#it's good stuff and not bogged down by the MCU

[tomthefanboy]

Today was the day I learned that Cary Loudermilk from Legion (the taller, whiter Loudermilk, pictured here on the left) ...

was the "other guy" in the video for infamous 80s earworm Don't Worry Be Happy.

I had always been vexxed by his inclusion in the video, not as an insult to his talents as a clown and dancer, but because he was being given equal billing alongside the performer themself and superstar ROBIN WILLIAMS.

Bill Irwin had not even played his most famous part at the time! It wouldn't be until 1999 that he played Mr. Noodle in Elmo's World.

I'm glad that I can not only put a name to that face, but that it's a name that is associated with such high quality programming.

[briefcasejuice]

Thanks for the rec list! If I have the brainspace while doing college work, I'll have a look :)

Unsure if you're interested in any sort of chatter about the show (critical perspetive obv) as I know it'd just be tiring to get bogged down in complaints? If that's so, instead of starting that conversation, is there anything about any of the comics you'd want to spotlight? I've seen a couple characters I'm unfamiliar with that I'm curious about.

i'm going to be so for real i do not remember much about the show anymore; i recently got into supernatural which has fifteen seasons, 20+ books, an anime, and a lot of behind the scenes and crew content so the show's been almost entirely pushed out of my head minus how it directly affects the comics, to make room for the new interest as well as what i'm still interested in re: comics. if i talk about daredevil it's entirely from the perspective of the comics, a limited perspective at that because ive been fixated on a character with like fifty issues for almost two years.

but YES okay. i'm mainly spotlighting characters here since i mentioned mike murdock in my last post, but i'm named after sam chung aka blindspot, who is soule's original character who first appeared in his v5 run (2017). my mutual @faacethefacts is quite literally sam chung central and my favourite interpretation of his character exists in their psyche.

jumping all the way back to v1, something i remember really enjoying were the reoccurring background characters in ann nocenti's run; @murdockmeta and i were talking about it the other day and he said, "nocenti's characterization feels so authentic [...] nocenti reminds the reader that karen and foggy and the people of hell's kitchen are just as important to matt as his internal struggles. it makes him feel much more human rather than just a dichotomy [relating to miller]."

all of david mack's runs changed my perspective of comics as an art form which was a pretty low bar to reach as a first-time comic reader (who had only read post-mcu stuff) but that made his stuff all the more important to me. his character maya lopez aka echo recently got a live action adaption and while i thought it was promising that disney finally reached their own lowest fucking bar and starred a deaf actress in a show about a deaf character, i've found that disney's interpretation of echo's abilities horribly and purposely misunderstands her character and her identity as keetoowah. they tied her abilities to her native american identity, which is something mack explicitly did not do when writing her character; her abilities are her aid as a deaf person !! they're part of her conflict as a weapon !! her cherokee identity should be a fact about her, explored but not tied to the mysticism of that fictional world !! either way, do not watch the show, read the comics <3

god okay. bendis introduces a lot of his own ocs because that's kind of his thing but my favourites were milla donovan and agent del toro. they fell into the wrong hands after he stopped writing for daredevil—milla was fridged (if you know how to look at it, it can be a really good tragedy) and they whitewashed del toro in their racist the hand plotline—but their existence was super important to me and i'm just terribly fond of them :') matt's relationship with ben urich throughout v2 is also something i hold close to my heart because 1) bendis specifically does really well with writing relationships and people, and the nuance of it intrigues me; i could write meta about it if i got back into writing comic meta again, and 2) that's the last we see of them until the most recent run (word-of-mouth, btw. i haven't read v8 yet).

KIRSTEN IS MY GIRL!! she's like so important to me. i'm imprinted on her. if i was on tumblr in 2012, and she as a character existed, i'd fight tooth and nail to have her on my kin list and make sure no one else did. she unfortunately succumbed to the whitewashing demon of daredevil past but that's okay because to me, she is living her best life after [v5 spoilers tbh].

my relationship with elektra can simply be described as that of something akin to a strike. i refuse to read anything of modern daredevil if she's in the title. she has her own fucking title !! we're regressing and it makes me feel a little bit more insane every time i remember that zdarsky stuffed her into the daredevil suit and gave her ableist and infantilising lines for matt. either way i implore you to read nothing about her in the daredevil title past 2018 and to make sure you check out her actual title. amen.

also, simply, matt and foggy's relationship. and not so simply, i miss you karen you deserved better.

[klerothesnowman]

The Acolyte was really good but I'm kind of exhausted by it

This one's more about The High Republic than it is about The Acolyte.

In a previous ramble I talked about how the Jedi being what they were supposed to be didn't make for a good movie. But you know what it was REALLY good for? Making a massively successful franchise with a billion entries for nerds to buy up obsessively. The New Republic and Luke's Jedi Order was an absolute narrative gold mine, there was so many stories that were told in that era that people remember fondly. Sure there's a lot that were total trash too but you could forgive one book being Not Great when it was fairly disposable and you had another book next to it which was a really good adventure.

There was just so much room to tell stories in a post Galactic Civil War setting. Political dramas about the New Republic, Luke struggling to find his feet as the new grandmaster of the Jedi Order, skirmishes with the remnant of the Empire, people just trying to live their life in a whacky galaxy, new Jedi finding themselves. It was hopeful, it was exciting, it was a setting that sparked your imagination and let anything be possible.

But it didn't make for good movies, so when Disney decided they wanted to make more movies they threw out all of it and made a new post Galactic Civil War galaxy. This time it's one without a new Jedi Order, the New Republic is wiped out in the first movie and the Imperial Remnant is defeated in the backstory.

I don't think it is at all a coincidence that there just isn't really any expanded universe material set in that era, there's a lot set before The Force Awakens, where this stuff still kind of exists, but there's significantly less freedom to do anything with it as it's all going to end with The Resistance and The First Order doing the original trilogy again.

Since Disney took over expanded materials pretty much solely concern themselves with times between movies, where everything has an inherent time limit attached to it and concepts can't be too big.

And I think LucasFilms really recognized that, because they made The High Republic.

I have a few problems with The High Republic. It seems a little hyper focused on Jedi, I think dividing everything into "Phases" is MCU brainrot that just sets yourself up for failure and having a single threat for an entire "Phase" kind of narrows the scope of what you can do. More importantly by shying away from having Dark Jedi there's significantly less opportunity for swashbuckling sword fights, which is what Star Wars is all about when you think about it.

But it's still a great idea. give all the Star Wars writers a playground where they can do whatever they want. Even better, set it when the Jedi are at their peak, show everyone what an Average Jedi Adventure really is, without being dragged down by the metanarrative context of the Clone Wars or Galactic Civil War.

It was just classic, Star Wars pulp. Adventure, and fun. It had a teenage Jedi Knight who had a cool lightsaber whip!

And what a breath of fresh air it is, right? Because is it just me or has Star Wars just been really grim lately? Everything always seems to be about how the Jedi suck, or the unfortunate reality of existing within a tyrannical fascist dictatorship, and don't get me wrong I enjoy it, but I would kill for some good old fashioned pulp adventure, which is why it frustrated me a little extra that I wasn't vibing with The High Republic as much as I wanted to.

And now we've got the Acolyte, which is really good. But, man... it's really grim isn't it?

And I get it, I get that the idea is that this is the "End" of the High Republic. I get that one day the upbeat and hopeful Jedi Order needs to get bogged down with institution and lose its way and then get manipulated into self collapse.

I really want to know what Justina Ireland, the writer who created Vernestra, thinks of the direction they took her character. I understand the thematic weight of taking one of the central focuses of The High Republic and showing how even she compromises and becomes part of the problem with the Order, but... Again, it's just really grim isn't it?

I guess I'm just kind of bummed out that the first Jedi focused media we get in so long is about how the Jedi suck.

