#loki failed long enough for him to turn from a villain to the hero/anti-hero

[chilledagridolce27]

Loki is Scar in Lion King but with a redemption arc

think about it

[plasticnightmaredoll]

So, the "Justice League" finally got its own movie, eh? Oh, that thing from 2017 was just trash. It's gone. We don't need to look at it anymore.

But in all seriousness, it's great people called out for the Zack Snyder cut of the movie and actually got it! And, yes, it is a vast improvement over the Joss Whedon cut.

Now, my feelings about the DCEU have been pretty divided:

I actually did enjoy "Man of Steel" and found Superman to be relatable and likable for once (I'm not a Superman fan and don't come for me)

"Wonder Woman" was very entertaining and easily the best entry for me in the movie series so far.

"Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" was a hot mess. Lots of good ideas but it was executed poorly. It felt kind of cheesy at times, especially that whole "Save Martha" thing. Jesse Eisenburg is not a convincing Lex Luthor. Ben Affleck is not a good actor and is a terrible Batman/Bruce Wayne. He's not as bad as George Clooney, but he's not much better either.

"Wonder Woman 1984" was a massive glow-down. Poor quality writing, Maxwell Lord was a weak villain, Cheetah was laughable, and the ending was so goddamn corny! Not to mention, it took ages for anything interesting to happen, and what was the deal with Steve Trevor possessing another dude's body? I mean...what?

Haven't seen "Suicide Squad" in its entirety but I do know and have seen enough to decide that it's a huge misstep. Haven't seen "Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)" either but I have some interest in it so perhaps someday.

Haven't watched "Aquaman" but probably will eventually but I'm just not very motivated to see it. I like Jason Mamoa as Aquaman/Arthur Curry, but...I don't know. The trailers didn't really grab my attention.

The 2017 Joss Whedon version of "Justice League" was terrible -- worse than "Batman v Superman," worse than "Wonder Woman 1984." I thought the movie moved too quickly, lacked proper character development, and had some bad CGI (I mean, Mustache Gate, am I right?)

Onto the Synder Cut for "Justice League!" Spoilers ahead, of course:

These are really a collection of thoughts, opinions, and observations I had while watching the movie. I have only seen the 2017 film once and honestly don't want to watch it ever again, not even to "refresh my memory" of some details.

Steppenwolf

Steppenwolf was such a pitiful villain in the Whedon Cut. The CGI for him was terrible, and he looked like some weird dude in armor. His personality and motives were paper thin as well. He was a throw-away, token villain, and the only things memorable about him was his name and voice.

In the Snyder Cut, not only was Steppenwolf's CGI much more refined, his character design was imposing. His armor seemed to be alive, too, always shifting slightly, this way and that, which was an impressive sight. His motives, while nothing too deep or extraordinary, gave him a little more depth: he pissed off Darkseid and had to make up for it, and was clearly afraid of what could happen to him if he failed.

The name and voice obviously were still memorable but combined with the other improvements to his character, they were icing on the cake.

That being said, I don't think Steppenwolf is as intriguing or even remotely sympathetic as Loki and Thanos in the MCU.

Darkseid

Was Darkseid even mentioned in the Whedon cut? I can't remember and I don't want to watch that shitty movie again just to find out. However, I don't recall Darkseid making an appearance or even being spoken of in the 2017 version. Now, I haven't read DC (or Marvel) comics, so I don't know a lot about the guy, but he is supposedly one of the more iconic villains.

His motives are pretty simple, though: command and conquer. There isn't a lot of depth so far in the movies but he does pose a much larger threat than Steppenwolf did. You could tell Steppenwolf was intimidated by Darkseid, who was about as cold and menacing as they come. He's a complete villain in that regard, having no emotions and only seeking power for himself.

He looked great in the Snyder Cut. He was actually really fucking scary-looking. He made the beefcake Steppenwolf look like a puppy.

I'm glad that Darkseid made an appearance, even if he didn't fight the Justice League. It alludes to a much broader story, as well as foreshadows an epic boss fight down the line -- assuming the Snyder Cut is popular enough to convince the studios to make a direct sequel and not just abandon things in favor of some sort of soft reboot.

Superman/Clark Kent/Henry Cavill/Mustache Gate

Let's get this out of the way: Henry Cavill is hot af.

Ok, now that we got that out of the way, hooray for Snyder for getting rid of those nasty reshoot scenes involving Henry's CGI'd mouth! Can't say I missed them, you know? I mean, in the 2017 Whedon Cut, you could always spot reshoot scenes based on whether or not Henry's mouth looked normal and totally strange.

I think the 2017 movie had Superman grab Batman by the neck and ask, "Tell me: Do you bleed?" I'm relieved that was removed from the Synder Cut because it added too much of an evil tone to Superman, and we could clearly tell he was most upset with Batman upon being revived.

One massive problem with the 2017 movie was that it made every member of the Justice League look like bumbling idiots without Superman's help. It was downright embarrassing and unrealistic. I mean, you're telling me that Wonder Woman, a goddess, can't take on Steppenwolf? Or Victor Stone, a cyborg with incredible abilities? Making Superman key to winning isn't the problem, it's how it was done in the 2017 movie. He's already OP but that shouldn't mean his comrades have to be useless in comparison.

Superman was allowed to be OP in the Snyder Cut without making his team look incompetent. Like in the Avengers movies, everyone in the Justice League had a purpose and all of them worked together to defeat Steppenwolf. Superman obviously was key to winning, but, again, it wasn't like he was the only capable one during the battle.

