661 (edited by Transmodiar 2020-09-01 14:06:26)

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

ireactions wrote:

Chadwick Boseman has passed away.
https://variety.com/2020/film/news/chad … 234753232/

This hits hard because he is my age (a few months younger) and I was recently diagnosed with cancer. Fortunately, my medical outcome looks a little rosier.

Dude was badass. He will be missed.

ireactions wrote:

One night, in a fit of rage, I looked up where she lived and decided to burn her house down and then flee the country.

:-O

Earth Prime | The Definitive Source for Sliders™

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

Transmodiar wrote:
ireactions wrote:

Chadwick Boseman has passed away.
https://variety.com/2020/film/news/chad … 234753232/

This hits hard because he is my age (a few months younger) and I was recently diagnosed with cancer. Fortunately, my medical outcome looks a little rosier.

Shit, man.  Here's to a quick and full recovery.  Kick its ass.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

You know, Matt, if you're going to tell people you have cancer, you might also be specific in letting them know what you told me -- that you appear to be out of the woods but will be getting regular checkups. Much in the same way a once-potential arsonist might assure his readers that his days of wishing death and destruction for past slights and misdeeds are behind him.

Transmodiar wrote:
ireactions wrote:

One night, in a fit of rage, I looked up where she lived and decided to burn her house down and then flee the country.

:-O

Yeah, it's a good thing I didn't do this, or I would have been on your doorstep the next morning asking to pitch a tent in your backyard. The life of a criminal is not for me.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

lol "pitch a tent"

Earth Prime | The Definitive Source for Sliders™

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

Well, I wouldn't have wanted you to be in a CIVIL WAR type situation like Steve Rogers being in trouble for harbouring a fugitive. If I camped out in your backyward, you could claim you didn't know I was there.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

ireactions wrote:

Well, I wouldn't have wanted you to be in a CIVIL WAR type situation like Steve Rogers being in trouble for harbouring a fugitive. If I camped out in your backyward, you could claim you didn't know I was there.

You do know there are other definitions for pitching a tent, right?

Earth Prime | The Definitive Source for Sliders™

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

I'm not aware of these other definitions, but because it's you, I'm sure it's some juvenile sexual euphemism of which I know nothing but it's likely something you'd catch and remove from one of my screenplays because it'd be distracting to a large number of readers.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

Transmodiar wrote:
ireactions wrote:

Chadwick Boseman has passed away.
https://variety.com/2020/film/news/chad … 234753232/

This hits hard because he is my age (a few months younger) and I was recently diagnosed with cancer. Fortunately, my medical outcome looks a little rosier.


:-O

Very sorry to hear that.   Glad there has been some positive news.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

Slider_Quinn21 wrote:

Shit, man.  Here's to a quick and full recovery.  Kick its ass.

Thanks! Looks like I did everything you asked, so it's just monitoring at this point. Gall bladder cancer is no joke but it all stayed inside that plump little bugger until they removed it, so I salute its ability to grow to twice its normal size to contain everything.

Earth Prime | The Definitive Source for Sliders™

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

I bought a Marvel Unlimited subscription. For sixty bucks, you can read almost every Marvel comic from the 60s to about 2019 through their digital app. And it's great value for the money and far better than paying $5 - $7 for a 22 page comic book. But...

It is really hard to figure out how to read the crossover storylines. For example, SECRET EMPIRE (where Captain America was rewritten by a reality-warping weapon into an Agent of HYDRA) -- it unfolds across STEVE ROGERS CAPTAIN AMERICA, SAM WILSON CAPTAIN AMERICA, THUNDERBOLTS, then SECRET EMPIRE. But the SECRET EMPIRE event reading list provided in the app is missing at least 8 - 12 issues of each series. I had to go on Wikipedia and various Wikia sites to find the complete list and then manually search for each issue within the app. The average person is not going to do this.

Marvel Unlimited also provides reading lists for characters. But they too are riddled with missing entries. Sam Wilson's era as Captain America is missing the ALL-NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA series even though that was his first solo series in the role! DAREDEVIL has a fairly complete run except after the Frank Miller issues, the 233 - 317 range is riddled with massive omissions.

But again -- it's only $60 to read whatever you want that's there. That same $60 would only get you 10 - 12 physical comic books or individual digital releases from Marvel. And it really shows how Marvel Comics is not seeking to make very much profit or even offer accessible reading material to people who want to get into their comics without needing to dive into guidebooks and lists to figure out what to read in what order just to figure out how to read one storyline. It's research and development for feature films and Disney+ and Hulu TV shows.

Anyway. I'm mostly reading 90s era DAREDEVIL (which is hilarious with very funny writing from Karl Kesel and Joe Kelly) and MS. MARVEL (Carol Danvers who will be Captain Marvel) comics from 1977. I did read the entire SECRET EMPIRE story with Captain America and I really, really liked it, although I was very relieved when the real Captain America came back and fought the Nazi Captain America.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

Well this thread has certainly been EYE OPENING lately. 

Matt hope you're "in the clear" without obviously "going clear."

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

I like how people are jumping to conclusions over this:

https://movieweb.com/ant-man-3-kang-ree … stic-four/

No one is mentioning that Kang is from 1000 years in the future (give or take, some 75 generations removed from Reed Richards).  *Alot* can genetically happen between 75 or more couples pairing off.

According to Ancestry.com DNA testing, I’m 1% Indian, but I have zero characteristics of someone from India because the other 99% is all from Great Britain and Scandinavia.

The Fantastic Four has always had a connection to Black Panther; I think it could be easy to say one of the Richards off spring settle in Wakanda.  That would tie in more of the MCU as they like to do, and the racial difference would add to the surprise when it’s revealed Reed and Kang are related.  It’s actually a good message too - the whitest white man alive (Reed Richards) and someone of clear African descent are blood related.  We’re all related - we’re not different factions based on skin color.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

Interesting.  I actually didn't know that.  Although with the loss of Chadwick Boseman, maybe they will try and replace him with a black Reed Richards.  I do think William Jackson Harper would be a great Reed Richards.  He could also be a great Black Panther now that I think about it.  He plays brainy well, and he's already ripped.

But, yeah, there's that theory that at some point, humanity will have enough racial mixing that we'll all be one race at some point.  So I don't have any problem with this.  They could also not have the tie to Reed Richards if they really don't want to.  I wonder if the time travel in Endgame will result in this (the Avengers create time travel which wasn't supposed to exist...more "Tony Stark" consequences).

