#had they not made it avengers 2.5!!!! there could have been so much space to flesh him out further! and his relationship w steve!!!

[bromcommie]

the way it’s been eight years and I’m still so angry we didn’t get to see fucking. ANY of Sam Wilson in CA: CW

[msmarvelwrites]

The Winter Ghost - Part 9

Info: A Devastating car crash causes you to lose your memory and start over. The only thing left in the wreckage was the horrific nightmares which plagued your mind. If you knew what today would entail you would have just stayed in bed. But you didn’t and because of that, everything you knew was about to change.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

Warnings: swearing, angst if you squint.

W/c: 2.5 k

A/n: Thank you so much to all of you have have given this fic so much love. And thank you to @cutie1365​ for all her help and support! Hope you all are having a great week! Also I promise more Y/n x Bucky interactions are coming soon! 

It had been exactly five days since the three men left on their recon mission to see what Zemo knew. Five days. Besides the occasional report on Natasha’s part, you haven't heard from Bucky again since that night. 

This was a good thing, you thought. Maybe he was respecting your space. Maybe he had come to his senses. Maybe he meant that text for someone else. Ouch, You hurt your own feelings with that one. 

In any case, the time away from the Super Soldier had given you the clarity you needed to think. You and Natasha trained almost every morning and in your spare time you would work out with Sam. He was a good trainer, besides the lingering eyes when he asked you to do squats. You didn't really mind though. You weren't really sure why you were training. It's not like anyone knew where you were, or even cared at that point. The Avengers in New York had their own problems and as far as the rest of the world knew, Y/n L/n didn't exist. 

Everytime you would ask Nat what this was all for she would only shrug and say something about ‘Avengers must be prepared.’ The idea that you could even be compared to the world saving team was insane and frankly terrifying to say the least. You were just Y/n. Sure Hydra had pumped you full of some mystery serum but without your memories you weren't even sure what that meant. 

Speaking of, since that fateful day at the market, you had no sign of anything else coming back to you. You felt like you were letting everyone down. Especially Shuri who had been working tirelessly to help try and regain something, anything that would make you remember. A part of you worried that no matter what she did, you would never truly know. And a small part of you was maybe a little thankful. The idea of your past life terrified and fascinated you all at once. 

 Over the past few days, Wanda helped teach you that little mind trick of yours. Once you got the hang of it, it was hard to say out of people's heads. Though you had more control over your ability than before, sometimes your friends were just too loud; you couldn't help but pick them out of a room. 

“Hey good lookin'! You ready to hit the gym?” Sam's voice echoed through the kitchen while you poured yourself a tall mug of coffee. You signed, still sore from yesterday's workout. 

“Don’t you guys do anything other than workout?” You asked, eyeing him sceptically. 

“What's it look like?” He winked, flexing his bicep. 

Guess that's a no. 

“Okay, okay. Just let me enjoy this small fleeting moment of peace while I drink my coffee. I’ll meet you there in fifteen.” You spoke, exasperated. You weren't getting out of this one. You knew that, and so did he. 

“Fine, but if you're late, we’re sparring. And you know damn well I fight dirty.” He smirked, jogging out of the room. God, he was insufferable. Over the time since Sam had come back you both had spent a lot of time together. He was a flirt and you were awkward as hell, but the two of you became close friends. Plus, he liked to shit talk Bucky as much as you did. 

You brought your mug up to your lips and took a big sip, letting the rich aromatic smell of coffee invade your senses. While the others would lay down their respective lives to save the world, you would do it just for this moment. Were you a junky? The thought made you giggle. 

“What's so funny, dear?” Nat strolled into the kitchen, eyeing you while you only shook your head. 

“Oh, nothing.” You paused as she looked through the fridge for her usual morning orange juice. 

“Top shelf, on the left.” You spoke.

“Got it. Thanks. What are your plans for today?” She questioned, grabbing a glass from the cabinet. 

“I’m heading to the gym in a few, if you care to join me. Besides that, I’m open. Why what’s up?” You asked, bringing the mug back to your mouth and finishing what little coffee you had left. 

“No reason… the boys are coming home today and-” the coffee that once resided in your mouth spewed out in an almost cartoonish spit-take. Your hand flew up to your face, but it was too late. You choked on the fluid over coughs and apologies. 

“Wait- What?” You asked dumbfounded. 

…………..................................................................................................................

“Wait- what?” Steve asked in shock, his eyes almost bulging out of his face. Bucky couldn't help but chuckle at his friend's delayed reaction. 

“I kissed her Steve” He reiterated again, “… Or maybe she kissed me- I don't know, it just kinda’ happened.” Bucky huffed, rubbing the back of his head as his eyebrows knitted together. It didn't matter now anyways, he had ruined it. He knew he had to, but dammit, that didn't mean it hurt any less. Knowing no matter who actually initiated the kiss- it happened, and in turn, completely altered their relationship. Whatever it had been in the first place. 

“How could you let this happen, Barnes?” Steve barked, knocking him out of his train of thought.

“Don't give me that ‘Captain’ bullshit, punk. Not with me. I don’t know, there's something about that girl. She just-”

“She's just nothing. No Buck, absolutely not. Do not go down this road. I’m warning you.” Steve pointed a finger at Bucky's chest, the sheer strength pushing him back a few pases. He held his ground though as to not let on that little Stevie was capable of such strength.

“Well it doesn't matter, I called it off anyways.” Bucky mumbled. Steve only sharply nodded in confirmation. 

“Why do you care, anyways?” Bucky asked, watching his friend carefully.

“I- I don't. I don’t care. I mean- yes! I care, of course I do. You're my best friend… I don't want to see you get hurt…”  Steve stuttered.

After all these years Bucky would have thought he’d get better at lying but, wanting to drop the conversation he nodded, accepting his failed attempt. 

“I’m glad you broke it off with her, Buck. There's so much you-” He coughed, though it sounded like more of a choke, “We. there's so much we don't know.” He finished, obviously staring at Bucky’s forehead, rather than his eyes. 

Damn he was bad at lying. 

“Anyways…” Bucky started, desperate to change the subject from Y/n to something less gut wrenching. “When’s ship out?” He asked, as the two men walked back to their motel. 

They had landed in Berlin five days ago. Five excruciatingly long days. Bucky had called and hung up on Y/n seventeen times since they got there. He prayed to whatever God he believed in the calls never made it to her end.

Meeting with Zemo took a lot out of Bucky. The man knew the deepest parts of himself. The parts that shamed him, and caused him nothing but heartache and pain. T’Challa had helped to sneak Steve and him into the Joint Counter Terroist Center, giving them a little less than thirty minutes to interrogate the man.

Bucky wasn't sure about any of this. Why would Zemo want anything to do with Y/n? Unless he was just a cog. The whole thing made very little sense, but then again, he trusted Y/n. With every fiber of his body he trusted her. Even if Steve wasn't quite as sold. 

That's only because he hasn't kissed her sweet lips. God, if he only knew how you tasted. 

Ouch, he hurt his own feelings with that one. 

The memory for Zemo’s twisted smile knocked him out of his daze. 

“The prodigal son returns, it seems,” He chuckled, sadistically. Even his voice sent a shiver down Bucky's spine. The idea of this man's hands on Y/n in any capacity was enough to send him into a blind rage. But they hadn't come to tear his head clean off his body, though Bucky knew he could do it without even flinching. 

