MCU's China

[liamkm]

If you were living in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Mainland China, how will things be different from our reality? In other words, in a world where super powered people exist, and are largely Westerners, how would that affect the MCU's China politically, economically or socially?

For example, would China be early adopters of Tony's clean energy inventions? Would China scale up or scale down its military in response to the Avenger's Initiative? Will the existence of a walking Norse god, Thor, make believers in Buddhism more devout, or less devout?

I'm curious about your educated thoughts or what has been produced for the MCU/ Marvel comic books relating to this, thanks.

[vitruvian]

If you were living in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Mainland China, how will things be different from our reality? In other words, in a world where super powered people exist, and are largely Westerners, how would that affect the MCU's China politically, economically or socially?
I'm curious about your thoughts or what has been produced for the MCU/ Marvel comic books relating to this, thanks.

About as much as the MCU's United States, which is to say not much yet apart from when superheroes or aliens actually show up. There may or may not be Stark consumer goods, some HYDRA or SHIELD presence, etc., but the latter at least probably won't be visible to most people most of the time.

Now, the MCU does seem to be on the verge of several technological breakthroughs possibly finding their way into the consumer market and actually changing the life of more people, two of them developed by Stark and one by a close associate:

1) Clean power generation (apart from periodic waste disposal of palladium core rings corroded by neutron flux, if there's not enough vibranium around) using arc reactors.

2) Utility-level AI on the level of what Tony used for the Iron Legion (he's not going to release the more advanced stuff derived from JARVIS and the knowledge gleaned from the Mind Stone after Ultron happened, of course) or his helper robots like Dum-E.

3) The tissue regeneration/replacement and healing technology developed by Dr. Helen Cho. If it's good enough for patching up Clint Barton, then it's safe and tested enough to be used for other human patients as well, even if on a trial basis...

There's also the possibility that Tony did enough work on perfecting Extremis in order to 'fix' Pepper and allow the removal of his embedded arc reactor and shrapnel that it could now be used for medical purposes without risking the subjects overheating and exploding any longer, and possibly without giving them superstrength and so.... but on the other hand, it could still be risky, at least in terms of being easily weaponized, and that could be precisely why he got involved with Cho, to provide the world with a safer alternative in terms of advanced medical technology. For the same reasons of worries about weaponization, he's probably not looking to sell portable or vehicle-compatible arc reactors at the moment (too easy to hook up such power supplies to weapons systems, both powered armor and others), and he may be leery of releasing even his weaker AI code until he's able to figure out how to make Asimovian laws or similar protocols stick.

[Sutekh]

What we've seen of Chinese heroes in the comic book continuity (Radioactive Man, Collective Man, 'China Force') suggests that mutants or superhumans born in China tend to be drafted into the army / government service.

More info on that here.

How that applies (or if it would be relevant at all) to the cinematic universe remains to be seen.

We don't really know what they've got access to in the way of ultra technology or 'omega level' mutants, but given the nature of their government, very authoritarian and willing to make large decisions without fear of any sort of oversight or checks and balances getting in their way, if they *did* have access to Stark level tech or mutants with massively society-affecting powers like telepathy or weather control, most likely those sorts of things would result in some pretty huge changes. (So, to keep 616 China as similar to 'our' China, it might be best to assume that they *don't* have a Stark, or a Storm, or a Xavier, since, unlike the more fractious and adversarial US political environment, where any proposal, no matter it's benefits, will automatically be opposed by the rival party for purely political purposes, China might more rapidly embrace some pretty shocking changes.)

I don't think the existence of Thor, or even ancient Chinese deities walking the Earth (at least 14 of which are already established as existing in the 616 universe), would much affect Buddhism, which (as I understand it, anyway) is more about the advancement of the self than worshipping external beings.

[itspopularnowitsucks]

What we've seen of Chinese heroes in the comic book continuity (Radioactive Man, Collective Man, 'China Force') suggests that mutants or superhumans born in China tend to be drafted into the army / government service.

More info on that here.

How that applies (or if it would be relevant at all) to the cinematic universe remains to be seen.

