#the character development was so much more than a mcu movie

[starkwlkr]

Omfg I need like early on in the relationship between Hugh and marvel!reader where their relationship isn’t public and their papparazzi of them on set together coz they’re visiting eachother and everyone’s thinking xmen X mcu when in reality it’s just them together dating

no spoilers! | hugh jackman

an: ok since their first son was born in 2000 (it’s canon idk what date but it’s canon now lol) and the mcu started in 2008 I’m going to change a few things JUST TINY THINGS like the mcu being in development early on and marvel actress!reader being casted in the early 2000s. does that make sense?? idk this is fanfiction

2005

Getting a call from Marvel was something you never expected. Like many people, you grew up reading the comics and watching the tv shows. But now you had the chance of a lifetime. You were being offered a role in the first movie in the Marvel cinematic universe.

After having a meeting with the marvel executives and your manager, you were asked to keep the news of your casting a secret. The media was already wondering who was going to portray what heroes on the big screen and your name was being thrown around.

While your relationship was still a secret, you often visited Hugh on set of X-Men with Alex and Reese. You tried to keep your little family from the media as much a possible. You would watch Hugh get into his costume and do his stunts. You were always amazed at how much fun it would be to portray a superhero and now you were finally going to be able to.

A few months after you met with Marvel, you found out you were pregnant with your third baby. A girl. Thankfully you weren’t set to film yet since the film was still in development. When it was finally time to film ‘Iron Man’, you were more than ready. Your kids were a bit older so they finally got to watch you beat up bad guys like their dad did.

It was during the filming of ‘Iron Man 2’ when your secret was finally revealed to the world. You didn’t really know how it even happened . . . Your guess was that paparazzi somehow snuck in. Hugh was always careful when visiting you on set. Rumors were already circulating on the internet about a potential X-Men and Avengers team up. It didn’t help that Hugh was sporting his signature Wolverine hair when he visited the set. At least the kids weren’t with you.

“You look much better than me,” Hugh looked at your costume. He couldn’t stop staring, it was starting to make you weak in the knees. “at least you get comfortable suits. Remember the black suits from X-Men? The most uncomfortable shit ever.”

“The kids thought you looked cool.” You reminded him.

“Okay, that makes me feel better.”

As you and Hugh talked, some paparazzi were secretly taking photos. All they could think about was how well they were going to get paid for the exclusive photos. The X-Men joining the mcu? That was big news!

When the photos were published on every magazine, you couldn’t help but laugh. What a way to reveal your relationship. You definitely didn’t want to share the news this way, but you also didn’t want to lose your job.

“Maybe in a few years it’ll come true. You, me, X-Men and the Avengers.” He told you, giving you your morning coffee. The kids were still sleeping so you and Hugh took advantage of the quiet morning. You set the magazine down on the table and drank the coffee.

“It would be nice. Imagine what the kids will think. Mom and dad beating up the bad guys together,” you smiled at him. He took the opportunity to give you a kiss. As he pulled away, you whispered to him. “or it could be me kicking the wolverine’s ass.”

You and Hugh’s characters wouldn’t share the screen until 2024 when Deadpool & Wolverine premiered. Your kids were more than excited to see their parents fighting together.

@kellyxo1 @barnes70stark @ru-kru @flyestvenustrap @evasmlp

[super-who-locked-me-in-here]

Pieces of media my mom has seen and the popular MLM ships in them that she doesn't think are gay:

MCU - Stucky (note that she does get a kick out of Stony stuff and she believes wholeheartedly that those two hate fucked in a not-filmed scene of Avengers 2012 so this is not about her thinking "oh Captain America is so straight-laced because he's the ideal American man" or anything)

MCU - Poolverine (she's fully aware and accepting of the fact that both Logan and Wade are canonically queer characters but she thinks all the flirting Wade did with Logan in the newest movie didn't necessarily mean anything because "he talks like that to everyone". Side note though: while she believes Wade should be with Vanessa, she does think that Logan can and should shoot his shot with Wade after Vanessa inevitably dies since he and Wade are both immortal. It's just that she thinks Wade should get his happy ending with Vanessa first.)

MCU - Lokius ("Mama have you ever seen a man fix another man's tie like that" "No but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen! I wouldn't know though; it's been like 15 years since I worked a corporate job.")

Sonyverse/Marvel - Symbrock ("They literally have a symbiotic relationship. That doesn't make them gay." So I showed her the comics where Eddie calls Venom "love" and gives birth to Venom's babies and she said "Fine you win but please never show me alien man birth ever again."

Supernatural - Destiel ("They're like Steve and Bucky! They're brothers in arms! They've been through hell and back together!" Note that she only watched through season 5 but she does know about a lot of their later interactions because I told her about them)

House M.D. - Hilson ("Dot I watched that whole show and they were never anything more than good friends" "What about when House admitted to thinking about Wilson during sex? What about that whole episode where they pretended to be gay for each other to prove a point to a neighbor and Wilson proposed? What about that whole episode where Wilson had to furnish the apartment and House told him not to let a woman tell him what to do but Wilson let House tell him what to do? What about the whole ending?" "Why can't two men just be close enough friends to joke about that stuff with each other?"

Real life - Me and my best friend of the same gender orientation who I've kissed multiple times and have had a requited crush on for years that neither of us have ever persued for logistical reasons (I literally used me and this friend to try and prove my mom wrong about Stucky and Destiel. I asked her if she thought me and this friend were like brothers and she said yes with a straight face)

Sherlock - Johnlock (to be fair this is the BBC ship name, but she doesn't think any iteration of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are the slightest bit gay. "They're business partners and roommates.")

Our Flag Means Death - BlackHands (Should go ahead and say that I'm not really a BlackHands shipper myself; we both really enjoyed Stede and Ed's romance in the show. BUT it takes so much away from Izzy's character and his development if you don't acknowledge that he was jealous of Stede and in love with Ed, at least a little. My mom thought Izzy was just an extremely loyal first mate.)

Also, for the record, I'm not trying to call my mom out as homophobic. I'm queer and so are two of my siblings and she's very supportive of us. There are gay romcoms she enjoys like Our Flag Means Death and Red, White, and Royal Blue. The reason I'm making this list is because I think it's really funny how she doesn't understand the concept of queerbaiting (not that all of the above listed ships are queerbaiting). She thinks things are either explicitly straight or explicitly queer (whether it's gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc) and cannot comprehend the idea that some character relationships are deliberately pushing the boundaries of straight friendships into queer relationships to get more minority viewers and I think her explanations are funny.

