Marvel One-Shots

[The Question]

But Surtr is a plot device. He has no personality beyond "I want to destroy the world for reasons." They should play him like a Lovecraft-style cosmic horror, not an actual character.

 

[KDM1986]

Surtur should definitely come off as a force of nature.

 

[The Question]

Really, a Thor movie with Surtur as the main antagonist is the perfect vehicle for MOARLOKI. Surtur is the driving force of the plot and technically the main antagonist, but he's more like a walking thinking natural disaster than a villain who's a character with motivations and a personality, and the real character conflict comes from Loki and Thor butting heads and sorting out their **** while they both attempt to avert this crisis in their own ways. You don't need to spend any time on developing Surtur, because he's really just a big scary thing that's big and scary because our feeble minds cannot comprehend how massive and silly he is, so all of the character stuff can focus on the two brothers.

 

[TheHeatKitchen]

Really, a Thor movie with Surtur as the main antagonist is the perfect vehicle for MOARLOKI. Surtur is the driving force of the plot and technically the main antagonist, but he's more like a walking thinking natural disaster than a villain who's a character with motivations and a personality, and the real character conflict comes from Loki and Thor butting heads and sorting out their **** while they both attempt to avert this crisis in their own ways. You don't need to spend any time on developing Surtur, because he's really just a big scary thing that's big and scary because our feeble minds cannot comprehend how massive and silly he is, so all of the character stuff can focus on the two brothers.

To me, that sounds like the thinking Fox had with Galactus.

 

[The Question]

To me, that sounds like the thinking Fox had with Galactus.

And in that respect, they weren't wrong. Galactus is not a deep and complicated character. He's barely a character at al. He's a giant, terrifying thing who's very presence tells us that we're completely ****ed. The problem with Galactus in the Fantastic Four movie is that their version wasn't visually interesting and it was in a ****** movie.

If you're suggesting that Surtur get actual character development, what do you have in mind?

 

[JJmelo]

Surtur may not need time dedicated to developing character but he definitely needs screen time in order to prove he is in fact as badass and evil as he is made out to be. Malekith and Galactus were in their respective movies and we were told they meant business but neither actually did anything, like at all (Kurse was more of a threat than Malekith). If he were to just show up at the end for a final fight that would be extremely underwhelming, unless he kicked the crap out of Thor and co first.

 

[Shoppy]

To me, that sounds like the thinking Fox had with Galactus.

The problem with FF: Rise Of The Silver Surfer was that they dropped in the Ultimate version of Galactus, (or at least something closer to what we got when the original recently took the Ultimate version as his herald), into a movie that drew no other influences from the Ultimate universe and was also a sequel to a movie that went down better with the younger end of the audience.

It was shortsighted to not go for a more traditional take on Galactus,

I dunno if it's cos Fox thought taking a little something from the Ultimates universe might win back teenage fans who thought the first movie was a bit childish, or maybe that it was just a cop out in terms of not challenging themselves to deliver "proper" Galactus effectively?

Either way, The only saving grace of the "movie Galactus" has come from Marvel merging the 616 and Ultimate versions to give us something the movie version can claim to resemble

:/

 

[The Question]

Surtur may not need time dedicated to developing character but he definitely needs screen time in order to prove he is in fact as badass and evil as he is made out to be. Malekith and Galactus were in their respective movies and we were told they meant business but neither actually did anything, like at all (Kurse was more of a threat than Malekith). If he were to just show up at the end for a final fight that would be extremely underwhelming, unless he kicked the crap out of Thor and co first.

I think Surtur is the kind of character were a less is more approach might work best. In "The Call of Cthullu," you never see Cthullu until the last couple of pages. The whole rest of the story is spent building him up. Surtur, I think, would work best like that.

 

[JJmelo]

They still need to do something to establish the kind of presence Surtur is, just saying that he is a force of nature may not cut it. They need to show what he is capable of. They told us that Malekith was a monster but he got his butt whooped by Frigga, doesn't equate. I just don't want them to skimp on doing whatever it is they need to do in order to fully realize the threat he poses. Meaning, make any confrontations between Thor and Surtur epic as opposed to a couple of stumbling idjits.

 

[DrCosmic]

I think if Surtur is being built up there needs to be someone or something taking action to make that happen. Enchantress perhaps?