I did like the black suit. It's kind of ominous but also very cool at the same time. But is it also foreshadowing something? I don't know...I haven't read the comics so I really don't have any idea lol.

Batman/Bruce Wayne/Batfleck

One glaring issue I still have is Ben Affleck is a mediocre actor at best and he's a terrible Bruce Wayne/Batman. I mean, they couldn't have found anyone else? Someone with, like, good acting abilities?

Martian Manhunter

This whole time -- THIS WHOLE GOTDAMM TIME -- Martian Manhunter was hiding in plain sight! General Swanwick, who I remember from "Man of Steel," IS Martian Manhunter. I didn't see that coming. I mean, I knew Martian Manhunter would appear in the Snyder Cut but I didn't know he'd have an alternate identity, let alone that of an existing character in the DCEU.

As much as I did like seeing him, I am glad he didn't play a big part because the movie already has plenty of characters as is, and introducing yet another one could have slowed things down and taken away from developing the plot.

The Runtime/Pacing

I mentioned already that the Whedon Cut felt rushed and needed much more time to develop its characters and plot. While I had doubts about whether or not making "Justice League" four hours long would be a good idea, it turns out that it was just what the story needed.

Character development was actually existent, and Cyborg/Victor Stone received a detailed backstory, and Flash/Barry Allen got some extra tidbits added to his character's story/background as well.

I actually thought Victor was a fascinating (if a bit tragic) character in the Whedon cut and was disappointed that he just sort of, like, popped up and fought alongside the other Justice League members with the tiniest amount of depth.

Despite an epic 4-hour runtime, it didn't feel slow, nor did it feel like any scenes were "filler." Every scene had a purpose and kept the story moving at a steady, comprehensible pace. It felt more like a 2.5-3 hour movie, honestly, which is a feat since pacing can often be one of a film's biggest issues ("Avengers: Endgame" also accomplished this feat with its 3-hour runtime feeling more like 2-2.5 hours but with no negative side effects of that). Breaking the movie into chapters, including an epilogue was a tad strange because it's not a very common thing, but I think it helped break up the epic 4 hours into separate, manageable but still cohesive pieces. Also, they helped easily transition from one portion to the next smoothly without any awkward cuts.

The Flash/Barry Allen/Ezra Miller

Barry still amused me in the Whedon Cut. He brought some good-natured humor and charm to the movie, preventing it from being too brooding and intense.

I think Ezra is a talented actor and does well in the Barry Allen role but he is, unfortunately, a problematic person. I mean, if he gets recast, he gets recast but hopefully, they pick someone else who has some acting abilities worth noting (i.e. Not a Ben Affleck type of actor)

The Final Battle

It was a huge improvement over the 2017 cut, as everyone was key to winning the final battle, not just Superman. It is meant to be a team of costumed heroes defeating a villain, not just one OP member of the team outdoing everyone else.

That being said, I felt that the final battle was a little bit anti-climatic. I don't know what it was but I just thought that it would be longer? I expected more to happen? More fighting? Not sure how to describe it, but I do feel like it wasn't as impressive as it could have been.

The Epilogue

A dystopian future involving an evil Superman and Joker somehow working WITH Batman was just...crazy. I mean, evil Superman, I can believe, but Joker and Batman working together (even reluctantly) is quite a sight.

Based on what I've been reading, this nightmare Bruce has could be setting up not one but two sequels for "Justice League." I would like to see how things will play out even if things get kind of dark. I'm getting the impression that Darkseid will kill Lois Lane, thus breaking Superman emotionally and making him compliant. That is unless Bruce intervenes in this timeline and prevents that from happening...but at the expense of his own life. Oh dear...

I definitely enjoyed the Zack Snyder version of "Justice League," and would definitely watch it again and again and again. I already have forgotten the majority of the Whedon Cut, and after seeing Synder's version, I think the 2017 movie will be rendered null and void. I hope it is just expelled from the DCEU canon entirely. That, and we get the "Justice League" sequels, preferably from Zack Snyder (Say what you want but I think he is a pretty good director for the most part and seems to really care about this work).

I honestly want to see a fight between the Justice League and Darkseid because I think that's what we're trying to build up to, and seeing as how Darkseid is one of the legendary villains in the DC comics, I would be extremely disappointed if this doesn't come to pass.

Also, as much as I like Batman/Bruce Wayne, seeing him sacrifice himself to save the team, including Lois and thus Superman's sanity, would be something else. It would bring everyone even closer together, for one, and I think that the negativity shared between Batman and Superman in the past would be completely forgiven. I'm not saying there isn't forgiveness now, but dying to save Superman's wife would change everything....if that makes sense? Does it make sense? I'm terrible at explaining my thoughts sometimes.

[sserpente]

A/N: Two requests from two anons and of course, loads of multiply requested fluff! Writing this made honestly made me tired too though! 😴

Words: 1582 Warnings: pure fluff, very light Endgame spoilers

The dark circles underneath your eyes spoke volumes. It was devastating, truly. When was the last time you had properly slept, lied down in bed and relaxed? You couldn’t even remember but it must have been weeks already. In fact, the last time you had slept at all must have been about forty-eight hours ago.

Your body was craving a break, aching and complaining with every move you made. You knew this wasn’t healthy but what were you going to do? Ask the aliens for a break so you could rest? Surely, they were unlikely to agree on a ceasefire for eight hours sharp.