[infernal-house-demon]

I’ve got a lot of beef with how marvel fumbled things over the years but I so often think about Sam Wilson’s character not getting explored the way he deserved. When I go back and watch catws, Sam is so compelling to me. Like yes, he’s funny and charming, but he’s also really heartfelt and caring. He works at the VA supporting people through their trauma. He’s very observant and insightful. I would have killed to see his dynamic with Steve develop over more movies. But he gets relegated to just being this very flat wise-cracking character most times and it was a really disappointing handling of him. I don’t watch mcu stuff anymore but I would be kind of interested to see what direction they go with him now that he’s Captain America. Because he deserves so much better than what he got.

[munchkinmarauder]

Seen this floating around twitter and I think we need to property address the MCU fans insistence that comic Wanda is only revenant because of the MCU.

Like MCU fans really double down hard on the MCU version brining wanda out of comic obscurity but

(1) Wanda had been active on comics since Children's crusade in 2010 and had her own solo which in ballsy move emphasised her Romani heritage at the time Age of Ultron and the MCU version came out. She was very much active and thriving at the time of the comics. She had also already redeemed herself for HoM in events like the children's crusade and Avengers Vs X-Men. Her redemption and the return of the mad women trope came after Axis and the MCU version which walked all this development back to coincide with MCU Scarlet Witch being more villianous and the bringing of mutants into the MCU.

(2) Wanda has been an Avenger for over 59 years of her history. She was the second ever woman to join the avengers and was on its second roster (arguably in terms of memorability the Kooky Quartet eclipses the original team and is what helped the Avengers cement themselves as one of the big leagues). At the time of the AOU movie she was a core member of the first iteration of the Uncanny Avengers team

(2) Wanda and Pietro were such significant and popular characters that two movie studios were fighting to have them in their movies. Something that they would not have bothered with if they were obscure characters. The comics themselves made fun of this in a Scotty Young illustrated comic. The twins might have actually been amongst some of the most mainstream on their debut. How many would have had even a passing knowledge of them from the cartoons or of their connection to Magneto? Certainly more than many would have to Black widow or Hawkeye or even Iron Man to an extent!

(3) the MCU is the reason she was retconned into not being a mutant and thus made her fair game to be referred to as the pretender. This if anything is an example of how the MCU really damaged her in the comics because once she stopped being part of the mutants she became one of the "oppressors" (nevermind the implications of attaching that to a Romani Jewish woman) and so was opened up to being demonised more by X writers.

(4) the character is called a real life slur by the actress and the studios which is worse

(5) the bad castings conversations were opened up about the twins race leading to more ernest attempts at representation and conversations about the twins heritage down the line but it shouldn't have happened in the first place and those conversations likely would have happened if they cast Romani actors. The MCU would have also gotten props for actually committing to it's promises of diversity.

Yes the popularity of the MCU version gave the character a boost, opened up some conversations and brought new fans in for good and for ill. However to attribute all Wanda's success to the MCU version is a fallacy and exaggeration. Ultimately I feel the MCU did more to hurt rather than help the character.

[musette22]

I wonder if Steve has a significant amount of imposter syndrome, especially when he came out of the ice. People had solidified this idea of him and expected him to excel and be that, hell even his teammates were just like oh I know all about you. (Expect maybe Thor, who I think was one of Steve’s closest friends in the beginning)

He can’t escape these expectations and if he goes against it, he’s berated for it. It’s made even worse with the serum, but at least with that he had the howling commandos to ground him and encouraged him. In the 21st Century there was no one to bounce of and the fact it would have been made worse by his survivors guilt.

Idk Steve is a character that has so many layers but gets over looked because he isnt allowed to fall into a vulnerable headspace. I kinda wished we saw more of that in his character, not in like a reflective sort of way but a kinda overwhelmed by everything portrayal. I’m sorry if this doesn’t make any sense.

Oh absolutely, yes! I think you're completely right. I also think Steve struggles hugely with the expectations people have of him, the dichotomy between the persona & legend of Cap versus the real Steve Rogers. He had to get used to a whole new body first, and then on top of that, he also had to learn to deal with all those expectations and the idea(l) people have of him which he doesn't even recognise himself in, half the time. He doesn't feel worthy of all the attention and hero worship, constantly thinking that if only people knew the real him, they'd be sorely disappointed. At the same time though, I think he feels like the whole celebrity aspect of being Cap is empty and meaningless anyway, most of the time (except for when he can use his fame to do something good, of course, which he tries to do as much as he can because otherwise, what's the point?), so in a way I think he doesn't even want to live up to people's expectations of him. He is also known for his stubbornness and righteousness, after all 😉

And yeah, in the 21st century, there isn't anyone left who knows the real him, who can grab his shoulders and shake them and tell him that it's the real Steve Rogers, that little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb to run away from a fight, who makes Cap great, that he is worth knowing and loving. That his ideas may be reckless and harebrained more often than not, but that he does what he does for the right reasons, because he is a good man first and foremost, even if others can only see a perfect soldier. He must've felt so enormously alienated and lost, those first few years 😔

While I love the idea that (most of) the Avengers would've ultimately come to understand and appreciate Steve for Steve too, the way things stood at the beginning of TWS, they definitely weren't there yet (thank god for Sam, who at least tried). Which is why I adore the kind of fics in which Bucky, after he comes back, is not only cared for and helped to get back to himself by Steve, but in which he also gets to care for and help Steve to get back to himself in return ❤️ Mutual healing, that's my jam 💫

And yes, Steve Rogers is actually a huuuugely layered and complex and interesting and underrated character, and I will die on that hill!!! The MCU unfortunately did not explore any of this nearly enough (in fact, they cut some of the scenes that would've been the most telling when it came to the state of mind he was in) and they massively oversimplified his character development for the sake of action/tony/heteronormativity/etc. I'll always wish we'd have gotten to see more of Steve's motivations and character in the movies, but I'll also always be grateful that fanfiction has given us what the MCU didn't dare, and a thousand times over too! ❤️

[hainethehero]

Steve Rogers is a babe. Like khaleesi Game of Thrones level of babe. He is just FINE.

