#some mcu criticism

[sacredfixation]

Loki and the Deeply Valid Fear of Being a Government-Issued Android Without Knowing It

Imagine living for over a thousand years, committing intergalactic crimes, then one random underpaid TVA clerk with a monotone voice suddenly introduces the possibility that, oh, by the way, what if you were secretly a robot this whole time? And Loki, who has always carried himself with the absolute certainty of a god, pauses. Like. “Wait. What if I am?”

He hears that question and immediately does a full mental diagnostic. Have I ever glitched? Ever felt oddly mechanical? Experienced an unusual fondness for oil? Maybe he’s too good at lying. Too good at surviving. What if that’s just the programming?

The TVA worker just moves on. He doesn’t elaborate. no reassurances. theres no safety net. Just the terrifying possibility that he might get instantly vaporized for something completely outside his control.

Id like to note, his hesitation isn’t even just some random existential crisis, it’s trauma-informed. This man already lived through the experience of waking up one day and realizing he wasn’t who he thought he was.

He grew up thinking he was a prince, a god, Odin’s rightful son, only to find out he was actually a stolen relic of war. A Jotun. A creature he’d been taught to hate.

He thought he knew himself before, and he was wrong. What if he’s wrong again? What if theres something else about himself thats been hidden? If he didn’t realize he was a Frost Giant, whats stopping him from not realizing he’s actually some highly advanced synthetic being?

It’s not just a funny existential gag, it’s a callback to one of the most devastating truths of Loki’s existence:

He has never really known who he is.

It’s the muscle memory of having his entire identity ripped out from under him. It’s the learned fear of asking, What am I, actually?

Because the last time he asked that question, the answer ruined him.

[musette22]

I'll never get over the fact that Steve openly said that in a possible romantic relationship, he wants someone with 'shared life experience'. When Natasha asks about his love life, this is the reason that he is not dating, because he doesn't have shared life experience with people he could potentially date.

So marvel had him say this, and then wrote only one other character that has shared life experience. Only one other character who grew up in Brooklyn during the Great Depression, faced bullies in alleyways, went through ww2 and fought hydra during it, died in 1945, went through being frozen and unfrozen, became a supersoldier, woke up in a time completely different from the one they once knew, have truckloads of PTSD, has various disabilities, are seen as weapons/figures/soldiers instead of people. Now who is it? Cause it isn't either of his canon love interests. (I'm pretty sure one of the Russos said something about how part of what's special about Steve and Bucky's relationship is that no one else has been through what they have/knows what they know).

Steve's love interests in the movies don't have any shared life experience with him. Both were spies, not soldiers. And Steve does not trust spies (in the movies, not sure about the comics). He was only willing to be friends with Natasha once she stopped lying and was genuine with him. Peggy lived through ww2, but she stayed in London in a bunker while Steve fought in the front lines. She was also British, never had any disabilities and worked alongside Nazis. Sharon was also a spy and she was introduced to be spying on Steve under shield's orders, which led to him being visibly cold to her once this was revealed. (It's also especially disturbing that her cover was that of a nurse, which was the job of Steve's mother. I can't see Steve willing to be with her after that).

Sam has some similar life experience to Steve. Both fought in wars, albeit different ones, and lost someone they cared about during said wars. However that second example no longer applies once it's revealed Bucky is actually alive.

Steve even basically confirms Bucky has shared life experience with him in the helicarrier scene - 'You've known me your whole life.' So I have to wonder what the hell marvel wanted us to take away from this. I've seen romance movies where the main character will describe what she wants in a partner, and then that exact man magically appears in her life. Yet when that scenario happens with Steve and Bucky . . .

I genuinely don't know what else they could've been trying to do with that line. I guess you could say that Steve and Peggy lived in the same time and knew each other during the war, which is technically some shared life experience, but a) it wasn't nearly as much as Bucky and Steve shared, and b) they weren't trying to push the Steggy agenda in TWS (they were closing that chapter, and they should've kept it closed). And yeah, you're very right about Sharon, that's not hardly shared life experience.

And I'm pretty sure that ridiculous kiss wasn't actually planned yet during the TWS days anyway, but rather came about after TWS had everyone suddenly shipping Stucky, and they needed to het-con Steve. And as for Sam; regardless of how much life experience he and Steve may share, he was of course never a viable romantic option for Steve, for obvious reasons.

