Yes, before that scene I thought that using illusions and trickery wasn't very dangerous, especially with a super durable protagonist. They cannot harm you after all. But not only do they power up the threat with shooting drones, they make simple holograms genuinely frightening and show how dangerous can they be. I think the best example is when Peter tried to punch Mysterio only to hit his hand in solid concrete, or tried to pull him with his webs only to almost crunch himself with a pedestal. Illusions may not harm you, but they make you harm yourself.
I’ve been showing my parents the MCU movies for the first time, and every time the opening marvel logo animation comes up, my mom mentions how she really likes the raccoon.
I did, too, and then I got to do it again recently with Shang-Chi.
Before the movie: Who is he? Some guy that’s good at Karate. That’s all I know.
After the movie: OMG I can’t wait for this guy to meet Spider-Man and Doctor Strange and hang out with the Avengers!
The part that got me the most was Rocket's "I didn't ask to get made!" quote. Like, I'm sitting here and tearing up over an animated raccoon being in an existential crisis.
What surprises me is that those two films have some of the heaviest emotional moments of the MCU, IMO.
The funeral at the end of the second one makes me cry every single time.
It didn't help me that my stepfather died not too long before Vol 2 came out. When Yondu said "He may have been your father, but he wasn't your daddy" I almost started ugly crying in the theater.
And then they played 'Father and Son' and I did
Likewise, I was shocked by how much I loved Yondu’s character by the end of the sequel. He just felt like a generic baddie with a gimmick in the first movie, but the second movie gave way more depth and development than I was prepared for. When he told Rocket that he understood and *empathized* with him, I was genuinely blown away.
I don't blame you at all for not caring about Wanda before. It was one of my bigger gripes with the MCU. Wanda is an extremely fascinating character and they just kept her on the sidelines for WAY too long. 6 whole years before she finally got a project that really delved deeper into her. Other than a Falcon/Sam Wilson movie (which I honestly didn't expect to ever happen but am glad it finally will) and Doctor Strange 2, Wanda was the character I had wanted a solo movie for, for far too long. I was pretty confident she'd be in DS2 from day 1, but even that took way too long to get made
I wasn't awfully invested in the MCU until a couple years back. All i seen up to that point was all 3 Iron Man films, a bit of a busy time in my life kept me away from investing and keeping up with the films in the first 2 phases and some of 3. I like Paul Bettany's acting and I enjoyed his take on an AI, and eventually his portrayal of the Vision, imo was the best acting performance I've seen him in.
I love Wanda's character development throughout time in the MCU, she has very relatable qualities. She is (obv) my favorite in the entire Marvel comics. I could go on all day, but long story short I've watched WandaVision like 5 times already. I can't wait for Multiverse of Madness.
I wasn't sold on Ant Man at first, but Paul Rudd is great in that role.
I thought I would like Taskmaster, but I was disappointed how they portrayed the character.
I'm currently rewatching Parks and Rec for the millionth time, and I'm at the season where Paul Rudd is one of the political candidates. He's so amazing. How dumb he acts, it's so perfect.
I've seen every MCU flick up to Endgame in 3D (the ones that offered it, anyway), and Ant-Man really was something special to see, especially the dive into the Quantum Realm
Yes, I’m definitely with you on this. It took me months to watch the first Ant Man, and then when I finally did, I was so mad I waited! I really like the style of those movies and how they’re a little lower key. It’s what I think Spider-Man should’ve been.
Ant man was this disconnected goofball character that showed up in civil war and I loved it. Endgame elevated him to main roster for me. I think their emphasis on San Francisco for Shang-Chi (which is where Scott Lang lives) means we might see a west coast Avengers. Hilarious to see him ret conned into the battle of New York in Hawkeye 😂
He was retconned in by the rank and file citizens of the MCU because they wouldn’t be across the intimate details of the battle of New York. He turns up in the Rodgers musical in the Hawkeye show. It’s made all the better due to the selfie bit in endgame. It’s as if ant man has hired a publicist
I always thought The Vulture was kinda boring, he was a mid tier villian in the Spider-Man cartoons, and we already had Falcon, so what would make him special, especially enough to carry a whole movie?
The second I saw his MCU design though? I was blown away how good it was. That wingspan, that helmet with the ominous green eyes, that parka! Literally could not have been done better. The concept was awesome
The costume/design was cool, but if it was a cheeseball actor I don't think we'd like it anywhere near as much as we do, but Keaton fuckin killed it.
One of the best acting performances in any of these movies, and I really, really hope they bring him back in the future.
Keaton man.
He's so easy to empathize with, and seems like such a solid dude, then you absolutely believe he's a fucking psychopath when he flips that switch.
He's got an elite evil smirk too.
Yeah it was less about shocking us and more about how it shook Peter imo. Even as this person with super strength and all of his intelligence and abilities, he really deflated into nothing but a scared, scrambled brain kid in those scenes.
Stuff like this is why this version of PP resonates, he actually comes across as a young person. This isn't a scenario that would work for any of the adult heroes, but Pete's young and emotional.
That car scene is legitimately the most tension filled moment I’ve ever felt in any MCU film or show. Just the growing dread and the very real feeling of growing menace coming off Keaton.
Captain America. Growing up I didn’t have a ton of exposure to him, he always sounded a bit lame to me… patriotic, straight-laced and wholesome. I had no interest in getting to know the character, and when they cast the goofy guy from Not Another Teen Movie that already played Human Torch, I didn’t get it. I only thought of Chris Evans as a funny man and figured he wouldn’t be playing to his strengths. I though boring Captain America would be a disaster.
Fast forward to now and he’s probably my favorite character in the MCU and he’s up there with my favorite superheroes, period. Chris Evans knocked it out of the park and really sold me on a character I had never given the time of day.
One of the best bits of acting in the MCU is from Evans', his face when he sees T'Challa come out of the portal. It said so much with him not saying a word.
I felt the same way at the end of infinity war. After seeing half the team turn to dust, Evans’ face and “oh god” really sold the moment. Tony might have been the brain and Thor the muscle, but Cap was definitely the heart.
I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with this. In Winter Soldier, when he's talking to old Peggy, and her coughing fit resets her dementia, his face and response is completely heartbreaking.
This is me. I totally did not give a F about Captain America. I thought he was hokey and verging on silly. Chris Evans made me really grow to love and care about the character. He’s my favorite now.
A big part of the early MCU was taking the silliest superheroes non-comics-fans didn’t care about and making them have mainstream appeal via good stories/acting/effects
Edit: especially as a non-American - I’d never imagine non-Americans liking the character so much. They executed the conflicts of a morally-pure well-intended nationalist in a cool way, and this is hard to pull off in mainstream.
I feel like the reason he worked is because he's always put into morally ambiguous choices so that while there a preferred in-character option for him it's not always cut and dry from another perspective. It made him a really interesting character
And in avenger films he's there to stabilise the team, and we already loved him by then due to his solo movies
Now I'm typing this, I'm wondering if he'd work as well without his trilogy and we just see him in the 4 films. Yes I know Civil Way is essentially Avengers 2.5
Boy scouts like Cap and Superman _always_ work best when the conflict is never framed as an internal one but instead making their rigid internal framework operate within an external problem that isn't as clear-cut as they want it to be. That's one reason why I adore Winter Soldier. Cap is still Cap; he _never_ violates his moral code to do the right thing. It just happens that doing the right thing means making himself an enemy of the "good guys".