No matter the version - live action, animated, cartoon, comic, fan art - he is a vision.

The Disney/marvel version of him is somehow cute, pretty, sexy, and hot at the same time. While also being badass when he needs to be.

It’s a very hard feat to achieve as a male character but Steve can do that.

Also, his body/figure is very unique. He has broad shoulders and broad/ample chest pec area but he has a very narrow waist and he also obviously has America’s ass. I’ve always thought it was the male version of an hour glass figure - which is the most desirable shape for women (at least it used to be).

I definitely think Steve is a male version of blonde bombshell but I don’t think it was intentionally meant to be that way. It just happened and I think that’s what makes it even more great. He developed and evolved into this as a character and then in the movies they elevated it likely also unintentionally but it worked.

THIS.

You're so real for this because I've noticed it since CATFA. To begin with, pre-serum Steve just goes against every physique a typical hero is supposed to have. Then he gets the serum and gets big and is supposed to wow all the ladies when in actuality his physique is less God of Thunder and more, Disney Princess.

He's clean shaven everywhere- except for Infinity War which I hated (it was not his best look & I hated the beard don't @ me)- doesn't have the facial hair like MOST of the male mcu heroes and has bimbo blonde hair. Not to mention his eyes that are just gorgeous.

And most of it is Chris Evans' natural features, but in Avengers 1, when his hair was buzzed for Snowpiercer, they did a lace for him and like, THE HAIR WAS FLOPPY AND SOFT AND SHINY AND GORGEOUS. like I think we can all agree Avengers 1 (baby Cap) was the most gorgeous he's looked followed closely by Winter Soldier Steve. He is totally a blonde bombshell.

Not to mention the narrative surrounding his character, especially in the MCU. The guys all make fun of him for being a virgin- like, sure let's make the guy's sex life a focal point of his character arc- like they do with female characters. They have Nat trying to find him a date, sort of like girls do in those early 2000s movies with their besties. Steve himself is a very tactical fighter and has more moves in common with Black Widow than Bucky who is an absolute unit. Steve's a ballerina in combat, light on his toes, pretty and lean. Not bulky like some of the comics make him out to be.

And let's just talk about his LIPS!

Like, he's got the plumpest, most plushy soft pillow-looking lips I've ever seen on a guy. So, in addition to the body, he's also got the pretty face. Long wispy lashes, full, red lips, big blue eyes and a clean shaven face. He's every typical "guy's" fantasy- just in guy form. Pair his physical features with his sweet, shy disposition and maybe that's why everyone flirts with him so much.

He's absolutely endearing and totally flips the usual "Alpha-esque" idea of what a male superhero is supposed to look and act like.

[kenisle]

(free of spoilers until the read more)

i like how deadpool and wolverine was able to work with audiences’ associations of actors + characters.

it’s not something that can really be done with comics, where between changing artists (or just each artist’s evolving style/human inconsistency), so many characters having the same base design (eg how almost all the robins, bruce wayne, and clark kent are just White Guy With Short Black Hair and Strong Jaw), and the same distinctive costume getting passed around to various characters (eg the captains america).

if you want a comic reader to know who a character is, you almost always have to explicitly introduce them, or else it could be damn near anyone under all the layers of ambiguity listed above.

with movies/tv though, aside from a few recasts, actors’ faces aren’t subject to nearly the same degree of variance that a drawn character is, so if an audience member recognizes the actor from a previous film, they automatically know the character on the screen. any explicit introduction of a returning character is for the more casual viewer but usually isn’t necessary as long as the character’s basics are established up front.* the smaller, contained scale of established movie/tv show canon compared to the amorphous behemoth that is comics canon helps a lot as well.

this means reintroductions are short and sweet, if present at all (and in this film can be explained easily by dp’s fellow fanboy enthusiasm when necessary, rather than just the writers blatantly using him as a mouthpiece), and simply the face of a returning actor affords a ton of depth to a character that couldn’t be developed in this installment. it doubles as a way to devote more time to other things in the movie and a way to reward returning viewers.

DP+W SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT

*in dp+w, seasoned viewers recognize pyro from X2, but we also get a refresher of his deal, both new (his allegiance in the void) and old (he has fire powers), so while his trajectory is a bit more clear with the wider context from X2, nothing he does is totally out of left field/unsupported by the text in this film.

so, while previous marvel movies have taken advantage of this shortcut to reduce weighing down the runtime with exposition, dp+w also snatched the golden opportunity to play a prank on the audience with it which i adored.

see, while there have been many cases of the same character being recast with different actors during marvel’s long run, very rarely was there one actor who played two DIFFERENT (major)** characters.***

**looking at you, stan lee.

***the only other example i can think of atm is oscar isaac, but he was basically unrecognizable under all the makeup and costume for apocalypse, so this trick wouldn’t have really worked with him anyway. hence “golden opportunity.”

so when chris evans’s cloaked form strode onscreen, audiences (and deadpool) were already well familiar with the cameo game and reasonably assumed he’d be reprising his more recent, more popular marvel role of steve rogers, only for the rug to be pulled out from underneath them at the fateful “flame on!”

not that there weren’t hints, of course (ie evans’s hair its natural brown rather than rogers’s more blond, the uncharacteristic taunt of “dick-for-brains” that even caught dp a little off guard, not to mention the total lack of signs outside the movie that evans and rogers would be returning to the mcu, or the illogic of doing so in a movie about deadpool and wolverine of all things), but the filmmakers know their audience and their expectations very well, resulting in what i found to be a hilarious and effective bait & switch. it was also, in my opinion, a much better direction to take the movie.

instead of nonsensically reviving such a central character that has already been given a complete arc almost as an aside in this movie that had little to do with him in the first place, they brought back a relic of movies left unfinished, remembered fondly but distantly (if at all) under the barrage of newer, flashier franchises. AND they did this knowing the old fantastic four films would soon be replaced (again), so it’s not like this johnny was ever gonna stick around. this was simply a lovely homage — a bid not to forget that we cared for those movies, too, and they’re still important to us even when the story gets rebooted.

instead of doing the same mcu bullshit we’ve grown tired of, they fed another line back to a central thesis of the movie: dying timelines (old, discontinued films) who have lost their anchor being (popular interest, production, etc.) shouldn’t be cut short (forgotten, discarded, disregarded) just because they’re not the prime timeline; there are still people living there (fans and creators caring about them) and value to be found in them.

and they were able to execute it in such an exciting, funny, and memorable way because of this connection between actors and characters that doesn’t exist in comics.