Besides, you had a point to prove. That you could endure this. That you were strong enough. That they could rely on you, trust you. You were mortal, human, yes… but you were not going to be the villainous anti-hero they had pigeonholed you to be.

And maybe that was the reason you got along so well with none other than the God of Mischief himself. Ever since his own brother had distanced himself from him to such a crucial and heartless extent, Loki seemed to be living in a shell, letting nothing and no one get close to him. Except for you. Sometimes.

A relieved sigh escaped your lips as you kicked off your shoes and tossed your dirty jacket into a corner. Your room—it much rather resembled a library though—had quickly become your only sanctuary after a mission. The only place you could hide and take a deep breath in. To sleep… you moaned.

Still, all you had time for now was a quick shower. You would have to get some research done. You had obtained some seemingly significant information today that needed examining before you could finally go to bed, if only for an hour or two. One-hundred-and-twenty minutes to regain the ability of concentration and vigilance.

You screamed when you spotted Loki sitting comfortably on your sofa and reading one of your books. He came here a lot, you should not be surprised. Most of his own books had turned to ash when Asgard was destroyed—ever since then, he had been reading everything he could get his hands on. Your room was something like a secret little paradise for him. You would be lying if you said you didn’t enjoy his company.

Loki gave you an incredulous look. “Now since when do I startle you?” He asked, a slightly mocking but playful tone in his voice. Breathing out audibly, you shook your head.

“Sorry…”

Loki raised an eyebrow, pointing at the free spot on the sofa. “Sit.”

It was funny, really, how he made it look like this wasn’t actually your room and he had not asked for permission to even be in here but instead allowed you to remain in his presence. You would have giggled, had you not been that tired.

“I can’t, I’m afraid. I’ll have a quick shower and then join Bruce in the lab, I found something today.” Then maybe I can actually lie down a little. “What are you reading?”

Loki nodded slowly, then glanced down at the cover. “Tolstoy. It appears to be rather good.”

Oh… you had recommended Anna Karenina to him the other day. “I’m glad you enjoy it.”

“Sit.” He suddenly said again, more intently this time.

You sighed. “Loki, I can’t, I really want to but I can’t.”

The God of Mischief smirked. “Give yourself a break. You seem stressed.”

“Do I?” You laughed, failing desperately in your attempt to sound sarcastic. Loki was being exceptionally generous today. You didn’t look stressed, you looked like a bloody corpse.

Maybe… five minutes? Sighing yet again, you let yourself fall on the sofa, right next to him and leaned back, ready to fall asleep then and there. Shit. Quickly, you sat up again cross-legged, facing Loki.

“You are trying too hard,” he said quietly when he reached for the bookmark and shut the book to meet your sleepy gaze.

“What am I trying too hard?”

“To gain their approval. If they have not accepted you by now, what makes you think they will after you get yourself killed in battle?”

Jerking back, you stared at him open-mouthed.

“That’s not… I’m not trying to get myself killed, you know.”

“But you will if you keep this up.”

He knew. Of course he knew. If you had learned one thing about Loki it was how perceptive he was. It didn’t scare you. What scared you was the fact that he might be right. He was right because he had been going through your futile efforts too. Yet here he was now. Detached even from his very own brother despite everything he had done for him. He had tossed him away after every single time he had needed him. And Loki was no fool not to realise the Avengers were doing the same thing to you now.

Quickly, you blinked the treacherous tears forming in your eyes away, focusing on his raven hair instead of his scrutinising blue gaze.

You were not going to be emotional now, you were simply tired out. So you said nothing at first, keeping your eyes on his gorgeous locks.

“I wonder what you would look like with a few braided strands in your hair.” And apparently, being tired was worse than being drunk. Had you just said this out loud?

Loki’s utterly dismayed expression confirmed you had.

You smiled. “Sorry. Stupid thought. I just really like your hair, I guess. I’ve always wanted to brush it.” Would he let you? To calm you down? You used to do it with your dolls when you were a child and something had upset you. And Loki’s hair was dazzling. Long, black, wavy… you hoped to God he would never shorten it.

Slowly, the God of Mischief shook his head, clearly amused by your request.

“You are lucky I like you.”

You grinned. “Is that a yes?”

Loki rolled his eyes when you jumped up as energised as you could to grab your hairbrush from the nightstand. He really must have liked you. Trust you even.

“When was the last time you slept, my dear?” He asked when you returned, ushering him into turning around for you, which he did obediently. You leaned back a little so you could sit more comfortably as well, pulling Loki right with you. The God of Mischief sighed.

You had never experienced him this tender, open and even… vulnerable. You could really get used to it, even if the reason for this gentle and cosy get-together was simply you being completely all sleepy and over fatigued.

“I’m not so sure, to be honest…”

Smiling sadly, you brought up your fingers to touch his hair. It was even softer than it looked, not at all greasy when you began to brush through it with lazy strokes, the sound and feeling of it instantly calming you down.

“I cannot believe I am letting you do this.”

Actually giggling this time, you went on for a while before snatching two thick strands of his raven hair to braid it. Two braids on the sides, one in the middle. He should wear his hair like that more often.

When you were done, you were almost disappointed. Sighing, you put the brush away and instead ran just your fingers through his hair, gently massaging his scalp. Loki purred. What? He purred?

His blue eyes widened when he realised the consequences of his reaction, freezing for a moment.

