Meme - Gru's plan: "I ask out a Girl. She says yes. The TVA shows up. The TVA shows up"
Meme - "2022 Hulk Cant Even Stop A Jeep
2008 Hulk Uses 2 Military Jeeps As Gauntlets"
‘Loki’ Season 2, Episode 4 Recap: ‘Heart of the TVA’ - "“Heart of the TVA” ends with a bang that feels like a whimper. Four episodes in out of a total six, and Loki’s second season has done little to dramatize its stakes or imbue its universe-ending dangers with emotional weight. We are, after all, following an alternate-reality version of a protagonist who died elsewhere in the MCU (back in Avengers: Endgame), in a shared universe where resurrections are as common as laser battles. So the possibility of deaths and apocalypses are hard to get excited or anxious about. Picking up where things left off last week, Miss Minutes makes good on her promise of revealing a major secret by showing Ravonna Renslayer a video recording of a time before she had her memory wiped. It turns out Renslayer once commanded the army that won Kang (the He Who Remains version) his multi-versal war, and she’s been used by him ever since. While Gugu Mbatha-Raw deftly portrays the weight of this betrayal, it sets in rather quickly for the character, scabbing over into ambition within mere seconds. Miss Minutes and Renslayer, it seems, have a sudden plan to take over the TVA for themselves without the need for a version of Kang, without the episode slowing down for much thought, contemplation, or realization; it’s A to B in an instant... This central premise, of the malfunctioning Time Loom, is also frustrating on its own. If it’s as urgent as the characters say it is, and it truly poses a gargantuan threat, then different sets of characters who all want to protect the TVA have a common goal that they simply ignore (an issue that also persisted last week). They may have different ideologies — some fascistic and some altruistic — but the unfolding action is all incidental to their respective outlooks rather than an extension of them. Every turn is about who controls the TVA, yes, but it’s never about how they control it, apart from what they express in words. A punch here, a zap there, usually in a hallway. That’s about it, despite the ostensible villains possessing sci-fi weapons that essentially erase both individuals and entire populations from time. The episode features all this talk of various universes being destroyed, and billions of people being killed, but that’s all it is: talk. None of it is ever portrayed, and the one time a character actually imbues it with any kind of weight... Sylvie even points this out, noting that to most other characters, all these people are just lines on a monitor — but, unfortunately, this is the case for the audience too. There’s only so much a show can lampshade its flaws without putting in dramatic legwork... The quickness with which Renslayer becomes a murderous dictator feels like a sudden left turn, and it doesn’t even really jell with the episode’s central conflict. These wrenches thrown in the heroes’ gears always seems to be unfolding in some other room entirely, which Loki & Co. waltz in and out of as Timely is kidnapped and then un-kidnapped as quickly as he was last week so things can continue as normal. Without the Renslayer plot, the episode would be shorter, but much more streamlined, and little of consequence would be lost... The Time Loom explodes, supposedly destroying the TVA, and perhaps the multiverse itself and all the characters we know. But these are exactly the sort of superhero stakes that result in a shrug and a “hmm” rather than shock and awe. Oh, what’s that? Everyone died again? Okay. They’ll be back next week. At the very least, this outcome might present us with the opportunity to see what becomes of a TVA-less Loki, but it feels entirely limp in the moment. Death doesn’t hurt in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, because there’s rarely any sense of real loss for the characters, especially those whose ideological and interpersonal disagreements are rendered moot because they all ultimately want the exact same thing, so their fights feel like distractions. It’s all noise without real meaning. For instance, what does it mean that Loki turns out to have been the one who pruned himself in the season premiere? Nothing, really. It’s a snake eating its tail to no significant end, closing a loop that didn’t need to be closed by solving an un-mysterious mystery, in a way that has no emotional fallout for Loki or for anyone else."
