#(-that Thor can learn that in his dynamics with different people ... and ultimately how those pairings get to that point.)

[uniiiquehecrt]

@beheworthy replied to your post “”:

Multishipper? :O

....Is ... multishipper not a common term in non-rpc spaces? Haha, oof 🫠

Multishipper means what it sounds like! Someone who enjoys multiple ships within the same franchise or universe. Sometimes (but not always) with the same character! It's the opposite of single ship, in which case the person/blog in question only seeks out a singular ship, and no alternatives.

For example: in my case, I have a soft spot for both Thor/Jane and Thor/Sif. I love them both for unique reasons, and in different periods of time. Both dynamics both give me great joy, and both have their own validity to them for me. Thor and Jane have a star-crossed lovers, immortal/mortal, semi-doomed romance going on... Thor is her fantastical, magical prince in shining armor who came down from the stars just to be with her, and Jane is Thor's safe place to land... Someone that he can one day learn to truly be honest and vulnerable with. I just adore that for them, and I could never be any happier that they're the canon romance in the MCU. (maybe one day they'll end happily...)

On the other hand, platonically, Thor and Sif have such a fun chemistry, and I think Sif's pining for Thor is always a fun trope to dabble in... but also in the distant, DISTANT fan au where Thor/Sif could exist, I am always a sucker for wholesome friends-to-lovers, slowburn, referencing-the-source-material tropes. Especially where one character doesn't believe the other would ever fall for him/her. (Or, better, both at the same time bc they're both stupid.) There's also something to be said about Sif being fiercely loyal and at Thor's side as his shield-maiden/new-generation Valkyrie, whilst Thor learns that Sif values him for himself and not just as a prince and then they end up becoming a fun warrior dynamic duo that could be VERY interesting.

[that-yandere-life]

In terms of yandere poly marvel yanderes (that are possible), what pairs do you think are the best an the worst?

I do think that given the right circumstances there can be poly yandere's but the personality match up has to be just right or there will be major problems that will result in someone dying so that there is an ultimate winner.

Pairs that I think would work well together:

Bucky and Steve- They've known each other their entire lives, they can read each other without words ever being exchanged. Not to mention that they usually agree for the most part so there would be no need to fight each other.

Bucky and Nat- Even though they are both pretty headstrong kind of people I feel like they are incredibly similar in a lot of the things they think and do. While they might minorly disagree how to handle something, finding a compromise is something they will learn to excel at.

Tony and Bruce- They are kind of like a ying-yang, because Tony is loud and boisterous while Bruce is mellow and calm (for the most part ha) Not to mention they are both geniuses so it wouldn't be hard for them to logically see the others point of view on virtually any subject.

Clint and Nat- Being so close they have no trouble acting as one identity before they even meet you. Always on the same page, and stubborn as hell so there is no changing their minds once they are set on something.

Bruce and Thor- In kind of the same vein as Tony and Bruce, it's a similar dynamic. Bruce might have some feelings of insecurity because his counterpart is a literal God, but as long as he receives reassurance he's okay.

[Those are just a few that I can think of that I feel would work best, I am sure there are more that I'm not thinking of at the moment.]

People That I Don't Think Could Actually Share:

Tony and Steve- Both having incredibly dominant personalities already have them clashing on regular topics. So when it comes to you, one minor disagreement could turn explosive. Not stopping until one of them is out of the picture permanently.

Thor and Loki- Not only would the fact that they are brothers turn them off of this idea, but they have never truly gotten along. Even when they were children they had strong competitive streaks instilled against the other making compromise an impossibility.

Loki with Anyone Really- Loki doesn't share, not even as a couples event such as a threesome, etc. You belong to him and him alone, he doesn't want anyone else to have a taste of what he has. For once he is in control, and he isn't going to relinquish it for anything.

Bucky and Tony- Let's forget for a moment that Bucky killed his parents, it still wouldn't be a good idea. Just like Steve and Tony it would be difficult for it not to turn volatile faster than you could blink. The main difference being is Bucky has long lost his filter so the tension would always be there until it finally snapped.

Thor and Steve- At first it would seem like a match made in the heavens, until it didn't. Flawlessly working until they reached an impasse on something important, unable to find any compromise. After that it would become an incredibly toxic environment of one trying to outdo the other.

[Thanks for this topic to kind of think about! If there are any specific pairs you want to know my opinion on, feel free to let me know! <3]

[helahades]

How do you think Hela woulda been with Thor and Loki if Odin hadn’t kicked her out? Like what kinda sibling relationship?

you know ?

On Hela as a Sister

warnings: childhood trauma, mentions of abuse, mentions of odins gaslighting

these are my favorite hela aus because everything else is inherently angsty and sometimes i just want her happy

there is nothing quiet about helas dedication or her love

she is...so protective. esp since the age gap is so large shes double their age

being a big sister that has had time to reflect on childhood, and then watching more children be raised in the same environment, the instinct is very much to provide those children with support that you needed then

i think there is a special kinship to be recognized between her and loki. literally two seconds ago i read a fic that suggested hela was an outcast as a child

while i don’t think sexuality/queerness is as big of a thing^tm on asgard and that they’re pretty fluid, there’s something to be said about the parallels between Loki’s genderfluidity + sexuality and helas repressed exploration

hela is literally the rough draft and Odin is not far from coming of age himself when he has her, so I imagine she received the worst of his intensity, and as suggested by the same fic I just mentioned, she was made to put a lot of inner exploration on the back burner in favor of becoming daddy’s little weapon

all this is to say that hela is gay and I think that her vulnerability is parallel to Loki’s in a way I can’t describe and that they both need a very similar kind of nurturing

I think Hela would have a bond with Loki that involved making him work through some of his inner turmoil rather than repress it, and I think she would help him channel his magic as a thing that can be nice and not only destructive

now for thor, i won’t ignore that he definitely has experiences all sorts of different attraction to all genders. he channels his emotions much differently though + otherness is really not as central to his main struggles

at his most mature and even at his worst, there is a very direct line between the cause of his stress and the expression of that stress

aka, he’s much less prone to repression, and actually, on the complete other end of the spectrum. I think Thor may have trouble at times identifying where he’s having a problem

it sounds backwards. he talks through things, he identifies problems and works through them. but sometimes problem solvers let problems blow by after resolution without assessing how it’s damaged their armor

think of infinity war. an obviously distressed Thor sees a direct solution to the loss he’s faced. he simply needs to kill thanos and everything will be better right?

no

hela and thor have similarly explosive emotions, but hela is more loki in the plotting and handling of them

now hela isnt all knowing and as much as I would like her as a big sister to help them through everything, she doesn’t understand all of both of them

but hela is very good at identifying what makes her angry

and she’s exceptional at seeing how people associated with her have been wronged

her core unit of people is a source of pride and extreme dedication and she is very attuned/sensitive to how they are feeling

she has an awareness of the temperaments of people around her in general, but where it may manifest generally as her playing the long game of life, with family it’s different

she’s aware when they’re hurt, when they’re confused or angry, and in her best way i think she would try to help them confront that

speculation of their dynamic is a little stranger for Thor because Loki was..never intended for the throne. it’s simpler and there’s not much destiny conflict

perhaps hela would be queen and Thor could be free, an adventurer

Had they been raised in a way that is healthy, and to be able to identify personal goals separate from the crown, perhaps Thor would have realized he didn’t want to be king much sooner

I see Thor a blond ball of fire, running to the chambers of his big sister to gush about what he’s learned one day

He tells her about how he held fire and brought dried herbs to fresh blooms and how he’s just so ready to conjure lighting

Pulling the final plait loose from her warrior braid, her hair falls loose and she smiles warmly, pulling him up to her bed to sit and begins one of her animated tales that always have a way of entrancing him

She speaks of kings and wielding magic and how rushing to too much too fast has been the end of even the greatest

She hands him a bouquet that’s wilted and asks him to turn it whole, marveling at his successes with animation that swells the pride of his young soul and tells him to keep at his studies

She says she’ll teach him lighting personally when the time comes

anyway

all of them are bound by intense longing, passion, a desire to be appreciated

ultimately, if hela had been raised with more love and attention, there would have been ripple effects of support, she could have been a better example for how to channel their intensities

hela is a big sister sworn to the duty of protection and proper encouragement, but will always have a lot to work through on her own

protectors need protection, and hopefully the day will come where she will sit back and watch how they’ve blossomed, before looking onto her own clearer image of destiny xx

[warrocketpodcast]

Is the "professor x just made a bunch of child soldiers" argument as tired as the "If Batman donated all the money it took to become Batman he'd do more good" line?