“Do you want me to continue?” You whispered hesitantly. For a moment, he said nothing. Eventually, he took a deep, defeated breath.

“Please, do.”

You smiled when he relaxed into your touches, letting you play with his hair. The silence in your room was pleasant, reassuring. You wondered why people spent awful sums of money for massages when pampering this handsome and misunderstood man and listening to his even breathing was equally relaxing. Something to fall asleep to…

You flinched when you noticed your eyes falling shut, fighting against slumber with every fibre of your being—something Loki did not fail to notice. You had to stay awake, your research, the mission…

Reluctantly, he turned you both around so he was the one against the back of the sofa, forcing you to remove your hands from his head, and looked at you strictly.

“You need sleep.”

You frantically shook your head in response.

“No time…”

“Do not force me to make you, (Y/N).” He shot back a little sharper. Surprised and startled, you glanced up at him, watching him reach for the blanket on your bed. Would he? You knew he could make you fall asleep with but a touch of his hand on your forehead. You almost hoped he would. That way, it would not be your fault if you fell asleep and rested…

The next time Loki spoke, he sounded so gentle he brought tears to your eyes yet again. You were so tired... “Lie down. Come on.”

So you did, your resistance slowly melting away almost. You attempted a weak smile. He really did like you.

“Tony will… they’ll wonder where I am…”

“Then I shall deal with them later. Rest now…”

Yawning, you leaned back, allowing Loki to pull you against his chest and drape your tired body in the blanket. You fell asleep within a minute, the last thing you felt the tender touch of lips on your temple.

A/N: If you enjoyed this story, I would be flattered if you supported me on KoFi! sserpente.com/kofi

[dicecast]

The Problem with Thanos Part 1

(Note I wrote this after Infinity Wars but before Endgame) 

So I have some very complicated feelings about Thanos, and this isn’t helped by the fact that he is the first majorly popular villain from the most popular media franchise in history, so the pressure is on in regards to him.  So I feel compelled to have a few disclaimers off the bat.  

Firstly, yes, Thanos deserves his title as the best Marvel villain, though that isn’t saying much (I’m not really counting Loki cause by this point he is as much an anti-hero rather than a full antagonist) and his presence basically made Infinity Wars the one of better overall marvel movie thus far.  He is a good character, a good actor, and a good villain.  So calm down fans, I’m not saying Thanos himself is bad

Secondly, I don’t think anybody is bad for liking the character, Infinity Wars is a fine movie, you aren’t bad, don’t get defensive of your big purple mass murderer ok children?

Third, and most importantly, the actual dynamics of the character….aren’t bad.  At least they aren’t bad necessarily.  Everything about Thanos works, if you give Marvel a lot more credit than they deserve.  But 

Ok so for those who have managed to avoid the marvel franchise, let me just say, good life choice, keep it up, but here is the beat.

Thanos is an alien Titan Demigod thing who realizes that as life expands across the universe, we are using up the natural resources.   So, like the world’s most ambitious Druid, he proposes to solve the problem of overpopulation in the most literal way possible.  To wit he wants to get all the Infinity Stones, basically these all powerful magical items, and wipe out 50% of the universe’s population with a snap of his fingers.  The heroes attempt to defeat him and…they fail.  He snaps his fingers, 50% of everyone in the universe dies, movie over, sucks to be you. Literally 50% of everybody just turns to dust, including fucking baby Face Spider Man.  

(wait....)

Which was a pretty shocking ending, well played Disney.   I really do think the final death sequence was the most impressive overall sequence in any of the marvel movies.   Unlike most Marvel villain, he has a clear motive, distinct personality, and is actually you know…a challenge for the protagonists, and as I said, he is a good character. Cause he had like feelings and shit.  But I see a lot of people talking about Thanos like he is the real hero or he has some reasonable points or he is an anti-hero and…no he really isn’t. He isn’t just evil cause he wants to kill trillions of people, he is also objectively wrong about pretty much everything.  

     Now this isn’t actually a bad thing.  THanos is the villain, I’m ok with the villain being flawed, I mean that is kind of the point.  In fact what makes Thanos a good character (maybe, kinda, sort of, its complicated) is the fact that he is the exact type of person who would fall for this reductive thinking, because his greatest personal flaw is his inflexibility, so again his following a wrong value system makes sense 

 What makes Thanos interesting is that he is an extremely proud person who doesn’t have the normal conventions of pride, in that he really isn’t making it all about him.  Thanos genuinely isn’t a glory hound, he doesn’t want attention, he isn’t seeking recognition, he doesn’t want glory or fame and seems to be pretty happy living as melon farmer. Its more the arrogance of thinking he knows the answer everybody else doesn’t rather than wanting something actively from others.  Which is at least the foundations for an interesting character. Thanos’ perception of self is one of the guy who makes the necessary sacrifices so others won’t have too, he is the guy who stoically dirties his own hands on behalf of the collective good.  Basically is the moral equivalent of the humblebrag, he doesn’t ask for praise or glorify himself directly, but it is a core part of who he is, like the most passive aggressive utilitarian. 

 And because he firmly believes he knows exactly how things should be done and what steps ought to be taken, he is utterly without imagination. He basically is like ‘oh this is how the thing needs to be done’ and does it, it never occurs to him to challenge his preexisting perceptions or think outside the box.  Which is why, when he has a know, Infinity Stones he sticks to the 50% mass death plan rather than…I don’t know…use the infinity stones.

