#thus paving the way for mcu

[livepasthope]

no one fucking move i just saw the most recent deadpool & wolverine trailer

[naivesilver]

Self-fulfilling prophecies, or: I think Rumple and Blue messed up big time, folks

Disclaimer: I am a comparatively recent OUAT fan, so while smarter people probably thought this through before I even watched the show, I have never seen it happen and thus can't know if I'm stating the obvious. Please bear with me, this is going to be a long post.

So prophecies! OUAT has a lot of those. There is an entire wiki section about them, and most of the early ones are offered to us by Rumpelstiltskin, because as we know, he gained the power of foresight from the Seer. But what exactly did said Seer tell Rumple, when she relinquished her power to him?

What we gather from the (cryptic) explanations that we get is that with foresight, you can see all the ways the future might untangle, and practising+physically approaching the time of the events make you able to discern which of those paths will ultimately be the right one. Bae's destiny after the Seer's first on-screen prophecy proves that while the future is highly dependent on people's actions, they cannot forcefully steer it in the direction they want - Rumple thought he could avoid losing his son by crippling himself, but in doing so he followed EXACTLY the road that had been paved for him.

We don't know, however, what would have happened if he hadn't spoken to the Seer. SHE knew, presumably, that by drawing him close she would put the doubt in his mind, but it's unclear whether he would have still left his son fatherless by dying on the battlefield or something entirely different would have happened. We don't know - and Rumple doesn't, either.

Here's the catch, though: everything he does in the first few seasons follows the same pattern of that night in the army, blindly assuming that it makes a difference. He micromanages every main character's life because he sees them as pieces of the bridge he HAS to build to reach Bae. He doesn't account for things going wrong because he thinks they can't, and he's fucking EVERYWHERE anyway, so nothing can slip out of his fingers.

But what if THAT is what actually cements this timeline as the "definitive" one? The Seer told him he would find his son again, he could have simply bid his time and waited knowing this would be the result anyway. When his first apprentice disappoints him as the curse-caster, Regina and her grudges still happen, after all. He probably didn't need to do anything to ensure it - if he'd just leaned back and spun his little wheel, the future would have come around on its own, one way or another. But he doesn't, and instead sets in motion a very specific chain of events, and thus the show happens.

Why would he do that? Maybe he didn't learn how to parse through his visions correctly and he thinks this is a "will be" future and not a "can be" one. Maybe that first prophecy didn't teach him anything, and he still thinks he can cheat destiny (as proven by the fact that when learning that a boy will be his undoing, he refuses to accept it, believing he can just kill said boy before it happens). Maybe he thinks he's like MCU Doctor Strange, who sees thousands of possible outcomes and makes sure the one that leads him to Bae the quickest will happen. I have no clue. But what I think has happened is that for any of these reasons, he made this destiny happen by KNOWING it would happen (or believing it would, as you'd have it), thus fulfilling the prophecy by willingly acting on it.

So Rumple fucked himself over, big deal. We have seen it happen multiple times after s3. But you know who else might have unknowingly led the future where she thought it'd go, in this endless loop we have just described?

At this point in the story we don't really have proof of whether Blue has prophetic powers of her own or she's just going off Rumple's words, but it does seem to me that the way she's telling the story has a bit more nuance than his version did during the Charmings' visit to the cell. So either she went back to pry further, from a man that she generally does NOT trust...or somehow, she's autonomously privy to details most of the others don't have.

But what does she DO with that knowledge? Does she work with what she has to guarantee Emma will fulfil her destiny? Does she trace very clear boundaries for everyone to stay within to adhere to her plan? No. She lets Geppetto convince her to lie. She allows him to risk jeopardizing the safety of an ENTIRE kingdom in the span of five minutes, which makes no fucking sense considering she has never shied away from weaponizing her influence for the sake of what she thinks is the greater good (which in turn is what made people think she was the villain all along, but I digress).

Moreover, some of my friends once had a discussion that, everything else aside, made me realize how fucking dumb it was of Blue to just LEAVE when Geppetto had threatened to do as he pleased with the wardrobe. What kinda preparations did she have to do, literal HOURS before a curse where she would lose all her free will and magic anyway? It was pointless at best, detrimental at worst, and the way I see it, PREMEDITATED to begin with, because while I utterly despise Blue and would have no problem calling her an idiot, this would objectively be a bad move. She could have literally lied to Geppetto about what kind of person could go in the wardrobe, or used magic to prevent the worst from happening. She has done similar things, before AND after that moment.

If she indeed knew, either because of Rumple or her own abilities, how shit was "meant" to go down, it's not too far-fetched to assume she might have acted accordingly in an attempt to guarantee the success of this plan. Even if there had been other possible paths to take, e.g. worlds where Emma might have gone to the LWM with either of her parents, and EVEN IF Rumple hadn't already prevented those variables from happening by that point...if Blue thought the only way for it to work was to stick to the timeline she had envisioned, then there was nothing anyone else could do.

To sum up this theory: Rumple sees the chain of events that develops through show canon, and either decides or mistakenly believes it will be made true, putting all his effort into ensuring it does. Blue makes the same mistake (depending on how you see it, obviously) and instead of forcing people's hands to change the course, allows Geppetto to make what she thinks is an unavoidable decision. By doing so, BOTH of them fulfil what they think is an already written future, but might have still only been one of the various options available among endless variables.

Besides, if they HAD realized that they'd fucked up in hindsight, I doubt they would have admitted to it. It would have been too late by then: knowing them, they would have felt forced to stick to their guns, to avoid considering the possibility to have made a mistake - ESPECIALLY Blue, who was already responsible for the start of this avalanche, what with giving Bae the bean and suggesting the curse to Rumple. It's hard to believe they would have been able to live with themselves, if they'd taken the option into account.

And in the end, what are the results of this proactive decision? Rumple and Bae's reunion is angry, unsatisfying and with catastrophic consequences for the whole family. Emma grows up alone, forced into a destiny she did not sign up for, having been ten minutes old at best. And as for the third victim of prophetic crimes...

Without these beliefs, solid or imaginary that they might be, there is a chance nothing would have gone as we know: the 28 years gap might have meant something else entirely, a lot of people would have been spared the pain, and an external hand would have prevented Pinocchio from being sent on an impossible mission, with a baby and no tools to navigate this world in his hands. Another child lost to the Land Without Magic as a pawn in a game played by two magic users who each thought they were outwitting the other - at least Emma got to grow and heal throughout the show, as an ADULT.

Did Pinocchio?

(OOF. This is almost certainly not what the writers had in mind when they planned the plot of this series. I am, unfortunately, aware of that. But I still think it's worth being put into words as a theory - I probably didn't formulate it as coherently as I hoped, but maybe the message will still filter through, despite the fact that I am 1) overtly verbose 2) tragically Italian. Unforgivable sins, both of them LMAO)

[valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn]

interesting read https://t.co/M8oXnRQaIX

Thank you for sharing, dear 😉

I'm not a big fan of that article (I'll get to that in a moment) but first the part I do agree with: "It doesn’t matter how or why something appears, just so long as it does", ain't that the damn truth. I've spoken many times about how I see Waldron as the King of Superficiality because he thinks having a character mention their trauma (adoption, rough past, abuse, etc) means they're forever healed and so he doesn't feel the need to actually explore their issues, but the MCU does that a lot too.

Things that should affect the characters for a long time, that should impact their worldview and the way they interact with other people are always mentioned in one passing line then forgotten, and those experiences they lived never change them - or worse, their lifetime of traumatic pain is gone because someone tells them they love them or they find another character who smiles at them. Then the happy ending comes and you're supposed to believe 70 years of torture have magically disappeared (yes, I'm talking about Bucky): they have a character in A and they want to take him to B but they can't be bothered to actually pave the way and take us through the journey so in one episode they suddenly arrive at the destination and it's like... wait, how did that happen?

But the rest of the article is... meh. I enjoy a good critical piece of Marvel but in the first 6 or 7 paragraphs the author is repeating the same idea over and over again without giving any specific examples of what they're talking about. Clearly they have seen the movies so I'd rather read something that gives examples and analyzes them: like the changes during the phases, sometimes characterization has been good, other times it has been awful, the morality is all over the place, the framing can be unreliable which makes the stories hard to follow... they have countless arguments against Marvel.

I completely disagree about Moon Knight though. I won't talk about DID because I know nothing about it but when it comes to Marc's past they didn't shy away of showing what his trauma was, he spelled it out for Steven, we could see his mother being a piece of shit, they didn't just say it, they showed it. Many times before the MCU has chosen to either ignore or sanitize that kind of abuse but in MK they did not.

And lastly, I'm surprised they didn't talk more about the fact that most of the screens in the week of MoM's release were dedicated to the movie, thus relegating any other films to late passes or downright taking them out of the cinema altogether for that weekend. The theatre I go to has 16 screens and I vividly remember when NWH released: 14 of them had the Spidey movie and there were only 2 sessions for other movies. With MoM they had reserved 8 or 9. Now that is something very concerning and worth talking about.

