.  But this small scene really hit me hard.  In a quiet dinning room on their way to a wedding, Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) informs Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) that he will be traveling to Detroit to kill his friend Jimmy Hoffa, all while eating cereal and drinking coffee.  This is Pesci’s Oscar scene, as his calm, yet terrifying demeanor really puts Frank in a bind.  De Niro doesn’t say much, but his eyes say everything.  He is now torn between the man who brought him into this life and his friend.  It’s a powerful scene and a sucker punch to the gut.

    4. MEETING MR. ROGERS – A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD 

The opening of Marielle Heller’s wonderful film starts exactly how every Mr. Rogers episode started, with Mr. Rogers (Tom Hanks) walking into his home singing “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”.  This is our first glimpse of Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers and it is the moment we fall in love with him.  There was a lot of speculation around Hanks as Rogers, as he doesn’t look and sound anything like Rogers.  But with the help of brilliant costume design, some small make-up, and Hanks hitting all the vocal notes, you immediately believe Hanks is Rogers.  Heller brilliantly shot the opening like the T.V. show and set the stage for one the most heart-warming movies of 2019.

    3. “GO TO WAR” – FORD V. FERRARI

Ford v Ferrari is a great American sports movie.  A movie about the underdog overcoming all obstacles to to rise to the top.  One of the key aspects of a great sports movie is a great, inspirational speech, a la Miracle or Friday Night Lights.  Ford v Ferrari has one and it is said by the wonderful Tracy Letts as Henry Ford II.  Ford is giving a speech to Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) about the history of Ford Motors during time of war and how the company persevered through tough times, symbolic of how everything is going for Shelby in trying make a car that is capable of winning the 24 hour at Le Mans.  Ford ends his speech by telling  Shelby, “go to war” and it is a moment that might as well have come with a bald eagle screeching in background.  A speech that represents everything red, white, and blue and makes you want to stand up and yell, “AMERICA!” while pumping your fist in the air.

    2. THE FIGHT – MARRIAGE STORY 

Two of the best performances of 2019 come from Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson in Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story.  The two actors give arguably the best performances of their respective careers and commit to being a couple attempting to go through a divorce with as little stress as possible and as cordial as possible.  However, that doesn’t happen and the two end up at each other’s throats, in an explosive scene of emotion and acting mastery.  The entire film was building to this moment and it is as an absolute explosion of a scene.  Johansson and Driver is incredible and Baumbach’s writing is top-tier.  You feel everything they are saying.  You feel the pain, the anger, and the sadness that comes with every word.  It’s acting at its finest and if these two end up winning Oscars for their performances, this is the scene that got them those statues.

      1. “AVENGERS!  ASSEMBLE!” – AVENGERS: ENDGAME 

As soon as I saw this scene, I knew it would be number one on this list and it wouldn’t be close.  This scene is not only the definition of awesome, but it is epic on every scale.  When all hope seems lost for Captain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and the remaining Avengers and it looks like Thanos’ army will take over the planet, we hear the static of Falcon’s (Anthony Mackie) voice in Captain America’s ear, followed by the appearance of T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) coming from a Doctor Strange portal.  It is then an onslaught of everyone from the MCU appearing on screen, both those who disappeared in the snap and those who survived, all culminating in an attack on Thanos and his army with Captain America commanding, “AVENGERS!  ASSEMBLE!”.  Alan Silvestri’s epic score takes over and we watch as eleven years and over twenty movies come together on the screen at the same time.  You can’t help but get emotional watching this.  We have grown with the MCU and The Avengers and all of these characters and seeing them all on screen at the same time fighting for their lives and the galaxy is something we had been waiting for for over a decade.  This is not only the best scene of 2019, but possibly the best scene of the decade, symbolizing so much of what cinema has become while also being the as big as anything that has ever been on the big screen.

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        The post Best Movies of 2019 – Best Movie Moments appeared first on Kevflix.

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Is The Marvel Villain Problem Solved by the Disney/Fox Deal?

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Bring on the bad guys! Villains like Dr. Doom and Magneto are just what the doctor ordered for the MCU.

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Mike Cecchini

Marvel

Jul 29, 2018

X-Men

Avengers: Infinity War

Fantastic Four

After 20 movies, scratch that...20 wildly successful movies, Marvel Studios, for all of their crowd-pleasing accomplishments, has managed to deliver us exactly three truly memorable villains (Tom Hiddleston's Loki, Michael Keaton's Vulture, and Josh Brolin's Thanos, in case you had to ask). To use some Marvel-speak, we’re right on the cusp of “Phase Four,” and four is one higher than the number of genuinely worthwhile villains they’ve managed to put on the big screen in the last nine years (they've fared better on Netflix with Wilson Fisk, Kilgrave, Mariah Dillard, and Billy Russo, but we're talking about the movies here). 