“Here to ask you some questions. And you're going to answer them.” Steve barked in his most authoritative Captain voice. Zemo chuckled, never once taking his eyes off Bucky. 

“The Winter Soldier and his boyfriend. What a pleasure…” Steve only huffed in response causing a sadistic smirk to tug on the prisoners mouth. 

“Twenty minutes.” T’Challa spoke into their coms. 

“What do you know about Y/n L/n?” Bucky spoke this time. He hoped Zemo didn't see his harsh expression falter as the mere mention of her name. 

“Ah, Agent L/n… Quite a specimen, wouldn't you agree, hound?” Zemo practically spit the word. Steve reached his arm out, gripping onto Bucky’s shoulder, holding him back. 

He wouldn't even flinch. It would take seconds.

“Answer the Question.” Steve boomed.

“Yes, Y/n and I go way back. You have her don't you? Found her triggers yet? Does she even remember her own name?” He laughed, almost maniacally, like something out of those old comic books Bucky was so fond of. 

“Steve…” Buck warned, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to hold it together much longer. Steve nodded, turning his gaze back to the small man in the cell.

“What's in the serum, Zemo. What exactly did you give her?” He asked, stepping closer to the glass case he was sitting in. 

“Couldn't tell you if I wanted to. But she knows… And when she remembers, oh. What. A. Day.” He smirked, tapping on the glass with every word. 

“What does that mean? What are her triggers?” Steve questioned. When Zemo only shrugged the Captain’s fist flew against the glass, sending a booming echo through the room. 

“Ten minutes.” T’Challa’s voice ran through their coms again. It was now or never. They probably wouldn't get another chance like this. The men were fugitives. The mere fact they crossed the European border was a god send.

“Why didn't you just kill her? Huh? Why go to all this trouble...Why give her the serum?” Bucky asked, trying, truly trying to keep his voice level. The idea of never meeting Y/n made his heart ache. 

“We tried to clone the serum. She's a smart one, мой ребенок. Made it so that without being mixed with her blood and exposed to radiation, it would be useless. Her fail safe. I don't think she ever thought...” He chuckled, shaking his head from side to side. “Tell me, did her arm heal okay?” 

Bucky gritted his teeth. The smug bastard. The thought of the torture Hydra must have put her though made him feel physically ill. Worse than anything they could have ever done to him. They touched her. He could practically hear her screams ringing through his mind. 

He wouldn't. Even. Flinch. 

“We must leave. Someone's alerted a guard.” T'Challa's panicked voice shook Bucky out of his rage. Zemo seemed to notice. 

“Give my regard to мой ребенок.” He flashed a toothy smile, taking a seat again.

“Get out of there!” The king's voice boomed, but Bucky didn't move. Steve yanked on his arm, pulling him towards the doors. 

“They know where she is.” Zemo spoke so quietly the two men almost didn't hear. But they did. 

“Who?” Bucky snapped. The man only chuckled, and waved as Steve yanked him out of the room. 

…………..................................................................................................................

You met Sam and Nat in the gym, fifteen minutes later.

He was coming home today. You always knew eventually he would, but you were hopeful you'd have a little more time. Time for what, you weren't sure. All you knew is your heart still ached with his final words. 

The idea of seeing Bucky’s face again made a lump appear in your throat. You weren’t ready. I mean, truthfully, you weren’t sure you'd ever be. 

You had dealt with rejection before, sure. Your freshman boyfriend asked Angie Cordillia to the winter formal instead of you. You cried all night. But this- this was different. You knew it. You felt it, and it ripped through your heart like a chainsaw to paper. 

“You're late!” Sam shouted from the treadmill going full speed. Well, not full speed- it was made for Steve and Bucky after all. 

“I am not. Right on-” You looked down at your watch. “Time…” Oh shit. One minute past ten. 

“I’m just warming up, and then I’m coming for you… Ya ready, beautiful?” Sam asked, sending a wink your way. 

You looked to Natasha who only sent you a smirk while she stretched on the gym mat. 

You huffed, tying your hair back into a ponytail. “Listen, Sam, I know what you said but I’m just really not feeling-“ 

“You know why you’re here?” Sam suddenly interrupted. All joking tones had melted out of his words as you approached him. 

“Well, do you?” He repeated. 

You thought about that for a moment. Yeah, you knew why. The team needed to find out whatever serum was in your system before Hydra would clone it. You were a means to an end. You were of course willing to be that cog, if to help right the wrong you had done in your past life, but that’s all it was. 

“You’re here because Y/n, the old Y/n was the best of the best. She was a fighter. And whether you remember or not, she’s in there. Maybe there’s a way to take that serum out of ya, maybe you can just start over. But if you can’t, whatever you believe in has put it in there to make you stronger. So you decide, are you just here to be here, or are you a fucking Avenger?” His words hit you like a ton of bricks. 

Sam was never the sentimental type. Far from it, in fact. You’d never heard him speak with such passion. You wanted to believe he meant it, but a gnawing feeling in the fit of your stomach kept you from fully retaining his worlds. 

“I- I’m not an Avenger.” You signed, wanted nothing more than to be the kind of person to spring into action after his speech, but you weren’t. You knew that was because you were no hero. 

“Maybe not officially. The bands kinda broken up at the moment. But lemme’ just say this,” He placed a hand on your shoulder, “You’re here for a reason. So we’re not going to sit around in Shuri’s lab all day. We’re going to train and maybe, if I kick your ass enough, you’ll realize just how special you are.” He gave you a little shove, knocking you back a little. You tried to speak but your voice betrayed you. 

“Dammit.” You finally spoke. 

“Yeah, I don’t know where that came from either…” Sam chucked. You wanted to protest, to argue that you weren’t the person he thought you were. But you didn’t. 

You weren’t sure if it was the look in his eyes, or the intro to Shoot to Thrill by AC/DC that came blaring out of the gym speakers, but in any case, you believed him.

“Fine, Give me your best shot, Wilson.”

................................................................................................................................

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! If you enjoyed please remember to leave a like or reblog <3 Your validation means to much to me lol Hope you all are having an amazing weekend! Remember to take some time for yourself and practice self care! Lord knows we all need it right now.

@kalesrebellion​ 

@projectcampbell​

[yourkeeperoftherunners]

Talk + Vodka = Truth (Marvel AU)

Plot: AU The Avenger caught the blonde stalking him for the past few weeks and he wants answers.

Characters: Hawkeye/Ronin!Changbin (SKZ) x Yelena Belova!Felix (SKZ), plus mention of Black Widow!Minho, Kate Bishop!Yeji, and other MARVEL characters

Rating: PG-13 (Language, spy behaviors, the Snap/the Blip, Red Room, assassin work, death, drinking, mention of PTSD)

Notes: This one shot is based on the MARVEL x SKZ moodboards I’ve been making for fun. The story is set between the events after Black Widow, Avengers: Endgame, and before the Hawkeye Disney+ show. If you’ve not watched the first two films and wish to avoid spoilers, please skip this story. Additionally, the contents of this one-shot are fictional and were created for fun.

Happy Birthday Changbin!

                                        --------------------------------

“You sure you’re old enough to be here, Kid?”

The blonde rolled his eyes, before reaching into his jacket to produce an ID.

The waiter and the man seated across from him watched as the ID was handed over. The former scanned the front and sighed as he passed it back to the blonde.