Sorry, maybe I didn’t empathizes that enough

Thanos wants to solve a problem of limited resources with…infinity stones. Seriously do you not see a problem of imagination here?  

And again, all of that would be fine, if this was on purpose, again Thanos is the Villain and villains being wrong  The problem is how the movie frames it, specifically as a moral issue.

Cause they seem to think this is an ethical debate, throughout the movie, the protagonists present the argument as one of morality.

“Oh no, Thanos, don’t kill 50% of the universe that would be wrong”, which of course Thanos doesn’t respond to.  The dynamic being presented here is ‘idealistic good guys’ vs. ‘practical bad guy’ but that is just the absolute wrong argument to make.

          But the argument that should be made is “Oh no Thanos don’t kill 50% of the universe, that is a horribly ineffectively and ultimately flawed way to solve the problem of overpopulation and limited resources”.  Cause like…this isn’t a moral debate, it’s a basic practical debate. Why bother arguing about the merits of utilitarian morality when the act in question isn’t even utilitarian, it’s just dumb.  The movie presents this as “efficiency vs. morality” but in practice is actually “flawed methodology vs. a ,theory which isn’t fundamentally stupid.”  Cause guess what people, murdering 50% of all life in an instance doesn’t actually fix limited resources, especially when many of those living things are resources.  

      This is a horrible way to solve the problem of overpopulation.  Even ignoring the whole “Infinity” thing, killing 50% of the population simply doesn’t work because

1) Its utterly clumsy. See actual conservationists have to be extremely careful about population control, because reducing biodiversity risks weakening the overall eco system.  The universe losing half its population would cause a massive shock to every ecosystem simultaneously, causing further damage which actually would make things worse.  

2) While overpopulation is a problem, it isn’t really the major problem in terms of the environment, over consumption is a much larger issue. If you killed 50% of America, most of that would be India and China, but the US consumes far more resources than your population numbers would suggest.   And the largest environmental issue on our planet, namely the whole “We are all going to die of Climate change bit” is actually not a population issue or even a resource issue so much as a “the world is literally getting hotter” issue,  reduce the population all you want that doesn’t really reduce our Carbon foot print as long as we still use fossil fuels.   If the earth had only 3 billion people, but all of those people lived in first world countries, we would still be facing the problem of climate change.  

3) You will have to do it again in a few centuries anyways, remember its more than 50%, cause you have the inevitable deaths caused when planes don’t have pilots, doctors cease to exist, infants who die due to abandonment, and the panic as society changes in the blink of an eye, which risks war and worse, which doesn’t just reduce the population it also cause more environmental damage.  Which impedes you know…actual conservationist efforts.  Its not like anybody learns their lesion from this, unless Thanos plans to make himself immortal, he is going to have to do this on a regular basis.  Its like trying to solve the Baltimore crime issues by nuking the Eastern Seaboard, it doesn’t work.  And what is depressing is that I know some people in the comments will totally try advocating that.

See its not actually “Idealistic vs practical” its “Practical vs. impartial” or rather ‘simple vs. complicated”.  Thanos is faced with a complicated nuanced multi-dimensional problem and his solution to it is the most literal minded simplistic one imaginable, snapping his fingers and hoping that somehow works.  And you hear certain people (douchbags) advocate this sort of thing all the time, presenting ‘simple solutions that people would do if they only had the guts” like

“IF you want to solve homelessness, just kill them all”

“If you want to solve terrorism, just nuke the middle east”

“IF you want to solve immigration, just build a wall”

See these solutions aren’t just ethically wrong they…don’t work. And it imagines a narrative that our leaders aren’t doing these things because they are pussies rather than because the problems actually aren’t easily solve.  Trust me if there was a simple and unethical way to solve any of the world problems, our leaders would have done so by now.  

(Look politics)

Which again, isn’t necessarily bad, again, Thanos is the bad guy and he is the exact type of person who is going to think the problem with the world is that nobody is strong willed enough to solve the simple problem rather than you know..research the issue. But that isn’t actually the problem.  The Problem is a 19th century pseudo scientist named Thomas Malthus

Thomas Malthus was an English Victor (imagine a Catholic priest bit without the dignity) who noticed that when it came to rabbits, once their natural predators went extinct, they population exploded, they overconsumed the resources around them and then they were left without any population.  Malthus theorized that as war, famine and pestilence decreased, the human population grew and resources would grow scarce and then we would all die.  Thus we need to have some degree of hardship to keep the population in check.  Because humans can double their population every 20 years, we are all screwed, which is what he calls the “Cycle of Misery”.  And this theory is…entirely wrong.

(Absolutely full of shit) 

To quote John Greene 

“And what is amazing about the persistence of this theory is its complete lack of connection to actual human history”.  Thomas Malthus hasn’t just been debunked, he was debunked in his own life time.  Cause in reality, population does grow as industrialization reduces infant mortality and disease, but then it goes down once the standard of living raises to a certain rate.  As people get a better standard of living, they get a greater choice in having kids, how many kids they want and how frequently they wish to have them, to say nothing about increased access to contraceptives and sex education.  Which is why Western Europe has a lower birthrate than India.  The over population problem of the modern world not because life in undevolped countries isn’t hard enough, its because it is too hard, people in bad circumstances have more kids, better educated people living comfortable lives have less kids, which is why assuming we don’t all die from climate change, the population will eventually start to decrease over time.  See Thomas Malthus’s theories played a major role in the English response to the Irish Potato Famine, and the man most responsible for the suffering Charles Trevelyan, justified much of his policies by saying he was preventing a future cycle of misery.  That the Famine was not the fault of poor English economic planning or the long standing poverty of Ireland, or you know…everything else about the English occupation, but was instead the Irish’ fault for having more kids, and the Famine was a good thing for keeping the population down to reasonable levels.  To quote Trevelyan

