MCU: The Marvel Cinematic Universe Official Discussion - Part 1

[Dr. Evil]

While not MCU we also have the first ever "time-travel" type comic book movie, and first ever "villain team" comic book movie in a few years

We also have non-Marvel/Non DC adaptations with sequels (Transformers 4, Sin City 2, 300: Rise of an Empire) and three reboots based off comics (Godzilla, Ninja Turtles and The Hercules film starring the Rock) not to mention the epic failure that was "I Frankenstein."

 

[KangConquers]

*sigh* I guess this is as good a place as any, but I'm just torn up over the fact that I can't get excited about Marvel's movies anymore. I didn't see Thor: The Dark World and the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy did not interest me in the least bit. The trailer for the new American Godzilla movie has me more excited. I think my issue is the over saturation of comic book movies lately. They're just not special anymore like they used to be. Back in the early millennium there was at least one or two big comic book movies a year, but now you can't walk into a theater with seeing a dozen or more comic book properties being made into a live action extravaganza. I've just lost all passion for these films. I think the best plan of action to take is to tale a break from Marvel and see if it hopefully improves in a few years.

I actually feel the exact opposite about Guardians. I see it breathing life into a tired genre.

I do think we're in for an end of the decade bubble burst similar to the death of the Western. The Superhero film has been a prominent sub-genre for years, and in the last few years has been down right dominant. This can't last forever.

 

[Dr. Evil]

I actually feel the exact opposite about Guardians. I see it breathing life into a tired genre.

I do think we're in for an end of the decade bubble burst similar to the death of the Western. The Superhero film has been a prominent sub-genre for years, and in the last few years has been down right dominant. This can't last forever.

And I'm not certain WB is able to catch up when the bubble does burst unless they start churning things out in a hurry.

 

[Frico]

Character's I'd like to see in the MCU (ASIDE from T'Challa and Ms/Captain Marvel):

Moon Knight
Shang-Chi
Spectrum (Monica Rambeau)
Captain Britain
Tigra
Mockingbird
Taskmaster
Blade

 

[Imjenn]

To the people that want Avengers 3 split into 2 movies, I just don't think it'll happen. I truly think the infinity stones will kick into high gear in Phase 3. Phase 3 may even end with Thanos assembling the gauntlet and the entire Avengers 3 be the huge battle. No need to make it more then one part when the "satellite" movies can do the set up

 

[Lord]

Agreed, i agree with Joss Whedon's opinion in this, though not the ones he stated about Empire Strikes Back, as i found that to work as a single film, The Avengers 3 shouldn't be a set up for the second half.

 

[ajpro]

To the people that want Avengers 3 split into 2 movies, I just don't think it'll happen. I truly think the infinity stones will kick into high gear in Phase 3. Phase 3 may even end with Thanos assembling the gauntlet and the entire Avengers 3 be the huge battle. No need to make it more then one part when the "satellite" movies can do the set up

In Avengers 3 we have not only the end of The Avengers Trilogy but also the climax of all three phases with everything and everyone from more than 10 movies. Two or even three hours movie still won't be "epic enough". It's the same story like Harry Potter and Deadly hallows. You just can't end the such an epic story with another movie. Make A3 an introduction to the final movie, connect all storylines introduce GOTG to Earth, and the final movie (Thanos Quest, Infinity war, Annihilation whatever they would call it) will be the last great battle that will also allow to reboot universe and recast most of actors.

 

[CyclopsWasRight]

Transformers 4 and Ninja Turtles are also based off comic books too as is Sin City 2 and 300. Those tend to be overlooked as CBMs because they aren't Marvel or DC.

Looking forward to Sin City 2

 

[Suzanne78]

I hope the comic book movie bubble doesn't burst soon. It feels like we're entering an age where studios are more willing to take big risks with their IPs, i.e. Marvel doing a Guardians of the Galaxy movie.

I love that a genre of movies I watched sort of "in the closet" when I was younger is now one of the most popular genres of movies today. I can sit with my friend who doesn't read comics and talk about Thor, Loki and Captain America with no reservation. I'm sure there will be a slump in the near future, maybe, every genre seems to go through it, but I'm kind of confident that if studios keep churning out quality movies, ones for the whole family, there will still be an audience. Which is pretty much what Marvel's doing right now.

 

[Loki882]

Looking forward to Sin City 2

I'm actually looking forward to 300: Rise of an Empire, if only for the fact that Eva Green looks like a complete badass in the film.

 

[Iceman]

I hope the comic book movie bubble doesn't burst soon. It feels like we're entering an age where studios are more willing to take big risks with their IPs, i.e. Marvel doing a Guardians of the Galaxy movie.

I love that a genre of movies I watched sort of "in the closet" when I was younger is now one of the most popular genres of movies today. I can sit with my friend who doesn't read comics and talk about Thor, Loki and Captain America with no reservation. I'm sure there will be a slump in the near future, maybe, every genre seems to go through it, but I'm kind of confident that if studios keep churning out quality movies, ones for the whole family, there will still be an audience. Which is pretty much what Marvel's doing right now.