[herbofgraceandpeace]

I was reading your tags on that fanart of Thor as a wireless charger, and noticed how you said that much of Marvel lost its charm over time but Thor retained his for a while longer. And honestly I think you phrased my feelings on this very well. I actually lost interest in the MCU ages ago when other fandoms crowded my brain, but even when I would see trailers very few of them appealed to me and I think it's that lack of charm you mentioned. I only regained some interest recently after my sister convinced me to watch a few movies & shows, but so much of the MCU still doesn't appeal to me. But I've always liked Thor's jovial personality and the fantastical elements of much of the Thor franchise.

hi, thanks for sharing your thoughts! I wish I had more coherent thoughts to add on what makes the Thor movies/his character feel different, but I’m not really sure how to put any of them into words…..I expect a lot of it has to do with the more fantastical setting of Asgard and the Nine Realms, as you mention! Besides the scope for imagination, this might have allowed the movies to be less bogged down in messaging (I think one of the many problems with later Marvel is its obvious, belabored didacticism on various issues). Also, Thor as a character had some sincerity left in him alongside his innocence and earnestness. The post going around about “quips” and “bathos” as a problem in Marvel is spot on, imo, but Thor’s role as the naive or obtuse character allows him to escape this, to a certain degree! Plus, Hemsworth plays him very openheartedly, I would say, along with your point about his joviality!! Of course, his character gets shifted around a lot with the different directors and writers who want to tell different stories with his character. Thor: Ragnarok is a large tonal shift for sure, but I think it keeps lots of the aforementioned joviality AND sincerity while adding more lightness to the narrative. Hemsworth does a great job of tying the disparate Thor narratives together, particularly in Infinity War, where I was quite struck by his protrayal of Thor’s grief, guilt, and rage alongside his comedic side. And then I have nothing good to say about Avengers Endgame, lol. I admit that I haven’t seen the fourth Thor movie because it looks like stuff and nonsense from the trailers. Basically, I’m glad for the joy I can get watching Thor in the earlier movies, and I’m steadfastly not watching new things that I know will make me angry 😅

thanks for letting me talk more about it!

[echthr0s]

tagged by @longeyelashedtragedy

1. Do you make your bed? Absolutely not. I also sit on my bed during the day, but even if I didn't I never really saw the point. Also, in my opinion a bed should have a chance to air out when it's not being used.

2. Favourite number? Nine and nineteen. Mainly nineteen, for Reasons. Those are the two numbers I use whenever I need a number for literally anything.

3. What's your job? Full-time dilettante, desire deity, and begrudging PR agent for the Earth-facing facet of the Laudarant Configuration.

4. If you could go back to school would you? Much like the person who tagged me, I am not at all suited for a school environment. I do love to learn and I could even love to learn in a small group setting with likeminded individuals (this would be nice for stuff like languages, which kind of requires the social element), but school is not for me. I do like it when other people go to school and then tell me all the stuff they learned, though. I get all the benefit and none of the bullshit!

5. Can you parallel park? Of the very few things I know about driving, how to parallel park is not one of them. And no, I am not at all interested, it seems awful. Driving in general seems awful, in this country in this day and age. Proud to be a passenger/pubtrans princess ✊🏿

6. Do you think aliens are real? Do I think life exists on at least one other planet? lmao of fucking course, like... statistically speaking, the math maths Do I think it's life like in Mars Attacks or The Day The Earth Stood Still or the MCU or whatever? Most likely not. But I also believe in the multiverse, which is immensely more complex of a concept than just the idea of sapient life on another planet in the same universe, so... you know, maybe. Maybe!

7. Can you drive a manual car? See #5.

8. Guilty pleasure? Guilt? In my me? It's not as likely as you think. Or likely at all.

9. Tattoos? The number 19 in Roman numerals with a spider on my wrist, the Mannaz rune on the back of my hand, and "scully, it's me" on the inside of my elbow. All on my right arm.

10. Favourite colour? Yellow. Pink is a close second. Really, I think they just share the first place spot, because I do what I want.

11. Favourite type of music? Metal is technically my favourite genre, since so many bands and songs I love fall under that umbrella. But there's so much music out there that gets me that it feels restrictive and reductive to just name a favourite genre and leave all those other ones out in the rain. I have no idea how to answer this question otherwise, though! My favourite type of music is my favourite type of music. You know?

12. Do you like puzzles? I like jigsaw puzzles and logic puzzles (not nearly as good at these as I was as a child, but they're still fun) and fill-ins (constructed like a crossword but instead of solving clues to find out what the words are, you're given the words themselves and have to figure out where in the puzzle they fit) and... that's about it, really. When I'm playing a video game, I hate puzzles, lmao. They're always so annoying (at best).

13. Any phobias? None.

14. Favourite childhood sport? I did not enjoy participating in sports, ever, but my favourite sport to watch when I was a child was figure skating. In fact, it still is. But I was super autistic about it back then, when I didn't know what masking was and wasn't bogged down with adult nonsense.

15. Do you talk to yourself? Occasionally, but mostly I talk to Can Calah and whomever else is hanging around in the Configuration. To other people, that'd just look like I'm talking to myself, so I guess it counts by way of perception.

16. What movies do you adore? laughing about the fact that prev said "I'm not a huge movies person" and then went on to name about 25 movies (I understand, it's just funny)

I am a huge movies person and I have a Letterboxd account, so here are all the movies I've hit the "Like" button on (my highest honour): Liked Films There are a few on there that are outdated, like I watched them in like 2014 and loved them then but I probably wouldn't feel the same way now (like, I see Chappie on there and I'm like "hm. really?" it's probably fun and all but I can't imagine it's Like worthy :V), but mostly it's accurate.

17. Tea or coffee? Tea. I do enjoy coffee, I just find tea to be the superior beverage.

18. First thing you wanted to be growing up? how on earth would I remember this 💀 I do remember wanting to be an environmentalist when I was a middle schooler, though. I used to badger my father about recycling batteries and shit like that.

[staringdownabarrel]

I've just seen Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One. I didn't think it was violent enough basically, and the rest of this post is just me droning on and on ad nauseam about that.

My initial reaction is that I'm not entirely sure why this needed to be a two-part movie. The plot isn't any more complex than any of the previous Mission Impossibles. It's not any more thematically complex either, so it's not like it needed a slower pace to properly explore anything. It's still the same kind of "you need to stop this before the world ends" kind of plotline the other ones have had.

The action sequences weren't any more complex, either. It actually feels like Dead Reckoning was a step back from Fallout, which was trying to be as intense as you could be without being bumped up to the next rating. Instead of trying to basically be the action movie you could take your kids to when they're not old enough to see John Wick, it stepped back to being a fairly bog standard action movie with an M rating (our equivalent of the American PG-13).

So I'm forced to wonder where the $291 million budget went. Obviously some of it went towards actors' salaries, who could basically demand whatever they wanted and expect to get it at this point in the franchise, but the rest didn't go towards creating insane action sequences that couldn't have existed in the previous movies. I'm assuming a lot of it was because they kept paying the staff during the eighteen months or so they stopped filming because of the pandemic, but I don't actually know if they were still paying the staff during that period or not.

This is unfortunate because everything needed for this existed. The cast was large, and some of the sets would have allowed for truly intense action sequences. They just chose to never go as hard with it as they could have, even though this is very much the kind of movie that lives and dies by the quality of its action sequences.

To be absolutely fair here, the action sequences weren't terrible. They were mostly pretty good. It's just that there's a huge jump from the quality of these action sequences and what I was hoping for, based on the general trajectory of the series up to this point.

The other thing with this being a two-part movie is that I thought we were beyond this fad now. Yeah, the MCU did it with Infinity War and Endgame, but those were initially announced when the two-part final movie fad was still in full swing. And yeah, Dune did it, but it was in the position where it had to either be a two-part movie or a TV show in order to be a good representation of the book (and it probably should have just been a show).

This was something I was thinking about when I was wondering why the action sequences weren't as intense as they could have been. My initial assumption was that this was probably just because people aren't going wild for the kind of brutal, non-stop action sequences that you see in stuff like John Wick and The Raid anymore. Yeah, this movie was originally written in 2019, but huge blockbusters like this go through a million rewrites during production anyway even when there isn't a pandemic stopping production for almost two years.