“The judgement of god sent the calamity to teach the Irish a lesson and that Calamity must not be too much mitigated…the real evil with which we have to contend is not the physical evil of the famine, but the moral evil of the selfish, perverse, and turbulent character of the people”

1.5 million Irish people died as a result of this policy and another million emigrated to America, and Ireland is still pretty pissed off about it to this day.  See Malthius thought the world population boom was a very recent thing, when in fact that has been a constant in human history, and with the exception of the Black Death, no amount of hardship has every reduce human population growth. 

Thanos is drawing on Malthusian theories and it just…isn’t a good theory, it wasn’t then and it wasn’t now (and yes I know it did jump start a lot of other much more valid theories, here is your token acknowledgment of the good Malthus did here, I hope it was worth 1.5 million people).  It’s a theory which sounds good but doesn’t really work in reality, because you know…the world is complicated, and a tiny amount of land can grow more than enough food to feed everybody on the planet. We have right now, the capacity to make the entire planet run on renewable energy and end starvation, it’s actually utilizing what we have which is the problem, one that doesn’t have a simple solution.  

And I have to reiterate this again, none of this is necessarily a bad thing, Thanos is after all the  villain, having a villain who is inspired by Malthusian ideology makes sense, after all its something the heroes of the movies can oppose and overcome, you know like in a story.  And not only is Thanos a realistic depiction of the exact type of person who would take Malthusian theory seriously, he also is a nuanced complicated and interesting character in his own right.  All of this would be perfectly fine except…lets be honest, Disney isn’t actually going to refute Malthusian economics.  Maybe the next movie will surprise me, but what is most likely going to happen is that the heroes will use the power of love, friendship or just general idealism to basically argue that “The ends don’t’ justify the means” and defeat Thanos by punching him really hard in his big purple face.  And while yes, the ends don’t necessarily justify the means, that isn’t the argument worth having here, because guess what?  You don’t need to, weather or not the ends justify the means is ultimately irrelevant because…the ends don’t even work in the first place.  

I see a lot of people walking away from Infinity Wars acting like this is a complicated issue when it really isn’t, and that gets to why Malthusian economics conintune to be believed when they really aren’t true.  To again quote John Greene “I think there is a very seductive logic to the idea that resources, especially food is finite.”  And this movie contributes to a very false understanding to population and resources, and it’s the worse form of a false understanding, not that presents itself as wise (See also the Population Bomb).  Again, despite having far more people on earth today than we did 500 years ago, fewer people will die of starvation this year than any other period in human life, and that isn’t by %, that is the total number. Human existence is not a zero sum game, it is possible for me to have my life improved and yours as well, this all or nothing mentality Thanos advocates presents itself as selfishness but instead it is simply diluted.

This is not even getting into the other nonsense regarding population numbers which we will cover next time, or Why Thanos not being a racist makes his character weaker.  

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #119: Night of the Collector

January, 1974

Oh gee, I wonder who the mystery villain this time is going to be?

Bonus points for the Collector using high tech pins to literally pin up the Avengers like they were insects. Although he was nice enough not to stick the pins through their flesh parts.

A villain did that to Hank Pym once. It was not pleasant.

We start off our issue with the Avengers having to bum a ride from SHIELD since they hitched a teleport from Dr. Strange to the Los Angeles battle. Along for the ride is Loki, ‘mind-drained’ as a result of having Dormammu blasted right through his brain in the penultimate issue of the Avengers/Defenders War.

There’s some casual conversation that serves to keep some plot points active. Cap reassures Vision that anyone can freeze up in a moment of danger like Vision did with the quicksand. Mantis worries about Swordsman’s wounds but he says he just feels a little weak. Iron Man privately hopes Scarlet Witch isn’t still on her anti-human kick after how she blew off Nick Fury’s thanks.

And there’s immediately an action scene as the Avengers accidentally set off their own defenses like idiots. I guess because the SHIELD jets were not recognized?

Everyone except Black Panther gets pinned down or blasted in some way. Black Panther manages to make his way to the door and activate the security panel and deactivate it.

Wanda is still in some mood so she criticizes Thor for how easily he was blasted, saying he’s no better than a human.

But since they’ve all just been through a stressful situation, Cap advises to just let it go.

Thor isn’t really that concerned since he has other things on his mind. Like what to do with Loki. Well, he’s gonna keep him.

Can’t return him to Asgard. Odin banished him. And I guess he won’t change his mind just because of a little Dormammu-brain-blasting. But in his childlike state, he can’t just be left to wander free. So Thor is going to confine Loki to a special top-security chamber. But he’s going to get Jarvis to make sure its a comfortable top-security chamber.

Gee! Thor as Loki’s keeper sure is going to change things around here.

Meanwhile, Black Panther pulls Mantis to the side to speak with her on a little one on one. But its nothing serious. Its just... well, nobody knows anything about Mantis’ background and that is a potentially interesting subject to the young absentee king.

During his studies, he was mostly interested in what Western technology could do for his people and never had time to study Eastern philosophies.

