I feel exactly the same. I’m sure I’ll see more Marvel movies, but I’ll choose based on the actors I like, rather than gotta catch em all. I am looking forward to the Marvels because I really like the girl who plays Ms Marvel. Hawkeye also had a couple female actors I really like. Aside from that, giant meh.
Isn’t…that the way all movies work??
Conversely, aren’t you a big enough Marvel fan that you’re going to “catch em all” in the movie theater if you can?
You make them sound like Pokemans.
I don’t mean to make it sound weird or negative. I already told Andy in the Dr Strange 2 thread that I envied his fandom. I wish I was a bigger fan myself so that I would have caught the excellent Dr Strange 2 in the theater instead of at home.
Not really. For Marvel I would watch some movies to keep up with the story, even if I was indifferent about the actors and setting. Ant Man or the 10 rings movie. That paid off with Endgame, but I don’t think they capture that again.
I used to go watch all the MCU movies at the cinema. Covid broke that spell, and then I made the decision not to go watch MoM because I dislike how they went with Wanda and that cemented it, it’s regular movie rules now, no more automatic buy-in.
The pandemic did a lot to break the MCU’s hot streak. As well Chadwick Boseman dying so tragically. Disney and Marvel have been trying to get the machine back in order, but stuff like Jonathan Powers is not helping. But this writer’s strike (which looks like it will very soon be joined by a director’s strike) will have the potential to do a lot more damage.
My ranking of the post Infinity War movies,
- GotG 3
- Spider-Man 2
- Spider-Man 3
- Dr Strange
- Black Widow
- Thor 4
- Shang-Chi
- Ant-Man 3
- Black Panther 2
- Eternals
There’s a big drop off between Thor and Shang-Chi. Thor 4 was cringey but I laughed a lot and it kept me engaged. Shang Chi was fun for half the movie then awful for the second half. The last 3 are irredeemable.
Anything after Dr Strange 2 would have been considered the worst MCU movie before Endgame. So, they dropped 6 stinkers out of 10 movies, and 3 of those movies were like Suicide Squad level bad.
4 out of 10 is not a good record. Will DC finally take the throne away from Marvel? I saw a trailer for Flash before GotG 3 and that has me pumped. They should just call it Batman: Flashpoint or something because we’re all going to see Michael Keaton.
DC’s record is even worse, though. They had what, 2 good movies out of the bunch?
Yeah, I’m going to keep seeing Marvel movies in the theater, because my past moviegoing experiences have been great enough that I’m hopeful to recreate that experience.
Of course everyone’s experiences will vary, but I’m fascinated by the desire to put a definite end on something you enjoyed. I’ve never walked out of a movie and said, “That was fantastic! I absolutely never need to see any other movies in this series!” Sometimes a sequel is The Godfather Part III, but sometimes it’s The Empire Strikes Back.
Or to put it another way: Without Iron Man, we never would have gotten The Avengers. Without The Avengers, we never would have gotten Infinity War and Endgame. It seems odd to declare, “Well they peaked after 22 movies, so there’s no way they can beat that!”
But as always, I encourage anyone (everyone!) to watch the movies they’re interested in and skip the movies they’re not. I had friends who watched WandaVision, and then they were curious about the characters so they went back and watched Age of Ultron for the first time. Some people might see The Marvels and then go back and watch Ms. Marvel. Or some people might skip everything and watch Succession. There are plenty of inroads to fandom, and they’re all valid.
We don’t want another Game of Thrones season 7. Something so bad it ruins everything that came before it.
I wish you luck, but I’m out. The buildup is meh and I don’t see them pulling it off again. From here on out, I see Marvel based on actors I like and possibly stellar reviews.
Great, now I have to return your ticket for The Marvels.
Are we still on for Thunderbolts in 2024? I think it’s your turn to buy dinner.
That was an interesting read, and I kinda wonder if Infinity War/Endgame changed the plan for Gamora in ways Gunn hadn’t anticipated. Her character reset means she can’t get the trilogy spanning arc the others do, and I felt she had the least to do in this movie, and Quill’s arc would’ve worked just as well if she’d stayed dead.
But that’s the one bum not in what’s my favourite marvel movie since, well, Guardians Vol. 2. Gunn is operating on another level with these movies.
Gunn said in interviews that he was given almost total creative freedom to do what he wanted with the characters…except he was planning to kill Gamora in Guardians 2, and Kevin Feige said he couldn’t. So I’m not sure if she was ever going to have a trilogy-spanning arc. (Gunn said that he eventually decided that Yondu’s death would work better anyway.)
I really liked what they did with Peter and Gamora in this last movie, especially considering the Lindsay Ellis video about Guardians 2. She said that in a lot of movies, “The guy gets the girl” is the default, expected ending, and it says a lot that Gunn didn’t end Guardians 1 or 2 that way.
Interesting, and I think that supports my thesis that they should’ve killed her off for real in Infinity War/Endgame. Having a character having a continuity break like that is just so unnatural. I think he made the best he could of it, but it’s still slightly off.
This summarizes my view as well. And the bad guys were excellent top to bottom as well. May be my fav MCU movie ever.
https://www.reddit.com/r/dankmemes/comments/13dpvmc/idk_about_you_guys_but_im_pretty_much_done/
Reddit agrees, this was the perfect ending for the MCU.
Twitter agrees that this is a return to form for the MCU and they’re excited to see what’s next.
(It seems silly to claim that “Reddit agrees” on something based on one post on the r/dankmemes subreddit. But I enjoyed reading the discussion, so bonus points there!)
Sure they’re done. People were also done with Star Wars after Darth Vader killed the Emperor. And when the Emperor created Darth Vader. And when they redid ANH. And when they started making movies about anything remotely related to Star Wars. And when Luke died from having to Force Zoom meeting too hard. And when the Emperor was killed by his granddaughter.
The MCU will be done if the movies aren’t good enough to justify people going to watch them, but it might never again reach the level that it had, because they are truly comic book movies, and the same issue that comics have are being replicated in the movies, namely, who gives a shit, this will all be retconned / ignored in 6 months / when the run ends / the new writer doesn’t like it.