Topic: The Marvel Thread

@ralphdibny Yeah, the first TASM was so much better than I remembered when I watched it again. The second…. was not.

@LtSarge @JohnnyShoulder @Th3solution @nessisonett I think all 3 of the actors have done pretty good jobs as Peter/Spidey but actually think Andrew Garfield is my favourite of the 3. He most closely resembles the character I read in the comics.
I share the sentiment the first 'Amazing' is fairly good but the second is a wreck. It's like they didn't learn any lessons from 3 and try to cover too many characters/plots and it ends up a mess. I feel bad for Andrew as his version had a lot of potential.
Oh yes and Into the Spider-verse is great. Hopefully the sequel will be as good if not better.

@BearsEatBeets i’m not familiar with the comics like that but, was peter parker a hipster skater kid in the comics ? i thought peter parker was an awkward shy quiet nerd and spider-man was his alter-ego .

@nomither6 They’re from the 60s, Peter was less a nerd in that sense and more just a smart kid which alienated people like Flash Thompson. And besides, he started regularly hanging out with that crowd not long after getting his powers. Those movies were pretty accurate, he was too poor for new stuff so looked from the outside like he was a hipster with outdated tech and old clothes. He wasn’t even that shy in the comics, he’s a bit of a nutter in the first few issues, constantly wishing he could beat the crap out of Flash until the whole Uncle Ben speech.

@nessisonett gotcha

@BearsEatBeets I'm not a huge fan of the Tom Holland ones. Didn't like the teenage/school stuff in them. And the amount of stupid decisions made by some of the characters in the last one stated to annoy me eventually.

@nomither6 Thankfully @nessisonett has pretty much covered for the tardiness of my response.

@JohnnyShoulder that's fair, there are certainly aspects of the Tom Holland ones that don't quite work for me too. I wasn't big on Ned's character especially his sudden 'talent' in the last one. I am interested where they go with the next one though as the last film kind of wipes the slate and puts him in a more interesting place. No-one knows his identity and he seems to be without any Stark tech. Plus he will be in college era.
Not sure where they are with a new Spidey film at the moment and if they are still working within the Disney MCU or if that deal has now finished.

None of them have completely nailed it for me, with the first 2 probably the best efforts.

Oh yeah and another disappointment with the Amazing sequel is that it ruined the chance of us seeing Felicity Jones' version of Black Cat. Although I find it interesting that 'Far From Home' could potentially open the door to them going back and doing more alternate universe stories of the other Peter Parker's. Get Tobey Maguire back and do a middle age version of Spidey for a change 😁

I feel like a real contrary fairy when it comes to the Spider-Man movies. I love Raimi's first Spider-Man film, don't much care for the others. I really liked Amazing Spider-Man and the sequel is a weird one as it might be my favourite Spider-Man movie out of all of them, while agreeing it is a total mess. I also didn't really like either of the Holland Spider-Man movies, although I really enjoyed No Way Home, but that was far more due to the crossover elements.

@Pizzamorg The scenes with all 3 Pete/Spideys certainly are the highlight of the film and probably help gloss over other weaker aspects that will probably become more apparent with repeat viewings. I'll admit I don't fully understand how the whole 'forgetting him' aspect actually works. Do MJ, Ned and Happy etc have random blank holes in their memory of the times they were interacting with Peter?

@Th3solution Yeah I found out that there's very little Spider-Man content on Disney+ when I first started using the service. I do think that more has been added since then. I know that Homecoming is on there, but not the other two MCU movies. Hopefully The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is on there (even though it doesn't seem to be as good as the first one) because it's been removed from HBO Max.

@JohnnyShoulder Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely check out Into the Spider-Verse. I absolutely love Miles as Spider-Man, so I'm looking forward to checking out that movie.

@ralphdibny @BearsEatBeets I was under the impression that the first Amazing isn't considered a good Spider-Man movie but it seems that I'm wrong. I'm glad that I watched it then! Too bad about the sequel, but I think I'll watch it anyway just to form my own opinion of it.

It's also interesting because they made games based on each Amazing movie, whereof the first one is considered good and the second one is considered bad. I actually bought the first game on PS3 so now I'm looking forward to playing it after having watched the movie. I think I'll skip the second game though lol.

I think I watched it like a year ago, so I am pretty far removed from the mechanics of it all at this point. But I do remember vividly even at the time thinking that over time the sheer wow factor of the movie even existing at all will wear off and in turn I'm sure I'll see more and more holes because of that. But that first watch is so good, I almost don't mind. Save for a select few favourites, I've never been one to "burn the tape out" with a movie. Many just watching the once, or once or twice, is more than enough for me, so I am not sure I will ever get to the point where the holes become too much to bear.

@ralphdibny Man, Thanos got old!

@JohnnyShoulder 😂

@RogerRoger I love how you basically plagiarized my brain for this write-up As for the effects in Wakanda Forever, I made the mistake of seeing it in a 3D IMAX, so I actually thought the janky visuals were due to poor 3D post-conversion. Interesting that it's actually poor SFX work. Hopefully Marvel will have a healthier relationship with the FX studios going forward as it's apparently been a dumpster fire.

As a guy who still finds LOTS of enthusiasm for every Marvel project that rolls my way, I should mention that the new Ant-Man movie was the first time I left the cinema feeling disappointed. And considering we seem to have very similar tastes when it comes the other Marvel properties you talked about here, low expectations may be the order of the day on that one

(and She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel are still battling it out for the top spot of my favourite Marvel productions... brilliant stuff, both)

@RogerRoger It’s great to see that your latest Marvel show consumption has been mostly satisfactory. Werewolf by Night is the only one from your list that I haven’t watched yet, and I’m pleased to see I’m probably better off waiting a couple months anyways.