According to Black Panther or rather Steve Englehart speaking through Black Panther, Africa is neither Eastern nor Western but as an emerging continent able to profit from the knowledge of both.

So he just wants to know where Mantis studied and what she studied. Stuff like that.

She dismisses her story as an uninteresting recital and slips into some I’s. “As I have said, I am nothing to speak of.”

An answer that a caption highlights as evasive.

But no time to probe deeper. The plot is calling!

Mantis goes into a trance and gets a premonition of sorts that there’s.... danger! In Rutland! Tonight! Halloween!

Oh Rutland. You’re always with the danger on Halloween.

But also, Rutland is where Loki and Dormammu met. It could be connected!

Luckily, Iron Man and Vision had already finished taping a report on the ‘why everything went to hell for about an hour’ crisis for the news networks.

So off the Avengers go, to that most insidious hive of black magic and evil forces. RUTLAND, VERMONT!

And Jarvis watches them go in dismay. He had just finished cooking them a celebratory banquet with individualized dishes for everyone. And now they’re probably just going to stop at McDonald’s on the way.

Poor Jarvis. The forces of evil and sometimes the Avengers just don’t appreciate the work he puts in (Dude is really an unsung hero).

Anyways, Rutland! Its where the Rutland Halloween Parade takes place. Remember it? I talked about it before? It was a famous event organized by real life guy Tom Fagan? It appears in comics frequently and was home to one of the first unofficial crossovers between Marvel and DC?

Rutland!

The Avengers arrive and are greeted by Tom Fagan (dressed as Nighthawk in a little goof that he always dressed as Batman in the real life parade). He wonders if they’re here to join the fourteen annual Halloween Parade.

Scarlet Witch and Vision beg off. There’s danger here and they can find it more easily by themselves.

Swordsman and Mantis beg off too. Mantis doesn’t like the limelight and Swordsman gets itchy when there’s trouble afoot. But they might stop by the party at Fagan’s house afterward.

To that, Tom Fagan smiles deviously and thinks to himself that they have all walked into his most deadly trap! The caption box gets a bit panicked at its old buddy being so sinister.

You and me both, caption box. You and me both.

Thor, Cap, Iron Man, and Black Panther can’t think of an excuse to duck out. Or probably more likely, they love to help out and stand on a thing and wave at crowds. And that’s what they do for the next two hours.

Plus, they had also hoped that a public appearance in the parade would draw out the phantom menace. Which. I mean. Don’t use a parade as bait, you guys. So many bystanders. I shouldn’t have to tell you this.

With the parade over and the townspeople gone, Tom Fagan suddenly turns on the heroes! Just like foreshadowed in that panel on the previous page!

He throws down some pellets which grow into living animal hides that attack the Avengers!

Ostensibly the legendary coats of Hercules (‘from which no truly mortal being can break free!’). The animal hides wrap around the four Avengers and pin them down in what must be a snug, cozy embrace. They work a lot like constrictor snakes apparently. Tightening whenever they Avengers take a breath.

Hmm... who do we know that likes to use crap from mythology as a weapon?

Is Tom Fagan really Hercules in disguise?

No, that would be silly. Although, having the actual Hercules as a recurring character does kind of make it a bit weird to be busting out his wardrobe.

Tom Fagan is really and astoundingly the Collector in disguise!

He’s on the cover. And he’s the one that likes to use mythological crap as a weapon. It was not a hard conclusion to draw.

He was using the tendency for superheroes to show up in Rutland for Halloween to his advantage. Really, he just wanted to capture any superhero to use as a lure for the Avengers but having the Avengers themselves show up just simplifies the plan really.

But once again I’ll curse flawless latex masks. They should turn everyone in the Marvel universe into helpless trembling balls of paranoia.

Kinda impressed that the Collector could fit his dumb outfit under a skintight disguise.

We cut to the Collector already having the four Avengers pinned up in his trophy case. Yes, like on the cover.

And since he failed to get the Avengers twice before, he’s been preparing a long time for this. He acquired Tom Fagan’s old house in Spring and has been modifying it since.

Like most villains, the Collector loves talking to himself.

He explains to the unconscious Avengers that he has spent his lifetime secretly collecting the greatest prizes throughout space and his interstellar ship stores the best objects of all possible worlds.

But apparently what he really needs to highlight his collection is the Avengers. And he’s not picky. He’ll just take the current roster. Which does mean he’s missing four Avengers before he possesses the crowning trophies of his triumphant career.

But enough of that nerd and his shifting motivations (later it will turn out that he wanted the Avengers for a specific task and not just because they’d look neat on his mantle but y’know what they would look neat on his mantle).

We have to meanwhile over to see what Scarlet Witch and Vision are up to. And they are being accosted by fans who want them to sign shit. And Wanda is fed up to here with being harassed so she blasts them away. Probably non-lethally.

Swordsman decides that outburst of violence is as good a time as any to give Wanda and Vision some alone time and skedaddle.

Alone, Wanda rants to Vision. Yes the way she handled the crowd was probably an overreaction but every human always overreacts to them. All she wants is the same rights humans get. But she feels she’s just treated as a thing. Loved as a hero, hated as a mutant. With nobody seeing her as a real being with real feels. She’s just sick of their bigotry.

She wishes that she and Vision could just find an island somewhere and escape the rat race.

Vision replies that running away never truly solves anything. And Wanda says that he doesn’t understand her very well. Humans have been trying to get rid of her all her life and now she’s ready to take them at their word and go. And she thought that Vision would feel the same way and want to come with.

