Marvel Cinematic Universe general stuff

johnny_ultimate

^^^ Just FYI, this was run past the mods before being posted... allowed a post about it here as it may be of interest to some!

Agent Coulson

Spider-Man trailer delayed till the 18th being reported.

Zero-Cool

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Spider-Man trailer delayed till the 18th being reported.

Wasn't even expecting a trailer for that this year. Should be a strange trailer with no Peter...

Mr Crispy

Scott Derrickson has signed up for the Dr. Strange sequel.

pixelburp

Disappointed; could have been the most left-of-field and surreal MCU film if it embraced the format, only ending up the most boilerplate film in the franchise to date. The FX were psychedelic but fleeting.

FunLover18

pixelburp wrote: »

Disappointed; could have been the most left-of-field and surreal MCU film if it embraced the format, only ending up the most boilerplate film in the franchise to date. The FX were psychedelic but fleeting.

They deliberately played it as safe as possible in order to appeal to a wider audience, they knew they had the Marvel die-hards in the bag. I think he'll be given a lot more freedom on the sequel.

pixelburp

FunLover18 wrote: »

They deliberately played it as safe as possible in order to appeal to a wider audience, they knew they had the Marvel die-hards in the bag. I think he'll be given a lot more freedom on the sequel.

There's playing safe and there's avoiding using the big McGuffin in the most obvious and interesting way; Dr. Strange could have been a fun 'Back to the Future 2' style romp of crossed timelines and other time-travel shenanigans, but instead we got Tesco White Label MCU Film, with a warmed up version of Tony Stark

FunLover18

pixelburp wrote: »

There's playing safe and there's avoiding using the big McGuffin in the most obvious and interesting way; Dr. Strange could have been a fun 'Back to the Future 2' style romp of crossed timelines and other time-travel shenanigans, but instead we got Tesco White Label MCU Film, with a warmed up version of Tony Stark

I don't think you can be too flippant or laid back with time travel in something like the MCU, I think they played it right in that regard otherwise every Marvel film people will point out that they could just get Strange to go back. I won't disagree that the film was fairly bland but I think they were right to handle the time stone the way they did, especially given how we suspect that's how they'll solve the Thanos problem.

There has to be a negative consequence to using the time stone so drastically, just to prevent the "let's use the stone" arguments

pixelburp

No reason why the dangers couldn't have been part of a more creative script; Back to the Future 2 managed that quite ably via the fabled Almanac :P Heck it could have been part of the whole 'Strange learns the value of humility', in that he causes some time-travel screw ups, learning the value of patience and respect for the time stone by Act 3.

Anyway. Obviously it's all conjecture of course, just felt like the most drab MCU film to date and a real missed opportunity for something more interesting; for the first time I 'got' those outside the franchise who find the MCU terribly bland and mildly irritating.

Bacchus

FunLover18 wrote: »

They deliberately played it as safe as possible in order to appeal to a wider audience, they knew they had the Marvel die-hards in the bag. I think he'll be given a lot more freedom on the sequel.

That's exactly my thinking too. Ok, perhaps a bit of a missed opportunity to do something radically different but I think they walked the line well to introduce the magic world of Dr. Strange to the established MCU. I too think that there'll be a bit more freedom with the sequel to get.... wait for it.... strange. Also, despite the boilerplate "origin story (with magic)" narrative, I thought the final act was one of the more inventive of the MCU.

pixelburp

The final act was neat, but too little too late IMO. It was the 14th film in a franchise already presenting science-as-magic technology with Thor so honestly I think Marvel should have had more faith in its audience than lowballing the film so much. The public managed to deal with the chronological narrative complexity of Dunkirk without rioting, I think Dr. Strange would have been fine had it tried a little harder to play with the toys it had.

Anyway, agree to disagree territory at this point.

Mr Crispy

Wouldn't be surprised if they went easy with the time travel motif for the Strange movie, knowing that they'd be relying on the same trope again for Endgame................. possibly!

Foxtrol

Darch Nemesis wrote: »

Wouldn't be surprised if they went easy with the time travel motif for the Strange movie, knowing that they'd be relying on the same trope again for Endgame................. possibly!

Agreed, I think it is difficult to criticise MCU movies for plot ideas they didn't go with, when things are pointing that that item could be pivotal in a soon to be released movie.

As of now all we've really seen of the time stone is time reverses over a short window and Strange channeling it to see potential outcomes. If the time stone is destroyed/put out of use without it being a key part of a near future movie then I think the complaint is then fair game.

Even if it the first Strange is far from my favourite MCU movie, I'd much rather have it as it was than spend most of that movie and Endgame centered around the same stone and the impact of it's powers.