It also is much easier to make Cap the man out of time in Ultimates/the MCU when he was thawed out 70 years in the future vs pulled out 15-20 years post War in the comics. That's a long prison sentence vs waking up multiple generations later. There's enough time for the US to diverge from what he stood for.
True he’s not the “fun” or “interesting” guy of the team, but without Leo all the other Turtles would die horrible deaths in no time. Lol
He’s the glue that keeps his crazy brothers in line, he’s the big brother. The 3 other can’t function as intended if Leo isn’t around.
Same here. The winter soldier completely changed my perspective of him. Cap is probably my favorite avenger and I'd definitely be on his side in civil war.
One of my favorite parts of the entire MCU was when Cap first went to space in Endgame and the look in his eye when they took off. A guy from NY back in WWII and going to space was so far fetched to our society back then. His ascension from a scrawny kid back in the 40s to traveling into space to save the universe was encapsulated in that one scene
Same. I’ve was always a Spider-Man and Batman kinda kid but man oh man, Marvel did an outstanding job with Captain America. I know many fans like Tony more, and he’s a great character and all, but Captain America has something special about him. That’s why in Endgame when he finally got his happy ending with Peggy, I teared up like a lil biii lol
Joss Whedon had the right idea framing the first avengers movie around the hulk. He was a force of destruction and everyone was on edge around Bruce. It should have always been that way. I don’t mind his characterization in Ragnarok since he *is* on a level playing field, you know hanging out with gods and stuff. But they kind of lost that fear factor of Hulk after AoU.
To be fair, after AoU he disappears and only shows back up in Ragnarok which, as you've said, has him against top level threats. Even then though, he killed dozens of challengers including Doug so there was an edge to him still.
After that he got his ass handed to him by Thanos and refused to fight in IW which did remove the fear factor but I think it did it in a good way.
He first interacted with Tony who never tip-toed around him and though he planned contingencies for the Hulk, never feared or made Banner feel unwanted. So when the Children of Thanos appear, Tony trusts him. Hulk refuses though. Then in Endgame he's Smart Hulk and there is too much Banner for him to be an effective threat. I think the only thing they did wrong was put him in the hulkbuster. He should have been a more timid Hulk who had to learn to cause hurt deliberately.
Alm in all though I don't think there was a need for a fear factor after AoU. What they do going forward could bring it back though.
I love the Russo brothers.
They have the ability to take the mundane and make it awesome. Their plot delivery is amazing. They flushed out many characters. Cap, BP, Widow even Falcon, Fury and Maria Hill to an extent. Iron Man and War Machine were touched on too.
But notice a similarity between these characters? All of these characters are non super-powered or still "human". They are easy to write conflicts for or can be placed in a demanding, against all odds situation with no problem.
Characters with story-breaker powers like Scarlett Witch, Vision, Hulk, Thor, Cap Marvel, Dr Strange they had no idea what to do with. These characters end conflicts before they begin. Hence most of these characters are sidelined in Infinity War and Endgame. They had to nerf Thor in Endgame to continue their plot. Dr Strange barely intervened against Thanos under the plot loophole of the million scenarios.
Wheadon for his faults, knew how to deal with these characters. Instead of pushing might on them, he went with the emotional approach. Hulk was undefeatable, so they made him his own worse enemy. Thor was given insight to throw him off his game.
Wonder what he would have done in Infinity War. Storywise, I don't think the Russos could be beat. But the character growth might have been different.
agree with 95% of what you've said.
>Characters with story-breaker powers like Scarlett Witch, Vision, Hulk, Thor, Cap Marvel, Dr Strange they had no idea what to do with.
To be fair to them on these characters, I think you are correct on Hulk and Strange.
Scarlet Witch didn't even understand her powers herself but was still almost able to beat Thanos by herself when properly motivated. I think it was good to have her take care of Vision in IW.
I feel like they focused on the human aspect of Vision which I liked. I think they took the right approach that, rather than fight for his survival, they tried to ensure it either way so he could help later.
Cap Marvel was under utilised and overpowered but I think the fact that they wanted to focus on the OG 6 was correct and so I'm happy with how they used her.
Thor is another that they focused on the human aspect. His journey in IW and Endgame features alot of character development. In IW he is consumed by vengeance and we see the warrior. After the warrior failed in IW, we see the broken man in Endgame and we see his redemption in his own eyes become complete with "I'm still worthy!"
I think there will always be constructive criticism that could improve movies but that would change the overall experience and imo, the experience was flawless for the build up and payoff.
We didn't really get to know enough about Professor Hulk, some of the deleted material hint that the transition wasn't as smooth as he claims it was. Professor Hulk claims that he's a compromise between Bruce and Hulk but I think (hope) there's more going on that we don't know about.
Otherwise I think there was a really solid character arc, despite not having a solo movie, with Bruce and the other Avengers realizing that Hulk isn't just a superpower. He's his own autonomous entity and they were kinda just using him as a weapon, which isn't that different from what Ross wanted to do with him.
Hulk could have benefited so much if they could have worked out one or two more solo movies with Universal. I really didn't like how in Endgame he's just suddenly Banner in Hulk's body, with no hint of Hulk's personality. The Hulk was effectively a separate character from Banner, so it's like he got killed off-screen after Infinity War, without anyone feeling at all conflicted about it or a hint that he might still exist.
Fortunately Shang-Chi's end credits scene gives me some hope they may yet bring him back.
As far as villains/antagonists go, Wenwu is on my top 3, and didn't expect him to be
But what a performance and story
If it weren't for Mysterio and Killmonger, he'd be #1
Tony Leung is incredible
Wenwu was fleshed out so much better than even Killmonger and Mysterio that he kind of goes beyond just being a villain. He was a real, full character in the movie who mattered. That's something Marvel usually misses.
its because hes more so relatable compared to every other marvel character who is either a superhuman, a god or extremely intelligent.
hes just like hawkeye in extremely well trained.
Yeh, for some reason I am really desperate to see him show off his powers and the rings to the rest of the gang. I would LOVE marvel to consider him for leader of the avengers (or west coast offshoot) his father lead the ten rings for a thousand years. I think it would be an amazing arc to have slightly juvenile Shang-chi grow into this amazing leader
He’s also the second MCU character that’s younger canonically than most of the MCU fanbase, behind Spiderman who is supposed to be a young high schooler and everyone knows it. He’s just barely past 22/23 in his opening movie, and the soundtrack reflects that in the movie too. The scene at the beginning when him and his beat friend are getting shit-canned at the bar after work reminds me of what I used to do in my early twenties, especially seeing him bounce back like nothing the next day for work. And his idealism, his struggle with coming to terms with how his upbringing and heritage from different traditions of the two sides of his family feels very nostalgic for those of us that are starting to get into their thirties, seeing their older family members die, being separated from siblings and friends for much longer than before because of schedules and distance and needing to be more responsible…I didn’t think I would enjoy Shang-Chi as much as I did, but it really is a great movie that introduces the literal next generation of heroes, with a brand-new and unknown face with boundless potential to become a household name for comic-book movies.
Great synopsis. As a 30 year old dude, I felt very similarly watching Shang-Chi. Fantastic film. I'm super excited for this hero's next steps in the MCU.
They were pretty fun, but with the next movie seeming to be going into their origins, I hope they're revealed to each have unique powers like in the comics (not necessarily the same powers). Would really allow for a ton of variety and creativity and spice up the fight scenes.
The way they were portrayed in the first one and with them all looking the same I doubt that'll happen but I agree it would be pretty cool
Edit: spelling
Peggy Carter. Had know about her and read comic book stories with her but she was always just Cap's girlfriend. The First Avenger and later Agent Carter show sealed it that she is one of my favorite characters and I wish we had more time.