And while Marvel has struggled to deliver threatening villains since 2008, in that same period of time (and in far fewer movies) Warner Bros. gave us Heath Ledger's immortal Joker performance in The Dark Knight. Even a secondary baddie like Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow carried more weight than most of the punching bags Marvel has delivered. Tom Hardy's Bane not only broke Batman but crafted a nightmarish vision for a Gotham City that looked uncomfortably like New York. Hell, for all their struggles, the DCEU managed to give us Michael Shannon's brilliant General Zod in Man of Steel. So what's Marvel missing?

The Marvel formula is reasonably simple, and it's made even the less impressive films at least thoroughly entertaining. You make your hero, flawed though he or she may be, as enjoyable as possible to watch on screen, you keep the stakes big and loud if not demonstrably high, and you break the tension at every opportunity with some wit. It works. But audiences have caught on to this storytelling sleight-of-hand and realize that there has rarely been a moment where we really thought the villain would come out on top in a battle, let alone a war. The closest we've come is Thanos, with the godlike, reality-warping powers afforded him by the Infinity Stones, and the bonkers cliffhanger ending of Avengers: Infinity War.

There's little doubt that Tom Hiddleston's Loki was the most indispensable bad guy in the MCU. But Loki is very much a god of mischief, not a god of real evil, and with the exception of a few moments in The Avengers, it's far too easy to root for him while he's busy charming everyone in sight. On the other hand, no sane person really wanted to see the Joker, Bane, or Ra's al Ghul succeed in the Dark Knight trilogy.

The best that Iron Man had to offer, the Mandarin, had to be subverted (brilliantly or otherwise, depending on who you ask) in order to steer away from some of the more uncomfortably racist implications of the character for his appearance in Iron Man 3. Was Ben Kingsley's Mandarin memorable? Certainly. Is he a villain truly worthy of the third installment of a massive superhero movie franchise? Probably not.

But when the potential of an all-time great villain like the Red Skull (and a potentially perfect bit of casting in the case of Hugo Weaving) is squandered, something just ain’t right. Anyone remember much of what Johann Schmidt got up to in Captain America: The First Avenger other than get turned into a rainbow at the end? No? Me neither. On the other hand, outside of an exceedingly charming Robert Redford, Captain America: The Winter Soldier lacked one true villain for us to hang our hatred on, instead playing a long game with a redemption arc for the title villain. Nor was Heinrich Zemo ever sufficiently explored in Captain America: Civil War.

There’s an argument to be made that characters like Iron Man and Thor don’t have the most potent jerks in their closets to begin with, so it’s understandable that they’d have to face a parade of soldier villains in the course of their respective franchises. The problem is that, until recently, a sizable chunk of Marvel's best villains simply weren't available for use at Marvel Studios. That, of course, has changed with Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox, which finally opens up the doors for the rosters of the X-Men and Fantastic Four to join the ranks of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

And while the Fantastic Four are a perfect tonal match for the MCU, and the X-Men may present more of a challenge, there's already no shortage of bankable heroes already in play (even accounting for a number of key contracts expiring after Avengers 4). But the Fox deal brings two characters far more important than the collective sum of their parts, and these two characters alone could reinvigorate Marvel movies for the next decade.

I am, of course, talking about Doctor Doom and Magneto.

Doom is arguably the greatest villain in all of comics (with apologies to the Joker). A key inspiration for Darth Vader, and long acknowledged as the driving force of villainy in the Marvel Universe from back when Thanos was just a vision in Jim Starlin's psychedelic explorations, Doom is exactly what has been missing from the MCU. A shadowy dictator with boundless scientific knowledge, a literal nation of his own to command, and an axe to grind. Think of all the technological wonders we've seen Tony Stark unleash on screen. Now imagine all of that and more being wielded by an Eastern European dictator with none of Tony's conscience.

All of the Fantastic Four movies have been deeply flawed, but the sin they all have in common is how grievously they failed the character of Victor Von Doom. My only regret is that Benedict Cumberbatch is already tied to the role of Stephen Strange, because it's difficult to imagine anyone embodying this role to more imperious perfection. Well, maybe Michael Fassbender, which brings me to our next baddie.

When you make your comic book villain Mt. Rushmore, Magneto gets a prominent place, right next to Doctor Doom and the Joker. Marvel is going to have some explaining to do about where mutants have been this entire time. If they want to explain why the world hates and fears mutants, and perhaps why most mutants prefer to keep themselves secret, then it's crucial that Magneto be the first mutant we meet in the MCU. Not only is the master of magnetism one of the most powerful mutants alive, his motivations and sense of purpose would be wholly unique to the mostly one-dimensional baddies Marvel heroes have been gleefully steamrolling. Of course, unlike Doom, who has no cinematic baggage to speak of, Magneto has a legacy of brilliant actors who have defined him. Finding someone who can fill the purple cape of Ian McKellen or Michael Fassbender will be a challenge

Neither of these are one-and-done villains, but nor are they the kinds of video game final bosses we've come to expect in most superhero movies. These are villains who carry so much weight that it's no coincidence that Fox once considered a Magneto solo movie (which eventually morphed into X-Men: First Class) or that Legion showrunner Noah Hawley has been developing a Dr. Doom movie for the studio (the status of this in the wake of the Disney buyout is currently unknown). In fact, the smartest thing Marvel can do to not only help combat superhero movie fatigue but do their best villains right and show fans they're committed to upping the threat level in future movies, is give both Doom and Magneto their own movies, and let that set the tone for their respective heroes' inclusion in the MCU. Warner Bros. is already making noises about giving baddies like Joker, Deathstroke, and Black Adam solo movies, so Disney should get ahead of this trend while they can. 

