#if i had to deal with 50+ years of thor comics framing loki in the most uncharitable way possible SO let me have this

[lokiinmediasideblog]

Can I say that I tend to get annoyed by how some parts of this fandom turns up their noses at darker portrayals of family dynamics as anti-intellectual?

I also find it ANNOYING when someone posts a whumpy Loki HC, and someone chimes in to give some "nuance." Like fuck off. We want whump over here! Don't try to smooth it out by bringing some unrelated bullshit to soften it up and make it cute and cozy about Loki and Mama Frigga or decent dad Odin. READ THE FUCKING ROOM!

[theshijlegacy]

So many feels after Avengers: Endgame.  SO.  MANY.

SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT OF COURSE

Thanks to the Internet, a comic nerd husband, and my own musings, I had a solid handful of ideas about what would happen, and was right on most of them.

Hawkeye’s whole family got dusted: totally explains why he became Ronin.  Making that the first scene of the movie was a real gut-punch; well done.

Iron Man dies: fitting end for the character in so many ways.  I was so sure it was coming, and I held it together... until the arc-reactor light on the suit went out.  Tried not to cry.  Failed.

Thor doesn’t die but fucks off to wherever: one of my first thoughts was that he was a candidate for the Death List, but he’s a literal god, really hard to kill, maybe he’ll go walk the galaxy or some shit for a while.  But Asgardians of the Galaxy?  shut up and take my money

Time fuckery: yeah ok that almost doesn’t count.  “Trust Dr. Strange" has been my mantra for the last year.

All the heroes that got dusted came back: see above.  From a practical standpoint, you can’t kill off characters with sequel movies coming, and my pedantic ass won’t let that go.

Cap goes back to his own time and finally gets to be with Peggy: MY HEART.  ALL OF THE FEELS.  (Will probably lose my shit the next time I watch this.)  Cap was at the top of my list for probable deaths until the first trailer came out, and all the way until the end of the film, I was still convinced he’d be gone.  Time-traveling to 1970 to get more Pym Particles and he winds up hiding in Director Peggy’s office; oh okay, that’s the one last time he gets to see her.  The scene in the final battle where he’s struggling to get up, with the broken shield; now he’ll make his Noble Sacrifice.  Then when he was going to take the Infinity Stones back to their rightful times/places, I figured he wouldn’t come back and that would be it; I guess he’ll get an off-screen death.  But wait, is that Pre-Serum Steve on the bench..?  No, it’s Old/Appropriately Aged Steve, who found a wife... OH FUCK THEY ACTUALLY DID IT AND I CANNOT HANDLE THIS RIGHT NOW BUT THESE ARE TEARS OF JOY REALLY.  (Opinions are split on how Time Fuckery works, but I am of the mind that this is the past that couldn’t be changed and Steve was always going to marry Peggy.  Cap wore a mask in public so he could just change his name whenever he got back to the late 40′s/early 50′s.  He didn’t return to the future through the portal but “the long way” and obviously knew when and where to show up.  And there’s a scene in Winter Soldier where Peggy is talking with Cap about her husband, and she says “you saved him”; not sure how far in advance the storylines were planned or even outlined, and I know it was purposely vague, but I think it’s appropriate - and true.)

And of course there were great fights and one-liners and angsty characters and space stuff and all the things we know and love in the MCU.

And plenty of things I didn’t expect!  Standouts, for various reasons, in no particular order:

Holy returning characters Batman: The Ancient One!  Secretary Ross!  Agent Sitwell!  Alexander Pierce!  Valkyrie!  Korg!  Frigga!  Jane Foster!  1970 Hank Pym and Howard Stark complete with rockin’ de-aging CGI - and JARVIS!!  (How about another season or two of Agent Carter?  And have the show officially end with Cap’s time-traveling return??  MAKE IT HAPPEN DISNEY)

Thor, Lebowski edition: So unexpected and yet it worked!  Played for laughs at times but also a reminder that trauma and grief does different things to different people (compare and contrast with how Cap, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Hulk, and Black Widow deal with things in the intervening 5 years.)  And I’m glad he didn’t become suddenly buff again at any point.  Totally dig the braided beard and 10000% here for Asgardians of the Galaxy.