I also read yesterday that WandaVision is still on track and might be the first part of Phase Four.  After more than a year without any MCU, it'll be interesting to see if they have a resurgence or if people will have moved on by now.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

Cause and effect with time travel is seldom a straight line, but they actually laid groundwork for Kang in Ant-man 2.  During the trip through the quantum realm, there was a “blink and you’ll miss it” cameo of Kang’s base - Chronopolis:

https://static2.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Chronopolis.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=740&h=370

https://media.comicbook.com/2018/10/ant-man-city-quantum-1136881-1280x0.jpeg

Kang was one of those characters tied up in the Fox rights, though - he was joined with the Fantastic Four rights I guess due to the lineage

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

My favourite actress asked me if I've been watching THE BOYS and I told her I haven't and won't.

I don't want THE BOYS taken out of existence and I respect that it's got a lot of talent -- but I've read THE BOYS comics and to me, that is not what I am looking for out of superheroes.

In my mind, there are four definitive scenes for superheroes. The first is SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE when Miles Morales asks Peter Parker when he'll know if he's ready to be Spider-Man. Peter replies, "You won't. It's a leap of faith." Later, spurned to action, Miles climbs atop a skyscraper, throws himself off and finally swings, dispensing all his fears, doubts, insecurities, neuroses and weaknesses to realize his potential and everything he has to offer. A superhero represents the height of human achievement in a form unique to each person. A superhero reminds us of our ability to overcome our failings and be empowered by the best of ourselves.

The second superhero defining scene to me is in the recent CAPTAIN MARVEL movie where Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) tells Captain Marvel if she really wants to prove she's a true warrior, she will fight him without her powers unarmed to show she's mastered her emotions. Captain Marvel blasts him in the face and knocks him on his ass but leaves him alive, informing him, "I have nothing to prove to you," and then sends Yon-Rogg back to the Kree homeworld as a messenger to inform the empire that Captain Marvel will be ending their tyranny. Superheroes have great power, but at their best, they use their power precisely, employing precisely the amount of force that is needed and not a hair more.

The sequence of Captain Marvel being inundated with images of Carol Danvers' various defeats throughout her life only for Carol to summon to mind her memories of getting back each time is also good but didn't involve superpowers or superhero duties.

The third definitive superhero scene to me is in the "Green Arrow and the Canaries" backdoor pilot of the final season of Arrow when Mia Smoak dives through the air, lands in a crouch on a rooftop and nocks an arrow to her bow, displaying ferocity, determination and a physical acrobaticism and athleticism that arouses an intense desire in me that compels me to immediately lift some weights before hitting the treadmill. Superheroes should stir something in audiences to encourage them to eat healthy and work out, in my view.

And the fourth definitive superhero scene, for me, is in "Crazy For You" (Season 1, Episode 12 of THE FLASH) where a married couple are trapped in an overturned car struck by a powerline. The Flash extracts the husband first, then returns for the wife only for the car to explode. The husband collapses at the sight of the burning car with his wife inside only to realize she's behind him, rescued just in time by the Flash.

The first time I saw this episode, I was with a girlfriend who remarked that this teaser of the Flash saving two people had no bearing on the rest of the episode. The couple don't return for any subsequent plot function. They aren't involved with the teleporter villain of the week. They don't ever appear again; they are never even mentioned and could have been cut from the story with no impact on the rest of the episode. What was the point? The point is that a superhero's main role is not to beat people up; superheroes SAVE people. They save them from car crashes, fires, floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, urban sprawl and severe weather.

I've never seen THE BOYS, but I've read the comics and I know for a fact that the characters of THE BOYS weren't created to do any of the above. I hope people enjoy THE BOYS. But for me... thanks but no thanks.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

I can see that.  I do wish the show did some more positive stuff in this world.  I get what they're trying to do.  That, like athletes and actors and politicians, absolute power and love corrupts absolutely.  And I find the idea of superheroes who suck at their job (the Homelander plane crash being the best example) and a group of people with no powers who bring them in.

But while the Boys are heroic, I'd love to see examples of good superheroes (other than Starlight) in this universe.  I don't necessarily need Civil War every week, but it'd be nice to see some more of the superheroes you're talking about.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

The creator of THE BOYS, Garth Ennis, has spent a lot of time talking about how ridiculous it is that Superman and Batman would have any sense of moral standards. But to me, part of what makes the Justice League and the Avengers special is the fact that with their superhuman powers also comes a sense of superhuman empathy. Superman's microscopic vision and superhearing allow him to feel the fragility of all life around him. Batman's trauma and grief is felt with his awareness that anyone can feel helpless and lost. And in response to the Zack Snyders of the world telling superhero fans to grow up and accept that superheroes must be corrupt and cruel, I hear Dr. Abraham Erskine:

Erskine wrote:

The serum was not ready. But more important, the man. The serum amplifies everything that is inside. So, good becomes great. Bad becomes worse. This is why you were chosen. Because a strong man, who has known power all his life, will lose respect for that power. But a weak man knows the value of strength, and knows compassion. Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing. That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man.

But, as I said, there's space in the world for THE BOYS. It's just not my world, that's all.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

Max Landis is a monster and allegedly a rapist, but I do like his perspective on Superman.  He said in a popular video that if you're a Kryptonian on Earth, you can either save the Earth or rule it.  Those are your options.  And instead of absolute power corrupting him absolutely, absolute power has absolved him of all of the darkness that seems to affect other heroes. 

I haven't read the boys but I have had the comic version explained to me.  The way I understood it (and this was before I saw the show so it might be wrong) is that the Boys are an actual part of the government, and that they essentially step in to do the "the sun's getting low" stuff from Age of Ultron except with short-term powers and punching instead of whatever Black Widow did.

I don't know if that's exactly what the Boys is in the comics, but I think there's more room for good stuff there.  What if Superman was traditional Superman, but using his powers made him a little crazy?  What if all superheroes were the Hulk and needed a little help getting out of Hulk mode.  Then there's still the insanity and carnage from superhero fights but the heroes don't necessarily have to be bad guys.  And the good guys are people who want to save people and do good, and they throw themselves in front of gods to make that happen.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

In the comics, THE BOYS features most superheroes as having the public image of the Avengers and Justice League, but in reality, they are serial killers, rapists and sadists with total immunity to prosecution. The Boys are a covert black-ops squad charged with supposedly 'policing' the superheroes, but the only way to police them is to kill them and The Boys start with low level heroes before making their way up the chain, except the methods they use to infiltrate and assassinate make them as monstrous as their enemies. It's all played for dark comedy and it comes to a pretty definitive and bloody conclusion.

