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Spoilers Marvel Cinematic Universe spoiler-heavy speculation thread

What grade would you give the Marvel Cinematic Universe? (Ever-Changing Question)


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Per Mashable, Sasheer Zamata has joined the cast of Agatha: Coven of Chaos as Jennifer Kale. The article goes into her fascination with witchcraft long before being cast in this show:

Zamata's fascination with witches and their historical significance heavily inspired The First Woman, leading the comedian to explore themes of female autonomy, empowerment, and body positivity. Zamata says she was influenced by Kristen J. Sollee’s best-selling book Witches, Sluts and Feminists: conjuring the Sex Positive.

"[The book] talks about female sexuality and the history around it. Women's bodies have been demonized for so long, and it's still happening," Zamata explained. "Ultimately a witch is an independent woman. It's a woman who is a free thinker, in control of her womanhood, body, and life. I don't think that's a bad thing."

The First Woman highlights those who practiced witchcraft (you will never look at a broomstick the same way again) and those who were labeled "witches" simply because they did not conform to society’s patriarchy-created standards. Zamata even facilitates a judgment-free call-and-response discussion with women in the audience about the best household objects with which to pleasure themselves. She is undaunted by making the audience feel uncomfortable. "Part of a comedian's job is to go places that people may feel are taboo or touchy," said Zamata. "I'm in a place where I am very comfortable talking about my womanhood and womanhood in general."

Speaking of witches, Zamata is more than a little excited about her role as sorceress Jennifer Kale on the upcoming Disney+ series Agatha: Coven of Chaos. She feels this witchy storyline is very much on brand for her. "I had already written material for [The First Woman] before I went through the audition process," Zamata said. "It felt magical that I got to be in a show about witches. I talk about it so much in my special."
Also of interest is some additional casting information for the show that I don't believe was previously known:

In Agatha: Coven of Chaos, Zamata stars alongside an impressive array of talent, including Patti LuPone as Lilia Calderu, Joe Locke as Billy Kaplan, and Miles Gutierrez-Riley as Billy’s boyfriend Hulkling. Aubrey Plaza will also appear as Rio Vidal, a new character created specifically for the series.
I'm not familiar with Jennifer Kale, but as noted by the article, the character has connections with both Man-Thing and Howard the Duck and I imagine we'll see that connection with Man-Thing at some point.

Lastly, the article mentions that the series is now nine episodes long!
I heard at some pont that Lyrica Okano would also appear as Nico Minoru from Runaways. Sadly, that doesn't appear to be the case or her role will be so minor it's virtually insignificant?
 
Agreed 100%. I say this as someone who wanted to see said conversation after the Homecoming closing scene and was a tad disappointed when we didn't get it.

Is it a shame we didn't get it? Yes.

But is it a big deal to concern ourselves about? Not really.

I think so. Because would be a sign of good writing and characterization to me. May Parker learning about Peter's identity as Spider-man should have been a big thing. But typical of the MCU and other comic book movies, they're so invested in the action that they keep allowing sloppy writing to invade the narratives for their films or franchise as a whole.
 
I think so. Because would be a sign of good writing and characterization to me.

Then you are looking at the wrong franchise, aside from outlier scripts.

May Parker learning about Peter's identity as Spider-man should have been a big thing. But typical of the MCU and other comic book movies, they're so invested in the action that they keep allowing sloppy writing to invade the narratives for their films or franchise as a whole.

It was always about getting the next toy out, not giving Marvel's flagship character--arguably the one with the most developed characterization in the company's history--the kind of character-rich story he deserved. Nope. It was all about Holland's Spider-Lad chasing after Stark like a fanboy.
 
I think so. Because would be a sign of good writing and characterization to me. May Parker learning about Peter's identity as Spider-man should have been a big thing. But typical of the MCU and other comic book movies, they're so invested in the action that they keep allowing sloppy writing to invade the narratives for their films or franchise as a whole.
It’s not sloppy writing. It’s just not the story being told in Infinity War, Endgame or Far From Home.
May finding out and losing her shit (on screen), yes she’s going to have objections and questions. She’s going to have words for Stark.
But, there’s no real dramatic jeopardy there. Whatever happens, whatever May says, whatever Peter replies, whatever Stark retorts the end of those conversations is going to be May’s eventual acceptance.
Had Far From Home come before Infinity War, there’s a definite argument that a Spider-Man film where May’s acceptance is part of turn into the the third act would have been a logical expectation. Had that been the story they wanted to tell in that film.
But they did have Infinity War, the blip and Endgame between that stinger and Far From Home and May coming to terms with Peter being Spider-Man happens isn’t the story they want to tell in Far From Home. So it happens off screen.
That’s not sloppy writing, it’s deliberate creative choices to not put that on screen and trust the audience.
 