CUTTING AWAY FROM THAT AWKARD, lets see what Swordsman and Mantis are up to. They spend a little time talking about Mantis’ team-up with T’Challa against Dr. Strange but what Swordsman really wants to talk about is them.

“Let’s talk about how much your concern and faith have meant to me in my new life -- how much I’ve come to rely on you, when I never relied on anyone before! I love you, Mantis!”

Awww.

She says she loves him too. And starts to say that all her life she has wanted a strong, heroic man when the smooching couple is interrupted by muffled groans.

Yup. Definitely muffled groans. Swordsman has spent enough time in dark places to know what a gagged person sounds like.

(Swordsman brings so much expertise to the table!)

And they find... the real Tom Fagan?! Just tied up and left in the woods. The Collector, that is no way to treat Tom Fagan.

Mantis cuts Tom loose while Swordsman calls over Vision and Scarlet Witch for a huddle.

Tom confirms that he wasn’t the Tom Fagan that welcomed them to the parade. Tom apologizes. By starting the parade that superheroes would hang out at, he accidentally created the perfect opportunity for a trap. Unfamiliar country, surrounded by people in costumes, superheroes known to chillax here. It was only a matter of time before a supervillain capitalized on it.

But Vision says Tom has done nothing wrong. He provided pleasure for thousands of adults and kids alike. But someone tried to pervert that pleasure for evil and Vision will not let that stand.

He takes Halloween parades very seriously. He practically ‘in the name of the moon’d’ that.

But he also has a plan.

We jump forward twenty minutes later as the Collector prepares his trap. His foolproof plan goes thusly: disguised as Tom Fagan, he invited the Avengers to his party, the Avengers don’t know that Tom moved houses during the past year and that the real party is elsewhere. So they’ll come to this trap house and get trapped.

And he has just the trap for them. Four birthstones that will produce half-mythical Vultures of Nepenthe! (How can something be half-mythical?) But anyway, their electrically-charged talons means that even Vision will fall before them.

And when someone knocks on the door, the Collector prepares to greet his prey...

Tom Fagan?! And a bunch of children? Possibly some drunk adults? What’s going on here?

Well, the party-goers decided to bring the party back to its origins.

And the Collector is immediately besieged by his secret weakness. SOCIAL SITUATIONS (hahaha right there with you buddy)!

Party-goers surround him and insist on shaking his hand and complimenting his costume and trying to share anecdotes with him and

Nope. Nope nope nope. The Collector can’t take it anymore. He flees into the back room.

“Now more than ever, I know why I chose the life of a Collector! It is a solitary life!”

Right there in the black and white. The Collector is an introvert.

He doesn’t want to waste his mint-in-box arsenal on party-goers so he decides he’ll just lock himself in with the trophies and wait until the other heroes arrive

Oh. Hey. Hi guys. Um. Kind of awkward.

Okay. Yeah. Realizing now this was all a diversion.

“YOU THINK YOU CAN COLLECT THE COLLECTOR, DO YOU?”

And he pulls out some infinite bat rocks and bangs them together to summon thousands of vampire bats.

The bats will destroy Rutland unless the heroes let the Collector escape. And just to make sure they don’t get any funny ideas about taking the stones from him, the Collector drops them down a secret shaft. Its all bendy so nobody can climb down it but also wired to explode if the Vision tries to pass through the walls. There’s another secret way to stop the bats but its known only to the Collector. Checkmate, idiots.

Mantis has a counter offer.

And just kicks him right in the face.

She’s been kicking a lot of old people recently.

Mantis tells the other Avengers to protect people from the bats while she climbs down the shaft.

Because. Total bodily control means she’s really flexible.

Meanwhile, Iron Man rewires part of his armor to create an ultra-sonic signal to blanket the area and confuse the bats echolocation and possibly somewhere Matt Murdock has the worst minute of his life. But the power drain is bad so Iron Man can’t keep it up for long.

Thankfully, Mantis has finished wriggling through the mystery tunnel and brings out the two bat stones.

She slams them together and the day is saved, all thanks to Mantis being super flexible.

Afterward, Tom Fagan thanks the Avengers and wonders if there’s anything other than a parade the town can do for them. And Thor does think of something.

So after less than one day of being Loki’s ward, Thor dumps him off on Tom Fagan and Rutland to take care of. Perhaps the life of an Avenger is too hectic for the brain-wiped Loki, perhaps the peaceful cool forests of the Northlands will be a better environment for him, or perhaps Thor just didn’t want to be his brother’s keeper.

Seriously. Thor just passes responsibility for his brother off to Tom Fagan.

Geez, Thor.

Overall though, I really liked this issue. This is one of my favorite appearance for the Collector. Dude doesn’t want to rule the world. Dude just wants the best stuff and the best stuff includes the Avengers.

Also he’s an introverted nerd who uses random mythological crap as his weapons. He’s always doing new stuff because his abilities are only limited to his collection and his collection is only limited by the imagination of the writers which is probably why his stuff tends to be from Earth.

I like this Collector better than when he has an ulterior motive for trying to collect the Avengers or when its revealed he’s an Elder of the Universe, a secretive cabal of old people engaging in weird schemes. I like him as this super old guy, probably an alien, who collects random deadly knickknacks.

I fear that if he tried to collect all the Avengers these days, he’d have a coronary. Almost everyone has been an Avenger at some point now.