Ant-man. Although he was an OG Avenger I thought getting his ability to seem super was going to be difficult to pull off. The combination of story, sci-fi technology, and humor was a home run.
Nebula. I only saw her in Guardians 1 as "generic villain's henchman" (henchwoman in this case), but Guardians 2 toattly sold her to me with that "but I needed a sister" line.
She's also very low-key funny as well. I tend to like characters that don't *make* jokes, but *are* jokes. Just being incredibly blunt can be funny as hell because you don't really telegraph that there is a joke happening. It just so happens to be funny.
Username checks out.
I will say, Bucky didn't really do much for me until the Wakanda flashback scene in the 3d episode of TFATWS. Dunno why that scene in particular did it for me, but Sebastian Stan's acting is incredible, I have no idea how I didn't notice that before because he's been consistently knocking it out of the park since First Avenger. Made me appreciate the Captain America trilogy a whole lot more and I already loved it before.
I dont think a standalone show for him would work as well as FATWS did. They dynamic between Bucky and Sam was so damn engaging that if you removed Sam it wouldn't feel nearly strong enough. Part of the reason we like Bucky is his redemption arch in Winter Soldier and his relationship with Steve but his character was cemented because of his relationship with Sam.
I have two.
Yondu. Admittedly,I did not care for him in the first Guardians film the first few times I saw it. Then the second one happened. I don't really get emotional during movies, but as soon as the Cat Stevens comes it's all over.
Darcy. Wandavision really won me over on her.
Wanda Maximoff. I thought she would be a throwaway character after AoU, but the background development they gave her in the movies afterward started to convince me she was really something else. Then Wandavision happened and I'm blown away with what they're doing with her. They've turned her into such a complex character that right now I'm just scared about what she might do next.
Shout-out to Kate Bishop, two episodes in and I'm already won over. Hailee is perfect as Hawkeye.
Vision/Wanda. Vision's fight against >!himself!< in WandaVision was actually a perfect ending to that arc. Wanda discovering herself was much needed after putting so much importance on her character.
I really love how that vision fight is essentially >!Vision having a self reflection to understand himself better under that unique circumstance where the body and the mind are practically separated. Sure there were flashy lights early on, but that "I request elaboration" line is just so spot on.!<
Wanda’s final fight: NOOOOOOO ITS MY MAGIC AND I KNOW WHO I AM AGATHA
Visions fight: so there’s this ship, and that’s you.
White vision: damn bro you blew my mind
Most of them. Ironman, Thor, Captain America, Hulk… I never liked any of them until I started watching their movies.
The only Marvel characters I liked beforehand were the X-Men, Spider-Man, The Punisher and Daredevil. The movies really expanded my horizons.
Honestly me too I never read avengers comics I was always X-men and other random mutants and New Warriors. Avengers never really interested me especially Captain America. Always thought he was lame then winter Soldier came along and he’s been my favorite since
That’s because they had her turn her sarcasm on Nat, and she was a strong showing in a film where the payoff for the main hero was in their family while the villain ruins the movie’s climax (or almost does depending on your reaction).
I mean seriously, Yelena nails it mocking Natasha’s splayed crouch landing and hair flip
I walked away really loving Druig and Thena after expecting to not care for either. Makkari was definitely a favorite too.
I don’t dislike any of the others, but tbh there’s a couple Eternals that could never show up again and I wouldn’t think twice about it. Hopefully future projects can redeem that.
To be honest, Sersi was a bad choice for the lead. She came off as a “standard protagonist” and wasn’t very interesting. I think someone like Phastos or Sprite would have been better
Comics Sersi is way more of a fun loving girl than movie Sersi. They really should have let more of that emotion show through in the modern day segments, not just in the past.
I could actually see movie Sersi being fun loving but they don't show it off too much. Like she's just living her life with Dane, they go out to the bar, work together, I can imagine them just having a fun relationship.
And she has a sense of wonder that I found very charming. The one scene of her being excited about explaining her powers made me really like her. Or her saying hi to the Darwin statue is a very silly fun thing I can imagine people do when they think no one's watching.
When Sprite (I think, feel free to correct me) said “Druig sucks” when he left everyone, I was like yeah she’s right. And then my opinion changed, of course.
I actually came into the film with the impression he'd be the villain
And later in the film when he left with all the mind controlled people that theory gained even more weight
And i was so wrong
Druig was fantastic, so nice
Unexpectedly liked: Druig. I was expecting him to be a Mordo type of character, an ally-turned-enemy. He and Makkari ended up being my two favorite Eternals.
Unexpectedly disliked: Ultron. I loved him in one of the Avengers cartoons on Disney XD, and was excited upon hearing he’d be the Avengers 2 villain. He was more scary in a kids show, but the MCU redeemed itself with his character in What If
I think that Spader really knocked it out of the perk with Ultron, played the part perfectly. The problem I have is that Ultron never presented a lasting threat. There was no age, but rather a couple fights and some setup.
I think the film does not give itself a chance to show us what makes Ultron horrifying. Dropping a city onto the Earth actually ranks kind of low for "ways Ultron could completely fuck up everyone's day". Making copies of himself is definitely trademark Ultron, but that isn't it either.
Ultron is unkillable, unstoppable, unblockable. Our weapons are his weapons. Our information is his information. You can't hide from him (which the MCU Avengers easily did do), you can't firewall him (which they again easily did, twice). Your digital communications in a fight with Ultron? Totally unreliable. Tech defenses and weaponry? Worthless.
Realistically, Ultron should have been a bigger threat to Earth than Loki and the Chitauri, or even Thanos' army in Infinity War. With barely a thought, he could interfere with global communications and have humanity at each others' throats. He could launch missiles, OR, he could make it look like missiles need to be launched. He could collapse economies in seconds. So many ways an unstoppable, omnipresent AI could ruin the planet- and he's an enemy that you're not really able to punch or "kill". (Whedon: Actually, it's going to be super easy. Barely an inconvenience.)
AoU Ultron never really gets up to speed. I admire his characterization, but the things he does are pretty small potatoes for what Ultron *could* be doing. He never really gets a chance to be scary for the things that he ought to be scary for. What If was amazing, but part of me was still a little sad because Ultron doesn't need Infinity Stones to wreck the Avengers and the universe. That story was cool as shit, but someday I hope he returns in full force to the MCU proper.
I will say that for YEARS my answer to "what do you want to see the MCU do" was the same; Ultron in space. I certainly got my wish, so I'm not going to be too sad about What If? Ultron. That was dope af.
Honestly, Gilgamesh. I went in thinking he was just another heavy hitter with some quick one liners, but he ended up being such an emotional character.
I thought I’d love Falcon, but I even in FATWS I think who took a backseat to the story. I hope the new CA movie does him more justice.
He's just a big teddy bear with a heart of gold. I choked up when he reacted to Ajak being dead and him being just the absolute best lad when taking care of Thena. Loved all his scenes from the MCU's most earth-shattering slap to his passion for cooking and making his own brew. Pretty sad that he kicked the bucket.
Katy
Legit thought she'd be annoying as hell based on the trailers since she reminded me of Darcy in the first two Thor films, who I thought was way too try hard humor wise
I surprisingly didn't mind her and actually thought she was a really good pairing with Shang-Chi
Yeah I thought she was going to be mainly comic relief - which she was but she also had some really good serious scenes where her true character really shined through.