I didn't enjoy it. But I respected it because THE BOYS forced a lot of later superhero writers to ask themselves: why is Superman a good and kind soul? Why doesn't Tony Stark abuse his wealth and power? Why isn't Captain America a jingoistic nutjob? Why are the Avengers a solid peacekeeping operation instead of a fascist regime? Why isn't Batman a murderous sociopath? In a post-BOYS era, writing these characters as they'd generally been written before but with actual reasons for their moral standards became a very important challenge.

Writers like Geoff Johns highlighted how, much like Tom Welling on SMALLVILLE, Superman lived a high celebrity and action fuelled lifestyle -- but he would generally go home to his wife or his parents at the end of the day for a family dinner and would till the land, care for cows, write newspaper stories. Even Garth Ennis, who created THE BOYS, found himself treating Superman with respect when writing him in three issues of his HITMAN comic where Superman declares, "I'm not a warrior. I'm not a soldier of any kind. I'm simply doing what I can to help." Journalism is part of Clark's public service, empowering people with knowledge. Superman rejects Max Landis' proposition that he is to rule the Earth or save it. Superman is not above the Earth, deciding its fate or dictating its course; he is a citizen of Earth. He is a man of the people.

Writers like Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka had written Batman as a sociopathic isolationist who became so brusque and abusive that Alfred quit as butler and moved in with Robin. But subsequent writers like Grant Morrison highlighted how Batman, from his very early days, has been a teacher, mentoring the Robins, Batgirl and more and ultimately built a family around himself that would ultimately bring him back to being a man with great compassion for the weak and a nobility that makes him the equal of any superhuman. Writers like James Tynion IV and Scott Snyder would capitalize on how Batman had an instinct for building family (and publishing lines).

Writers like Mark Millar, Brian Michael Bendis and Matt Fraction changed Tony Stark quite a bit. In the 90s comics with Kurt Busiek, Tony Stark was written as a very blandly heroic, milquetoast hero. Millar, Bendis and Fraction gave Stark the Robert Downey Jr. arrogance and bombast, but they also highlighted how at the end of the day, Stark doesn't actually have any superpowers. Now-disgraced writer Warren Ellis also added to Tony Stark's persona a sense of guilt: Stark used to build weapons that were stolen by terrorists and killed millions; he is now ashamed and forever seeking redemption, hence his curtailed misuse of his privilege and money.

Captain America didn't really need too much adjustment after THE BOYS, but the comics took more care to have Cap frequently at odds with SHIELD and the United States government, at times going to all out war. But the seeds were actually sewn back in the 80s issues of DAREDEVIL by ridiculously jingoistic writer Frank Miller. Miller, like Ennis with Superman, seemed to find something greater in himself when writing Captain America.

An issue of DAREDEVIL has a corrupt general trying to steer Cap away from investigating an illegal supersoldier program, telling Cap that Cap's "loyalty" should have him defer to any order from any US Army commander. Captain America replies, "I'm loyal to nothing, General, except the Dream," a line that has defined the character since then with writers like Mark Gruenwald and Mark Waid making it clear that Captain America represents the American ideal and never the American government.

I've always liked Geoff Johns as a writer especially on Superman. A writer like Garth Ennis declares that superheroes like Superman are absurd because their decency of character is completely at odds with how people with power behave in the real world and creates superheroes that are more realistic. Why would a god on Earth work at a newspaper?

A writer like Geoff Johns, however, acknowledges that it's absurd that Superman has a day job -- but then he embraces it, reinforces it, creates new reasons for it -- because Geoff Johns understands that superheroes are myth and myths are always ridiculous. It is the ridiculous part of the myth that embeds it into the imagination along with the meaning behind the absurdity -- and realizing that ridiculous myths endure long after the realistic creations have been set aside.

Superheroes would not be as rich and meaningful as they are today without THE BOYS comic books. And we should grapple with all the questions raised by THE BOYS. But ultimately, I don't believe that we should make superheroes more like us, as bitter and as angry and as cynical and as corrupt as ourselves. We should not make Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo argumentative, cynical, chaotic, abusive, violent or indifferent in order to reflect our own failings. We should not kill them off one by one to demonstrate how we too would perish during sliding. We should make ourselves more like them; we should adopt Quinn's resourcefulness, Wade's empathy, Rembrandt's love for life and the Professor's wisdom.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

As someone who read and loved THE BOYS, you will likely find the television series (at least the first series, haven't watched the second yet) palatable because the writers have taken how dark and fucked the comics are and watered it all down and out. The show takes great pains to humanize the Seven, or at least Queen Maeve and The Deep. Even Stillwell. It's a good interpretation, but it is not foundationally the same as what Ennis wrote. Which is a shame, because I was really looking forward to Blarney Cock's chest getting caved in on screen. tongue

Earth Prime | The Definitive Source for Sliders™

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

I think watering down THE BOYS defeats the purpose of THE BOYS. I think humanizing the Homelander and the rest is missing the point: cruelty and savagery are part of human nature and while superheroes are supposed to represent the best of humanity, superbeings can also showcase the worst with no checks or limitations.

Anyway. I have been reading a lot of 90s era Marvel comic books on the Unlimited app and this issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA (v3) #7 from 1998 is what I want out of superheroes.

https://i.ibb.co/WGYjgmY/01.jpg https://i.ibb.co/v3BHjnp/02.jpg https://i.ibb.co/m8JWHy7/03.jpg

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

Years ago, Temporal Flux wrote an outline for a SLIDERS story. He wrote a story where Quinn becomes his own timer; the technology is implanted into his body, he can see the countdown in his brain, he emits the vortex from his eyes, he is eventually ripped apart by the interdimensional energies of sliding. I loved it and the painful irony where Quinn, a young man fascinated by machines, becoming the very machine he created and dying in the aftermath. https://web.archive.org/web/20010415171 … /ps5s.html

It didn't get a great response in the SLIDERS community which I found odd. I especially find it odd now: one of my favourite IRON MAN stories that I've been re-reading on Marvel Unlimited: "Extremis," a 2005 storyline in which Tony Stark is experiencing guilt over his past as a former weapons designer whose creations have maimed and killed innocent people all over the world. Stark faces a white supremacist militia leader named Mallen.