[bonestructureandcontempt]

If Black Adam were an MCU movie, it would be about how the JSA are 100% morally correct to oppose Teth Adam because killing is wrong or whatever but "ensuring international stability" (with the scale heavily tipped towards US interest) is just good superheroics. Teth Adam will make good points but ultimately be proven by the narrative to be "too extreme" to be allowed to continue unimpeded.

The JSA will also defeat Intergang and thus pave the way for US and/or UN peacekeepers to step in and re-occupy keep Khandaq a "free" country. Order is restored and the day is saved.

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

Hi! I’m a big fan of your work!! I am looking for more but unfortunately I feel like I have read all yhe good Harry Potter docs on Ao3. Do you have any recs?

Sorry for the delay, I just know that whenever I make rec list it usually ends up taking a while.

With that, Harry Potter fics are a big genre. Just saying Harry Potter in general really isn’t that specific to me so this is across genres/character focuses/you name it.

Also, as usual, I’ve been on fanfiction longer and have amassed more favorites there. Some of these are cross posted to Ao3. Similarly, a lot are unfinished, this personally doesn’t bother me but if it bothers you take heed.

Also, you’ll see my embarrassing obsession with Tom Riddle. So, heads up for that.

Stepbrother (Tom Riddle/Hermione Granger, period piece, in which the two remind me a lot of Nabokov)

Cat Among the Pigeons (Tom Riddle/Lily Evans, Psycho-Pass Detective AU, in which I am a beta actually so my promoting this goes without saying)

Til Death Do Us Part (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Voldemort wins AU, which for me does very well with the concept of immortality and what exactly Tom is supposed to do after he wins)

This Tangle of Thorns (Tom Riddle/Hermione Granger, modern AH AU, a full on Nabokov inspired fic which I enjoy because Lolita)

Delusional (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, sort of. Harry wins the war, goes crazy, checks into a mental hospital. Or he’s not crazy and Voldemort is as unkillable as Palpatine.)

Harry Potter and the Natural 20 (OC insert, D&D inspired, shameless crack. I mostly enjoy the beginning of this but it makes me laugh enough to recommend.)

A Hairy Business (AU, Harry is a deer, he is literally a deer, that’s it. It’s funny.)

Animus, Anima (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Harry travels back in time, gets stuck in Tom Riddle’s brain, and it turns out Harry’s responsible for every terrible thing that ever happened. This one was squicky even for me, very well done, but strap in.)

Addendum, He is Also a Liar (Tom Riddle/Hermione Granger, Tom has an inexplicable ability to travel to the future, but only to this random little girl Hermione Granger)

Framed & Fractured (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Harry gets stuck in an evil painting back in time. Tom is creepy as usual.)

Trying for Eden (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Harry travels back in time to lecture Tom into morality. It doesn’t work.)

Magical Mirrors (Luna Lovegood and Severus Snape, Luna and Snape stumble on the Mirror of Erised at the same time and strike up a conversation)

Aphelion (Hermione Granger/Loki, MCU crossover, Hermione and Loki strike up the world’s weirdest toxic friendship when Hermione’s young and attending Hogwarts, this leads terrible places as Loki slides into madness and despair)

Wandering Souls (Luna Lovegood and The Undertaker, Black Butler crossover, Luna meets and strikes up a conversation with the Undertaker)

Of Lies Most Beautiful (Tom Riddle, Hunger Games crossover, Tom wins the Hunger Games becaues that’s what he does bitch)

In Wonderland (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Harry ends up back in the past and decides to raise Tom Riddle. This goes so poorly that the pair almost get eaten by eldritch gods multiple times.)

Rumpelstiltskin, Guess My Name (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Female Harry travels back in time and offers to save Merope’s life/get her Tom Riddle Sr. the non rapey way in return for her firstborn son. Merope thought Harry was joking. She wasn’t joking. In the sequel, also linked, Harry kills Morfin.)

The Eyes (Harry Potter, AU, turns out “the power he knows not” is the power humanity knows not, Harry’s ability to see eldritch abominations and cosmic gods and thus bring them far enough into our reality that they eat everything. And I mean everything.)

Mirror Mirror (Harry Potter, MCU crossover, Harry makes a huge mistake and stops Hulk in the middle of a rampage. This gets him abducted by octopus nazis.)

I See the Moon (Harry Potter and Bruce Banner, MCU crossover, Harry got brain damage from the war and wanders around the middle of nowhere. He runs into Bruce. He’s now Bruce’s only friend.)

You Will Be the Death of Me (Harry Potter and Tom Riddle, Despicable Me inspired, through a series of convoluted events Tom as the world’s worst father figure ends up raising Harry the sad adorable orphan.)

In Death, Standby (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter (sort of, the authro claims), Tom raises Harry, the only Tom raises Harry that I’ve seen done well because Tom is the world’s worst father. Harry thinks he’s a deformed snake until the age of three.)

Little Harry’s Mirkwood Adventure (Harry Potter and Dudley Dursley, Hobbit Crossover, one of the most Tolkien style crossovers I’ve actually seen and is very good)

A (Self-Imposed) Trap for a Fool (Ginny Weasley, turns out Harry Potter never existed, as in he’s a collective hallucination made up by the entire wizarding world)

McLaggen and From McLaggen with Love (McLaggen, a detective AU then a James Bond style adventure starring McLaggen, the greatest wizard who ever wizarded)

Tom Riddle’s Diary: on keeping devils in the summer (Tom Riddle, Tom Riddle’s antichrist orphan adventures involving exorcism and burning people alive)

and the fates sing (hold on, son) (Harry Potter, MCU crossover, Harry is the son of Loki and like all children of Loki he is a wretched and cursed thing)

A Faulty Master (Harry Potter and Itachi Uchiha, Naruto crossover, Itachi after the massacre of his family has a run in with a master of death Harry, who is a creepy creepy man)

Eye of Reason (Harry Potter/Jack Frost, Rise of the Guardians crossover, due to the mythos surrounding his life Harry ceases to be a man and becomes akin to a god)

Flowers for a Ghost (Luna Lovegood and Itachi Uchiha, Naruto Crossover, Luna befriends a blind ghost)

Third Time’s the Charm (Harry Potter, MCU crossover, Bruce Banner keeps trying to kill himself and MoD Harry is there to have himself a real good day)

Blind Faith (Bellatrix LeStrange/Tom Riddle, canon compliant, an in depth look at Bellatrix from the escape of Azkaban onward)

Cocktail Time (Rita Skeeter and Gilderoy Lockhart, Rita does an expose and autobiography detailing the descent of Gilderoy Lockhart and how he became what he became)

Fantastic Elves and Where to Find Them (Harry Potter, canon divergent AU, Harry thinks he’s an elf. That’s it.)

The Twine Bracelet (Colin Creevy, a look at Colin’s death) 

Legal Alien (Harry Potter, MCU crossover, Harry visits New York and an alien invasion breaks out. Culminates with the best, dumb, joke.)

The Root of Desire (Tom Riddle/Hermione Granger, Hermione travels back in time and tries to influence Tom. All this does is inspire his sexual awakening.)

Deadheads (Harry Potter/Godric Gryffindor, a romantic comedy of a kind, culminating in the best dumbest joke)

Give and Take (Tom Riddle/Hermione Granger, Hermione tries to outwit Tom, it ends in despair)

The Road to Somewhere (Harry Potter, Spirited Away crossover, Harry as MoD is in the realm of the spirits)

Absolute (Harry Potter, Harry picks up a death note, he kills everyone)

Fortunate Son (Dudley Dursleys, years afterwards Dudley looks back and writes a memoir and expose about the abuse inflicted on his cousin)

Elective Affinities (Severus Snape/Harry Potter, Harry travels back in time to discover his parents are assholes and things are more complicated than he imagined)

Juxtaposed (Bod, Graveyard Book crossover, Bod attends Hogwarts)

The Fire Omens (Tom Riddle and a look at WWII)

Broken Toys (Tom Riddle and his useless broken toys)

The Fine Art of Poisoning (Madame Zabini)

A Marriage of Convenience (Pansy and Theo get married)

Reparabilis (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Tom becomes a professor, he still destroys Harry Potter)

The Unforgivable Curses (Draco Malfoy, a look at the 4th year unforgivable lecture with Moody and the Slytherins)

Ugly (Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy one sided Dudley/Harry Potter, Dudley’s fat, ugly, and creeps on his cousin)

Three Can Keep a Secret (Harry Potter, on secrets and secret keeping)

Caveat Incimici (Hermione Granger, on Hermione and her terrifying wrath)

Babylon (Harry Potter and Tom Riddle, Harry never gets rid of Tom)

Wonderful Tragic Mysterious (Luna Lovegood and Albus Dumbledore, Luna Lovegood time travels and becomes a young Albus’ neighbor)

In the Clockface, Weighted and Weary (Harry Potter/Ariana Dumbledore, Harry after DH ends up back in time in Dumbledore’s childhood and witnesses the beautiful Dumbledore family dysfunction)

Eternal Return (Harry Potter and Tom Riddle, Harry is reincarnated as Tom Riddle and as a result becomes Voldemort so that a Voldemort exists)

Like Pale Fire (Harry Potter/Godric Gryffindor, the Founders are resurrected and it turns out Harry had travelled to the past and become Salazar Slytherin, turns out the Founders were more complicated than people expected.)