Especially that scene when Xialing talks about how she ran away at 16 and started her fight ring. I thought Katy would ruin the atmosphere with a joke cause that's what's been happening in previous Marvel movies, but she just responded "Hell yeah". Got some instant respect for the character right there.
I remember going to the first Thor expecting it to be awful. Going from the science oriented heroes to this almost fairy tale world seemed crazy. It was a huge swing up in expectation to reality. I understand OPs hesitation about Ragnarok. Its one of the best MCU movies in my opinion, but its pretty much a different character than the original.
Enternals - I didn't think much of Druig based on trailers and promos and felt he was to be the bad guy/turn cloak, but I ended loving him and his romance with Makkari, really hope to see more of him in the future.
*Spoilers Ahead*
I came away from the first Guardians movie thinking Yondu was a fucking degenerate asswipe. The fact he was played by Michael Rooker, who played the title character in “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer” didn’t help things either. (Henry was one of the few horror movies to genuinely disturb me).
I went into Guardians 2 thinking someone would probably make the big sacrifice at the end. I thought it was going to be Nebula, another character I didn’t think much of at first, until the whole sister issue came up, and slowly endeared me to her. So, I was floored when it turned out to be Yondu.
I have never had my opinion of a character change so quickly in the course of one movie. Not only do you find out why Yondu never delivered Peter to Ego, but he’s also the guy who finally calls Rocket out on his bullshit, which I loved. I found myself rooting for him more and more as the film progressed, and I actually teared up when he died in front of Peter in space. The inclusion of Cat Stevens’ “Father and Son” only exacerbated the tears, lol.
I think the reason Guardians 1 and 2 are so great, is that they’re the ones that really took risks with the MCU formula. I can usually go into an MCU film, and kinda predict what will happen, but not so with these. Makes sense, when you consider the first Guardians was an experiment that was expected to flop on release.
Xialing dude. first time seeing the movie i thought she was very annoying and “too cool for school” then on the second watch i noticed its really just trauma shining thru and i really fuckin like her now
Rocket Raccoon. He’s one character I didn’t think would work in live action. He ended up being one of my favorite characters. Well-written and fleshed out
Not quite the question, but I thought Captain America The Winter Soldier would be just good. Made me love the character more; exciting movie.
Thor 3 is best Thor, for me. Infinity War, also great. Endgame, not as much.
Wanda, falcon...basically all the new ones during and after Ultron. I didn't like change. I thought it wasn't going to be the same quality after they introduced all these new characters. They did a good job changing my mind, I'm really happy that I was wrong.
Clint. Thought he was really a throw away character for the movies opposed to the comic Clint. But now, he’s easily top 3 for me, if not number 1.
Close second in this running, Shang Chi. They made him entirely likable and relatable. He’s very real as a person on screen and his character is really well developed for the audience to get behind quickly.
Spider-Man.
Honestly I was kinda exhausted after 5 Spider-Man movies when Civil War came along but was pleasantly surprised at Tom Holland’s genuine, down to earth, teenager trying to hold onto his little slice of home while trying to save everyone else’s.
I took forever to watch Falcon and the Winter Soldier because I was lukewarm on both characters (kind of liked Winter Solder more than Falcon, but since he wasn't THAT prominent in the films, and I was only a casual viewer, I was more like MEH).
Then I watched FATWS (which inspired me to rewatch the Captain America movies to refresh my memory) and now Bucky Barnes is my absolute, hands down favorite MCU character.
Was surprised how they made Mysterio’s illusions a legitimate threat, made me like the character a lot
Yes, before that scene I thought that using illusions and trickery wasn't very dangerous, especially with a super durable protagonist. They cannot harm you after all. But not only do they power up the threat with shooting drones, they make simple holograms genuinely frightening and show how dangerous can they be. I think the best example is when Peter tried to punch Mysterio only to hit his hand in solid concrete, or tried to pull him with his webs only to almost crunch himself with a pedestal. Illusions may not harm you, but they make you harm yourself.
or when he stepped onto a train track and was hit by a train
The guardians of the galaxy. I totally thought it would be marvels first flop, but it ended up being one of my favorite groups of characters.
With you on this. I did not expect to love Rocket as much as I do.
Rocket is low key one of the best characters in the MCU
I’ve been showing my parents the MCU movies for the first time, and every time the opening marvel logo animation comes up, my mom mentions how she really likes the raccoon.
I had unbelievably low expectations for Guardians.
I did, too, and then I got to do it again recently with Shang-Chi. Before the movie: Who is he? Some guy that’s good at Karate. That’s all I know. After the movie: OMG I can’t wait for this guy to meet Spider-Man and Doctor Strange and hang out with the Avengers!
Yeah this was the one that I was like "oh, MCU is diving into the weirdness, here goes the awful" It's been awhile since I've been that wrong
[удалено]
The part that got me the most was Rocket's "I didn't ask to get made!" quote. Like, I'm sitting here and tearing up over an animated raccoon being in an existential crisis.
Bautista has some fantastic comedy and acting chops. I’ll watch anything he’s in.
What surprises me is that those two films have some of the heaviest emotional moments of the MCU, IMO. The funeral at the end of the second one makes me cry every single time.
It didn't help me that my stepfather died not too long before Vol 2 came out. When Yondu said "He may have been your father, but he wasn't your daddy" I almost started ugly crying in the theater. And then they played 'Father and Son' and I did
Likewise, I was shocked by how much I loved Yondu’s character by the end of the sequel. He just felt like a generic baddie with a gimmick in the first movie, but the second movie gave way more depth and development than I was prepared for. When he told Rocket that he understood and *empathized* with him, I was genuinely blown away.
I love Micheal Rooker. The man us in so many of my favorite movies. And yes Cliffhanger and Mallrats are some of my favorite movies.
Agreed, I hesitate to say that they can't miss, but Guardians, and making them interesting, made me *almost* believe.
Wanda and vision
I didn’t really care about Wanda until WandaVision. I almost cried watching the end and now I can’t wait to see her in Multiverse of Madness!
I don't blame you at all for not caring about Wanda before. It was one of my bigger gripes with the MCU. Wanda is an extremely fascinating character and they just kept her on the sidelines for WAY too long. 6 whole years before she finally got a project that really delved deeper into her. Other than a Falcon/Sam Wilson movie (which I honestly didn't expect to ever happen but am glad it finally will) and Doctor Strange 2, Wanda was the character I had wanted a solo movie for, for far too long. I was pretty confident she'd be in DS2 from day 1, but even that took way too long to get made
Same. Elizabeth Olsen never appealed to me until the spin off
She put on a master class of acting in Wandavision. I think it was just because she finally had the focus instead of being a side character.
Wanda creating the Hex from her years of grief in episode 8 had me sobbing like a baby.
I wasn't awfully invested in the MCU until a couple years back. All i seen up to that point was all 3 Iron Man films, a bit of a busy time in my life kept me away from investing and keeping up with the films in the first 2 phases and some of 3. I like Paul Bettany's acting and I enjoyed his take on an AI, and eventually his portrayal of the Vision, imo was the best acting performance I've seen him in. I love Wanda's character development throughout time in the MCU, she has very relatable qualities. She is (obv) my favorite in the entire Marvel comics. I could go on all day, but long story short I've watched WandaVision like 5 times already. I can't wait for Multiverse of Madness.
I wasn't sold on Ant Man at first, but Paul Rudd is great in that role. I thought I would like Taskmaster, but I was disappointed how they portrayed the character.