“Sorry, guess The Blip screwed you over - you look young for your age,” the waiter apologized. “What can I get you?”

“Vodka,” the blonde replied. “How much for the bottle?”

Changbin raised a brow and stared at the young man seated across from him. This guy could put away a whole bottle of vodka? It didn’t seem right, plus that was pretty unhealthy to be drinking that much. 

“Let me check with the bartender on that,” the waiter said. He turned to face Changbin and asked if he wanted the usual.

“Unless he intends to drink the entire bottle, I’ll take whatever vodka he wants,” Changbin responded.

The waiter excused himself and went to check on the vodka situation.

“Drinking a whole bottle of vodka in one go is bad for your liver,” Changbin noted as he folded his hands in front of him.

The blonde snorted and quipped that Changbin sounded like his brother. The comment made the Avenger raise a brow and he straightened up in his seat.

“The bottle is gonna cost you $35, tip not included,” the waiter announced when he returned.

Before Changbin could grab his wallet, the blonde beat him to it and placed a crumpled $50 into the waiter’s hand. “Keep the change.”

The waiter unfolded the bill and immediately left to grab the bottle and some glasses for serving. The place wasn’t busy for the early to mid-afternoon, but Changbin had a feeling the waiter wasn’t used to getting a larger than average tip during this time. The pair watched as the waiter returned within seconds with the bottle and two glasses.

Changbin flashed the waiter a light smile and told him to take it easy. He slid the bottle closer and opened it, before pouring some of the contents into one glass and nudging it across the table. “So, wanna tell me who the hell you are and why you’ve been stalking me for 2.5 weeks?”

The blonde barely had the glass raised to his lips when he heard the questions. He looked up from his glass and parted his lips slightly in shock. This made the Avenger snicker as he poured some vodka into the other glass for himself.

                                       --------------------------------

About a month and a half after burying Tony and Minho, Changbin noticed that the same blonde guy would show up in various places around the same time. The guy tried to be less obvious with disguises and using remote ways to track him, but after working with Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. for years, the Avenger’s picked up on people attempting to trail him.

Earlier today, he sensed he was being followed and urged his new protege to take Lucky and get somewhere safe. Sure Yeji gave him lip for trying to protect her, but the last thing he’d want is for her to get killed, thanks to someone hunting for him. Once the young woman had left with the dog, he hung around the area and pulled his bow on the blonde, who had a regular sidearm pointed at him. For a while, he tried urging the blonde to drop the gun before he shot first, but the blonde remained defiant with his gun pointed at the Avenger. What made them stand down was the sound of a siren and the blonde looked a little concerned when he heard the alarm.

Changbin made up his mind and told the young man to follow him so they could get under cover somewhere to finish the matter. He chose this hole-in-the-wall place that he visited at times during The Blip, often sitting and brooding over his missing family in between kills.

The blonde swore in Russian and put his glass down. “All right Old Man, I’ll make this easy for both of us. Name’s Felix. My employer told me you killed my brother and that I’m supposed to bring you in. But before I do that, why did you do it? He was telling me before The Blip that the Avengers were his real family, not me or our parents.”

Changbin tilted his head as he looked closely at the blonde across from him. If the kid wasn’t an assassin, he looked like the good kid you’d find in a suburban neighborhood, probably playing sports and making lots of friends. But the Russian, the mention of his brother again – wait, was this...?

“Min,” he offered in a soft voice.

The blonde nodded sharply and he picked up his glass again. “He’s dead, thanks to you. I’d like to know why you killed him, before I decide if I wanna bring you in dead or alive.”

The Avenger stiffened when he heard the accusation. His partner told him to go for counseling after fighting Thanos, as he was suffering terribly from losing Tony and Minho. Talking to the counselor about Minho was hard and the former couldn’t convince him that it wasn’t his fault that Minho insisted he sacrifice himself for the Soul Stone. Telling his kids that their Uncle Min wasn’t coming home was horrible, as they asked where he was and talked about their favorite memories of the red-haired “uncle” they had come to love.

“Do you know anything about Thanos and the Infinity Stones in that goddamn gauntlet he wore?” Changbin asked after prolonged silence.

When Felix shrugged, Changbin sighed and pushed his glass away as he recounted the attempts to stop Thanos from killing Vision for the Mind Stone, losing everyone he knew, then trying to get the stones again to undo what happened 5 years ago.

“It was the shrinking guy’s idea, some kind of time heist,” Changbin said. “Minho and I went to some planet in space, while the others went elsewhere in time for the other stones. We get there, this creepy red skeleton guy tells us that one of us has to sacrifice ourselves –”

“So you chose my brother?”

“YOH! I wasn’t done talking, you little shit,” Changbin snapped as he narrowed his eyes. He took a deep breath and groaned as he tried to explain what happened next. This was the hard part whenever he went to therapy – it was difficult to talk about Vormir without getting choked up and replaying the images of Minho using a stun function in his cuff to distract him, and Changbin trying to grab his hand to stop the former spy.

“Damn it, I told him I was supposed to do it!” Changbin yelled as he slammed his fist on the table. “He actually tried to keep shit together after The Blip. Me, I, I lost it. I lost my whole family. My partner. My kids. All while we were at home, having a normal day. Then I went out and I hunted down every bad guy, every gang, every criminal organization, everyone that survived and didn’t deserve it!”

The Avenger hung his head and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to keep it together without crying. He could hear Minho’s voice, urging him to let go of his hand on Vormir.

“Let me go.”

                                        “No. Please don’t.”

“It’s okay...”

The blonde took small sips from his glass as he watched and listened to the Avenger. Despite hating his time in the Red Room, he has to give his instructors some credit for teaching him the art of lying and reading a target’s body language. Based on what he’s seeing right now, the Avenger is telling the truth and Minho actually sacrificed his life to save the world. Which means, his employer lied or she exaggerated the story a bit, just to force him to cut his time off short. It wouldn’t surprise him – Val refused his request for a pay raise before handing over Changbin’s information for his next assignment.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m working for a female version of Dreykov, Felix thought. He put his glass down and stared across the table at the Avenger.

“Surprisingly, I believe you,” Felix replied. “Last time I saw my brother, he was going on about how he was trying to do good and forget about...yeah, well he was telling me how great things were with the Avengers before the Accords.” He played with his glass and tilted his head slightly. “You weren’t...dating my brother, were you?”

Changbin jerked his head up at the question and he paused for a few seconds, before laughing loudly. The blonde shot him a quizzical look and Changbin shook his head as he tried to compose himself.

“Oh man no, no way. Min was my colleague and sometimes, he thought it was funnier to ignore most of the shit I said,” Changbin said. “I swear he did it to piss me off, but other than that, we were friends.” He propped his elbow on the table and looked thoughtful as he recalled their mission in Budapest.

“He ever tell you about Budapest?”

Felix nodded and recounted his story of running from Dreykov’s project, otherwise known as Taskmaster, while protecting a serum to remove the brainwashing effect on the other Widows. “He makes me bleed out a bit, then we’re crammed in an air vent. An air vent. Think I saw tic-tac-toe games scratched inside the vent.”

“Wait, in the subway?”

“You mean it was the same vent you two hid in after you tried to kill Dreykov?” Felix asked. “That must have been...”