12 Moves Sideways (Harry Potter and Light Yagami, Death Note crossover, Light becomes the Defense Professor, for once Harry does not figure out the mystery.)

A Very Young Girl’s Record of Her Own Impressions (Ariana Dumbledore’s diary)

Night Comes Early (Moody on war)

Little Witches (The Black family women and how it all falls apart)

Paved with Good Intentions (Petunia on finding a baby on her doorstep)

Emerald Serpent for Vanity (Draco and Nagini introspective)

Blue (Tom Riddle/Bellatrix LeStrange, Voldemort wins dystopia, Tom visits Bellatrix’s grave and is very crazy)

Eighteen (Hermione Granger, on Hermione’s betrayal of her parents)

Ouroboros (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, on what they’ve made of each other)

Not so Different (Scout, To Kill a Mockingbird Crossover, Scout reflects on the wizarding world’s raicsm)

Traitor (Hermione Granger, Hermione is captured by the Death Eaters and commits unspeakable acts to free herself)

Smashing Mirrors (Tom Riddle, introspective)

Twelve Dark Moons (Luna Lovegood/Tom Riddle, Luna becomes a captive of the dark lord)

Full Circle (Harry Potter, Harry wins and is miserable)

The Web of a Thousand Spiders (Luna Lovegood on the diary)

The Metronome (The fall of Lucius’ entire generation)

Understand (Hermione Granger and her betrayal of her parents)

Tea with the Headmaster (Severus Snape and Albus Dumbledore, the pair have tea)

This Grief Feeling (Hermione Granger and Severus Snape after the end)

After Innocence (The trio after the end)

Of Great Turmoil and Excess Stupidity (Sesshomaru and Hagrid, Inuyasha crossover, Hagrid decides to capture a demon for class)

What’s Left of Hope (Severus Snape and Albus Dumbledore, on preserving hope)

In His Keep (Severus Snape and Luna Lovegood, Snape informs Luna her father has died)

Wednesday (Petunia Evans, introspective)

In the Presence of Angels (Moody in WWII)

What He Grows to Be (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Harry Potter raises Tom Riddle in the past and it goes horribly wrong)

Being Cassandra (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Harry Potter, Tom, and their strange AU friendship)

The Girl (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, a fem Harry Potter keeps accidentally appearing in Tom’s childhood)

Corruption (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Tom wins AU and female Harry slowly becomes corrupted)

One Night Stand (Tom Riddle/Lily Evans, a wonderful look on the first war, Tom Riddle, Lily Evans, the Order of the Phoenix, and terrorism)

The Voldemort Principle (Severus Snape, turns out Snape was Voldemort the whole time and Harry is a lying liar who lies)

Harry Potter and the mountain of pure diamond (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Harry has become an ageless god who travels worlds and decides to raise Tom Riddle. He’s disturbed when he realizes Tom is more of a person than he is)

A Road Less Travelled By (Harry Potter/Lucius Malfoy, Harry’s a veela, just read it, it’s amazing, I know I sound crazy but it is)

Transformation (Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy, Draco gets eaten by the Forbidden Forest and then Harry gets eaten too)

Rock Bottom (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Tom gets trapped being defense professor and has a miserable time)

[supermoviemaniac]

SONY PULLS AWAY FROM MCU DUE TO FINANCIAL DISPUTE!

Which translates to: "Sony are cash-grabbing big wigs that would rather collapse a successful property all because they don't know how to play fairly".

Sony had relentlessly and tirelessly hindered Marvel for years... But at long last, they finally came to an agreement and allowed one of the biggest superheroes in history to play ball with the highly successful Marvel Cinematic Universe. Alas, clearly it was short-lived. Of course, how foolish of us to think Sony could cooperate with another company at all, let alone harmoniously. Ah well, Spidey had a good run in the MCU, right? We should be grateful he even got this far, right?

WRONG!

Sony have yanked the character away from infinitely more-capable hands, not only at a time where he's in the process of being delicately developed into the next big Avenger, but right after a killer cliffhanger... which to me puts into perspective just how little Sony cares about anything. This is going to wound the MCU and the story they're passionately telling, and they probably enjoy that notion.

I don't know what you guys' opinions are on the Venom movie, or the upcoming Morbius movie, but they're clearly exploits of big comic book names for the sake of money, because they know they'll sell tickets (especially with the purposeful casting of certified heartthrobs Tom Hardy and Jared Leto). If you want my further opinion, I reckon the only reason (other than money) they're making these literally-pointless films outside of the MCU was out of spite; to prove to themselves that they can still make whatever films they want, and to prevent the MCU from using those characters.

Well, it looks like Spidey is back to being all alone. There's so many questions. What's to happen to the MCU's version of the webslinger? Will Tom Holland still play Spidey and will it still be part of the MCU, simply lacking the directional oversight of Disney/Kevin Feige? Will Jon Watts be directing again, or will he be scared away by Sony's inevitable/unnecessary directional input? If Tom still plays him, will it start where Far From Home left off, or will it be a completely fresh rendition outside of the MCU? If he's suddenly gone from the MCU, how will Marvel's plans be effected?

Sony are selfish pigs in my eyes. I refuse to watch any future Spidey-related films by them if they're outside of the MCU (except for the animated Spiderverse franchise, since that's clearly made by passionate artists). They could potentially be throwing a huge spanner in the works for Marvel Studios, all because of money. They're well aware of the millions upon millions of Spidey and MCU fans, and the effect this character and other superheroes have on their lives in terms of interests and pop culture.

Marvel Studios were clearly paving a grand future for the character as part of the most successful franchise in history... Sony are well aware of this. I cannot think of Sony and whatever future they have for Spider-Man without thinking how unjust, pointless and selfish it all is. Yes, Sony do own the property yada, yada... But I don't care. If they truly cared for the property, they'd be more open to flexibility, cooperation and even a little compliance when it came to working with the MCU, since they're clearly the biggest and best cinematic universe franchise to date, in every aspect there is. (I'm not talking about personal opinions - the MCU is simply the most successful one out there, no matter the aspect it's measured by. Even if you personally don't like it, it's true). If the future of Spidey is completely separate to the MCU (where he belongs) then I hope Tom Holland wants no part of it. Let's face it, without Tom or Marvel Studios behind Sony, it's gonna fall flat in every way, shape or form.

I say hope, because that's all we as fans can do at this point. Just look back at James Gunn; he was fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3... it seemed for definite and irreversible... but things were worked out and now he's back. I'm hoping this Sony ordeal will eventually be mended somehow, but I'm lacking in optimism.

The MCU: Ran by passionate filmmakers that know what they're doing, with a family-like cast like no other, with an unrivalled fan base - fans so diehard because of trust earnt, through 23 incredible movies, each unique, yet part of a thoroughly thought out story that shows no signs of stopping.

Sony: Greedy assholes that care not for the effects their selfish actions bring, thus jeopardising the MCU's future, all because they can. A company that will no doubt pump out unnecessary movies like factory-made sausages for the sake of money.

Yeah, Disney's priority is gonna be money too, but at least they've entrusted passionate people to run Marvel Studios so people actually enjoy their movies and can justify such an unprecedented fandom. Far From Home was Sony's highest grossing film ever, but no, they're still like, "Nah, we still want more money and more ownership". Dicks.

What are your thoughts? Let me know...

[thehollowprince]

What do you think are the ods of having Wiccan and Hulkiling in the MCU?

Honestly, I don't know how they would introduce any of the Young Avengers at this point. Aside from Cassie, they've altered so much of the origins of this group that it doesn't seem plausible.

Unless sometime during this Falcon & Winter Soldier show we get some kind of reference or insight into Project Rebirth and the fact that the formula was tested on black men before they ever attempted on a white man, thus paving the way for Eli, but that's incredibly doubtful.

Vision's dead and the MCU doesn't expand at all on Wanda's powers so I don't know how they'll introduce the twins, unless they finally talk about Wanda's ability to bend reality or they could pull out their new fun Fixit, the time travel conundrum and have Tommy and Billy be the alternate versions of Pietro and Wanda from another timeline.

Same with Teddy, because they changed Mar-Vell from a man to a woman, but give how Skrulls are shapeshifters, it shouldn't be that hard to come up with something to introduce him, though given the time difference now (with CM taking place in the nineties) I don't know how they'd introduce him as a teenager.

The young version of Vision would he the easiest because he's just an android and they have the old Vision's body around somewhere.

Kate's gonna be introduced in this Hawkeye show, but that's just two of the roster.

As for everyone else, Nate, America Chavez, Noh-Varr, David... I don't know how they'd introduce any of them either.