America’s Ass: whether this was for Chris Evans fangirls/fanboys, a meta reference to the Cap character poster for Infinity War, or just another light-hearted bit... it doesn’t matter.  It is America’s Ass, and it is spectacular.

Cap/Cap and Nebula/Nebula fights: “Perfectly symmetrical violence never solved anything!”  And I always love it.  Especially 2023(?) Cap getting tired of 2012 Cap’s lines.

“Hail Hydra”: definitely not the line I expected.  A nod to a recent comic arc and of course the MCU itself.

Cap wields Mjolnir: not only is he worthy to wield and throw it, HE CAN CALL DOWN LIGHTNING.  And Mjolnir/shield dual-wielding?  YAAAS.  The OP character that deserves to be OP.

Epic final battle: sling rings appear, in come armies and armies of backup from all over the galaxy.  That scene is going to need a frame-by-frame analysis with explanations of who all showed up.

2012 Loki vanishes with the scepter: welp, there’s your Disney+ series?  From what I understand about the movie’s Time Fuckery, changing the past creates a new timeline, and now we have a whole bunch of Loki’s All-New Adventures to explore.

Black Widow dies: COMPLETELY blindsided by that one and upset in ways I can’t yet explain.  When she and Hawkeye time- and space-traveled to Vormir, I figured there would be some workaround for the One Soul -> Soul Stone exchange.  And when that proved to not be the case, and both of them assumed they’d be the one to sacrifice themselves, I was so sure that Hawkeye would eventually be the one because of course he would, right?  Lost his family, became Ronin, nothing to lose but wants to do the right thing one last time?  Right?  NOPE.  I wouldn’t exactly call this fridging but it’s uncomfortably close.  And yeah, she had no real family (didn’t even know her dad’s name, ugh), and this was all being done so half the galaxy could be un-snapped, but it doesn’t sit right with me.  (I’m guessing her solo movie will be an origin story/prequel of some sort?)

Overall, a fitting and satisfying end to 11 years of the MCU so far.  Closure where there needed to be but enough open endings to keep things going for the upcoming movies/TV shows.  Two very exhausted thumbs up.

[notajinn]

Thoughts on Avengers Endgame

I saw a movie on opening day for the first time. It's been about 24 hours and I want to jot down quick thoughts while I still have better memory of Avengers Endgame.

This post contains MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW! If you don't want to be spoiled, turn away now.

A quick background to my lead up to this movie. I have always been into games, but I had limited experience with comics for most of my life outside of Sonic, Archie, and the occasional Donald Duck. I loved Batman and Spider-Man, but I didn't make the move to reading comics or really following their scenes beyond the mainstream movies and cartoons.

Which means I went into the MCU at first as someone with only a basic knowledge of comic worlds. Like most people, I was blown away by the first Iron Man. I wasn't invested enough to follow all the movies though, and didn't see another MCU movie until Avengers. I think this was the movie that really sparked my interest in the greater comic universe because it showed that Iron Man was not a one-off fluke, and it managed to balance a whole team of heroes better than many superhero films carried a single one.

The MCU has been with me from before I had much interest in comics, and this arc lasted to this point where I'm very invested in the genre (though more of that is attributed to Ms Marvel than the MCU). In that way, the fact that Endgame is such a celebration of the MCU makes it feel a lot heavier than it is as a film on its own.

That's probably the main takeaway from Endgame; it is extremely difficult to think of as a movie on its own as opposed to a anniversary special. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, however.

With that frame setting things up, here are various thoughts in no particular order I have about Endgame.

1.      Valkyrie continues to be amazing. I loved seeing her as a Pegasus Knight in the big fight scene, and the idea of making her the new King of Asgard is something I never expected, but really love.

2.     Because Loki wasn't killed by Thanos' snap, I assume this means he's still dead. So the Loki show is going to be about the alternate universe Loki who escaped with the Infinity Stone? Or a prequel featuring this universe Loki?

3.     It was really 50/50 to me whether Sam or Bucky would become Cap (though I was 100% on both Cap and Iron Man leaving). I feel like in the real world, Sam is a better idea for the sake of representation. In-universe however, I feel Bucky and Steve were far closer and it would have made more sense to pass the Captain title to him. Though there's the question of whether Bucky really wanted it. Was Steve just planning to give it to whichever of the two approached first? If not, how awkward would it have been for Bucky to go up first, ask about the shield, and Steve to then give it to Sam?

