Marvel Cinematic Universe spoiler-heavy speculation thread

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by bbjeg, Apr 6, 2014.

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

  1. A+

    18.2%
  2. A

    27.1%
  3. A-

    14.7%
  4. B+

    7.6%
  5. B

    13.5%
  6. B-

    2.9%
  7. C+

    3.5%
  8. C

    4.7%
  9. C-

    2.9%
  10. D+

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  11. D

    0.6%
  12. D-

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  13. F

    4.1%
  1. LJones41

    LJones41 Commodore Commodore

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    According to the Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki website, the events of the second half of "Agents of SHIELD", "Infinity War" and "Ant-Man & the Wasp" occurred during the second half of March 2018.
     
  2. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    You mean a website that can be edited by anyone? Yeah, that's not inherently trustworthy. I'd go with the official source than some publicly-editable website everyday. ;)
     
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  3. Turtletrekker

    Turtletrekker Admiral Admiral

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    I used to be an admin at the MCU wiki, and although I haven't been active there in some years, I can tell you with authority that that time line is 50% guess work and 50% fan wank.

    In fact, I seem to recall even questioning the guy who was the mastermind behind the timeline exactly how he was pulling these dates out his ass. I also correctly predicted that the day would come when an official source would come along and contradict everything he was doing. At the time, my suggestion was doing the timeline without actual dates and just using Iron Man as sort of a "year zero", similar to how Star Wars wiki dates things with the Battle of Yavin being a "year zero".

    If I were still there, I would insist that the timeline there be altered to reflect the official source.
     
    Last edited: Nov 28, 2018
  4. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    But Wikis are accurate, or so the Internet told me ;)

    Sorry, had to chime in on this one after being taken to task about sources and wikis.
     
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  5. Turtletrekker

    Turtletrekker Admiral Admiral

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    By the way, @LJones41 , you do realize that the timeline that you linked to has a disclaimer right on the top that reads...
    ...right?

    Also, it has a tag for "articles to be rewritten".
     
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  6. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    But...but...confirmation bias!
     
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  7. Alidar Jarok

    Alidar Jarok Everything in moderation but moderation Moderator

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    Disney could violate antitrust law and run into trouble there unless they get approval. Likewise, a foreign company that operates in the US is still subject to US antitrust law.
     
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  8. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Uhh, Sir Ben Kingsley isn't white.
     
  9. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    What...? The actor who played Gandhi wasn't white? O_o

    ;)
     
  10. Turtletrekker

    Turtletrekker Admiral Admiral

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    I finished what I hope will be the first of many full-length MCU tie-in novels Thanos: Titan Consumed.

    The story follows Thanos from his birth as an odd-colored deviant in Titanian society to his finding his first Infinity Stone, the Mind Stone, contained in what would come to be known as Loki's scepter.
    His immense size and purple skin color (the color of death on Titan) meant that he was an outcast from birth. Indeed, as in the comics, the mere sight of baby Thanos was enough to make his mother Sui-San go mad. He only had one real friend growing up, and despite his father A'lars (a bit of a dick in the MCU, as opposed the comics) actually paying the boys family for him to be Thanos' friend, a genuine friendship forms between the two. He also had one love in his life, but unfortunately, soon after finding this love, he had his epiphany about Titan's future and proposed his plan for genocide.

    Needless to say, the entire population, including his friend and love, were horrified. The decision was made to banish Thanos from Titan. However, Thanos was able to wrest control of his vessel and set a course for Kree space. He still believed that he could save Titan and he felt he could find support for his cause.

    He was knocked off course and had several mis-adventures, including serving as the engineer on a slave ship that he eventually liberated. This was where he got the first of his followers. He would learn of an object of immense power called the Aether, that was believed to be on Asgard, and so he launched a disasterous assault on an Asgardian outpost which caused him to be lost in space...

    ...only to be rescued by a species called the Chitauri, an insect-like species with a hive-mind and three castes-- domestic, scientific and warrior. The warrior caste was aimless without a leader to direct them, so along with the Chitauri called "The Other", so called because he was disconnected from the hive-mind, Thanos became their warlord.

    Of course, Thanos returned far too late to save Titan, and so he made it his mission to "save" other worlds facing the same dilemma. At first, if a world didn't accept his offer, he simply wiped them all out. A mercy compared to what was coming. He eventually went back to his 50% of the population planwhen he came to Gamora's world.

    The Black Order are not Thanos' children in the way that Gamora and Nebula are. The Black Order were sycophants drawn to Thanos' cause (the "Thanos was right" crowd). Thanos took on Gamora because he felt the need for an heir, and Nebula to be Gamora's companion. His constantly placing them in combat against one another was to keep them from bonding and turning on him.

