I've been busy or distracted or something, and the weeks continue to fly by so quickly - this is just a loose, MCU ramble…
It seems clear that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is not the powerhouse it was just a few years ago.
I think if I were handed the keys for some reason, and allowed to decide where to go next, I would take the approach that
we used to see when a comic book series was handed off to a new creative team. I'd focus on the main character/characters, starting roughly where they left off (if we're in the middle of a storyline) and tell a tight, fairly simple, fairly small story. The stakes would not be Universe-ending, Galaxy-ending, and possibly not even World-ending. It wouldn't change the essence of the characters as they are. It would re-establish that essence, and the tone going forward.
Now granted, movies, and even series, are not comics. Movies feel they need big stakes - but even for movies, I think Marvel would be well served to get smaller, and character-focused.
And the MCU has an advantage - they can look back at decades of comics history and find the stories that resonated, and were popular. I'd choose strong stories over popularity, but popularity must not be ignored; this is pop entertainment - what works in the comics can work on screen. That's been proven already. And there are plenty of comic arcs that could be adapted to multiple movies, and have never been done in live action.
If it were me, I wouldn't reboot. I'd follow the comics. Smaller stakes, stories that are character-focused. We need strong writers and directors. The team that did the Daredevil show on Netflix made a great show - why are they not being brought in for the Daredevil continuation? I mean - the Daredevil show was just scrapped; maybe that team is heading into the office now. I'd love to see that show continue, without making it kid-friendly or “modern culture friendly” or whatever was going wrong with the reboot before they scrapped it last month.
By the way, the fact that they scrapped the Daredevil reboot to start over, and did the same with the new Blade movie that apparently wasn't working - that's a good sign! It seems like they want to get things right.
Wishing them well - they have amazing characters and stories at their disposal.
An MCU rant for the week.
See you next time!
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MCU scraps, do-overs and to reboot or not to reboot
Banes at 12:00AM, Nov. 9, 2023
5 likes!
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jerrie at 9:38PM, Nov. 9, 2023
@Plymayer: thanks. yes, there are SO many great comic stories, yet the movies are doing their own thing! AND they constantly reboot on top of it.like mks_monsters has said...''How many times can we tell the same story again and again? How many times must Peter Parker be a teenager?'' I just don't get it.
plymayer at 8:43PM, Nov. 9, 2023
@ jerrie: You are spot on point. People go to see the movies because of the comics. Why change them?
plymayer at 8:42PM, Nov. 9, 2023
@ Banes: LOL.
Ozoneocean at 7:14PM, Nov. 9, 2023
Just an asside here- the new Captain Marvel movie coming out, it doesn't look appealing. Brie Larson's Captain Marvel character always looks bad for some reason, I could never work out why but then I saw pics of a male cosplayer wearing the same outfit and he looked just as boring, even thought the outfit was a perfect match. I think that's a big part of it: she just looks super boring and generic because of the outfit. It just looks like flashy motorbike leathers... I mean add a fancy helmet, wings, coat tails, a cape, ANYTHING to it :( Other heroes look way more interesting and it helps with their character.
mks_monsters at 5:17PM, Nov. 9, 2023
PS, I think some stories just can't be PG. And that's ok. Some things were just made for adults just like some things are made for kids.
mks_monsters at 5:16PM, Nov. 9, 2023
To be very honest, I think I high time some of these arcs ended for good and we finally gave the reigns to the new successors who actually work. I love Marvel and I always will, but how many times can we tell the same story again and again? How many times must Peter Parker be a teenager? How many established characters have to be rewritten? And the abundance of heroes is getting confusing. I think some of these supers have undergone their natural course in general let alone in the MCU. But that's just my opinion.
hushicho at 5:16PM, Nov. 9, 2023
The same crappy patterns that went with the comics are reflected in their awful movies. It was the best choice they could have made, but only as long as they don't make the same exact mistakes they did with the movies already. Basing them fundamentally on the biggest failure of an alternate universe in their history was not a great choice from the outset. They were lucky to get some of the actors they did. They would probably be better off focusing on characters though, I agree. But they're also going to need to at least be mindful of what the audiences are looking for, which isn't just straight boy nonsense anymore. They also couldn't indefinitely get away with that in the printed comics, they sure aren't going to hook modern audiences with that on film.
Banes at 3:04PM, Nov. 9, 2023
@Ozoneocean - yes! It seems like they tried to get smaller stories going after Endgame, which I thought was exactly the right move! But it started to not work - enh, I guess I don’t know exactly what went wrong but things just seemed to go wronger and wronger somehow…
Banes at 2:59PM, Nov. 9, 2023
@jerrie - haha, that’s not who I picture playing you hahaha. But that’s a good point. I feel the same - I’d rather see my characters animated really well (in 2D or 3D) rather than cast in live action. Tying them to real human actors is incredibly hard even though it’s been done in a great way sometimes! Hugh Jackman as Wolverine or Christopher Reeve as Superman…there are other great ones but it’s a tough go!
jerrie at 2:00PM, Nov. 9, 2023
@Banes....LOL! I never really gave it much thought. I always fantasized about my comic being animated on adult swim...never thought about a movie version....Sedgwick the entertainer HAS to play me!