.No, but I think there’s an interesting reason why it’s not, and it has a lot to do with textual intent. 

In Batman comics, Batman IS the solution to the problems with Gotham City, which we know because WE ARE READING BATMAN COMICS AND THAT IS THE PREMISE, AND IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND THAT YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND FICTION. Billionaires in the real world? Terrible, inherently immoral. Billionaires in the fictional universe that has shit like Green Lantern rings and x-ray eyes? Literally the only thing keeping a crocodile man from eating your face. Bruce Wayne is a philanthropist on the side, but, as I’ve written before, writing a check to the local school district or offering comprehensive health insurance to employees of Wayne Industries does not solve the problem of A Murder Clown Is Poisoning The Water Supply Right Now. I do not understand why people claim they want to see fucking Batman meet with his accountant and figure out if construction of the Thomas and Martha Wayne Memorial Humanities Building at Hudson University is a good tax write-off for 20 God damned pages every week, which I assure you they do not actually want, but that’s not the point, really. The point is disingenuous refusal to engage with the text. The actual text of Batman comics is that Batman is a good idea.

The actual text of X-Men comics is that Professor X gathered teenagers and, in the guise of a school, turned them into a secretive paramilitary strike force that went on missions where they were sometimes killed. The argument is whether that’s the best way to go about things, which is an argument that people have within those comics. The text tends to come down on the side that he was right to do so because the alternative is getting murdered by giant purple robots made of racism, but there’s still an exploration. It’s why Cyclops is an interesting character, because he’s The Most X-Man — the guy who found out at 15 that he had to learn how to be really good at aiming the uncontrollable laser beams concussive force blasts that shoot out of his eyes because the alternative was that he and everyone he cared about was going to die. Like, that’s something that’s gonna fuck you up pretty bad, but according to the past 50 years of X-Men comics, it’s also 100% true. 

With Batman, the question is not “why doesn’t Batman provide real solutions to to the real-world root causes of crime” — because that’s an astoundingly stupid question to ask — it’s “how is Batman going to solve the problems that are presented to him in this fictional universe that is uniquely built around him?” 

With the X-Men, the question is usually “how are the X-Men going to survive this experience?” The idea of questioning whether Professor X was wrong all this time is a core component of that. 

The former is refusing to engage with the premise. The latter is asking the questions the premise invites. If you don’t like the premise, you don’t have to engage with the media. There’s a lot of stuff out there and if you don’t like Batman because that idea doesn’t make sense to you, I’m not going to hold it against you. I will, however, hold it against you if you try to break the premise to make it worse. 

Here’s a huge tangent where I just know I’m gonna get lost in the woods: 

I actually feel a similar way to opinions I’ve seen about the MCU, and how it’s built around a very militaristic idea of superheroes, which makes some people uncomfortable. And, you know, that’s fair! Those movies are built around that idea, because they were built on the foundation of a movie that was the absolute embodiment of transitioning from traditional action movies (ie, stories about loose cannon cops, spies, space marines, Kurt Thomas, and other heroes who usually have the backing of a larger organization) and superhero stories (which are almost always about heroes acting independently of, and occasionally in opposition to, those same larger forces). Those movies never really get away from the idea that Tony Stark, the guy who sets the tone for the entire roster of films to follow, is fundamentally a dude whose primary character trait and fatal flaw are that he always believes he can solve his problems by building a bigger gun. The militarized aspect of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers spins out of this as both a structural result of the action to superhero genre transition, and as a convenience to get Iron Man (former defense contractor), Captain America (literal soldier), Black Widow (spy), the Hulk (military scientist) and Hawkeye (for some reason a spy like in The Ultimates and not a redneck carny like he should’ve been). The odd man out is Thor, which, for all the problems with those first two Avengers movies, is why he first shows up as an antagonist in the first one and then completely bails on the whole thing to go deal with his own stuff on the second one. The military structure is literal plot structure.

So yeah, that gets kind of weird when it filters down to Spider-Man. A lot of that weirdness has to do with things that are beyond the control of the universe, in that Marvel’s most beloved character, the second big success the company ever had whose popularity has endured much stronger than the first one, the flagship superhero who was literally on their paychecks and has never not been popular, had to be a late addition to a universe that already had, like, the Vision in it. 

But because they had to work within those constraints, they had to work within the premise they were already given. It makes perfect sense that in that universe, Peter Parker would look up to the world’s most famous superhero nerd, and it makes sense that Iron Man would see Peter as this blank slate that he could stop from making the mistakes that had defined his life. That, to me, is a really interesting dynamic, but it’s also one that requires Spider-Man to take a lot of cues from Iron Man, which is not a dynamic that those two characters ever had in the source material. It winds up giving them different consequences.

And like, if that’s not your thing, I get it. Spider-Man being recruited by the superhero military and having a high-tech suit that talks to him is a jarring shift, even if they do a good job of bringing in most of the core tenets of the character — something about responsibility and... I wanna say... muscles? Is it muscles? — which I think they did. But, if you don’t like that setup, which is a product of the larger universe, then you don’t have to buy into the premise. Like, yeah, it sucks that you’re fundamentally not going to dig this Spider-Man movie, but how do you think I feel? I’m a Batman guy and I literally have to see these movies with their endless terrible premises for my job.

Back when Far From Home came out, I remember seeing someone talk about how the MCU Peter Parker was fundamentally flawed because he didn’t have Uncle Ben, and I don’t think that’s correct. For one thing, Spidey pretty clearly has an Uncle Ben in that movie, it’s just that the reference to him in Civil War is a little less explicit than it usually is, presumably because we’ve seen Uncle Ben die on screen like five times since 2002. Second, it actually makes it make more sense that he’d latch onto the next influential father figure who walked through his front door. Third, even if we got way more Uncle Ben in those movies, it wouldn’t change the fact that the Peter/Tony Stark relationship and the way it played out was a function of the larger universe and the way those two characters had to interact within it. I don’t want to generalize too much or claim to know what people are thinking better than they do, but I’d suspect that if you don’t like that stuff in Spider-Man, the thing you really don’t like is the larger structure of this take on the characters. And that’s fair! 

That’s not to say that a premise can’t be bad, or that a twist on a character that posits a new premise is always good by nature of including some of the stuff that works. Again, I’m a Batman guy, and the last three movies to feature Batman are bad partly because the premise is fundamentally broken (the other parts are literally everything else about those movies because they are irredeemably terrible on virtually every level). But, you know, none of them have Batman writing a check instead of fighting crime, so that’s something.

--Chris

[ks-caster]

Beth Liveblogs Black Widow

Bought that premium access on Disney+ so I can have the privilege of pausing for snacks and using subtitles as needed - so let’s go! 

Beth’s Spoiler-Free Review: Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the movie - the plot was compelling, the characters were likable, and the stunts were really excellent. I felt like hair and makeup dropped the ball on realism multiple times which I was sad about, because how she looks seems to be pretty important to Nat so I expected it to be done well in her movie. 

I did not like the way they framed the tail end (denouement - obviously because this movie is mid-series we know how it ends to an extent) - I felt like the connect-up to Infinity War was lackluster, especially compared to how enjoyable and dynamic the rest of the film was.

Spoilery live-reactions are under the cut. Click at own risk! Feel free to rebagel with your own impressions, thoughts, jokes and rebuttals!

The movie begins with a young Nat with blue dyed hair and visible roots, showing her natural red. Do you know how hard it is to get natural red out of hair, enough to make it blue and not green? And I’m supposed to believe that a middle-school age girl in 1995 Ohio had access to these chemicals? I’ll give her the white hair in IW/Endgame because she’s an adult with a lot of experience as a spy altering her appearance. But as a child? In the 90s? While her family is apparently in hiding? Sus.

The scene with Alexei laying on the on the wing while Nat learns to fly? AMAZING stunts. Amazing. AND someone in an action movie is finally smart enough to shoot the tires.