I would love a version of Billy and Teddy, but I don't know if I'd trust the MCU to do them or the Young Avengers justice. And don't even get me started on the Champions.

[mrdantastic808]

Spider-Man Far From Home: Epilogue of Fatherhood

Spider-Man Far From Home: Epilogue of Fatherhood

“Avengers: Endgame” provided the conclusion to the 11-year story being told so far by Marvel’s Cinematic Universe.  Although Marvel will continue into Phase 4 of movies, Endgame proved to be an end of an era. Therefore, it was surprising to find out that this movie didn’t officially conclude Phase 3.  That honor was given to “Spider-Man: Far From Home.”

But why?  And did it live up to that?

Warning: Spoilers ahead for “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” as well as “Avengers: Endgame.”  If you haven’t already watched these films, you may want to before reading further.

 In storytelling, there’s a climax towards the end that resolves the dramatic question of the story. In superhero stories, it’s usually a massive battle between the hero and villain.  In a sports film, it’s the big game between the protagonists and their oppressive opponents.  In a heist film, it’s the final confrontation that determines who gets the object.  “Avengers: Infinite War” and “Avengers: Endgame” are that big climax.  On a micro level, the climax is the battle between Thanos and the Avengers.  The dramatic question here is whether the Avengers can save the world from Thanos.  On a macro level, the dramatic question of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is Tony Stark’s legacy.  In the very first MCU movie, Tony was a narcissist.  Each movie progressed his character arc as he developed his heart and became a hero.  However, this was challenged by Captain America, who told Tony he wasn’t the guy to make the sacrifice play.  This was further reinforced in “Avengers: Age of Ultron” when Tony’s vision showed him a world where everyone else died except him.

Phase 3 opened with Tony exploring the theme of legacy.  This forced him to confront his buried father issues, and the seed was planted for Tony desiring a family of his own.  Fatherhood is about leaving a legacy in this world.  How will you be remembered after you’re gone?  What kind of thumbprint would you leave behind in this world?  As a father or mother, you raise up new life who will carry on your family name after you’re gone.  If raised well, you’ll be remembered in a positive light that will hopefully carry forth as your children raise their own.

Throughout the past 11 years, Tony has grown as a hero, but his legacy was always in question.  He had always feared he would become like his father: cold, heartless.  In “Iron Man 3,” Tony befriended a young boy who represented the next generation and provided a glimpse of what Tony’s legacy could look like.  His decision to build Ultron, and later his decision to sign the Accords, was driven by his need to leave a legacy.  In “Spiderman: Homecoming,” Tony became a father figure to Peter.  In doing so, Tony began to realize what a healthy legacy could look like.  In “Avengers: Infinite War,” Tony confronted Thanos, who represented the perversion of a father figure.  His loss meant that his suppressed father issues weren’t quite resolved yet.  In “Avengers: Endgame,” Tony became a biological father, giving him the insight needed to confront his issues towards his own father. Once Tony brought closure, he was able to overcome Thanos, thus making the sacrifice play.

In storytelling, the plot doesn’t actually end with the climax.  There’s an epilogue, a conclusion that reestablishes the new status quo. That’s where “Spider-Man: Far From Home” comes in.  This movie explores whether Tony left a desirable legacy.

His legacy is represented in two ways.  One is Mysterio, who leads a group of employees Tony mistreated over the years. They represent the negative side of Tony’s legacy, the old self who was narcissistic.  The other is Peter, who represents Tony’s redeemed legacy.   As Spider-Man and Mysterio battle, the dramatic question is which side of Tony’s legacy will prevail.  

Mysterio symbolizes the destructive side of Tony.  The Tony who needed to be the center of attention.  The Tony who placed his name on weapons and didn’t care where they went, as long as they made him appear as a hero.  The Tony who displayed his name on a massive tower.  Mysterio’s illusions represent the larger-than-life persona of superheroes, as reinforced in “Avengers: Age of Ultron” when the credits featured the heroes as god-like statues.

After Tony’s death, the world mourned him.  He left that mantle that, according to Happy, even Tony himself couldn’t live up to.  It was just an illusion.  As Spider-Man defeats Mysterio, he overcomes that illusion and embodies the true legacy of Tony.  Of course, the movie ends with Peter’s identity revealed to the world, mirroring Tony revealing his identity in the first “Iron Man” movie.  Just like Tony, Peter will have to deal with the repercussions.  But it’ll look differently because Peter is his own person.  

It’s interesting to note that Spider-Man is the only character to have two solo films within the same Phase.  In both movies, Peter’s arc mirrored lessons Tony previously went through.  With “Iron Man” being the filmed that started everything, Tony is often referred to as the father of the MCU.  As his time came to a close, the mantle has been passed to a new generation.  While the studios wanted Captain Marvel to be the flag bearer for the MCU moving forward, Spider-Man is actually their best bet in moving the franchise into the next decade of movies.  With Spider-Man being the first to cross over from a rival studio, he paves the way for exciting possibilities for other properties, such as Fantastic Four and X-Men.  

[team-cap-for-the-win]

The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that Clint should have died instead of Nat.

I got nothing against Clint, I like him a lot, but it would make a lot more sense to swap him with Nat.

First off, the implication of Nat "wiping the red off her lodger" isn't very good. She died for her sins? Her death meant she was finally forgiven? No! Nat's actions after her so called crimes are what counts. All the good stuff she did ever since the Avengers... does that mean nothing? Should Bucky die for his "sins"? I dunno, it just makes me uncomfortable to think of it this way. It implies that once you make mistakes, you can't fix them. Which is veeeeery fishy because guess which character gets away with literally everything and faces no consequences?

That's right, Tony. In the end he dies, yes, but unlike Nat, there are no implications like that. It is viewed as a selfless act. Everyone attends his funeral. Atleast he got a funeral. Nat didn't even get that and I hate that the biggest reaction we got was Hulk yeeting a bench. Atleast Clint and Steve had the decency to look sad and cry because they cared about her deeply. Unlike a certain someone who didn't even know if Nat had had any family.

Anyways, back to the main issue. While Nat spent those 5 years helping people, trying to hold her family - the Avengers - together, Clint went on a murderous rampage. Yes, he was grief-stricken, and he killed bad guys, and the main point of that was so that we could see Ronin, but it's still murder. We can see how much everyone had changed over the course of 5 years. The biggest changes are without a doubt Clint and Thor.

Which brings me to this: Thor's arc in Endgame atleast had a resolution. Hate him, love him, but don't deny that it had some structure. The purpose of it (besides that ill taste in comic relief) was to show that even when you're at your lowest point, you can pick yourself back up. You're still worthy. Plus, he got his closure with his mom. Throwing Loki into the bunch would maaaybe make it better, but this movie is full-packed anyways.

Now, what was Clint's arc about? Going on a rampage is okay and doesn't haunt you in any way? Getting something you want can be accomplished by someone else doing it for you? I dunno, to me, this was the weirdest part Endgame (yes, it surpasses that Russo cameo and the whole Bruce/Hulk thing), because I can't figure out what was the purpose of it. Why make him all edgy if you're not going to address the change? How did it serve his character? So many questions, man. Atleast fat Thor had a payoff and tbh he looked more like a viking so that was nice.

Clint's arc would wrap up nicely if he could sacrifice himself for his family. It would also be similar to Nat's wiping of the "red", but the focus would be on his family. Because that's what's most important to him. Clint undeniably lost the most in the Snap. Without question. He would be willing to do ANYTHING to get them back. If not with him, atleast back to life. All the focus on Clint in Endgame would have a payoff. Because that's another thing: Nat didn't have that much screentime in Endgame, died halfway through, and was mentioned only twice afterwards. This isn't okay. Her death felt undeveloped. Now, Clint - he had much more of an emotional turmoil in this movie. To me, it would make sense if it got topped off with his death. And maybe the directors would give the man a funeral. Who knows.

Lastly, this one is a bit more opinionated, because not everyone ships it, but. If the Russos weren't cowards and gave us a Romanogers throughout the course of the Avengers and the Cap movies, instead of that pointless Bruce and Sharon romance (how did that pay off in any way?), Steve's ending could be a lot different. More in character. The directors chickened out of Clintasha a long time ago, but I wouldn't have been surprised if after the five-year skip, Steve and Nat were a thing. (Besides the fact that Cevans and ScarJo played a lot together and have great chemistry!) Afterall, they have been with each other for a very long time. They led the Avengers together. Natasha let Steve go in CW despite the risk of breaking apart her family (which happened anyways). She found him and Sam throughout the gap between CW and IW and they were fugitives together. It doesn't even have to be romantic, ffs, just very close friends, but it would be great to see Steve finally move on, and thus complete his arc. Besides, come on! The "we should both get a life. You first" spiel would have been a perfect set up! Even if it wasn't a romantic pairing, I would still dig the hell out of them working together - they could become the new directors of Shield for all I care and that way it would put them away from the new movies. Sam would still have the Shield. Nobody would be bitching about abandonment. Hell, have Steve pass out during the final battle and get his closure with Peggy that way. Or when he returns from the time-travel, he tells them about his closure (Btw I love Steggy, but I don't like the way it went down. It went against Steve's arc). Or how about this - Steve and Nat both leave the main timeline and go on time adventures together. That would take them away from the future movies aswell, and they could return at any time, if the actors signed another contract. Boom, fixed your Endgame!

