Running MCU thread

I am the opposite. I just love them all so much! WandaVision blew my expectations away and because of it my wife and I have sat down and rewatched almost all of the moves from Winter Solider on. And you catch tons of cool stuff in the new stories by doing so. The Falcon and the Winter Solider is much different story and storytelling than WandaVision but the same thing goes.

It just fascinates me as much as anything how well they tie all these things together. Certainly not perfect across the board but very fun. I certainly understand the thought of oversaturation. Just for me it's almost part of the ride!

 

I guess, spoilers ...

I think Zemo does what benefits him and that can be on the bad side (and I'll admit, I don't know the comics, people seem pretty happy with this direction). I am leaning toward the super soldiers are not bad but we have to fight someone, right? The government has always been questionable in the MCU. I think the new Cap falls into that. He isn't bad on the surface but is power hungry now that he has it he will use it at all costs to be "good." I don't know about the Leaper yet. Are you talking about Sharon Carter or someone else? I think they implied that she's on the bad side (maybe for survival?), but that seems to obvious at this point.

I totally agree about your point about the us vs. them nuance. It's definitely an interesting piece to all of this and how they are tackling it.

 

The MCU version of Zemo isn’t evil, but at some point he went off the sociopath deep end. He’s not a Nazi like his comics progenitor, but he’s clearly still a zealot with no restrictions on doing what he feels is necessary to accomplish his goal. Batroc the Leaper isn’t necessarily evil, he’s just willing to do almost anything for a euro or Bitcoin. I will grant you that for some people, the second clause of that sentence is a definition of evil. I don’t think he’s interested in power, though. Just money.

As for that female character …

Spoiler: Falcon/Winter Soldier episode 3

Sharon Carter has clearly changed since the last time we saw her in “Civil War,” and not in good ways. The comic book version of that character has always been a bit morally ambiguous, and they’ve introduced that into the MCU version now as well.

That said … they left scraps of info all over the episode pointing toward her being the Power Broker, which to me means that she probably isn’t the Power Broker. She knows that person, though — probably as an employee, and that’s why losing the mad scientist is a “big problem.” With her background, she wouldn’t be running in those circles and getting access to that information if she’s just a dealer of smuggled artwork. I think she knows she’s made a bad deal, though. She’s holding some justifiable anger toward Wilson and Barnes over how things went for her, and I think she sees their reappearance in her life as her ticket out from under the Power Broker.

There were details in the first couple of episodes pointing toward the Flag Smashers being a front for a reconstituted HYRDA, and that’s still on the map table.

John Walker (look, I’m just gonna call him “USAgent” because we know he ain’t gonna end up being Cap) and his partner (“Battlestar” is a legit comics reference) … somebody’s playing them, which I think USAgent suspects but his partner hasn’t homed in on yet. That person is the one pulling the strings, and I’m not sure we’ve met that person yet.

 

That was so fucking good.

 

Will there be a significant number of fictional Americans happy with the way that episode ended?

Would a significant number of current Americans?

 

The music over the cast section of the end credits reminded me of the extended version of the Winter Soldier’s theme from the second Captain America soundtrack.

More thoughts next week.

 

My wife, who is nowhere near a comics nerd, was blown away by the final shot.

 

I'm curious about how they will play the reaction of the public. The bystanders certainly didn't look happy. They looked scared and stunned.

Yes, I do believe many current Americans would cheer. If the show wants to be realistic, there will be some of that from fictional Americans, too.

 

Part of the fun last night was my daughter breathlessly trying to explain the ending to my wife, who has seen the movies, but isn't watching this show.

 

Only 2 episodes left What’s the next series? And how will WandaVision tie into this?

 

I don't think WandaVision will tie into anything until Spider-Man: No Way Home, though I guess it could also connect with Loki. I don't expect it to have any connection to Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

The next series is Loki, which is due June 11. What If?, Hawkeye, and Ms. Marvel are all scheduled for this year, but don't have official release dates yet.

Black Widow is the next movie, currently scheduled July 9, which is about 16 months after its original release date. That is followed by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Sept. 3, Eternals Nov. 5, Spider-Man: No Way Home Dec. 17. I'm guessing all of those will require some sort of premium access fee to watch on Disney+.

Here is a link to an article with the upcoming release dates.

Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 4: The full list of release dates