    Years after he initially sought the Aether, Thanos' thoughts once again returned to the stones. He, Gamora and Nebula sought out an ancient being called the Lorekeeper for this purpose.

    The Lorekeeper related the history of the stones and the Celestials to Thanos (Thanos foolishly cut him off before the Lorekeeper could tell him where to find the Soul Stone) and intriguingly mentioned that there was a race that even the Celestials feared. It turns out the Lorekeeper was also the keeper of the Mind Stone, and he attacked Thanos, who had to be rescued by Gamora and Nebula.

    Armed with Mind Stone and the information supplied by the Lorekeeper, Thanos began his quest for the Infinity Stones.

    Not a bad read, and certainly more informative than the recent tie-in comics have been.
     
    Last edited: Nov 28, 2018
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  11. Skywalker

    Skywalker Admiral Admiral

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    Is that actually MCU canon?
     
  12. Turtletrekker

    Turtletrekker Admiral Admiral

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  13. Reverend

    Reverend Admiral Admiral

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    Having once been an active wiki editor myself for several years (the Babylon 5 one) I can attest that unless there's a direct source cited: trust nothing. Especially when it comes to timelines.
    To give an example, I once attempted to clean up and fill in some of the timeline related articles and came across the date of birth for Sheridan & Delenn's son with the source cited as a timeline in one books published by JMS's company. When I checked the source, turns out it was basically a fan made timeline and the source for that particular date was cited as: (guess what!) the B5 Wiki... :lol:

    So far as I can tell, canon in the MCU is pretty much like canon was in Star Wars before the Disney buyout. The movies are what matters most and everything else has to follow along, but don't really have any active input into the canon themselves. If a movie contradicts them, well: tough luck.

    The published works are basically just tie-in merchandise and unless one of the big-wigs (like say the Russos or Feige) have a direct hand in it, I wouldn't expect any future movies to pay even the slightest bit of attention.
    The TV shows are in a bit of a weird place, like two little bubbles (AoS/AC & Netflix) of their own canon stuck to the side but never acknowledged by the movie canon.
     
    Last edited: Nov 28, 2018
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  14. Grendelsbayne

    Grendelsbayne Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I mean, that's basically how every franchise ever has worked, so I don't know why anyone would expect different.

    Well, they talked a big game when AoS came out (#everythingisconnected), that would create some expectations - but we've seen enough at this point to know that was just marketing.
     
  15. Reverend

    Reverend Admiral Admiral

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    That's never stopped fans of almost every major IP ever from insisting that every little tie-in comic, novelization or RPG sourcebook is just as canon as everything else before now. ;)

    In the case of the MCU though, it is rather unprecedented in it's inter-connectivity. I mean there's been movie franchises before with entries in the double digits, TV shows with multiple spin-offs and theatrical movies in the same continuity. But prior to the MCU they've mostly all been much more narrowly focused on a particular character or group of characters and typically all within the same genre or setting. The scope and variety of the MCU has ballooned since the start of Phase 2, so it's understandable that some fans get a little overenthusiastic.
     
  16. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    That's the default for pretty much any tie-in line. In practice, what makes something canonical is the involvement of the core creators. Only they can really keep a tie-in consistent with the original work, because any outsider making the attempt is bound to do so imperfectly at best.
     
  17. Reverend

    Reverend Admiral Admiral

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    I think I missed the part where I claimed this was somehow a unique state of affairs... :shrug:
     
    Last edited: Nov 28, 2018
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  18. LJones41

    LJones41 Commodore Commodore

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    Considering that Marvel/Disney has been dumping one blooper after the other in their timeline (and with certain aspects of the franchise's canon), along with setting some of the movies and TV shows in some questionable time periods since "The Incredible Hulk", I really don't see myself swallowing the MCU's "official source" no more that accepting their Wiki site at this point. It seemed to be one big mass of confusion.


    And this is supposed to make Thanos "complicated"? Frankly, he came off as a controlling and arrogant d**k and nothing else to me.


    It's "nice" that Disney and Marvel finally had a good excuse to engage in whitewashing and racist casting for the Ancient One role. Makes me feel really good :rolleyes: about the franchise.
     
  19. Anwar

    Anwar Admiral Admiral

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    How is that worse than Magneto, or less of a character than Dark Knight Joker (some random anarchist plot device)?

    It was a no win scenario, because the Ancient One was always an outdated racial caricature. Make the Ancient One an Asian Woman and they get critiqued for using such an outdated idea.

    No one cared when Nolan made Ra's Al Ghul an Irish guy instead of Middle Eastern.
     
  20. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    This is a public board. Explanations are directed at all readers.