While both Magneto and Doctor Doom deserve the spotlight treatment as soon as humanly possible, and it would seem the Thanos drip-feed approach is dead after Infinity War, there's one other baddie who comes to the table with the Fox deal who will require a similar assemblage of heroes to combat him when the time comes.

A giant cosmic being who literally drains the life-essence from planets and who has created a handful of marketable cosmic herals for himself? Yes, we'll be happy to meet Galactus briefly in a future Guardians of the Galaxy movie before everyone has to unite to take him on in Marvel's Fantastic Four III or whatever. And this time, you can bet your comic book collection he won't be a purple cloud.

In any case, before we all start falling over ourselves to try and cast the next Wolverine or Professor X, or start salivating at the prospect of a Brad Bird helmed Fantastic Four movie, Marvel Studios should use these key players from their latest acquisition to shore up the one glaring hole the MCU has. But after Tom Hiddleston set the standard, they'd better find some top-drawer talent to embody Doom and Magneto, pronto.

Bring on the bad guys.

(main image art by John Byrne)

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[likelyfadblog]

List of Top 10 Most Powerful Characters in Marvel Universe

Marvel Multiverse is full of powerful characters that include both Superheroes and Villians and as true Marvel, I always used to wonder who is the most powerful characters among them. It required a hell lot of hard work on research to get the answers and this led me to write this article for you guys so that as a reader of our esteemed website You people do not have to work so hard to find this out. So here we bring you the list of top 10 most powerful characters in Marvel Multiverse.

The most powerful characters in Marvel

1) One Above All

One Above All is easily the most powerful being in Marvel who can’t be killed or defeated. He is the one who is responsible for the existence of all characters in the Multiverse. Once in a comic series, One Above All said that “I am the One Above All. I see through many eyes. I build with many hands. They are themselves, but they are also me. I am all-powerful. My only weapon is love. The mystery intrigues me” this itself tells the amount of power this character posses.

2) Galactus

He is the most powerful villain in Marvel comics. Originally a cosmic entity he used to consume planets to sustain his life force. Galactus is also the only survivor of the universe existing before the big bang.

This character has already been featured in Marvel’s ‘Fantastic four series’. He is the most powerful villain in Marvel comics and even characters like Thanos have no chance to stand in front of him.

3) Silver Surfer

Another Marvel character who appeared in ‘Fantastic Fours’ though Marvel failed to make a huge fan base for this character like its other movie characters Silver Surfer can be termed as the most powerful superhero of MCU.

A very interesting fact about Silver Surfer is that initially, he used to serve Galactus in finding live planets for him and in return Galactus gave him his tiny portion of Cosmic powers.

But later on, when Silver Surfer met Fantastic Fours on earth they helped him to rediscover his humanity and inspired him to fight back against Galactus.

4) Deadpool

Deadpool needs no introduction as he is our one of the most favorite characters in Marvel. He first appeared in 2001 X-Men movie and after that, his solo movie came in 2016.

According to comics Deadpool alone killed whole Marvel Universe. He has also killed Thanos and that with so much ease. It is practically impossible to kill this beast.

5) Thanos

Aah, here is your most awaited character of this list. After watching Avengers Infinity war all of you are aware of the powers that this mad Titan posses. He can literally destroy half of the universe with just a snap of his finger and that Infinity Gauntlet makes him an undefeatable character as those infinity stones allow him to control the almost entire universe.

6) Dormammu

Dormammu is also one of the most feared villains in MCU. This character was first introduced in the movie ‘Doctor Strange’ where sorcerer supreme gave us a brief idea of the powers that this character posses.

He is the ruler of dark dimensions and some of his major abilities are Mystic energy manipulation, Mastery of dark magic, Dimensional\] teleportation, Immortality.

7) Pheonix

Jean Gray (Pheonix) is a well-known mutant who has also appeared in various X-men movies. She is an omega-level mutant who possess enormous power like telepathy, telekinesis, cosmic abilities and time control.

We have already seen in movies that how easily she killed Professor Charles Xavier. Though Wolverine killed her in movies but in comics, no one has any chance to defeat her.

8) Beyonder 

Beyonder is an inhuman and a vastly powerful omnipotent mutant. He was created as the ultimate thing ever. This character fulfilled everything he desired. One could estimate the height of his power as Beyonder gave everything that existed a few hours to continue existing before he wiped everything out.

He even erased death from its existence, causing things to simply stop dying.

Also, Read our list of Top 15 Characters who can defeat Mighty Thanos

9) Doctor Strange

Described as the ‘Mightiest Magician in cosmos’ Doctor Strange is one of the most powerful Avengers in Marvel Cinematic Universe.