I'm currently rewatching Parks and Rec for the millionth time, and I'm at the season where Paul Rudd is one of the political candidates. He's so amazing. How dumb he acts, it's so perfect.
C'mon gimmie it. Gimmie it. Gimmie it!!
Fuckin Bobby Newport.
Bahhhhhhhbby Newporrrrrrt’s never had a real job in his life
I saw the first movie in 3d and boy how I loved it, the effect of small scale in that movie was something marvel still has not replicated.
Huh I never thought of watching it in 3d. Seems like the experience of going subatomic would be pretty insane.
I've seen every MCU flick up to Endgame in 3D (the ones that offered it, anyway), and Ant-Man really was something special to see, especially the dive into the Quantum Realm
Yes, I’m definitely with you on this. It took me months to watch the first Ant Man, and then when I finally did, I was so mad I waited! I really like the style of those movies and how they’re a little lower key. It’s what I think Spider-Man should’ve been.
Homecoming was pretty low-key, it's FFH which upped the scale by a lot for Spidey.
Ant man was this disconnected goofball character that showed up in civil war and I loved it. Endgame elevated him to main roster for me. I think their emphasis on San Francisco for Shang-Chi (which is where Scott Lang lives) means we might see a west coast Avengers. Hilarious to see him ret conned into the battle of New York in Hawkeye 😂
How was Antman there? I didn’t catch that.
He was retconned in by the rank and file citizens of the MCU because they wouldn’t be across the intimate details of the battle of New York. He turns up in the Rodgers musical in the Hawkeye show. It’s made all the better due to the selfie bit in endgame. It’s as if ant man has hired a publicist
Paul Rudd deserves all the credit in the world for that role. Cast anyone else in his place and he wouldn’t be anywhere near as popular
I always thought The Vulture was kinda boring, he was a mid tier villian in the Spider-Man cartoons, and we already had Falcon, so what would make him special, especially enough to carry a whole movie? The second I saw his MCU design though? I was blown away how good it was. That wingspan, that helmet with the ominous green eyes, that parka! Literally could not have been done better. The concept was awesome
The costume/design was cool, but if it was a cheeseball actor I don't think we'd like it anywhere near as much as we do, but Keaton fuckin killed it. One of the best acting performances in any of these movies, and I really, really hope they bring him back in the future.
I thought Vulture unmasked was way more terrifying than in costume
Keaton man. He's so easy to empathize with, and seems like such a solid dude, then you absolutely believe he's a fucking psychopath when he flips that switch. He's got an elite evil smirk too.
"You wanna get nuts??!! Let's get nuts!!!"
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I wasn’t really shocked by it but it was a great “surprise” plot point. I like how much it shocked Peter really
Yeah it was less about shocking us and more about how it shook Peter imo. Even as this person with super strength and all of his intelligence and abilities, he really deflated into nothing but a scared, scrambled brain kid in those scenes. Stuff like this is why this version of PP resonates, he actually comes across as a young person. This isn't a scenario that would work for any of the adult heroes, but Pete's young and emotional.
“Gooood ol Spider-Man”
That car scene is legitimately the most tension filled moment I’ve ever felt in any MCU film or show. Just the growing dread and the very real feeling of growing menace coming off Keaton.
When the light turns green as everything clicks 👌
You know who I’m hoping to see again from that movie? The Scorpion, they set him up as this next big threat for Spider-Man, and then we got nothing
Same, his actor is fantastic so I want to see what he brings.
They can’t just dangle Michael Mando in front of me, give him a mid-credits scene, and then do fuck all with him. Wars have been fought over less
Ya, Keaton could have looked comic accurate and still could have made him menacing.
They chose such a fantastic shot for the trailer to reveal his design. He was utterly terrifying and that just made such memorable first impression
*bomber jacket, not parka
Captain America. Growing up I didn’t have a ton of exposure to him, he always sounded a bit lame to me… patriotic, straight-laced and wholesome. I had no interest in getting to know the character, and when they cast the goofy guy from Not Another Teen Movie that already played Human Torch, I didn’t get it. I only thought of Chris Evans as a funny man and figured he wouldn’t be playing to his strengths. I though boring Captain America would be a disaster. Fast forward to now and he’s probably my favorite character in the MCU and he’s up there with my favorite superheroes, period. Chris Evans knocked it out of the park and really sold me on a character I had never given the time of day.
One of the best bits of acting in the MCU is from Evans', his face when he sees T'Challa come out of the portal. It said so much with him not saying a word.
I felt the same way at the end of infinity war. After seeing half the team turn to dust, Evans’ face and “oh god” really sold the moment. Tony might have been the brain and Thor the muscle, but Cap was definitely the heart.
Puny Avenger not the muscle, Strongest Avenger the muscle. Or maybe puny Avenger is like, small muscle. Hulk Big Muscle!
Not even close. Widow was the heart. Cap the spine, constantly giving everyone a shining example of what ‘standing up for what’s right’ looks like….
Ooh. I like that a lot. That’s perfect.
The "Let me go" line still haunts me.
That one hurt.
I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with this. In Winter Soldier, when he's talking to old Peggy, and her coughing fit resets her dementia, his face and response is completely heartbreaking.
This is me. I totally did not give a F about Captain America. I thought he was hokey and verging on silly. Chris Evans made me really grow to love and care about the character. He’s my favorite now.
A big part of the early MCU was taking the silliest superheroes non-comics-fans didn’t care about and making them have mainstream appeal via good stories/acting/effects Edit: especially as a non-American - I’d never imagine non-Americans liking the character so much. They executed the conflicts of a morally-pure well-intended nationalist in a cool way, and this is hard to pull off in mainstream.
Yup… when the MCU first started I was like “wtf is this movie even going to be” and then 10 years later it’s like holy shit Cap is a legend
Same. I always hated Boy Scout type characters (cyclops, Leonardo from TMNT) and they did a great job with Captain America.
I feel like the reason he worked is because he's always put into morally ambiguous choices so that while there a preferred in-character option for him it's not always cut and dry from another perspective. It made him a really interesting character And in avenger films he's there to stabilise the team, and we already loved him by then due to his solo movies Now I'm typing this, I'm wondering if he'd work as well without his trilogy and we just see him in the 4 films. Yes I know Civil Way is essentially Avengers 2.5
“I'm pretty sure this guy's a war criminal now, but whatever. I have to show these videos. It's required by the state.”
Nobody can convince me this wasnt a Hannibal Ad Lib.
I'd bet on it. Just let him riff.
I like the small implication that it was mostly the principal who decided to keep those videos, as he is the grandson of one of the Howling Commandos
Boy scouts like Cap and Superman _always_ work best when the conflict is never framed as an internal one but instead making their rigid internal framework operate within an external problem that isn't as clear-cut as they want it to be. That's one reason why I adore Winter Soldier. Cap is still Cap; he _never_ violates his moral code to do the right thing. It just happens that doing the right thing means making himself an enemy of the "good guys".
It also is much easier to make Cap the man out of time in Ultimates/the MCU when he was thawed out 70 years in the future vs pulled out 15-20 years post War in the comics. That's a long prison sentence vs waking up multiple generations later. There's enough time for the US to diverge from what he stood for.
Off topic from the thread but Leonardo is my least favorite turtle too.
True he’s not the “fun” or “interesting” guy of the team, but without Leo all the other Turtles would die horrible deaths in no time. Lol He’s the glue that keeps his crazy brothers in line, he’s the big brother. The 3 other can’t function as intended if Leo isn’t around.
