Marvel Cinematic Universe -

[UnKillShredDur]

I never saw the original. Should I?

 

[Cardenio]

I never saw the original. Should I?

So far I've fallen asleep to three capeshit movies; Batman v. Superman Director's Cut, Suicide Squad, and Venom.

Your mileage may very of course.

 

[The Valeyard]

I never saw the original. Should I?

No, I'd recommend the movie Upgrade, which was released the same year and is a more competently made movie with a similar premise.

 

[Juke and Jam]

No, I'd recommend the movie Upgrade, which was released the same year and is a more competently made movie with a similar premise.

Yes. That movie was a pleasant surprise.

 

[StarkRavingMad]

I never saw the original. Should I?

No. Avoid it.

There are people who recommended it to me when it came out because it was "So bad it's hilarious." A few months later, I Redbox'd it, and was both pissed off and bored.

The movie is just plain bad.

 

[Scarlett Johansson]

I never saw the original. Should I?

Its overrated. And it's not a cult classic or fun the way ppl idolize mad max fury road

 

[XYZpdq]

Woody Harrelson isn't a bad choice for Cletus Cassidy at all (his hairpiece in this movie actually makes him look exactly like the comic book Cletus Cassidy)

seriously people have been saying Woody should play Cassidy since Natural Born Killers

 

[Jetpack Himmler]

The Eternals is going to be a disaster. We know nothing about the movie, except for the constant mentions of the diversity hire cast.

Just to add to that point, the CCP hates Chloe Zhao so it's highly likely that the film itself will be banned there.

When you get down to it, the Eternals are basically lesser versions of DC's New Gods because the share similar themes and the same creator. None of the existing Eternals really achieved the kind of relevance that Darkseid and Mister Miracle (to a lesser degree) did and though Thanos is an Eternal, it was through a retcon. The only Eternal I know of that even made a ripple was Sersi during her brief time on the Avengers in the 1990s, but has been seldom seen ever since. This all has the stench of Marvel's contrived attempt to turn the Inhumans into a major franchise.

 

[cactus]

It's about this time in a cycle that it should be coming to an end, this particular cinematic superhero movie cycle should be wrapping up.
The sub-genre for now has been exhausted, the expensive CGI these films live and die on doesn't look nearly as impressive on a TV screen-- even a large TV screen-- as it does on the silver screen, the busier it gets the sillier looking it is.

A sub-genre getting really meta and self-parodic, what with shows like The Boys and Wandavision as examples, is usually a sign that a cycle in pop culture is coming to end, it's been exhausted, and at this point maybe it really should have ended.

The wave of TV superheroes aimed at a young female audience (mainly on the CW network) was never entirely healthy but the shows are all cratering very hard now.

WW 1984 flopped hard for the studio at the worst time. The new Batwoman series is an absolute catastrophe, it's latest episodes barely squeaking by in the ratings - late-night reruns of 70s detective shows on local UHF channels in the 90s probably had more viewers.

A Wonder Girl series at the CW was cancelled before it even got out of the stable. Supergirl was given the chop, Black Lightning has been granted it's final season and Swamp Thing was axed before it could find an audience. The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow putter on like beat-up jalopy cars running on fumes, with zero cultural impact.

Marvel has been gun-shy about releasing Black Widow which says something about their lack of confidence about it, considering it's a finished movie that's been waiting in the chute. The MCU people have placed their hopes on a bunch of characters that don't have as much pop-cultural cachet as the ones whose adaptions made billions for Disney back in the Tens. They're adapting a lot of the characters launched to reverse the fortunes of Marvel Comics after the superheroes of the 60s-- the same ones who were the stars of those Tens era blockbusters-- began to sputter in the sales department. It didn't work then; why should it work now?

I say this as having been a fan of 70s vintage titles like The Eternals, Shang-chi and Doc Strange, etc. but they never had as big followings as Cap'n America, the Web-slinger, etc. I think it's safe to say the moment of the Superheroes have passed. Not that they'll disappear completely, but once they stop bringing in billions in revenue for Entertainment Complex corporations (and it looks like that will be drying up soon) they'll be shuffled off to the margins of the culture.

DC films and TV shows have been bad for awhile now, they've been excelling in their animation though. Marvel isn't gun shy about Black Widow, Scarlett Johanssen literally has a clause in her contract about how much money she makes when Black Widow is released in theaters, otherwise, she gets a flat fee and they're to make it so she can make as much money as possible.

