Marvel Cinematic Universe Part II

[Maestro 216]

Black-haired Elsa Bloodstone feels so weird.

She also doesn't have powers.

[Frontier]

Is this the first time two Marvel series on Disney+ overlap their release schedules? Next Thursday we get the penultimate episode of She-Hulk, then the following the the first episode of Werewolf, close to the full moon.

Isn't Werewolf a special, not a series?

[Ravin' Ray]

[davetvs]

That trailer was cool as hell! I'm so hype for this movie, just ordered my tickets.

[Steroid]

Isn't Werewolf a special, not a series?

Yeah Werewolf By Night is just a special.

[Frontier]

Hmm...I have a lot of feelings here.

On the one hand, it just feels very off to have a sequel to a movie not really feel like a proper sequel...obviously IRL events and creative decisions kind of made that impossible because they're literally taking out the main character of the entire franchise, but it pivots the movie to reacting to and addressing something that happened in real life and is still very emotionally raw for a lot of people (and centering or focusing on the death of a real person) rather than feeling like an actual Black Panther sequel...at least until the end when we get an actual Black Panther showing up.

Speaking of which, the suit looks fine (more gold than T'Challa's silver), but I think it might be difficult to push MCU Shuri as a Black Panther and a legitimate successor to T'Challa. She just doesn't carry the same vibe or strength that T'Challa carried in the suit, especially because this take on her wasn't designed that way to begin with and she's nothing like comic Shuri was when she became Black Panther.

Namor...I'm not sure how I feel about them grafting Namor into an actual real life culture. It feels like it takes away from his Namor-ness with everything that is being thrown on him to justify him being an Aztec version of Namor, but it makes him look more busy and complicated than the regal and pristine Namor from the comics. The actor looks great and has a strong physical presence at least, although it's not the Namor voice I always had in my head.

M'Baku is still the token black male main character in this movie. I wonder if there were ever plans to bring in Vibraxas or Taku at some point or if the plans to expand the cast were thrown off by Chadwick's death and needing to throw in Riri Williams, making the cast predominantly women focused because all the other male characters either died or were jailed.

It continues to feel weird for me how much focus and attention Riri Williams is getting in a Black Panther movie when she's ostensibly an Iron Man character. She's even getting a full-blown armor. Like, isn't that stuff you save for her show?

[davetvs]

Huh? They've been doing that since the start...including T'Challa himself (and, you know, Spider-Man) being introduced with significant screentime in a Captain America movie. Why would they need to save Ironheart's armor for her show when she's a character, who, like Tony, will have a bunch of them over time?

[Frontier]

Huh? They've been doing that since the start...including T'Challa himself (and, you know, Spider-Man) being introduced with significant screentime in a Captain America movie. Why would they need to save Ironheart's armor for her show when she's a character, who, like Tony, will have a bunch of them over time?

Well, at least Captain America and Black Panther are pretty well-associated with each other, but generally I just find it weird to cross-mingle franchise characters to the extent they seem to be doing here and I was expecting her show to have more of an origin feel instead of straight-up giving her a major armor showing in a Black Panther movie.

[gurkle]

I'm not actually surprised that Michael Waldron is writing Avengers: Secret Wars, because Feige seems to have tremendous confidence in him and the die was probably cast when the other Rick & Morty writer got assigned Kang Dynasty.

Still, the best you can say about his first MCU movie credit is that the universally bad reviews for the script (even reviews that liked it admitted the script was weak) were not entirely his fault.

Sometimes I think Feige got a swelled head from elevating the Russos to superhero movie directors and now thinks he doesn't need to care if the writers he hires are ready to do this kind of movie.

It doesn't really fill you with confidence for the future of MCU writing in general, since instead of attacking the problems that caused the script weaknesses of the last two movies, he's doubling down on the Rick & Morty obsession.

[kidfresh512]

Well, at least Captain America and Black Panther are pretty well-associated with each other, but generally I just find it weird to cross-mingle franchise characters to the extent they seem to be doing here and I was expecting her show to have more of an origin feel instead of straight-up giving her a major armor showing in a Black Panther movie.