Collider reports that Thunderbolts director Jake Schreier says the film depicts the characters from a perspective viewers might not expect:

“It was just a really different approach and a new kind of story to tell amidst that, which I know they’ve made so many things, but it's not a sequel. Yes, these characters have appeared before, but it is a new story being told and a story, I think, with a very different perspective than maybe people aren't expecting, and I think that that felt exciting and felt like a real challenge worth taking on.”​
 
Collider reports that Thunderbolts director Jake Schreier says the film depicts the characters from a perspective viewers might not expect:

“It was just a really different approach and a new kind of story to tell amidst that, which I know they’ve made so many things, but it's not a sequel. Yes, these characters have appeared before, but it is a new story being told and a story, I think, with a very different perspective than maybe people aren't expecting, and I think that that felt exciting and felt like a real challenge worth taking on.”​

So basically just jibberish to be abe to say SOMETHING about a movie currently in development that is not going anywhere because of the strikes.
Oh, strikes I fully support by the way, before people think I don't.
 
So basically just jibberish to be abe to say SOMETHING about a movie currently in development that is not going anywhere because of the strikes.

Probably. The movie-going world knows every film production has been or will be delayed, so this is a way to jump up and down with a hand raised, saying "we're still here! I've got something for you!"
 
Probably. The movie-going world knows every film production has been or will be delayed, so this is a way to jump up and down with a hand raised, saying "we're still here! I've got something for you!"

A lot of stupid movie 'news' has been dropped the last weeks. My favorite was Stephen King saying Babylon will be a classic in the next 20 years. Haven't seen it yet, but it's just such a fucking useless way to create more attention to already released movie to gather some extra income from streaming revenue or cinema's that are still showing it.
 
Collider reports that Thunderbolts director Jake Schreier says the film depicts the characters from a perspective viewers might not expect:

“It was just a really different approach and a new kind of story to tell amidst that, which I know they’ve made so many things, but it's not a sequel. Yes, these characters have appeared before, but it is a new story being told and a story, I think, with a very different perspective than maybe people aren't expecting, and I think that that felt exciting and felt like a real challenge worth taking on.”​
Every Marvel movie says this. "The biggest difference from the other MCU movies to date is that it’s really wacky, and silly.(Marvels)"

This one is different from all the others, really it is !!!

From the director's perspective maybe it is, I doubt they all go back and examine the oeuvre. The average MCU watcher is probably way more informed than some of these hired guns. Raimi was at least upfront about being happy to contribute as part of a bigger machine but with no illusion than this was somehow his baby.
 
It’s not sloppy writing. It’s just not the story being told in Infinity War, Endgame or Far From Home.
May finding out and losing her shit (on screen), yes she’s going to have objections and questions. She’s going to have words for Stark.
But, there’s no real dramatic jeopardy there. Whatever happens, whatever May says, whatever Peter replies, whatever Stark retorts the end of those conversations is going to be May’s eventual acceptance.
Had Far From Home come before Infinity War, there’s a definite argument that a Spider-Man film where May’s acceptance is part of turn into the the third act would have been a logical expectation. Had that been the story they wanted to tell in that film.
But they did have Infinity War, the blip and Endgame between that stinger and Far From Home and May coming to terms with Peter being Spider-Man happens isn’t the story they want to tell in Far From Home. So it happens off screen.
That’s not sloppy writing, it’s deliberate creative choices to not put that on screen and trust the audience.


It may not be sloppy writing to you. It was sloppy writing to me. Like the franchise's handling of the Sokovia Accords, which I thought was a crap fest since Day One.
 
It may not be sloppy writing to you. It was sloppy writing to me.

That's not how words work.
You had a personal preference. You wanted a May/Peter confrontation. You wanted a different story than what you got. That doesn't make what was given "sloppy".
In fact, it can be argued that it's the complete opposite of sloppy. Economical storytelling gives us exactly what's needed for the particular story being told. The May/Peter story could have been good, absolutely. But it wasn't needed for where the plot was going and wouldn't have fit the 2 hours of story that they wanted to tell.
 
That's not how words work.
You had a personal preference. You wanted a May/Peter confrontation. You wanted a different story than what you got. That doesn't make what was given "sloppy".
In fact, it can be argued that it's the complete opposite of sloppy. Economical storytelling gives us exactly what's needed for the particular story being told. The May/Peter story could have been good, absolutely. But it wasn't needed for where the plot was going and wouldn't have fit the 2 hours of story that they wanted to tell.
Exactly
 
You mean aside for a desperate need for attention, or being pathologically unable to engage with anything on a positive level? I honestly don't know. What a mystery this is.