“Oh that was a weird three days!” Changbin laughed. “He got so annoyed by me complaining that I was hungry and said I was too loud. Once we got outta Budapest, he complained on the Quinjet that it was amazing I had someone in my life at all. But wait, what do you mean by ‘tried to kill Dreykov’? I thought Min said it was a hit – I saw the building go up in flames after the guy’s daughter went in. Don’t tell me that guy’s your employer.”

Felix made a face and he picked up his glass again.

“We’re going to be here a while...”

[arrowsjusticeleague]

Why I will stand by my opinion of the Arrowverse having built a better team of heroes with the (as of yet technically unnamed) Justice League than Marvel's Avengers, despite the latter being more economically successful and popular: an essay by me

(Please don't hate me I actually really like Marvel and the Avengers and stuff I just think DC have done it better)

Character Development: They built up every character in the Justice League properly, giving them time and space to develop before making them part of a team. Each character has their own show, bar Martian Manhunter and Superman, but Martian Manhunter has had plenty of screen time and character development on Supergirl, and Superman, while having only brief appearances on Supergirl, he's certainly had more screen time than Hawkeye did before The Avengers. Furthermore, Superman is probably the most well known superhero in DC comics alone, if not the most well known superhero ever, and his own TV show (along with Lois!) has been announced as a work in development. This contrasts with Black Widow, who despite having been in many Marvel movies since her first appearance in Iron Man 2 in 2010, is only now getting her movie after ten years of being in the franchise, and after almost eight years of being part of the most popular superhero team in the world. Every other character: The Flash, Supergirl, Batwoman, White Canary and Black Lightning are all the leads of their own shows, and have been developed over years of TV episodes, each as individuals before they became part of what is possibly the most iconic superhero alliance ever.

Diversity: Marvel has only recently started adding "diversity" to its movies after criticism from the viewers who want to see representation onscreen. DC and the CW have never had that pressure regarding the Arrowverse, as a less popular franchise than Marvel's Avengers, yet it has more diversity in the franchise than many I've seen before. Two of the League are black men, one is a lesbian, and the new leader of the League is a bi woman. Each of the shows involved in developing this team has in some way directly dealt with discrimination in society, and many of the shows have multiple POC and LGBTQ+ characters on them, with Supergirl having the world's first ever live action trans superhero. What I've just described should be the normality amongst TV and movies today. This representation should be seen everywhere, and the fact that the MCU has so little is honestly shocking considering the immense scale of the franchise now.

The League was only created after the huge 'change' in continuity: Respectively, Avengers Infinity War/Endgame and Crisis on Infinite Earths represent similar turning points for the MCU and the Arrowverse. But the Avengers were formed before this turning point even happened. The Justice League have only been established since then. This may seem like a ridiculous point, but it ties into point 1 largely. The Justice League needed a trigger for them to form: Oliver’s death was this. The Avengers formed because the world needed them, and this I understand, but it seemed to early in the MCU's continuity to establish an official team of heroes which from then on could only work together and not individually. From then on, there had to be a cameo from one of the other Avengers in almost every MCU movie from then on. Captain America: Civil War was Avengers 2.5, and Spider-Man: Homecoming could've worked without Iron Man to boost its sales. Black Panther (one of my all time favorite MCU movies) was an incredible movie even without the appearance of Bucky Barnes during the end credits, and characters such as Black Widow, Hawkeye and the Hulk were stuffed into other movies within the franchise when they couldn't find another place for them. Only three out of the six original Avengers had movies featuring the same actors, (all of them were white, seemingly priveleged men) one had a movie with a completely different cast which was disregarded as canon when it didn't hit a high enough box office boom, and two were characters which had made cameos in other movies with very little screen time and even less development. The Arrowverse having 'unofficial' team-ups, AKA the crossovers, when several different groups of heroes, each established on their own individual shows got together for a threat that was too huge for them to handle individually, gave the characters space to have their own shows and develop DC lore without having to appear in any official context, before creating the Justice League after their pioneer and original hero who inspired them all has sacrificed himself to create a universe where they can all live in. Furthermore, the writers had clearly been planning this for potentially up to six years, as in an episode of The Flash season 1, Gideon says: "Barry Allen... one of the founding members of the....", suggesting that the Justice League (which The Flash of the original comic book variety was an original founder of too) was partially founded by Barry, yet they still took a further six years to develop him and many other characters. If they'd so desperately wanted an onscreen Justice League then, which I'm sure they did, then they could've created it then, much like Marvel did, introducing Supergirl and Batwoman etc. to the universe without first developing them.

My overall point is, the MCU may have done it first in the form of the Avengers, but that doesn't mean they prioritised storytelling. The Arrowverse have built it up over time, and yes, it may have been predictable, but this anticipation has led to an incredible payoff, and whereas it may be the end of an era for both the MCU and the Arrowverse, it is also the beginning for the Arrowverse. It may have had live action onscreen superheroes for years, but it's only just beginning to create a new era, an age of heroes, a league of heroes. For Marvel, this era is over, but it never really got started.

(Again sorry for rant no hate on marvel I love the comics and no hate on the mcu I love many of those movies, plenty hate on disney as a franchise and how it's storytelling direction was just: what sells, fast and with poor development for characters that deserve it)

[bash-it-all-blog]

Neighbours AU

Au where the Avengers all end up living on the same apartment floor; Tony is the last to come and of course, Steve can’t help but find himself falling in love with the new adorable, brilliant- but god so sexy Italian next door. 

Tony however is recovering and taking some time off from his abusive boyfriend Ty, despite that he can’t help but notice the blue-eyed blonde next door. 

A family is formed along the way.

--

Steve has lived in this building for about a year now, if Steve had anyone over- that wasn’t Bucky, since Bucky lived across the hall, they would probably say something about how the building was a bit worn out, if they made their way up the elevator and walked onto Steve’s floor they might just ask about why the building had so very few rooms and they might even question why the hallway was actually a circle and looked more like a giant living room then a hall. They might also comment on the lack of people if they stayed long enough to notice. But of course, Steve didn’t have to worry about anyone’s questions, as he didn’t really have anyone to bring home in the first place.

It seemed everyone who lived here didn’t really have much of a social life outside of well, who lived here.

Steve found that he didn’t mind but sometimes when he’d cross the “hallway” to visit Bucky he’d find himself wishing that there were a few more people he could interact with.

It was actually the empty hallway that got to Steve the most, it was probably because it looked like it could so easily become a lounge or a place where you could hang out, with its already circular shape and with the way all the room doors were placed around it. Steve could easily imagine having friends who lived across the hall or next door, but again it was just his own wishful thinking.

But the hope was still there since no one actually occupied those rooms- yet.

--

Clint was the first to come. Steve had been carrying groceries toward the elevator cautiously making sure the bags didn’t rip as he walked. When Steve looked up from his grocery bags he found himself looking at his usually bland co-landlord who was holding someone by their ear. The someone was blond and rough looking, he looked like he hadn’t had a proper shower for days, looking a bit more closely Steve could see dark bags under his eyes. However, the man still had the biggest grin on his face as if having his ear gripped by Phil was a dream come true.

It was a little weird but Steve’s seen weirder. Shrugging to himself, Steve looked to Phil. Phil’s eye twitched, and in turn, as if sensing Steve from behind him, the man looked at Steve, then the man’s grin got a little wider.

“Hi! I’m Clint!” The man waved at Steve. Steve smiled at the strange picture he had in front of him.