And all of that combined with the fact that Bucky shows up literally minutes after Steve says that line... it does seem likely they wrote it with Bucky in mind, to be honest. Too bad they were too scared to go the distance and finish what they'd started...

[ughigottaheadache]

I’m legit already in mourning for the Tommy tag when that next show he’s supposed to be in comes out the tag is going to be so damned rancid and I’m dreading how awfully they’ll characterise him. God I wish this shit ended after endgame bc it’s making being in the comics part of the fandom hell and it’s not even good. I miss when hero movies and shows were good.

[galpalaven]

The NPCs not talking to Rook isn’t the end of the series as we knew it — the cumulative of every bad decision made in Veilguard sets a precedent that can only be the end of the series as we knew it. They’re not gonna walk it back in DA5 and give us something like Origins or 2 again just because we asked. The Dragon Age we all loved is over. They also explicitly said they are done with Thedas and everyone in it (Dalish elves in general included) as a whole, which is also an explicit End.

Hope that helps

[sersi]

the ways in which brave new world's box office performance/critical reception is constantly used to attack and question sam's place in the mcu and as leader of the Avengers©️ versus the extensive mental and verbal gymnastics that happen anytime there's new evidence of d*redevil: b*rn again's viewership under-performance 🤡

[alwida10]

After the … horrible*cough* … most deep and tragic, but certainly not satisfying conclusion of the Loki series, I would like to randomly cite one of the writers of Thor (2011) with a random advise for aspiring and established script writers. 🙂

That’s all. 🙂

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

first the pirate poll drama and now the stucky fans are frothing at the mouth lmao. literally i think everyone just hates the ofmd fandom bc they want what we have (queer queer romance written by a diverse writers room that actually cares about the characters and the story they're telling)

[humandisastertonystark]

So...let me get this straight again once and for all because I can't believe this isn't just a very, very bad fever dream.

After horribly killing him off in Infinity War, they decide to bring him back as a complete caricature of himself, basically making him an incompetent bumbling fool, to let their insufferable Mary Sue shine who shits all over him with the rest of the other characters for a whole damn season and then they reward him, after all this unnecessary additional torment, with the responsibility to fix the mess caused by Mary Sue, holding the timelines together for all eternity, doomed to be alone forever...something they also made him say he is the most scared of, multiple times.

How very fucking lovely

I can't believe I'm actually saying this but I wish he would've just stayed dead after IW

Also I hope everyone responsible for this, steps on Legos multiple times a day for the rest of their lifes

[vrsenus]

I’m gonna be honest as much as I wanted more agathario scenes or even a backstory i’m actually not surprised it wasn’t shown, The show was never about their relationship it’s always been about on the ballad and the road.

[thetimelordbatgirl]

You wanna know the biggest red flag that the MCU doesn't seen the Young Avengers as their own team and just sees them as copies of the Avengers??? Miss America whose literally her own hero in the comics, no mentors or anything and is a unique character in terms of powers and such...is literally not only nerfed in her debut film in the MCU just so they can make her like some of the other young heroes in MCU in need of rescue by the older heroes, but is also literally turned into a sorcerer in training at the end and even compared to Doctor Strange when he started training. Like. They basically took a unique and non-connected to the Avengers character like Miss America and made her basically a copy of Doctor Strange. Because the MCU does not get the Young Avengers at all and just thinks they must be either relatives or copies of certain Avengers.

[harpyexe-writes]

Okay so I’m not entirely in the MCU fandom, I will occasionally peruse fanfics of Thor, and more recently Bruce

But like there’s hardly any??? Not only that by why is that when I do put in x reader for these two specific characters I’ll mostly either get Loki, Tony, Steve or Bucky???

Why are people tagging x readers for shit that isn’t about the character??

And why the lack of Bruce Banner and Thor fics? I mean COME ON!

Also dont get me started on the more than likely mischaracterisation of the characters- I once tried reading a Logan fic where Steve was your ex and was really judgmental and a bitch?? What the fuck?

But hey I’m not into character analysis that much I just like consuming content and not giving shit much thought

This has been a Harpy Ramble

[medianatomy]

No, You Don’t Have Superhero Fatigue.

(You have Capitalism Fatigue)

***

Superhero Fiction has been one of the most inspiring and hopeful genres of fiction for decades (85 years to be exact). There’s been thousands and thousands of comics, cartoons, movies, video games, songs—and anything else you can think of—inspired by this genre, and even in the new year of 2025 that still rings true. Marvel has long since departed from its humble golden age comic book days and settled into the cinematic powerhouse that is the MCU…or, was the MCU, before it mutated (no pun intended) from its small start with the Avengers 2012 movie and began churning out new movies, new exclusive mini-series, and more than was ever probably demanded of them in the first place.