His infinity stone (eye of Agamato) also enhances his power to a greater extent and in addition to that, he can also derive powers from extra-dimensional bodies.

Currently, he is also the Marvel’s Sorcerer Supreme. The character debuted on big screens in 2016 in the film ‘Doctor Strange’ and now makers have also confirmed its sequel.

10) Odin

Odin the ruler of Asgard and father of Thor is one of the oldest, wisest and one of the most powerful characters in Marvel comics. Odin has even defeated Thanos in the comics some amazing Odin posses an amazing supernatural powers known as Odin Force apart from that he is also capable of time traveling and realty manipulating. He could even transport an entire alien race to other dimensions.

So, guys, this was the list of Top 10 most powerful characters in Marvel universe. I hope you guys liked our post. Do let us know what you think in the comments below! Also, let us know if we missed anyone who you guys want to get placed in this list? We will surely try to add him/her in the next update.

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[theampreviews]

Avengers - Infinity War

To quote the late, great Qui-Gon Jinn - “There’s always a bigger fish”, and so here we are at the Great White of the Marvel Cinematic Universe - Infinity War. It’s the third official Avengers team up (4th if you count Civil War, which was more of an Avengers film than a Captain America one), and the one that finally brings us to Thanos and the Infinity Stones - things that have been teased throughout the MCU’s decade of dominance. 

Some have pondered if Marvel Fatigue might be kicking in across the globe (a nonsense if you look at the Box Office), whether the annual omnipresence of these movies could be draining the enthusiasm there once was for them? Despite only actively disliking one Marvel film (Civil War), I must admit I always feel myself close to tapping out on the whole MCU after each new instalment; they’re always fun but familiarity will eventually breed contempt. That said, like Godfather Part 3′s Michael Corleone; they always manage to drag me back in...

Infinity War’s allure was greater than both Age Of Ultron and Civil War as, a couple of new cast member introductions each aside, the novelty of seeing the Avengers team up has lessened since 2012. Instead, this promised something no other MCU film had to date: character deaths within the Main Cast (as well as the integration of the Guardians with the Avengers, which was admittedly a huge attraction).

That might seem like an adverse selling point, but the MCU reaching its 18th movie without a single of its Heroes having died for the cause is a sign of Marvel/Disney's greatest weakness - their refusal to let anyone go. How can you invest in the myriad of threats they face if the only question you need ever ask is “how” and never never “if” they’ll survive? Even allowing for the fact that they’d want to keep the key Heroes around for Infinity War, its absurd that we should be 18 films in without having lost a few of the supporting cast; the likes of Natasha (Black Widow), Sam (Falcon), James (War Machine) or Bucky (The Winter Soldier), could all have fallen on the sword to let us know that Earth’s Mightiest Heroes have a sell by date.

The unwillingness to cut the (mortal) apron strings also hampers a film that strives desperately to include everyone, of which there are now far too many (with no room for Ant-Man and Hawkeye, both fan favourites and both conspicuous by their absence - possibly held back for Part 2). The Russo Brothers do an admirable job of dividing an oversized cast into more manageable, bite-sized groups, which results in some hits and one giant miss.

Two of the teams we follow are a resounding success. Iron Man, Doctor Strange and Spider-Man make for a brilliant trio, able to bounce zingers off each other with ease and hitting some emotional beats that are genuine and affecting. The other sees Thor (literally) bumping into the Guardians Of The Galaxy and is worth the price of admission alone. Chris's Hemsworth and Pratt squaring up to each other creates some inspired comedy. These two groups then splinter as Thor, Rocket & Groot go off to find The God Of Thunder a new hammer, whilst the rest of the Guardians join Tony, Doc and Peter to tackle Thanos.

So far, so good. But then we get the B team, and things start to go down hill...

There's now way around it; I don't like Chris Evans’ Captain America. I find his square-jawed, Boy Scout act dreary, and his lackeys, Black Widow and Falcon, even more so. Worst of all is Bucky, someone we've been inexplicably asked to care about whilst offering no tangible reason for doing so. He’s a charisma vacuum. Unpopular an opinion as it is; I feel the same about Chadwick Boseman’s portrayal of Black Panther (they should have left Michael B. Jordan’s Warmonger as King). They, along with Vision and Scarlet Witch (convincing no one as the Romantic coupling of these films), create the most boring Super Hero Team possible out of the extensive cast available (War Machine included. Don Cheadle may as well not have bothered checking the call sheet).

Speaking of Scarlet Witch, there’s a greater issue with her than all of the others combined. Performance aside (weak accent, hopelessly po-faced) she is  seriously ill-defined. She’s used here more as a maguffin than a character (as she was in Ultron and Civil War) with only the most cursory of explanations as to who or what she is/can do.