Nice skills on young Nat, getting the gun. Since we know from Endgame that Nat’s father is named Ivan, we know that Alexei isn’t really her dad. She also refers to presumably the red room as going “back.” Was she lent out to these agents to legitimize their family?

-0-

Nice knife moves, Yelena - I love the hand switch.

Ooooh so she was being mind controlled and the red stuff freed her? Interesting.

-0-

Nat is in Norway - visit Thor! He��d love to have you. (I’m mixing up my timeline, aren’t I?)

Supplies Dude whose name I didn’t catch refers to the Avengers breakup as a divorce - I kinda love it. It’s accurate!

BUDAPEST omg are we finally going to get the story?? Are we??

Box dye? I’m supposed to believe she got all that red out of her hair with flippin’ Loreal? Really? And that toner isn’t even the color she ultimately went - it’s too yellow. Sus.

-0-

Oop, looks like Nat got caught up in Yelena’s desertion.

Do not give Nat your metal frisbee, robocop - she’s been around Steve long enough that she knows how to use it.

I laughed out loud when she did the string him up thing with the cables - literal spider move, I love it!

Mystery box is empty - classic bait and switch.

-0-

BUDAPEST - WE ARE IN BUDAPEST - IT’S HAPPENING PEOPLE

Nat closing the door behind her is a small thing but I appreciate it - no sneaking up behind her.

When Yelena throws Nat in the kitchen and her feet hit the door and she spins before she hits the ground? That was a helluva stunt.

Oooooh honey. No body left to check is ALWAYS movie code for they lived.

Dreykov’s daughter? Another hint from Avengers 2012? C’mon, movie.

Riding the chimney down? Another incredible stunt. 

Dreykov can scan his soldiers’ bodies and terminate them if they’re too damaged to keep fighting? Big yikes. With Nat where she is character development wise, the stakes are now much higher because if she injures an opponent they may be killed remotely.

“Do you want me to chase him down and un-steal it?”

The car door under the bike was an excellent stunt - as was the car going into the subway. Though I’ve never seen a subway entrance big enough to admit a car.

Who hasn’t wanted to slide down the middle to avoid the crowded escalators lol.

Yelena making fun of Nat’s sexy poses I am LIVING omg.

Running water for wounds. RUNNING WATER. NOT ALCOHOL. The vodka goes on the INSIDE for the pain - the running water cleans the OUTSIDE. If there’s a convenience store then there’s a bathroom, with running water. Cleansing with something like alcohol is a LAST RESORT and you do not look like you’re at that point resource-wise. I thought these ladies were supposed to be highly trained in all of the things?

“Could be fun though.” “I saw where he put the keys” “Top drawer green cabinet.” I love their chaos.

Yelena’s vest and its pockets and the resulting conversation are positively majestic.

“You are sensitive.” “You’re a very annoying person.”

-0-

Do! Not! Move! Around! Like! That! While! Getting! A! Tattoo!!!! That poor artist was trying his best and Alexei just...

Ooooh was Red Guardian like Captain Russia? Interesting.

“Just don’t make a scene.” “You made a scene didn’t you.”

David Harbor running up that wall and then wiping out after the guard shocks him... I really loved that stunt, especially since they don’t show him being all super cut - he’s a big guy! He’s allowed to have fat over his muscles and still be a strong dude! I love it.

“Such a poser.” Girl, you need to meet Loki - he does a lot of hair flips too lol.

The sibling energy between the girls during the rescue!!!

“Whooooooa... this would be a cool way to die.” Yelena, I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you but get your head in the game girl.

Poor Alexei - he never gets to do the dramatic escape from *inside* of the aircraft.

Hang on, no ovaries? So all of these women are now in immediate, surgically-induced menopause? The uterus part makes sense if the intent was to prevent them from getting pregnant if they have sex during a mission, but, what, they gotta be on estrogen supplements for the rest of their lives? That’s just really poor planning. Like it was hilarious the way Yelena went into the biology of it to make Alexei uncomfortable, but that really doesn’t make sense to do to your superhero kids. It’s just bad science.

Love that Yelena keeps her vest even after she changes into her matching white flight suit. That vest better make it to the end of the movie.

-0-

“Honey, we’re home.” I 100% expected her to shoot him on sight tbh. it would have been funny.

Alexei squeezing into the uniform is such a post-pandemic feel. Also all of the fancy braids at that table; I see where Natasha got her propensity for them.

Animal cruelty warning, ugh. Poor piggy Alexei.

Oooh the photo album and Natasha remembered staging the pictures; they’re emotional for her but in a different way.

I wonder if robocop’s shield is actually Alexei’s.

The singing between Alexei and Yelena was a really beautiful moment because it was neither auto-tuned-good nor hilariously bad - it felt really real, especially the way Yelena’s so choked up she can barely make sounds come out.

Uh-oh, mama has one of those monitor your vitals and kill your ass suits. The suits I understand - the eyeliner though... when and why did she do her makeup?? That’s not really the thing that comes to mind for me when I’m getting ready to do something athletic, like say kidnapping my supersoldier fake family.

“This is a much less cool way to die.” Also WTF why would they do that. Wouldn’t it be easier to get the information out of her while her brain is still attached to, y’know, her mouth??

CLEVER CLEVER CLEVER they switched outfits and faces ooooooh like mother like daughter.

The door opening as Alexei is leaning against it dramatically bahahahaha

I love the plan. I’m thoroughly weirded out that Melina has a red wig just lying around that perfectly immitates Natasha though. 

“Yelena, it’s mama. You have a two-inch blade in your belt.”

Oh. My. God.

Antonia.

A pheromone lock preventing them from hurting them if they’re close enough to smell him - I like it. It’s clever and new.

Bahahaha poser! You posed I saw you! Still love the vest.

Natasha is really good at manipulating people’s emotions to get what she wants - I mean, scary good. So if she’s provoking Dreykov into beating her up, there’s a reason. 

“Using the only resource the world has too much of - girls.” Kill him. 

-0-

When I say I whooped out loud... SEVERING THE NERVE. Thank you for your cooperation. YAAAAAAS QUEEN.

-0-

“Slight change of plans - we are going into a controlled crash.” The way she said that was just so mom-like omg!

-0-

The grenade as a delivery system was super smart - but yikes what if she’d mistimed it and blew Natasha up? Also, after the beating she took and how hard she had to wack her own face into the desk to sever her olfactory nerve and the amout of blood we saw her leave behind from doing that, her face should be a LOT more messed up, come on makeup department.

“Get as far away from here as possible.” And then keep going because General I-Collect-Supersoldiers-Like-Stamps Ross is about to turn up at your location looking for trouble and he’d snap you ladies up like there’s a fire sale and you’re going out of stock.

This crash doesn’t look all that controlled, Melina. I’m starting to suspect that most of the widows won’t live long enough to make their own decisions...

All of the aerial stunts were amaaaaaazing - the way Nat slowed herself by sliding down the panels so Antonia could catch up with her and she could deploy her parachute... 

The vest survived the movie!!!

Fuuuuuck Ross is showing up and he sucks and I hate him and I’m super worried that he’s gonna take the vest from Nat if he takes her into custody. Please don’t let her lose the vest. 

Okay, there is now zero reason for Nat to stay behind. They have an aircraft. She had plenty of time to just board it and leave?

-0-

Okay okay okay Ross did not get her and did not take the vest. But am I supposed to believe she bleached her hair, toned it blonde, and then re-bleached and re-toned it to silver? Who does that? That would be terrible for her hair. Her scalp would be burned all to hell from the amount of chemicals needed to not only get all that red out but THEN get the blonde toner out. Y’know what color silver toner is? Blue/purple. Y’know what happens when you mix that with yellow? Green. And not a nice green either (I speak from experience). No. Her hair at the end of the movie? Cancelled. 

-0-

SHE GOT THE DOG!!!

Oh, ouch. Big ouch. I hurt like a lot now. This is so not an okay way to end the -

...

Countess I-Forgot-Your-Name-Already?

Oh no. Oh no. That’s worse. That’s a lot worse. We are now setting up the Hawkeye series and I while I’m horrified that this was how they ended the film, I gotta say that’s going to make for some wonderful angst in that series on both Clint and Yelena’s parts and I am here for it!