WandaVision isn't a parody, the whole premise is Wanda dealing with her grief through the things that made her happy as a child.

 

[The Valeyard]

Just to add to that point, the CCP hates Chloe Zhao so it's highly likely that the film itself will be banned there.

Shang-Chi may also have issues getting released in China.

From Variety:

Spoiler: Article excerpt

A number of issues have sparked discontent, although it is unclear which, if any, have actually influenced authorities.

First off is the character Fu Manchu, the villain from the original comics who turns out to be Shang-Chi’s father. The character, seen through the years as an embodiment of the “Yellow Peril” stereotype, has been written out of the new film to distance it from these racist connotations. He has been revamped as Wenwu, or “the Mandarin,” played by Hong Kong acting legend Leung.

But many online in China are unaware that the 2021 film has re-imagined the old Fu Manchu character, or simply didn’t care.

“Although ‘the Mandarin’ is not the same person as Fu Manchu, it still is under the shadow of ‘Fu Manchu,’” the official Communist Youth League paper China Youth Daily warned back in 2019. “Even just the announcement of the characters has caused huge controversy in China. Marvel wants ‘Shang-Chi to earn money from global audiences… [but] faces a big challenge. The film itself will decide whether it will end in tears or laughter.”

This week, many Weibo users echoed the sentiment. “So you change the name and it’s not Fu Manchu anymore? The Mandarin is inherently a character that blackens the image of the Chinese people,” one wrote. “I hope China Film and the [censorship authorities] won’t be bought out by this; this kind of film is not worthy of coming to China to make money off us while calling us fools.”

The full article also mentions how the leads Simu Liu and Awkwafina are considered ugly by Chinese beauty standards.

 

[cactus]

Awkwafina is ugly though.

 

[X Pac Heat]

The full article also mentions how the leads Simu Liu and Awkwafina are considered ugly by Chinese beauty standards.

Awkwafina is considered ugly by Western beauty standards as well.

 

[Pinochet Was Right]

To be honest, Venom IS a goofball when he's not antagonizing Spidey.

This trailer reminds me of "Oooooh, are we gonna SURF THE WEB?" Venom.

 

[Krokodil Overdose]

I never saw the original. Should I?

I'm gonna go against the grain and say "give it a shot." It's dumb and I could be here all day listing the problems (lack of an R rating being numero uno) but it's fun and frankly a breath of fresh air compared to the homogenized paint-by-number slop that the MCU has become. A lot of it hinges on how you feel about Tom Hardy, though, since he plays both Eddie and Venom the movie could be seen as a one-man show with a bunch of cameos by other actors.

It's not Joker (hell, it's not even the first X-Men movie) but it is something different in the world of capeshit.

 

[SteelPlatedHeart]

Goddammit, god-fucking-dammit….

 

[starborn427614]

Goddammit, god-fucking-dammit….
View attachment 2173807

Having read the article Marvel's quote was pretty vague and didn't really de-confirm him as a villain. The sceptre just egged on what was already there. https://screenrant.com/avengers-loki-theory-mind-stone-thanos/

 

[SteelPlatedHeart]

Having read the article Marvel's quote was pretty vague and didn't really de-confirm him as a villain. The sceptre just egged on what was already there. https://screenrant.com/avengers-loki-theory-mind-stone-thanos/

Still, it’s okay for villains to be popular characters or be charismatic. We don’t need to retcon stuff and go “oh, they’re not that bad, actually” just because someone on Twitter wants to claim we should all hate him because he killed people or something.

I’m being hyperbolic, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s how things played out.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

I'm amazed only now I've seen the Loki poster and it's so bad, I thought it was a parody poster.

Like other MCU posters it's way too busy. We have two black warriors posing and a cartoon coin for some person to soyface over. And three we wuz kangz statues barely visible at the top.

 

[Uncle June]

I'm amazed only now I've seen the Loki poster and it's so bad, I thought it was a parody poster.
View attachment 2174706
Like other MCU posters it's way too busy. We have two black warriors posing and a cartoon coin for some person to soyface over. And three we wuz kangz statues barely visible at the top.

Reminds me of one of those "Winnie the Pooh Adventures" posters.

 

[Drag-on Knight 91873]

I'm amazed only now I've seen the Loki poster and it's so bad, I thought it was a parody poster.
View attachment 2174706
Like other MCU posters it's way too busy. We have two black warriors posing and a cartoon coin for some person to soyface over. And three we wuz kangz statues barely visible at the top.

Looks like shitty Doctor Who ripoff.