It's constantly reiterated that she's the most powerful amongst the Avengers, even capable of destroying Infinity Stones (which begs the question, why not set her against Thanos?), yet all she ever seems to do is “move things”. There's no consistency to her abilities. One minute she's getting the hell beaten out of her in Edinburgh by Thanos's henchmen (having to be saved by Black Widow, a 5'2"/100lbs regular human being who can do flippy-kicks), the next she's hurling immense space ships around Wackanda's CGI playing fields. It might be easier to just shrug it off as “Comic Book nonsense”, but consistency within the boundaries set by films like this is key - you can’t keep moving the goal posts to suit the occasion or my investment in the whole thing begins to erode.

Whilst the rest of the cast are zipping around space engaged in spectacular showdowns, this lot head to Cinema's least Cinematic Location; Wakanda. 

Part of the reason Black Panther was such a disappointment for me was how bland Wakanda had been visualised. For the second time in as many months, it plays host to the MCUs Grand Finale. CGI armies flood its dull green plains of grass, looking like a low-rent mobile phone RPG advert you can't skip through on a Free App. It seriously challenges Civil War's concrete airport for the most artless setting to stage your movie's climax. The time dedicated to Cap’s team becomes dead air; waves of CGI fodder thrown at the screen to bide time until Thanos arrives, creating an impotent spectacle .

Thank God then for Thanos. Marvel finally delivering a bona fide threat in one of their Villains is something they’ve struggled with to this point. They even double up with a genuinely sinister henchman, Ebony Maw, whose brief screen time makes a real impression (I’m hoping he survives his ambiguous demise). Everything about Thanos is a resounding success, from Josh Brolin’s intimidating yet near sympathetic performance to the quality of his CGI realisation, but does he make good on the promise to finally purge this franchise of some of its dead weight? Sadly, not quite yet.

Whilst this is still Part 1 of Infinity War (despite them scrapping the Part 1 / Part 2 monikers) I was a little underwhelmed with the volume of carnage offered here (I won't discuss the ending, but suffice to say the cliffhanger was devoid of any plausible suspense, being that we know certain characters have sequels planned & dated). There are a couple of notable deaths, but neither felt sufficiently cathartic. I assume we'll have to wait until next year for that, which cheapens this instalment somewhat. 

My blood-lust aside, there is a definite need to thin the herd a little. Having so many Heroes to keep tabs on means we spend less time than we'd want with some, and more than we need with others. 

The non-Earthbound characters and their adventures encapsulate what the MCU does best; blending Humour, Heart and Spectacle. Robert Downey Jr, Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Holland play off each other superbly, both comedically and emotionally. Their scenes are highlights throughout the film, bolstered even more so when the Guardians join them, (themselves already a proven success with well established chemistry).

Best of all is Chris Hemsworth, who has turned Thor into the standout of the franchise. He has an ability to parlay the emotive stuff with genuine pathos, whilst simultaneously landing the comedy perfectly, often within the same scene/monologue, switching between the two with impressive dexterity. More than just a pretty face (and huge pecs, great abs and triceps to die for).

Every time the film centres on these characters Infinity War soars, and much of that is to do with the increased level of comedy. If the action is sometimes repetitive and underwhelming (the finale on Wakanda), the Russo's certainly make up for it with far more humour than they showed in Winter Soldier or Civil War (a line from Rocket genuinely made me spit coke). Taking their cue from James Gunn's Guardians... films and Taika Waititi's sublime Thor: Ragnarok, Infinity War was surprisingly jovial considering the End Of The Universe threat, something that might have bogged it down with self-serious pretension (my hang-up with Civil War).

I probably won't appreciate this film fully until I've seen its conclusion, one that I hope closes the book on this group of characters and the Infinity Stones for good. As it stands, like the MCU itself, I found it to be exhilarating, exasperating, moving and mundane in (almost) equal measure.

[ultralifehackerguru-blog]

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Avengers: Infinity War Goes on Forever, but Villainous Thanos Makes It Worth the Time

We can say this much for Thanos. For the greatest villain in all the universe — a tyrant whose chin might be lumps of grape mashed potatoes scored with a fork to resemble Devil’s Tower — he’s got some ideas that aren’t all that bad. His mission, to gather all six of creation’s so-called infinity stones, is a bit of childish collector’s mania, a prank on the superfan marks who buy multiple copies of an Avengers comic to get all the “variant” covers. But Thanos’ endgame I can understand: In the name of achieving “balance,” he aims to blink away half the population of existence. When he announced this, not too long into Avengers: Infinity War, I admit to thinking about the film’s running time (160 minutes) and daydreaming that he might vacate his asteroid lair for the editing bay. Forget the cosmic genocide, Thanos, and show Marvel how to kill some darlings!

Infinity War does claim a body count, the specifics of which, I’m happy to report, fans probably won’t guess. As the third Avengersfilm, it has an air of senior year about it: There are some drearily solemn speeches, but you’ll remember the blowouts, and there’s plenty of time to wonder which of these faces you’ll see again. This epic, the first of two final Avengers films, finds the Class of ’12 — the core Avengers — getting together for one last rager, joined by select newbies and spazzes from the ranks of sophomores and freshmen. Here’s Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, all giddy heart and whip-fast Looney Tunes action. Benedict Cumberbatch’s Dr. Strange takes up the role of square-jawed stiff who just can’t believe/grudgingly respects this Iron Man fellow. Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther turns up much too late into the movie for the superhero whose own film is Marvel’s top grosser. (His job, essentially, is to host the apocalypse.) And the Guardians of the Galaxy zip through to get caught up in yet more daddy issues and remind us that, even with the fate of all creation on the line, there’s no joke they can’t belabor a couple of beats too long.

