Marvel Studios = Too Much Humor (DC Take Note)

[jtd]

I'm a fan of the Marvel films. I enjoy them.

But I started becoming kind of annoyed around The Avengers movie time...that the heroes were too "jokey" and humorous throughout the movie. And it of course went nuts for for Guardians of the Galaxy, GOTG2...and now with Thor Ragnorok.

It's like every hero acts like Tony Stark's character (which totally works for Tony, as portrayed by Robert Downey Junior). So many of them act the same. The heroes seem to all not take themselves seriously.

And I'm at the point where I'm thinking "Do I even take these characters...and this movie...seriously?" Now, of course humor is necessary! It helps keep things light at times, but Thor was basically a Marvel comedy. Like they could have cast Kevin Hart as a main character. And personally...I thought Korg's character was awful.

I know the movies are meant for large audiences. I realize the humor of GOTG apparently plays well to the masses. But to me...to a fan of the actual comic books...I like my heroes to be a little more serious. Like maybe more Byrne FF, Claremont X-Men, 80s Avengers, and less Giffen Macguire Justice League (may be better examples out there I know). As a kid I liked Giffen's Justice League...but it wore off quick).

And I don't know about you guys...what first drew me to comic books was the adventures & heroic acts of cool superheroes. Humor honesty wasn't a main draw.

Anyway, just wondering if some of you agree? Disagree?

[Midvillian1322]

Guardians works fine the way it is. If it wasnt for this vision of the characters the movie probaly wouldnt have ever been considered. They were D list characters who some comic fans only barely knew through passing. Thor as a charatcer wasnt working they tried 2 movies they couldnt get him right so they went The Ragnarok way and for most people it worked.

Other then that Dr strange is the only hero who was quippy and shouldnt be. But in Ragnarok they used him right. He was very serious and all his humor came from him being kinda a dick and messing with Loki and Thor. Not quippy and jokey. Imo the captain america trilogy is the perfect balance between comedy and serious drama in the CBM world.


In Ragnarok defense while it was clearly just a straight comedy it had alot of seriois stuff happen and has brought about the biggest change in the status quo in the MCU thus far. I suspect infinity war will top it but for now it had the biggest lasting effects. Plus this movies made me actually feel bad for Hulk. None of the avengers movies have done that. Oh and i though Korg was funny AF. But i didnt go into this movie expecting a serious version of the WarBound so i wasnt mad at any changes. At face value he got as many laughs as some character with way more screen time.

[Arfguy]

I would love to see the MCU strike that perfect blockbuster balance of humour and seriousness. After watching Ragnarok, I was talking to my friends about how the movie is a pretty good comedy, but there should have been a lot more seriousness paid to a movie named Ragnarok.

Examples of movies that are both light-hearted and serious and IMO, perfect blockbuster movies: Jaws, Jurassic Park, Iron Man. In these movies, I did not feel one aspect of the weigh-y stuff did not over power the humour, or vice versa.

Ragnarok just seems to be forcing humour onto this movie because the MCU seriously does not know what to do with Thor.

I had some serious issues with the third movie, but the message to Feige and co. will be that it got about $120+ million on the opening weekend, so the mass audience wants to see more Guardians of the Galaxy stuff humour. Not a good message, IMO.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

just a rebuttal to the discussion.

[Phoenixx9]

At first, I did not like the humor at all, and felt like, WT?

I guess I got somewhat used to seeing it, but I prefer it to be far and few between. From the looks of the Thor trailer, too much "fun" was shown/being had. Thus, I will wait for this to come out on TV.

[Arfguy]

just a rebuttal to the discussion.

I did not watch the video, but I will say that Wonder Woman is a great example of how to make a summer blockbuster. Fun and serious, all rolled into one movie.

[Kusanagi]

While Thor had it's humor I felt it was nicely balanced out by seriousness and sometimes darkness.

spoilers:

Odin dying, the Warriors three getting killed, Thor losing his eye, and Asgard being completely destroyed.

end of spoilers

[The Kid]

That's honestly why I've never been as big on the Guardians movies as everyone else. On the other hand, I thought Spider-Man: Homecoming and Thor: Ragnorak were straight up hilarious. If the humor lands, I'm ok with it. And honestly, at this point, it's just part of the MCU brand so I'm used to it.

