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This thread is the place to discuss Marvel films in general or else specific ones that haven't generated much discussion on their own. The following films have their own threads:

Ant-Man
Ant-Man and the Wasp
The Avengers
Avengers: Infinity War
Avengers: Endgame
Black Panther
Black Widow
Captain America: Civil War
Captain Marvel
Deadpool
Deadpool 2
The Eternals
Logan
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Thor: Ragnarok
Venom
X-Men: Apocalypse

Ribs wrote:Fox has delayed the X-Men horror spin-off New Mutants to February 2019 from its planned April bow

Wow, there have been posters up for this for weeks. I was a huge fan of the run of issues the storyline of the film covers, but after seeing the teaser trailer...zero interest in seeing the movie.

Ribs wrote:Gore Verbinski has left the Gambit movie, and Fox has delayed the X-Men horror spin-off New Mutants to February 2019 from its planned April bow. Deadpool 2 has now been pushed up to May 18th, only two weeks after Avengers and a week before Solo’s supposed release.

I didn't realize that Deadpool 2 was releasing at such a crowded time. Barring a miracle, there goes its shot at outperforming the first film (which I really enjoyed).

With Avengers: Infinity War's release date moved to April 27, there will now be a 3-week (as opposed to 2 week) break between it and Deadpool 2, the following Marvel movie, which releases on May 18.

Jake Gyllenhaal in talks to play the villain in Spiderman Homecoming's sequel, raising my interest from zero to will-watch-if-on-streaming.

Destin Cretton, director of Short Term 12, to direct Shang-Chi movie. Literally never heard of this character

Spoiler for X-Men: Dark Phoenix

Looks like Jennifer Lawrence has wisely decided to abandon the X-Men franchise after the upcoming film (unless some Endgame-esque shenanigans are afoot)

No disrespect intended to the mod who edited this, is this really a spoiler? You see it happen in the trailer for the movie

I haven’t watched Captain Marvel or Avengers Endgame yet, I usually watch these films when they come out on blu-ray. So I’ve decided to re-watch all the MCU films in sequence, ahead of the two (soon three) most recent films. I generally enjoy these films, they do well in terms of characterisation and dialogue. Many of their casting choices are inspired, which is what keeps me watching more than the action stuff. I wasn’t allowed superhero comics as a kid, so films are my primary exposure to the genre.

Iron Man

I still think this is one if the best superhero films ever made and it holds up remarkably well, a great start to the MCU. Robert Downey Jr. should have gotten an Oscar nomination, his performance is a screwball-comedy delight. He and Paltrow play off each other beautifully.

Would it be right to say that Iron Man is the Marvel version of Batman, only without the doom and gloom ? Their only superpowers are limitless financial resources and engineering skills.

As the main villain Jeff Bridges doesn’t get much to do, but he’s the rare actor who has gotten more sexy with age. Initially I missed Terrence Howard as Rhodes but now I’ve gotten used to and prefer Don Cheadle. He feels less of a natural as a military man but I find him to be a more likeable presence in the long run.

Favreau has an eye for design and art direction, the proto-Iron Man suit looks like it leapt off a 50s sci-fi pulp paperback, just like the retro-future of Zathura.

The Incredible Hulk

The one dead end in the MCU, featuring the second and last actor in a major role to be recast. It says a lot for the series that this is one of the two or three worst films in the franchise and it’s still perfectly watchable. The first half is fine, I checked out during the interminable CGI monster brawl towards the end.

It’s a schizophrenic film which can’t quite decide to which degree it’s a sequel to the Ang Lee movie or a new start and therefore feels at odds with the MCU. Thankfully they’ve abandoned the weightlessly leaping Hulk from the Ang Lee film (I miss the Hulk-poodles.) The digital effects for the Hulk have improved a lot since this film, the creature work often looks rough.

Liv Tyler has never been a favourite of mine but she displays a touching vulnerability as the model-turned-cellular biologists. Her performance gives the movie a sense that there is something at stake. William Hurt and Tim Roth do their best with blah-villain roles but they don’t stand a chance.