EXPAND

Simply put, the Marvel Universe is too big to squeeze into one movie. But the biggest surprise here is that much of Infinity Warfairly zips along, as directors Joe and Anthony Russo and their armies of pre-viz teams and editors cut between dozens of competing characters and cliffhangers — they’ve yanked all the good parts from a colossal Marvel comic-book crossover event and chucked them onto the screen. To the heroes, they dole out big moments the way awards show producers dispense goody bags, making sure each star has reason to go home happy. Everyone gets a quip to crack, an ass to kick and an opportunity for noble sacrifice. (The latter especially — Thanos the editor would have cut one.)

The second biggest surprise, after many spectacular faceoffs and showdowns, is the ending, which I’ll not spoil except to say this: I didn’t see it coming. I mean that literally. When the screen faded to black, I thought there must still be half an hour of fighting to go. What higher praise can one give a movie that takes all day than, “I got caught up enough that I didn’t notice how much day it had taken”?

The first action set piece, in Greenwich Village, stands as a highlight of all the Marvel films, a witty world-outside-your-window dustup full of teamups, tech upgrades and a wizard fighting space aliens at high noon in Washington Square Park. The second, set in what we’re told simply is “Scotland,” whiffs, but it stars the android Vision (Paul Bettany) and the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), mopey characters whose souls have not survived the promotion from comics to movies, possibly because the movies cut away every time they start making eyes at each other. Here, their limited screen time is amusingly at odds with their crucialness to the plot. That’s perhaps proof that Marvel movies truly are made by fans for fans — whenever these two are on screen, Infinity War itself seems like it’s ready to sneak out to the bathroom.

Their scenes seem trimmed to make way for Josh Brolin’s Thanos, the character whose movie this is — nobody’s onscreen more than this brooding purple titan, and he’s a more compelling villain than most non-Loki, non-Killmonger Marvel screen baddies. Still, his pronouncements veer from the monumental to the tin-eared, often in a single line. “I ignored my destiny once,” he rumbles, before adding, unnecessarily, “I cannot do that again.”

EXPAND

 It’s the house style of the Marvel movies to undercut grandiosity with wisecracks, essentially RiffTracking themselves. Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord points out that Thanos’ chin looks a “nutsack,” and Rocket, his one-racoon-army pal, tells a giant space dwarf played by Peter Dinklage that naming an ax forged from the very essence of a star “Stormbreaker” is “a bit much.” That ribbing often seems to me cheaply self-exonerating, a case of the filmmakers letting themselves off the hook for the goofiness of these stories — for their failure to sell us the most outlandish elements. Rather than commit the imaginative resources to stirring awe in us at the power of Stormbreaker, they layer a critic’s complaint about its cheesiness right into the scene. Rather than design the villain so that he doesn’t look like a rugged scrotum, they score a laugh out of it and move on.

Infinity War only sags, I think, in its middle, when the filmmakers give us too many underlit scenes in a row set in what seems to be the basement junkyards of a host of indistinguishable planets. Thanos stalks through some of these in ponderous monologue, as humorless as a pastor on Good Friday. That’s true to the comics — Marvel villains do go on — but the relative blandness of the cosmos is not. Jack Kirby, Jim Starlin and the many other architects of the pen-and-ink infinities that have inspired Infinity War all packed their universe with weirdness, visions and grandeur. The Russos and the hundreds of craftspeople who worked on this film have dreamed up marvelous battles — especially the one where a motley assortment of heroes take their cracks at the purportedly unstoppable Thanos. But only once here did an intergalactic vista catch my breath the way a splash page in a Silver Surfer comic might.

That’s partially because the filmmakers are always in a hurry: Grandeur takes time; jokes can come quickly. To be fair, in all Marvel universes, it’s the characters that count most. That’s what the films have gotten right ever since Jon Favreau’s Iron Man 10 years ago. The world-building has sometimes come at the expense of narrative (Iron Man 2, Avengers: Age of Ultron), the storytelling has often been rote or formulaic (Ant-Man, Doctor Strange), the action has sometimes looked like an afterthought (Spider-Man: Homecoming), and Thor: The Dark World remains, unforgivably, Thor: The Dark World. But through them all — even in Captain America: Civil War, which scrambled motivations to create conflict — is a certainty about just who these heroes are, what makes each interesting and what fans have dreamed of seeing them do. More often than not, the filmmakers have achieved the latter.

(Super vague ending spoiler follows!) The cliffhanger climax of Infinity War left the audience at my screening in a state that I can only describe with the most tired of critical clichés: They were stunned. No matter the film’s flaws, that decade of character work — of character love, even — powers an all-too-rare pop-culture wallop. For once, the superhero movie punches us.