[iwasbored777]

I know I already posted something like this but I wanted to be more clear and I gotta say it again: the writers completely effed up Peter and Gwen in ATSV and it wasn't Peter and Gwen to blame at all.

(Sorry if I made any grammar mistakes, I write English for years but some mistakes still happen)

Ok, with Gwen, I know she didn't have a choice and blah blah blah but it's heartbreaking to see how much people loved her and now I see such horrible posts about her (some are so unhinged) that it makes me wonder what the writers were thinking when they did what they did with her character. After so much time has passed since the movie was released all I hear is "Gwen is a traitor". I rarely see a person clever enough to explain the situation and many people don't care enough to explain or understand. They love what happened because they hate the idea of her ending up with Miles anyway so this is perfect for them. I swear I had no idea what they're gonna do, I thought she's going to be with Miles and on his side the whole time. And while I know that she's so much more than a love interest and she deserves to be more, in the first movie she was only the love interest and that's exactly how people see her now and will always see her like this. According to the audience she exists only to please Miles, she has no room to have a story of her own, which is why her storyline in this movie was kinda disappointing even to me who really loves her.

But Peter also... At least Gwen has a reason and he just doesn't. You can't tell me that a guy with a character development so great from the first movie, the guy who loves this kid and who started his own family because of Miles, who was depressed and desperate when he lost someone he loves, would tell the same kid he apparently loves "you know it's ok if your father dies bad things happen lol". It's crazy. And him receiving the hate that Gwen receives too, people going from loving him so much to hating him because the writers forgot how much they tried to develop him and Gwen, how amazing their team was in the first movie, and then destroying their dynamic for the sake of drama because they needed a conflict but the first movie was so perfect the only way to create it was to mess it up.

Yeah sure they'll be friends later, yeah Miles and Gwen will end up together, I don't have a problem with it because I love Peter and Gwen and I still ship Gwen and Miles and I don't want anyone who hates them with passion to show up here and tell me about how much they hate them. But they already ruined the relationships and the angst will always be remembered. Fandom is so goddamn toxic that they will keep hating on them, using any racist and misogynistic expression they can think of, and to be honest the movies aren't as enjoyable to me as they were at first because the reaction of majority of the audience made me realize how bad you gotta ruin your characters for fans to go from loving them to hating them so so much. Now every time I see news about BTSV I'm not looking forward to it that much because the story is already effed up. You can fix it but you can't erase what happened. The ending can be satisfying but the journey is not, at least to me.

And it's a shame that no one is talking about this, all haters (and there's so many of them) act like Peter and Gwen are characters capable of making decisions for themselves when they're just products of their writers. But, no. The writers are praised everywhere while Peter and Gwen apparently suck because their characters are ruined by someone who's controlling them against their will. The kinda got the similar treatment to Wanda in MCU, whom I also adore, she had character development and learned how to move on in WandaVision only to go through the exact same thing all over again in Multiverse of Madness because they didn't know what to do with her now.

I don't hate these movies, especially ITSV cuz it's a masterpiece, but I'm just so sad with how the story turned out. I will watch BTSV and I will make tons of posts about it just the same, and I won't make hate posts about this movie, that's for sure. I just wanted to say this. I look forward to hearing your opinions in the comments, as long as they're respectful to the characters. Basically I already said all I had to say here.

[spaceorphan18]

You said you saw Deadpool & Wolverine - how did you like it?

Oohh, thanks Nonny! I had been planning on writing my thoughts! :)

I liked it!

I thought it was a very apt bridge between the old Fox films and Deadpool coming into the MCU.

I'm not a huge fan of uber violent things but something I appreciate about the Deadpool films (and Ryan Reynolds' brand of 12yo humor) is that behind it all is a lot of heart. And this film retained that, through all the crudeness, the point is that ultimately, Deadpool/Wade is a really good guy. And I can respect that.

Getting into specifics... which are very spoiler-y

I thought the plot itself was very thin, and this whole thing probably works better as a bunch of sketches, but it's fine. I was never asking for a lot from this film, and it did the only thing I was really asking of it, which was provide entertainment and get Deadpool into the MCU.

I appreciate that they really didn't shit on Logan's legacy while bringing Hugh Jackman back. Jackman seemed to be having a good time of it, which I'm glad to see.

Btw, loved all the musical jokes we got in this! Loved it.

I LOVED the montage of various Wolverines -- I understood most of the references! Yay me for reading X-Men comics for so long!!

The Henry Cavill cameo? Perfect.

I'm not surprised we didn't see a lot of Wade's family and friends, but it is sad they got such a small amount of screen time.

Ooff, Vanessa continues to be the one really weak piece of this whole thing. Does the actress not want to be there? Does she have limited time? Why is her character always being reduced to love interest whom Wade does everything for but there's no development of her character? Idk.

The TVA stuff is fine. I feel like it's so convoluted now that it doesn't really matter that it ultimately doesn't make much sense. I do think the MCU needs to start moving away from the multiverse stuff. It's just getting too mucky and it's lost focus.

Oh, why is Thor holding Deadpool, I'm sure it was just a gag, but oh god would it be hilarious if they brought it back at some point.

The Happy stuff. It's always great to see him, but how did Deadpool end up in the main universe? Why am I even questioning this?

Cracked me up that they hid Peter's face in that picture. Can't give Sony any more money than necessary.

Oh, in general, I love LOVED all the fourth wall breaks. This is why I watch Deadpool movies.

Cassandra Nova was fine as a villain. The actress was great! She just feels... a little too seriously evil to be in this comedy movie. Idk.

All the returning c-list villains were fun!

Having Chris Evans return as Johnny Strom was a brilliant move and I loved it. Having him just be the opposite of Steve Rogers on top of it was hilarious. Perfect use of a cameo, film.

Wesley Snipes returning as Blade. Goddamn. I'm kinda surprised he agreed to do it!

Great to see Jennifer Garner return as Elektra. I'm kinda glad I made myself watch all those marvel movies (which I still need to finish...) I appreciate this cameo more (and the dig at Daredevil).

Yay Laura returning! Could have always used more of her, but she did what she needed to.