In Marvel we no longer trust - "the buzz coming out of Disney around The Marvels is so bleak, I’ve been left wondering why the company even wants to release the film because it sure doesn’t seem to have much confidence in it... if the filmmakers had had the time to sit with the script, the reshoots (and oddly pointed bad buzz) might not have been necessary. (It might have also saved a lot of other Marvel films and TV shows. Almost every recent series and film has had some degree of similar reshoots.)... Films like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Thor: Love and Thunder have occasionally cool moments in them, pasted together by increasingly shoddy CGI and far too much focus on reminding us of the bigger cinematic universe instead of giving us the well-made adventure films that were the engine of the MCU’s success for a very long time... as the MCU has become more and more successful, it’s become a victim of its own hubris. It started to imitate the comic industry that inspired it: shoddily putting together solo projects that always feed into some big crossover event and that usually require you to catch up with a bunch of other solo projects regardless of whether you want to, all while being pretty devoid of well-thought-out or consistent characterizations. The studio has also let projects balloon in budget with the understanding that it can be “fixed in post.” “Kevin’s real superpower, his genius, has always been in postproduction and getting his hands on movies and making sure that they finished strongly”... That may be true — but that was always a terrible way to make a movie. Fixing it in post is what you do because you didn’t plan things well enough — or didn’t have a strong enough vision from the outset. It can save a picture, but more often than not, it’s putting rouge on a pig."
New Avengers Movie With Original Six Considered By Marvel After Recent Phase 4 Failures
Inside Marvel's Jonathan Majors Problem: 'The Marvels' Reshoots, More - "Beyond the bad press for Majors, the brain trust at Marvel is also grappling with the November release of “The Marvels,” a sequel to 2019’s blockbuster “Captain Marvel” that has been plagued with lengthy reshoots and now appears likely to underwhelm at the box office. This is all an unprecedented turn of fortune for a company that has enjoyed a nearly uninterrupted string of hits ever since it started independently producing its movies with 2008’s “Iron Man.” That wildly profitable run culminated in the $2.8 billion success of 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” a high-water mark for the studio that has earned nearly $30 billion over 32 films. Replicating that kind of phenomenon is never easy. However, the source of Marvel’s current troubles can be traced back to 2020. That’s when the COVID pandemic ushered in a mandate to help boost Disney’s stock price with an endless torrent of interconnected Marvel content for the studio’s fledgling streaming platform, Disney+. According to the plan, there would never be a lapse in superhero fare, with either a film in theaters or a new television series streaming at any given moment. But the ensuing tsunami of spandex proved to be too much of a good thing, and the demands of churning out so much programming taxed the Marvel apparatus. Moreover, the need to tease out an interwoven storyline over so many disparate shows, movies and platforms created a muddled narrative that baffled viewers... DaCosta began working on another film while “The Marvels” was still in postproduction — the filmmaker moved to London earlier this year to begin prepping for her Tessa Thompson drama “Hedda.” (A representative for DaCosta declined to comment.) “If you’re directing a $250 million movie, it’s kind of weird for the director to leave with a few months to go,” says a source familiar with the production... Marvel, which traditionally only solicits feedback from Disney employees and their friends and families, took the uncharacteristic step of holding a public test screening in Texas. The audience gave the film middling reviews. But Marvel has never been in the business of being average. “Kevin’s real superpower, his genius, has always been in postproduction and getting his hands on movies and making sure that they finished strongly,” the source adds. “These days, he’s spread thin.” (Feige declined to comment for this story.) Feige isn’t the only person showing signs of strain. Marvel’s entire VFX battalion, including staffers and vendors, is struggling to keep pace with a never-ending stream of productions... The VFX logjam had been evident for some time, with some final effects for such Disney+ series as “WandaVision” and “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” inserted after their streaming debuts... “I’m not prepared to call it a permanent fall. But based on the numbers that go with Marvel podcasts, Marvel-based articles, friends who do Marvel-based video coverage, all of these numbers are significantly down,” says Joanna Robinson, co-author of the New York Times bestseller “MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios,” who is a writer and podcaster at The Ringer. “The quality is suffering. In 2019, at the peak, if you put ‘Marvel Studios’ in front of something, people were like, ‘Oh, that brand means quality.’ That association is no longer the case because there have been so many projects that felt half-baked and undercooked.”"
Troubled 'Blade' Script Reportedly "Morphed Into A Narrative Led By Women And Filled With Life Lessons," Another New Writer Hired - "The troubled Blade film starring Mahershala Ali from Marvel Studios reportedly “morphed into a narrative led by women and filled with life lessons.” Not only did one script turn into this, but Mahershala Ali reportedly was ready to leave the project entirely due to “script issues.”"