OVERALL IMPRESSION

I really, really enjoyed this movie, I thought the story was compelling, the stunts were really excellent, and I liked the character dynamics and the twist

I did not like the ending - it just sort of fell off quickly and didn’t feel satisfying after an otherwise really fun movie. I also take issue with the hair and makeup as shown among the characters, as seen in my several rants to that effect.

I would have liked to have seen a few more childhood/training flashbacks, and absolutely would have loved a cameo from Jeremy Renner (not just his voice) and to see him and Nat meeting and him giving her the whole dad speech that he does so well - bonus points if she could have then quoted him to Yelena or Antonia, showing the way that multiple people had a formative effect on her (an answer to the “The Avengers aren’t really your family either” comment).

[9worldstales]

INTERESTING POINTS TO PONDER FROM INTERVIEWS 7

Interviews might not remain forever available or not be easy to find so I’ve decided to link them and transcribe the points I find of some interest so as to preserve them should the interview had to end up removed.

It’s not complete transcriptions, just the bits I think can be relevant but I wholeheartedly recommend reading the whole thing.

And of course I also comment all this because God forbid I’ll keep silent… :P

Title: EXCLUSIVE: Screenwriter Don Payne Talks Thor!

Author: Elisabeth Rappe

Published: Feb 23, 2011

BEST BITS FROM THE INTERVIEW

ABOUT THE SCRIPT FOR “THOR”

Thor has seen a lot of screenwriters come and go, and I imagine that led to some very drastic changes to the character and story. Can you talk at all about that process, and what changes were made over the course of project? (For example, I know rumors swirled very early that the Thor movie would be an origin story with his alter ego, Dr. Donald Blake!) How did the script come together? At what point in the process did you come on board, and what was your contribution?

Don Payne: First off, for the record, the final, official WGA writing credits for the film are “Story by J. Michael Straczynski and Mark Protosevich, Screenplay by Ashley Edward Miller & Zack Stentz and Don Payne.” Any other writing credits you might have seen elsewhere are either outdated or incorrect.

As far as how the script came together, J. Michael Straczynski and Mark Protosevich worked on the project before Kenneth Branagh came on board to direct. At that point, Ken and Marvel sat down and decided exactly what kind of story they wanted to tell. They took everything that had been written so far and figured out a game plan. Marvel then hired Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz, and, as I understand it, those guys worked pretty intensely on the screenplay over the course of four or five months. After they left the project, Marvel hired me, and I stayed on all the way through the end — about a year and a half total. For the first eight months, I continued to develop, rewrite, and restructure the screenplay, bringing in new characters and new scenes. I worked closely with Ken and Marvel throughout the process, and, as the cast came together, I worked with Ken and the actors during rehearsals here and in London.

Then, once production started in January 2010, I was on set writing every day, both at the studio in Manhattan Beach and on location in New Mexico, and continued to work through post-production.

I’d like to say more about how the script has evolved since the very beginning of the development process, but I don’t want to spoil anything. I hate spoilers. (Mostly because I’m weak, and I can’t resist them myself!) But I’ll be happy to talk about it all after the film comes out. What I can say is that this really has been the greatest writing experience of my life. I’ve never worked harder or been as closely involved day-to-day on a project as I have on Thor.

And as far as Thor’s alter-ego goes, as Kevin Feige has said, people looking for a Donald Blake reference might just find one.

ABOUT THOR’S JOURNEY AND FAMILY

I know you’ve worked with iconic superheroes before, was Thor more or less daunting to deal with? He’s a real anachronistic, medieval character. How do you bring that into the modern world? Is it ultimately the same as trying to make any superhero realistic and relatable?

Don Payne: Well, I think the challenges are pretty apparent. As you say, Thor’s a unique character, and it’s an unusual story we’re telling. When you’ve got something like Captain America, the premise is easier to get right away — he’s a superhero fighting Nazis in World War II. Whereas we’ve got an extra-dimensional being once worshipped as a god by the ancient Norse who’s banished to earth and stripped of his powers to learn humility, all set amidst the Shakespearean intrigue of a dysfunctional royal family. It’s not as simple to grasp.

You just have to find the things that make Thor timeless and relatable as a character. It certainly helps that he’s charismatic and likeable, albeit flawed. He’s banished for good reason, but I think people will want to go on the journey with him and root for him to find redemption — particularly with Chris Hemsworth’s performance.

I think what really makes Thor relatable are the family relationships. There’s a lot of dysfunction in the House of Odin. Thor’s got a hard-ass father and a jealous brother. But for all of Thor’s hardheaded rebelliousness, he, like Loki, is really just trying to live up to his father’s expectations and make him proud. I think people can relate to that father and son dynamic.

ABOUT SIF, THE WARRIORS THREE AND HEIMDALL

What can you tell me about the parts popular Asgardians such as Heimdall, the Warriors Three, and Sif play in the overall plot? Will we see more of them in other Marvel movies? Is there potential for a Sif spinoff, as she has enjoyed in the comics?

Don Payne: The Warriors Three and Sif are very much like they are in the comics. They’re fierce warriors who are fiercely dedicated to their friend Thor. They’ll follow him anywhere — which might not always be the wisest thing. Also, as in the comics, Heimdall is bound by duty and honor to guard his post on the Rainbow Bridge, and he’s got serious issues with anyone who tries to cross it who would endanger Asgard.

As far as seeing these characters in other movies or their own spin-off films, I think Marvel already has a full slate of projects in development, so I imagine we’ll only see them as part of the Thor franchise. But you never know. I’d ask Kevin Feige if I were you!

ON THE HUMOUR OF THE MOVIE

One element that jumped out at me in the trailer was the comedy – it felt very light and natural, not corny. (Jane reacting to Thor’s name, for example, or the coffee cup scene.) How did you strike the balance between the comedy and drama of the piece? Were there moments where you thought “Ok, this goes too far with the fish-out-of-water joke”?

Don Payne: Well, my hope is we’ve included just enough humor in the script, but no more than that. This isn’t a comedy, and that’s not what I was hired to do. It’s an action film, and, as in all action films, you need those fun moments. But you have to do it sparingly. You don’t want things to get silly.

One thing we all agreed about early on was to make sure we were careful about how we approached the fish-out-of-water moments. We didn’t want Thor to come to earth and suddenly become an idiot for comic relief. Even without his powers, he’s the same person on earth as he was in Asgard — a smart, headstrong warrior. He’s a being from an advanced race who’s used to travelling to other worlds and thinking on his feet. We didn’t want him looking at a television set and going, “What is yon magic box, with phantoms that move and speak inside it?”

Still, he’s on unfamiliar turf, and there’s some fun in that. You just have to find the right balance. You also want to have fun moments and dialogue during the action sequences, so you put those into the script. Of course, those bits are the easiest to cut in editing if you find the jokes are too much or too distracting. You can pick and choose.

ON JANE AND DARCY

I particularly liked how Jane and Darcy react to Thor’s arrival. They aren’t immediately throwing themselves at him. They think he’s hot, but likely to be crazy. I know you’re a staunch feminist, so I imagine their portrayal was important to you. Can you talk about how you approached them? It seems rare to have two girls in a single Marvel film, possibly competing for Thor’s attention. How did that play into the romance, and how did you approach the relationship between Thor and Jane? Did Natalie Portman and Kat Dennings have any input into their characters?

Don Payne: Kat did an amazing job taking the words on the page as written and making them fly. She really embodied the character of Darcy.

After the second trailer came out, I read some people mistakenly speculate that her character was created as a marketing decision to appeal to the youth audience or some such thing — as if the producers sat down and said, “Hmm… this script is good, but we need a character to appeal to the tweens! With current pop cultural references!” I promise you, that wasn’t the case at all. I came up with Darcy because we needed someone to work with Jane Foster, and the character had to have a vastly different background, personality, and world-view from Jane in order to make that relationship interesting. I decided to make her a woman, frankly, because other than Sif and Frigga, we had a very male-heavy cast of characters. I thought it might also be interesting to have someone working for Jane who both frustrated her and who Jane saw as protégé whose potential she could help fully realize.

But I also wanted Darcy to be the voice of the common man. We’ve got Asgardians and astrophysicists, so I wanted someone to say what the average moviegoer might be thinking. If someone in the audience is thinking, “What the hell is that weird, glowing thing?!” Darcy should be asking “What the hell is that weird, glowing thing?!” (That line isn’t actually in the movie, but you get the idea…)

Natalie actually helped out tremendously with the character of Jane Foster. Let’s be honest, Jane Foster in the comics has traditionally been one of the most boring characters in the Marvel Universe. In the film, she’s an astrophysicist, so that makes her more interesting right off the bat. And it doesn’t hurt that she’s played by Natalie, who brings loads of personality and charm to any character she portrays.