Unlike the digital creations of later city scapes, it appears they’ve built large sets which gives the film an old-school but also more small scale look. It’s the least expensive looking of the MCU films. Edward Norton is a great actor but he’s a little too earnest. It’s for the best that they’ve recast the role with Ruffalo, who brings his easygoing charm to Bruce Banner, which makes him more of a match for the likes of Downey Jr. and Hemsworth.

Louis Leterrier’s journeyman action approach is bland and the MCU eventually would go after less obvious directors for what is an action franchise.

I think this is the only MCU film where the post-credit scene comes ahead of the credits, which feels odd.

I still think Ang Lee's Hulk is that much better than the Leterrier one, despite its more typical second half.

Lost Highway wrote: Sat Jun 08, 2019 7:29 pmAs the main villain Jeff Bridges doesn’t get much to do, but he’s the rare actor who has gotten more sexy with age.

A recurring issue within the MCU villain's roster, who mostly fail to offer an interesting antagonism.

Iron Man 2

The follow up to the excellent Iron Man still is a disappointment and the MCU has truly hit its teething-problems phase.

Not much about this works. Turning Tony Stark into a dick again is aggravating rather than the source of meaningful drama. Pepper Potts has to be a shrieking damsel in distress a lot. I can see why they tried to fix MCUs boring corporate villain problem with an outlandish Batman-style baddie but Mickey Rourke barely registers, despite his freakish appearance. The whole whipping-racing-cars scene is stupid as is Rhodes and Tony Stark destroying much of the house during a pointless fight. Scarlett Johansson had not grown into her Black Widow role yet and at this point I was mourning the news that Emily Blunt had turned down the role.

The movie feels overstuffed. Being too concerned with setting characters up for future instalments, it’s loosing sight of Tony and Pepper Potts. Sam Rockwell is pretty funny when given a chance but like everybody else he’s not given enough time to make his character count.

There are fun moments here and there but the movie is a mess.

Marvel announced the following movies at SDCC today:

Black Widow (Cate Shortland), with Scarlett Johansson, David Harbour, Florence Pugh, O-T Fagbenle, and Rachel Weisz (May 2020)
The Eternals (Chloé Zhao), with Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Brian Tyree Henry, and Salma Hayek (November 2020)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Destin Daniel Cretton), with Simu Liu, Awkwafina and Tony Leung (!) (February 2021)
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Scott Derrickson), with Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen (May 2021)
Thor: Love and Thunder (Taika Waititi), with Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson and Natalie Portman (November 2021)
Mahershala Ali as the titular character in an undated Blade reboot, alongside Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Fantastic Four sequels/reboots

Keep me moderately interested in the Shortland and Tony Leung

And end game is now the biggest grossing movie of all time

Doctor Strange title seems like they may be trying to go Lovecraft. They did say it's Marvel's first "scary movie" so I hope they go all out while still keeping a PG-13. Blade is the best news everything else is just "okay... more Marvel!".

Spider-Man out of the MCU following Sony/Disney dispute

I liked the latest Spidey flick, partly because it was less MCU dependent than the first, but the original Raimi trilogy (yep, all three of them) is better than virtually everything Disney has churned out. Hope Sony have seen the box office potential here and put the proper effort into restoring this franchise in its own right.

Spider-Man is the only superhero I’ve ever had a particular fondness for and the way Disney flattened the character, and broader web of supporting characters and dynamics that traditionally come with him, to shoehorn him into a broader “cinematic universe” (as a pathetic subordinate to Iron Man) was quite irritating.

If this means we’re about to get another origin movie for this character, I hope there’s rioting in the streets

Holy shit, that'll be the FIFTH ONE in 20 years

Looks like they’ve got two more pictures in the works with Holland so I doubt they’ll circle back to the origin story now. But the main weakness of this rendition is that the character remains totally immature and stunted precisely because the Ben Parker incident seems not to have happened to him.

I'm sure they'll work something out, not least because both studios have spent so much time setting up Spiderman as

Spoiler

Iron Man's heir.

Spider-Man No Deal BREXIT

I really liked the last one so I'm at least happy over this.

Scorsese says Marvel movies are not cinema

“I tried, you know?” the director said when asked if he had seen Marvel’s movies. “But that’s not cinema.”

He continued: “Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”

I think they're pretty mediocre overall, but in their soap opera structure they literally function primarily on the level of humans conveying emotional and psychological experiences to other human (like being)s.