 

[Dr. Evil]

so back to the one shots...

Drew Pearce said he wrote one for Crossbones.

 

[Slushy]

I like the one shots, but if they're going to add to the story, they're better off as the post-credits scene.

 

[Mr. Dent]

I think the next one-shot will be Thor related.

IM3 - Captain America-theme'd short
Thor 2 - Iron Man-theme'd short

If it's a trend we should get something involving Thor characters next.

Also, Marvel really needs to find a way to get this in front of their movies like the Pixar shorts. I really don't see why they don't. Just take the one-shot from the last bluray and stick in front of the new movie. So many people are missing out on these one-shots that deserve to be seen.

 

[Shakel92]

Personally, I think it is a great marketing ploy.

 

[RetroNaz]

I just watched All Hail the King and LOVED IT!
Thank goodness they did that. It's not a back pedal but definitely tells us that

Spoiler

is a real Mandarin out there.

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

I just watched All Hail the King and LOVED IT!
Thank goodness they did that. It's not a back pedal but definitely tells us that

Spoiler

is a real Mandarin out there.

and how exactly is that not back paddeling?

 

[TheHeatKitchen]

And in that respect, they weren't wrong. Galactus is not a deep and complicated character. He's barely a character at al. He's a giant, terrifying thing who's very presence tells us that we're completely ****ed. The problem with Galactus in the Fantastic Four movie is that their version wasn't visually interesting and it was in a ****** movie.

If you're suggesting that Surtur get actual character development, what do you have in mind?

Really I'm not thinking of any characterization for Surtur. There really isn't much of a way to do it that would make a lot of sense and pull in the GA.

I really do agree with you. As long as they make the character on the level with the rest better than Silver Surfer, use a better villain than their version of Dr. Doom and make Surtur more impressive than Galactus, it could work.

 

[Dr. Evil]

I think the next one-shot will be Thor related.

IM3 - Captain America-theme'd short
Thor 2 - Iron Man-theme'd short

If it's a trend we should get something involving Thor characters next.

Also, Marvel really needs to find a way to get this in front of their movies like the Pixar shorts. I really don't see why they don't. Just take the one-shot from the last bluray and stick in front of the new movie. So many people are missing out on these one-shots that deserve to be seen.

As long as the Thor related One Shot has nothing to do with Darcy Lewis.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

As long as the Thor related One Shot has nothing to do with Darcy Lewis.

Of course not...it'll be about her boy toy intern who's name nobody cares enough to remember.

 

[RetroNaz]

and how exactly is that not back paddeling?

Easy. It plays up that this actor had to study or research a "Mandarin" legend. And probably one that AIM used for any number of reason.

It just so happens that the legend is real, and wants to reclaim their name.

It stays true to the IM3 story whilst giving possibility of a greater one.

 

[chamber-music]

so back to the one shots...

Drew Pearce said he wrote one for Crossbones.

A Crossbones one shot might be interesting.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

Easy. It plays up that this actor had to study or research a "Mandarin" legend. And probably one that AIM used for any number of reason.

It just so happens that the legend is real, and wants to reclaim their name.

It stays true to the IM3 story whilst giving possibility of a greater one.

People are obsessed with the idea that Marvel did this entire 15 minute short film just to appease a few angry Mandarin fans on the internet, hence all the backpeddling/retcon nonsense.

 

[blalex620]

and how exactly is that not back paddeling?

I would say it's not a backpedal because it fits perfectly with IM3 still. Plus it actually makes more sense than what actually happened in IM3. Think about it, the 10 rings have been around since before IM1. I doubt that Killian had been the head master of the 10 rings for that long. So when he decided to use the Mandarin and the 10 rings as the fall guys not realizing that they are actually a real entity. Remember, no one but Stark and his people knew that the 10 rings were the ones that kidnapped Stark. Plus they are the one's who funded Vanko's trip to Madrid. It's clear they have a grudge against Stark which is the perfect way to set up the real Mandarin vs Stark conflict.

 

[Spider-Fan]

Technically, the 10 Rings are never mentioned by name in IM2. We only know that they were involved due to deleted material and such. The average movie goer hadn't heard the name "The Ten Rings" since IM1.

 

[TheVileOne]

It is back-pedaling no matter what is said.

When would we ever even see the "real" Mandarin anyway? Probably never.