Okay. Okay, let's talk about it. Let's talk about Channing Tatum as Gambit...

The Pros : The accent was fun, the way they used his powers was fantastic and original, they didn't make him the butt of jokes or treat him like a joke, there was a general respect for the character overall and I really, really, appreciate that being a Gambit fan

The Cons : Look, I have nothing against Tatum personally. He just doesn't look right. He's too think in body shape (not meant in a derogatory way), and his face just doesn't work in the headsock. Not to mention the costume looked plastic and cheap.

I really hope Gambit is back, but can we have Tatum as Gambit here like we had JKras as Mr. Fantastic in Dr. Strange? Just a one time fun gag? Please??

Remy is having a really good year despite dying everywhere.

The Deadpool squad (or whatever) I'm afraid I haven't read enough Deadpool to really get it, but it was fun. The side scrolling action sequence reminded me of a video game. And honestly, Wolverine with his cowl on, just kind of loosely moving reminded me of a video game as well.

I'm super curious to see how Deadpool plays within the MCU now. Let's go for it.

The credits were a nice touch. I'm glad they could honor those films for what they did, and I'm glad we can now move on from them.

Tl:dr it was fun and I liked it! :)

[littlejazzy]

Do you have good recommendations for AgeRe stories? Something really cute and fluffy? (I'm a lonely regressor and I love reading stories about really sweet caregivers.)

I do!! I adore reading agere fics, so here are some recs! I hope you enjoy!!! 💖

Gen:

Decontamination by SailorChibi - Marvel - Baby!Tony and CG!Steve - After a battle, Steve takes care of his baby - (This one is a Classification!AU/Littles are Known!AU... like, one of the very first ones. Very good and fluffy. If you ever read thorough their fics, (tagged NSAP bc agere straight up did not exist as a community yet) you'll start spotting alot of things that other people were/are inspired from.)

Picnic by SailorChibi - Marvel - Baby!Tony, CG!Steve, Middle!Bucky, Toddler!Clint, CG!Coulson, Kiddo!Scott, CG!Sam W., Kiddo!Peter P., CG!Wade, Kid!Wanda, and CG!Vision - All the Avengers have a nice picnic - (classification!au, but a different verse than the previous fic jsyk. this one is suuuuper fluffy and cute and fun <3)

Less than Five by SailorChibi - Daniel Craig's James Bond - Little!Q and CG!Bond - Q regresses smaller than usual; his daddy makes sure he's taken care of - (classification!AU, first of a series. first two fics are pretty fluffy, but the third has some angst, which makes the fluff even sweeter, in my opinion)

coffee makers and bumblebees by orchidsncrake - Daredevil - Little!Matt and CG!Foggy - Matt becomes overstimulated and after an altercation with the office's coffee maker, Foggy is there to make everything better

Small surprises by undergroundrice - Daredevil - Little!Matt and CG!Foggy - Foggy stumbles onto Matt regressing, and together they figure it out

A Second Shot by mylittlestories - MCU - Little!Natasha, Little!Clint, and CG!Coulson - Natasha didn't have much of a childhood. When she sees that having a second one is possible, she wants; Coulson and Clint are happy to make her family :) - (This one is unfinished, but what's there is just so nice I have to include it!!)

Give your Dreams the Wings to Fly by Honey_Dewey - FNAF Movie - Little!Matt and CG!Ness - Mike gets sick at work, but his boyfriend is there to make everything okay

the road to hope and adventures into the unknown (target) by romansprince - Barbie (2023) - Little!Ken, then CG!Barbie and CG!Gloria - Ken has become human... except he's never had a childhood. Sometimes he feels Fuzzy, but that's something he thinks he can keep secret. As he turns out, he can't, but it works out anyway - (Two separate fics that take place in the same universe/series. The first one/set-up is a little angsty, but the second is more fluffy)

Movie Night by mcschnuggles - Heathers - Little!JD and CG!Veronica - JD unexpectedly drops into headspace during a movie night with the rest of the teenagers; Veronica helps him through it - (Modern!AU, Everyone Lives!AU, this one is kinda angsty, but like, it's canon appropriate, lol - also!!! make sure that you check out the author's other works!!!!! lots of agere fics for a large variety of fandoms!!)

Toffee Ticking Time Bomb by GayCheerios - Star Wars - Little!Anakin and CG!Obi-Wan - Obi-Wan has to find his padawan's stuffie before the inevitable temper tantrum ensues - (classification!AU, part of a very nice and good series that, if you enjoy this fic, you should also check out)

Baby's First Bath by CyberToddler - Beetlejuice: The Musical - Toddler!Beetlejuice and CG!Maitlands - The Maitlands give Beetlejuice his very first bath - ( 👉👈 I wrote this one 😖)

Evolution by Cgetbrmj - The Last of Us (TV) - Little!Ellie and CG!Joel - Series that follows each episode of the show, and explores how these characters stumble upon age regression as a coping mechanism and how much they both realize they enjoy it. - (Slowburn agere, as it explores how it develops naturally between both characters. This one DOES contain some angst as it relates to the show, but overall is as fluffy as its setting allows)

Reader-Inserts:

The Doctor's Office by agerefandom (tazia101) - Twilight - Little!Reader and CG!Carlisle - Reader goes to their first check-up in their new town and unexpectedly regresses; thankfully, their doctor is more than understanding - (I can not emphasize enough how much I love this one. Hits all the right buttons, I'm so happy/thankful I found it before I had to establish care w/ a new doctor, it's just- so good)

Sugary Sweet by agerefandom (tazia101) - Twilight - Baby!Reader and CG!Alice and Jasper - A comfy, happy morning with your vampire caregivers - (be sure to check out the writer for more fandoms!! lots of agere fics, including gen and reader!insert!)

little life at the mansion by myworldoffanfiction - X-Men - Little!Reader and CG!X-Men (the main gang lol) - First chapter is a busy yet comfy morning while living at Xavier's Mansion. Second chapter is a fun Summer evening - (this one is sooooo sweet 😭)

Play Pretend by Vinnies_Comfort_Corner - Scream (1996) - Kiddo!Reader, Flip!Stu, and CG!Billy - You and Stu play pretend while waiting for Billy to come home - (if you enjoy this one, make sure you check out their other regression fics!!! there's even one with a petreg puppy!reader!! and other horror media!!)

