Marvel Cinematic Universe Appreciation Thread

[Comic-Reader Lad]

Chalk me up as another one who isn't fond of the Marvel brand of humor. Guardians of the Galaxy was particularly grievous in this regard and is one of my least favorite MCU movies because of it.

Throw together some one-liners, goofy 70s music, goofy dancing, and don't forget a heaping of pop culture references, and boom! you have a script. It's lazy, focus-group pandering storytelling and it just turns me off from the start. In Doctor Strange, Benedict Cumberbatch trying to be a funny Tony Stark type when that is not in his actor's toolbox was extremely cringy. The cape was funnier than he was.

That's why Black Panther was a welcome relief for me. The moments of forced humor were mercifully brief, and in spite of Black Panther being the least interesting character in his own movie, I did enjoy the director's fully realized vision of Wakanda and its customs and culture.

Other knocks against the MCU include the lack of good romantic couples, great villains, and faults in logic in the stories. Black Panther didn't have a great romance, but its villain and story held up nicely, so I'm hopeful that Avengers Infinity War will continue the trend.

Anyway, enough criticism. By and large the Marvel movies are fun and watchable if not life-changing. I don't know if they could withstand repeated views from me, but they've mostly been in the B to B+ range if I were to score them. I think it's one of the biggest strengths of the MCU that they do deliver a reliable entertainment experience, and that strong brand identity does count for a lot.

[k von doom]

Twenty years from now, people will feel nostalgic about the original MCU. The way Gen X looks back when Star Wars was first released, I believe we’ll look back on this day the same way. Twenty years from now, you can go “I was there when it originally came out in the movies”. Some of the films may be cookie cutter but they entertain most people, which is the point of going to the movies and the reason people watch movies. None of these films are striving to be Godfather-type movies but they don’t have to. Audiences like it. For the most part, critics also like it - and none of these films are derided as being bad movies (i.e. Steel, Catwoman, Last Stand), so simply enjoy these movies (especially as comic book fans) while they’re being made.

[Jokerz79]

I love the MCU and I view it like I did old school Bond films which were kind of like comic book movies for their time unbeatable hero, gadgets, & supervillans with hidden liars. I love all the Bond films even the not so great ones and I love all the MCU films there are great ones, good ones, and ok ones which I can understand if some hate but not me.

I even like most of the TV side with Agent Carter, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Punisher, Runaways, and thought Iron Fist and Defenders were ok but underwhelming also if honest I like many think a lot of the Netflix shows could cut out an episode or two and looking forward to checking out Cloak and Dagger.

Agents of Shield is a mix bag for me I liked the Winter Soldier fallout at the end of Season one basically the Sif episode and everything after of season. Season two went down hill fast for me and it and season 3 was practically unwatchable which is why season 4 being fantastic was shocking. Season 5 is good so far but not as good as season 4 IMO.

Inhumans was just awful Nuff Said.

Look forward to another 10 years of the MCU and all the characters it will bring to life.

[Jekyll]

Daredevil has long been my favorite Marvel hero and they absolutely nailed him in the Netflix series. Charlie Cox is Matt
Murdock!

[Basara]

I even like most of the TV side with Agent Carter, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Punisher, Runaways, and thought Iron Fist and Defenders were ok but underwhelming also if honest I like many think a lot of the Netflix shows could cut out an episode or two and looking forward to checking out Cloak and Dagger.

Huh, I thought Runaways was not in the MCU, since Molly seemed like a mutant and there was no reference whatsoever of anything in the MCU like the other MCU TV shows. I just figured it was part of Fox's brand of heroes, like Legion and The Gifted.

Agents of Shield is a mix bag for me I liked the Winter Soldier fallout at the end of Season one basically the Sif episode and everything after of season. Season two went down hill fast for me and it and season 3 was practically unwatchable which is why season 4 being fantastic was shocking. Season 5 is good so far but not as good as season 4 IMO.

I was a fan of Brett Dalton's Grant Ward (I think I was the only one) even before the reveal that he was a Hydra agent, so the reveal was really great for me. To watch Brett go from noble hero to reluctant Hydra soldier to revenge minded merc for hire to Inhuman monster was fantastic. I loved it. Brett brought his all to every twist of Ward's life and he was a excellent villain for the agents. Every member of the team had reason to hate Ward's guts because he was that damn good as a thorn in their side.

Inhumans was just awful Nuff Said.

Yeah, after all the excellent Inhuman stuff they did in AoS for seasons 2 and 3, this should never have been aired. It should have just gone to convention bootlegs, like the Corman Fantastic Four movie.

[Jokerz79]

Huh, I thought Runaways was not in the MCU, since Molly seemed like a mutant and there was no reference whatsoever of anything in the MCU like the other MCU TV shows. I just figured it was part of Fox's brand of heroes, like Legion and The Gifted.





I was a fan of Brett Dalton's Grant Ward (I think I was the only one) even before the reveal that he was a Hydra agent, so the reveal was really great for me. To watch Brett go from noble hero to reluctant Hydra soldier to revenge minded merc for hire to Inhuman monster was fantastic. I loved it. Brett brought his all to every twist of Ward's life and he was a excellent villain for the agents. Every member of the team had reason to hate Ward's guts because he was that damn good as a thorn in their side.



Yeah, after all the excellent Inhuman stuff they did in AoS for seasons 2 and 3, this should never have been aired. It should have just gone to convention bootlegs, like the Corman Fantastic Four movie.

I thought the Inhuman stuff on Shield was good just during those seasons it had the Arrow issue of Season 4 where it felt to me too much time was put into "Ships" and not the actual stories. Runaways is part or the MCU it's why Molly's powers were never really explained and her parents were dead to avoid the mutant reference. Also while I'm only speculating it might also be why they changed her name from Hayes to Hernandez.