How Marvel Lost Its Way - "It is almost impossible to follow the plot of the first episode of Season 2 of Loki. I say this as someone who has been writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a decade. I’ve seen every major Marvel release more than once, and have enjoyed most of them. I’ve also paid close attention to the events of Loki Season 1, Avengers: Endgame, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, all required viewing for this series. The characters spend most of the first episode explaining to the audience everything that happened in Season 1, which ended in one master timeline branching into many parallel timelines. Simultaneously they embark on vaguely related adventures... Does all this sound like gobbledygook? For years now, audiences have not been able to watch Marvel shows and movies casually. But watching Loki Season 2, I felt I could not even look down at my phone for a second without getting completely lost. Heck, even if you’re watching with rapt attention, you’ll probably have a difficult time keeping up with the convoluted time travel shenanigans. The various MacGuffins, Easter eggs, and pseudoscientific explanations of superpowers used to be fun. Now they feel like homework. Worse still, the recent MCU stories spend so much time explaining what's going on that they waste the incredible actors who have been unfortunately sucked into the Marvel machine. Just this year Olivia Colman, Bill Murray, Emilia Clarke, Will Poulter, and Kingsley Ben-Adir have all been tasked with reciting exposition rather than actually performing. I'm not the only frustrated fan. Marvel Studios is losing viewers... Disney can't solely blame superhero fatigue for flagging interest in the MCU. After all, Sony's animated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse sold more tickets domestically than Guardians Vol. 3; it became Sony’s highest-grossing animated movie and the highest-grossing animated comic book movie ever. Amazon's dark parody of other superhero properties, The Boys, outperformed every single one of the MCU TV shows released in 2022, according to Nielsen, and just released a spin-off, Gen V. Make a great superhero property, and people will watch... Here are a few ways that the storytelling at Marvel Studios has gone wrong.
Trying to elevate B-list superheroes
Too many shows, too few risks
An incredibly convoluted parallel timeline plot"
Captain Marvel Brie Larson Caught Lying and Called Out By Her 'Avengers: Endgame' Co-Stars - "While speaking to Entertainment Tonight with Chris Hemsworth and Don Cheadle in 2019 ahead of Avengers: Endgame, Larson claimed to do her own stunts. However, as Jeremy from The Quartering pointed out, Larson had a stunt and body double in both of her Marvel films... Both Hemsworth and Cheadle look annoyed with Larson. Especially when she said that her character was way more powerful than all of the other Marvel superheroes."
Long Range Box Office Forecast: Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS - "The franchise is, quite simply, miles away from the zeitgeist-capturing interest and enormous goodwill that for a time helped every film achieve automatic blockbuster status–like Captain Marvel did over four years ago... Social media traction for The Marvels has been noticeably weak in recent months"
The Marvels Film Tests Fans' Commitment to Disney Superheroes - Bloomberg - "The need to return Marvel to past form has become more urgent with the waning success of other Disney studios. New releases from prized Disney franchises including Pixar’s Toy Story and Lucasfilm’s Indiana Jones, as well as new animation titles, have bombed in theaters over the past two years. But where Marvel has historically been able to pick up that slack, its own brand is now facing a similar test with moviegoers showing more interest in fresh, nonsequel fare such as Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer."
Rumor: 'The Marvels' Latest Delay The Result Of Brie Larson's Diva Behavior: "It's Just A S-t Show" - "In the same way that her self-important public persona wrecked any hopes of Captain Marvel ever becoming one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe most genuinely beloved characters, it seems Brie Larson’s dissatisfaction with being demoted from her franchise’s leading lady to one of its many ensemble members is proving disastrous for The Marvels‘ production... the latest was apparently caused by Larson’s refusal to work with her co-star, Monica “Photon” Rambeau actress Teyonah Parris."