Red Stained Fingers by CyberToddler - Scream (1996) - Little!Reader, CG!Stu, and CG!Billy - Unorthodox sensory play with diy-ed fake blood, lol - (I also wrote this one 😅 it's sugary sweet, I promise, lol)

[nzia-writes]

The Marvels 2023 dir. Nia DaCosta

My Honest Thoughts:

I’m actually kinda sad that this movie is performing so poorly at Box Office, and I’m all the more sad that it lacks the excellence that I’ve imagined for the last two years in the narrative sense.

The cast is strong, the visuals are strong, the action is strong, the direction is strong, but it all came crashing down because Marvel has been doing a horrible job at choosing its writers for movies. It is also fair to mention that the studios have refused to pay the actors fairly, thus causing another fatal blow at the box office!

—monthly delays

—no promotion from actors and poor promotion from marvel

—toxic incels and misogyny

—some of the audience’s disinterest in the characters

—The current MCU’s bad handling at storytelling

There was just so many forces against this movie and it was evident that this would be the outcome. Had the storytelling took a new approach at these characters and gave a more interesting villain — or even a villain with a more developed story— and gave us at least ten or fifteen more minutes with these characters for a more fleshed out story, the outcome could have differed.

Not even lying, this movie has some of the BEST action scenes in the mcu, some FRESH and creative stylistic choices in directing, some killer ass comedy, and some jaw-dropping visuals! It has given Carol an even better character arc and has brought some clarity and direction to the multiverse saga that has otherwise been handled poorly in phase 4 and 5. Nia DaCosta is a certified nerd and she did exceptionally well with building up the cosmic corner of the mcu!

Let me just say that Academy Award Winner, Brie Larson, shined so bright in her sequel! She channeled so many new emotions and character dynamics that make up Carol Danvers! She was able to find a nice balance between Carol’s stoicism and emotional vulnerability which so many people have criticized before! She also went about Carol’s regret beautifully with raw and heartfelt interactions that push said character to correct her mistakes as a hero and as a human.

And let us not forget about the outstanding performances from Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani as Monica Rambeau and Kamala Khan. The charisma of Monica Rambeau and the creative handling of her powerset is one that I will hold close to my heart. And the STAR that is Kamala khan and her family is one element that stole my heart early on in the film!

This movie deserves its flowers and it’s unfortunate that the writing had to weigh it down so much. I’m fucking OVERJOYED and grateful that I was able to experience this movie in the theaters—and to have theorized for a good six months on end!

It is going down as one of my top 5 mcu movies, not because it was perfect, but because of my attachment to the cast and the characters. They knocked my positive reception up 30 notches because of the hard work and the un-fucking-deniable chemistry! I know everyone may not agree with my sentiments, but I don’t care because this is deeper than box office success and audience reactions. Yes, It is unfortunate that my happiness wasn’t shared much, but what can I do now other than enjoying it as the phenomenon it is? 🤷🏾‍♀️

[raccoonfallsharder]

There’s been a few rumours that the Russos (and one of the writers from Infinity War/Endgame) may be coming back for Avengers 5/6! I’m curious about what those movies will be like, because they’re going to be even MORE crowded with a gazillion characters. 😅

And particularly, I wonder what the role of the Guardians is even gonna be in them… or at least Star-Lord, if no one actually has any plans to bring them back — which seems to be the most likely outcome. Personally, I wouldn’t actually mind too much if the new Guardians were brought back to join the final battle or something like that. It might be nice as a last hurrah for Rocket, maybe!

But what do you think? I know your opinions on those movies, so… I know what you have to say will be very interesting. 😁

oooooh boy. this just unlocked a whole bunch of competing thoughts in my head. i hope i can make sense of them enough to type them up.

here's the thing. i don't trust the russos or the IW/E writers but i am a person who (1) believes that people can grow and become better at damn near anything they want to, and (2) i am happy to be wrong. maybe the russos and whichever writer who is coming on board will have taken good lessons from the last five years since endgame (five years holy shit) and they'll come out stronger, better, more respectful storytellers. maybe they'll listen to other, better, more respectful storytellers on the team. hell, maybe disney will even let them be better (disney properties seem to be at their best when the mouse is least invested in controlling its indentured creatives). and of course, quality and effective storytelling won't only be on the shoulders of the russos et al. it will also be on the people who are working on the adjacent, intervening movies, and whether they are capable of and permitted to create compelling narratives and fully-developed characters along the way.

now, another thing i think will be tricky is if they choose to do another massive ensemble-battle (like the final endgame fight). i'm just not sure almost anything they can do will be actually satisfying to anyone who identifies with the characters who aren't the main focus. the reason that so-called "girl-power" moment in endgame was so fucken dissatisfying for so many of us was because it was unearned. condescending. you can't choose to feature so few of these women in the course of the whole movie, kill the only one of them with more than like three lines, and then throw every woman left alive into thirty seconds of battle choreography and think that your target-audience will see that as anything but patronizing. if the russos go for that level of sprawling battle-pageantry, that's what will happen, on some level. we just can't pay attention to every character the way they truly deserve when the cast is that massive.

and... i imagine this is exactly how the guardians would feature, if they aren't picked up by anyone in the meantime: one second of screentime in the background of a big fight, maybe with rocket's signature word as his new team advances to ultimately be lost in the ranks. or a singular star-lord, fighting on the side of the new avengers.

now, i'll let you in on a little and possibly controversial secret: i don't need more of rocket in the mcu. i think the mcu might fuck up a beautiful story. if they were to bring him back - unless it were a complete alternate timeline like a new cartoon - i almost think it would need to be a wholly different genre. here are the best ways i think disney could bring "mcu" rocket back:

fuck copaganda but brooklyn-99 had a distinctly guardians vibe in terms of a bunch of well-meaning dysfunctional idiots coming together under extremely exhausted but HIGHLY effective leadership. we could take this ride through space in a star-trek-esque adventure-of-the-week approach or base it in knowhere so we can really see what it looks like to be a guardian in that community, and meet some of the characters like xlomo smeth, ssssaralami, hoobtoe, the broker, HOWARD, etc.