But obviously whether or not this is currently a trend clearly wasn't the number one concern of the production team. They still wanted to do a two-part movie, even though that fad died down almost completely in 2015 or so. Plus, those brutal action sequences still have their fans; it seemed like John Wick 4 was popular enough. So they could have gone for that same vibe with this one where it was basically trying to be as violent as it's possible for an M-rated movie to be before it gets hit with an MA (our equivalent of the American R rating).

If anything, it would have made a lot of sense for them to go down that route for this one. In 2014 or so, one of the common criticisms pearl-clutchers would have was that M-rated action movies basically seemed to be rules lawyering their way into avoiding being rated MA. So if they had have gone right up to the line between M and MA, it would have made sense because they seem to want to bring back other 2014 trends too.

Just to reiterate here, I do think the action sequences in Dead Reckoning were good; it's just that they weren't as intense as they could have been. The example of this that I'd give is that partway through the movie, there's this bit where Ethan fights two bad guys in an extremely narrow alleyway while the main villain is confronted by Ilsa and Grace.

This could have been one of the most intense action sequences in the franchise, both in terms of brutal violence and emotional intensity. Really, it should have been the kind of action sequences that'd go on to become among the most iconic in the franchise, along with the bathroom fight from Fallout. Instead, it was just good enough to be interesting, but not quite the intense, balls-to-the-wall scene I was hoping for.

It also doesn't feel like it really got any emotional payoff either. Even though this was meant to be one of the most emotionally intense scenes of the series, it kind of felt like the emotional payoff wasn't there. Ethan was sad when he got to the bridge, but it didn't feel like this really informed anything he did afterwards; at least not to a point where he acted differently to how he was in previous films.

That's kinda how it was with every other action sequence in the movie, too. It just feels like there wasn't a lot in this one that hadn't been done better by any of the previous movies. It's not like there were any real budget or financial restraints. When you're talking about a $291 million movie that's two hours and forty-five minutes long and is getting a second part, those kinds of restraints are suggestions, not hard rules.

I guess that's the real trouble. This actually would have been a perfectly serviceable movie if it'd been a standalone movie. It's just that when it's the seventh or eighth movie in an ongoing franchise, you're always going to be asking if it stands up to the previous one. For me, this formula has gone stale.

Plus, as I mentioned before, what part of this plot really needed a second part? It's already a long movie. I'd at least get it if these movies decided they were gonna go hard and be these strings of non-stop action that were as hard as you could go with this rating. That way, you could make the case that this is the kind of movie you show your kids if you really want to see John Wick but they're not old enough to see it yet. As is, it just feels like most of this is probably just filler and whatever pay-off is coming in the next part probably isn't going to be worth it.

I guess the best part of this is that basically every major character gets to do something. One of the bigger problems a lot of long-running franchises like this have is sometimes they'll have characters be in certain movies because they're contractually obligated to have them there. They won't actually get to do a whole lot beyond take up space on set or in front of the green screen, but as long as they're there, the contract is being fulfilled. At least in Dead Reckoning, everyone gets to do something, regardless of whether they're a new character or they've been in the series for a while.

I think I'm just frustrated because there was a fair bit of hype surrounding this. It seems like there's a lot of people who are basically of the opinion that it's good and the only reason it didn't do well at the box office is because it was competing against Barbie and Oppenheimer. I don't really think that tracks because there's definitely people who would have just picked one of the three, but not so many that it'd skew the box office this much.

I think the truth is that this series' formula has gone stale and people are ready to move on from it if it's not going a lot further with what it does well. It's just that there's nothing about it that's terrible enough to warrant a bad review and it's perfectly serviceable if you watch it in isolation. The formula isn't stale because this is irredeemably bad, it's stale because it hasn't changed at all since the mid '00s, basically.

[diablotraeluz]

Beat and platted Spider-Man 2 and I have a few thoughts on the game. Overall, it was fun, the gameplay is solid, movement in Insomniac Spider-Man games is top notch, the story and writing could've used so much more room to breathe and the quest structure and pacing is so bad it's kinda silly. Still can't recommend it enough though, if you liked the first game or Miles's solo game.

Spoilers under the cut.

The game can be 100% completed and platinumed in around 25 hours if you're not rushing. Normally I'd appreciate a game not wasting my time like this but the game's really, really oddly paced and stuff isn't really given time to breathe. Harry gets revealed to have the venom symbiote, joins you for one hero adventure, randomly shows up in crimes, and then two missions later he loses it to Peter. In 20 minutes, Harry will go from being completely healthy to being on the verge of dying. Peter's corruption arc is about 3 hours long, then it's time for Venom to take over the plot. And then the plot kinda grinds. There were a few points where it felt like the ending was baiting me and the symbiote enemies that make up the entirety of endgame foes are really annoying to fight even after getting anti-venom that despite me having a lot of fun it was starting to drag on me and get me down. There are a lot of things that feel wasted or left out that I can't help but feel a little disappointed. Why did half of the Sinister Six and Shocker have to die? Why did Black Cat even have a mission at all besides an excuse to get her out of the game? Why are so many minigames introduced and then left behind immediately? You have to set up drones to get the FNSM app up in the start of the game and you never have to do anything like that ever again. There's a whole rhythm game that gets made for one 2 minute section that also never gets iterated on with different songs. It feels oddly undercooked in certain areas, which is frustrating.

Sidequest pacing is also kind of odd. There's only one sidequest in the game that requires story progression and it's the most blatant this-will-be-the-subject-of-DLC sidequest I've ever seen. Thank you Cletus, you did nothing, had the most annoying faction in the game, can't wait to beat your ass as Carnage next year when the DLC drops. The others drop every single mission at you as soon as you get them and can be completed immediately. Spider-Man becomes the hero of Brooklyn Visions in the first 20 minutes of the game, netting you a cool Puerto Rican Spider-Man suit before you even need to do anything else to get anything else. It feels like a reward that would come at the end of the game. Mysteriums are also weird, since they're just combat challenges, but Miles is the only one that can actually do them. They're also the only repeatable content in the game besides trying to optimize the various random crimes, which isn't very hard. Peter can do a bunch of experiments with the Emily-May Foundation and the reward is held off from you until the post-game, which feels jarring because you can knock out all of the EMF experiments literally the minute they become available. I thought I was missing something when I noticed there weren't any left to do. Granted, there is no EMF once Kraven attacks it shortly after getting the Black Suit but y'know. Whatever.

Other aspects of the presentation are odd. Miles has the best suit selection between the two Spider-Man games I've played but Peter's is bogged down by MCU references and movie suits. Tom Holland has like, 6 suits in the game. They decided to put two Andrew Garfield suits in. There are so many "adjusted classic suit" designs for Peter that the space feels wasted, especially since they didn't pick any of the good suits for returning suits.

Everything just needed a lot more room to breathe. It felt like the animated series from the 90s in the worst way possible.

[bereft-of-frogs]

just my two cents/unasked for advice: if a fandom is getting so stressful that it’s to the point where it’s no longer fun, all the usual pieces of advice apply - unfollowing people / blocking tags / focusing on what you do enjoy / creating the content you wish to see -

but also, it is so worth it to have someone outside the fandom, or who participates in the fandom in a completely different way, to talk about this stuff with and just enjoy the thing. having someone who doesn’t really participate in the fandom can be so helpful in breaking out of some of the negative spirals fandoms can get into, to offer new perspectives outside of the fandom echo chambers, and honestly just have fun.

an example: it was so much fun every Friday night to finish the new episode of Wandavision, and before coming back online, text with my brother about how much we were enjoying it and how much we love Wanda and Vision, and speculating about fan theories just for the fun of it. And this week, he rewatched Infinity War and Endgame - Endgame being, as you all know, the one MCU entry I actively dislike - but hearing him talk about the things he liked reminded me of various things I did like about it. I go for walks with my friend who’s much more a comics fan and we talk about the podcast she’s been listening to that explains theories. It can just be so refreshing to share this with people who aren’t active participants in the online fandom.