And lastly. This way, Nat could have led the female group-up scene and kicked ass on the frontiers, symbolizing her relevance as the first major female character in the MCU that paved the way for the others. She could even get to wield Mjolnir, symbolizing that the red had been wiped! Boom! Fixed your arc!

Oof, this went on longer than I thought it would have. Anyways, just my two cents. Wish it was something more along these lines, but eh the final product was fine - enjoyable, emotional experience in the cinema.

[restinpicturespod]

LARRY AND THE HULK 
Before Mark Ruffalo or Edward Norton or even Eric Bana, Marvel nearly produced the first feature film adaptation of the big green behemoth in the early 90s as portrayed by… Brigitte Nielsen?

Before the global domination of the current MCU world that we live in now, the early productions of Marvel Comics onscreen counterparts were anything but smooth. She-Hulk would have made for an extremely interesting subject. Not just as a female superhero but a fairly new character only just being introduced in 1980 by Stan Lee and John Buscema as Bruce Banner’s green hued cousin, Jessica Walters. Marvel wanted to quickly bank on the the late 70s popularity of THE INCREDIBLE HULK and THE BIONIC WOMAN with their own hybrid creation. Thus Jessica Walters and her alter ego were born. 


She-Hulk has been anxiously waiting to get on screen since the falsely rumored appearance in the 1989 TV movie THE TRIAL OF THE INCREDIBLE HULK (above). After she failed to show up alongside Bill Bixby’s David Banner, Walters had two very close shots at becoming an onscreen star. First there was an “in the works” TV series that was inevitably axed by ABC before it went into production. The second was a SHE-HULK feature film from the dream makers of New World Pictures in 1991.

Marvel’s early on screen endeavors were extremely messy, muddled and would eventually lead to the split that we see with today’s modern mega franchises of the X-MEN at Fox (Now owned by Disney), Spider-Man at Sony (now leased out by Disney), and the MCU at Disney (you know, that Disney). But from the late 70s until the late 90s, Marvel’s Film Division was nearly non-existent and the productions simply went to the highest bidders.

However, the superhero genre was a fairly untested commodity that would quickly impale itself. The only real frame of reference at that time was with 1978’s SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE which blew everyone away as it raked in nearly $300 million. But with 3 sequels in 9 years and production woes being sold over to Cannon Films, the diminishing quality brought diminishing returns and 1987’s SUPERMAN: THE QUEST FOR PEACE (below) $15 million bomb would put Cannon into a financial tailspin. 


So with such uneasy numbers the highest bidders were frequently the bottom feeders of the cinematic landscape and in return the supers were barely given the big budget attention they would need to fulfill their grand vision. Marvel characters were mainly dispersed into cheap television productions with The Hulk finding fame at CBS, Spider-Man stuck in Japan with Toei, and Cap at Universal under the brawny heroism of Reb Brown.

This would lead to George Lucas turning into the comic book movie saviour… or so he thought. By this mid 80s Lucas was in his post-STAR WARS phase and had relinquished his presidency at Lucasfilm in order to focus on becoming a full time producer. Lucas found inspiration in the noir absurdity of HOWARD THE DUCK after he created AMERICAN GRAFFITI, but only now had the financial stability to bring it to life. So Howard became the first Marvel entity to get the big screen treatment. Unfortunately HOWARD THE DUCK didn’t so much as pave the way for comic book movies as the duck-punned flop merely threw a handful of rocks into the street tripping up any future plans for comic book movies. This pushed features like the 1990’s CAPTAIN AMERICA and the Corman produced PUNISHER movie from the big screen dreams to direct-to-video ambiguity. 


But Corman would have two more ideas in his cinematic utility belt. One was 1994’s fully shot, yet never released FANTASTIC FOUR (above) which now resides solely in bootleg infamy and the 2015 documentary DOOMED. The other project being the ill fated SHE-HULK. So when it comes to the state of big screen adaptation for Marvel superheroes, She-Hulk would have been #1. How crazy is that? With Howard the Duck, regarded as pulp comedy and THE PUNISHER and CAPTAIN AMERICA getting booted to video, She-Hulk would reign as Marvel’s supreme super powered being on the big screen. But who would be brave enough to take on such a challenge?

Larry Cohen had previously worked with New World Pictures on three previous films as well as with Corman’s earlier company, AIP. Not much is know where Larry came into the production or how far it actually went. He may have gotten the deal straight from Corman himself, but one might wonder if Stan “The Man” Lee had anything to do with Larry’s involvement. It was in Cohen’s 1990 film THE AMBULANCE, where we can find The Godfather of the MCU in his first feature film appearance. Could water cooler talk of the mighty She-Hulk have peaked Larry’s interest from there? 

With Larry now set to write and direct the movie, a lady hulk needed to be obtained. Instead of going the Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno dual role route, Marvel found Brigitte Nielsen was the perfect fit as the 6 foot tall Danish actress. Brigitte was busy making a name for herself in ROCKY IV, COBRA, and a very brief stint as Mrs. Sylvester Stallone. Brigitte was already familiar with the folks at Marvel Comics after slashing her way through RED SONJA alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. 


Apart from the involvement of Ms. Nielsen and Mr. Cohen, there is little else known about the tale of the SHE-HULK that would never be. All that remains are a selection of proof-of-concept publicity photos (above/below) featuring Brigitte in a shimmering purple bodybuilder onesie, bathed by green tinged lights, and highlighted by some glam rock style makeup that looks like she walked straight off of a Stryper video shoot. 


But can you imagine what could have been? We could have had a tried and true Marvel hero alongside one of Larry Cohen’s crazy scripts. We could have had a Rick Baker Abomination on the loose, a police procedural tracking down She-Hulk, maybe even Michael Moriarty as The Leader?! The final result could have been bad, could have been great, but there is one thing that Larry never made: A boring movie.

[evillordzog]

The Sam & Bucky Show ep4

Someone was busy handing out the fucking idiot balls for this ep. Really busy.

They say the road to Hel is paved with good intentions...

At this point, it's getting hard not to barrack for Zemo just a little bit. He's an unrepetent murderer and former leader of a death squad, but he's unfailingly polite, reasonable, appears to sincerely express views that would see him in other situations labelled an ally, and is not exactly wrong about the dangers superheroes pose. When presented with the supersoldier serum, he followed through on his stated aim and destroyed it just as he destroyed the person who made it. And he's the only person who at all times acts rationally where everyone else has had at least one dummy spit

All of which of course is what makes him so dangerous.

(Arguably he might well have less innocent blood on his hands than Stark through his company's careless creation and sales of weapons, and Thor's centuries of picking fights as a spoilt warrior prince. And Natasha had so much red in her ledger by the end. And sure Clint killed bad people as Ronin but what sort of collateral damage did his vendetta leave behind?)

But let's look at the ball handlers.

The Wakandans are arrogant, a sneering power unto themselves who expect all others to comply -- exactly the way America is -- and it backfires in spectacular fashion for both teams. Neither faction is willing to trust that Sam & Bucky know what they're doing, and when faced with the chance of de-escalating instead choose to steamroll in thus ironically allowing their target to slip away. If they'd been willing to consider that the White Wolf must have had a reason for doing what he did and simply made sure the regicide was surveiled and appropriately tracked until that reason played out -- surely a trivial endeavour for Wakanda's hilariously advanced techlevel -- I suspect that things would have played out better for everyone. Except, you know, Zemo.

Look at the fight scene in Zemo's apartment, which is thematically almost identical to the funeral confrontation with Karli. The dora look like they are just about to straight up murder Cap and Battlestar with their "pointy sticks" until Sam and Bucky very reasonably try to stop the bloodshed only to get hosed for their trouble. What happens to Bucky is clearly shown as a visceral violation of his bodily autonomy that I think is meant to parallel what the Flagsmashers are talking about when the old life comes smashing back in to upset the new -- as well as being Bucky's counterpart to Sam discovering Walker had tracked him via his falcontech (something that was obviously going to happen the moment he busted Zemo out).

Walker in his MCU version -- representative that he is of a more aggressively interventionist America than Steve's -- is actually a tragic figure who keeps making the wrong decisions for what are oestensibly the right reasons (with the decision to accept the mantle of Captain America being the greatest of these). Storming in after Sam was entirely the wrong call but he does it because he doesn't trust Karli not to simply murder the guy and he's not going to let Sam get killed on his watch; she's a terrorist with blood on her hands and he's lost enough friends to people like that. (Of course you could fairly argue he was simply chaffing at not calling the shots given his subsequent 'settle this like men' set to with Sam...) Similarly, trying to de-escalate the confrontation at Zemo's was the right idea, but even under the best circumstances that weird combination of comradery and physical intimidation inherent in his putting his hand on Ayo's shoulder -- clearly fueled by the dominance fight with Sam the Dora had so unwisely thwarted for the sake of their drama queening-- was so very very obviously the dumbest thing he could possibly have done. And that's even before you factor in the racial, sexual, cultural, and actual political poltics of what those two people represent.