Mallen has ingested a designer virus called Extremis which re-engineers the human body's capacity to repair itself, heightening the Mallen's ability to regenerate from any injury, raising his reflexes, strength, speed and resilience to the point where a barehanded Mallen is faster and stronger than Stark in the Iron Man suit. Mallen beats Stark so badly that Stark is dying from internal injuries -- until he ingests a modified version of the Extremis virus himself, an altered build that puts the Iron Man suit inside Stark's own body.

The Extremis-enhanced Stark no longer wears the Iron Man suit to increase his strength and speed; he is the Iron Man suit itself, able to perceive, generate and respond to electrical signals and transmissions of any kind by thought alone to control nearly any kind of technology within his visual range. He can combine his new response time with the speed of the Iron Man suit. He can reconfigure the suit itself at will for any situation. He is Iron Man inside and out. He is the next stage of human evolution.

"Extremis" is one of the most popular and renowned IRON MAN stories ever written -- although it's helped by how Iron Man wasn't exactly inhabiting any kind of comics renaissance until "Extremis." Iron Man suffered from being written as a generic superhero with technology-based superpowers, but writers struggled with making Tony Stark as something other than Bruce Wayne with a mustache. "Extremis" started unambiguously playing his weapons designer past as shameful and something for which Stark would forever seek redemption and every subsequent writer stuck with this characterization and continued exploring the ramifications and applications of Stark with Extremis.

TF has occasionally shared his philosophy of good SLIDERS stories: he says it's not about looking at the past and asking what might have gone differently. It's about looking at the future and asking where we might be going next and what could have happened to have turned tomorrow into today.

When TF first outlined this story, we were living in a world of newspapers in street distribution boxes, phone booths on the street and the internet was an alternative to mailing letters. The next stage -- which we are at now -- is to have technology on our faces, in our ears, on our wrists and in our pockets. TF looked past that and imagined technology inside us. He saw the future.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

https://www.cbr.com/spider-man-3-andrew … ten-dunst/

The third MCU SPIDER-MAN film will apparently feature Tom Holland as Peter Parker, Zendaya Stoermer Coleman as MJ, Alfred Molina as Dr. Octopus (reprising the role from Sam Raimi's SPIDER-MAN II), Jamie Foxx as Electro (reprising his role from THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN II) and Andrew Garfield (!) also as Peter Parker and Kirsten Dunst (!) as Mary Jane Watson (!?!!).

CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS on the CW seems to have emboldened a certain devil may care craziness. It's ridiculous. As ridiculous as, I dunno, a SLIDERS story where Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo have a rematch against the Season 3 monsters. But here we are.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

Every time I doubt a Marvel movie, I end up being wrong; but this really seems like too much to cram into one movie.  Brings back bad memories of the Clooney Batman movie which tried to cram in Mr Freeze, Poison Ivy, Bane and Batgirl.

I see what Sony is doing, though; and it’s the same mistake made with Garfield’s Amazing 2.  Sony wants a Sinister Six spin-off, and they’re rushing it.  Looking at the pieces in play, they’ll now have the potential for Doc Ock, Electro, Vulture, Shocker and some version of Mysterio along with set up for Scorpion.  Of course, Venom is hanging out there too, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him the “hero” that the Six is after (kind of like a Suicide Squad flavor).

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

Well they want a live-action Spider-Verse movie.  Sony probably pushed for it, and it actually works with Phase Four and Peter's arc.  We know that something is happening to the universe in WandaVision.  We know that Wanda will be in Dr. Strange 2 subtitled The Multiverse of Madness.  And we know that Peter's world was thrown into chaos when his identity was revealed.  My guess is that Dr Strange is going to end up bringing Peter to other multiverses, either to escape the chaos in his own life or to teach him some sort of lesson about his own circumstances and how they could be worse.

If I had to guess, the guest characters will be more "Tom Welling in Crisis" than key parts.  Relevant and significant scenes but just scenes - not "Tom Holland and other Spider-Men team up to fight the Sinister Six"

Although do we know how many Sony/Disney Spider-Man movies they've agreed to make?  If this is the last one, maybe they will just throw everything against the wall and see what sticks (pun intended)

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

There are rumours (but I can't find full confirmation yet) that Tobey Maguire will reprise his role as Peter Parker in DR. STRANGE II: MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS which will lead into AMAZING SPIDER-MAN III featuring Maguire as Spider-Man as well as Emma Stone as Gwen Stacey -- so it's possible that the massive number of cameos and multiple versions of the same characters in AMAZING III will have all the groundwork laid out in the DR. STRANGE sequel first.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

First two episodes of WANDAVISION.

WTF?!?!!?!?!?!?

Okay, back to work. :-)

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

ireactions wrote:

First two episodes of WANDAVISION.

WTF?!?!!?!?!?!?

Okay, back to work. :-)

Really loved the second episode. 

Just speculation, but Wanda is likely the villain here; she’s holding all of these people prisoner (but probably didn’t start it on purpose).  That’s why, in the first episode, the woman kept saying “stop it” with increasing anger as she looked at Wanda.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

I really like all of WANDAVISION. It expresses something I think a lot of people are going through right now as viewing figures for streaming services skyrocket due to long term isolation. People are escaping into TV and film and often, that escape is into nostalgia for days past. The Vision is dead. We saw him die twice. But here he is, alive and well, enjoying domestic bliss with Wanda. Something is wrong. Something must be wrong. WANDAVISION does a great job of presenting the cheeriness of a sitcom from a previous century but with hints of a sinister reality concealed by pastiche and homage.

It's interesting. I wrote a story where Rembrandt came out of the vortex to find Quinn, Wade and Arturo waiting for him. He said this couldn't be happening. The Professor reminded him that they were all sliders and that nothing is impossible. The next script was set 15 years later with the sliders living normal, happy lives, not addressing how they all came back to life and returned to a home untouched by Kromaggs until the fourth installment. The details aren't important, SLIDERS REBORN declared. What matters is what's true: that in our darkest hour, Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo will always come back to save us. SLIDERS REBORN asks you to believe that what was lost will return.

WANDAVISION doesn't believe in that. The Marvel Cinematic Universe doesn't believe in that. In the comic book 616 universe, all the Avengers die and come back to life three or four times a decade and never seem to age. In the MCU, Tony Stark died, Steve Rogers grew old and retired, the Red Skull regretted being a Nazi and sought redemption, Banner embraced the Hulk and found a happy medium, Black Widow died and so did Vision. WANDAVISION expresses understanding for how comforting it can be to remember how things might have been.