“I’m Steve. Do you live here?” He asked a bit curious, again it was rare that the building had any visitors.

Instead of answering Phil cut in, “He will be living here, actually, he’ll be on the same floor as you and Bucky. Just 2 doors to the right.” Clint looked at Phil as if it were a new development, and with the way Clint came off to Steve, he could find himself easily believing it to be true.

--

2 months later a woman named Natasha moved in next to Clint- or least that’s what Clint told Bucky and him.  

--

As time passed Steve, Bucky and Clint became pretty good friends. Clint had no sense of personal space and Bucky had no problems snarking off to their new friend. The hallway was still empty but Steve’s place became something of a hangout. All was good until Bucky began to worry about Clint’s sanity. They knew the man was weird but they were both still a bit concerned. It was when Clint was at work that they breached the topic of Clint.

Bucky knocked on Steve’s door the second he saw Clint exit the building.

“But have you even seen her?” Is the first thing that comes out of Bucky’s mouth when the blond opened his door.

“Well, I’ve tried knocking on her door a few times but no one ever answers,” Steve replied.

“I know Stevie but how do we tell our resident birdman that she doesn’t exist, he just keeps talking about this ‘Natasha’ and if she actually lived here I think we’d at least know- I once spent a whole day scoping out her door. And I don’t even know if she’s real!?!” Bucky exclaimed.

“Wait.” Steve paused. “A whole day? Don’t you work everyday, Buck’?” The younger man questioned, looking at his best friend a bit dubiously.  

“Stevie that’s not what’s important here, this is our friends' sanity!”  

“You just hate your job.” He interrupted.  

“Shut up, that’s not important right now. How many times are we going to have this conversation! You know what, maybe Clint’s just seein’ ghosts? Our building is pretty scary.”

“Bucky isn’t it Tuesday?” Steve’s lips twitched up as he asked completely ignoring his friends rambling.

“I swear to God punk, you bring up m’a job one more time and I will sock y’a right here, right now. Just ‘cause you buffed up doesn’t mean I ain’t still able to kick your ass.”

“Okay, okay. What do we do then?”

“I don’t know! Why do you think I’m here?! Should we get salt?”

“What? Buck- maybe just, uh, leave it alone, for all we know this Natasha is real. Clint’s weird but I don’t think he’s crazy or seein’ ghosts. If anything he’s prob’ly just messin’ with us.”

“You know what Stevie, fine. Whatever. When some redhead ghost comes to kill you in y’a sleep, I don’t wanna see your ghost hangin’ around. Got it?” 

Grumbling to himself Bucky turned around and headed back to his own room before Steve could reply. Lips pulling into a smile at his friends antics Steve closed the door and turned towards his kitchen where he stopped and froze, he found himself looking and seeing a redhead woman, who was very much alive and matched Clint’s description to a T, she was sitting back and balancing a chair on two legs, holding a cherry to her mouth; Steve felt a scream rip out from the back of his throat.

He could already hear Bucky’s cries of “I told you so’s,” ringing in his ears.

--

Moving into his new home, Thor found he liked it. Steven was very kind and Natasha reminded him of his cousin Sif. She wasn’t the best playmate but Thor found himself loving her regardless. Moving in Thor found no regrets, Loki was a mere floor away and even though Clint seemed to have something against Loki, the blond found himself quickly becoming apart of the friendship blooming on the fourth floor. Bucky was a funny character though pessimistic Thor found himself smiling at a lot of the strange things Bucky would say under his breath.

Steve found that Thor really helped bring some light into their strange group. And he also really enjoyed Thor’s enthusiasm. It was 3 months after Thor’s arrival that Steve began to see a change in their “hallway”.

--

“Why is there a couch?” Clint asked. The couch in question was in the middle of their circular hallway, it had what looked like 2.5 seats, and was probably the ugliest thing Steve had ever seen. It was ripped through the back and had a strange green, yellow and purple pattern that really made no sense, and Steve was an art student. 

“Why is it so ugly?” Bucky asked. Making his way around it, “and it’s ripped!” He gave a face of disgust.

“I think we should spray it. Or just pour bleach on it.” Clint said. Still looking at it disdainfully. “You know what, let’s just burn it. I say we burn it.”

“Let’s burn it.” Bucky agreed, standing beside Clint. Then Thor came up the elevator with a matching lamp. The three men looked up at the foreigner.

“Friends!” Thor smiled bringing the lamp up next to the couch. “I have bought this couch at a sale. I was doing tourism!”    

Steve looked at Thor questioningly, scrunching up his face and looking at his friend incredulously. “Thor, you're not even tourist. You’ve been here over 3 months already.”

“-but more importantly why did you buy this monstrosity?” Clint cut in.

Thor smiled, “It was strange looking and I found it to be sold at a very cheap price!”

“You paid for it?!?!” Bucky looked scandalized.  

“Of course, nothing is free in this world.” Thor looked at Bucky as if he was completely out of his mind.

“Thor. What will you be doing with this couch?” A female voice chimed in. Kicking the couch to the side a bit, in her hand was a white bucket filled with something that smelled chemically, Bleach?

“Oh! I wished for it to be in my apartment, however, I cannot fit it through the door. So instead I decided to share it with the rest of you and we shall keep it in our common area. We are always in Steven’s room, so this way we may have more space and Steven will no longer see reason to yell at us for messes!” Thor declared. Then without further ado, Natasha dumped the bucket of bleach on  the couch. Thor shrieked.

--

After all was set and dry, and the couch had unfortunately survived. Bucky still had a look of disbelief on his face. Looking at Natasha he shook his head and attempted to clear up his confusion, “-hold on, wait one second right there, just who the in the fuck are you?”

Clint looked at Bucky oddly “That’s just Natasha, dumbass.”

Then Steve started laughing.

--

Dr. Bruce Banner was a quiet fellow who somehow ended up living next door to Thor. It was actually Thor who brought him in, Bruce technically had a place to live but was kind of on the run so he ended up following Thor after they ‘bumped’ into each other at a bar. Bar’s were not usually Bruce’s scene but things had been kind of shitty lately and he well, needed a break but then some asshole had tried to take his seat and was hitting on some girl who clearly wasn’t interested, so Bruce might have punched the guy’s lights out.

And then it was an all-out brawl. Friends apparently stuck up for one another- not that Bruce had ever known. Then the girl joined in, and then so did Thor. They fought a ‘worthy battle’ as Thor liked to call it at least. 

Both of them drunk and beat- literally, ended up making their way to Thor’s place. And as Bruce was about to leave the next morning, a pirate- or man? Named Nick gave him a key, took some money out of his wallet and then sent Bruce back upstairs. And the rest was history.

--

They were lounging around on Thor’s monstrosity- well Thor named it Bilgesnipe. So they were lounging around on Bligesnipe when Bruce came out of his room with a small vial in one hand a spray top in the other.  

“What’s up Bruce?” Steve asked. Looking at the scientist.

“I know how to fix the couch of its horror.”

“What does that even mean?” Clint asked, hanging out from the vent right above the couch.

“It means this,” Bruce pointed to the vial in his hand, “will disinfect and get rid of any nasty smell Bilgesnipe has. And I also modified it to leave that floral scent that Natasha seems to enjoy.” Bruce explained, he looked haggard, now that Steve really looked at the man. “Now get off the couch.” All of them made room for Bruce and then he put the spray top on the liquid letting the tube slide in before he began to start spraying. “Now give it an hour or two and come back. I am going to sleep.”