Originally in the script, however, Jane was more of a traditional scientist — a hardcore skeptic. But Natalie came to the first rehearsal with the idea of turning that on its end. She suggested making Jane the believer. She thought Jane could be more of a kind of “scientist as poet” — someone who thinks outside of the box, someone whose theories are considered outlandish and are frowned upon by the scientific community. But it’s the kind of thinking that leads to great discoveries. When Thor arrives, she’s willing to take a leap of faith — and she has to pay the consequences for it. Natalie’s input made the character more interesting, improved her relationship with Thor, and, in general, made the story better. And she helped make sure Jane Foster isn’t boring. So I’m grateful to her for that.

During my story meetings with Ken and Marvel, we put a lot of work into the Thor/Jane relationship, and there was much discussion about exactly how and how quickly things should progress between them. I think we succeeded in developing their romance realistically, so it doesn’t feel forced.

ABOUT HEIMDALL AND THE MCU TAKE

There has also been a lot of ugly and foolish controversy about Idris Elba being cast as Heimdall. I don’t like to justify bigotry with attention, but has the reaction surprised you and the rest of the team?

Don Payne: You’d think as a society we’d be beyond this now. The funny thing is, this film was never meant to be a straight representation of traditional Norse mythology. It’s the cinematic take on the Marvel comics take on Norse mythology. In fact, in the reality of our movie, the Norse myths are actually based on our version of the Asgardians, after they visited ancient Norway. The Norse just got some things wrong, based on their primitive understanding of their encounters. (Like, for example, worshiping the Asgardians as gods.)

The bottom line is Idris is great in the movie. I think almost all of the people who are skeptical or have issues with the casting will be convinced when they see the movie — except for all the actual racists out there. But who needs them?

MY TWO CENTS

This interview is so goddamn awesome because it’s so informative. Don Payne talked about a lot of topics and didn’t give just two lines answers but well rounded explanations. There’s so much more than the bits I’ve selected but I couldn’t really copypaste it all, though I wholeheartedly recommend you to read it.

I’d kill to get a peck at the old scripts but definitely there was a lot of work ongoing to produce the definitive one.

Anyway I love how almost all Marvel seems to know Odin is a bad father yet Odin doesn’te ven get a slap on his wrists. Really guys...

I like how he admits Thor’s journey is one of redemption... but really that’s not how you made a redemption arc...

I also find interesting how again we get a confirmation that Sif and the Warriors Three are ‘fiercely dedicated to THEIR FRIEND THOR’.

In the movie Thor says:

Thor: Why don't you tell her how you sent the Destroyer to kill our friends, to kill me?

But the truth is that those were his friends, not both’s. For the Warriors Three and Sif there was never a choice between Thor and Loki. They were Thor’s friends and to him their loyalty went.

I also like how he says he hopes they included enough humor, but no more than that as this is an action film, and, while fun moments are needed they need to have them sparingly of things get silly. How they didn’t want Thor to come to earth and suddenly become an idiot for comic relief. How they didn’t want for the jokes to end up being too distracting. I think this speaks of care for the story.

They even put care in creating Jane and Darcy. I still think they could do Jane better, but still they tried.

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

(More Steve salt incoming. Again, I don't hate him, I just have issues with how people are erasing his flaws when Tony was demonized for so long...this is part of my looking back on the MCU series of metas that I'm putting out for Tony's 1 year memorial.)

One thing that's always bothered me about people's responses to Endgame, especially the critical ones, are that people keep framing it as a failure because it wasn't a happy family together at the end. Several posts on various forums have explicitly mentioned how this "should have been a found family story" but it was ruined by the Russo's, and this kind of pisses me off. Firstly, for all their issues, the Russo's are competent directors. They're gonna have to make some sacrifices and nothing will be perfect, but they know what they're doing largely. Honestly, I think it's usually us who misunderstand and lose sight of the big picture, which is the root of all the trouble and leads me right to my next point:

People have sorely misunderstood the dynamic of the Avengers. Maybe this had to do with one too many "Clint living in the rafters and Thor eating Pop Tarts" fics (which are very sweet), but somewhere along the line people forgot what the Avengers dynamic and storyline actually is. It was never supposed to be a family! It was always made up of different people who didn't fit together, but chose to, for the greater good. But, when their visions of what was the greater good differed, they had to split; that's what civil war documented, and after that point, they weren't supposed to function as a team. The rest of the movies document how they've changed, how they've shifted in relation to each other since civil war. It's not supposed to be a found family because these people no longer consider each other family, and if you ask Tony Stark, he would say they were never a family in the first place.

The only one who might say that would be Steve, because he's basically in denial about how everybody else feels. He has his own vision of how he wants things to be and he's willing to deny reality to pretend that's how things are. He lives in a false, idealized world (just like how WWII is romanticized, he does the same). But Tony is unable to deny how things are/will be. That's what causes conflict between them. The entire franchise is based on this conflict of two opposing ways of seeing the world, and two very different ways of approaching other people. They're two different ideologies, they're intended to contrast and act as a foil for the other, and I don't see how people have managed to miss that so completely. This franchise was not about saying that the world could be perfect, nor that if we all just learn to get along we can find family in the strangest places...it's supposed to demonstrate how it is possible to put aside preconceived biases, and work with people with whom you disagree; it shows how conflict is often inevitable but that compromise is important; it shows the importance of forgiveness and likewise the importance of expressing your grievances openly so that reconciliation can be had; and ultimately it shows that whether or not you agree with someone, you should be willing to do the right thing even at cost to yourself.

Tony does this often, but Steve never does. Steve is too stiffly ensconced in his own ideas and way of seeing things that he doesn't allow himself to grow, or learn, or change in any positive way because of the new environment and people around him. He's supposed to represent how our society can get stuck in its ways, and value certain things because they've always been certain way. He's stubborn, stiff-necked, and doesn't adapt to changing times. It's the most blatant allegory I could think of, since they literally took him from the past and put him in the future, and now what do you know you have someone who doesn't change. Meanwhile Tony, as the futurist, is supposed to represent our society's drive towards change and progress, and also demonstrates how we often are resistant to and shun new ideas, simply because they are new. He represents adaptability, which is why he is always the one to compromise between him and Steve. But he's also supposed to show that when it comes down to it, we're supposed to fight for progress, and change, and growth, and not let stubborn opposition from those who came before us, or are older than us, or think they know better than us, get us down. Tony made the ultimate sacrifice for what he believed in, but it made a difference, and for once, the narrative proved him right all along, as opposed to Steve (again, an allegory for society. Steve, the old generation, the privileged group, etc., is always supported by the system--but when some people dare to implement change, there's a good chance that the history books will see that as the real victory). What legacy do we want to leave behind? Tony, by actively considering the future, is also considering the effect that he is presently having on the world. Steve, however, is so caught up in the way things used to be that he doesn't consider what he might leave behind. That's why, ultimately, he can't stay in the in-universe present. By staying there, he would be forced to face the consequences of his actions, and that is never something his character has done. Steve has never considered the future, really, because his character has always been stuck in the past, and that's why I think it's fitting that he spends his lifetime after Endgame in the past. The only way to belong in the present is to be forward-thinking, and willing to change with the changing times. How some people miss these messages, and prefer to diss on the franchise for not living up to their expectations of harmony, found family tropes, and an "everything is awesome" mentality is beyond me. They might be superheroes, but they're supposed to show us something about how the world really is, and how we can make a difference in it, and how we might be living in it now, not to provide an idealistic escapist fantasy. That sounds more like something is Steve would do...and clearly, that didn't work out so well.

[idreamtofmanderleyagain]

MCU Kind Of Always Sucked (Mostly), You Guys

So this is a spoiler-free post for Endgame. I haven’t seen Endgame, I’ve only seen the mixed (leaning negative) reactions to Endgame. And let’s be real, that specific reaction isn’t in itself even a spoiler because bitching and moaning is a cultural pastime these days…

Here’s the thing though. I’m not really personally surprised that people hate it and think the story is broken. Because honestly? Marvel wasn’t ever really putting out a ton of great work to begin with. A lot of their stories just kind of suck, fam. What duped us all into believing they were great was the performances.