WANDAVISION sympathizes with what appears to be Wanda's grief for the Vision leading to her living in the comforting low stakes existence of a false television reality -- much as many of us are taking comfort by binge watching media content. But WANDAVISION is also absolutely clear: to obsess and drown one's self in past memories that never were and to long for what is gone and never was and never will be is suffocating and in some ways dangerous, preventing Wanda from addressing and resolving a very real loss in her life.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

WANDAVISION: Episode 5: The ending.

WTF?!?!?!!?!?!?

**

Oooh, Wanda's accent is back!

**

Temporal Flux is as prescient as ever.

**

Something that came to mind as I was watching it -- a lot of us have grieved for Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo. And a lot of us have created our own worlds where we bring them back and live the lives we wanted to live with them. But -- I don't believe that Tracy Torme, Nigel Mitchell, Mike Truman, Slider_Quinn21 or myself were trying to ensnare hostages or hold people prisoner in our preferred world or deprive our fictional friends of their free will in our post-"Seer" stories. I think we all did what we did because we wanted to save the sliders and then set them all free.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

S
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.

I’m really impressed by all the groundwork being laid for Fantastic Four.  The SWORD uniform resembling the original FF costume.  The cosmic background radiation (cosmic rays) that is integral to the FF origin.  The glimpse of the “rocket” being built by SWORD.  The unstable molecule fabric.  The brilliant aerospace engineer that Monica calls (likely Reed Richards).

Feige is really good at surprises (often carried out by fake trailers).  I wouldn’t be surprised to see Reed actually appear before this is over (introducing us to the actor they’ve cast).  It could be a scene that hasn’t even been filmed yet; something they’re waiting until the last minute to insert before the episode is live.

Also, many probably picked up that Monica now has her Photon powers.  This is why the medical scan was a bright light and the reading showed Monica’s body wasn’t there.  Monica is made of light now - you know, like a projection on a tv screen.  That’s a genius way of explaining her power set and why she got it.  It also again lends itself to the FF origin as Monica has been transformed into an elemental aspect of the universe - light.   The FF, of course, embodies the four traditional elements.



With episode 5, I think we’ve only been given part of the story of how Wanda found Vision at that SWORD facility.  She was obviously very angry on the footage we did see.  And she likely found something like the John Byrne story where Vision had been disassembled for study and possible replication (which the episode just mentioned was specifically against Vision’s wishes).

http://www.byrnerobotics.com/forum/uploads/JohnHarris/2005-05-03_230750_wca044-02.jpg

Lastly, we have Agnes.  Much speculation that she is the witch Agatha Harkness (Ag-ness); and I think that’s pretty obvious at this point.  The interesting thing was near the start of episode 5 where Agnes breaks character and asks if Wanda wants to take the scene from the top.  It’s easy to see that as a tv production trope, but I see something a little different.  Was Agnes actually acting as a customer service rep?  Troubleshooting Wanda’s “purchase”?

If Wanda has indeed made a deal with the Devil (Mephisto), then that puts all of this squarely in Doctor Strange’s job description; and we already know this series is leading into Strange’s next movie.

In any case, Feige and Marvel deliver again.  They have my complete trust at this point; and they pack an incredible amount of story in what they do.  They “get it”.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

Wow! John Byrne used to do some amazing stuff! (Although I love his more recent ANGEL comics in black and white and red.)

I never cease to be amazed at how well TF knows DC and Marvel. I've never read any pre-Kurt Busiek AVENGERS issues. Admittedly, I've been so busy lately I haven't been able to open the Marvel Unlimited app and I really need to soon to get my money's worth.

I'm really glad TF is so happy with Marvel, too. Feige, after years of labouring around Perlmutter, was finally granted full control of everything: comics, film and television. Feige is basically to Marvel Comics what Temporal Flux is to SLIDERS.

**

SPOILERS for the end of Episode 5:








On a more pedestrian note of conventionality: what was going on with that ending? Wanda's grief over Vision's death and her long-simmering sadness for Quicksilver's death back in AGE OF ULTRON is the driving force of her situation. Then a restored Quicksilver appears on her doorstep except it's not Aaron Taylor Johnson's Pietro from AGE OF ULTRON. It's Peter Maximoff, the version of Quicksilver who appeared in the FOX series of X-Men movies played by the brilliant Evan Peters.

Kat Dennings' Darcy Lewis identifies Peter as "Pietro" because both have white hair and a connection of some sort to Wanda. Peter greets Wanda as his sister. Wanda regards Peter as her brother. What the hell is going on here!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

We've seen in CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS that speedsters can transcend the dimensional barriers. Can something similar happen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the multidimensional axis that contains the (by my count) four parallel timelines of FOX's series of X-MEN movies? (X-MEN - X2 - THE LAST STAND - WOLVERINE: ORIGIN - THE WOLVERINE | FIRST CLASS - DAYS OF FUTURE PAST - APOCALYPSE - DARK PHOENIX | LOGAN | DEADPOOL.) Did Peter Maximoff, in his adventures, find the gateway to parallel worlds, enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe and get drawn into Wanda's pocket reality? In DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, Peter had a little sister whose name was not given; have his memories of his sister been modified to match the Hex scenario to acknowledge Wanda as his sibling? Is Peter's presence accidental or by someone else's design?

Here's another question: is this even Peter Maximoff from DAYS OF FUTURE PAST? Or is it a new character, a Westfield resident whose memories have been suppressed and altered to fit Wanda's scenario, an innocent man who merely has the (mis?)fortune to be played by the brilliant actor Evan Peters?

(Sorry these ponderings aren't as cool as TF's, but whose are?)

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

That comics image is from a storyline called Vision Quest in the West Coast Avengers title.  They did a great deal with Wanda during the Byrne run that started about mid-series (which included some foreshadowing of House of M).

Thinking further on Wandavision - if this is indeed Mephisto behind this, then what is he getting out of it?  Mephisto isn’t a genie; he always has a stake.  What if Monica isn’t the only person that’s been transformed into light?  What if everyone in Westview has been transformed?  That could be why the people change with the time periods just as easily as the clothes - matter is being rearranged on everything.

But why light?  Well, what is Mephisto’s usual motivation?  He wants souls.  Transforming people to energy would make them much easier to absorb.  The transformation of these people could also explain the pain they feel.  They’re being eaten.  The constant changing of time periods may be necessary to continue changing the people.  We are watching the digestion process; and Monica may turn out to be the only everyday person to survive Westview.

