Running MCU thread

If we get theaters up and running again, I wonder if they'll edit the Disney+ series into movie form and put them out as a special release? They all should be about 3 hours total running time, right?

 

WandaVision ties into the next Doctor Strange movie.

 

I doubt it. If I remember correctly, the plan to mix original series on Disney+ and movies predates the pandemic.

 

With its fourth episode, The Falcon And The Winter Soldier finally revealed itself.

Spoiler: The Whole World Is Watching

This series is about veterans, and how they deal with trauma and loss. Of course, it does this with a comic-book storyline.

From the start, the series has made a point of Bucky’s PTSD, as he deals with not just having 70 years taken away from him but also having his own personality pushed aside for Hydra’s murderous automaton Winter Soldier. One of the key points since the introduction of the Falcon in Captain America: The Winter Soldier has been Sam Wilson’s status as a veteran who lost his wingman in combat and went on to lead therapy groups at a Washington-area VA center.

This episode introduces Wakanda’s Dora Milaje to the mix and touches on their pain from losing King T’Chaka in Civil War at Zemo’s hands. It’s also the first episode to look deeper than John Walker’s résumé, revealing that he sees the three (!!!) Medals of Honor he received for one day in combat to be just a reminder of the worst day of his life.

And then he loses his partner, Lemar Hoskins (Battle Star), in a fight with the Flag-Smashers. That flips the switch for the final act of the episode.

Captain America: Civil War went on to explore the causes of Helmut Zemo’s trauma — losing his wife and family when Ultron destroyed Sokovia. His rants about superhuman supremacists shine a light on his issues, and destroying the last vials of the current version of the super soldier serum fits what the MCU has set for him.

If only he’d done that completely.

Karli Morgenthau has lost a lot, too — her home after being evicted in the wake of the Hulk Snap returning everyone lost in the blip, her family (apparently) and in this episode we see her reaction to losing her adoptive mother. She surprised her followers by bombing the Global Repatriation Council’s supply depot and killing the people there, but that follows the comic universe’s previously established precedent that the later super soldier serums cause mental breakdowns without proper treatment. She needs help, but will she get it?

Sam tries to reach her emotionally and appears to be making progress before Walker barrels in and breaks things up.

The show runners set up the final act of this episode with two dialog scenes that hit both sides of the philosophical argument about taking the serum sets up the final act of this episode, when Walker shows the improvements that the one vial of serum Zemo missed gave him. Unfortunately, he also shows that he’s as much a might-makes-right character as his comic-book version. He was already unhinged and getting the serum isn’t going to make him a better version of himself mentally.

Random thoughts

• The series continues to adapt the first comics story of Walker as Captain America, down to the image of the shield in the final shot. Maybe someone should check on Mom and Dad Walker.
• The show runners continue to muddy the waters around Sharon Carter, this time by showing her using the MCU’s version of Daenerys Targaryen’s fancy banquet table to keep track of the action. And somehow she’s planted a tracker on John Walker. How closely is she tied to whomever the Power Broker is? Does she see this as an opportunity to escape a bad deal she’s fallen into, or has she gone off the ethical deep end?
• Who is behind the GRC? How can it just legislate things? Sounds like they’re trying to impose order, which is very Hydra of them. It was established in the first episode that Hydra-connected people are still in the power structure. I’d like to see this explored more.
• Zemo is a better manipulator than Loki himself, maneuvering USAgent and Battle Star into open battle with the Dora Milaje while sneaking out the door himself. If you’ve ever wondered how Marvel villains easily escape rather than ending up dead, the show runners are giving lessons.
• Turkish delight? Really? It’s not that special, despite C.S. Lewis saying otherwise.

Spoiler: Looking ahead

• I wonder who the “big actor who hasn’t been named in the series ... someone we didn’t know is going to be in the series and is an award-winning actor/actress” playing “an exciting Marvel Comics character” (as described by Slashfilm editor Peter Sciretta) is in this week’s episode.
• Producer Nate Moore really likes this week’s episode: “Five really gets to be the culmination of the theme. And I do think both from an acting standpoint and from a filmmaking standpoint, it's our strongest episode.”
• In a BBC 1 radio interview, Wyatt Russell (who plays John Walker) hinted that there might be a Steve Rogers appearance in one of the last two episodes.
• Look for more back story on Isaiah Bradley in the final two episodes. If you haven’t read Truth: Red, White and Black this might be a good time.

 

This series is about nuance.

We have become so red/blue, black/white, hero/villain, christian/everyone else, guns/no guns in America, we have lost ability to see shades of things and issues.

Every person in this series has a shade and some nuance. Everyone.

My daughter was used to Thanos. Bad.

In WandaVision we started to see shades in Agatha, Wanda and Vision. She was caught a little off guard by this and we talked about it. Now, everyone has a shade. Is Walker totally bad? The whole time? Does he have good points? Is he being drawn to extremism? Is that bad?

Are the Flag Smashers? Is Zemo? Is Bucky?

These are discussions I am having with my daughter after every episode.

Marvel is trying to teach us nuance and understanding and that extremism is bad.

 

All of what you said has made this show so great. And I love how they have treated Zemo as much as anyone, but there are definitely a lot of layers so far across the board.

 

Marvel is making very subtle social statements and adding nuance is part of its shaping, literally, of a generation.

Cap talks with a gay man in group. Peter Parker crushes on a girl who is not blonde. The most technologically advanced nation is in Africa.

And in 10 years, she might be the biggest MCU star world wide.

And don’t forget, J Jonah looks to be point man for an OAN style network.

 

Didn’t expect to see that character in the MCU. I think that’s the Ultimate Marvel version of that character.

Nor did I expect that actor.

Spoiler: A movie

And apparently that actor will also be in Black Widow.

Helluva Act 1.

 

Another thing.

Spoiler

Apparently I was totally wrong about Sharon Carter.

 

I really need to stop clicking on this thread before watching the episodes. I'm so tempted to click those spoilers.

I take it the rumors were true. It had been out there that a recognizable actor would play a character who hasn't been in the MCU yet in this series. I'm looking forward to watching it tonight.

If it is the Ultimate Marvel version, that would make sense. The early Ultimate books have always been a big influence on the MCU. I say the early books because near the end, the Ultimate books went way off the rails.

Nick Fury's look was kind of a funny story. He still had his traditional look from the main Marvel universe when he first appeared in the Ultimate books, meaning he looked like a middle-aged white guy with an eye patch. Then when they started Ultimates, that universe's version of the Avengers, he suddenly looked like Samuel Jackson. This was around 2001, so well before the real Samuel Jackson portrayed him in Iron Man.

 

Ummmm...

Spoiler

Is that a Panther suit in that box?.

 

Just watched the episode and did some reading online. I barely remember that character from Ultimate Marvel. Honestly, as much as I'm enjoying the series, that was a letdown.