"The way MEN are writing these articles...": Brie Larson Fans Have a New Target for The Marvels' Low Box Office Figures - "some fans attribute the poor reception to an attack against a female-oriented film... Interestingly, the first Brie Larson movie, Captain Marvel, fared far better with its theatrical collection, even crossing the billion-dollar mark. However, the film received severe backlash after Larson’s political statements and Marvel’s attempt to establish Carol Danvers as the strongest Avenger... The only ray of hope for the film right now is the surprisingly positive test screenings. However, the fate of Blue Beetle, despite its positive reception, raises additional concerns for this comic book movie"
Weird how big the "incel" crowd is
'The Marvels' Director Already Blaming Fans for Upcoming MCU Flopbuster
'The Marvels' headed for bad box office open - "There was hope that “The Marvels,” which arrives in theaters Friday, might build on the box-office success of “Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3″ earlier this year. But there’s a strong chance it could have one of the lowest opening weekends in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Initial predictions saw the film opening at between $75 million and $80 million domestically, but those figures have shrunk to a range between $60 million and $65 million in recent weeks. No MCU film has opened in that range since 2011, according to data from Comscore... While shows like “Loki,” “Ms. Marvel” and “Moon Knight” scored well with critics and general viewers, “Secret Invasion” flopped. Similarly, on the theatrical side, “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Guardians 3″ and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” won over audiences, while “Eternals,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “Thor: Love and Thunder” made them question the direction of the franchise. So far, “The Marvels” has a soft score on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics particularly ripped the film’s script, calling it “paper thin,” “charmless” and “pandering in all the wrong places.”... Iman Vellani, who portrays the plucky, newly minted superhero Ms. Marvel, seems to be a bright spot in the feature, with many critics praising her performance. Box-office analysts aren’t ready to wave the white flag on superhero content, suggesting that audiences aren’t lukewarm on superheroes, they are just sick of bad stories. After all, look at the success of Amazon Prime Video’s “The Boys” and “Gen V,” as well as the animated series “Invincible.” There’s also Max’s “Peacemaker.”... Box-office analysts have pointed to Marvel’s film promotion as another issue for the studio. When “The Marvels” was first teased to audiences it was billed as a female-led comedy, with its heroines swapping powers at random while they learn how to become a team. In its most recent trailer release, Marvel sets “The Marvels” up as a generic action movie in which the villain is destroying the fabric of the universe with a magical MacGuffin. The trailer also features a significant number of shots from previous Marvel movies featuring characters like Tony Stark (Iron Man) and Steve Rogers (Captain America), who are no longer part of the franchise. “The fact that marketing spots for this particular movie are leaning on nostalgia and clips from ‘Endgame’ represents a red flag in and of itself,” Robbins said."
The final trailer has The Avengers theme too
Captain Marvel 2 Suffers Worst MCU Ticket Pre-Sales In 4+ Years - "This may come as a surprise as 2021's Eternals was a box office disappointment by Marvel standards, drawing in only $71.3 million opening weekend. Captain Marvel 2 appears to be breaking a unique MCU streak of generating massive, fan-crazed excitement from opening weekend, with the possibility of a box office plummet if it's received poorly. For example, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania opened large with $106.1 million domestically, but following lukewarm reviews and a lackluster fan reaction it only totaled $214.5 million."
So much for Captain Marvel having been a huge success
‘The Marvels’ Bombs, Less Than 50,000 Tickets Sold - "According to Vertigo Research, the film – which was directed by Nia DaCosta – sold just 49,629 tickets in its opening day in France. By 2 p.m., it had sold just 884 tickets across Paris. Before The Marvels, the record low for Marvel was 1,824 tickets for The Incredible Hulk (2008). Even Morbius (2022) outsold The Marvels at 1,003 tickets."
The Marvels Opens to Just $6.6 Million at Thursday Box Office
GO WOKE: "The Marvels" is shaping up to have nearly the worst box-office debut imaginable - "CNBC says the conclusion of the Thanos arc in "Endgame" is the reason for the drop off in interest, which shows that CNBC has no clue what's going on. What's actually happening is that no one cares about woke movies that are 2-hour lectures in intersectional feminism and Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity initiatives... Critics, meanwhile, have complained that The Marvels is, variously, "paper thin," "charmless" and "pandering in all the wrong places." That's pretty bad, considering Rotten Tomatoes changed its entire website to try to protect the first film from all the audience backlash!"