It’s just nice sometimes to be able to take a step back away from all the overthinking and accumulated critiques and just...have fun.

I’m not saying that you like...can’t find enjoyment or fun in the critiques itself. I do love meta and critique and finding people who share my grievances with various creative decisions. But I just observe that...there’s been a lot of stress lately and I wanted to share one thing that has been significantly improving my mood towards fandom. And like I said at the start, all other advice still applies. But if you’re really feeling down about the MCU, or find that the only thing you ever talk or think about is the grievances, I would highly recommend finding someone who unironically enjoys these movies/shows without participating in the fandom, and just letting yourself get lost in some uncomplicated enjoyment. If all you’re doing is talking about how upset you are about things - it might help to take a step back.

I also say that as someone who has several ill-advised salty fandom posts stashed in my drafts loll. I’m not say to entirely give up on the discourse (tm) but I think having a healthy balance between criticizing and having fun is a good way to keep enjoying fandom things and not get bogged down in the negativity.

this has been my 2 cents thank you for your time XD

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Michael in the Mainstream: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

You know, I do love Marvel superhero movies a lot. I have never made any secret about this, and I have constantly defended their artistic merits. Here’s the thing, though: I’m starting to become exhausted by the constant stream of superhero content. We have so much coming out so quick that it’s starting to make the issues of a lot of these films become far more apparent, such as the dull colors and the lack of exciting cinematography. When we were getting one of these films every year or two, it was easier to overlook, but now? It’s just exhausting. And while we are starting to see directors getting to do more within the confines of what Disney wants, even the really good stuff like Shang-Chi feels a little restricted by the style, with it feeling like a Marvel Studios film that happens to have some of the director’s flair in it (Eternals was this to an extreme degree).

Not so with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness; this is a Sam Raimi movie that has a bit of that Marvel Studios malarkey in it.

I think the thing here is that Sam Raimi is the kind of director you just cannot restrain, no matter how much executive meddling you throw his way. I just watched Spider-Man 3 again recently, and even though that film is undeniably a mess, Raimi’s sense of comic booky fun shines through and the comedy is on point in a lot of places, from the Bruce Campbell cameo to, yes, the ridiculous sequence of Peter strutting down the sidewalk and scaring away every woman who glances at him with his douchey dance moves. That movie was bogged with a ridiculous amount of meddling, but even despite its (many, many) flaws, I think I’d still call it a good movie; that’s just the level Raimi operates on, where even his schlock is entertaining. Here, the meddling is less extensive; sure, he was called in to replace Scott Derrickson leaving to give Ethan Hawke another starring role in a horror film, and sure, the film had a ridiculously troubled production where so much changed on the fly, but ultimately the most meddling done by Marvel was slapping in bits of the standard Marvel fare into Raimi’s vision. Ultimately, the film is more his than anything else.

You can most tell this by the way there are things like actual clever camera angles and camera movement. Hell, there are moments where it seems like Raimi is paying tribute to Evil Dead with how the camera’s whipping around as if it’s from the POV of an unseen force. And then you have the gore; this movie is the hardest PG-13 in the entire MCU, but else can you expect from the madman who brought us the deadites? From a giant monster graphically getting its eyeball ripped out to an alternate Strange’s decaying corpse to the gruesome slaughter our main antagonist inflicts on every group that tries to stand against her, this is Raimi operating in familiar territory and giving it his all.

Speaking of the villain, it’s pretty strange that they decided to turn Wanda into an antagonist, but generally speaking I’m cool with it. They don’t string you along, revealing it towards the end of the first act, and they let Elizabeth Olsen go full ham and cheese with her performance. The woman looks like she’s having the time of her life playing a wicked witch, and it’s pretty delightful even if the turn to villainy and motivation are a bit clunky in execution. The film kind of expects you to have seen WandaVision to really understand it, and even then it’s still a pretty wonky motivation since she’s basically going through a similar thing to what happened in that show. I’d probably be less forgiving if it didn’t lead to cool stuff and give us a great slasher movie villain performance in the MCU, but I can’t exactly call this stellar and fresh villainy when it’s basically just Kingpin from Spider-Verse but a girl.

I think what’s really interesting is how in the lead up to this film, there were so many rumors floating around online about how this was going to be the biggest crossover film in the universe with twenty billion cameos from all across Marvel, with actors returning to reprise roles. You had people saying we’d get appearances from Ryan Reynolds Deadpool, Hugh Jackman Wolverine, Tom Cruise Iron Man, Nic Cage Ghost Rider, Wesley Snipes Blade, Gandalf the Grey, Gandalf the White, Monty Python and the Holy Grail’s Black Knight, Benito Mussolini, the Blue Meanie, Cowboy Curtis, Jambi the Genie, RoboCop, the Terminator, Captain Kirk, Darth Vader, Lo Pan, Superman, every single Power Ranger, Bill S. Preston, Theodore Logan, Spock, the Rock, Doc Ock, and Hulk Hogan in the two hour runtime of the film. Basically it sounded like a wet dream for nerds and a nightmarish mess of plotless fanservice for anyone with a functioning brain. Thankfully, the cameos are petty minor all things considered, with the Illuminati giving us some fun fanservice for a ten minute stretch by bringing back Haley Atwell and Patrick Stewart in their most famous comic book movie roles, letting Anson Mount redeem Black Bolt, and giving John Krasinski the ability to extol the wonders of his teammate’s powers rather than the wonders of the CIA as Reed “Mr. Fantastic” Richards. It doesn’t last long and it’s just kind of fun to see, and it leads to one of the best sequences in the film, and it doesn’t detract from how focused the story is. Overall, it’s way better than the asinine checklist of cameos idiots wanted the movie to be.

A lot of people think Strange was sidelined in this movie, and while he’s definitely not front and center of every action scene like your typical MCU hero, I think that’s a good thing. I kind of like how he’s more pushing the plot along and growing as a character, as well as doing stuff that isn’t something I’ve seen a million times elsewhere. I also liked his relationship with America Chavez, the adorable dimension-hopping teen he befriends; I was really worried she’d be a boring living MacGuffin a la Cassandra Cain in Birds of Prey, but while she’s not exactly super well fleshed out yet I found her really sweet and enjoyable. As always, Wong is awesome, and his banter with Strange is pretty fun, though I wish they got to do more together.

I think what it really boils down to here is how much you like campy, ridiculous, and weird movies. This is not a perfect film, it doesn’t have the strongest story or the most logical scenarios or anything like that. I can definitely see someone coming out of it and thinking it’s a mess. But as a fan of Raimi’s previous superhero films (and yes, I’m including Darkman), I think this fits right in there. It’s the sort of crazy, ridiculous schlock Raimi loves to make, injected with his typical humor and horror so that it drowns out the typical superhero junk for the most part. If you like Raimi, want to see Elizabeth Olsen let loose, or want to see dozens of people brutally murdered in a superhero film, this is the movie for you!

Oh yeah, and Bruce Campbell is here. Poor guy’s hand is giving him trouble again. God bless you, Sam Raimi.

[cogentranting]

Wandavision demonstrates really clearly how good the MCU is at building in connections and using the existing context of their world, and why that’s so appealing. 

Wandavision couldn’t exist in isolation because from the jump it works because we can dive straight into the sitcom setup and go pretty much three full episodes without leaving the sticom reality because there’s so much we already know about Wanda. We have 4 movies of context for who she and what she’s been through and we can hit the ground running because of that, and it automatically creates an undercurrent of tension to the show before you even get to the “breaks” in the sitcom reality. 

