Running MCU thread

It is there in Love and Thunder, too, but seeing it requires a deeper dive. Then again, maybe people are seeing stuff that isn't there and Waititi really did see it as an ending to Thor's story. He and Chris Hemsworth have both supposedly claimed that they were surprised to see "Thor will return" at the end of the movie.

 

Unless Love and Thunder was a mechanic to add Love to the MCU, you are totally correct.

The last time I sat up in my seat when a word was said was when “my friends call me ‘MJ’” was said years ago. For some reason I never saw that coming. Just like I never saw last night coming.

 

I should have seen the second twist coming. I know that history.

The word? I think they did a great job subverting the expectations of the fans of the comics. They kept some of the best parts of Kamala Khan from the comics, including her supporting cast, but they changed a lot. One thing that may be the same is that the character and series could connect with people who hadn't seen a place for themselves in the MCU to this point.

 

The fact that it needs a deeper dive, might be the issue. I am sure there are things in Love and Thunder that will carry over, probably Love, and I get that it said he would be back. There just wasn't that wow moment like in Ms. Marvel that had everyone talking. Maybe that isn't something that we should expect all the time from the MCU, but it is something most of us really enjoy.

 

It has been the strength of the MCU. I read an article that argues that Phase 4 is a complete mess and suffers for lacking the direction the series had leading up to Endgame. They aren't entirely wrong. I think there is a direction, but the direction just isn't accessible to most fans.

 

I agree. I have enjoyed almost all of it. A lot, actually. Especially since I know there is a path in there.

I think I said the other day, it's not unlike early in the MCU when you had origin stories and what not. No one knew then how it would all tie together and how well it would. It is so enjoyable going back and watching everything again and seeing how they had elements of something 10 years ago, little pieces, and then bam, look how important that ended up being! You have to look at it the same way, just with different stories and characters. It's kind of funny a lot of people don't remember how this works.

I guess another element is that the first set of characters was more familiar, even to non-comic fans, and now they are adding a bunch more that aren't so mainstream.

 

If the word is "Rosebud," I'm going to be very upset.

 

Not only that, but it was suddenly winter and there was this sled...

 

I saw something the other day - an interview with one of the story people from one of the shows - that Phase 4 was kind of about the fallout and comedown from, essentially, dealing with Thanos and "saving" the world. It's easy to see with Dr. Strange (he mentions how he doesn't feel like a hero, and he's kind of aimless) and Wanda (the "saving" came at enormous personal cost to her).

But, as a concept to rally around, it's not especially sexy. "Let's rally to destroy Thanos!" is an easier sell and more direct goal than "let's sort through our melancholic feelings!" And really, most of the shows just feel like they're biding time and seeing what "clicks" with an audience. It's pretty clear that Loki and Ms. Marvel were hits, and the rest of the shows and movies have some elements that might reappear. (Wandavision, too, but Wanda seems to be done for a bit, and the other elements didn't hit as hard.) I don't think any character was so disastrously received that it'll be memory holed, a la pre-Ruffalo "Hulk" stuff.

I kind of doubt they're building up Kang as the "new Thanos," or a battle on quite that scale, but he could be a better-executed Ultron or Loki - a medium kind of boss. And given the nature of his timeline meddling, he could be how we finally get to mutants, the X-Men and Magneto. (One quibble I always had with the X-Men line of movies - They dealt with Magneto vs. X-Men too quickly. That could be definitely drawn out, over multiple movies, with deaths on both sides.)

 

I will not rest until Fin Fang Foom joins the MCU.

 

That would fit with the complaints about the current crop of stories having no real direction. There could also be more than one direction. The most common theory is that they are headed for a version of Secret Wars. There have been two of those in the comics and the current story seems to be a better fit for the more recent one, though I think they need Dr. Doom to do that one justice, so that's a ways off. Another one I heard recently is that they may adapt some version of the Annihilation Wave. That would tie into things we've seen in Shang-Chi and Ms. Marvel, the latter of which leads directly in the Marvels movie due out next year. That is the sequel to Captain Marvel.

 

So we went ahead and watched Moon Knight despite some misgivings. Through three episodes, it was at least interesting and had us wanting to follow it. The last three episodes were garbage. Just not entertaining.