What about Agnes?  I notice she isn’t the old hag she’s supposed to be.  Is her role in Westview the price for her new youth?

With Pietro, I think he suddenly appeared because Mephisto was afraid Wanda was about to leave.  Wanda walked outside of the town to talk with SWORD; and it was only after she walked back in that Pietro appeared.  Mephisto needs Wanda.  She is likely the engine making his soul taking scheme possible.

But the explanation for the actor change?  Hard to say.  The episode did mention the difficulty in bringing back the dead (except for re-animating a machine). Perhaps Mephisto’s only choice was to pull another Pietro from the multiverse. Why the Fox version?  I still wonder what damage Deadpool did with his time travel fun at the end of Deadpool 2.  Everything takes the path of least resistance; and if the Fox reality was badly damaged and stretched thin by Deadpool, then maybe the Fox Pietro was the easiest to grab.

I would expect we won’t get our answer to all of that until the Loki series and it’s introduction of the Time Variance Authority (the Marvel Comics version of Continuity Cops who police reality to keep things making sense).

Anyway, some fun speculation.  We’ll see what happens!

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

Speculating on the motive for Wanda's situation and who's controlling it and what they have to gain from it -- it's very interesting. It reminds me of "Slide Effects" by Tracy Torme. Torme's idea: Quinn Mallory wakes up to find himself home, time rewound to the Pilot, all his friends alive and well, no one remembering sliding except for Quinn. The situation is revealed to be a Kromagg trick -- a dramatic device for Torme's return to undo any damage after his departure.

But... why would the Kromaggs do this to the sliders? What could they possibly have to gain from putting the sliders in a telepathic simulation of their home Earth? What would they get out of it?

I don't know and Torme's 673 word memo for "Slide Effects" provides no explanation either. The Kromaggs' reasons are a plotting necessity but an emotional irrelevancy, and I can see that being the case in an aired version of "Slide Effects" as well.

WANDAVISION, however, is extremely concerned with why Wanda is in this situation. Despite the lavishly detailed pastiches of sitcoms from decades past, the show takes pains to show how much control Wanda actually exerts over Westfield. She can 'edit' episodes by rewinding time and replaying scenarios. She can use her telekinetic and transmutational powers.

However, she isn't controlling the hostages' minds and Westfield's events. TF citing Agnes asking Wanda if she wants a retake of the scene is, as he notes, a sign that other force is tailoring them to Wanda's wants and wishes. There's been a lot of careful though and detail applied.

SPOILERS







DEADPOOL II indeed provided the only real explanation for why the X-MEN film continuity has been so fractured from film to film after X-MEN ORIGINS WOLVERINE (actual title). But I wonder --most people view interdimensional travel as damaging the universe, ripping open the fabric of reality. But could sliding instead cause two trees of reality to develop intertwined roots and become stronger for it? Creating strong bridges of regular passage?

That said, WANDAVISION is probably not going to bring all the FOX versions of the X-MEN into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Also, Peter Maximoff doesn't correct Wanda addressing him as "Pietro." He may not even be the Quicksilver of DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, he may be a double. Admittedly, since the story involves suppressing and altering personalities, that might be trivial.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

Another Thought on Temporal Flux's theory that all of the hostages in Westfield are being converted to light to have their souls consumed by Mephisto, the Marvel Universe's version of the devil --

There is a certain thematic sense to this. The Hex-controlled environ of Westfield is being converted into television -- a medium that is essentially composed of pure light. Pure light that is distributed and sold as a mass market product. As sustenance to be consumed for the soul.

... oh my goodness.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

I think the SLIDERS equivalent of WANDAVISION might be a story written by "ThomasMalthus," called "Gilded Mirror." Set during Season 4, Quinn, Rembrandt, Colin and Maggie encounter some sort of simulated environment where Quinn and Rembrandt are reunited with Wade and Arturo. The joy gives way to suspicion, danger and horror, however ,as this happy reunion turns out to be nothing of the kind and gives way to the sheer bleakness and grief of Season 4 with home destroyed, two friends lost and the entire purpose of SLIDERS shattered on every level. What's lost is gone forever. What was destroyed will not be rebuilt.

http://slidersweb.net/otherworlds/fics/gilded.htm

It's a good story, but... I ultimately don't subscribe to it. This is SLIDERS, for heaven's sake. To me, thinking Wade and the Professor are dead is like taking Marvel Comics seriously whenever they kill off Peter Parker (by my count, he's died nine times). And I think WANDAVISION is asking if the Marvel Cinematic Universe subscribes to the Marvel Comics view that superheroes always come back. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, superheroes can die (or retire) because actors age and contracts end. But can the Vision really die? Even if Paul Bettany didn't want to do the makeup and prosthetics anymore, wouldn't they just find someone to wear them and ask Bettany to do the voice?

In Episode 5, when Wanda is reunited with someone she thought lost in a new form that remains recognizable -- Elizabeth Olsen's performance really moved me and I've seen that expression on her face before. I've seen it in the mirror. I saw it in 2011 when I wrote and uploaded "Slide Effects" where Quinn wakes up to find that time has been rewound to the Pilot, Wade and Rembrandt and Arturo are alive and well and things will be alright. I saw it in the mirror again in 2015 in the bathroom after I'd just uploaded "Reprise" to EarthPrime.com where Rembrandt comes out of the vortex in "The Seer" and finds Quinn, Wade and Arturo waiting for him, miraculously restored and impossibly alive, telling a doubting Rembrandt that they are sliders and that nothing is impossible.

It wasn't Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo as I knew them, of course -- it wasn't Jerry O'Connell, Sabrina Lloyd, Cleavant Derricks and John Rhys-Davies. It was pixel-formed text in a PDF (and later Google Docs) presentation. It was an approximation of the actors' performances converted into the format of the novel and presented as a screenplay to offer a reformatted but recognizable version of Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo -- just like Wanda's visitor.

Spoilers


















Interesting. Evan Peters doesn't appear to be playing Peter Maximoff from the X-MEN movies.

He declares that he is indeed Pietro Maximoff from AGE OF ULTRON, and he isn't sure why he looks different, but he clearly has Pietro's memories (or has access to Wanda's memories to answer any of her questions) and he is aware that the reality of Westfield has been rewritten to Wanda's desires and considers it benign and even generous to the hostages.