And of course we have Walker's choice -- spurred by his thwarted dominance fight with Sam and the immediately subsequent arse whupping handed down by this comparatively small dominant black woman to the looming paragon of (intrinsically white) American manhood -- to take the serum. Of course the thing that lingers with him that having just failed to capture any of the enhanced flagsmashers is that he then almost immediately lost to someone who was as far as he knew unenhanced. I'm not saying that Walker is racist -- his friendship with Lemar and marriage to Olivia I think are intended as TV shorthand to reinforce this idea that he isn't just some strawman conservative biggot -- but given the politics of this series I think we're meant to understand that the Dora essentially represent everything his upbringing would at some level have told him he was better than, in order to reinforce just what sort of low point he was at. And then we get the war story about the lost comrades and how he & Lemar both believe the serum would save lives when used by good men. So sitting there at the bottom of the pit, taking the serum to level the playing field, to give him the strength to do the job given to him, looks like absolutely the right thing to do. It's so not, of course. It immediately puts him in violation of the Sokovian Accords, which significantly impacts his utility in the role of Captain America both in the USA's ability to field him but also as a symbol of baseline human resillience.

Which brings us to Karli. Driven by grief and loss on top of her already simmering rage, she's become a murderer who has decided it's time to step up her game and do it face-to-face with her friends in toe. Friends either too afraid or too enamoured of the icon she's becoming to disagree thus further prooving Zemo's assessment of superheroes' effect on those around them to be correct. There is sympathy to be had with her cause -- five years of a new world order where half of everyone is just gone and you're building a new world with new rules and then bang all that work unravels when the people whose world you replaced want their equally suddenly interrupted lives back now and the people in charge turns out were just using you in extremis because they side with them - but honestly I'd want anyone I suddenly found had just magically shown up in my house and taken possession of or even destroyed the things by which I'd defined myself and my life to get the fuck out, so she's made a hard sell harder.

But her idiot ball is her failure to follow through. You know, on top of believing that the agnts of the States she's trying to overthrow aren't going to work out where she is and strike when she's at her most vulnerable, which leads directly to the loss of all her remaining serum. I mean, she's down 1 acolyte already and wants to make more and then just walks around with the serum in a bum bag where anything can happen to it, not even a foam-filled hard case. She's a supersoldier, she of all people should really suddenly aware of the fragility of things and places. And that stupidity costs hers not only the ability to create more rebel supersoldiers but another of her few remaining ones.

Her manipulating Sam by threatening his family might be low, but as part of isolating Walker from backup it was smart because she clearly wasn't surprised to see that he brought Bucky along. The fact she was able to get that sort fo information on Sam so quickly was impressive, so that she seems able to deduce that they were not a unified team isn't surprising. And given at this point she's determined to have a shooting war, the plan to murder Walker for the symbolism of it makes sense. But that's where it stops.

Walker calls it out first, the Flagsmashers' reliance on knives as a means of leveraging -- or demonstrating -- their physical superiority. Well Zemo does it first really, by calling Karli and her cult of personality supremecists, but Walker's comment really nails it that they're caught up in a mindset. Knives make sense in that if you're fighting a dude with a magic shield you need to enter melee to get it off him (Hydra made the same play and almost pulled it off), but's very much a many eggs one basket sort of approach that's even further thrown out of whack when it turns out he's taken the serum himself (which I don't recall them ever commenting on. Guess seeing one of their number getting booted a couple dozen metres through a door was comprehension enough). A couple of rifles or sticky bombs to tag him with would really have rendered the shield moot.

Then Lemar gets fridged and it all goes to Hel. When Lemar goes down, so does the shield. Anyone not holding the idiot ball would have hurled their knife with all their serum-enhanced strength between those broad shoulders, or moved forward to take his arms so they could cut his throat, or even just stolen the damn shield. The fact that none of that happens is what makes Lemar's death undoubtedly a fridging. Sure having him be the one to report Cap's death was convenient hence his initial capture and restraint, but he's fucking Battlestar, part of the "Cap's Back!" package, fighting side by side with Captain America as part of America's geopolitical resurgance and symbol of the Old World Order, and absolutely part of the thing the Flagsmashers are fighting. Yet he's clearly not considered a viable target.

Because all these folk who happily showed up to the murder party act like they just saw Bambi's mum get blown away and do the shit -> fan equation. Lemar is the very definition of a supporting character, because without him, Walker collapses into his destined role of antagonist from whom it's finally narratively permissable to remove the bloody shield and restore it to where Saint Steve wanted it to go. Because we're meant to be horrified when, having seen his friend killed by a bunch of terrorists, Walker chases down and executes one of them with the sacred icon before returning it blood-stained to his arm.

That's a really potent and disturbing image. The bloody shield isn't just some visceral "Saint Steve would never do that!" propaganda -- a sentiment ignoring Steve's admission to Sam in CA:TWS of the terrible things he and the men under his command did during the war against Hydra that the montage from the original film conveniently glossed over -- it's an in your face political statement about America itself.

Given it wasn't in direct combat you'd probably be hard pressed to call Nico's death anything other than the revenge killing it was -- until you ask just what jurisdiction is Walker operating under in the first place. Because why are Captain America 2.0 and Battlestar, two dudes running around in their star spangled uniforms, running freely around Europe with easy access to max sec security and one would assume access to heliports and cross-border travel permits like they're world police? Post-Blip world order or not, how does America get to send its national heros to police European-based terrorists without some sort of invite and big arse mandate? Given his claim of jurisdictional precidence over the self-interested presence of the Dora, my guess is that Walker is operating under some sort of UN authorisation, possibly involving the Sokovian Accords. Given Nat and Clint were expected to sign up to the Accords just because they hung out with supers, were Walker and Lemar expected to do the same, especially since the Accords are governing official response to the Flagsmashers using superhumans? And in doing so are they there working under the same sort of permissions that are used to justify American drone strike assassinations on foreign soil? Walker & Lemar's previous conversation seems to indicate there's a tacit assumption of an "ends justifies the means" approach.

However, as befits the grey morality of the series we need to remember that in the eyes of many, demands of irony aside, Nico karmically if nothing else had the shield through the chest coming. A core concept of the Captain America storyline is that you make a stand you accept the consequences of it (Iron Man is about making up for fucking up, while Thor is about the need to be a better person than you were). He might have panicked when Karli albeit "accidentily" killed Lemar and fled the wrath of the man they were trying to murder, but retreating while trying to shift blame from yourself for a crime you're party to is explicitly not surrender under the rules of war Walker oestensibly is tethered to. Walker may have lost his shit and rage-killed someone he had at his mercy instead of capturing him, but we're not talking warcrimes and killing non-combatant prisoners. He's failed as a symbol, but I'd argue he's still (narrowly) passing the grade as a soldier

(People are comparing the superficial similarlity between Nico's execution with the fight at the end of CA:TWS where Steve puts the shield through the powersource of Tony's armour, after which Steve subsequently abandons the shield where Walker defiantly reclaims it. If Tony had killed Bucky as he intended, I'm fairly certain Steve would have been aiming at Tony's neck rather than his chest. )

Despite that lovingly framed shot in the cemetary showing he was troubled by Karli's murderous ideological course correction, our dead flagsmasher allowed himself to become an accessory-after-the-fact to that correction by not breaking with her, and he still followed her into combat because ultimately he valued the cause of the Flagsmashers over the lives of those supporting the agenda of the GRC. He might not have been the one who fatally kicked Lemar into that pillar but he willingly turned up to the murder party with the intent to aid in the political theatre of Walker's execution -- and by extent, the harming or similar killing that might occur of anyone getting in the way.

Should someone willingly party to premeditated murder reasonably expect their life to be spared in the heat of the moment when the plan goes tits up?

