DISCLAIMER: These are all just MY opinions!
So recently I finally published my reviews for all canon Star Wars films and shows, which I wanted to do before the release of all the stuff that was announced at the Disney Investors Call, since that will mark the beginning of a whole new era for Star Wars. That being said, considering the fact that Marvel has just begun a whole new era of their own with WandaVision, and DC is about to cave into fan demands with Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and everything in general is moving to streaming thanks to the pandemic, we are not just entering a new era for Star Wars, but a new era for all of pop culture. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity as we experience this transition point to summarize all of my current thoughts on all these different franchises, and the things that result from them.
For today, we’ll just focus on superheroes. So without further ado, let’s start with…
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)
It’s not so much the franchise itself that I hate, but rather it’s most hardcore of fans. These are some of the most pretentious and elitist people I’ve ever met. They act like most of these movies are the fucking bible, and that if you say even just one measly little thing you dislike about almost any of them, then you’re a sinner. I can’t even count on two hands how many looks of “How dare you!!” that I’ve gotten from hardcore Marvel fans when I said something bad about one of the Avengers films, or whatever. Mind you, I understand that this is only a minority of the fandom, but they’re a loud minority.
While I applaud Marvel for pulling off an elaborate 23-film structure, I can’t also shake the fact that most of this wasn’t planned either. As I’ve said in a past post, they didn’t know they were doing the Thanos thing until the first Avengers film was already in reshoots, and there have been other retcons since then. Marvel just does a better job than Star Wars at making everything look seamless is all, but the MCU itself has only existed since 2008. Yes, it’s based on comics that have been around for 60 years now, but the unified film franchise itself has only been around for 13 years, and not 40 years, which is how old Star Wars was when The Last Jedi was released. Let’s see how well the MCU is still doing in 2048…
Another thing that bugs me is that, for the most part, these movies all still have the same vanilla “feel” that superhero films in general seem to have had since the very first Superman film hit theaters way back in 1978. Phase 1 especially was filled with a bunch of these cliches like the generic love interest characters that don’t do much, the generic villains that are just big gray versions of the heroes with no motivations, etc. To be fair though, the other phases since then have done a good job breaking further and further away from this formula, so I gotta give the MCU credit for that.
As far as my own preferences are concerned; the first Guardians of the Galaxy film and Thor: Ragnarok are easily my favorites, as they embrace that pulpy “space opera” feel that made the original Jack Kirby comics so great. That being said, I think the other two Thor films are just okay (fun but messy), and I have issues with Guardians 2. The second act of that movie is just pure dead air. At one point, Gamora asks “What are we doing here?!” And my response was “Yeah, what are you doing there?! Why did you agree to go with Ego to his planet so easily? Why have you been staying there for days? How long do you plan to stay there, exactly?” If the plot isn’t gonna move, I would at least like some nice character development, which I felt that film was sorely lacking, and no, the retcon of turning Yondu into a father figure for Star-Lord doesn’t count (though Michael Rooker acted his ass off there, I'll admit). It’s easily one of the most overrated entries in the entire MCU, for me. That being said, I still admire James Gunn, and I’m happy that he got rehired. I look forward to Guardians 3. I also really like Captain America: The Winter Soldier, though the whole thing about the Hydra supercomputer being able to determine potential threats based on SAT scores was one of the stupidest things ever. I assume Stephen Strange was mentioned because Hydra already saw him as a threat based on his intellect, and not his powers, which I’m fine with, I guess.
But none of this compares to my feelings on the two biggest films in this whole series; Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, which are essentially two parts of the same movie. For starters, I thought Infinity War was fairly decent. If you’re going to bring all the different factions of the universe together for one big, climatic event, that is more or less how you do it. Yes, Thanos’s motivations make no sense whatsoever, but I felt the personality of the character, and the way Josh Brolin played him, more than made up for it. In my opinion, structuring the whole movie around him as an “anti-hero,” of sorts, was a pretty smart move. I also didn’t mind the rather “dark and dreary” feel of the movie. While I usually don’t like that stuff, I think it fit well here. Can’t really explain why. It just “felt right.” I’ve also heard some people complain about how this movie wouldn’t be able to stand on its own if it didn’t exist alongside all the other MCU films, and while I agree, this is the one time where I’m willing to give something like that a pass, since the 23-film structure of this franchise is already pretty complex as is, and this is the “culmination” of all that. The only thing I didn’t like was how Thor’s entire character arc from Ragnarok was seemingly reversed (and the jarring tonal inconsistencies between that film and this one make it worse too), but I’m willing to let that slide, since I enjoyed the rest of the movie… Oh yeah, except Star-Lord. He sucked in this too, but it’s whatever.
