Marvel Cinematic Universe Running Thread

[Centurion40]

And now Vin Diesel is a part of the Marvel Universe:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/vin-diesel-teases-merging-of-brands-for-unknown-2016-marvel-project/

[Centurion40]

Looks like 2015 is going to be a kick-ass movie year for us geeks!

http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/marvel-moves-ant-man-to-july-2015-star-wars-holiday-release-likely/

Ant Man
Man of Steel 2
Avengers 2
Star Wars 7

[mirth]

Looks like 2015 is going to be a kick-ass movie year for us geeks!

http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/marvel-moves-ant-man-to-july-2015-star-wars-holiday-release-likely/

Ant Man
Man of Steel 2
Avengers 2
Star Wars 7

Or a year of huge disappointments.

[Centurion40]

Yer a glass-half empty kinda guy, aren't ya?  ;)

[mirth]

Yer a glass-half empty kinda guy, aren't ya?  ;)

Been burned too many times. I'm fairly confident that Avengers 2 will be great. The rest could go either way.

[bayonetbrant]

hoping that Ant-Man works out well, but I have a feeling it's going to be a cross between the second Ghost Rider movie and The Ant Bully, with a dose of environmental preachyism thrown in

[Centurion40]

Oooo the 2nd Ghost Rider!  That's cold!

[Staggerwing]

I have not seen the second Ghost rider. I liked the first so what went wrong with the second?

[bayonetbrant]

I liked the first so what went wrong with the second?

What went wrong?  It started when someone said "Let's make a sequel!"

[Martok]

Yer a glass-half empty kinda guy, aren't ya?  ;)

Been burned too many times. I'm fairly confident that Avengers 2 will be great. The rest could go either way.

Perfectly put, mirth.  Those are my feelings as well. 

[Centurion40]

I have not seen the second Ghost rider. I liked the first so what went wrong with the second?

Take the first one, make it 30% less entertaining and interesting, then add 10 additional parts of boredom.

[JasonPratt]

^^ Also make it effectively a reboot.

On the other hand, make it with Nicholas Cage dressed up in facepaint and ping-pong balls so he can act like a shaman having a spiritual fit, and paint GR's face over that.

On the other hand, shoot it all at a high shutter speed while rolling the camera around on a skateboard while drinking high-caffeine sodas.

On the other hand, let Ghost Rider flame up a construction crane for the finale.

On the other hand, film the whole thing in Poland, and set it there, too, for no clear reason.

(Disclaimer: I haven't actually watched GRnot-2. Or the first movie either for that matter. But I read a lot of things about both movies.)


Meanwhile, apparently Ultron is going to be derived from Stark's Iron Man work (which is why they've been designing his suits to look a bit like Ultron all along). This makes some amount of sense with the MovieU built so far, even though it breaks the Pym connection (and eliminates one of the interesting parts of Pym's character/story), because Jarvis took over a bunch of Iron Man suits for the finale of IM3, effectively becoming Iron Man -- right before something happened that might convince Jarvis 'he' should take over and operate suit construction without telling Tony. (I don't want to spoil things too much for anyone who hasn't watched IM3 yet -- it's coming out on Blu/DVD/rent very soon, so whoever that is will have a chance to see what I mean.)

[MetalDog]

Messing with canon pisses me off.  I don't mind minor tweaks, but, wholesale changes for the sake of what Hollywood determines is, "a good story," f*cking makes me mad!  The story was already, "good," which is why we like it to begin with.

[JasonPratt]

I don't mind messing with canon so long as (1) the adjustment makes sense in the context of the alternate work; and (2) provides a benefit equivalent to what it replaced (which can be very subjective, I admit); and (3) it's clear that this is an alternate work.

Having Jarvis become Ultron after learning to work the Iron Man suits, and in the aftermath of Tony's decision at the end of IM3, makes sense to me. (Which also explains why the thief guy and not Henry Pym really will be Ant Man in the movie -- with Pym's main connection to the Avengers property severed, someone else can be Ant Man or even Giant Man. How Janet factors into this, I haven't a clue, but she was originally going to be part of the Avengers movie somehow as Wasp without Pym being A/GM.)

It provides a benefit equivalent to what it replaced, possibly even moreso, because Tony is already an established character in the Movieverse, and the Ultron concept fits even better into his characteristic theme of people misusing his tech. (Which is exactly why Tony has already been connected to the creation of Ultron along with Pym in some other Avenger iterations recently. Maybe even in the original Ultron canon, if via retcon.)

And it's clear that the Movieverse is an alternate work.

So for me, all criteria are satisfied. :)

[mirth]

Jason, have you read anything that indicates the alternate Ultron origins story? Or are you basing it on what you've seen from the films to this point? Everything you say makes sense, but I haven't seen it advanced anywhere else.

I'd like to see them keep the Hank Pym/Ultron connection, but I'm terribly concerned about "canon" in comic-based movies. There are so many parallel universes, alternate timelines, reboots, etc. that idea of a definitive canon seems pointless.