In addition, despite his alternate appearance, Wanda believes that Evan Peters is her brother; she accepts him, she relates to him as her children's uncle, she didn't bring him but wanted him to be present.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

Leaving in his spoiler tag to talk about his spoiler talk

ireactions wrote:

Spoilers


















Interesting. Evan Peters doesn't appear to be playing Peter Maximoff from the X-MEN movies.

He declares that he is indeed Pietro Maximoff from AGE OF ULTRON, and he isn't sure why he looks different, but he clearly has Pietro's memories (or has access to Wanda's memories to answer any of her questions) and he is aware that the reality of Westfield has been rewritten to Wanda's desires and considers it benign and even generous to the hostages.

In addition, despite his alternate appearance, Wanda believes that Evan Peters is her brother; she accepts him, she relates to him as her children's uncle, she didn't bring him but wanted him to be present.

Is that how you read that?  I think Evan Peters is at least pretending to be Age of Ultron Pietro, but I'm still not convinced that he's anything other than some sort of trick.  A podcast I listen to speculated that it may be X-Men Peter and some combination of multiverse travel and Wanda may have messed with his memories, which is an interesting take on multiversal travel.

I think Wanda is suspicious, and I think Pietro is at least acting suspicious.  What's interesting is that Pietro briefly flashes with bulletholes - which is weird because we know that Vision's body looks the way it's supposed to (animated by Wanda), but if Pietro is truly Peter, why the bulletholes?

The bigger question for me is who is the scientist that Monica keeps referencing.  Is it the obvious choice of seeing in Reed Richards?  Would Disney introduce a character like that in a Disney+ show?  Is it Jane Foster now that Natalie Portman is back in the fray?  But, if then, why isn't Darcy the one bringing her in?  Same with Selvig.  It could be Riri Williams in a tie-in to a future Disney+ show, but the ages would be wildly off, especially if Riri wasn't snapped.  Could be a parent but that seems weak.

All signs point to Reed, but that would be quite the twist.  Maybe that's what Elizabeth Olsen was referencing when she mentioned a Luke-level cameo.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

I suppose it could certainly be a trick, but it's curious. If Pietro is an impostor, why wouldn't the impostor make sure to use Pietro's actual face to make it more convincing? Why would the impostor deliberately undermine his own disguise? An explanation may come, but for now, I believe that Evan Peters is Pietro because Wanda believes that he is Pietro and Elizabeth Olsen is playing Wanda with that confidence. She has questions and suspicions -- his accent, his face -- but she feels his familiarity, their shared history, their bond, their trust -- and she accepts him as her brother, so I'm going along with that too. The show may reveal that Wanda (and I) are wrong.

No idea who the scientist is. But I am inclined to think that it is Ben Reilly. Hahaha! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Reilly

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

They dropped the Agatha Harkness twist finally.  Most people, I think, saw that coming if they knew the comics, but I thought they did a great job with it.  The "Agatha All Along" song was great, and there's still two weeks to build on that.

The engineer was either very disappointing (someone no one has heard of) or they're still stretching out the surprise.  At this point, I think it's gotta be Reed Richards.  I think it'd be pretty shocking to introduce someone like that in something like this, but the way they're talking about it in interviews and the way the show is treating it, I think it's gotta be something big.

Potential spoilers on the ending (nothing confirmed but speculation I've read)

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So everyone is thinking Mephisto because of how the story went in the comics, but that might be too much to introduce to audiences in less than two episodes.  So who's someone that fits all of the qualifications that have been both on the show and talked about in interviews and feeds into Dr Strange....?

What if Baron Mordo is behind everything?  Acclaimed actor.  Big name.  Leads directly into Multiverse of Madness.  Already established in the universe.  Magic related.  I think this could be a cool way to end it and may fit better than Mephisto/Nightmare/etc.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

Also, who is Pietro? We saw the telltale purple energy on his back as he stood at the Maximoff front door, so he's a pawn, but who is he?

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

I'm still thinking he's not any version of Pietro.  He's someone in disguise.  I've seen the theory that he's Nicholas Scratch, Agatha Harkness' son.  Could still be Mephisto or the Fox Pietro, but I think that's unlikely.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

Very possible, but why would an impostor choose a different face to draw attention to his own disguise?

703 (edited by Slider_Quinn21 2021-02-22 16:44:58)

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

In my head, we are overfocused on the idea that Evan Peters is Pietro in the Fox universe. I think it’s more of an Easter egg than anything plot related. I think, if it’s Nicholas Scratch, Scratch is showing his true face. And since no one knows who he is, no one is the wiser

I think if they could make him look like MCU Pietro, they would have. So I think he’s not looking “like someone” - Nicholas Scratch (or whoever he is) looks like Evan Peters in this universe

The biggest hole in this theory is the fact that we saw that brief moment of Pietro with gunshots. It doesn’t fit in my theory, unless it was just a moment of hypnosis to sell the theory.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

I suppose that's possible. I look forward to answers. Are you still getting emails at your casual guy email address?

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

That email might have expired. Let me get a new one and I’ll post it here.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

You can just email me at the address at the top of the forum.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

Spoilers



















Slider_Quinn21 wrote:

In my head, we are overfocused on the idea that Evan Peters is Pietro in the Fox universe. I think it’s more of an Easter egg than anything plot related. I think, if it’s Nicholas Scratch, Scratch is showing his true face. And since no one knows who he is, no one is the wiser

I think if they could make him look like MCU Pietro, they would have. So I think he’s not looking “like someone” - Nicholas Scratch (or whoever he is) looks like Evan Peters in this universe

The biggest hole in this theory is the fact that we saw that brief moment of Pietro with gunshots. It doesn’t fit in my theory, unless it was just a moment of hypnosis to sell the theory.

Well, this week, Agatha says that Pietro was a fake who was "possessed" by her, which tracks with Pietro's dialogue sounding more like Agatha's character than the character played by Aaron Taylor Johnson. It's unclear, however, as to the identity of the person with Evan Peters' face and voice as Agatha is dismayed and jealous of Wanda's ability to create living matter and engage in transmutation at will (with these limitations also making it impossible for Agatha to make the impostor look like the Pietro that Wanda remembered).

It was also a shock to see that the Vision in WANDAVISION to date has never been the Vision but a simulacrum of some sort based on Wanda's memories of him with the actual Vision having always been in SWORD's keeping.

