Thanos = This Generation's Darth Vader

Conversations are very centered on North America here. I guess most posters are from there. It's the same with the constant talk about how iconic WW is, despite that outside NA she had Ant-Man level of success.
First, not that I speak for anyone but myself, but I've never noticed the posters from the United Kingdom, Australia and Zealand struggling to contribute - despite not being North Americans.

Second, cbms have a strong North American focus because Superheroes in the modern form ( I mean since 1938, if you consider mythological characters as a historical form of superhero) were a North American invention.

It's great to hear from folks from other cultural backgrounds though. I'd be interested to hear how Darth Vader was received outside of North America, but I recall Star Wars (1977) being a global phenomenon.
 
First, not that I speak for anyone but myself, but I've never noticed the posters from the United Kingdom, Australia and Zealand struggling to contribute - despite not being North Americans.

Second, cbms have a strong North American focus because Superheroes in the modern form ( I mean since 1938, if you consider mythological characters as a historical form of superhero) were a North American invention.

It's great to hear from folks from other cultural backgrounds though. I'd be interested to hear how Darth Vader was received outside of North America, but I recall Star Wars (1977) being a global phenomenon.

I believe AdBoy meant North American pop culture.

That is why I used the term westerners.
Star Wars is more or less a western-hemisphere-only religion :D, stronger in English speaking nations.
For example, from my anecdotal experience growing up, Star Trek is a lot bigger than SW in Germany.
 
Vader, he's absolutely not an icon or really well known outside the western emisphere.

You people still go on about like Vader is more known than Thanos nowadays...

Here in Asia is not even a contest, Vader is just "that helmet guy" that Americaphile nerds sometime have on their shirts, and that is the full extent of the general populace awareness.

OK, yet understand there is a reason the OP chose Vader as the highwater mark to surpass.
You are suggesting in Asia he's "not an icon or well known" and is pretty much negligible in pop culture awareness, (and Disney's struggle to crack that audience with SW speaks to that) so I am curios, in Asia with who would they fill in the blank with?
"THANOS = THIS GENERATION'S ______ ______ "
For example, from my anecdotal experience growing up, Star Trek is a lot bigger than SW in Germany.

This is great, I guess the question can be put to you as well; In Germany with who would they fill in the blank with?

Or anyone from anywhere else? If not Vader, who is the high-watermark fictional villain to supplant?
 
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OK, yet understand there is a reason the OP chose Vader as the highwater mark to surpass.
You are suggesting in Asia he's "not an icon or well known" and is pretty much negligible in pop culture awareness, (and Disney's struggle to crack that audience with SW speaks to that) so I am curios, in Asia with who would they fill in the blank with?
"THANOS = THIS GENERATION'S ______ ______ "


This is great, I guess the question can be put to you as well; In Germany with who would they fill in the blank with?

Or anyone from anywhere else? Who is the high-watermark fictional villain to supplant?

Oh, I get the intent of the thread, I was responding to the people who more or less claim Vader is still THE Vader of any generation, while he never was in some places to begin with, making the comparison between him and Thanos today not really a debatable contest.

Worldwide, I think Joker (Nicholson AND Ledger) and Hannibal Lecter are more well known, again also due to more recent debuts.
But Voldemort maybe surpasses them, no matter how much it irks me.
And not far behind there is Loki. If we could split male and female notoriety, oh boy would Loki be leading...
 
First, not that I speak for anyone but myself, but I've never noticed the posters from the United Kingdom, Australia and Zealand struggling to contribute - despite not being North Americans.

Second, cbms have a strong North American focus because Superheroes in the modern form ( I mean since 1938, if you consider mythological characters as a historical form of superhero) were a North American invention.

It's great to hear from folks from other cultural backgrounds though. I'd be interested to hear how Darth Vader was received outside of North America, but I recall Star Wars (1977) being a global phenomenon.

Whoops ! Meant "New Zealand" can't believe I got that wrong. :wow:
 
Do videogames and animation count? Literature?
'Cause I'd have to add a few characters way over Vader on the totem pole, a couple may sound comical but still way more known and loved worldwide: Bowser, Skeletor and Vegeta.
And Dracula, d'oh.

And yes, Thanos entered that sphere around my parts.
 
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Vader, he's absolutely not an icon or really well known outside the western emisphere.

You people still go on about like Vader is more known .....

I'd have to add a few characters way over Vader on the totem pole, a couple may sound comical but still way more known and loved worldwide: Bowser, Skeletor and Vegeta..
Inquiry as expected was revealing ^
Those debating, keep in mind who and the level you are arguing with here.
 
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Inquiry as expected was revealing ^
Those debating, keep in mind who and the level you are arguing with here.

Sorry, what would that level be?
That is quite insulting and arrogant.
And what does "who" even mean here?
For the record, my ass is older than those characters and I do not even like them.
Well, Skeletor has some kind of nostalgia value...

Notice you ignored Dracula (and Joker and the others), who clearly makes my point about Vader representing only a particularly partial (western) idea of what is commonly known and considered iconic.
Making a turtle dragon instantly recognizable worldwide is no small feat, you try it.

The thread is only 6 pages long, I expect the courtesy of reading it: I repeatedly said that this seems to me really just a popularity context and has no bearing on the characters literary value or complexity.
But I do not think one should always retype all this, it goes without saying.

I will keep in mind your manners here.
"Inquiry as expected was revealing"... What a cunning masterplan!
 