[reckvinci]

The third episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier entitled “The Power Broker” featured a blink-and-you'll-miss-it Easter Egg in the form of the Princess Bar. the biggest Marvel connection of Princess Bar is that with Wolverine. As a frequent customer of the bar, Logan used his alias known as "Patch" to cover his tracks. Logan is also Tyga's lover, thus paving the way for him to (silently) co-own the establishment.  #wolverine #TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier #thefalconandthewintersoldier #mcu #marvel #disneyplus https://www.instagram.com/p/CNM3jg5BrTV/?igshid=id1zxd74au4n

[pridesofblack]

Disney+ Is Apparently Wildly Popular In Utah, But Not These Other States

The arrival of Disney+ has effectively been one of the most discussed occasions in media outlets this year. It's driven a lot of discussion via web-based networking media stages, just as incalculable ponder the fate of gushing. What's more, as indicated by Google, enthusiasm for Disney+ contrasted the nation over. The new spilling stage was excessively famous in Utah - however a couple of different states didn't appear to be exceptionally intrigued. Google Trends logs and totals the quantity of looks performed on Google for a particular point. They're typically a decent marker of enthusiasm during a specific timespan, and in a specific territory. Intrigue is matched 100 percent - implying that the points (or regions) with the most intrigue are scored at 100, and each other score is determined in connection to that. MattressInsider.com inspected Google search inclines around Disney's new spilling administration between November 2018 and November 2019 - the year paving the way to its discharge. They bored somewhere around state, and the Beehive State effectively developed as a hotbed for enthusiasm for Disney+. Idaho came in second, with 73 percent in contrast with Utah's 100 percent, and Wyoming balanced the main three with a relative 70 percent intrigue. This information demonstrated that, contingent upon what state you live in, search enthusiasm for Disney+ differed broadly. Numerous states, including California and a great part of the midwest, fell some place in the 50 to 60 percent intrigue extend. New York was inside the last three, logging 41 percent intrigue, trailed by Vermont at 38 percent. What's more, the District of Columbia demonstrated the general least measure of enthusiasm for Disney+, with only 33 percent (to be reasonable, there has been a lot of other stuff to keep D.C. involved nowadays). Check the outline for a general take a gander at your state. One thing Google Trends doesn't uncover is the thing that searchers tapped on after they looked. Clients could have been searching for data about what Disney+ is, the thing that sort of substance it would incorporate, or how to buy in. (You can get a free 7-day preliminary here.) Thus far, the spilling administration has gotten in excess of 10 million supporters. Since Disney hasn't offered a breakdown of where those endorsers live, it's difficult to realize whether Google Trends was a precise proportion of genuine enthusiasm for the stage by and large. Disney+'s rollout hasn't been great - however they appear to have figured out how to catch watchers' advantage. Memberships as of now run at a tempting $6.99 every month, however information shows that clients would not proceed with the administration if costs significantly expanded. It's separated itself in a wide field of gushing stages by offering new unique substance for darling establishments like Star Wars and the MCU, just as incalculable titles that intrigue to our feeling of wistfulness. There's no word yet on which titles Utahians have spilled the most. Read the full article

[ramajmedia]

Far From Home's Twist Is A Perfect Way To Write Spider-Man Out Of The MCU

Spider-Man: Far From Home’s ending may have been a cliffhanger, but it provides an easy way for him to leave the Marvel Cinematic Universe behind in future films. It’s a confusing time for Spider-Man fans right now. An unprecedented deal between Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios saw the wall-crawler begin his crime-fighting career anew onscreen in 2016, joining the MCU in Captain America: Civil War. With Tom Holland donning the iconic costume, Peter Parker’s career flourished across five movie appearances in a cinematic universe teeming with superheroes.

But 2019 has seen relations between the two companies break down after Disney demanded more of the box-office profits for Spidey films during renewal negotiations. At present, every report indicates that both studios have parted ways, meaning that Spider-Man is set to leave the MCU. This comes at a critical juncture for both studios, since Sony is looking to push forward with its own Spider-Man movies, such as Morbius, Venom 2 and the Spider-Verse saga. Conversely, the MCU is entering an all new phase, with an eclectic mix of new properties and few of its familiar faces. And while Tom Holland is set to stick around, his Spider-Man’s future looks very uncertain, given Far From Home’s jaw dropping climax.

Related: Spider-Man’s Exit From Marvel Studios Explained: Why It Happened & Who’s To Blame

Alone, this suspenseful finale might appear to be a very sticky problem for both studios to tackle going forward. After all, Holland’s Spidey was closely knitted into the fabric of the MCU, and was also primed to be a central figure moving forward. However, Spider-Man: Far From Home's ending actually contains the potential to reconcile the Disney/Sony situation in a very simple way.

Up until its infamous post-credit scene, Spider-Man: Far From Home appears to be finishing in spectacular – yet somewhat typical– Spidey fashion. Moreover, across the movie’s last third, Peter realises the extent of Mysterio’s (Jake Gyllenhaal) manipulations, and the hero strikes back, saving London and defeating Mysterio (who dies by his own hand). Peter also wins the girl of his dreams, and returns home triumphant. Yet Spider-Man's subsequent web-slinging date with MJ (Zendaya) takes a surprising twist when they reach Madison Square Gardens, and see a public news report.

It transpires that Quentin Beck’s agents have released secretly recorded and doctored footage of Spider-Man’s fight with Mysterio, which convincingly claims that Spidey was the mastermind behind the Elemental threat and that Beck was the hero. Most shockingly of all, Mysterio posthumously announces Spider-Man’s secret identity to the world.

One the one hand, this is a rather traditional development for Peter. In a resurgence of that typical Parker bad luck, the public is likely to fear and mistrust Spider-Man again – thanks in part to the ever-sensationalizing J. Jonah Jameson. But the unveiling of Spidey’s secret is a key issue, since anonymity is one of Peter Parker’s defining characteristics. Spider-Man’s duality is such an endearing and compelling part of his appeal that Marvel Comics have rarely dared to tamper with it. Indeed, it’s so enduring that, until Far From Home, every prior Spider-Man movie had followed suit.

This rare unmasking could utterly reshape the Spidey series, due to the effects it would have on Peter relationships, home life and education, not to mention the backlash that could arise after his "outing" from law enforcement, the media, and vengeance-filled super-villains and criminals. As such, something so potentially transformative to such a beloved superhero franchise needs to be given the weight that it deserves. Thankfully, there is a way to accomplish all of this.

Related: Peter Parker’s Secret Identity Is Marvel’s Biggest Spider-Man Gamble

We can only guess as to what the full impact of Spider-Man: Far From Home’s mid-credits scene will be, since the film ends with Spider-Man merely reeling in horror – and that is a good thing. By leaving Spidey at a crossroads like this, it means that it is far easier for Sony to determine the next steps in the series, instead of hastily retconning the plot or rebooting entirely. Though Peter could very well accept Mysterio’s checkmate and go public, his comic book history – and the Sony/Marvel breakup – indicate that Sony is unlikely to opt for this.

Indeed, foregrounding Peter’s newfound celebrity invites audiences to consider the film’s ties (or lack thereof) to the wider world of the MCU. Plus, it would be somewhat out of character for Peter to embrace that celebrity because, across his mythos, he has nearly always denied that he was Spider-Man when similar circumstances arose. The only exception to this was in the Civil War comic event, where Peter was forced to go on the run to avoid unwanted attention. And this kind of plot could be the key to his cinematic future.

In the same way that Batman disappeared after The Dark Knight's final battle, seeing Spider-Man go to ground after his identity has been leaked would be a clever way to capitalize on Far From Home’s ending. It not only makes logical sense for Peter to do this to protect himself and his loved ones, but this story would also complement the approach that has been established thus far. After all, Spider-Man: Homecoming began the current series without the kind of immediate, city-threatening stakes that the hero has been known to face in his films. With Peter on the run, helping people if he can but trying to avoid drawing attention to himself, it means that the scope of the movie is smaller and more personal, and therefore its lack of extraneous Marvel references is justified.

Similarly, this narrative is something that the MCU could utilize as well, if it chose to do so. If new instalments are set around New York close to Far From Home’s time frame (such as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) it would be very easy for glimpses of pre-existing footage or images of Holland’s Peter to appear in the background – on wanted posters, for example – to signpost that, where the MCU and its heroes is concerned, Spider-Man is simply MIA.

Related: Sony Can Retcon Tom Holland's Spider-Man Into Tom Hardy's Venom Origin

If Spider-Man 3 follows through on this storyline of Peter going to ground, then it would also pave the way for a famous Spider-Man villain to make an effective debut. Moreover, with this new and delicate status quo in place, Kraven the Hunter would be a fitting antagonist for the film, potentially manifesting as a bounty hunter hired to bring the unmasked Spidey in by super-villains or law enforcement officials. Alternatively, Kraven could well appear as the traditional, deluded big game hunter exploiting an opportunity.

Indeed, the prospect of an unrelenting villain pursuing a vulnerable Peter Parker is undoubtedly compelling. It’s even more so when we consider that, aside from his dalliances with the Sinister Six, Sergei Kravinoff’s rivalry with Spider-Man evolves into a highly charged vendetta, borne out of his warped sense of honour, pride and spiritualism. Coupled with his use of handheld weaponry, such as knives, spears and nets, the inclusion of Kraven the Hunter would complement this renewed, grounded approach to Spider-Man and his world without the influence of the wider MCU.