For a while it seemed almost untouchable, especially during the Infinity War and Endgame arcs. In some ways it was even a cultural shift, changing comics and superheroes from something considered nerdy and synonymous with neckbeards (and other overweight, terminally online, socially disconnected man-child stereotype variants).

Of course superheroes were always cool, but the MCU made it cool to like superheroes publicly. Dare I say it made them mainstream, at least in the sense of the audience. Suddenly, you weren’t a loser for spending hours theorizing about gifts and clues in each new Marvel film, or gushing about a new character that was going to be adapted and how you as a fan would envision that—you could even make a career out of it if you wanted! Yessir, Marvel was a cinematic GIANT. Until it suddenly just stopped being one, anyways.

So what happened? When did we get tired? It wasn’t too long ago when every trailer and every hint towards a new project would leave audiences (myself very much included) on the edge of our seats, breath bated, brains insatiably hungry for the next course. Marvel used to be all consuming. I’m not good at timelines and did not closely follow the MCU (I haven’t even seen them all in order to this day LOL) so I can’t tell you the exact precise details of its fall-off. I know, from the words of other YouTubers and–partially–my own disinterest, that all the good things seemed to end with Endgame/The Infinity Saga.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean that any other Marvel movie after Endgame is horrible—they’re plenty fun, for sure—but that’s about all you can say about it. They’re fun to watch. The music is cool, the effects are good, suits are accurate, they called back to this movie or comic thing and referenced a meme, etc, whatever. IDK. Not my habitat, not my environmental qualities. But they weren’t all consuming like they used to be. These films didn’t have any time to breathe on their own before an unanticipated sequel or spinoff show was thrown into our faces at top speed.

To give you an idea of what I mean, look at the phase timelines between the first saga and the current saga:

For further clarification, PHASE 1 consists of: Iron Man (May 2008) -> The Incredible Hulk (June 2008) * -> Iron Man 2 (May 7 2010) -> Thor (May 2011) -> Captain America: The First Avenger (July 2011) -> The Avengers (May 2012)

*I'm like 90% sure this film wasn’t intended for the lineup since it has a different production studio altogether and only had its rights bought after failing to meet a sequel deadline to the really weird 2003 movie.

Also, my original idea for this was to say, “hey Phase One had more space between its projects to let them be their own thing and to ensure more time and care goes into the next project because they actually cared about it at some point long ago,” but I might have actually proved myself wrong! Especially with the added information that Marvel just bought out Universal’s rights to make a movie about Hulk because they failed to make a sequel on time…good Lord. Good thing I’m only writing to myself :)

But as my hypothetical audience will see shortly, Marvel’s tendency to prioritize producing content as opposed to creating movies is a running theme in their company, and it bleeds painfully into the MCU—as is apparent with the hundreds of “The MCU is dead/dying/crumbling/declining/ and other synonyms for all those things” video essays that nitpick the same or similar issues with recent movies. And more to the matter, it’s why the phrase “superhero fatigue” even exists.

If you went back in time to 2016 during the height of SJW culture and fourth wave feminism and asked any Marvel film-bro why he thinks the MCU is done for, he would inevitably respond with something like “The SJW Feminazis” or “The Woke” or whatever. And that’s if you completely ignore how deeply rooted in politics the genre has been almost since its conception, and the inherent politics of any media featuring the U.S. government and military, and the fact that the MCU has been peddling propaganda behind shiny CGI along with every movie to ever feature the government and military.

If you asked someone now what ruined it, they’d probably say something about “the woke” or the fact that they just don’t want the stories the MCU is giving out anymore, because the stories themselves are weak and bland and scarily unprovoking. What I’m getting at is that you do not have superhero fatigue. You have Capitalism Fatigue. While I’m never one to praise industries for anything, especially since I am in a certain position of informational access and societal progression where most people are aware that Hollywood has always been an abusive greedy shithole of a place (and Walt Disney was a Nazi), it would just be wrong and an utter disservice to pretend there weren't good people with genuine passion in their work trying to make waves in the only system that allowed them to, because they always did and still do.