Do you have this constant need to insult people who do not share your taste in movies?

That's not how words work.
You had a personal preference. You wanted a May/Peter confrontation. You wanted a different story than what you got. That doesn't make what was given "sloppy".
In fact, it can be argued that it's the complete opposite of sloppy. Economical storytelling gives us exactly what's needed for the particular story being told. The May/Peter story could have been good, absolutely. But it wasn't needed for where the plot was going and wouldn't have fit the 2 hours of story that they wanted to tell.

Who do you think you are? What makes you think you had the right to pass off my opinion as a mistake or an error? And then you had the nerve to lecture me on how I was "wrong". If I thought the lack of a Peter/May confrontation over his role as Spider-man was sloppy writing, then I thought so. I still do. Period. All you had to do was state that you disagree with me and not lecture me on how I was wrong about labeling this lack of a confrontation as sloppy writing. To hell with you.
 
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And we can pretty much all guess how the conversation would have played out, so it really wouldn't have been that necessary for us to see it.

Exactly.

If I thought the lack of a Peter/May confrontation over his role as Spider-man was sloppy writing, then I thought so. I still do. Period. All you had to do was state that you disagree with me and not lecture me on how I was wrong about labeling this lack of a confrontation as sloppy writing.
It’s not sloppy writing because it wasn’t written. That’s as simple as it goes, really.

What you’re really saying, I think, is that it’s a bad idea to have skipped it. Which means we’d have needed a Marvel One Shot to show it or to have made it fit in the opening of Infinity War or in the beginning of Far From Home as a ‘5 years earlier’.

It wouldn’t have fit in Infinity War or Far From Home, dramatically, without being a huge pace-suck on the stories being told in those films.

Does it jar a bit to go from “what the f-?!” To high fives at the help centre? Yeah. Absolutely. But in between those, Pete and May have both blipped and he’s been part of the team which saved [half] the universe and May went to Stark’s funeral with him. If that’s not endorsement, what is?

Question is did her endorsement come before Infinity War. Was Peter wearing the costume against her wishes/behind her back in Infinity War and it was his efforts in fighting Thanos that made her come round? Or did they have a big bust up after “What the F-?!” and Peter called Stark to have a sit down or many about it which bought her round? Did just Peter convince her it’s ok? Was she strong enough to accept it herself (see ASM 400, or my pref ASM vol2 37/38)?

We don’t know how that conversation with MCU May goes down. Had FFH come before Infinity War, odds are we’d have had a more direct follow up to the Homecoming stinger. It didn’t work out that way. And the way the MCU schedule worked out, skipping that conversation(s) makes sense. We can let our own imaginations fill in the gaps.

But it’s not sloppy in the writing for Infintiy War or Far From Home, because it wasn’t written for screen to have been sloppy or not. That’s all we’re saying. It’s not sloppy writing because every indication is that it was never part of the briefs for IW or FFH. In the comics, they’re regular and episodic and can take an issue/issue and a half to explore that. In a 2hr movie every two years, they don’t have the space to fit it in without it being a drag on the remainder of the story.

Of course, May gets called out on it herself by Damage Control in NWH. And her reaction is quite telling and can flavour how your imagination fills in the gap.
 
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It’s not sloppy writing because it wasn’t written. That’s as simple as it goes, really.

I don't disagree with your overall point about Aunt May, but I do think this specific assertion is completely wrong. In art, what you choose not to include is as much a part of the creative process as what you do include. As the saying goes, the silence between the notes is as important as the notes themselves. So it's incorrect to say that something isn't writing because it wasn't written. Writing is not just putting words on the page; it's deciding which words to put on the page, and which to leave out.

(Which is a principle very much in my mind right now, when I'm revising a novel manuscript and trying to trim out every extraneous thing I can to get it down to my preferred word count.)

Deciding to leave an important moment between characters implied rather than shown is part of the writing process, and if you make that choice poorly -- if you include a scene that's unnecessary and would've been better left out, or if you exclude a scene that really needed to be there -- that could fairly be considered "sloppy." So it comes down to whether you feel it was necessary to show how May reconciled with Peter being Spider-Man. If you think the storyline and character arcs are impaired by the absence of that scene, then yes, you're entitled to call it sloppy writing. If you think the story works with it just being implied or alluded to after the fact, then it's not sloppy.
 
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