You cannot tell the story of Thanos without Ant Man

Spider-Man: Far From Home is also scheduled for 2019, but after Avengers: Endgame.

(Small tangent. Am I the only one who keeps thinking they stole the title from Highlander: Endgame? Highlander: Endgame (2000) - IMDb)

I'm guessing there will be a Captain America, but it won't be Steve Rodgers. I also have this sneaking suspicion that Iron Man will be out of the superhero business by the end of Endgame, but Tony Stark will be alive.

 

What disturbs me is that these comic book movies will be on an endless loop. By the time they've done two or three sequels with a character, they'll be able to reboot the thing for a new generation of movie goers. Me? Toby McGuire was my Spiderman, Christopher Reeve was my Superman and Adam West and Christian Bale were my Batman. I don't see the point in investing in other iterations.

 

There are decades of stories to mine for many of these characters. It stands to reason that studios will continue to make those movies, even after the actors age out of the role. Hugh Jackman is everybody's Wolverine, but I would be very surprised to see the X-Men will join the MCU without the Canucklehead, Logan is a perfect ending point for Jackman playing the character and he seems to realize that, but there are still plenty of stories to tell. The character has a rich history as an Avenger and interesting relationships with the Hulk, Spider-Man, Captain America and Captain Marvel, among others.

I don't think comic book movies will continue at their current pace, but now that Hollywood has seen how successful they can be, I don't see them going away.

I enjoyed the first two movies with McGuire as Spider-Man, too, but you're missing out if you don't invest in Tom Holland's version of the character. It would be incredibly odd to see anybody take over for Downey as Tony Stark, but I'm betting we will eventually see it.

 

I get that. But I also think culture is generational. I don't begrudge Harry Potter fans and I hope they don't begrudge me for being more of a Star Wars guy. I've seen both Longest Yards. Burt Reynolds will always be my Paul Crewe. By the same token, Clooney will always be my Danny Ocean, Bronson will always be my Paul Kersey, and Julie Andrews will always be my Mary Poppins.

 

I mean, didn't they really? Where they cut after the third movie was abrupt and designed to tick fans off and make them want to go to the first showing possible in 2019.

 

While they definitely split the story into two movies, I actually had no problem with the point they chose to end Infinity War. It is an excellent movie with a very dark ending. Sure, they knew they were going to piss off a significant number of fans, but it's not like this was on a level with the "One More Day" or "Superior Spider-Man" storylines in the comics, just to name a pair that did it far worse. I think it was an interesting and gutsy choice to make it Thanos's story and actually let him win, even if it ends up being a temporary victory.

 

I'm with you on every bit of that except I'm not invested enough in the Ocean's movies to have a strong opinion there. I just don't have a problem enjoying multiple versions of characters. I still like Michael Keaton's Batman and I don't even hate Ben Affleck's version, though neither is on a level with Bale. And even Bale has that annoying Batman voice, which is probably why Kevin Conroy is still the best voice of my lifetime.

Jack Nicholson's Joker was great. Heath Ledger's was better and I still love Mark Hamill's voice work on the character. It is easy enough to enjoy all three, while also seeing that Jared Leto's take on the character kinda sucks.

 

Your examples prove the point of going back to the well with these. You say Clooney will always be your Danny Ocean. Sinatra was the first. Bale will always be your Batman. A bunch of actors were Batman in movies before him. If they hadn't re-explored the stories, you wouldn't have your favorites. And there's nothing wrong with that. You say you don't see the point in investing in different iterations, but surely "Batman Begins" wasn't your first Batman movie. If you hadn't done experienced a different iteration, you wouldn't have seen Bale's Batman, so you wouldn't have that as your favorite.

We all have our favorites. I can't imagine another actor as Wolverine or Captain America. But that doesn't mean it's not worth exploring the characters and stories more for new generations, and that doesn't mean I won't be interested to see how new actors perform in those roles.

 

You're right, of course. Otherwise, George Reeves, who I adore in the role, would be the only Superman.

 

I just wonder if Disney will push to inject the Fox properties into the MCU soon or save that for a point when they need a boost. I'm hoping to see that soon, which I assume means another new set of actors and actresses playing the X-Men and Fantastic Four. More importantly, maybe we will finally get to see a decent Dr. Doom.

 

My point wasn't that any iteration is superior to another, but that generations identify with different iterations. You could probably write a doctoral thesis on how the various iterations reflected their various times and generations.

 

A good Dr. Doom is what MCU needs most.