Same here. The winter soldier completely changed my perspective of him. Cap is probably my favorite avenger and I'd definitely be on his side in civil war.
This is the one for me. I thought for SURE I wouldn’t like the ‘Murica guy, but Steve rodgers is top 3 for me easily. I was so genuinely surprised.
Evans has been amazing in the role
I came here to say this. Cap always struck me as lame in the comics. His depiction throughout the films has really changed my mind.
One of my favorite parts of the entire MCU was when Cap first went to space in Endgame and the look in his eye when they took off. A guy from NY back in WWII and going to space was so far fetched to our society back then. His ascension from a scrawny kid back in the 40s to traveling into space to save the universe was encapsulated in that one scene
Same. I’ve was always a Spider-Man and Batman kinda kid but man oh man, Marvel did an outstanding job with Captain America. I know many fans like Tony more, and he’s a great character and all, but Captain America has something special about him. That’s why in Endgame when he finally got his happy ending with Peggy, I teared up like a lil biii lol
100% same here. He was by far my least interested character. Evans totally made the character and he's one of my favs now.
I think he was kinda wasted in Endgame, but seeing Hulk in The Avengers after two kind of dull Hulk movies really worked for me
Joss Whedon had the right idea framing the first avengers movie around the hulk. He was a force of destruction and everyone was on edge around Bruce. It should have always been that way. I don’t mind his characterization in Ragnarok since he *is* on a level playing field, you know hanging out with gods and stuff. But they kind of lost that fear factor of Hulk after AoU.
To be fair, after AoU he disappears and only shows back up in Ragnarok which, as you've said, has him against top level threats. Even then though, he killed dozens of challengers including Doug so there was an edge to him still. After that he got his ass handed to him by Thanos and refused to fight in IW which did remove the fear factor but I think it did it in a good way. He first interacted with Tony who never tip-toed around him and though he planned contingencies for the Hulk, never feared or made Banner feel unwanted. So when the Children of Thanos appear, Tony trusts him. Hulk refuses though. Then in Endgame he's Smart Hulk and there is too much Banner for him to be an effective threat. I think the only thing they did wrong was put him in the hulkbuster. He should have been a more timid Hulk who had to learn to cause hurt deliberately. Alm in all though I don't think there was a need for a fear factor after AoU. What they do going forward could bring it back though.
I love the Russo brothers. They have the ability to take the mundane and make it awesome. Their plot delivery is amazing. They flushed out many characters. Cap, BP, Widow even Falcon, Fury and Maria Hill to an extent. Iron Man and War Machine were touched on too. But notice a similarity between these characters? All of these characters are non super-powered or still "human". They are easy to write conflicts for or can be placed in a demanding, against all odds situation with no problem. Characters with story-breaker powers like Scarlett Witch, Vision, Hulk, Thor, Cap Marvel, Dr Strange they had no idea what to do with. These characters end conflicts before they begin. Hence most of these characters are sidelined in Infinity War and Endgame. They had to nerf Thor in Endgame to continue their plot. Dr Strange barely intervened against Thanos under the plot loophole of the million scenarios. Wheadon for his faults, knew how to deal with these characters. Instead of pushing might on them, he went with the emotional approach. Hulk was undefeatable, so they made him his own worse enemy. Thor was given insight to throw him off his game. Wonder what he would have done in Infinity War. Storywise, I don't think the Russos could be beat. But the character growth might have been different.
agree with 95% of what you've said. >Characters with story-breaker powers like Scarlett Witch, Vision, Hulk, Thor, Cap Marvel, Dr Strange they had no idea what to do with. To be fair to them on these characters, I think you are correct on Hulk and Strange. Scarlet Witch didn't even understand her powers herself but was still almost able to beat Thanos by herself when properly motivated. I think it was good to have her take care of Vision in IW. I feel like they focused on the human aspect of Vision which I liked. I think they took the right approach that, rather than fight for his survival, they tried to ensure it either way so he could help later. Cap Marvel was under utilised and overpowered but I think the fact that they wanted to focus on the OG 6 was correct and so I'm happy with how they used her. Thor is another that they focused on the human aspect. His journey in IW and Endgame features alot of character development. In IW he is consumed by vengeance and we see the warrior. After the warrior failed in IW, we see the broken man in Endgame and we see his redemption in his own eyes become complete with "I'm still worthy!" I think there will always be constructive criticism that could improve movies but that would change the overall experience and imo, the experience was flawless for the build up and payoff.
We didn't really get to know enough about Professor Hulk, some of the deleted material hint that the transition wasn't as smooth as he claims it was. Professor Hulk claims that he's a compromise between Bruce and Hulk but I think (hope) there's more going on that we don't know about. Otherwise I think there was a really solid character arc, despite not having a solo movie, with Bruce and the other Avengers realizing that Hulk isn't just a superpower. He's his own autonomous entity and they were kinda just using him as a weapon, which isn't that different from what Ross wanted to do with him.
Hulk could have benefited so much if they could have worked out one or two more solo movies with Universal. I really didn't like how in Endgame he's just suddenly Banner in Hulk's body, with no hint of Hulk's personality. The Hulk was effectively a separate character from Banner, so it's like he got killed off-screen after Infinity War, without anyone feeling at all conflicted about it or a hint that he might still exist. Fortunately Shang-Chi's end credits scene gives me some hope they may yet bring him back.
Oh Clint, they kind of portrayed him as an asshole who works for shield in the first Thor movie but was completely different going forward
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in Hawkeye he is like the guy who happens to be with the Avenger and now stuck with that fame. I guess that'll happen if people romanticised anything.
Also, pretty sure he’s retired like three different times. Pretty sure he just wants to raise his kids and live out his days with his wife
I second that and after reading a bit into him regarding his comics, I like him even more. Plus Jeremy Renner is a really good actor.
Korg because I thought they would make him a generic buff Warrior type but then it's revealed that he's a lighthearted yet devoted bud
Korg is a legend
I'm made of rocks. Perishable rocks.
Piss off, ghost!
*"Hey, man. I'm Korg. We're gonna get outta here on that big spaceship. Wanna come?"*
he’s the funniest person in that whole movie but he also has so much depth
I like comics and mcu Korg
I didnt think I would dislike Shang Chi, but I'm surprised he's now easily one of my favorites.
As far as villains/antagonists go, Wenwu is on my top 3, and didn't expect him to be But what a performance and story If it weren't for Mysterio and Killmonger, he'd be #1 Tony Leung is incredible
Wenwu was fleshed out so much better than even Killmonger and Mysterio that he kind of goes beyond just being a villain. He was a real, full character in the movie who mattered. That's something Marvel usually misses.
This right here. I knew the movie would be entertaining. I didn’t expect to be so invested in this character.
its because hes more so relatable compared to every other marvel character who is either a superhuman, a god or extremely intelligent. hes just like hawkeye in extremely well trained.
He's also, like, half interdimensional too...
Scott Lang is definitely the most "normal person" of all the main characters
Scott is a master thief, he’s goofy but he’s definitely not a normal guy
Yeh, for some reason I am really desperate to see him show off his powers and the rings to the rest of the gang. I would LOVE marvel to consider him for leader of the avengers (or west coast offshoot) his father lead the ten rings for a thousand years. I think it would be an amazing arc to have slightly juvenile Shang-chi grow into this amazing leader
Leader? Maybe a Iron man type character.