mst3k but it's like, movie night on knowhere. they project some disney movie on the side of one of the bone-buildings and rocket and groot are always making commentary. but they're not the only ones. nebula's there, and for kid-appropriate movies drax and the kids are too. sometimes howard comes along and he and rocket get drunk and compete to be the harshest critic. adam tries to crack jokes sometimes but he's bad at it.

nebula and rocket during the snap. IN SPACE. mostly. i'll accept occasional visits to terra check in on thor. i suspect we see a lot of kraglin on the third quadrant and maybe spend some time helping with reconstruction in knowhere.

a super-ironic self-aware parody of some old sitcom like full house. i'm open to rocket being the father-figure and the new guardians being the chaotic fam, but i'd also be open to it focusing on the star children, calling it "drax the dad," and having rocket be the uncle-jesse-character. which brings me to my last option, which is

actually center the show around a singular someone else, like adam or phylla, and have rocket occasionally make an appearance as an important background character: a father-figure, a mentor, a captain, a guide, a beloved pain-in-the-ass. occasional conversations over the comms where he's like "are you eating enough? are you cleaning your cannons like i taught you? you still closing your eyes when you squeeze the trigger 'cause i told you to stop fuckin doing that. when are you coming home? nebula misses you and your brother is driving me fuckin crazy"

i do think there are other things that good writers could make work but these are the ones my heart rests on because i just don't trust disney/marvel very easily these days

WHICH IS ALL TO SAY

of course i'm gonna watch whatever disney/marvel puts out into theatres and/or on disney+, especially if the guardians are in it. and especially if my guy is in it.

but i'm also fully expecting to have my heart broken. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

as i said, i'm a person who is happy to be wrong.

[alpaca-clouds]

Why Black Panther Is In All The Solarpunk Lists

If you google for "Solarpunk movies", you will quickly find out one thing: There is no actual Solarpunk movie out there, just a list of a couple of movies that people generally will consider to have some Solarpunk themes. Usually you will find some Studio Ghibli movies there, you will find some movies there that will leave you with more questions than answers, and then you will find the two Black Panther MCU movies there.

If you investigate this further, you will also find a long winded discussion on whether or not Black Panther really can be Solarpunk, because Wakanda has a king and that is very much against the idea of Solarpunk, right?

Which is of course very ironic. Because this usually will come from white people who will be very willing to compromise on almost any other aspect of Solarpunk... Unless it is about Black people.

So, let's look at the Black Panther movies - especially the movies - and see how much Solarpunk there is.

Now, Black Panther is first and foremost Afrofuturism. This is very much about the idea of an Africa that never was colonized and hence had not their development halted by exploitation. And in the story of Black Panther they then got access to Vibranium and in this time that at least Wakanda could develop figured out all the things they could then do with Vibranium. Giving them not only clean energy, but also all sorts of other nifty gadgets. This allows them to become a fairly equal society.

Sure, there is a king, but in general the movie does imply that the inhabitants of Wakanda do all live in fairly equally good conditions, not to say fairly luxorious compared to how other people live. They have the same access to technology, apparently just get their food, and are also living in a society where men and women are equal at the very least.

Now, we do not know a ton about the internal politica of Wakanda. Apparently the country gets mostly run by the king and the chieftons, but we do not know how they get into the position. It mostly seems to be inherited as a position. But is there any other government? Is there any form of democracy? Do people get to vote? Are we assuming just the typical "benevolent king" narrative? How many people even live in Wakanda? That is all the stuff that is never really answered, because the movies are actually not that interested in the specifics of Wakanda - rather than the idea that it represents, and the moral connundrum that comes with it.

Because that connundrum of Wakanda is of course never about Wakanda's internal politics. Wakanda basically says: "Hey, we totally do have a benevolent king and everyone in this country is in fact super happy!" Because that is all the story needs. The moral connundrum is this: Wakanda is rich and safe because when the colonialism of Africa happened, they did not intervene and just held themsevles back, made themselves appear poor and like this did never suffer too much from it - but also allowed others to be enslaved and exploited.

Wakanda's wealth is very much build on them ignoring the plight of all other Black people. And this is the moral that the movie is interested in exploring.

And this is the real question in terms of: "Is this Solarpunk?" And I would argue yes. Because the point is that the movie very much lands on the side of: "Yeah, actually we should do something about this. We should change stuff." And more than anything about the worldbuilding I would argue that this in theory is what makes this movie Solarpunk.

... ... ... That is looking at the movie on its own, because it still has the misery of existing within the MCU, that does not really want to change the status quo of the world too much. So it does not want to change the world into a state that is too different from our real world right now. So, whatever characters might want to change about the world... They won't. Because MCU.

[scarlettrue]

Okay, so I’m gonna be extremely fucking annoying so please forgive me, BUT, I had a sort of stupid thought. After rewatching Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 (which btw is absolutely amazing and James Gunn is probably my favorite comic book movie director).

After that, I remembered a cut plot line from Endgame where Rocket and Wanda were supposed to go on a road trip, which than got me thinking “Holy fucking shit, imagine if James Gunn had gotten to write Wanda Maximoff, that would’ve been dope as fuck”

What’s my reason for saying this? His writing for Harley Quinn in The Suicide Squad was absolutely amazing, especially the bit that turned into her stellar monologue about the difficulties of moving on from abusive relationships.

Plus, James Gunn is really one of the few directors and writers in the MCU to give female characters the same amount of development as the male characters, with that development being very well fleshed out and feeling very human few MCU films even match.

Idk, James Gunn and his Guardians films mean so much to me, and there’s a part of me that thinks it would’ve been extremely cool to see him take on the character of Wanda Maximoff (I also hold this opinion with Thor and Natasha, but that’d be a longer rant), I just think it would’ve been amazing and give Elizabeth Olsen so much more to work with.

Not that any of her material has been without merit and something to work with, especially in the case of Multiverse of Madness and getting to work with Sam Raimi (another favorite of mine), but seeing Elizabeth Olsen get a monologue similar to what Harley got in The Suicide Squad or a Peacemaker style redemption arc from Gunn would’ve been sick. Here’s hoping that Elizabeth Olsen becomes apart of the DCU and gets to actually gets to work with James Gunn.

Okay, that’s all, sorry for the incredibly long rant, this probably won’t get traction, but if it does, that’s cool lol. I hope it’s at least semi enjoyable to read, and until we meet again! (Also, Wanda and Rocket are my favorite MCU characters, so have some gifs as a reward lol)

[peach-fiz]

I actually didn't even bother watching the second season of Loki because of the cheap marketing and inconsistent storytelling.