(C)

[smokeybrandreviews]

Smokey brand Movie Reviews: Marvel’s Revengers

This review is a few weeks in the making. I actually saw Thor: Ragnarok the day it came out but i wanted to wait to review it. I was curious how i would feel about it after seeing Justice League. The fact that the architect of Marvel’s Phase One was brought in to “fix” what Snyder had produced was kind of ill so i wanted to see if i could discern that Marvel flavor in DC’s flick better after taking in Thor and having time to ponder those aspects altogether. I opted to take in Ragnarok a second time today because i figured out that i liked it more than i liked Justice League. Even with all of the good in that flick; Flash, Wondy, the levity, Aquaman, Cyborg sort of, i just found myself watching a third tier Marvel outing. Like, i left thee theater feeling like i watched Avenger 3 and it was worse than Age Of Ultron. Ultron wasn’t great but it was decent ,JL wasn’t decent. After watching Ragnarok a second time, my initial reaction was justified For both films. Thor: Ragnarok is a great movie and Justice League is a pale imitation of what makes Ragnarok great. I might write a piece later comparing the two, elaborating on my i think JL to be such a hollow abstraction of Ragnarok, and the Marvel formula overall, but this little essay is going to be a straight review of Ragnarok. Spoilers: Is Gud. Go see that sh*t. Again. But first, can we just appreciate the utter bad ass beauty of Tessa Thompson?

Ol’ girl was goddamn outstanding in a movie full of outstanding and she did while being bad-ass, beautiful, and brilliant. Hats off, madame, hats off. Swag on fleek, as the kids say.

The Best

Tessa Thompson killed as Brunnhilde. And, yes, she has a name, not a number. She’s Brunnhilde the Valkyrie or just Valkyrie. and Tess OWNED that sh*t, manq!

Speaking of ownage, can we just stop and appreciate Hela? Cate Blanchett embodied this roll and i loved every minute of it. I’ve always loved Hela. I thought she never got her due in the comics, with the exceptions of some solid f*cking stories (check out little loki and Leah’s adventure or Ultimate Hela, off the top of my head) so to see such a prestigious actor take on such an iconic character with respect, understand, and general awesomeness was spectacular. She’s my second favorite MCU villain after Keaton’s Vulture and i mean the closet of seconds.

Speaking of my beautiful and deadly Hela, i like the liberties they took with her history here. Don’t misunderstand, 616 Hela will always have a special place in my heart by her cinema appearance, an amalgamation of Gor the God Butcher, Angela Odinsdottir, (yes, that’s Angela’s guv’ment name now) and Hela Lokisdottir, (lookit me using comic logic to discern Hela’s last name) i was pretty okay with how she turned out overall. I mean, come on, looking over that last clusterf*ck of words, you’d think the character, herself, would be a mess but she’s not. She’s just plain dope. Dope and hot. and deadly. Deadly, dope, and hot.

How can Jeff Goldblum not be at the top of this list with the other two standouts in this flick? Yo, anytime you add Ian Malcolm to anything, it’s immediately +5 for snark and +20 for tight. Jeff, with all his Goldblumisms, just makes everything better. He’s like cinema MSG!

I loved the diversity in this flick. Beautiful, black, female, lead that happens to not only best the “Lord of Thunder and God of Mischief but the hulk, too? Check. Female antagonist that is arguably the best antagonist Marvel has ever produced? Check. Bad ass warrior monk who can see anywhere into the universe and happens to be black, too? Check. Respect and reverence for the multi-cultures represented by the majority of the cast while not feeling like pandering or false SJW placation? Check. Visionary, Academy award nominated, director who happens to be half Maori out here throwing his big cinematic dick about all over Disney’s Marvelscape? Check. Marvel is getting this sh*t right in their films and while i think Homecoming did diversity better, Thor is a damn fine continuance in that direction.

This movie was beautiful. It was like walking into a Jack Kirby comic from the 70s. I half expected a f*cking Eternal or Celestial to jump out of the screen at me. I thought Doctor strange had a heavy visual aesthetic but Ragnarok definitely pressed it for that title.

The Better

Taika Waititi is getting much better at his craft. I can’t say this is a perfect movie but it’s a damn good one. There are still some pacing issues and some rather interest plot points from the previous outings **cough**JaneFosterandLadySif**cough** that were just glossed over but i think they tightened the narrative overall. a better example would be the sudden injection, and that’s what it felt like actually, of Hela. That was more than sudden and jarring. That sloppy execution set me off a little, i guess, and that’s on the direction.

But dat Soundtrack, tho!

Mark Ruffalo turns in another spectacular, scene stealing, performance as Bruce Banner. Cat is kind perfect for this role and it boggles my mind that it took three tries to get that right. Marvel is usually really good at casting.Go figure.

Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston turn in their best performances as the Odinson boys and i’m glad to see a little closure with their arc. Seeing Thor actually mature and Loki come full circle was awesome. As a older brother, i identified with their overall growth closely. It was adorable and brotherly. Also, did anyone else notice how hot Hiddles was in that suit. I’m not gay but goddamn, you gotta give the brotha his credit where it’s due. He wore the f*ck out of that ensemble!