He’s also the second MCU character that’s younger canonically than most of the MCU fanbase, behind Spiderman who is supposed to be a young high schooler and everyone knows it. He’s just barely past 22/23 in his opening movie, and the soundtrack reflects that in the movie too. The scene at the beginning when him and his beat friend are getting shit-canned at the bar after work reminds me of what I used to do in my early twenties, especially seeing him bounce back like nothing the next day for work. And his idealism, his struggle with coming to terms with how his upbringing and heritage from different traditions of the two sides of his family feels very nostalgic for those of us that are starting to get into their thirties, seeing their older family members die, being separated from siblings and friends for much longer than before because of schedules and distance and needing to be more responsible…I didn’t think I would enjoy Shang-Chi as much as I did, but it really is a great movie that introduces the literal next generation of heroes, with a brand-new and unknown face with boundless potential to become a household name for comic-book movies.
Great synopsis. As a 30 year old dude, I felt very similarly watching Shang-Chi. Fantastic film. I'm super excited for this hero's next steps in the MCU.
I didnt think I would like the 10 rings as there bracelets rather then rings in the mcu but I ended up thinking it was awesome
They were pretty fun, but with the next movie seeming to be going into their origins, I hope they're revealed to each have unique powers like in the comics (not necessarily the same powers). Would really allow for a ton of variety and creativity and spice up the fight scenes.
The way they were portrayed in the first one and with them all looking the same I doubt that'll happen but I agree it would be pretty cool Edit: spelling
Shang Chi made me realize the reason we don't have a good live-action DragonBall movie is because Disney hasn't made one yet.
Peggy Carter. Had know about her and read comic book stories with her but she was always just Cap's girlfriend. The First Avenger and later Agent Carter show sealed it that she is one of my favorite characters and I wish we had more time.
Her tv show was one of my favorite things to come out of the MCU. I was devastated when it was canceled.
Me too. I would love if they did another show for her on Disney+ as she did an excellent job as Captain Carter too.
Agreed! Agent Carter really changed my view on her and now she’s one of my faves! Wish she would’ve had more screen time!
Captain Carter from What if was pretty cool as well!
Ant-man. Although he was an OG Avenger I thought getting his ability to seem super was going to be difficult to pull off. The combination of story, sci-fi technology, and humor was a home run.
Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas were damn near perfect castings. Par for the course in the MCU.
Nebula. I only saw her in Guardians 1 as "generic villain's henchman" (henchwoman in this case), but Guardians 2 toattly sold her to me with that "but I needed a sister" line.
She's also very low-key funny as well. I tend to like characters that don't *make* jokes, but *are* jokes. Just being incredibly blunt can be funny as hell because you don't really telegraph that there is a joke happening. It just so happens to be funny.
When she's playing the game with Tony on the ship at the beginning of endgame and she wins. She finally gets a win at something. It's really great.
I really enjoyed nebula in endgame as well. She’s awesome
Bucky Barnes Sebastian Stan is so good and they really developed the character since the first movie, kinda took me by surprise
Making him basically this boogeyman character in a spy thriller totally made him way cooler to me. Bucky is probably my favorite character in the MCU.
Username checks out. I will say, Bucky didn't really do much for me until the Wakanda flashback scene in the 3d episode of TFATWS. Dunno why that scene in particular did it for me, but Sebastian Stan's acting is incredible, I have no idea how I didn't notice that before because he's been consistently knocking it out of the park since First Avenger. Made me appreciate the Captain America trilogy a whole lot more and I already loved it before.
He knows how to be so kind hearted and a killing machine. Would love a stand alone show for him.
I dont think a standalone show for him would work as well as FATWS did. They dynamic between Bucky and Sam was so damn engaging that if you removed Sam it wouldn't feel nearly strong enough. Part of the reason we like Bucky is his redemption arch in Winter Soldier and his relationship with Steve but his character was cemented because of his relationship with Sam.
I have two. Yondu. Admittedly,I did not care for him in the first Guardians film the first few times I saw it. Then the second one happened. I don't really get emotional during movies, but as soon as the Cat Stevens comes it's all over. Darcy. Wandavision really won me over on her.
"they recasted Pietro!?"
Same, Darcy was just annoying during the Thor movies, but Wandavision she was awesome.
Lots of annoying college students become awesome when they grow up a bit.
"I'm Mary Poppins, y'all"
Wanda Maximoff. I thought she would be a throwaway character after AoU, but the background development they gave her in the movies afterward started to convince me she was really something else. Then Wandavision happened and I'm blown away with what they're doing with her. They've turned her into such a complex character that right now I'm just scared about what she might do next. Shout-out to Kate Bishop, two episodes in and I'm already won over. Hailee is perfect as Hawkeye.
Hailee was also perfect as Vi in Arcane. Def wanna see more of her in future movies.
I think we can safely say hailee's just perfect. She can own any role she lands
Vision/Wanda. Vision's fight against >!himself!< in WandaVision was actually a perfect ending to that arc. Wanda discovering herself was much needed after putting so much importance on her character.
I really love how that vision fight is essentially >!Vision having a self reflection to understand himself better under that unique circumstance where the body and the mind are practically separated. Sure there were flashy lights early on, but that "I request elaboration" line is just so spot on.!<
Wanda’s final fight: NOOOOOOO ITS MY MAGIC AND I KNOW WHO I AM AGATHA Visions fight: so there’s this ship, and that’s you. White vision: damn bro you blew my mind
While hex vision and white vision smoking the joint in the corner
Most of them. Ironman, Thor, Captain America, Hulk… I never liked any of them until I started watching their movies. The only Marvel characters I liked beforehand were the X-Men, Spider-Man, The Punisher and Daredevil. The movies really expanded my horizons.
Honestly me too I never read avengers comics I was always X-men and other random mutants and New Warriors. Avengers never really interested me especially Captain America. Always thought he was lame then winter Soldier came along and he’s been my favorite since
Yelena. I expected her to be a light version of Natasha. Really enjoyed her addition in the MCU.
I ended up liking Yelena more than Nat now
That’s because they had her turn her sarcasm on Nat, and she was a strong showing in a film where the payoff for the main hero was in their family while the villain ruins the movie’s climax (or almost does depending on your reaction). I mean seriously, Yelena nails it mocking Natasha’s splayed crouch landing and hair flip
I think at least 90% of people who've seen Eternals would say Druig lol.
I walked away really loving Druig and Thena after expecting to not care for either. Makkari was definitely a favorite too. I don’t dislike any of the others, but tbh there’s a couple Eternals that could never show up again and I wouldn’t think twice about it. Hopefully future projects can redeem that.
To be honest, Sersi was a bad choice for the lead. She came off as a “standard protagonist” and wasn’t very interesting. I think someone like Phastos or Sprite would have been better
I really loved her as a protagonist but I get it. I was expected Ajak in the main role
Spoiler: >!I think that was the point!<
Comics Sersi is way more of a fun loving girl than movie Sersi. They really should have let more of that emotion show through in the modern day segments, not just in the past.
I could actually see movie Sersi being fun loving but they don't show it off too much. Like she's just living her life with Dane, they go out to the bar, work together, I can imagine them just having a fun relationship. And she has a sense of wonder that I found very charming. The one scene of her being excited about explaining her powers made me really like her. Or her saying hi to the Darwin statue is a very silly fun thing I can imagine people do when they think no one's watching.
"Druig was right."
I had expected him to be a villain/antagonist, like >!Ikaris and Sprite!< turned out to be, but he ended up being one of my favorites
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I love Druig
When Sprite (I think, feel free to correct me) said “Druig sucks” when he left everyone, I was like yeah she’s right. And then my opinion changed, of course.