The actors put in 100% into creating dynamic, human people out of their characters. Unfortunately, the MCU writers continuously seemed to fail to make those characters grow and mesh together into a cohesive story about a group of people becoming team, their relationships to other people around them, and their relationships to their antagonists.

The amount of times the MCU managed to sell an emotionally evocative moment for me is pretty small, and most of the time those could be attributed to performances elevating the material.

There are of course some exceptions to this rule. Iron Man was the first of the bunch, and so it HAD to sell the franchise to the audience. RDJ was also their biggest actor. I haven’t seen Black Panther yet, but the majority of the noise I hear say it was fantastic. GOTG2, which I also haven’t seen, was praised for it’s emotional development. People loved Captain Marvel (same thing here with not having seen that one. I stopped following MCU a while ago). So I’m not saying every Marvel Movie is bad.

I’m saying that it seems like the majority of the time, the MCU character and narrative arcs themselves are fundamentally broken, unsubstantial, and/or dull.

The fire and ice clash between dull, unrealized narrative arcs against strong emotional performances left us with a very confusing quality level, where we had just enough from the actors to connect emotionally with the Marvel characters and what mattered to them, but there was always a feeling of disconnect in the paradoxical absence of dynamic, well-rounded stories for those characters.

It feels very much like a plan was set in motion to write large, bombastic good vs. evil plotlines, but little to no plan was ultimately solidified for the cohesive emotional arcs of the MCU characters. Consider MCU’s massive franchise predecessor, Harry Potter. Consider the highly cohesive connections between the characters of Harry Potter which developed naturally over time, and contrast that with the disconnected, half-baked feel of the MCU characters.

Something was always amiss with MCU. Characters have relationships to other characters that don’t really feel connected to any context (Nat/Bruce, Hawkeye’s secret family). They have angst that lacks authenticity (Nat’s infertility) Relationships that people waited to see form never really did (Bruce and Tony). Relationships that we wanted to see develop never really did in a substantial or logical way (Thor and Loki, Steve and Tony). More characters were added in when we needed earlier characters to develop.

As an example, I posit the first Thor film. The film with my fave character (Loki), the film that made me bother following the MCU story in the first place.

Chris Hemsworth did a fantastic job bringing Thor to life. Hiddleston did a fantastic job bringing Loki to life. But let’s take a good hard look at Thor’s core character arc in his debut film.

Thor’s arc is meant to be a classic redemption arc, right? There’s a set formula for that:

1)Ignorant Jerk does something harmful and foolish

2)Ignorant Jerk faces consequences for his actions that directly relate to the impact his actions had

3)Ignorant Jerk learns why he was ignorant and why he was a jerk

4)Ignorant Jerk fixes the problem and/or makes amends for what he did.

Thor follows that narrative logic, right? I mean, Thor definitely is a better person at the end of the film, right? On the surface, maybe.

If you look a little deeper, you start to realize that Thor’s arc is totally hollow and dysfunctional. Let’s run through the list:

1)Thor, an arrogant prince, goes to Jotunheim and almost starts a war. His brother Loki resents him due to his shitty behavior/the favoritism of their father towards Thor.

2)Odin punishes Thor by sending him to earth, among a different race than the Jotuns (who have a different relationship with Asgard and a different cultural history), and he is stripped of his powers.

3)Thor learns that being mortal is hard. He learns that he has to work for his goals sometimes. He learns that humans are nice. He learns that some humans are attractive.

4) Thor sacrifices himself, therefore he’s now worthy of the power of Thor again. He defeats Loki and stops Loki from destroying Jotunheim.

Are you starting to see the cracks, here?

When does Thor learn that what he did in Jotunheim was wrong?

When does Thor learn that the people of Jotunheim deserve their safety?

When does Thor learn that he was kind of a jerk?

When does Thor accept that he hurt Loki and try to make amends for his actions?

HOW does Thor change? Does any of that really, finally happen in the subsequent films featuring Thor and Loki?

The movie (tells us) suggests that all these things happen, but it never shows us that journey, not really. It shows Thor in a moment of weakness, making friends with humans and caring enough to fight for them. At best, Thor learns how to chill a bit when it comes to arrogance. He has the capacity to be more humble now.

You can see similar fundamental flaws scattered throughout MCU. There’s a lack of substantial weight or emotional logic to many of the ideas they wanted us to connect to. These problems left MCU feeling cobbled together haphazardly, with a few stronger patches that couldn’t really structurally protect the whole.

So people feeling like Endgame failed them makes a lot of sense. We were waiting for arcs that just never happened.

[eloquenceassassinated]

HAHAHAAHAHAHA THE QUEUE IS DONE JUST IN TIME FOR ME TO SCREAM ABOUT INFINITY WAR

WHICH I WATCHED FINALLY

I. See. Why everyone. Is in distress. :)))))))

Rambling under the cut because who wants dash spam a month late? Not me. Screw that.

Okay so first off I knew like. A lot of spoilers. Bc one does not simply keep me from a movie for a month and let me near the internet and expect me not to find spoilers.

There were some things I didn’t expect, though, like the whole plot with Thanos and Gamora and the sequence with Thor, Groot, and Rocket at the forge.

Those weren’t,,,, my favorite,,, parts of the movie tho? So I dunno what the difference is

Anyway, Thanos.

...

Nah skip Thanos I don’t wanna talk about Ruffle-Chin Butthead.

Lol jk. He was surprisingly compelling. Like, stupid, and with no concept of basic economics or population growth dynamics, but compelling. You could tell he really believed in what he was doing. And that conviction in turn convinced others.

(Maybe just to hypothetically spare their lives but ya knowwww)

There’s this weird obsession with sacrifice in this movie. Than-how-about-NO sacrifices half the population and his own daughter for “balance”. Thor, Loki, Gamora, Vision, Wanda, Tony, Dr. Strange, Groot - and I’m sure I’m missing some others - all had to make a conscious choice to sacrifice their lives, their limbs, their safety, or their loved ones.

Steve and Vision even talk about it with the concept of “we don’t trade lives”. And yet Purple Colossus puts them into a conundrum in which it’s literally us or them. You get dusted or you don’t. What’s stopping you? What sets you apart? What are you going to do when faced with a choice?

And why am I getting so philosophical about the actions of a power-mad space raisin?

Anyway, objectively, the movie was very well-done. Nothing to complain about in terms of cinematography, computer graphics, fight scenes, characters, or storyline. (Although the shaky cam in the first encounter in New York was annoying.)

It was fun guessing at which characters would appear next given the clues they kept dropping. It was also fun to watch Frito Lay’s powerful disciples kick the bucket one by one. Every scene in which Team Cap fought was enjoyable. The three-woman team of Wanda, Okoye, and Natasha was amazing.

I get that the romances and the friendships and the team-ups were there to make ya feel especially sad when folks died. Bucky and Steve and Tony and Peter only actually hugged for the first time this movie because duh, how else would they make this sadder?

Wanda and Vision’s romance had to be there to make their sacrifice more poignant. (Also I had to laugh a little at “for the past two years we’ve been snatching these moments.” Like, congrats Vizh, you got stuck with the exposition to inform the audience of something Marvel never bothered to include in the movies.) Only for that sacrifice to get undone. And hey, like, it worked. I was sad. Who wasn’t?

Side note, but Dwane Johnson’s use of the Infinity Stones was actually really well done too. Any time he could use a stone, he did. And it made sense. It’s not like they were just some useless macguffins that were soon forgotten. They had a use.

And yeah, the buildup of what Frisk could do with a snap of his fingers made the actual event feel that much more dire. That’s how you build suspense.

For me, the first test of a movie is how well it performs the events of its plot. It’s the difference between killing a character and having a stellar death scene. And Infinity War did what it set out to do well, so it passed.

The second test of a movie is how much I’ll be thinking about it after the fact. What did it give me to chew on? What did I learn about the characters and myself? What was the moral to the story? What can I carry over from this fiction into real life?

And that, I’m afraid, is where Infinity War falls flat. Not that it isn’t an enjoyable theater experience; it is. But that’s all it is. Every character got their time in the spotlight, but we didn’t learn anything new about them.