It was dope to see Heimdall get some finally. Cat out here using the Bifrost key to just mow down nameless asshole zombie Asgardians while saving basically the entire world, single-handedly. I saw a meme that referred to him as black Jesus and i can’t imagine a better way to sum his character up. Apparently, Idris Elba does have a dope pair of sandals so, you know, that’s a thing.

The visuals on Sakarr were inspired. i adored the textures and lived in feel of that world. It felt like something Jeff Goldblum would lord over. Muspelheim was just as majestic as Niflheim from the original Thor.

But dat Thorforce, tho. I know it was lightning or thunder or whatever but that sh*t was the goddamn Thorforce, son. Please see Rune Thor or King Thor and get at me, bro.

The Good

The supporting cast was legit. I thought Korg and Miek were just the right amount of hilarious with the right amount of exposure. I wanted more but i wasn’t hurting that i didn’t get more, you know? I think a one-shot would be fun for those two.

The Visual effects were on point. Nothing looked unfinished and this was the first time we really gt a great look at The Hulk. That whole gladiator scene was epic as sh*t! i wish it were longer but, you know, WWH can swing back around and address that. I mean, i’d love to see how Doug bit the dust, particularly considering New Doug basically destabilized and overthrew the entire social system. Also, Fenrir was cool as sh*t.

The Hulk was dope. Like, as a character, dope. Seeing him come into his own over his two year imprisonment of Banner was awesome. I said this before and i’ll say it again, i needs that WWH movie now. How can you gloss over that two year period? The f*ck was he doing in that time? How dope was he while he was winning?? i need to know, Marvel! I NEED TO KNOW!!

Sir Anthony Hopkins and future Sir Benedict Cumberbatch showed up and did what they do. They were short cameos but their respective skill in their craft carried their respective screen presences effortlessly. I will miss Odin though. He was pretty legit anytime he was onscreen. And the chemistry he had with Hemsworth has gotten considerably better. Is a far cry from literally all of the complaints he had for kid when they made the first Thor flick, all those years ago. Growth is good, manq.

But dat Fenrir, tho.

The Eh

Where the f*ck was Sif? i loved Sif. Why she gone, bro? She obviously wasn’t killed by Hela cuz she was nowhere near Asgard so i assume she’s on Midgar or whatever so why no Sif? Not even a mention, you know? I’d say this was “Bad” but it was more a discomfort than a slight.

Hela’s return from and general machinations of her banishment/imprisonment was kind of swampy. It was never clear how Odin put her away or how she knew where he was when he died. I imagine Magic or f*cking Magnets or some sh*t but still. Shenanigans.

Hela sacked the Warriors Three like they were lunches. I thought that was ridiculous but whatever. They needed a way to portray Hela’s dopenesss but you’re telling me Thor or Heimdall didn’t mourn their bros? that sh*t was whack, son!

Karl Urban was okay as Scourge. Like, his introduction was dope. That little bit when Thor returned from Muspelheim was chill as sh*t but after that? Meh. Kid was kind of an irredeemable weenie and a total plot throw away. Hela didn’t need him for sh*t. Still, it’s good to see Bones branching out. Maybe this will get him enough clout to get Dredd Two made. I want my Judge Death goddamit! 

The Verdict

I adored Ragnarok. I think it’s easily one of the better Marvel films out there. It’s effortlessly the second best of the Marvel films released this year (I give Homecoming that distinction because i’m a giant Spider-Man fanboy and Logan is technically a Fox property or that thing would DEFINITELY get the “Best of the year” nod) and has left the MCU in a very intriguing place. As a direct lead in to Infinity War, i am satisfied. Satisfied and, as the kids say, crazy thirsty for what’s next. Taika Waititi has elevated this franchise from the worst of the MCU into talks as part of the best with one movie and that’s a goddamn feat. While i feel like World War Hulk should have been it’s own film, it’s own movie, i’m less frustrated by it being just a part of Ragnorok’s overall vision. Taika’s execution of that vision was just so deftly executed, none of that felt tacked on. It never weighed down the overall plot or narrative.Besides, there’s a two year gap there. We can always go back and see how Hulk became The Champion with a prequel. or something. Anything to get my girl Tessa back on that MCU screen, ya dig? Ma looked good in them silvers and blues.

Overall, i thought this was a solid film. There are some pacing issues and a few shots were a bit jarring; i thought the sudden appearance of that Norway scene was a bit heavy handed, but Sir Anthony Hopkins kind of saved that situation a little bit. Watching that guy act is a goddamn blessing. At the end of the day, this was an amazing film that entertained, regaled, and endeared. I adore the additions of Tessa Thompson and Jeff Goldblum and hope we see more of them going forward. This was a diverse, brilliant, fun, entertaining, film that deserves all of the accolades it’s received as well as multiple viewings by the audience. It kind of sh*t’s all over Justice League so go see Ragnarok again instead.