But the system itself, however many passionate people helped build it, has unfortunately always existed to make money, even at the cost of what they’re trying to sell. The problem lies in seeing art as a product. The problem is, of course, capitalism. Capitalism is the system that demands money above everything—above your time, health, relationships, and livelihood, and that doesn’t stop at art, because capitalism sees everything and everyone as a source of exploitation to become even richer.

For example, the artists behind Marvel’s CGI, VFX, costuming etc are overworked and underpaid and often get very little in return for what they do.

———

[macadam]

what was your first favorite transformers character when you were new to the franchise? are they your favorite still, or did your thoughts change?

Ratchet, followed closely by Optimus. And they are definitely still my favourites for sure. I'm happy ratchet is one of the more consistent and recurring characters in tf media because I <3 him and every characterization of him except you bayverse fuck you fuck you fuck you penis blast of which I did not know when I had only watched tfp because, well, I had no idea about any of the other media except the movies and g1.

[annachum]

I remember what the MCU fandom is like when I first joined in the 2010s

It features these things :

. Domestic Avengers HCs ( game nights, chores, Clint often spying thru the vents, Thor eating pop tarts, etc )

. Tony Stark nicknaming everyone else just because

. An MCU fan version of Ragnarok where Odin is the Big Bad and Loki and Thor team up to defeat Odin and such

. Loki x Sigyn fanfics, where Sigyn is very often depicted as a sunshine blonde who is like the Belle to Loki's Prince Adam

. Fan lores where Sigyn is a Vanir - Dwarven hybrid, a daughter of Freya and Ivaldi, and has a bunch of sisters

. Thor x Jane wedding and marriage arcs

. Clintasha shipping ( till AOU ), Steve x Natasha shipping, Bruce x Natasha fanfics, Sif x Steve shipping, a bunch of other fan crackships

. Rhodey has a family of his own

. Betty x Bruce angst and romance drama

. Crazy Marvel crossover lores, including one fic which depicted Attilan as some Star Trek like retro futuristic realm

. AUs where Pietro lives and lives with the Avengers and has his own series of hijinks

. Avengers/X Men crossovers

. Little Heroes AU, Medieval Fantasy AU, Derpvengers, etc

. Steve x Bucky crackshipping, Steve x Peggy x Bucky throuple, Bruce having a brief romance with some Sakarr woman in between AOU and Thor 3

The MCU fandom is just WILD

Also there's a fan AU where Asgard is kinda like the South of Westeros and Vanaheim is kinda like the North of Westeros

Since there's a bunch of fan lore about Asgard and Vanaheim in MCU, I turned my attention to explore more on Alfheim and Nidavellir in MCU ( which is sometimes forgotten in MCU fandom )

Oh and there are some Loki x Mobius and Loki x Darcy Lewis Crack ships on the fandom, for some reason

When I read those Sigyn MCU fanfics in 2010s, I often imagine her looking smth like these :

Basically in those fanfics, she's often depicted as similar vibes to Belle and Sansa Stark, equipped with beauty, wit and unwavering devotion to Loki galore. And either from Asgard or Vanaheim. And also has some similar traits to Frigga

And then Sigyn in those fics is often depicted as a silk hiding steel magician with a ' fairest of them all ' trope, and often a Ravenpuff or Gryffinpuff

I actually quite enjoy those fics tbf

HP fandom has his own share of wildness

In the HP fanfics in the 2010s, Astoria is often depicted as a seemingly sweet and demure ' English Rose ' who is also cunning ,and Daphne is often depicted as an ' ice queen '

They just often tried to recycle 2010 fanon! Loki x Sigyn in those 2010 Drastoria fanfics

I just depicted Astoria as a snarky and composed goth girl and Daphne being a more materialistic, gregarious diva who cares for her sister and those she held dearest

And then a bunch of people shipped Daphne Greengrass with Theodore Nott

I always shipped Daphne Greengrass with Blaise Zabini

A thing with the Loki x Sigyn and Drastoria fanfics in 2010s is that they often go for the tormented bad boy x sunshine ' good girl ' ship trope

Which....can vary in results

I mean, they did a similar thing with Hades/Persephone in lore Olympus

[farsight-the-char]

MCU burned through so many of iconic Captain American villains they now have to borrow Hulk's villains (Ross and Sabara).

Kinda funny how badly the MCU was planned.

[ironladders]

honest to god not only is billy’s mcu casting bad but even if he was more accurately cast, the way they’re adapting his origin as wiccan in agatha just… sucks