I’ll add that I also enjoyed aspects of all the other shows/movies listed. I started out really positive with Ms. Marvel, mostly because the tone and characters were so refreshing and new. As you probably recall I played the campaign of the Marvel’s Avengers game side by side my viewing of the show and I think that experience enhanced and also distracted from my enjoyment. There was parts of the game’s version of Kamala’s origin story I felt were done better, and vice versa. So I think it ended up making both entires feel inferior in their own way. I also felt like the middle and end of the TV show seemed to drag and the plot went off the rails (no pun intended) a bit too much. So I cooled on my initial enthusiasm I had for it early on.

She-Hulk was more of a consistent winner for me, even with the crazy ending that seemed to divide opinions. I think that I wasn’t expecting much so it exceeded low expectations.

I also got along with Love and Thunder a little more than the average viewer, but that doesn’t mean I liked it much. It was okay, imo, and not quite the travesty against humanity that it’s been labeled as. Still, it’s in the lower echelon of the MCU.

And I was pleased with Wakanda Forever and yet felt there was something about it that didn’t quite land. I think you’ve explained it expertly and so I realize perhaps what it was that left it short of being something greater. I wasn’t a huge fan of the first Black Panther movie (although it liked it on a middling level), so this also was probably just a case of exceeding low preexisting expectations.

As far as Quantumania, I think you’ll like it, especially since you hold the Ant-Man character is high regard. I found it hovered in the middle tier of MCU products, but your mileage may vary. I won’t spoil it for you, but there’s just too many parts to the production that held it back for me. Here’s hoping you enjoy!

@RogerRoger @Th3solution I think my biggest problem with Quantumania was that it never felt like an Ant-Man film. I get that they needed to get the Kang-saga started, but I question the decision to use Ant-Man to do it. Anyway, I'll be giving it a rewatch soon, as I got the 4K steelbook recently, so maybe I'll like it better now that I know what I'm in for.

I really loved Ms. Marvel and, in particular, the portrayal of Kamala. I never managed to get far into the Avengers game, but the one thing I did like was her portrayal there as well. As I quit it early in frustration (too much live-service type gameplay for me... do we really need twenty types of currency for unlocks even in the single player campaign?), the Kamala in the series became "canon" for me. Origin was a bit iffy, but her personality was just so much awesomesauce. And looks like that carries over to The Marvels, too, judging from the trailer. I also liked the Captain Marvel movie and Brie Larson in the role, and never got the vitriol it received. Sure, now the pinnacle of movies, but nowhere near deserving the hate it got. I'll be buying at ticket for The Marvels at my local IMAX as soon as they're available

So, I've also seen the first episode of Secret Invasion, so I'll issue a huge SPOILER WARNING here now (in case you're reading this in an email notification where spoiler tags don't work):
Damn, that end to the episode gutted me! Loved that character! Fail to see how they could walk that back, too. Unless it was an LMD, which really wouldn't make much sense.

@FuriousMachine I think that’s a good way to describe Quantumania — it’s doesn’t quite feel like an Ant-Man movie. That and there’s just a lot of suspension of disbelief that has to occur. I know that sounds like a silly statement for me to make when we’re talking about superheroes and fantastical settings are the rule. But it’s just hard to be as immersive when a movie goes out of its way to give a scientific background to things but then has lots of unexplained magical events and characters also. It’s almost like it needs to pick a lane and stick with it. I know the MCU is rife with this issue — some heroes are normal people augmented with technology, some are fantastically changed by some fictional but explainable phenomenon, some heroes are just inherently magical or powerful, and some are just extraterrestrial with unique characteristics because of that. The MCU has always mixed these together, but the balance didn’t quite click for me in this movie. Maybe I’m just getting jaded the older I get. 😅

I also felt like the movie wasn’t sure what it wanted to be from a dramatic standpoint. Much of the silliness was too juvenile and detracted from the weightier parts of the narrative. Kang was alright but his arc was hamstrung by too many grade-school jokes and silliness. And MODOK is just an absolute conundrum by himself. He’s ridiculous looking and they lean into the humorous part of his absurd and outlandish appearance. And yet he’s also supposed to be this scary evil character. And then they try to give him a last minute redemption story and foster sympathy. It was all just a mess. His character in the video game was better, I thought, although still off-putting and oddly creepy and funny at the same time.

As for Kamala I liked the awkward teenager vibe of the TV version, but I fear she’ll struggle to fit in next to Capt Marvel / Brie Lawson. The video game version of Kamala seemed more super-heroiney and her teen star-struck nature was less forced. I don’t know. It’s been a while since I played/watched them. But yes, the live service aspects of the game absolutely ruined it and even adversely affected the single player campaign, even though it was just by passive association.

@Th3solution You hit the nail on the proverbial head with your assessment of Quantumania. It almost perfectly sums up my experience with it as well.

As for The Marvels, I really enjoy Kamala's unbridled enthusiasm and fangirling for the Avengers and I hope that will pair nicely with Danvers and Rambeau seemingly trying to do their own thing and becoming increasingly frazzled by the weird place swapping that keeps occurring. I have high hopes for this one

@RogerRoger Glad you enjoyed Quantumania You do make some very good points which reframes the movie a bit in my mind, making me think of it more kindly (mind, I never disliked it, it just didn't live up to what I was expecting, which, to be fair, is on me ). Looking forward to watching it again, now.

I really did like Majors as Kang (and as an actor, in general), and I really hope that the recent allegations against him turn out to be false, but I worry that there is too much smoke for there to not be any fire. Time will tell, I guess.

But, you didn't like Secret Invasion? I found it quite intriguing and am stoked for what's next. Loved Coleman's character, by the way