“When did you last sleep anyways Bruce?”

“Whenever Monday was,” Bruce replied before shutting his door behind him and a few seconds later a dramatic thud could be heard on the other side.

“Bruce dropped something,” Natasha said, looking at a small slip of paper in her hand. Steve knew Bruce didn’t drop it, Natasha just stole it. But he didn’t say anything as he felt her eyes fall on him. She knew, he knew. 

“Who’s Valkyrie?” Clint asked reading the name off the tiny paper.

Steve came over and looked, seeing what was obviously the Valkyrie’s number and small message below it, that read ‘Thx for starting the brawl big guy, call me.’ Steve’s grin got a bit larger, “Whoever she is just mean’s that Bruce got game.”

--

There was only one more room left after Bruce came in, everyone had made bets as to who it could be. Would they be young? Old? Their age? They all had been lucky so far, all of them falling into same age range. However, none of them bet on who came next. After all, the coincidence would be too great.

--

Tony Edwards moved into his new apartment late at night with one suitcase in his hand and an anxious look on his face. The case was full of random things Tony had picked up before he left home, not that he left in too much a hurry but rather he just picked up anything that was lying around in the heat of the moment. Tony looked up at the building while quickly and quietly making his way up the elevator. 

He walked into the circular hall, and the engineer made a face at the hideous couch, beside it was an equally ugly looking lamp, passing by he smelt a whiff of something floral, looking at the couch oddly Tony walked on and stopped in front of the door to his suite. He pulled out his key while nervously looking around and quietly opened the door not daring to disturb any of his new neighbours. 

Tony settled down and unpacked just as quietly as he moved in. Though his unpacking was mainly just pulling out scraps of metal, throwing some clothes over the rail in his closet (since he didn’t have hangers, but it was okay since he also didn’t have many sets of clothing), and then pulling out his wallet, keys and cellphone and placing them on the dining table. Thank god he remembered his toothbrush. 

--

It took a few days for Steve to notice someone lived next door to him. And it took everyone else a week, but honestly, Natasha probably found out around the same time as Steve did. 

--

It had been 2 weeks since everyone had figured out that someone now occupied the last unoccupied room of the fourth floor. They had all met in Bruce’s room trying to figure out who lived there. “But really why don’t you guys just knock?” 

“Bruce! That takes all the fun out of it!” Clint looked mildly offended. 

“I just don’t see why you-” Bruce paused. The rest of them looked towards the scientist, curious. “Do you hear that?” He asked his friends. 

Steve tried listening but didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary. Whispering, he asked Bruce, “What is it?”

Bruce whispered back, “Our neighbour is in the hallway. He just left his apartment.” 

Thor’s eyes lightened up, “Then we shall meet them!” Thor smiled, he ran towards Bruce’s door and pulled it open. The door swung back and hit the wall with a slam, Bruce winced. Thor, however, moved towards the hallway and called for their neighbour. “Neighbour! We wish to meet you!” 

Then as Thor moved out of the way, Steve saw him. 

--

The man was petit but there was clearly some muscle on him, his hair was curly and was a creamy shade of brown. He was tanned but looked a bit pale and his eyes, a similar colour to his hair were blown wide, the expression on his face could only be described as terrified and Steve, Steve just wanted to hold him and never let him go. 

The man let out a surprised squeak and then froze like a deer in headlights. Thor took a couple steps towards the man, but the man seemed to have regained himself and in turn moved back. Thor paused unsurely but Natasha quickly took over.   

“Hello. I’m Natasha Romanoff, I live next door to you, you must be our new neighbour.” She said her tone the softest Steve has ever heard it be. The man bit his lip but his posture seemed to relax as Natasha moved to stand between him and Thor. 

The fidgeted then looked up at her, “I’m Tony Edwards. But you can just call me Tony.” Tony looked down, then tilted his head to look behind Natasha. 

Suddenly Steve felt a bit nervous. Unsure what to say he said the first thing on his mind. “Steve!” He blurted. “I’m uh- Steve. Tony. Yes, I’m Steve.” He could hear Bucky and Clint’s muffled laughter behind him. And could feel the back of his ears turning red.   

Tony gave Steve a soft smile and Steve could feel himself smiling back, in turn, Bucky and Clint completely slipped out of his mind. “Hi Steve,” Tony replied, his gorgeous smile widening a bit more.  

And that’s when Steve knew he was a completely and utterly about to fall in love. 

—

And thats a wrap for now, please send me asks about this ‘cause I’d love to expand and I’d love to hear from you guys; if of course anyone actually reads it. Thx lovelies. <3  

—

@tired-but-here-i-am

[unofficialfilmcritic]

Ten years and twenty movies later, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is still going strong. For the most part, the movies are a major success. Still, not all of them are as good, so here’s my ranking of the MCU movies, from least favorite to favorite.

20. The Incredible Hulk: Most people don't even remember this movie is a part of the MCU. I've never been able to watch it all the way through. It just doesn't hold my attention. 

19. Doctor Strange: I don't really have any interest in the character and I'm not a Benedict Cumberbatch fan. Some of the visuals were cool but it was also a lot at times.

18. Iron Man 2: I don't really like Mickey Rourke, so I'm not a huge fan of this movie. Plus, Tony is still being a punk in this movie; while I think he’s got some of the best character development in the MCU, his movies are also collectively my least favorite.

17. Iron Man 3: I liked that they addressed Tony's PTSD because who wouldn't have some after almost dying in space? The whole fake-villain-just-an-actor thing doesn’t really work for me but Rhodey at least gets to do some more stuff! He has so much potential and they just don’t use him.

16. Avengers: Age of Ultron: My biggest problem is the relationship between Nat and Bruce, because I just don't feel it. I wish they hadn’t killed Pietro and I’m on the fence about Clint’s family. But we see everyone try to lift Thor’s hammer, and Thor’s slight panic when Steve almost does.

15. Thor: Thor’s dyed eyebrows just kill me, but other than that it’s a good intro to the character. And of course it gives us Tom Hiddleston as Loki; I may not be a hardcore fangirl but I certainly appreciate him as Loki.

14: Thor: The Dark World: Better than the first one, certainly funnier, but still kind of forgettable, especially where the villain is concerned. Sad in parts due to Thor losing his mother and brother, but we all knew Loki wasn’t really dead.

13: Captain America: The First Avenger: Unfortunately the hardcore Peggy/Steve fans and Sharon/Steve haters have kind of ruined this movie for me, although part of the blame lies with the Marvel people for making Peggy out to be Steve’s one true love. But it’s also a WW2 movie, which I love, so I really enjoy that part of it.

12. Captain America: Civil War: I wish this was more Captain America than Avengers 2.5 but some of the interactions are great. We’re introduced to T’Challa and Peter Parker, which is amazing. I’m Team Cap but I can see both sides and wish they could have met somewhere in the middle.

11. Avengers: Infinity War: It’s a huge sweeping movie and I loved seeing people from all the different movies interact. It’s funny, it’s sad, and it leaves you very concerned for the state of the MCU.

10. Iron Man: The movie that really started everything. Honestly, what a great intro to the MCU. A billionaire who is kidnapped and manages to escape on his own by creating a suit of armor? Sounds silly but it really works.