And beyond Wanda’s context, it works building off of the general context of the world. The characters outside the Hex respond the way they do because they exist within a fairly expansive context. Because they’ve had Iron Man running around publicly for 15 years. The Avengers for over a decade. People who had to deal with The Blip, and the Sokovia Accords and everything else. So for one thing we don’t have to jump through the “superpowers! how is that possible?!” hoop every time, and it’s a refreshing level of the audience and the characters being on the same page. Wanda moving things with her mind or Vision flying around, or even the fact that Vision exists and is in a relationship with a human? not weird, we’re used to it. Wanda creating a sitcom alternate reality in a bubble? weird. And we and the characters are in that same place. But also a character like Hayward-- instead of being just a stereotypical trigger happy military guy, we can filter his reactions through the lens of his context, the things he knows about her and the things he might have experienced that he’s afraid of happening again. 

Episode 4 even more clearly demonstrates all this because leaving the main character behind for almost an entire episode to focus on three new characters isn’t frustrating because we do know them. Somewhat with Agent Woo, but especially with Darcy and Monica, we start out with enough context for these characters that we are already invested in them and we have enough of a grounding understanding of them that the relatively short episode doesn’t have to be bogged down with a bunch of character introductions. And even things that are not explicitly referenced can shine through the portrayals of the characters. Darcy doesn’t mention Thor or Jane at all in the episodes we’ve seen so far. But being familiar with the first Thor movie means you’re able to see how those experiences influence her attitudes and decisions coming in to this situation. The same with Monica. Even though Captain Marvel has only been mentioned once, briefly, there’s this surrounding context that adds shades of meaning to everything Monica does. 

In general, they’re just creating a world that feels lived in. We know that the Sokovia Accords are a present factor in dealing with Wanda, and that their origin is linked to her. We know that every character has some context dealing with the Blip. We know that one of the key differences between Hayward and the trio (Woo, Darcy, Monica) is that they each know an Avenger personally and he doesn’t. We know that there’s mixed public perception of “enhanced people” in general and the Avengers in particular. We know that SWORD as an organization exists alongside both SHIELD and Hydra (and much like the characters, there’s going to be a range of audience associations because of that-- when you think SHIELD do you think Winter Soldier and World Security Council? or do you think Peggy Carter, Daniel Sousa, Phil Coulson and Daisy Johnson?) . All this and I’m not even going to go into the way they called the Pietro/Peter stuff. 

And it just enriches the show in such a lovely way that can really only exist because the MCU has put so much work into something so huge. 

[bedlamsbard]

Writing tag game -- tagged by @lessattitudemorealtitude

how many works do you have on Ao3?

Discounting podfic on which I’m listed as a co-author, 24.  My concept writing doesn’t go to AO3 and the vast majority of my Narnia fic was never cross-posted there.  (Or reposted there, actually, I think most of it pre-dates the AO3.)

what’s your total Ao3 word count?

1,050,810.  oh, huh, I didn’t actually realize I’d passed the one million word mark (probably with Crown).

what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

all of these ended up being Star Wars, which is not a huge surprise.  Morning will probably reach Dirt in the next couple of updates, I’d guess.

Immutable, or, Five Times Obi-Wan Kenobi Compromised His Jedi Ethics for Anakin Skywalker -- this is not the oldest Star Wars fic on there, but I think it’s the second oldest. people just really like 5 times fic.

Wake the Storm - did you know that when I started Wake I assumed it was a very niche trope in what was, at the time, a pretty dead fandom? the kudos count on Wake actually outnumbers Gambit by more than 1600 kudos, so the number of people who go from Wake to Gambit is a lot lower than you might think.

Queen's Gambit - a significantly lower kudos count than Wake or Immutable.  Gambit’s such a weirdo of a story, tbh, I can’t be surprised by anything about Gambit anymore.

On the Edge of the Devil's Backbone - about 600 kudos less than Gambit, so less difference between Gambit and Backbone than between Wake and Gambit.

Dirt in the Machine - another older fic.  I’d rewrite this one if I cared enough to do so, because it’s not at my current standards (Immutable isn’t either, for that matter) and I kind of wince every time I get comments on it.  this is the first one of the top five to have below 1K kudos.

do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I’ll usually respond to direct questions, but I very, very seldom respond to comments in general.  This is an old standing policy of mine that’s now more than a decade old -- it used to be I’d wait twenty-four hours before responding, then I’d respond right before the next chapter went up, and for a while I’d only respond to comments on the first few chapters of a story.  Now I just mostly do not.  The reasons for this are: (1) many, many years ago, I lost my temper pretty badly at a comment on a fic of mine (this was pre-AO3, this was back in my LJ days), and after that I moved to the “wait twenty-four hours” response so I didn’t say anything without thinking about it, (2) I do go back and reread comments but I hate rereading my own responses, (3) I prefer to know the comments numbers on my fic are all from actual comments and not from me saying “thanks for reading!”, (4) I can’t take that kind of responsibility for answering every single comment, man.

what’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Of stuff I’ve written in the past ten years? (I can’t really remember before that.)  Maybe Backbone, because it ends on that pretty upbeat “yay team we’re going to be rebels now!” note.  or Devil’s in the Details (other side part 1), though I don’t really want to consider it a finished fic even though it’s technically finished; it has another “yay team we’re back together (minus Ezra)” ending.  I tend to end on complicated and reasonably open endings, not like...happy endings.

what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

probably Gambit for the “everything is super fucked up” factor and also the fact that I never wrote the sequel. plus it ended with the entire Wake trio split up in a whole new universe, plus back in the Gambitverse Amidala not able to go back to Naboo, Ahsoka shunned, Palpatine’s new empire, Rex trapped in the Gambitverse, etc.

do you write crossovers?

I did in my Narnia days. I don’t anymore. Working in widespread fandoms like Star Wars or the MCU is basically like writing crossover fic within the same universe, anyway.

have you ever received hate on a fic?

*hysterical laughter*

...yes. yes I have. it’s the reason every time I get a comment notification on Gambit or Wake I freeze in absolute terror. people HATE Wake and Gambit.  I hate to say never, but I will probably never write those characters or in that series again.

do you write smut? if so, what kind?

not really?  I’ve done relatively non-explicit sex but it’s not something I’m super comfortable writing, especially in recent years. I’m much more likely to do a fade to black.

have you ever had a fic stolen?

I think Gambit got scraped once when it was still in progress and my response was something along the lines of “good luck, bro,” given the whole “still in progress” thing.

have you ever had a fic translated?

I’ve gotten a couple of translation requests but I can’t recall if anything’s ever been translated.  (Or if I responded to them...I know a few I forgot to respond.)

have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes, back in my Narnia days.  Some SW concept writing and that ended so badly that I’ll never co-write again.

what’s your all-time favourite ship?

Kanan/Hera, of course!

what’s a wip that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

gods, Dust in the Air, my Narnia Last Battle AU.  Back when I started it in 2008 or so I didn’t have the self-control or discipline I do now, even if I had a lot of the worldbuilding ability and the ability to conceive of if not execute long plot arcs, and I broke off more than I could chew.  If I ever went back to it I’d probably have to do a complete rewrite and it has the unique problem among my WIPs of being the last major fic I wrote in present tense -- I now write exclusively in past tense.  The bones of the story are good, I’d just have to go back to the bones and not just pick up where I left off.

what are your writing strengths?

Plot, worldbuilding/environment, action.  I also do genuinely think I’m very good at characterization too, but I think they’re all inter-related.  (Except the action, that’s me alone.  I love writing action and I generally get a lot of compliments on my action scenes.)  look, I know it’s conceited, but I’m good and I know I’m good, and I’m good in a pretty well-rounded way for the genre I write.

what are your writing weaknesses?

brevity. can’t do it.

honestly, there are others, but I don’t write stories where they’d come up.  I think I have a tendency to get to bogged down in dialogue in a way that I’ve never quite solved.  I also let my emotions take over too much and not in the good fannish way, in the “I’m having a fucked up relationship with canon or fandom and it’s affecting my ability to work” way.