I mean to be fair Riri has an established friendship/working relationship with Shuri in the comics too. It isn't that weird that with no Tony in the MCU RiRi would accelerate her peer mentorship with the MCU's main engineering big brain at the moment. Its the largest platform she can get to introduce the character to the masses and lead off to her show. I think it fits perfectly on paper.

[Factor]

She also doesn't have powers.

Or her personality.

[GenericUsername]

I'm not actually surprised that Michael Waldron is writing Avengers: Secret Wars, because Feige seems to have tremendous confidence in him and the die was probably cast when the other Rick & Morty writer got assigned Kang Dynasty.

Still, the best you can say about his first MCU movie credit is that the universally bad reviews for the script (even reviews that liked it admitted the script was weak) were not entirely his fault.

Sometimes I think Feige got a swelled head from elevating the Russos to superhero movie directors and now thinks he doesn't need to care if the writers he hires are ready to do this kind of movie.

It doesn't really fill you with confidence for the future of MCU writing in general, since instead of attacking the problems that caused the script weaknesses of the last two movies, he's doubling down on the Rick & Morty obsession.

Ugh, haven't liked his writing. I'll save money not buying a ticket though.

[davetvs]

I mean to be fair Riri has an established friendship/working relationship with Shuri in the comics too. It isn't that weird that with no Tony in the MCU RiRi would accelerate her peer mentorship with the MCU's main engineering big brain at the moment. Its the largest platform she can get to introduce the character to the masses and lead off to her show. I think it fits perfectly on paper.

Exactly. I'm not ready for how much "it's not what I personally wanted, therefore it's objectively bad" complaining this movie is going to inspire.

[John Venus]

BP2:

-FEET WINGS!

-Ramonda really waving that death flag.

-Lots of parallels between Okoye and Namor being thrown here. I can sense some major conflict between the two.

-I love Riri's giant bulky proto IH armor.

-I have a strong feeling Doom orchestrated the conflict between Wakanda and Talocan.

-Love Shuri's suit. Wasn't expecting them to reveal it in trailer though. Let's see how this goes.

-Love that M'baku is getting more action scenes here.

-I sense a strong lack of Nakia in the trailer though.

Secret Wars:

-Not a fan of Michael Waldron. Fingers crossed that he's learned his lesson from Loki and MoM and hopefully improves.

-I like the rumors of Ryan Coogler possibly directing SW. BP2 feels like a tryout for him handling a huge 'event movie' with emotional stakes and an ensemble cast much like how Civil War was the Russo Bros 'audition' for IW and EG.

[Frontier]

I'm not actually surprised that Michael Waldron is writing Avengers: Secret Wars, because Feige seems to have tremendous confidence in him and the die was probably cast when the other Rick & Morty writer got assigned Kang Dynasty.

Still, the best you can say about his first MCU movie credit is that the universally bad reviews for the script (even reviews that liked it admitted the script was weak) were not entirely his fault.

Sometimes I think Feige got a swelled head from elevating the Russos to superhero movie directors and now thinks he doesn't need to care if the writers he hires are ready to do this kind of movie.

It doesn't really fill you with confidence for the future of MCU writing in general, since instead of attacking the problems that caused the script weaknesses of the last two movies, he's doubling down on the Rick & Morty obsession.

I can't say I'm too happy about this after MoM of madness, but I guess he's a good point man considering all the scripting edits, changes, and cameos will probably be in Secret Wars and he technically kicked all this off in Loki to begin with.

I mean to be fair Riri has an established friendship/working relationship with Shuri in the comics too. It isn't that weird that with no Tony in the MCU RiRi would accelerate her peer mentorship with the MCU's main engineering big brain at the moment. Its the largest platform she can get to introduce the character to the masses and lead off to her show. I think it fits perfectly on paper.

The "no Tony" thing is one of the sticking points for me unless they're going to give her a better connection to him in her show, but I feel like we could've introduced more BP or Wakandan characters instead of making Riri a central character of the film, but that's just me.

I guess they did the same thing with America Chavez and Dr. Strange.

Exactly. I'm not ready for how much "it's not what I personally wanted, therefore it's objectively bad" complaining this movie is going to inspire.

Well, considering real life events I think that's true for everyone involved.