9. The Avengers: Just imagine the scene in New York, where they’re all circled up and the music swells and the camera pans around the group. It was the first time they all came together and I really love the dynamics between them.

8. Ant-Man and the Wasp: The first MCU movie to have a headlining heroine and it was certainly past time for that. It kept up the humor of the first movie, and it gave us a villain who was more tragic than evil and was simply trying to live without hurting and, in my opinion, she’s one of the best villains in the MCU.

7. Spider-Man: Homecoming: Tom Holland as Peter Parker was a revelation. His youth and innocence really add to the character, and his drive to do the right thing is compelling. Add in the supporting cast and the fact that the actors all bonded so well and it’s an incredible movie.

6. Ant-Man: It seemed like a stupid idea but it ended up being one of the best movies of the MCU. It’s so funny and heartwarming and silly, but it also works so well. 

5. Guardians of the Galaxy: No one expected this movie to be so successful but the soundtrack, the characters, the setting, they all made this a huge movie. It’s so good and so big and has some of the best characters.

4. Thor: Ragnarok: This is Thor as he should be. Not just a pretty face or a dumb jock, but funny and heartwarming and smart. This is the Thor that I fell in love with in the comics and hoped to see in the movies.

3. Black Panther: I love this movie not just for the cast, but for the gorgeous setting and the music and the clothing and the culture. I also think it has the best villain of the MCU, because he had good intentions but the execution was bad.

2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2: It’s even better than the first movie and really develops the relationships formed previously. I love seeing how close they’ve all grown and how they’ve changed. And the soundtrack is still amazing.

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier: Hands down my favorite MCU movie. It gives us Sam Wilson, who deserves better than he’s been treated in the movies. It gives us the dream team of Sam, Nat and Steve. It gives us Bucky as a victim of Hydra, not a villain. I just love everything about it.

[frankcastled]

so here I am look for an old article about robert downey jr that I read ages ago and instead i stumble upon this dinosaur

it’s dated April 30, 2014, which means captain america: winters soldier was the last movie that had been released (march 13, 2014) prior to this article being written. 

i remember reading this article too at the time, and I remember the dramatic sigh I let out when it laid out all these great points about how certain things would never come to fruition. except now I’m reading it for the second time, four years later, and i’m smiling, because guess fucking what. I think almost everything mention in this article has actually already happened or is going to happen, and to be honest, i’ve never been happier to have some bullshit, cynical thinkpiece proven wrong. 

the article starts off by claiming certain character will never get their standalone films and how could that possibly be when, at the time, we already had four spider-man movies, three iterations of the hulk/bruce banner, and a handful of other superheroes who had a heyday prior to the current explosion of superhero content.

specifically the article grapples with the idea of how we’ll never get a solo deadpool film or a standalone black widow. 

and yet here we are today with two deadpool films already released and black widow being talked about (in fairness, the fact that there’s two deadpool movies and no black widow, is just a gross injustice, but I’ll take what I can get).

i love it when cynics get proven wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong. 

(for context, the rest of the entry simply explains that heroes with masks get more movies because you can pay the actors less money because you can have stand-ins act their part out when you see them in costume and the actors who are worth more like RDJ, don’t have to be on set as much and thus marvel can afford to pay him his asking salary. and with a heroine like black widow, she doesn’t wear a mask and they would not be willing to pay ScarJo her asking salary as a big star-- again, proven deadass wrong)

so, the title of this one is pretty self explanatory. have we seen the x-men working together with the avengers? obviously-fucking-not. however, that could also be easily a reality if this fox/disney merger actually comes through. but one thing we have gotten is spider-man working with the avengers. and not just in one avengers movie, but in three full movies, one avengers, one his own, and one captain america film. that’s a win if i ever saw one. 

did I mention i love when cynics get proven wrong?

another great and self explanatory entry that also gets proven wrong with this most recent phase 3. 

just to recap, phase 3 is

Ant-Man (okay, it’s phase 2, but) -- not only did we get a nice scene as to why the avengers weren’t called, but Falcon shows up anyway. was it to help? no. still a nice punch in the face for the guy who thought avengers wouldn’t show up in each other’s movies.

Captain America: Civil War -- we literally get all the avengers on this one (with the exception of the obvious Thor and Hulk being missing for justifiable reasons, with ya know, the whole being in space shit). I don’t care if this is “avengers 2.5″ it was still marketed and is titled a captain america film, so the avengers did show up to help and fight each other. 

Spider-Man: Homecoming -- literally the OG avanger himself is a side player in spidey’s solo outing. so i don’t think i even need to go into this one more. iron man is a huge help in more ways than one so. 

Thor: Ragnarok -- I like to think of this as a reverse Civil War in that the two players not featured in Civil War get their own little buddy film, and obviously the avengers weren’t going to show up when neither Thor nor Hulk really had means of contacting them short of going to earth, and literally half the movie is Thor literally trying to escape a planet, so like, priorities on this one, but either way, Hulk shows up, so it counts. 

the rest of the films in phase 3 I like to think justifiably do not heavily feature other avengers (Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Guadians 2) if only because, two of them are solo outings that introduce characters and with one of them being a king from an african nation that literally conceals and hides itself from the rest of the world? legit reason. but then you have bucky come in at the end and thor at the end of doctor strange, so can we really say they didn’t have other avengers in them to begin with? and again, i think both these movie make good cases for why they didn’t call or ask anyone else for help in their respective cases. especially guardians, who are unaware of the avengers anyway and wouldn’t be calling them to begin with

and aside from the main article arguing that the casts have six picture deals that prevent them from doing more than their six films (3 solo films + 3 avengers), civil war and spider-man made it clear, that if it makes sense, marvel is more than willing to renegotiate contracts in order to have characters appear in each other’s films as long as it makes sense for the story and enhances as opposed to detracting from solo films, which should be about their respective heroes to begin with 

this is impossible to argue at this point, so i won’t even try. considering the original avengers are still exploring their big story arc.  i like to think, though marvel is making way for new heroes. i think it’s clear, especially with rumors i’ve heard about what marvel is planning for phase 4, they may not necessarily resolve a hero by completely retiring him or her, but they are going to explore other stories. they will probably kill some, which will be a definite resolution, whereas other may get an ending whether it’s outright retirement or simply passing on their mantle to a side player, they will get solid endings. i also am in the camp that each movie is its own story and those stories get resolved in and of themselves within their respective films, so i also think it’s a matter of opinion. 

i will say this, though, part of the article argues about how marvel will not use the same director twice. 

a. they have in fact begun to keep directors around. the russo brothers have a streak going, with three movies currently under their belt and a fourth movie on the way. 

b. they are more than willing to keep directors for as long as they would like. it’s clear james gunn has his way with the guardians movies and peyton reed has taken on ant-man. scott derickson has expressed more than enough interest in coming on for a second doctor strange film, if it gets made, and jon watts is officially doing the spider-man sequel.

c. joss whedon chose to not do avengers 3 saying the second one p much stressed and burned him out. it was, from the sounds of it, a personal choice he made. and while i think he hinted at the way marvel didn’t give him the creative freedom he wanted, other directors actively vouch for the amount of freedoms they get, notably james gunn, peyton reed, scott derickson and taika waititi who have all vocalized these feelings on twitter (and if you made it this far and want screenshots, i’d be glad to look it up and show you the tweets myself). i think the joss whedon scenario was just whedon wanting to do something that the marvel executives didn’t want and in fairness to marvel, a lot of fans were more than happy to have whedon stepped down and i am of the personal opinion that it was a good decision in the end. but in fairness to the writer of the original article, whedon, at the time, was the golden child who delivered an avengers movie that worked and was a box office hit and critical acclaim, so he probably had a lot of stress, pressure, and contention with marvel while making avengers 2. 