[Sighphi]

i've been saying for a while but since the movies make a bunch of money people seem to think they have the correct formula and anything the deviates is bad.

After watching a Marvel movie i want to see a DC movie because i know it's not going to be a jokefest.

[Sammael]

I think you are just reading too much into the similarities of gotg and thor ragnarok


Marvel movies have been FAR less of a singular note than dc, where until wonder woman have been batman clones in tone.

captain america was never a happy go lucky type of series, I'm not expecting black panther to be very slapstick at all.

The first captain america was kind of a period piece, the second a modern work of art and spy flick, guardians was a more fun star wars, and thor ragnarok went into space where marvel SHOULD be more exotic. It's fine if the tone changes again, but it should not be one note, and has not been one note.

[Jokerz79]

Marvel's films are pretty balanced IMO and in many cases needed humor to sell them to the general audience.

Iron Man films had humor because of Tony.

Incredible Hulk was really humorous.

Captain America films was pretty straight and lite on Humor.

Thor well they have to sell a guy from space with a magic hammer and home with a rainbow bridge. That's pretty goofy and humor helps to sell it to the masses. Same for things like Guardians which was trying to sell a talking raccoon and tree, or Ant-Man which was Ant-Man pretty goofy to try and sell so embrace it.

I thought Avengers one had a good balance and AoU was fine especially given Ultron was based off Tony.

Spider-Man Homecoming was Spider-Man Nuff Said.

The Netflix shows aren't really "jokey" because they're the more grounded heroes and Black Panther and Infinity War don't look humorous. Part of Marvel's success is them knowing where to put humor to appeal to the masses. I look at the MCU like old school Bond films sometimes you get a Goldfinger, or On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and License to Kill and other times you get a Roger Moore Bond movie and they can be great too like Live and Let Die or Spy Who Loved Me but they are also more humorous than other entries in the film series.

Last honestly I think comic fans fought so hard to get comics taken seriously now it seems they take them too serious.

[MichaelC]

I don't think the problem is humor or seriousness per se, but rather a lack of sincerity. I really love the Raimi Spider-Man movies, especialy II, because they are very sincere movies. They don't undercut serious moments with humor, nor do they mistake darkness for sincerity. They are just shamelessly sincere, and if someone thinks a sincere superhero movie is cheesey, that's on them. The Raimi Spider-Man movies wear their sincerity on their sleeves as a badge of honor.

[Agent Z]

I don't think the problem is humor or seriousness per se, but rather a lack of sincerity. I really love the Raimi Spider-Man movies, especialy II, because they are very sincere movies. They don't undercut serious moments with humor, nor do they mistake darkness for sincerity. They are just shamelessly sincere, and if someone thinks a sincere superhero movie is cheesey, that's on them. The Raimi Spider-Man movies wear their sincerity on their sleeves as a badge of honor.

There's a lot of unintentionally funny moments in the Raimi movies. Of course, a lot of movies have those. Still not every film has to be the same.

[Beaubier]

I agree with you to an extent. The Avengers films are the worst (or best?) example of this, because Joss Whedon has to force his stupid snarky dialogue down the throat of every character and make them sound the same. Even Ultron for god’s sakes. Consequently, I’m concerned that Justice League is going to suffer from his re-writes.

As for Thor Ragnarok, I enjoyed the humor and thought it worked well in that film. And Doctor Strange felt like he was done right! Bonus points for that. My main issue was how Loki was handled, but I’ve never been satisfied with movie Loki.

[Username taken]

I like superhero movies with humor but not too much. Thor 3 had a little too much for me but people seem to love it.

Movies like GoTG 1 and 2, the Raimi Spider-man series, Wonder Woman, Iron Man and Avengers had a good balance of humor and serious moments.

I also don't feel a movie should be too joyless. I don't mean "funny", I mean "joyless". Most superhero comics are a lot of fun and I think the movies should be too.