Agreed. Sci-fi films seem to be accepted for the long term now (unlike regular fantasy or video game films) even if there isn't a good one for a while. I hope comic films get to that status one day where they don't need to outperform just to get the right to hang around and aren't vulnerable to potential slumps around the corner. If Avengers can go on being successful beyond a trilogy with Marvel continuing their phases along with it they will be fine for a good while yet. Even more so if JL can emulate that success. The team films doing big bucks opens up a lot of solo film opportunities that might not have been there otherwise.

 

[Six]

We need to get a forum section for the Defenders. I'd love to start discussing the Daredevil tv show but there are hardly any appropriate places to do it right now.

 

[sabetoonth]

Repurpose the old DD movie thread?

 

[Six]

Arrow has his own section though. With the Defenders, we're getting Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Jessica Jones, which leads into a miniseries. There needs to be at least a Defenders section, because one thread isn't enough.

Drew Goddard has already signed up to direct the first episode and write series and Melissa Rosenberg is writing Jessica Jones, so this is about as official as it can get. Waiting is simply procrastination at this point, because we're going to start getting casting announcements within the next couple of months, and half the fun of having a section is speculating.

 

[Dark Raven]

Arrow has his own section though. With the Defenders, we're getting Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Jessica Jones, which leads into a miniseries. There needs to be at least a Defenders section, because one thread isn't enough.

Drew Goddard has already signed up to direct the first episode and write series and Melissa Rosenberg is writing Jessica Jones, so this is about as official as it can get. Waiting is simply procrastination at this point, because we're going to start getting casting announcements within the next couple of months, and half the fun of having a section is speculating.

I'm sure it will get its own section once these series get going. The Flash doesn't have its own section yet. Nor does Gotham, and they're both further along than these Netflix series.

 

[Six]

I just think now is a perfect time to start them up. There are plenty of things to discuss like potential storylines, and villains, casting choices, etc. Most people aren't going to look all throughout the forums for a random "Daredevil movie" thread, so giving the Defenders a section will definitely get a lot more buzz going on. Same with Gotham and Flash. The TV section needs to be updated ASAP

 

[Gr0oT]

I honestly don't see how the comicbook movie bubble is anything at all like the previous bubbles that have been said to burst.
Everyone keeps using the terminology without defining it in relation to these previous bubbles that have burst.
If I search "movie bubble burst" all I get for results are forum threads with opinionated nerds explaining why the superhero bubble will burst, otherwise it's stuff about the 3d bubble bursting.

So long as superhero movies keep up quality and don't rehash the same ideas and don't constantly reboot then it'll keep going on strong. I see no reason why the public at large would tire of the format the MCU has used as a model.

I'd understand that if the MCU hadn't learned from the mistakes of Sony and Fox how the bubble would burst because at some point people would get sick and tired of reboots to reboots or shoddily put together cash grabs.

But the MCU has created a brand, the MCU has created continuity, the MCU has created an entire cinematic world.

This can only get stronger with age, like the Bond movies but better because of the diversity of it all.

 

[Suzanne78]

The thing that people forget about comic book movies and when they weren't doing great… it's likely because they weren't actually good movies. Like, I remember the 1990's and that wasn't such a good period for CBMs, except for a couple of Batman movies and The Crow (which I'm not sure a lot of people realized was based on a comic book). Then we had Blade. But mostly the 80's and 90's seemed like a virtual black hole of CBM franchises.

There was a period when FF/DD/Elecktra/Catwoman hit and it was like a trifecta of suck though X-Men was going on and Spider-Man was getting started. Then Nolan's Batfilms hit and started the upsurge in fans wanting less comic-booky comic book movies LOL! Marvel's response was to give us Iron Man, and that managed to hold it's own the same year TDK was released.

To me, it seems like the trend comes and goes in waves, but it's vastly dependent on whether the movies are quality. Now, with Fox/Sony and Marvel Studios churning out X number of movies every year from now until the foreseeable future, we'll see if that theory holds true.

 

[Six]

I can see the movies losing steam one day, which is why I think the Defenders tv series and all the other characters getting there own show is great, because it gives us more variety. We have a chance to get the darker characters we'd never see done justice on the big screen(while profiting of course) get brought to life in serialized format.

 

[Suzanne78]

This is why I'm loving Marvel's formula for the MCU - each movie and tv series proposed gives us different characters, different themes and tones and genres. They're comic book characters immersed in fantasy/period pieces/spy adventures/political thrillers/action comedy/space opera.

They're giving everyone different flavors and showing people that CBMs aren't all origin tales. They're mixing it up and giving us a grab bag of surprises.