d. i think it’s incredibly clear from thor: ragnarok that marvel allows its directors plenty of artistic license. ragnarok was as amazing and insane as it was only because of taika and it was better for it. any other director could not have pulled off what taika did. you cannot convince me otherwise and the proof is in the logo

ragnarok logo went from this boring piece of shit

to this bright, beautiful miracle

but 3 out of 4 things happening four years later? that ain’t bad. 

i also like to think marvel is constantly learning and has made it clear that it wants to tell great stories and it will do whatever it can to tell those stories with the passion fans deserve.

original link to the article is here if you’re curious ( x ) 

[twh-news]

Box Office: ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Is Marvel’s Most Risk-Free Movie

We are now one month out from the release of Thor: Ragnarok ― well, the domestic release, anyway. The 17th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe opens on Nov. 3 in North America, but it’ll start its overseas roll-out (as does every MCU movie) in advance of its domestic debut. In this case, we’re two and a half weeks away.

Obviously, I haven’t seen the film quite yet and have no idea about its quality. It’s no secret that I’ve adored the trailers, both in terms of its 1980s video game/Star Wars rip-off visuals and its quirky humor, although once again I must remind you that both prior Thor films were pretty funny as well. It occurred to me that this 17th movie, eight and a half years into this gonzo MCU enterprise, is arguably the least risky movie ever in the MCU.

By that, I mean essentially nothing is at stake, and there’s nothing to prove with the Taika Waititi-directed fantasy adventure movie. Putting aside the whole “It’s probably going to do just fine!” argument for a moment, this is the first time, at least since The Incredible Hulk, that a new MCU movie hasn’t been, if not “risky,” then at least in the position of proving that X, Y or Z could bring about an MCU hit. From Iron Man to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, there was almost always some burning question to be answered by the film’s financial reception. But this time out? Yeah, Thor: Ragnarok could pull a Good Dinosaur, and it really wouldn’t mean a damn thing. Let’s dive in, shall we?

First, this is apparently the third and final chapter of the stand-alone Thor movies. So, if this one underperforms, then I suppose the non-existent Thor 4 is in immediate peril. Second, we already know that Marvel movies can do big business outside of the summer season (Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Doctor Strange). Third, this third Thor movie isn’t really trying to prove anything whatsoever in terms of the MCU. It’s not trying to prove that Thor can play in the A-level MCU sandbox because Thor: The Dark World already did that. It’s not trying to prove that MCU fans and general moviegoers will go for far-flung fantasy because Guardians of the Galaxy proved that with flying colors.

If I may do a stroll down memory lane, Paramount/Viacom Inc.’s Iron Man proved the feasibility of the whole enterprise right from the get-go, while Universal’s Incredible Hulk, by doing about as well as Hulk five years earlier, made a slight case for the value of the MCU brand when there barely was such a thing. Iron Man 2 made more worldwide than Iron Man, proving that it was no fluke, while Thor showed (with a then-huge $449 million worldwide) that the MCU could get general audiences into a fantasy actioner based around Norse mythology, anchored by relative unknowns like Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston no less. And Captain America: The First Avenger showed that overseas audiences (and cynical domestic ones) would embrace a character named Captain America.

You don’t need me to explain what Walt Disney’s The Avengers proved, even if it sent Hollywood on a five-year wild goose chase trying to replicate the whole cinematic universe thing. Iron Man 3 made almost as much as The Avengers worldwide and proved that the MCU got a huge shot in the arm from The Avengers. Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier proved that they didn’t need a summer release date for a big hit, while the latter offered evidence of A) Steve Rogers popularity beyond the mere $371 million global gross of The First Avenger, B) the added value of Black Widow as a supporting character and C) the ability to wedge these films into specific genres as a way to differentiate them.

Guardians of the Galaxy was a kind of “We can do anything we want!” triumph, which is why it’s a shame that we’re only getting our first minority-led superhero movie in early 2018 and our first female-led one in early 2019. But I digress, James Gunn’s allegedly risky outer-space adventure, based on characters that even somewhat hardcore comic fans have little knowledge of, proved that Marvel was in itself a brand, like Pixar, and that the biggest marketing draw for an MCU movie was that it was an MCU movie. That came in handy the next year with Ant-Man, as Edgar Wright’s surprising departure and the character’s B (at best) status still yielded and leggy and kid-friendly $519 million hit on a mere $130m budget.

Skipping back two months, while some may have carped when Avengers: Age of Ultron “only” made $458 million domestic (down from Avengers’ $623m) and “only” $1.4 billion worldwide (versus $1.5b for The Avengers), the film (still Marvel’s biggest overseas grosser) showed very little signs of slowdown. And a year later, Captain America: Civil War did almost identical business, give or take, to Iron Man 3 and Avengers: Age of Ultron. Whether or not the surefire hit had anything to prove, it was a case in introducing new heroes for future franchises, as we met Black Panther and Spider-Man during the Steve versus Tony moral showdown. If nothing else, it showed the consistency of the “mythology episode” MCU May summer kick-off movies.

5.5 years after The First Avenger and 1.5 years after Ant-Man, Doctor Strange showed that the MCU could still introduce a major new superhero, as the Sorcerer Supreme movie pulled in Phase 2/Phase 3-level bucks ($678 million) despite being closer in spirit to the Phase One origin story movies (that’s not a criticism, I would argue Wonder Woman plays like a Phase One MCU movie and The First Avenger remains my favorite MCU film). And then, just a few months ago, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 showed that James Gunn’s franchise could potentially be the new ringleaders of the MCU after Tony Stark presumably steps down from that role in two years, while also proving that an MCU movie without Iron Man could top $800m worldwide.

With $878 million worldwide and counting, Sony’s Spider-Man: Homecoming proved that A) Spidey was still an A-level property and B) putting him into the MCU indeed increased his value, again showing that the best marketing hook for an MCU movie was that it was an MCU movie. It also showed that Marvel could play nice with others. And through it all, there has been a relatively consistent drumbeat, not unlike Pixar, over the notion that THIS TIME, the movie wasn’t going to work for one reason or another. Thor was too mythical/obtuse for audiences, Captain America wouldn’t play overseas, Ant-Man was too small and too troubled, Guardians of the Galaxy was just too out there, etc., etc. And, thus far, they have essentially batted 1.00.

That’s what makes Thor: Ragnarok somewhat unique. Regardless of whether it’s any good or not (and lord knows I’ve been a nitpicky grouch for the last 2.5 years), the Chris Hemsworth/Tom Hiddleston/Cate Blanchett/Mark Ruffalo/Tessa Thompson/Jeff Goldblum actioner has absolutely nothing to prove and essentially nothing at stake. If by some fluke it flops, it won’t do any damage beyond its own arguably finished franchise, while giving the MCU a “my first kill” theatrical flop. We know that November MCU releases can work, that far-flung MCU fantasy is commercial and that Thor, Loki and Hulk are popular characters. They can get back to “proving” themselves with Black Panther and Captain Marvel. Thor: Ragnarok is essentially a freebie.