It just felt like the plot was lifted off somewhere it would have made sense, and a character with a similar ego was replaced with Loki and goes through an arc that might have made sense for a blank slate character, but not someone who already has a backstory.

Loki doesn't even feel like Loki after three episodes in S1. The whole point of having a show like that just seems to be about the TVA and Sylvie.

Also the whole genderfluid thing. They 'confirmed' it in the promo and had a line in the script that went completely against anything they just said.

I knew at once that the writers, directors and other parts of production were really just pulling it in different directions and it would probably sound like a jazz trumpeter and a metal guitarist trying to improvise after knowing each other for 15 minutes.

I've been meaning to watch it just so I can have educated opinions on all of it but it's just,, so hard to get into. I definitely agree the marketing was cheap, they did with the 80s McDonald's like they did DB Cooper!Loki and made it centric to the advertising because McDonalds was also getting something out of it which is kinda ass seeing as realistically Loki Laufeyson would burn 6 of them down before he ate in one 😭

I personally don't like either of the major ships in the show but the forced Sylki shit in season 1 really got to me. Like not only did she completely replace him as the main character in HIS show, she's also a variant of him who he wants to make out with and overall it just reads as lazy writing and it's extremely disappointing that Mike Waldron has been put in charge of Multiverse of Madness and The Kang Dynasty since, due to the popularity of the Loki TV show. I was talking to my boyfriend about this last night but it kinda reminds me of the complaints people had ab the last Indiana Jones movie but opposite? Like everyone complained his best friend's daughter was gonna replace him bc she's a Mary Sue and she rlly isnt, she's more reminiscent of Marion in Raiders of the Lost Ark she just doesn't wanna fuck him. But the difference is Indy is a character who's majorly blank for little boys to project themselves onto. Which is great!! It works for those kind of movies, but they're not character development centric like the individual mcu movies tend to be. Loki is characterized in a way that he's drowning in identity issues and family problems and he experiences growth in every installment whether it be positive or negative. It doesn't make sense to take the formula of an Indidna Jones movie where he meets up with a woman who's typically a love interest and has her own issues that are only slightly touched on because that's not the focus, and they go do the plot.

Sylvie is not an Indy Girl, they straight up are trying to replace Loki with Sylvie. And you can tell the character wasn't supposed to have as much importance as she does in the show bc the character was worked on more after the actress they chose was buddies with a producer ( and this is no hate to the actress I'm sure she's delightful everything I've seen her in in terms of interviews has been lovely ).

I also absolutely agree they should've just made a tva mini series to introduce the tva rather than bringing back a dead character who soon will not make much sense anyway because Tom Hiddleston is getting older (and also he deserves to branch out in his career).

The genderfluid thing was a cash grab and it sucks ass, they just want money for acknowledging things already canon in the comics, same with confirming him as bisexual.

My boyfriend is actually writing a fic on ao3 called Find Me that's rlly good if you want Loki content that isn't related to the show.

(YES this is shameless promotion sshhhhshshsh) but fr the loki TV show makes me more confident in my screenwriting bc t h a t got put on disney plus. I'm also working on a Loki show rewrite in my spare time!!

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

yo, do you think Netflix could make a better Moon knight show than Disney plus?

And other than Oscar Isaac, who would you cast as Moony?

I mean daredevil Netflix is better than most mcu movie so a Netflix moon knight show might be better than the Disney one

Alright, thank you for your time :D have a nice day!

Hello!

Oh that's a tough question.

I absolutely adored the Netflix Daredevil. Specifically season 1. The hallway fight scene is my happy place. Netflix is known for blowing it out of the water When They Want To. Not to mention the casting was the single best casting job I've ever seen. And Frank Castle? They couldn't have done better.

Since Disney has not actually taken the reigns of Dare Devil yet, it's hard to say how they will choose to carry on the story or what different choices they will make.

But the real difference in the two? How much they are willing to invest. Because it really was all about the script, the direction, and the cast.

You see, Marvel (And Disney) tend to have very strong opinions about what happens in their movies. And these choices have affected many of the movies in very negative ways. Often leaving the directors, writers, and actors very frustrated.

They also tend to heavy hand things and put a lot of pressure on directors. Not to mention that Marvel has an ultimate goal to reach and when you start interconnecting things, it's going to get MESSY.

My biggest joy in Moon Knight was how it was a stand alone and not involved in a larger messy plot with an end goal of tying him into a larger franchise to make movies and more money.

It's a big worry. The more big characters you have involved, the less time you are going to have to establish and develop each individual character and their relationships. And since Moon Knight has his own inter-system relationships to deal with first, there is a HEAVY chance things are going to get overlooked or underutilized or cast aside in favor of a quick fix or sloppy story telling (Looking at you End Game).

I think that the Moon Knight we got in season 1 was absolutely amazing and that was in large because of the freedom that was given to the cast and crew and director of the show. The absolute freedom and research and care they put into it. I'm not sure they would have had that financial ability if Netflix had done it. Not to mention they would have put limits on the set design and location. Disney has that lovely ability to just go "You want the Wadi desert? Let's go."

And OSCAR. This man MADE Moon Knight. His own research, input, and creative suggestions. He was the one that gave Steven the accent. He cast his brother as his body double. He even chose to do the single shot mirror dialogue with Marc and Steven. That's a flex that a lot of actors can't do. There have been MANY that have tried to play multiple characters and complained about how hard it was the whole time. Oscar took it as a fun walk in the park. I honestly can't imagine anyone else doing a better job or even as good a job as he did. If they had used anyone else, it couldn't have been a well known name. It would have had to be a new person. (All though I did just try to imagine Ryan Gosling as Marc for the briefest of moments and it gave me some serious Smallwood vibes. That Smallwood scrunkle on that face? Yes.)

And trust me, when I heard they were making a Moon Knight show with Disney, I was skeptical as hell going in. I'm super protective of my boys. I feared the worst. I have never been happier to have been wrong. I hope I continue to be wrong with season 2. I WANT it to be just as amazing. I want it to blow me out of the water and destroy me like season 1 did. So I'm just sitting here holding my breath and trying not to think about all the ways they could seriously mess it up. (there are so many).

Uh... Did that answer your question?