We don't really know what they've got access to in the way of ultra technology or 'omega level' mutants, but given the nature of their government, very authoritarian and willing to make large decisions without fear of any sort of oversight or checks and balances getting in their way, if they *did* have access to Stark level tech or mutants with massively society-affecting powers like telepathy or weather control, most likely those sorts of things would result in some pretty huge changes. (So, to keep 616 China as similar to 'our' China, it might be best to assume that they *don't* have a Stark, or a Storm, or a Xavier, since, unlike the more fractious and adversarial US political environment, where any proposal, no matter it's benefits, will automatically be opposed by the rival party for purely political purposes, China might more rapidly embrace some pretty shocking changes.)

I don't think the existence of Thor, or even ancient Chinese deities walking the Earth (at least 14 of which are already established as existing in the 616 universe), would much affect Buddhism, which (as I understand it, anyway) is more about the advancement of the self than worshipping external beings.

Which is not true for plebeians. They use Buddhism the same way as God, to pray for their future or absolve their wrongdoing.

[liamkm]

Thanks for pointing out the areas of tech innovations in the MCU, and the effects of Omega level tech/ supers on the direction of the MCU!

[t hedge coke]

Which is not true for plebeians. They use Buddhism the same way as God, to pray for their future or absolve their wrongdoing.

The existence of a flying man with a hammer wouldn't have much effect on that, either, though.

[itspopularnowitsucks]

The existence of a flying man with a hammer wouldn't have much effect on that, either, though.

That's when you think there is only one major religion in China.

In fact I can see the existence of Norse gods an evidence of existence of Taoism deities (worshiped in the same way as God by us plebeians. Pray for your future and absolve your sins).

Which then will be attributed to Kun-Lun in Iron Fist, since Kunlun Mountain is actually one of the Taoism celestial headquarters in the real mythology.

[t hedge coke]

That's when you think there is only one major religion in China.

Actually, no. It's what happens when a flying man with a hammer doesn't contradict or cancel out any part of a religion.

I wouldn't imagine most Catholics would throw up their hands and give up the ghost because Flying Hemsworth roams the planet.

And, how does

Which then will be attributed to Kun-Lun in Iron Fist, since Kunlun Mountain is actually one of the Taoism celestial headquarters in the real mythology.

actually follow? Why would anyone decide that the existence of a long haired flying man who hangs out with the Hulk would prove that any "gods" exist, much less ones that are not seen? And how would that connect to Iron Fist, who, as far as we know, isn't someone Thor namechecks a lot.

[itspopularnowitsucks]

Actually, no. It's what happens when a flying man with a hammer doesn't contradict or cancel out any part of a religion.

I wouldn't imagine most Catholics would throw up their hands and give up the ghost because Flying Hemsworth roams the planet.

And, how does



actually follow? Why would anyone decide that the existence of a long haired flying man who hangs out with the Hulk would prove that any "gods" exist, much less ones that are not seen? And how would that connect to Iron Fist, who, as far as we know, isn't someone Thor namechecks a lot.

I dont' think you are following me.

Check Agents of SHIELD S01E08. Daisy Johnson asked if Thor exists, what about other gods like Vishnu from Hinduism? Which actually exists in Marvel Universe, incidently.

If Daisy knew her mother's country better, she would ask about Chinese gods.

Now if Kun-Lun was revealed to the world in Iron Fist (which is unlikely), Chinese Selvig would jump in excitement because the mythology has a basis.

[t hedge coke]

I dont' think you are following me.

Check Agents of SHIELD S01E08. Daisy Johnson asked if Thor exists, what about other gods like Vishnu from Hinduism? Which actually exists in Marvel Universe, incidently.

If Daisy knew her mother's country better, she would ask about Chinese gods.

Now if Kun-Lun was revealed to the world in Iron Fist (which is unlikely), Chinese Selvig would jump in excitement because the mythology has a basis.

That makes more sense, but still seems like a lot of leaps. And, wouldn't necessarily affect very many buddhists' buddhism any more than color tv or chicken parmesan being real does.

[Silvermoth]

Marvel tends to shy away from real world issues so they would probably use K'un lun instead of China like they talk about Eastern Europe/Russia by latveria and Africa by wakanda (a little bit)

[Holt]

Watching the shows and movies set on Earth, you get the sense that aside from the obvious presence of superheroes, their world isn't drastically different from ours. The level of civilian and police technology seen in Daredevil is the same as ours, for all intents and purposes.

I have to imagine their version of China is also similar to ours. Though I think Civil War might show how the rest of the world deals with superhumans or if they even have any.