[Spoilers] Return in "Avengers Standoff: Welcome to Pleasant Hill" #1

[XPac]

Are they though?

As Hill points out, villains escape again and again, wracking up body counts that serial killers would envy. 'The villain will escape and kill again and again, spilling blood by the bucket full' is a lampshade that almost every comic book writer has used. Hell, the end of this issue concludes with...wait for it...a jail break.

I imagine that writers think they're being creative or meta when they invoke the whole serial nature of hero vs villain, but it's been done for so long that it's not creative and frankly pulls me out of the story. It's not a lampshade any more, it's a stop sign. And in this instance, undermines the ending because Hill is 100% correct.

Are we supposed to feel sorry for the villains, who have broken out of every jail thus far?

I can't agree Hill is 100% correct, but in the least I see where she's coming from.

The way the system works now, these people will likely murder innocent people 6 months from now, get stopped, and murder innocent people again six months after that. And that sucks, and people like Hill and the general public have every right to be frustrated with the system as is.

I'm not sure we're supposed to feel sorry for the bad guys, or root for Hill for that matter. But in the least we should likewise understand why the Avengers will shut this down. But yeah, I do feel a bit bad for Hill here (though I'm sure I'm in the minority). She's likely going to take a big fall here and she SHOULD... but she's just doing the best she can in an impossible situation.

[XPac]

No we shouldn't feel sorry for them but we also should not condone the actions of hill with the whole kobik situation she has proven the fact that she is not better than the villians shield is supposed to fight, when standoff ends I hope tha hiil will be out of shield and preferably in jail.

I'd still say Hill is better than the villains she opposes.

The same way I'd say Punisher is better than the villains he opposes, even though he himself is a mass murderer.

Hill, like Frank is genuinely doing what they feel is best as far as serving the greater good. And to a degree, they actually have a point. You can say that about SOME villains as well (say a Doom or a Magneto on a good day) ... but maybe do what they do purely for self serving reasons. It's a matter of degree I suppose, but I wouldn't say it's the same thing.

[Stars & Stripes]

Phil is the director of SHIELD on the TV show, so I wonder if we won't essentially see the same thing here.

Probably a downsized version of SHIELD.

They've already introduced TV/comic synergy by giving Coulson his TV show team in a book that's literally named like said TV show, so might as well make him director to complete it.

[btmarine23]

I just finished reading it and really couldn't wait to find out what was going on…loved it. Is there something to read before this issue?

[Odd Rödney]

This issue was fantastic. I loved the reveal at the end and I'm excited to see what comes of it all.

[Penance]

I'd still say Hill is better than the villains she opposes.

The same way I'd say Punisher is better than the villains he opposes, even though he himself is a mass murderer.

Hill, like Frank is genuinely doing what they feel is best as far as serving the greater good. And to a degree, they actually have a point. You can say that about SOME villains as well (say a Doom or a Magneto on a good day) ... but maybe do what they do purely for self serving reasons. It's a matter of degree I suppose, but I wouldn't say it's the same thing.

Ever since civil war hill has been a self serving fascist asshole with all her stupid decisions screw ups, she is as bad as many of the villians I mean she was one of the main persons who contributed to speedball's suffering when he was found after the explosion that started the civil war.

[Stars & Stripes]

I just finished reading it and really couldn't wait to find out what was going on…loved it. Is there something to read before this issue?

You might wanna read Sam Wilson: Captain America. The Kobik thing gets some mention there. Other than that, this is the unofficial start for Standoff.

[Noodle]

So wait, you're telling me they brought back Zemo, a character that's in the new Captain America movie, in a story that puts Steve back in the Captain America suit right before the new Captain America movie, that leads to Civil War, the title of the new Captain America movie?

YOU DON'T SAY!?!?!?!?

All joking aside he's one of my favorite Cap villains so it's good to see him around again.

[Hypestyle]

This would have been a good way to reintroduce some of the Malibu characters.

[Bl00dwerK]

I probably shouldn't have read that, but I did...

[itspopularnowitsucks]

Looks to me this event is used to
(1) reintroduce Thunderbolts who clearly is one of the three undisclosed 2020 movies
(2) replace Hill with Coulson

[protege]

I was thinking about that as soon the reveal happened in the training video. I watch the show and this comic quickly reminded me of it. Forced forget and putting in fake memories never works out well (unless the person willingly wants to forget to have a 2nd chance at a new life). On the show it was a powder keg for Coulson (it pissed him off) and it usually never works out right. I have to wonder how comicbook version of Coulson might think of this and does he know and supports this? Maria Hill is a person of extremes and ends justify the means person that in comics never goes well for such characters. After this disaster I can see Maria Hill being forced out of SHIELD and a new director setup.
As for the girl I have wild guesses about her but she still remains a mystery.

I was planning on skipping this event, but if coulson shows up, I may have to reconsider.

[XPac]

Ever since civil war hill has been a self serving fascist asshole with all her stupid decisions screw ups, she is as bad as many of the villians I mean she was one of the main persons who contributed to speedball's suffering when he was found after the explosion that started the civil war.

Asshole at times, sure... but I wouldn't call her self-serving. She's just bending or breaking the rules to do the job. It's an ends justifies the means sort of thing.

In this case for example, I don't think Hill is doing any of this for herself. I think she simply see's the current model of dealing with criminals as flawed... it hasn't worked and quite frankly probably never will. So she's trying something different, and that to a degree is understandable given how many countless lives are lost because these criminals just keep on escaping over and over again.

That's not of course to say what Hill is doing is right... it's not. And before the end of the story I'm sure that will be made clear. But I just can't entirely fault her for trying extreme measures to deal with the issue, because again what they're doing now isn't working and likely never will. And that's gotta be hard to take from her position. After a certain point all of it must start to feel meaningless.

[XPac]

Looks to me this event is used to
(1) reintroduce Thunderbolts who clearly is one of the three undisclosed 2020 movies
(2) replace Hill with Coulson

Thunderbolts would be a pretty hard movie to do.

You need to introduce enough villains to make a descent team of heroes, and that's not necessariy easy especially given a good deal of movie villains don't even make it out of the first movie alive.

Though I suppose they could start pumping out villains in Agents of SHIELD and maybe even the Net Flicks shows.

[itspopularnowitsucks]

Thunderbolts would be a pretty hard movie to do.

You need to introduce enough villains to make a descent team of heroes, and that's not necessariy easy especially given a good deal of movie villains don't even make it out of the first movie alive.

Though I suppose they could start pumping out villains in Agents of SHIELD and maybe even the Net Flicks shows.

Zero chance, TV departments are separate beast. However if they really want to, it's pretty easy to introduce the original Thunderbolts. They only needed to appear as side villain like Batroc. So
Zemo - Captain America 3
Atlas - Ant-Man and Wasp
Beetle - Spider-Man
Moonstone - Captain Marvel
Stuff Screaming Mimi and Fixer somewhere then you are done. Or they can be introduced in the film proper as the token good guy and token bad lackey and everyone else in between.

See? Here is a valid plan. Although there is not really a point since everyone knows the twist already. Who said the film is going to be a complete adaptation of the comics anyway.