FunLover18

TBH I doubt the time stone will be around after Endgame, it's too easy a fix to have hanging around one of our hero's necks.

It'll be lost or sent to another time/dimension

Infinity Gems aren't easily destroyed, no?

JP Liz V1

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/florence-pugh-talks-join-scarlett-johansson-black-widow-1195519

Florence Pugh in talks to join Scarlett Johansson in Black Widow

JP Liz V1

Ray Winstone has joined Black Widow movie with David Harbour and Florence Pugh

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/ray-winstone-joins-marvel-black-224128220.html

Mr Crispy

Taika Waititi will be returning to direct the next Thor movie (Hollywood Reporter).

TheIrishGrover

Darch Nemesis wrote: »

Taika Waititi will be returning to direct the next Thor movie (Hollywood Reporter).

pixelburp

Direct AND Write: to echo what I said in the superhero forum, I hope Marvel give Waititi even more creative freedom than last time; he has earned it and the MCU is in sore need of freshening up. The scripts in the last 3 movies have been subpar IMO.

TheIrishGrover

pixelburp wrote: »

Direct AND Write: to echo what I said in the superhero forum, I hope Marvel give Waititi even more creative freedom than last time; he has earned it and the MCU is in sore need of freshening up. The scripts in the last 3 movies have been subpar IMO.

^^^^^^ To elaborate

Yeah, they need to shake it up a bit. And, in fairness, they know it. I did enjoy the last two Avengers movies. The Russo Brothers did a great job given that they had to work with so many stands and group dynamics and tones. Those movies are always going to be a hodge-podge and confused tone.

But they did a bang-up job of Captain America 2. Nice tight political thriller with huge action sequences that made sense and wasn't one CGI suit fighting another. Civil War was also a great flick. Again, interesting tone and plot.

Black Panther, once you got over the hype of the "first" black superhero (CoughBladeCough), was a pretty cool and interesting movie with a GREAT action scene in Korea. Even if it DID descend into a Marvel-blend bland CGI fight at the end.

Ironman 3 was my favourite Ironman movie. All the sass of Shane Black without the swearing. It's even set in the snow!

Gunn's Guardians is pretty fun. A ballsy move to make that movie given it's obscurity and the radically different characters. Plus: Michael Rooker!

And of course Ragnarok. Easily the most fun of the lot (Poor Cate Blanchet. Every time she was on screen I was tihinking "Get back to the others. Blah blah. Evil. Whatevs")

So, I don't want Waititi to make all their movies but they have a 2.37 bajillion dollars. They have finished their most recent "Phase" and are about to start a new one. Now's the time to experiment even more. You can still go for the big name directors if you want that name power. Obviously you might have to reign them in to be more family friendly but still give them room.

Affleck would write/direct a nice taut thriller. Probably more suited to a Black Widow-type movie (I know that's already in production but something similar)
Fincher for another, more paranoid thriller type movie
Bigelow can handle action.
You wanna go hard Sci-Fi? Neil Blomkamp. Do a District 9: Have a documentary crew follow Falcon/Captain america

So nothing too much of a stretch. These are still high-profile and pretty obvious directors/writers - I mean I'm not saying Denis Villeneuve for Dr strange 2 or anything. But yeah, they now have the PERFECT opportunity to shake things up and, to be fair, I do believe they know they need to shake it up to avoid further fatigue.


Edit: Rather than post another post to yours below:

Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about Captain Marvel (Which is damning in itself). and I actually quite like the Spiderman movies. Think they are a bit of fun but not gonna change the world. I enjoyed Antman for the same reason (And Penà) but the last was forgettable)

pixelburp

Meh. Captain Marvel was poorly written, EndGame just made sh*t up and coasted on its 'farewell' tour (Infinity War was the better movie), and Spider-Man: Far From Home was a lazy euro-vacation.

Maybe I'm being a little harsh on Spider-Man as the teenage comedy was still fun, but I absolutely stand by Marvel & EndGame. It's not like the MCU don't know they can knock these scripts out without trying and they'll make bank.

IMO they franchise needs a second wind; they've proved they can make this shared universe work, they've finished "Season 1". I'd love to see them stretch out a little, go for broke.

El Duda

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

Yeah, they need to shake it up a bit. And, in fairness, they know it.

