#namor having a magneto level backstory

[thebrofriends]

Who the fuck gives a shit about avatar 2 when Black Panther: Wakanda Forever exists

[mdccanon]

I love your breakdowns of “problematic” media because you listen to both sides of an issue and can find good in media, even if there are flaws. My morality-obsessed OCD ass really needs commentary like that lol. (and yes, this is the MCU Wanda fan anon. Thank you for indulging my questions 😁)

No problem. I want to discuss these things. And I especially love talking about problematic characters because they are real people and bring up real issues.

I made a post about how Magneto is right, but that doesn't change that he's a war criminal. Because, news flash, to be a head of state for any number of years will eventually require breaking international laws and either hoping no one catches you or using political/military/economic pressure to make the international community look the other way.

Magneto made a country and stole nukes so that his country could be on the same military level as the First World countries. Xavier said it was wrong because "that will make them more afraid of you." Good. That's the point. Racist people will wipe you out no matter how nice, how smart, how friendly, or how helpful you are. (which they DID in the comics, they committed genocide on the people of Genosha) The Greeks said it best 2,300 years ago: You cannot win a war appealing to the humanity of your aggressors or shaming them to their allies.

So... I love talking about balancing moral, spiritual, and political ethics.

Oh, and PS again on how comics are written and why there is probably so much disconnect between even comic readers and how the MCU operates.... Most people don't really consider how poorly written/disjointed the endings and beginnings of comic stories are.

"The character dies at the end of this first story. Yay, character is resurrected in the second story. Uh oh, turns out that last storyline was a clone who didn't know they were a clone; this third storyline features the real character. Oops, that last storyline was actually a Doombot who didn't know they were a bot, so this fourth story is the real character; and it ends with the character having amnesia, so that the fifth storyline can have a clean slate." That's comics. And if it isn't that, its "It was an alternate dimension."

But we love the stories because we remember the middle of them.

And if the MCU wants to use these storylines but not use these contrivances, the MCU world has to be VERY forgiving and tolerant, starting with the very first movie. Tony Stark WAS a secret identity in the comics. MCU set the tone by Tony being an open superhero that the world just... let's him do it... with no consequences... for his international vigilantism...

So, most complaints audience members have about a character getting off easy in the MCU is because in the comic equivalent:

Steve died at the end of Civil War. When he came back, Tony was the last thing on his mind. (But let's also mention the whole "Steve was frozen in ice/ Bucky is the Winter Soldier" so that every unsuccessful storyline from the 40s-60s can be ret-conned into a Captain America successor and the government rewriting Steve's childhood Bucky into a kid sidekick--the real Bucky was always an adult!)

Ultron erased the Avengers' memories that he ever existed and he came back by brainwashing someone to build him an upgraded body.

Scarlet Witch and Namor get amnesia at the end of half of their major storylines.

Outrageous and mysterious characters can go without backstories for DECADES and then writers plot twist-retcon them to be the future version of some random kid already in the story or a couple that hasn't had a child yet. (Hela, Rachel Summers, Nathan Grey and Nathan Summers--the same person from two alternate futures, Valerie Richards von Doom, Nathaniel Richards)

Reed Richards invents something revolutionary and then loses it because he never makes prototypes, backups or blueprints for his inventions.

Doom gets away by always having a Doombot be the fall-guy.

Loki DOES die repeatedly and that's how he gets away with everything. Thor can't punish a new reincarnation for an old one's crimes.

Black Panther, Namor, and Doom get away with a lot by claiming diplomatic immunity in ways that it DOES NOT work.

If you have a psychic mutant on your team, you are guaranteed to escape without consequences.

So, the next time you feel Wanda got away with kidnapping 3,000 people because she's white, remember that Steve Rogers sunk three helicarriers in the Potomac and outed all of HYDRA and them seeking revenge against him was addressed in the stylish opener to Age of Ultron and never brought up again.

Also, a baby Celestial's entire torso is sticking out of the Pacific Ocean and not only did that somehow not create devastating tsunamis that would have crashed into every shoreline across the Ring of Fire, but according to the official MCU timeline, Far From Home/No Way Home, Multiverse of Madness, Hawkeye, Moon Knight, She-Hulk, and Ms. Marvel have ALL occurred after the plot of Eternals, in that order. With MK/SH/MM happening TWO YEARS after Eternals. And NO ONE has mentioned it. Baby Celestial. Poking out of the ocean. The Celestial's daddy hovered above the entire planet for, like, ten minutes. No one has mentioned it.

80% of the accountability or continuity you'd think any character or plot point should have, never happens in the comics. Likewise, if you really, really look at the MCU, its the same for their plot points and characters. It would feel a touch hypocritical for ME to complain about it now, when I grew up on a Spider-Man cartoon that I still consider a national treasure and in it, when Peter finally marries Mary-Jane, it's revealed to be a water-clone made by Hyrdoman and he kidnapped Mary Jane weeks ago. In the comics, when Peter finally marries Mary Jane, Peter sells his marriage to the Devil himself to bring his ELDERLY Aunt May back to life -- which is a double-reset.

When I want complex ideas and well-crafted writing, I read literature made for adults. Or, at least stand-all graphic novels.