And the moral of the story is only “life is infinitely valuable; one can’t be sacrificed for another, nor can genocide be rationalized in any circumstance”.

The second, I should hope, is something we already know. But the first feels wrong in the overarching context of superhero movies. Sometimes heroes do have to sacrifice themselves to save others. That’s noble and good. It isn’t an option that should be taken when you have another choice, but when there is no choice, self-sacrifice is a good thing.

It’s what fire-fighters do when they rush into burning houses. It’s what policemen do when confronting an active shooter. It’s what soldiers do when they go the front overseas; putting themselves in danger to protect others. Especially those they love.

That’s good. It’s certainly better than sacrificing other people for your own agenda. Scrotum-Beard apparently didn’t get the memo.

So ultimately, both the heroes and the villain are wrong in this case. And it’s not a Black Panther situation where the hero and the villain can both learn from each other and the world is the better for it. There’s no compromise here.

TLDR: Infinity War is an action-packed movie made to thrill, shock, and strike grief into the hearts of Marvel fans. It does that.

But, unfortunately, it’s not anything more

[inhumansforever]

Black Bolt #4 Review

spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers

Another fantastic installment from the creative team of writer, Saladin Ahmed, and artist, Christian Ward, that switches narrative gears for a truly remarkable character study of Crusher ‘The Absorbing Man’ Creel.  Full recap and review following the hump.

Black Bolt and his allies’ effort to break free from this bizarre cosmic prison that has confined them has resulted in failure.  Regaining his powers, Black Bolt had seemingly destroyed the mysterious Jailer.  Yet it turned out that Black Bolt had merely defeated the Jailer’s physical avatar.  Who, or rather what, this Jailer is turned out to be a macabre collection of organs, tissue and brain matter, collected in chambers and acting in concert to exert an incredible level of telepathic power.   This power was ultimately able to restrain Black Bolt and his colleagues and now BB and Crusher Creel find themselves bound in chains in some sort of chamber. 

 Their powers have once more been turned off, preventing them from being able to break free.  And once more the Jailer’s gruesome, disembodied voice commands them be silent and repent in death.  There seems to be something of a harsher edge to the Jailer’s voice… something that leads Crusher to believe that the Jailer is looking to kill the two of them once more, this time for good.

A piercing alarm fills the room and Crusher notices a gage near the corner, its dial slowly turning downward.  It doesn’t take long for the two of them to realize that the chamber is being vacuumed, all of its oxygen sucked out.  It will not be long before the two are suffocated.

Desperate, Black Bolt attempts to free himself from the chains.  He recalls the lessons he had learned from his cousin, Karnak; lessons about sensing and exploiting the flaw in all things.  He identifies a small fissure in one of the chain links and uses all of his strength to contort his muscles in such a way to crack the fissure and break the chain…      

...but it is to no avail.  Black Bolt simply isn’t strong enough.

Crusher continues to prattle on and BB chastises him not to speak.  Talking consumes too much oxygen and only hastens what little time they have left.  Yet there really is no need.  Black Bolt has lived his life in silence, there is no need to die silent as well.  He changes his mind and invites Crusher to talk to his heart’s content.  

Crusher then proceeds to tell his life story.  It’s a tale that filled with many of the same clichéd follies of your typical comic book goons, and yet the way he tells the story, the authentic voice Ahmed’s script offers Crusher makes it feel anything but cliché… it feels real, sympathetic, guilty while unapologetic.  

Crusher’s mother made him feel like anything was possible, that he could rise up from his humble beginnings and achieve anything.  Yet she died when Crusher was just a boy, leaving him in the care of his abusive father.  His dad lorded over and abused Crusher up through his adolescence, ending only when Crusher learned the fight back.  

And as soon as his father realized he could no longer bully his son, Crusher was thrown out and forced to fend on his own.  Homeless, Crusher fell in with a bad crowd.  His respite was using his skill with his fists to become an accomplished boxer.  He did quite well on the boxing circuit, not only because he was fast, strong and knew how to throw a punch, but because he was so menacing in his appearance that his opponents were so frightened that they had all but lost a match before it had begun.  

Crusher’s knack for menace earned him the attention of the organized crime element in his neighborhood (in particular, the mobster villain known as The Owl (an old foe from the pages of Daredevil)).  The Owl recruited Crusher as an enforcer, bending arms and breaking noses to maintain the mob’s various protection rackets.  

It wasn't long before he ends up incarcerated and his life takes a drastic change when he is listed in his prison cell by Loki the Norse God of Mischief.  Loki was merely looking for a new means of bedeviling his hated brother, Thor, and he offered Crusher a magical formula that allowed his body to take on the atomic properties of any substance he touches, tremendously enhancing his strength, durability and capabilities as a combatant.  

Newly dubbed ‘The Absorbing Man,’ Creel was even able to defeat Thor on one occasion, yet it wasn’t long before Thor rallied and bested him.

Thus began Crusher’s long and storied career as a super villain, tussling with costumed heroes, delivering beat downs and getting beat down himself.   Crusher spent more time behind bars than he did as a free man, but he seemed content with he lot life had dealt him.  Then once more his life took a drastic turn.  During the first Secret War event, when various heroes and villains were swept off to Battleworld to duke it out for The Beyonder’s amusement, Crusher met the love of his life.  Her name is Mary, but anyone who wants to keep their teeth straight knows better to refer to her by the name Titania.  

It was love at first sight for them both.  Even after the Secret war had ended, the two did everything together.  They were in love and happy, even considered having a child together, but that never panned out.   For the first time since the death of his mother, Crusher had something he was actually worried about losing.  It made life heavier, but also much more worth living.  And now here he is, lightyears from earth, dying of asphyxiation, his Mary likely to left forever not knowing what had become of him.

Crusher’s tale is periodically interrupted by questions and comments from Black Bolt.  And the things BB has to say sheds further light on all of what has happened has shaped him as well.  Black Bolt’s own character is further developed by way of the juxtaposition between him and Crusher… just how different the two are, as well as just how similar.  

The portrait of The Absorbing Man that Ahmed and Ward paint is remarkably devoid of machismo.  For all of his strength and bluster and tough talk, Crusher is notably open with his feelings and at ease expressing his vulnerabilities.  He makes no effort to repress his sadness over the death of his mother, admits freely to crying when he was first incarcerated; he speaks about Titania like someone completely unafraid of being in love.   Of course it’s not that he’s some noble soul… he’s done a lot of rotten things and owes up to this completely and unapologetically.  He’s hurt a lot of people and even feels bad about it, but he doesn’t blame it on his circumstances, his mother’s death nor his father’s abuse.  He owns his misdeeds as his own, but is not going to writhe in guilt over any of it, because, really, what would that achieve?  

All of it poses Crusher as the perfect foil for Black Bolt.  Black Bolt is noble and, in his own way heroic, but he is also repressed, and stoic and withholding; and his pursuit of fulfilling what he has viewed as his duty has cost him everything that he held dear.  Crusher is far from noble… he is a villain, he has no sense of duty… yet he’s open and expressive, in touch with his feelings.  He doesn’t brood over his losses but instead allows himself satisfaction in the simple pleasures of life, like cooking (or knocking over an armored car).  Crusher possesses a kind of strength that is absolutely foreign to Black Bolt… a type of strength that BB is likely going to have to develop if he for himself is ever to earn back all that he has lost.  

The one matter omitted from Crusher’s story is his son, Jerry.  Jerry Sledge or ‘Stonewall’ was introduced in the pages of the first iteration of Secret Warriors.  Therein it was revealed that Jerry was the product of his mother’s having been raped by Crusher.  As a teenager, Jerry confronted his father and somehow physical contact between the two caused Jerry to gain the same absorbing powers as his father.  

I’m guessing that Ahmed and Ward are simply unaware of Jerry’s existence.  The idea that Crusher has a son that he’s neglected and, more so, that he’s a rapist kind of undermines the whole dynamic of Crusher and Black Bolt representing these two different but still equal types of strengths.  And I wouldn’t be surprised if editor Will Moss just decided to let the matter slide because the script as it was is just so good.    For those who see comic continuity as super important, Jerry’s omission sort of ruins Crusher’s story and reframes him as a hypocrite.  For those who can let continuity slips go (and I guess I fall onto that side of the equation), the tale is just wonderfully stirring… heartbreaking but also satisfying.  