The last three Marvel films;



Spider-Man: Far From Home

Production Budget: $160 million

Worldwide: $849,993,291




Avenger Endgame

Production Budget: $356 million

Worldwide: $2,781,545,151





Captain Marvel

Production Budget: $152 million

Worldwide: $1,128,274,794



They certainly will not be thinking "We need to shake things up". If anything, they'll be thinking "We need to keep on doing exactly what we're doing"


The day one of these films doesn't manage to make back over double the production budget will be the day they decide to seriously shake things up.

For now, they'll dip their toes gently into other genres/tones/themes. They'll give the directors a bit more creative license etc... But if you're expecting big changes for 'season 2' you may be dissapointed.

Potential-Monke

I think the problem they'll have going forward is doing something that hasn't been done yet. I loved the first phase save for a few films, but I'm finding it hard to see how they can go beyond what they have already done. Like, so far we have the Snap, we had Ego, Hela, Ultron, Dormammu... All potential world ending villains. I don't know enough lore to know what else is out there, but it'll be hard to bring the same level of 'Aw sheeet' as those. (Also, don't spoil anything for me)

But I have faith. I personally thought Far From Home was amazing, and up there as one of the best so far in the MCU. And unlike others, I didn't think Endgame was all that great. First time seeing it I was blown away, but subsequent viewings made me realise I was only caught in the moment. I personally think it's one of the weaker ones now, but I also strongly dislike Winter Soldier as I just don't like the character Bucky. That could be the actor though, just doesn't do it for me.

I'm excited to see what's coming (I believe we know Adam is making an appearance in the next GotG movie), but I'm struggling to see how they can do another 20+ films and keep them exciting and fresh.

Tazzimus

We could get Galactus, he's a fairly big threat, figuratively and literally.
With Fox now part of Disney, we could also get Dr.Doom. Plenty more stories to be told, just depends how well they translate to the big screen really.

Foxtrol

Yeah, the Fox properties open a whole new world of directions they can go with it. I however dont think they'll can build in such an obvious way to a Thanos/Infinity Stone type threat that covers the course of 4 phases. It should and will likely be a lot more subtle build than that.

Bacchus

Foxtrol wrote: »

Yeah, the Fox properties open a whole new world of directions they can go with it. I however dont think they'll can build in such an obvious way to a Thanos/Infinity Stone type threat that covers the course of 4 phases. It should and will likely be a lot more subtle build than that.

Galactus would be easy to do just that (in 3 phases). Just like Thanos, they only need to show teases in the first two phases before finally having him arrive phase 3. In broad strokes, they could start out in the GotG "universe" with teases of reports of planets being wiped out. Throw in the shadow of Galactus. A flash of Silver Surfer blazing through space in another. End Phase 2 with the introduction of Silver Surfer properly (Fantastic Four would need to be brought in to Phase 2 as well) and ramp up the impending doom (no pun intended). Phase 3... Galactus arrives at Earth. The only problem might be that it'd be too similar to the build up of Thanos.

Venom

Foxtrol wrote: »

Yeah, the Fox properties open a whole new world of directions they can go with it. I however dont think they'll can build in such an obvious way to a Thanos/Infinity Stone type threat that covers the course of 4 phases. It should and will likely be a lot more subtle build than that.

The big problem the Fox properties have is that Fox already mined a lot of the big characters and then shat on them.

The X-Men franchise needs a long rest at this point and even if it's given a 5 to 10-year break, most of the big mutant storylines such as Dark Pheonix, Magneto, Apocolypse, old Man Logan and the time travel stuff has already been done and in some cases done twice.

The Fantastic Four has been so badly handed will movie goers even consider giving a third reboot a shot? That's not even taken into account that a fair amount of the big FF plotlines are pretty quirky and would seem to be just more GOTG level hijinks for non comic fans!

Foxtrol

Bacchus wrote: »

Galactus would be easy to do just that (in 3 phases). Just like Thanos, they only need to show teases in the first two phases before finally having him arrive phase 3. In broad strokes, they could start out in the GotG "universe" with teases of reports of planets being wiped out. Throw in the shadow of Galactus. A flash of Silver Surfer blazing through space in another. End Phase 2 with the introduction of Silver Surfer properly (Fantastic Four would need to be brought in to Phase 2 as well) and ramp up the impending doom (no pun intended). Phase 3... Galactus arrives at Earth. The only problem might be that it'd be too similar to the build up of Thanos.

Oh, I can see there being nods to Galactus, like you point out, but the Infinity Stones and Thanos nods were interwoven through nearly every movie in the first 3 phases. Aside from the issue of it being too similar to the Thanos build up, I don't think the Galactus narrative has enough background for a 20ish movie buildup. I see just very small nuggets being dropped every now and then initially before it ramping up much further down the line towards the end of phase 2 (presuming they go with the 3 phases again).