'Captain Marvel' Star Brie Larson Wants No Part of the MCU Anymore - "While it remains to be seen if The Marvels really will fare as badly as is estimated by analysts, The Direct says Brie Larson is tired of the role and wants to quit. Predictably, this couldn’t go without an attack on fans... The first Wonder Woman movie, overrated as it decidedly was in retrospect, drew far less criticism of the sort they’re implying here, and many accepted Gal Gadot in her role, so why do they apply a different logic in regards to the Captain Marvel role? Answer: because merit’s not the name of the game. Larson herself made politicized statements, which has unfortunately become far more common in the past decade for performers to do, and this all alienated a lot of people, along with her overall performance... Interesting somebody was willing to admit Larson’s not a very talented performer, however indirectly. Of course, if the Captain Marvel movie had been based on the original renditions of Carol Danvers up to 2011, is it possible the left-wing commentators would’ve reacted very differently? Don’t be shocked if they did. Many were unwilling to take issue with the alarmingly negative way it approached relations with men, while simultaneously removing all sex appeal, as signified by the kind of suits worn by the actresses."
Captain Marvel Exposed as a Super-Villain in Deleted Scene - "I didn’t think it was possible to make the MCU version of Carol Danvers any less appealing, but USATODAY.com released a deleted scene that did exactly that. The publisher was given an exclusive extended version of the scene where a newly arrived Carol Danvers steals a rude guy’s motorcycle. In this extended scene however, the exchange gets a bit more heated and reveals Carol’s ugly side. The guy still comes off as a creep, but then Captain Marvel offers him a handshake, powers up her fist, and brings him to his knees, begging for mercy. She then offers to stop hurting him in exchange for his jacket, helmet and bike with the assuring promise, “and in return, I’m going to let you keep your hand.”... Now call me crazy, but I don’t equate being rude and asking a woman for a smile is the same thing as putting your cigar out on someone’s chest, but today’s social justice activists seem to equate words to violence and Marvel is pushing this exclusive scene as if this was clearly a proper response from the titular hero that is going to be the face of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe going forward. Here are a few of the sickening headlines from the adoring press (a.k.a. Disney shills)... She hurt a guy, and robbed him and she is supposed to be the “good guy”? This is disturbing. Even corrupted, drunk Kal-El from Superman III didn’t torture anyone. He beat up on himself (in the Clark Kent persona), but the only laws he broke was some property damage flicking peanuts at the liquor bottles in the bar. But in Superman III, we knew something was wrong with Superman. Warner Bros. didn’t try to gaslight fans and tell them “look at how heroic he is in this scene!!”"
Deleted Captain Marvel Clip Sees Brie Larson's Carol Danvers Torture the Motorcycle Man - "Let that sink in. Marvel went from Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark who was tortured in a cave in the Middle East to a Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel who tortures a man on a motorcycle who simply asked if she could smile for him."
A woman bullying and beating up a man is somehow supposed to be a blow against "toxic masculinity". But it's very revealing about feminism
Meme - "*Bread/Garlic Bread Meme*
Bread: Ms Marvel
Garlic Bread: The Boys"
Meme - "Here's the thing Bruce. I'm great at controlling my anger. I do it all the time. When I'm catcalled..."
"Here's the thing, Jen. Just because you hold your pee all the time doesn't mean you can when someones pointing a gun at you."
Meme - "Disney Reveals Significant Price Increase For Disney Plus & Hulu Streaming Services
Raise the Disney plus price
But Sire, Secret Invasion flopped
Just do it!"
Meme - "Director for Love and thunder: "I wanted to piss off the fans"
Writer for Ant man 3: "I don't care what the fans think"
Director for secret invasion: "is It really my job to give the fans what they want?"
Disney when all the fans leave: *shocked*"
Having contempt for your customers is a good way to go out of business. Coasting on goodwill can only go for so long. But of course they'll just double down and insult them more
Addendum: Taika Waititi
Meme - "There's a world out there with no Spider-Man to protect them, because it bit you instead. Instead they just have a bunch of dumbass villains *Mobius, Venom, Kraven the Hunter*"
Meme - Miguel O'Hara to Miles Morales: "You will never be Spiderman. You have no stories, no villains. You are a diversity quota twisted by fangirls and posers into a crude mockery of Marvel's perfection. All the validation you get is two faced and half hearted, behind your back Gwen fucks the punk Spiderman"
Marvel's Shang-Chi: People Actually Think Simu Liu Is 'Too Ugly' To Play The Hero - "the Chinese-Canadian actor is apparently not considered very handsome to many people in China."
The MCU’s Biggest Issue (That No One Is Talking About) - YouTube - "The MCU’s biggest enemy now is time; and that’s not because Kang the Conqueror is around the corner."