Banes at 1:55PM, Nov. 9, 2023
@jerrie - I agree, and I hope they get things on track again! That’s a great question - I’m going to have to think about that a bit and post some ideas later! Who would play your characters? Especially Jay and Bernie, and Big Henry and Wanda?
jerrie at 1:12PM, Nov. 9, 2023
I always thought, and had discussions with folks about the Movies...the whole reason for the movie, was because the comic is great...then why on Earth do you change things,kill off heroes/heroines and etc... for the movie? all of those great stories! WHY aren't they being recreated for the screen? Tod McFarlane talked about this, when they made the SPAWN movie. SPAWN has legions of fans....WHY the HELL do you need to change the way one of the main characters LOOK, for the MOVIE? The whole reason they made the movie....is because you like the comic...then when the movie is being made...you gotta change a character???? WTF? Hey Banes! who plays Minnie in the screen version of Kaju Valentine? who plays Max? Who's your choice for Abby in a Typical Strange Movie?
PaulEberhardt at 9:51AM, Nov. 9, 2023
Another tragic story of a good thing that became too big for its own good, and a pity that for many kids the movies mark their first contact with these characters rather than the comics where you can actually see what made them so popular. The characters, not the kids. For further reference, read "The Fisherman and His Wife": my distant ancestors apparently anticipated today's entertainment industry hundreds of years ago.
Banes at 9:06AM, Nov. 9, 2023
@Plymayer - Can't wait for that movie! Of course, Mason Reese would play me.
InkyMoondrop at 7:52AM, Nov. 9, 2023
I think the universe-building at Marvel is burning out so fast, that DC won't even have a proper chance to cash in, even if Gunn manages to create something worthy. Most rely on heavy CGI so if they don't deliver, people complain, no matter how well they were written. Can't help but appreciate Shyamalan's relevant trilogy for daring to experiment in a genre so eager to please it forgets to be imaginative. Glass especially, for its character-centric exploration of interesting questions. Film is a very difficult medium to create in, since it relies on budget and collaborative work, but still, the creativity of artists can shine through if there are passion projects around without studios and producers calling all the shots. It's just not as rich and mixed of a playing field as for example comics and webcomics.
Locoma at 7:16AM, Nov. 9, 2023
Yep that summarizes it. I've enjoyed the MCU up until Endgame... plus Guardians 3. After that it seems they expanded just too much and are lacking the story that joins them all. It is similar to what happened in the comic world. DC was guilty of that too, remember all the Crisis sagas?
RobertRVeith at 5:49AM, Nov. 9, 2023
Something I loved about the Dark Knight trilogy was how each film set out to be the only Batman film; by the end of each movie, there was no obvious path to a sequel. The films felt like they meant something. The early Marvel films felt like that as well. A kind of "we may never get another shot at this… let's go for broke." Once it became a giant series of films that had to connect and build on each other, they had to create increasingly bigger stakes and bigger set pieces. After End Game, there was really nowhere to go. You just killed half of all life in the universe. Then you brought it back. So ludicrously over the top that… what can you do to top that? Now it's this guy who is trying to rule all time across all of the dimensions. High stakes/big moments have to be reserved as Ozoneocean just said. Marvel comics wrote themselves into similar corners as well and would basically have to reboot every few years.
bravo1102 at 3:31AM, Nov. 9, 2023
It could be worse. It could be the DC universe movies. Ouch. I skipped the MCU because it just exploded all over and I found I did not care. But I love Batman and Superman so I tried them. Ouch.
plymayer at 3:19AM, Nov. 9, 2023
If Marvel made a movie about DD, who would you want to play you? Or your comic characters?
paneltastic at 2:15AM, Nov. 9, 2023
It seems that Marvel has forgotten that one of their slogans used to be "The world outside your window".
Ozoneocean at 12:59AM, Nov. 9, 2023
High stakes HAS to only be reserved for a biiiig moments that a film series leads up to, not every single bloody god damn film. Even in a higher stakes movie like The Avengers the very best moments were when the characters we meeting up and talking or having a punch up with Loki, not their meaningless high stakes fight with the nameless utter non-entity formless grey hordes of anonymous cannon-fodder at the climax.
Ozoneocean at 12:56AM, Nov. 9, 2023
I agree! Smaller stakes stories are where it's at. Big stakes are fine but have to be one-offs, NOT EVERYTHING had to be huge, massive, gigantic stakes, that is fatiguing and only very good writers can handle that anyway and Hollywood has very, very few of those. We need stories about ACTUAL crime-fighting for instance. Some of the very best A-grade best stuff from movies like Ant-man and Deadpool were the small stakes stuff, just concerning a fight or a character describing a walk down the street.