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

please stop having your Asgardians speak Latin for magic, man, that’s my feeling on it.

okay, my feelings on it for me -- I’ve sprinkled bits and pieces of Huttese, Twi’leki, and tee-tiny bits of other stuff here and there in fic.  I’d not be comfortable doing more than that because the only other language that I really feel comfortable doing anything significant in is Latin, and even then I’d hesitate. also, like, Latin! not a language that comes up in the fandoms I write in.  even then, like -- any extended dialogue should be intelligible to the audience, and I don’t expect my audience to be able read anything other than English; I’d rather just say “they switched to Twi’leki to say” or something similar.

what was the first fandom you wrote for?

like, online? Harry Potter. for things that I didn’t post online because I didn’t know what fic was yet? probably either The 10th Kingdom or The Mummy.

what’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

On the Edge of the Devil’s Backbone.  I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever written, I think it’s the most tightly plotted, I think it’s got the best worldbuilding, I think it’s remarkably consistent thematically, and it was, at the time, a fic that I was very devoted to finishing or dying trying, because I was going through it at the time and some of it was connected to the fic.

I don’t tag people, but please go for if you want!

[nostalgicatsea]

Fic Writer Interview Meme

Thank you for tagging me, Dora!

Name: sea/nostalgicatsea

Fandoms: Marvel. I’m into some other stuff as well, but I don’t know if I can say I’m in the fandom. 

Two-shot:

I don’t have any unless you count a two-part series and companion fics as two-shots. I’m going to count them so I don’t leave this section blank:

All These Half-Tones of the Soul (G, MCU, 22,888 words)

In lieu of the “summary” for the series, which is just a book quote, here are the summaries for the two fics:

Multitude of One (G, MCU, 4,277 words)

Summary: "So was I," his soulmate would tell him one day, and what it would mean was that they loved him.

Leaving Promises Against Your Skin (G, MCU, 18,611 words)

Summary: “Someday, someone will choose you, Tony,” his mother had said, her hands back to cupping his. “And no one, not your father, not anyone, can ever take that from you.”

Notes: I wish I could change the name of the series because it doesn’t fit completely, but oh well! This series was grueling to write, but it was by far the most rewarding because I didn’t think I could do it. Even if there are things I wish I could fix (I think that way about almost every fic I write), I’m proud of what I accomplished. I wrote the story I wanted to write and did something I never thought I could. I felt like I was running a marathon and at the end, that level of euphoria was probably the closest I’ll get to a runner’s high. I want to feel that again. 

IW companion fics:

The Great Silence of Loss (G, MCU, 1,075 words)

Summary: There was no reason to keep the phone, not when Tony didn't have his, not when Tony was gone and all keeping it would do was hurt him, but Steve held onto it anyway.

Signals Between Two Satellites (G, MCU, 2,290 words)

Summary: He hadn't allowed himself to dream of this, of Tony returning to him. Not when he had lost so much. Not when dreaming of the impossible would destroy him. But Tony was here, and for the first time since Thanos had wiped out half of the universe, Steve felt hope. Notes: After watching IW, I thought I’d have the same dry spell as I did after AoU. I didn’t think I had anything to write about, but it ended up being my most prolific era! I don’t know why or I do, but I don’t have the space to talk about it here and I’m not sure I can express myself accurately. There’s something about unspeakable loss sweeping you out to sea, making everything else before both insignificant and magnified. Every regret, every love. When you’re so lucky so as to hold onto or regain something you lost, there’s so much power in that love and hope even when you’re not sure things will ever be okay again.

I have two other fics that are companion pieces to each other but not officially so I’ll leave them off! In case you’re wondering, they’re “Thunder Hurried Slow” and “Leaving You Forward.”

Most popular:

Multitude of One (G, MCU, 4,277 words)

Summary: "So was I," his soulmate would tell him one day, and what it would mean was that they loved him.

Notes: The clear winner when it comes to hits, kudos, and comments, but when it comes to bookmarks, the sequel, LPAYS, surpasses MoO in numbers. I love soulmate fics, but I wasn’t sure what to write (other than that one soulmate fic that I’ve been trying to write since 2014 which hasn’t happened yet). I read some angsty CW soulmate fics, and then this idea struck me because I loved them, but I wanted to see something different.

I wanted to explore the idea of idealization and romanticization of a soul mark, especially when your assumptions of its meaning turn out to be completely incorrect, and the significance of soulmates. Is your soulmate important because you love them, or do you love them because they’re your soulmate? What happens if you can’t see who they are, even if they’re in front of you the whole time, and fail them because you’re so focused on the idea of them? I also wanted to try and see if I could bring the iconic 616 “It wasn’t worth it” line to the MCU in a way that made it organic to the universe here. Again, shoutout to the fics I read before this idea burst into my head, specifically “Zugzwang” by the great Woad.

Actual worst part of writing:

Most of the time, I know how the story begins and ends, but I don’t know how to get from A to C. Sometimes I have fragments in between, but I don’t know how to connect them! I get bogged down in plot holes or issues I don’t know how to fix and I get stuck for a long time. 

How you choose your titles:

Everyone moans about coming up with titles—and understandably so, as it’s the worst when you can’t come up with one—but oddly enough, titles come really easily to me. They just...float to the surface of my mind. In some cases, they’re there before I start writing. Other times, when I start and I’m at the beginning of the story. It’s almost like I feel the story/feel the titles as though I’m searching for the story’s true name which sounds SO obnoxiously pretentious lolsdkfjdas, but that’s the only way I can explain it. It’s almost a sensory experience for me. They have to be right (there’s this moment where it feels right, whether it’s this quiet recognition or a “YES! That’s it” eureka moment) and there has to be a meaning behind them that explains what the story is about in some way. Otherwise, I get stuck. There are a few titles that I’m not particularly fond of because nothing really came to me, but I had to go with what I came up with due to time constraints. They still rub me the wrong way when I look at them.

Do you outline:

I usually know the start and end of a story before I write, and most of my stories are short enough so that means I don’t have to outline. Longer stories, though...I probably need to outline. That’s where I struggle and why I haven’t written anything really over 6k other than LPAYS (I was a mess writing it, but I can go into that separately if anyone’s interested). :’) I’d say that I half plot and half fly by the seat of my pants; I leave enough room on a bare-bones outline in my head to improvise. 

Ideas you probably won’t get around to, but wouldn’t it be nice:

MY ENTIRE LIST OF WIPS LMAO ESPECIALLY THE ONES THAT HAVE TO BE LONG FICS. :’))))))))

Callouts @ me:

STOP TWISTING YOURSELF INTO KNOTS TRYING TO FIGURE EVERYTHING OUT. You only need to know the big stuff, but you always think you need to know how every tiny thing works before you start. Shut up and start writing! You spend most of your time saying you’ll write and then getting distracted by going online, saying you want to write, or complaining about how writing is hard. Just write something! Learn discipline! ALSO, YOU ARE SO OBSESSED WITH NATURE, EYES, SMILES, ETC. PLEASE LEARN TO USE OTHER METAPHORS AND PRACTICE HOW TO EXPRESS MOVEMENT, EMOTION, AND PRESENCE THROUGH OTHER WAYS TOO.

Wait, I’m not sure I’m supposed to be yelling at myself here. I can do fun callouts! @ self, you’re so weak for anything related to home and the concept of together....istg, that’s all you write about.

Best writing traits:

I’m good at atmosphere and rhythm although the latter has become less of a thing over the years as I started writing longer stuff. But still! 

Tangential opinion:

This can be difficult to believe and it can take time (I certainly didn’t start out like this in my first fandom pre-Marvel), but honestly, write for yourself and your friends and/or write for yourself without expectations on how you’ll be received. I would say write for yourself first and foremost, but you’re in fandom because you want to be part of a community so I’m not going to say to write for yourself only unless you want to. When you find a close group of a few friends, you’ll realize that the most important thing is you guys having fun and everything else is a nice surprise—or if you’re more of a lurker, then it’s nice just seeing a few people respond to you especially if you start to see it’s the same few people the more you write. A lot of the times, they become the people you befriend too.

Tagging: @kiyaar, @ishipallthings, @citsiurtlanu, @welcomingdisaster, @no-gorms, and anyone else who wants to do this!