[Soubhagya]

I love the MCU and I view it like I did old school Bond films which were kind of like comic book movies for their time unbeatable hero, gadgets, & supervillans with hidden liars. I love all the Bond films even the not so great ones and I love all the MCU films there are great ones, good ones, and ok ones which I can understand if some hate but not me.

I even like most of the TV side with Agent Carter, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Punisher, Runaways, and thought Iron Fist and Defenders were ok but underwhelming also if honest I like many think a lot of the Netflix shows could cut out an episode or two and looking forward to checking out Cloak and Dagger.

Agents of Shield is a mix bag for me I liked the Winter Soldier fallout at the end of Season one basically the Sif episode and everything after of season. Season two went down hill fast for me and it and season 3 was practically unwatchable which is why season 4 being fantastic was shocking. Season 5 is good so far but not as good as season 4 IMO.

Inhumans was just awful Nuff Said.

Look forward to another 10 years of the MCU and all the characters it will bring to life.

A good analogy. James Bond films aren't something deep or say anything important. And are of varying quality. But they are real good entertainment. MCU films work like that. And the fact that they manage to do so at such a consistent basis boggles my mind.

How many such long film series are there where you can't find any stinkers? Subjectively one's opinion may vary. That's alright. But if we take Tomatometer as a metric to see critical consensus you won't find a truly bad film. I agree. I may enjoy some films less then others, but i enjoy them.

[uebersoldat]

I think what Marvel/Disney has figured out (that other shared universe franchises may have not)... is that in order to make a good "superhero" movie... you first have to make a good movie.... Binary/Good guy vs bad guy flicks are inherently shallow... The Winter Soldier was a political thriller... Ant Man was a heist movie.... Ragnarok was a buddy action/comedy ... Black Panther was a social commentary about whether violence or activism is the most effective method to achieve social justice... if you changed the "powered" characters to more traditional Hollywood leads, you'd still have good movies...

Plus, they've cast well... the directors have all been up to the task... the humor works... and the writing has been excellent...

Very, very well said. Great post!

[Soubhagya]

Very, very well said. Great post!

I agree. They set up a strong foundation with earlier films which were simpler adventure stories. But even they work as good or very good films. Later they experimented more to huge success. I don't see any formula here except to make a good film which can appeal to a lot of people. Its really difficult to make one good movie. A film considered as good by lots of people.

We say its simple. Make a good movie. But that's extremely difficult. Everyone tries to make the film which they think is the best possible film. Its so easy to fail in making a film which would be considered as good by most people. They have managed that for 18 films at such a pace is amazing.

Just a look at IW's IMDB page is mind boggling. They have a cast which can make up 4 or 5 films. The culmination of films worth ten years.

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt4154756/fullcredits/cast

[Basara]

Runaways is part or the MCU it's why Molly's powers were never really explained and her parents were dead to avoid the mutant reference. Also while I'm only speculating it might also be why they changed her name from Hayes to Hernandez.

I know that now because of this thread prompting me to look it up. It just never felt like part of the MCU as there is no reference whatsoever of anything that has happened in the MCU. No mention of Victor Stein being as brilliant as Tony Stark, no mention of the Avengers when the kids are trying to come up with a name for themselves, no mention of Inhumans popping up in the populace as a possibility of Molly's or Karolina's powers, or of the mass destruction that New York and Sokovia experienced when the kids learn that the dig at the school site could destroy LA.

That's why I thought it wasn't part of the MCU, like Legion and The Gifted are Marvel, but not MCU. It seems and feels completely separate.

[DrNewGod]

Totally disagree. I loved Thor Ragnarok when I watched it twice in theaters and I just watched it twice again on streaming and loved it even more. It's probably in my top 5-6 MCU movies.

Glad you enjoyed Thor: Ragnarok. I did too; it was certainly superior to Thor: The Dark World. That said, I still think they were working at the humor a bit too hard, particularly in a film that features spoilers:

the death of Asgard, including Fandral, Volstagg, and Odin

end of spoilers

[RikWriter]

Glad you enjoyed Thor: Ragnarok. I did too; it was certainly superior to Thor: The Dark World. That said, I still think they were working at the humor a bit too hard, particularly in a film that features spoilers:

the death of Asgard, including Fandral, Volstagg, and Odin

end of spoilers

I don't think Waititi was working too hard at humor, I think that's just his style of directing. I would be willing to bet my whole savings that Feige didn't come to him and say "Let's inject more humor here." Waititi was hired to do his thing and they let him do his thing, and I loved the way it turned out.

[uebersoldat]

This really makes me feel like there are no ambitions of including the X-Men within the MCU anytime in the next 5-10 years.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/he...-plans-1088623

Sad, because most Fox X-films are mediocre in my opinion but that's ok. At least we'll see something someday!

[Midvillian1322]

I thought the Inhuman stuff on Shield was good just during those seasons it had the Arrow issue of Season 4 where it felt to me too much time was put into "Ships" and not the actual stories. Runaways is part or the MCU it's why Molly's powers were never really explained and her parents were dead to avoid the mutant reference. Also while I'm only speculating it might also be why they changed her name from Hayes to Hernandez.

I thought Molly's parents Did something to her. They were geneticists right? Iono I might be talking out my ass haven't rewatched it at all yet

[ChildOfTheAtom]

This really makes me feel like there are no ambitions of including the X-Men within the MCU anytime in the next 5-10 years.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/he...-plans-1088623

Sad, because most Fox X-films are mediocre in my opinion but that's ok. At least we'll see something someday!

All that crap is gonna get immediately cancelled