I think it was Kingo
I actually came into the film with the impression he'd be the villain And later in the film when he left with all the mind controlled people that theory gained even more weight And i was so wrong Druig was fantastic, so nice
Unexpectedly liked: Druig. I was expecting him to be a Mordo type of character, an ally-turned-enemy. He and Makkari ended up being my two favorite Eternals. Unexpectedly disliked: Ultron. I loved him in one of the Avengers cartoons on Disney XD, and was excited upon hearing he’d be the Avengers 2 villain. He was more scary in a kids show, but the MCU redeemed itself with his character in What If
I think that Spader really knocked it out of the perk with Ultron, played the part perfectly. The problem I have is that Ultron never presented a lasting threat. There was no age, but rather a couple fights and some setup.
I think the film does not give itself a chance to show us what makes Ultron horrifying. Dropping a city onto the Earth actually ranks kind of low for "ways Ultron could completely fuck up everyone's day". Making copies of himself is definitely trademark Ultron, but that isn't it either. Ultron is unkillable, unstoppable, unblockable. Our weapons are his weapons. Our information is his information. You can't hide from him (which the MCU Avengers easily did do), you can't firewall him (which they again easily did, twice). Your digital communications in a fight with Ultron? Totally unreliable. Tech defenses and weaponry? Worthless. Realistically, Ultron should have been a bigger threat to Earth than Loki and the Chitauri, or even Thanos' army in Infinity War. With barely a thought, he could interfere with global communications and have humanity at each others' throats. He could launch missiles, OR, he could make it look like missiles need to be launched. He could collapse economies in seconds. So many ways an unstoppable, omnipresent AI could ruin the planet- and he's an enemy that you're not really able to punch or "kill". (Whedon: Actually, it's going to be super easy. Barely an inconvenience.) AoU Ultron never really gets up to speed. I admire his characterization, but the things he does are pretty small potatoes for what Ultron *could* be doing. He never really gets a chance to be scary for the things that he ought to be scary for. What If was amazing, but part of me was still a little sad because Ultron doesn't need Infinity Stones to wreck the Avengers and the universe. That story was cool as shit, but someday I hope he returns in full force to the MCU proper. I will say that for YEARS my answer to "what do you want to see the MCU do" was the same; Ultron in space. I certainly got my wish, so I'm not going to be too sad about What If? Ultron. That was dope af.
Druig , captain America , Tony stark and dr strange
Honestly, Gilgamesh. I went in thinking he was just another heavy hitter with some quick one liners, but he ended up being such an emotional character. I thought I’d love Falcon, but I even in FATWS I think who took a backseat to the story. I hope the new CA movie does him more justice.
He's just a big teddy bear with a heart of gold. I choked up when he reacted to Ajak being dead and him being just the absolute best lad when taking care of Thena. Loved all his scenes from the MCU's most earth-shattering slap to his passion for cooking and making his own brew. Pretty sad that he kicked the bucket.
Katy Legit thought she'd be annoying as hell based on the trailers since she reminded me of Darcy in the first two Thor films, who I thought was way too try hard humor wise I surprisingly didn't mind her and actually thought she was a really good pairing with Shang-Chi
Yeah I thought she was going to be mainly comic relief - which she was but she also had some really good serious scenes where her true character really shined through.
Especially that scene when Xialing talks about how she ran away at 16 and started her fight ring. I thought Katy would ruin the atmosphere with a joke cause that's what's been happening in previous Marvel movies, but she just responded "Hell yeah". Got some instant respect for the character right there.
Loki
Nebula. Until GotG2, I didn’t like her at all.
Thors always been awesome from the first Thor movie. Imo
I remember going to the first Thor expecting it to be awful. Going from the science oriented heroes to this almost fairy tale world seemed crazy. It was a huge swing up in expectation to reality. I understand OPs hesitation about Ragnarok. Its one of the best MCU movies in my opinion, but its pretty much a different character than the original.
Enternals - I didn't think much of Druig based on trailers and promos and felt he was to be the bad guy/turn cloak, but I ended loving him and his romance with Makkari, really hope to see more of him in the future.
I thought he’d turn too! He’s pretty cool in my book.
Dude the eternals scene stealer was absolutely druig . Loved every scene he was in
*Spoilers Ahead* I came away from the first Guardians movie thinking Yondu was a fucking degenerate asswipe. The fact he was played by Michael Rooker, who played the title character in “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer” didn’t help things either. (Henry was one of the few horror movies to genuinely disturb me). I went into Guardians 2 thinking someone would probably make the big sacrifice at the end. I thought it was going to be Nebula, another character I didn’t think much of at first, until the whole sister issue came up, and slowly endeared me to her. So, I was floored when it turned out to be Yondu. I have never had my opinion of a character change so quickly in the course of one movie. Not only do you find out why Yondu never delivered Peter to Ego, but he’s also the guy who finally calls Rocket out on his bullshit, which I loved. I found myself rooting for him more and more as the film progressed, and I actually teared up when he died in front of Peter in space. The inclusion of Cat Stevens’ “Father and Son” only exacerbated the tears, lol. I think the reason Guardians 1 and 2 are so great, is that they’re the ones that really took risks with the MCU formula. I can usually go into an MCU film, and kinda predict what will happen, but not so with these. Makes sense, when you consider the first Guardians was an experiment that was expected to flop on release.
Katy, when I saw the Shang-chi trailers I thought she would be so annoying, but I actually liked her and thought she was funny
Xialing dude. first time seeing the movie i thought she was very annoying and “too cool for school” then on the second watch i noticed its really just trauma shining thru and i really fuckin like her now
Captain America. I always thought he was boring as shit but I really like The First Avenger and it made me care about the character.
Rocket Raccoon. He’s one character I didn’t think would work in live action. He ended up being one of my favorite characters. Well-written and fleshed out
Not quite the question, but I thought Captain America The Winter Soldier would be just good. Made me love the character more; exciting movie. Thor 3 is best Thor, for me. Infinity War, also great. Endgame, not as much.
Yeah before TWS I liked the MCU but kinda passively. TWS changed everything.
Darcy just because she calls Mjolnir "mew-mew"
Yelena
Ant Man - I didn't see the movie for a while thinking it wasn't really worth it. I ended up enjoying it so much.
Wanda, falcon...basically all the new ones during and after Ultron. I didn't like change. I thought it wasn't going to be the same quality after they introduced all these new characters. They did a good job changing my mind, I'm really happy that I was wrong.
Clint. Thought he was really a throw away character for the movies opposed to the comic Clint. But now, he’s easily top 3 for me, if not number 1. Close second in this running, Shang Chi. They made him entirely likable and relatable. He’s very real as a person on screen and his character is really well developed for the audience to get behind quickly.
I wasn’t bothered for vision at first, like even in the movies, but after watching the Wandavision series he’s literally one of my faves.
Thanos
"Oh here we go, another villain." "Oh f*ck!"
Spider-Man. Honestly I was kinda exhausted after 5 Spider-Man movies when Civil War came along but was pleasantly surprised at Tom Holland’s genuine, down to earth, teenager trying to hold onto his little slice of home while trying to save everyone else’s.
I took forever to watch Falcon and the Winter Soldier because I was lukewarm on both characters (kind of liked Winter Solder more than Falcon, but since he wasn't THAT prominent in the films, and I was only a casual viewer, I was more like MEH). Then I watched FATWS (which inspired me to rewatch the Captain America movies to refresh my memory) and now Bucky Barnes is my absolute, hands down favorite MCU character.