[otterskin]

Hi there Otterskin, sorry to barge into your inbox like this but I just read your post on the latest episode and wanted to voice my agreement! I've tried putting my feelings about this episode into words before but could never put my finger on what exactly bothered me about it until I read your post. For me, the episode felt rushed and I came away from it with a feeling that the story they're trying to tell is far too big for a 6-episode show, and now they're cramming as much as they can into each episode and instead of building up the universe and the relationships between the characters they simply info dump on the audience. It felt that way especially in the scene where Mobius confronts Loki about Sylvie. He had to explain, to the audience, what's going on with Loki and Slyvie because the show never bothered to actually build up their romance. I would've loved to see them actually explore the relationship over the course of a few more episodes and to slowly build up to this revelation and have Loki realise it himself, not have Mobius scream it at him. I was like, Mobius my man, slow down, take a deep breath and chill. I'm still enjoying the show immensely but I'm a little disappointed with the writing and the pace. Anyway, sorry for coming into your inbox and ranting like this. I just wanted to voice my agreement for your post! Have a great day!

Hi Anon!

I would say that while 6 episodes can feel short, it's about four and a half hours. That's actually quite a bit of time. The problem is that they're not always using it very well. Like I said, too many scenes go nowhere and accomplish or set-up very little, when each scene should be doing a few things - exposition, character development, plot progression, world building, etc. should all be happening at once. Instead, we often stop - or keep walking, as the case may be - and yammer on purely about exposition with just a little character development on the side. That's why when things have to go down, they don't have the time left anymore and so they just exposit character development rather than show it (sorry Mobius).

Unfortunately, the amount of logorrhea they put in everyone's mouths often inhibits the acting. My favourite moments with the acting are often when no-one is speaking at all - such as the little 'reaction video' Loki got in Episode 1, and his discovery of the Time Stones in Casey's drawer. I felt like the writing worked very well in those first two - credit to Waldron for that - because it got out of the actor's way when it needed to and gave them great lines along the way. Episodes 3 & 4 felt overstuffed with verbiage, often saying what should have been left to pure acting (with some nice exceptions here and there, like the singing scene). This also has the unintended effect of dragging stuff out, as so often we're just trying to sort through everything being said and thrown at us instead of just enjoying where we are and what's happening. On top of that, too often grand revelations are told to us rather than discovered and reacted to - seeing the Infinity Stones in the drawer is a good example of how to do that right, that was awesome and told us so much about Loki and the TVA. Sylvie just saying 'Anyway, the Time Cops are all Variants' feels a bit anticlimatic, especially as it calls for Loki to be all 'Oh dear, someone should tell them!', when I'd rather see his face go 'Oh dear, someone should tell them' as he learns that. Or at least have dialogue that implies that without being so direct. If that makes any sense.

It just feels like the scripts for 3&4 were just not polished and were written by TV writers, not so much Movie writers - the former relies on heavy exposition while the latter is trained to leave much more up to the director's and actor's interpretation. Loki might have a reputation for being talky-talky, but a surprising amount of his scenes are dialogue-free in the films, or else there's a particular acting spin on the words that makes them feel punctuated and memorable. I'm having a hard time quoting anything from this series in part because there's just not a lot of breathing room. Instead, we just get info dump after info dump, often repeating the same info, more's the pity.

So much exposition can be done visually! Use your sets, use visual storytelling techniques, use colour and lighting and acting and contrasting set pieces and let us have some goddamn 'mah'. (See Hayao Miyazaki quote about the space between claps).

I'd probably be more okay with the rapidfire dialogue if it were just punched up and more iconic and got us somewhere in a more interesting, less direct way. I love witty dialogue and talky-talky films, but there's a lot of effort that goes into making those flow well and not get bogged down.

As for the romance, I'm hopeful that it is not, in fact, a romance, even though I realize I am fighting a lot of evidence on that front. It just feels too strange, awkward and out of nowhere to me. I can't say I'm a fan that they've even implied it. But maybe - just maybe - it's supposed to strange and awkward and there's not in fact a romantic edge to it. Maybe Loki just liking and respecting another Loki is being mistaken for that and used as a weapon to torment him, much like how Mobius has twisted other things to make mockery of Loki and put him down. Loki himself hasn't said it. Although he hasn't exactly denied it either. Maybe that's because he's not sure what the feeling is and needs time to work out it's not romantic. Maybe. Please oh please let there be a way out of this.

We'll see how it goes. I'm still hopeful. There's a lot to like here, it just needed more time to be refined - which, to be fair, is a comment I have about a lot of MCU films. I'm still shocked some of them turned out as well as they did with the quick turnaround they have. Others really did deserve a few more hours in the oven, though. Considering that this is the 'Phase One' of MCU TV (apologies to AOS fans), I think we're probably in for a lot foot-finding and experimentation and messiness, like we had for Phase One of the MCU Movies. I can live with messiness - I even find it a bit exciting - as long as they stick the landing.

[haysey-draws]

So I saw Marvels Eternals yesterday and…for the most part I enjoyed it, but it does have problems. I know there is a lot of discourse right now over its Rotten Tomato score (‘can’t believe we’re still arguing over review scores) so I’ll keep this as brief as I can. Eternals feels like a phase one Marvel film, trying to explain the origins of the heroes and set up the big conflict, but with a massive cast. After a very strong start the first half of the film really drags, not helped by the comedy that just doesn’t work, and I’d imagine this is where the film will lose most casual audiences. But once we’re past that the movie really picks up in the second half, the action is really good, the deviant monster designs are GREAT and at the end of the film there’s some really fantastic imagery, mainly some of the last shots. I do also like what they do with the characters stories (‘no spoilers) there’s a lot of great stuff here, it’s just bogged down by that exposition filled first half and not great character comedy. Is it the worst MCU film?…maybe, but it’s worth remembering at this point even the worst films have been just fine, there aren’t any Steel, Catwomen or X-men origins so far (‘unless you count TV…which I’m still pretending didn’t happen Inhunmans) so by saying it’s the worst it’s still a passing grade, but maybe one most won’t rush to rewatch. I enjoyed and would recommend only for big MCU fans, if your a casual cinema goer you are better off checking out DUNE.

[spacelizbian]

I don't think it's impossible to make a DC cinematic universe great. I think that if they put effort into slowly building up the characters, (I'd start with soft reboots of Batman and Superman, tbh) they could far exceed the mcu.

so here’s my idea. they can keep the same actors, just sort of reintroduce them with clean slates. I'd start by reintroducing the dead Robin as having been Jason, and then jumping into a Lonely Place of Dying, where you can introduce Dick as Nightwing and Tim as Robin, plus setting up Oracle

Basically explain Bruce's violence in the snyder movies as a symptom of his grief and how that's put distance between him and Dick (hence why Dick hasn't appeared up to now) and set up Tim trying to balance Bruce out.

Tim was literally created to give young readers a pov character to reintroduce them to Batman comics with, and he can serve the same purpose 30 years later for a new generation in the movies. Hint towards Bruce being in a better place going forward.

I think starting anywhere older gets you bogged down in retelling what is nowadays essentially the backstories for the older Batfamily members. Dick, Babs, and Jason all have histories that span years that you’d have to go through the motions with just to get to the interesting stuff with them if you wanted to start from the very beginning, so starting with all of that as backstory that can be easily explained (Dick was Robin and then him and Bruce had a falling out, Jason was robin and then he died, Babs was Batgirl and then she got shot and now she’s in a wheelchair) through quick exposition.

Tim’s time as Robin is also when the Batfamily really came into its modern form, so by skipping forward to his time you can also quickly introduce Cass and Steph, as well as reintroducing Jason as Red Hood before transitioning into Damien as Robin. Whether they’d want to do Batman RIP here and have Dick and Damien as Batman and Robin is up in the air, but that’s like, 5 movies in there. And wow, you’ve introduced the whole world to the basics of Batman’s mythos and you can give every one of those characters spinoffs just like in the comics and make so much money. You’re welcome DC. Now give me Batman and Robin.