Anyways, at the end of the issue, just when it appears that all is lost and the last of the air is dissipating from the room leaving BB and Crusher to perish, Lockjaw makes his triumphant debut.  

The teleporting pooch has finally tracked his master down and has arrived for a last moment rescue.  Black Bolt is overjoyed to see him.  Never before has BB been able to say out loud that his dutiful dog is a ‘good boy’ and he doesn’t waste this rare opportunity, letting Lockjaw know how happy he is to see him.  Lockjaw is indeed a good boy,  but he is just a dog and as a dog he makes decisions quickly…  He teleports Black Bolt and himself away in an instant, leaving Crusher behind.  And the issue ends with Crusher abandoned, left alone as the air and light fade from the room.  His fate left unresolved by a particularly piercing panel reading: ‘to be continued.’

Hats off to Mr. Ahmed on this one.  I would never in a million years conceive of pairing together Black Bolt and The Absorbing Man… but this odd couple of a team-up works just perfectly, both enhancing Black Bolt’s evolving character as well as endearing me to Crusher Creel in a way I never thought possible.  

Christian Ward’s art once again excels at bringing the script to life.  The tone of this fourth issue is quite different that the three that proceeded it and Ward’s art adjusts accordingly.  Ward’s style is so well suited for far out cosmic settings, yet he smartly tones it down to match the more somber, interpersonal tenner of the story.  It’s only when Crusher and Black Bolt are discussing the loves of their lives, Titania and Medusa that Ward cuts loose with augmented flare; and it acts to hammer home just how important and magical these two women are to BB and Crusher.  

Again, Ward does great work relaying emotion with the minimal line-work of the character’s faces.  The somber tale is peppered with a number of really funny moments and the humor is very well punctuated by expressions on Crusher’s face.  

Of course I realize I am gushing, but this issue really is that good.  An absolute must read.  Five out of five Lockjaws!

[dreadnaught002]

I decided to watch Avengers: Age of Ultron again, and decided to go through and figure out what I did and didn’t like about it. So, in order of appearance...

The Good:

Let’s be real: the opening shot is badass, as most one-takes are

The banter between the Avengers is actually pretty great

That includes Iron Man, who’s usually just a dick

Cap’s magnetic gauntlet is pretty smart

The Hulk CG effects are fucking nuts

The Ultron ‘birth’ sequence is pretty great

Best Stan Lee cameo ever

The Mjolnir scene.

Ultron’s reveal is cooler than most of the movie

Ok, the whole Wakanda tease is actually pretty great

Using the shield to describe the ‘strongest metal ever’ - A+

I don’t care if Klaw is pointless, I love Andy Serkis

Ultron’s writing is kinda fantastic

The transition into Thor’s hallucination is great

Rage-Hulk being more grey-ish is a nice nod to the comics

Tony’s transition between Iron Man and the Hulkbuster HUD is great

Let’s be real: the whole Hulk v. Iron Man sequence is fantastic

Cap pulling that log apart is fucking sweet

Now that I’m watching this at home, I actually like the stuff with the Vision

“Go ahead, piss me off.” Absolutely beautiful.

OK, the Jocasta thing is another nice little nod to the comics

Alright, never mind - the Vision can use Mjolnir, I’ll allow it

I like how Ultron basically carjacks the Avengers

...and then the Hulk carjacks Ultron

Hulk hanging up on Widow makes me happy for all the wrong reasons

The Bad:

The whole opening scene is WAY too long for what amounts to ‘we got the scepter also the Twins are bad’

The Black Widow/Hulk dynamic is just...we get it, Beauty & the Beast, blah blah blah tired trope is tired

Also the lullaby thing is dumb and doesn’t make sense

Quicksilver is pointless in this movie and noticeably inferior to the version seen in the X-Men movies

As cool as Iron Man’s ‘Sentry Mode’ is, it’s strategically backwards and ultimately pointless

Scarlet Witch alters reality, not...sends people on bad acid trips

What in the fuck was the ending of that opening scene?

Why did the writers go out of their way to make Hawkeye’s shitty ‘I Have a Family’ twist work

Seriously, it’s not a good twist an they tried WAY too hard to make it work when it was never going to

Tony not wanting to discuss a world-changing AI with four of his closest friends and allies is fucking dumb

Speaking of, how did the others not notice Stark and Banner going silent for three days straight, as the montage implies?

Wait...how is one holographic projection ‘stabbling’ another?

Why is Maria Hill so...BLECH in this movie

Alright, seriously - what is up with Black Widow and her writing

uuuuuuuuuuuuggghhhhhh

UUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGHHHHH

...did Ultron design his own updated body?

Also, giving him a ‘realistic’ face makes him a lot less intimidating

IN SOVIET RUSSIA, WITCH SCARLETS YOU

Oh shucks, Stark weapons created a villain...haven’t seen that before

Why put Strucker in the movie if he’s just going to get killed off-screen?

Klaw takes the loss of his arm remarkably well

Ultron’s writing is kinda awful

What the fuck is going on with Widow’s day-glo suit?

The drones should not look cooler than Ultron Prime

Hawkeye goes from ‘that was cool’ to ‘oooh...no...’ in mere seconds

The more this movie focuses on Black Widow, the less I like her

These hallucinations should have been cool, but...they’re not

I just realized how brown this movie is

man such a twist who could have seen this coming

Seriously, the safehouse could have been a great cameo, but NOPE

Could have been Fury, or Asgard, or...or ANYTHING

Apparently a robot can use Loki’s staff, but...I mean...what?

FUCK WE GET IT BLACK WIDOW IS THIRSTY FOR THAT HULK DICK

“Get it, she can’t have kids. That makes her interesting, I guess!”

I love how they didn’t even try to line up the lighting in this barn scene

Oh yeah, Nick Fury DOES show up...how did I forget that? Seriously, I had NO IDEA he was in this movie and I’ve seen it before...

How much of Renner’s part in this movie was a result of him whining

If you’re going to have confusing hacking scenes and confusing mystical Asgardian scenes, can you at least not show them at the same time

What the absolute fuck is up with some of these special effects

I like how they tried to make Widow’s bike cooler by giving it these goofy “WHOOOOOOHHURR” sound effects

...did ultron just earthbend

For some reason, I find the drones’ face-thrusters absolutely hysterical

Why is this movie so damned determined to get us to hate Tony Stark?

“Hey, remember that thing that created Ultron? Let’s do that again, only this time, we’ll be using an indestructible bio-human robot thing.”

CLOTHES BEAM

The dramatic arc for this movie looks like an EKG during a heart attack

...are we just gonna glance over that whole Mjolnir thing ok yup we are

There’s a difference between making the colors in a movie bleak and making them bland

Black Widow is easily the worst thing about this movie, and she’s trying to take Hulk with her

Since when does Quicksilver get tired?

These Ultron drones explode with the force of bottle rockets

“Hi, I’m Hawkeye - let me explain why I’m pointless.”

SOME OF THESE EFFECTS ARE JUST SO GOD AWFUL WHY

“Look, she’s in slow motion! That must mean she’s cool!” no, it doesn’t

If I got shot, I don’t think I’d give the ‘c’mon man’ shrug

This movie tries to impress us with a single helicarrier...there were three in Winter Soldier, and they were fancier

Man, good thing those Ultron drones aren’t attacking those big, defenseless transports oh wait

Who is this random Shield operative, and why does he get screentime?

Why are there sO MANY DICK JOKES IN THIS MOVIE AAAGGGHH

This movie’s brand of funny only works about 15% of the time

oooh nooooo, quicksilver’s dead, what’ll we doooooooooo

I’m so sick of this movie’s lack of color. EVERYTHING IS GREY OR BROWN AND I HATE IT

“This music is quiet and somber, that means it’s sad!” no iT DOESN’T

holy fuck this movie is still going

“Humanity’s doomed, but at least we get to watch.” ...wait what

oh good hawkeye got back to his family i’m so glad

ok so is SHIELD back now? This whole thing is confusing

You know, an Avengers movie can end WITHOUT the team dramatically going separate ways, you guys

Wait, why isn’t Cap allowed to say ‘Avengers Assemble’? i hate this movie

...so, what did we learn today? I don’t know, but I’m sure glad that Whedon isn’t coming back for Infinity War.