4.     I'm glad they mostly dropped the Bruce and Black Widow romance, because it felt really forced

5.     Black Widow was at her best here,  and I was surprised they killed off the original female member of the team. Also given she has a confirmed movie and Hawkeye has a confirmed show, real life knowledge did not really spoil which one lived during the Soul Stone encounter

6.     The fight between Black Widow and Hawkeye was arguably the best action sequence

7.      I feel like they had to forcibly make Thor a washed-up drunk just so we wouldn't immediately defeat no-stone Thanos in the final fight. Honestly it still felt crazy that Cap, Thor, and Iron Man together couldn't take down his non-stone form.

8.     Spider-Man got to use kill mode!

9.     So is half of Peter's school just 5 years older now? I assume that all the important characters will have conveniently been "snapped" so that they don't have to recast for future Spider-Man movies. Although I wouldn't mind this opportunity to have Cindy aged up for her own movie's sake. Especially since an older Cindy would have less of a chance of being put into an awful romance with teen Peter

10.  They could make a whole movie or even series about the people who lived through the Thanos Years trying to adapt to the world being restored. Because that must be a mess.

11.   I thought Carol's little flirting with Peter was kinda funny without being too much as a reference to their one-time relationship

12.   During the funeral scene, there seemed to be another white kid who looked like Peter according to friends I saw it with. I didn't see the second one, so they might just be crazy, but if there's not I wonder who it was

13.   I did not expect them to bring back Gamora though her past form. I'm really curious how this affect Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Will the plot be winning her back? Outside of losing the romance with Quill, how much character development will they say she regained off-screen between movies?

14.   Steve looked great doing Devil May Cry combos with Mjolnir and his shield

15.   This was Quill's first time back on Earth, wasn't it? If so, I would have loved one of the post-fight scenes actually giving that more weight. But instead he's already blasting off again. Maybe Guardians 3 will have a flashback about it

16.   I really wish Quill wasn't treated as such a big joke in these bigger team up movies. I get that he's a comedic character who is severely outclassed, but I'd still like him to get thrown a better bone. I would have loved to see him talk to some of the other humans while on Earth too

17.   I can't believe how quickly and cleanly they killed Thanos at the beginning. I especially love Thor using it as a chance to make up for his mistake

18.  That initial Thanos kill did a great job at subverting expectations, and honestly made me disoriented

19.   Carol was as strong as expected, but they didn't let her solo everything. That was probably the best way to deal with her without powering her down

20.  Nebula was way more important than I expected her to be, which I appreciated

21.   Did Nebula know the Soul Stone required a sacrifice? Is that why she sent Black Widow and Hawkeye? If not, what if that was where she and Sam went? Neither of their deaths would have led to a stone

22.  Steve was so good at using future knowledge to his advantage with his "hail Hydra" remark, and his "Bucky's alive" to past-Cap. I also generally can't believe they reference Hydra Cap given how awfully he was received

23.   Got really worried at the beginning that Hawkeye was going to call his daughter Kate to badly shoehorn Better Hawkeye into the MCU. She still has a chance to get in properly luckily

24.  I forgot Pepper ever got an Iron Man suit. Also I vaguely thought the actress didn't want to return for some reason

25.  I really didn't expect Jane to come back given the actress seems so indifferent to the MCU. If they do go the Jane-Thor route, here's hoping they cast a new actress

26.  If everyone has shrinking/time-travel suits now, does that mean they can all super-size as well? If so, Scott completely lost his gimmick. But then we have characters like Quill who have no powers or real fighting gimmicks, but are still great

27.  How did Thanos and crew so easily jump forward in time just because they had the Pym Particles?

28.  I would have loved to see the full scene of Carol rescuing Iron Man and Nebula instead of jumping forward

29.  Would similarly have loved to see even a flashback of how Bruce and Hulk got to their Professor Hulk state

30.  Fury didn't even help in the big fight. Not even just shooting one guy, or talking to Carol!

31.   After all these years, the music is still so incredibly average and forgettable. You could see the end credits trying SO hard with the main Avengers theme, but it's just so incredibly "okay"

32.  Loved the quiet way they handled the opening

That's all I have right now. Feel free to pipe in if you have points to make about any of my thoughts.