 

[Six]

Exactly. Marvel hasn't really done a "traditional superhero movie". Theres always a different genre mixed in. Which in a way is why I think they're doing better than DC. DC's characters are generally more traditional superheroes. Justice Leagues concept is basically 5 Thor's and 1 Iron Man in one movie. Theres just not a lot of variety there.

 

[blalex620]

In Avengers 3 we have not only the end of The Avengers Trilogy but also the climax of all three phases with everything and everyone from more than 10 movies. Two or even three hours movie still won't be "epic enough". It's the same story like Harry Potter and Deadly hallows. You just can't end the such an epic story with another movie. Make A3 an introduction to the final movie, connect all storylines introduce GOTG to Earth, and the final movie (Thanos Quest, Infinity war, Annihilation whatever they would call it) will be the last great battle that will also allow to reboot universe and recast most of actors.

They're not rebooting the MCU though. They've already said its going to continue as long as they allow it and will only recast but keep the same continuity. While I do agree that Avengers 3 needs to be epic to end Thanos' storyline, it won't be the end of the current MCU. They'll just continue bringing in new IPs with different heroes them bring back the old heroes.

Also what I see happening is the superhero genre continuing to rise until Marvel does its major recast and then the movies will decline a little in terms of profit and then level off and that'll be the normal for a while.

 

[Six]

I just don't want to see them recasting someone like RDJ and having everyone else in the Avengers pretend he's the same guy. If you're going to recast, recast everyone sometime down the line.

 

[Gr0oT]

This is why I'm loving Marvel's formula for the MCU - each movie and tv series proposed gives us different characters, different themes and tones and genres. They're comic book characters immersed in fantasy/period pieces/spy adventures/political thrillers/action comedy/space opera.

They're giving everyone different flavors and showing people that CBMs aren't all origin tales. They're mixing it up and giving us a grab bag of surprises.

That's the beauty of it and what makes me hate the bursting bubble theory people go on about. Bottom line is the public wants to be entertained and they want variety. The MCU offers that.

They're not rebooting the MCU though. They've already said its going to continue as long as they allow it and will only recast but keep the same continuity. While I do agree that Avengers 3 needs to be epic to end Thanos' storyline, it won't be the end of the current MCU. They'll just continue bringing in new IPs with different heroes them bring back the old heroes.

Also what I see happening is the superhero genre continuing to rise until Marvel does its major recast and then the movies will decline a little in terms of profit and then level off and that'll be the normal for a while.

Exactly. They've go thousands of stories to pull from, they can make team-up movies, they can make crossover events, they can cover classic storylines and they can keep it going for years so long as they respect the material and keep up the quality.
It should also be taken into consideration that these thousands of stories were released over a period of over 40-50 years on a monthly, sometimes weekly basis... Movies have much slower paces.

I just don't want to see them recasting someone like RDJ and having everyone else in the Avengers pretend he's the same guy. If you're going to recast, recast everyone sometime down the line.

That be too much all at once!
It'll be hard enough to lose RDJ but if all a sudden they pull the rug out from under us and simultaneously remove Evans, Hemsworth, Jackson, Ruffalo et cetera it will be too much to handle!

It could also confuse the general audience, if everyone is all a sudden recast they might think it is a reboot and something that drastic will for sure hurt sales.

Do it like they did Rhodey and Banner, change the characters you need and not everyone around.




One thing I'm really curious about, and this is back on the general topic of the MCU, is if they will keep the rest of The Incredible Hulk cast when they finally get around to making a sequel?

I actually liked Liv Tyler as Betty, and although Will Hurt couldn't match Sam Elliot's Thunderbolt Ross I'd still like to see him return for continuities sake. I wouldn't be completely upset if Tim Blake Nelson was recast, I'd like someone less hyper for The Leader, perhaps William Fichtner could be a good choice? I also felt Ty Burrel made for an awful Leonard Samson.

Thoughts?

 

[fixxxer]

One thing I'm really curious about, and this is back on the general topic of the MCU, is if they will keep the rest of The Incredible Hulk cast when they finally get around to making a sequel?

I actually liked Liv Tyler as Betty, and although Will Hurt couldn't match Sam Elliot's Thunderbolt Ross I'd still like to see him return for continuities sake. I wouldn't be completely upset if Tim Blake Nelson was recast, I'd like someone less hyper for The Leader, perhaps William Fichtner could be a good choice? I also felt Ty Burrel made for an awful Leonard Samson.

Thoughts?

I preferred the cast of TIH better almost across the board. Thought both Liv Tyler and Hurt were really excellent. In any case, all of that is pretty much moot since TIH is a part of the MCU, and the inexplicable Ang Lee film is not... despite it (equally inexplicably) reaching a kind of cult status in these parts.

Never cared for the Doc Samson and all his gamma-irradiated silliness. Ty Burrell can come back as a psychiatrist if the plot demands it, but I wouldn't be torn up if they discarded that character.

My preference would be to keep Tim Black Nelson since he's an excellent actor. But I wouldn't have a problem with him being recast... obviously, some physical changes would occur.