Similarly, depending on the movie’s approach, the inclusion of Kraven the Hunter could continue the new Spider-Man series’ investigation of current themes through previously un-adapted Spidey villains. If Vulture (Michael Keaton) drew upon the disaffected working classes of today, and Mysterio represented the dangers of demagogues and fake news, Kraven’s plot could very well explore trophy hunting and environmentalism – if he is chosen that is. Tom Holland and Jon Watts have expressed a strong interest in bringing Kraven to the big screen, but there’s little to suggest what plans are being made for Spider-Man’s future following the divorce of Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures. However, it is relieving to note how many exciting opportunities there are for Spider-Man’s cinematic future after Spider-Man: Far From Home. Indeed, it could be an thrilling few years for fans of Tom Holland's Spider-Man – if the right creative decisions are made.

More: All 8 Spider-Man Movies Ranked (Including Far From Home)

source https://screenrant.com/spiderman-far-home-ending-mcu-story/

[robedisimo]

Spider-Man: Homecoming [SPOILER-FREE REVIEW]

[Disclaimer: this review is based on the Italian dub of the film. As such, all opinions on the quality of dialogues and acting are subjective and partial.]

I think it’s safe to say that if there’s an idea more instinctively wrong than a reboot, that has to be a reboot of a reboot. So when the Amazing Spider-Man franchise crashed and burned, many rightfully thought that the Spider-brand had become a minefield: the character is way too popular with audiences not to exploit, but a third origin story, retreading the same tired story beats at such a short interval, felt like a death sentence to all involved.

It’s the reason why resurrecting the property in the solid-footed house built by the Marvel Cinematic Universe made so much sense, and why people were instantly more excited than worried at the prospect. Could the MCU’s stability balance out the inherent toxicity of a franchise “threeboot”? The character’s debut in last year’s Captain America: Civil War seemed to suggest as much, but a solo film is a different matter entirely.

Fortunately, I’m happy to report that all is well in the House of Ideas. Under its roof, Spider-Man: Homecoming not only brings the wall-crawler back home to reconnect him to the comic roots of his past, but projects him with gusto into a promising future. Firmly planting itself on the top tier of Marvel film adaptations, Homecoming is made better by its MCU connections and in turn makes the shared universe itself better by taking place in it. It is, surprisingly, the best Spider-Man movie to date – while obviously not as archetypal as Sam Raimi’s seminal first adaptation way back in 2002 – and I  wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up becoming many viewers’ new favourite movie in the Marvel Studios canon.

What’s clear from this film is that Marvel had a lot of ideas as to how to do Spider-Man right, resulting in one of the more inventive takes on the character ever committed to screen. The key, however, was to take Peter Parker back to his native environment: a coming-of-age story in a high school environment, with a teen-drama flavour that makes the storytelling more intimate. This is a younger Spider-Man than we’re used to see on film, cobbled together as an inspired amalgam of different incarnations of the character in recent years, most notably both iterations of the Ultimate Spider-Man comic franchise and the short-lived Spectacular Spider-Man television show.

There are three main consequences to this: one, this is a more energetic film than even the already-lively standards of Marvel movies so far have made us used to. This new Spider-Man hits theatre screens with a definite spring in his step, delivering a peppy, fast-talking adventure whose comedic focus has more in common – ironically appropriate, given the obvious insect-themed parallels – with Ant-Man’s Edgar Wright-esque cues than any other MCU instalment so far. What’s more, the tone here is young and hip but not juvenile: pretty much all jokes in the film land successfully, and it’s hard to resist the temptation to consider the whole project Marvel’s attempt at a cleaner, more family-friendly (and high-budget) version of the same irreverent, franchise-referencing metahumour of last year’s Deadpool, especially in light of a couple idiosyncratic choices in the end credits graphics and post-credits scenes.

Two, a younger Peter Parker means that his classic high school setting needs to be updated to a more contemporary approach. Queens is no longer the same New York City borough it was fifty years ago, now being hailed as the most ethnically diverse area in the American metropolis: the film’s cast has therefore accordingly been given a spin in the mixer, marrying modern needs of representation to yet another chance at differentiating this new reboot from previous renditions of the franchise. Spider-Man: Homecoming is a tapestry of all-race classrooms and bodega cats, and while it may feel a tad strange to comic purists – especially in the face of a couple debatable character choices – it’s hard to argue with the precise balance achieved by the film between looking back at comic tradition and moving forward into modernity.

And three, a younger Spider-Man means that, almost ten years into Marvel’s mega-franchise, we finally get to see a side of its narrative universe thus far mostly kept from our eyes. A more immature, less experienced Peter means lower stakes – there’s no “saving the planet” business in store for him yet, which is compensated by upping the ante on the personal and emotional stakes front – and a smaller scope: this is, finally, a “friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man”, one whose street-level adventures take place among the common people of the MCU. Through his eyes we’re finally able to take a look at how the superheroic age has changed the environment and culture of Marvelverse residents, something that wasn’t accomplished by the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series – whose characters are conspicuously never seen going about their daily lives outside the workplace – nor by the Marvel/Netflix shows, whose nature to this date remains too insular to indulge in heavy cross-over material.

Homecoming’s plot makes a point of that, musing on the remoteness of the Avengers-tier heroes and their status as little more than talking heads on television screens to most of the general population. These are the celebrities and divas of the Marvel universe, but times change; and as sci-fi technology starts finding its way to petty criminals rather than world-conquering masterminds, so too heroes need to keep an eye on the common folk. It’s an age of vigilantes and secret identities, something that’s been conspicuously absent from the MCU so far. Which, to be honest, makes me lament the fact that, if it weren’t for the obviously different levels of violence allowed in the two franchises – and Marvel constantly shooting itself in the foot with broken promises of deeper ties between the Netflix line-up and the rest of the canon – it would be pretty great to see this Spider-Man go toe-to-toe with Daredevil’s Kingpin.

So it’s especially fitting that this new generation of heroes should be heralded by such a young Peter Parker, literally a second-generation character who grew up in the brave new world of superheroes and was inspired by their costumed exploits – to the point where putting together a colourful crime-fighting getup feels like the natural thing to do to a teenager who just got superpowers. Marvel evidently knows this, as they made the thematically perfect choice to turn Iron Man into Peter’s mentor: Tony Stark is arguably the least “adult” of Marvel heroes, characterised as he is by a dangerous obsession with high-tech toys and a general inability to get his emotional life together. His immaturity is a great counterpoint to Peter’s classic – and fantastically understated, in this origin story-skipping reboot – theme of responsibility, and his wish for the next generation to be better than the previous one leaves me with high hopes for Spider-Man’s future role in the Avengers franchise.

Of course, the other (read: primary) reason for adding Tony to the mix was the obvious added traction Robert Downey Jr.’s involvement would add to the movie, but then who could complain about that? Especially as his supporting role stands in the midst of one of Marvel’s most star-studded casts to date, from the film’s young protagonists – Holland’s take on the character is sufficiently fresh that it doesn’t invite comparisons to Maguire or Garfield, but he’d win in both cases – to Marisa Tomei’s excellent take on aunt May, to a number of big and small cameos interspersed throughout the story.

A particular nod must go to Michael Keaton, here finally coming full-circle and playing a literal Birdman: his portrayal of Adrian Toomes/the Vulture is a heavily reworked take on the comic character that works remarkably well, for the most part avoiding the disappointing treatment of many Marvel movie villains. His performance in the role is in many ways an extension of his excellent turn in last year’s The Founder, and in part an ironic counterpoint to Ant-Man’s Darren Cross, another technological villain harbouring a grudge towards our protagonist’s superhero mentor. It’s a bit of a shame that a couple of Toomes’s best scenes in the film seem designed to directly pay homage to Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osborn, which makes the character a shade less unique, but for the most part it all works.

What works slightly less well is the film’s action, which alternates inconsistently between excellent, creative set pieces and some inventive but rather chaotic stuff – at least on a theatre screen – near the climax, due both to overwhelming visual effects and some occasionally dodgy editing. I’d say about 75% of it clicks, but it’s a pity that the least-excellent action sequence is the decisive one. And, if you want to nitpick (why not), the plot honestly keeps itself together through a series of coincidences that would be pretty hard to believe in a realistic setting.

Other than that, Spider-Man: Homecoming is a superbly entertaining flick and a marvelous reintroduction to the character, paving the way for more great content in the near future. Who knows, maybe this could even cause something to change for the ill-fated Fantastic Four franchise. Only time will tell. 

[Verdict: VERY POSITIVE]

[supermoviemaniac]

James Gunn, director of both Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, will be returning to direct the recently-confirmed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3, thus being the first director to complete an entire trilogy within the MCU! I couldn't see anyone doing as good of a job as Gunn. The director stated that these are characters that he loves, and there's still stories that can be told with them. He also said that it will pave the way through the cosmic side of the MCU, directing the outcomes of things to happen throughout the next 10 years. Although we all knew there'd be confirmation for a Guardians 3 sooner or later, James Gunn said that he was unsure whether he was wanting to be the person to make the 3rd one. He said that it's the passion of the franchise that drives him, not the money, so it's good to see that his heart is in the right place and it was genuinely a tough decision regarding whether or not there 'needed' to be a 3rd film. His only goal will be to make the 3rd outing twice as good as the previous - not how much money it will make. Who's excited?!