TL/DR; please DC i want a good batman and robin movie so bad why do you refuse to milk the batfamily in the movies like you do in the comics Please

[smokeybrand]

Breaking the Rules

So the Snyder Cut finally dropped. Four hours of Snyderisms like slow-mo, dumb kinetic camera work, and relentless edge. Now, I'm a card-carrying Marvel shill. Been real transparent about it for years. Marvel is my sh*t and Spider-Man is my favorite superhero. That said, i do like DC. I always give them a fair shake. Hell, my favorite capeflick is The Dark Knight. I even like Watchmen and that was a slog to get through. I’ve seen every film in the DCEU and they have left me wanting. A lot of DC heads write off my opinion because of my Marvel bias but let’s be serious; The DCEU is inferior to the MCU in almost every way. As it is, the DCEU needs to be better. It needs better storytellers. It needs a better plan. It needs a Feige. Snyder is not that dude and i don’t think Wan is either. I think WB and ATT have to figure out a way to coalesce this sh*t because it’s all wonky, especially now that we have this Snyder Cut. I’ve already reviewed a Justice League before so all of the observations i made about performances in that, stand. This is more what i think this version does better and worse.

The Better

This opening is much better and makes more sense. That Super Death Wail as the principal genesis of Steppenwolf’s conflict, the thing that wakes that first Motherbox, makes way more sense that whatever the f*ck Whedon did.

This thing definitely looks so much more gorgeous that that first run. Zack Snyder can’t plot a story to save his life but this motherf*cker can compose a shot, for real. Snyder is an idea man, a cat that just wants to make cool looking sh*t, but this ain’t the medium for that. You can have all the beautiful shots in the world but if they are tied together by a shoestring of a narrative, then it’s just polished sh*t, you know?

The extended Aquaman intro was outstanding. Whedon didn’t let this scene breath and, seeing it as it was intended, that was a mistake. Seeing this version of Justice League kind of makes Josstice League in it’s entirety, a mistake. It’s weird that this was cut because it’s so good and shows so much more of Arthur.

Jeremy Iron’s Alfred continues to be my second favorite Alfred after Michael Caine. Sorry, Michael Gough...

Wonder Woman’s first scene in this, the one with the terrorists, is ridiculous. This one scene is a perfect example of the difference between the two versions of this film. Snyder’s is better, if way more brutal than it needed to be. Still, i love the warrior version of Diana so I'm good with this.

Speaking of Amazons, Snyder, apparently, put them in more clothes this time around? I couldn’t really see for sure because of the color correction but it didn’t seem like they weren’t rocking those iron bikinis like in the Whedon cut. I think Joss Whedon might be a bit more problematic than we think. Between the half naked chicks, the way he kept sexualizing Diana, the fact that there are no people of color in his version or the way he shortchanged the entirety of Cyborg’s plot... Breh.

Steppenwolf is SO much more menacing in this version of the movie. Dude feels like a force, like a proper threat an not just some stop-gap for something better. Ol’ Wolfie was a decent antagonist for an initial run at an Avengers-esque team up for the DCEU. Definitely more Loki this time around and less Ultron like the first time.

Also, the Parademons look much more dope. The first time, they looked like fodder. This time, they actual felt like a force, like a horde.

Hey, we got an Atom sighting!

Not a ton of Iris West but enough to wet my appetite. Anytime i get to see Kiersey Clemons in stuff, I'm happy. Having it tied to an outstanding sequence demonstrating Flash’s powers was just icing on the cake. Seriously, Snyder did a great job visualizing Barry’s abilities. That scene where he saved everyone from the debris and then the subtle reversing of time; All of it was dope to see.

Are those Starros that Steppenwolf is using to “interrogate” the cats with Motherbox stink on them? They look like little mechanical Starros. I hope they’re Starros.

Lots of Cyborg stuff. Like, intricate Cyborg stuff. The sh*t Whedon cut of Vic was instrumental to the coherency of this story and dude was just like, “Nah.” It’s no wonder that version of the movie doesn’t make any f*cking sense.

Hey, we got a Spectre sighting! Nice.

The explanation for the Motherboxes and their mcguffin-ness goes a long way to soothing the whole “resurrecting Superman” thing. Snyder basically tells the audience they’re magic boxes that can do anything because of magic-technology. It’s a little ridiculous considering what Motherboxes actually do in the comics but whatever. It makes sense in this universe i guess.

All of the action scenes are better. All of them. Snyder is nothing if not a cat that can actualize a dope punch-out. Dude can’t get out of his own way when telling a story but if you need a fight scene, Snyder is definitely your guy.

Speaking of, that climax was WAY better. It carried far more weight and there were times when the heroes felt like they could lose. There’s an unrelenting tension that grips you hard and doesn’t let up until it finally does. I appreciated this way more than the first one, even if it’s dumb edgy for no reason.

The Worst

Zack still doesn’t understand these characters, man. It’s very apparent to me that a lot of this is just window dressing for kind of a Zack Snyder fan fic version of DC and that’s fine i guess? Sh*t’s not my cup of tea but a great many people seem to like it. Dude’s writing can definitely be tighter and he can skew a little more toward the heart of these characters but i mean, it’s called Zack Snyder’s Justice league for a reason.

The Snyderisms, man, they are all over this thing. Look, i just don’t like how Zack makes movies. Too much style, not enough substance, or rather, not enough focus. He has a ton of great ideas but gets too bogged down in how sh*t looks, or tumbles down his rabbit hole of concept but never expresses any of them clearly enough. Outside of 300 or Dawn of the Dead, this film is probably the most focused I've ever seen Snyder and it’s still kind of all over the place yet, never where it needs to be.

So many plot holes, man. Less than before, but so many threads left untied.

This thing didn’t need to be four hours long. Not even close. There were several shots that i thought could have been cut. Like, that three hour version which got the standing ovation was probably the best version of Justice League and we’ll never see it. This version is definitely better than the theatrical run but f*ck is it long. You really feel that sh*t, too.

Cyborg still looks gross to look at. You’d think they’d try and make his weird, angular, body look a bit better upon the redo but nope. This what we get i guess.

Also, why the f*ck the Atlanteans sound British? Why they make Amber Heard do that accent? She can’t do that accent, man. You’re actually asking a chick who’s professionally pretty to act and she can’t act. She’s just pretty. That actually brings up an interesting question; Is Aquaman canon to this universe because Mera in that doesn’t have an accent and her Pops is still alive. This one has an accent and her parents are dead. Or maybe the accent makes it easier to recast Heard later with a British actress? Maybe the Mother of Dragons really is about to be the Queen of the Seas?

Why is this Knightmare sequence in here? Sure, it was awesome to see, pure fan service, but this is the blue balls of blue balls because we don’t have a movie to follow this one. This is it. This is all the Justice League we’re getting. There is no part two or whatever. Why even hint at something more?

The Verdict

There’s a lot to like about this version of Justice League. It is, hands down, better than Josstice League in almost every way. Sh*t is a better film, man, and should have been what we got to begin with. WB did Snyder a disservice by letting him go and then letting Whedon butcher his movie. I don’t like Snyder’s take on DC. I think it’s try-hard, edgelord, nonsense but it is it’s own thing and i commend him for that. Dude has a vision and I'll never take away from from a creative’s inspiration. That said, this thing was a slog to get through. It’s definitely better than what we got before but it’s still not that great and it’s way too long. Three hours is more than enough to tell this story if you make prudent cuts. Still, I’m glad it exists and, if you’re a fan of this world, a fan of Snyder’s work, you’ll love it. For me, as a cat who has no skin in this game, I'm not all that impressed. Per usual, Snyder has too many ideas and that leaves the plot unfocused and meandering at times. In a genre that is predicated on storytelling, you can’t be a bad storyteller like that and just gloss over it with spectacle. That’s disingenuous. At the end of the day, it was entertaining. It was pretty to see. It was a Snyder film.