What a cunning masterplan!
tenor.gif
:cwink:
 
Do videogames and animation count? Literature?
'Cause I'd have to add a few characters way over Vader on the totem pole, a couple may sound comical but still way more known and loved worldwide: Bowser, Skeletor and Vegeta.
And Dracula, d'oh.

And yes, Thanos entered that sphere around my parts.
I read this as pants and I don't know why. :funny:
 
Whenever I enter a children's shop I see Darth Vader.
It´s LEGO, coloring books etc. There is some MARVEL stuff but no Thanos.

Star Trek a lot bigger than Star Wars in Germany? :confused:
TFA made 111 millions, the 3 latest Star Trek movies together below 50 millions.
 
Whenever I enter a children's shop I see Darth Vader.
It´s LEGO, coloring books etc. There is some MARVEL stuff but no Thanos.

Star Trek a lot bigger than Star Wars in Germany? :confused:
TFA made 111 millions, the 3 latest Star Trek movies together below 50 millions.
Are you in Germany?
Vader was totally not the selling point of TFA anyway.

Two things about SW and ST in Germany: 1, I said that was my anecdotal experience growing up in the '90s there, ST (both original and NG) daily on tv with great audience numbers for years, kids I played with had ST toys and models, SW nowhere to be seen, but again, it was the '90s; 2, do not underestimate the long term impact of that, of course the same goes with kids today and SW, parents and children may very well belong to different fandoms.

But I still am under the impression more people cultyrally know ST then SW in Germany, if you also account the current grandparent generation, who grew up with a lot less entertainment and the original ST, heck, those old bastards still associate the name Mission:Impossible with the original tv series. :oldrazz:
 
Vader was totally not the selling point of TFA anyway.

No, but you said ST was bigger than SW in Germany. The numbers show you wrong.

But I still am under the impression more people cultyrally know ST then SW in Germany, if you also account the current grandparent generation, who grew up with a lot less entertainment and the original ST, heck, those old bastards still associate the name Mission:Impossible with the original tv series. :oldrazz:

But the current grandparent generation grew up with the SW films.
 
But the current grandparent generation grew up with the SW films.
Yet ST OS was repeatedly on TV syndication for them, and the first ST Motion Picture soon followed.

Not arguing either way, just pointing that out. It gave way to a pretty big fandom rivalry, that lives to this day.
 
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No, but you said ST was bigger than SW in Germany. The numbers show you wrong.

You misunderstand what I mean, I may also be wrong in my impression of course, but current box office or toy presence are not indicators of general awareness or cultural penetration in the long term: I was speaking of the awareness built in the last decades over different generations.

But the current grandparent generation grew up with the SW films.

That is a bit incorrect, at least in Europe where people have children later than the US, grandparents here were already "too old" for SW, especially coming from the extremely politicized '70s.
We have quite different current grandparent generations. :cwink:

Edit: to be more clear on my part I could have said that my impression has always been that Trek's German fandom was bigger, and it is important to stress that has been a fandom historically based on a tv product, a free of charge one. That often times produces a vaster audience but also one less prone to spend and invest in different branches of the same franchise, unlike SW who had undeniable success with the EU and its videogames.

To counterbalance it a bit, in Italy I always felt it was the other way around in embarrassing measure at that. While here in Korea the average audience historically didn't have a clue about both until recently, but nothing ever can compare with the impact the MCU has had here, it boggles the mind.
 
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You misunderstand what I mean, I may also be wrong in my impression of course, but current box office or toy presence are not indicators of general awareness or cultural penetration in the long term: I was speaking of the awareness built in the last decades over different generations.

OK, but I still belive SW has more general
awareness and a bigger cultural impact.

That is a bit incorrect, at least in Europe where people have children later than the US, grandparents here were already "too old" for SW, especially coming from the extremely politicized '70s.
We have quite different current grandparent generations. :cwink:

I live in Europe and a lot of the grandparents I know got the perfect age
for SW. But others got a better age for ST.


While here in Korea the average audience historically didn't have a clue about both until recently, but nothing ever can compare with the impact the MCU has had here, it boggles the mind.

It's interesting to compare the box Office for SW and MCU. SW is bigger in NA, Japan, Australia and most of Europe.
MCU is bigger in Asia, South America and Russia.
 
OK, but I still belive SW has more general
awareness and a bigger cultural impact.
My point was indeed that, while this is undoubtedly the case in NA and the English speaking world, there are exceptions elsewhere and these exceptions weight in favor of Thanos when all considered, I believe.

I live in Europe and a lot of the grandparents I know got the perfect age
for SW. But others got a better age for ST.
Where you at?
 
Where you at?

Sweden.

It's only a years difference between Europe and USA for the average age when you got your first child.
But that average is higher than I thought
so I have to admit that a majority of grandparents today got a much better age for ST over SW.

My point was indeed that, while this is undoubtedly the case in NA and the English speaking world, there are exceptions elsewhere and these exceptions weight in favor of Thanos when all considered, I believe.

Maybe Thanos gets the same status in 40 years
in those areas that Vader got in NA and Europe now.
 
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That snapping cover is beautiful.
 
I think Voldemort (and the Nolan Joker and Bane) got boost in cultural prominence for fans comparing them to their political foes but that may also make them feel a little too contemporary for a time period and then dated later on.
 
I think Voldemort (and the Nolan Joker and Bane) got boost in cultural prominence for fans comparing them to their political foes but that may also make them feel a little too contemporary for a time period and then dated later on.

lucille-portable.gif
 

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