Avengers: Infinity War (spoilers ahead)

That is the new "nano-technology" suit. I guess because it is nano or whatever, it is more versatile or flexible. It was definitely quite a step up from previous suits.

At this point, after nearly 20 of these movies, I automatically turn my brain off to stuff like that. I remember after the first Avengers, during the big battle scene at the end, people were asking "How are they able to talk to each other!?!?" As if a small earpiece needs to be fully explained in a universe of Iron Man suits, Thunder Gods and gamma radiation.

 

Fair point, but a number of characters had unexplained developments in their abilities, not just Iron Man. Dr. Strange's powers were a long way from what we saw in the movie.

 

The Marvel movies make me appreciate the Star Wars movies so much more; SW just seems so more polished and bettered developed.

 

The Star Wars movies have their problems, too.

 

I think that the Marvel movies are largely pretty good as standalones. "Black Panther" was outstanding. The "Ironman" movies were pretty good.

The "Avengers" films are the equivalent of fan fiction. Comparatively, they are a masturbatory mess.

 

Doc Strange's powers, at least from his standalone movie, seemed so undefined and almost limitless. Also, it was just the beginning of his education. I could easily reason that he learned how to do much more in between movies.

The many Doc attack against Thanos did come as a surprise, however.

 

They have to be that way, though. We want to see all of these characters interact with each other both individually and as a team, and doing that in 2 1/2 hours is insanely difficult. Especially with a movie as big in scope as Infinity War. The other movies are able to focus on a single character or two, dial down the action, and give us some development with the characters that carries them through the team-driven movies.
It's a pretty good formula, especially if you look at it with the serial or TV mindset it's built around. The individual movies are the early-season episodes that lay the foundation, which is paid off with the big season finale (the Avengers films) that cash in on all that's been built.

 

I know that they have to do it. And I know that people want to see it. I don't begrudge them. But I think that the "Avengers" movies pale in comparison to the "real" MCU movies, as art.

 

I read something about the focus moving away from the Avengers movies after Avengers 4. It happens in the comics, too. You reach a point of crossover fatigue.

As much as I'd love to see something that brings together the entire MCU again once the Fox characters are incorporated, I'm guessing the connections with those movies will be smaller in scale. Perhaps it will be something like Spider-Man appearing in a Fantastic Four movie or Dr. Doom showing up as a Captain Marvel villain.

 

It was cool and it certainly makes sense that his abilities would progress quickly. I didn't have a problem with it. I was just pointing out that we saw changes in characters' powers and gear that happened off screen.

 

Doctor Strange doesn't have powers. He casts spells, so the development of his "power" set revolves around his ability to learn new spells, and he's a quick study.

 

Also, since they're spells and not powers, there aren't a lot of limits on what he could conceivably do, and as Sorcerer Supreme, he's incredibly powerful.