There is a really painful, agonizing tragedy to Wanda having experienced a horrific trauma -- the death of her parents -- while watching THE DICK VAN DYKE show. It's something I myself understand. Wanda turned to American sitcoms in her childhood for comfort; they brought her relief from the gunfire on the streets and the hunger and poverty and quiet desperation of her childhood.

This is something I really understand and relate to, having watched SLIDERS during a savagely violent childhood during which Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo brought me a lot of comfort and relief -- until they didn't and the brutal cruelty of the world I knew outside SLIDERS seem to infect the world within the TV show as well.

And I can understand Wanda's wish to retreat within the world that brought her comfort as a child and to effectively write a lavish self-insertion fanfic for THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, I LOVE LUCY, BEWITCHED, FAMILY TIES and MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE -- and to address her grief and loss in this context. However -- and this is very important -- one must use these safe spaces of conceptuality to fully confront one's own demons, regrets, fears and traumas, whereas Wanda has 'written' her fanfic simply to provide comfort and engage in avoidance and denial.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

I loved episode 8.  As you described, it was haunting and beautiful and painful.  After assuming that they were going to reveal a greater villain (Mordo, Mephisto, Nightmare, etc), I'm starting to believe that the villain could end up being Wanda.  Maybe she accepts her role as the Scarlet Witch and goes on a rampage that extends into Dr Strange: the Multiverse of Madness.  Maybe having to kill the Vision *AGAIN* is too much for her and she has a breakdown that Dr Strange has to work with her to fix.  I don't know.

But there's so much to cover.  Even if this last episode is an hour of plot (so 1:07+ in total run time), I don't know if they can cover all that we want to cover.  I didn't think that the story was going to end on a true cliffhanger, but now I'm wondering if there's enough time for it to not end on a cliffhanger.

But it's really good.  I'll be happy however they conclude it (knowing that the story definitely continues in Dr Strange 2).

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

Marvel knocked it out of the park again with Wandavision.  Well done.

As for the aftermath...

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A few dangling threads left, but Marvel often likes to pace themselves and resolve things in time.  Of interest to me, Agent Woo’s missing person was never addressed. Who was in Westview as part of the witness protection program?  You don’t just drop something like that in a story with no plan to resolve it.

Here is an interesting theory:

https://www.menshealth.com/entertainmen … explained/

Peter did seem amused when Monica called him Boner (almost like it wasn’t his name).

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

I really liked it too! I was a bit confused as to who Billy and Tommy actually were, however -- but the series hit some strong notes of adjustment and acceptance in its closing scenes. I know who Billy and Tommy are because I am a huge fan of the YOUNG AVENGERS comic book series, but I wonder how that will play out in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There is a lot that's left open-ended with the Vision's fate and TF has pointed out one clear thread to be followed up on later.

I liked how the series observes that while the Vision may or may not be in 'circulation' again, Wanda's time of rest and respite in Westview must end in order to free the people and in order to conclude an untenable situation of conflict and danger. The quiet acceptance of the inevitable was heartfelt and Elizabeth Olsen played it beautifully.

Still kind of worried about the kids.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

I’ll have to do a re-watch at some point.  It occurred to me today about the heart on the calendar in the first episode.  Wanda and Vision can’t remember what it means; but later in the series, we find out that Vision gave Wanda a map with a heart marking where their future home would be.

The heart was the first reminder of the truth seeping in from the real world.  It’s those little details that just really make a project amazing.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

I was also really impressed by how the sitcom scenes didn't just apply a filter and crop the image; they actually used period-equipment to film the black and white sequences for their pastiches of THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW and BEWITCHED.

I also liked how Slider_Quinn21 was at least somewhat correct that we were overfocused on Evan Peters' casting (or at least I was).

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

I thought it was a lot of fun.  I'd pretty much determined that they weren't going to do anything too crazy, but I do think they left a couple of loose threads (the witness protection missing person and the engineer) were a bit odd.  I thought a Reed Richards cameo was more likely than a Mephisto, but the story was just a lot more centralized than people were expecting.  Which I was totally okay with.

I'm looking forward to Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

I liked the premiere of Falcon and Winter Soldier. I think it was a good setup and I like seeing the personal lives of Sam and Bucky.

But Tony wasn’t paying the Avengers? WTF, Tony?

Anyone else watch it?

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

I saw someone make an interesting observation.  Vision (who was just a few years old with questionable legal rights) was able to buy a residential plot, but Falcon can’t get a bank loan.  Of course, Vision was also essentially Tony Stark’s son.

Falcon is good so far, but I wish they had followed the comics and tackled the issue head on (and they still might).  In the original 80’s story, the Commission on Superhuman Activities determined that America wasn’t ready for a black Captain America, so Falcon was passed over.  I think that’s as relevant now as it was then.  Falcon is certainly a better choice than John Walker, and that highlights how judgments can’t be made on race.

It’s amazing how the stars aligned overall on doing this story again. John Walker was a product of the Reagan era; and now he’s a product of the Trump era.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

Yeah I assume that’ll get mentioned as early as episode two. I think they wanted it to be Sam’s decision before giving the government’s reasoning

I saw this online but I think they had an easier explanation. Sam was legally dead so he has no money. Maybe the money he would’ve gotten vía Stark went into some sort of account that was frozen when he died. And Tony, having given up hope of fixing the snap, donated that money to help people affected. So maybe Sam just had zero dollars and would be in worse shape than his sister with no more Stark money to fund being the Falcon.

Alan Sepinwall brought up that post-Snap life probably wasn’t considered and that’s why it seems like such a mess so far. It’s easy for Feige and Co to maintain continuity at a high level, but when you dig into daily life, it’s much harder

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

Black Widow is delayed again

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

pilight wrote:

Black Widow is delayed again

It will be the last delay, though.  Now that they’re also releasing it as a premium on Disney+, the theatrical release is an afterthought in Disney’s mind.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

TemporalFlux wrote:
pilight wrote:

Black Widow is delayed again

It will be the last delay, though.  Now that they’re also releasing it as a premium on Disney+, the theatrical release is an afterthought in Disney’s mind.

IOW the same strategy that made Raya and the Last Dragon a huge disappointment.  It seems clear that Disney is trying to keep Black Widow from being too successful.

Re: Marvel Cinematic Universe by Slider_Quinn21

How exactly is a movie studio supposed to release a film to cineplexes in a pandemic?

The only people who would see it are people eager to become infected with COVID-19 and die. Suicidal customers don't offer repeat business should they succeed in killing themselves.