Now, that all being said… I have a lot of issues with Endgame… The whole thing felt like three very different movies (that don’t really go together, frankly) all shoved into one big, overstuffed package. The first hour is a post-apocalyptic movie, taking place five whole years after Infinity War. This already pisses me off, because it raises too many questions of ethics. Bringing literally half of the world’s population back out of nowhere after they’ve been gone for five entire years would cause so many problems for everyone (emotional issues, economic issues, etc.) that, realistically, it’s not even worth bringing them back after that long. Sorry if that sounds cruel, and I know it’s just a movie, but come on! I get that they wanted Thanos’s actions to have an impact, but I think they took it too far, and fucked with the tone too much as a result. The fact that the next film, Spider-Man: Far From Home, tried to make a joke out of all this and then quickly brush it under the rug like nothing ever happened makes me hate it even more. I know WandaVision recently tried to retroactively make it more serious. Too late, don’t care.
Then the next hour of Endgame is a time travel movie, and as I’ve said in previous posts, I hate those types of films (bar a few exceptions), and the time travel (or multiverse travel, whatever) in this movie did nothing to win me over. The fact that the movie breaks it’s own time travel rules with Old Man Cap at the end pisses me off even further (people hated the hyperspace kamikaze in The Last Jedi but were okay with this?). Doctor Strange and Infinity War were already pushing it with the time stone stuff, but Endgame took it over the edge for me. I’m fine with Cap getting his “happy ending” with Peggy that he always wanted. I just wish Old Man Cap wasn’t there at the end, is all. I think the other heroes would’ve been able to quickly realize that the reason he never returned was cause he went to go live out his life with her. Also, I know MCU boss Kevin Feige said that he always wanted to do time travel… Okay, fine. But couldn’t they have at least tried to keep the rules consistent?
Then the final hour is nothing more than a Lord of the Rings ripoff. In short; this whole film felt soulless to me. I get that Marvel wanted their “grand finale” to feel really unexpected and different, but personally, I would’ve preferred a more straightforward story set right after Infinity War that would’ve shown the remaining Avengers figuring out how to properly defeat present-day Thanos and reverse the snap right away. Not five years later! I think a lot of people who saw this movie just bought into the hype. That being said, I understand that the MCU means a lot to some people (like how Star Wars means a lot to me). So if this movie “felt” right to you, then I’m glad you liked it. To each their own. I still applaud it for it’s ambition, as well as for all of the money that it made.
Now, even though I didn’t like the finale of the now-dubbed “Infinity Saga,” I still think the future of this whole franchise has the potential to do some more interesting stuff. The fact that they’re making the shows more important now is kinda neat, and I really love WandaVision so far (it might be my favorite thing in the MCU now outside of Guardians 1 and Ragnarok), though admittedly I’m nervous about the whole multiverse thing it’s obviously building up to. Also, even though the Marvel fandom still seems to be mostly united now, I have a feeling that can change literally any second. We came super close to this shit all falling apart with Avengers: Age of Ultron, a movie that most people actually disliked when they first saw it, myself included (and I blame both director Joss Whedon and the studio for that). Sure, they were able to develop cool stuff from it since, but the movie itself is still polarizing, and if we ever get another movie that divisive ever again, I have a hard time seeing the fandom staying as united as it is now…
To summarize my thoughts on the rest of these: Iron Man was good (until the final battle at least), and it’s two sequels are a mixed bag. The Incredible Hulk was bad (I don’t think the character of Hulk himself works as a central protagonist, really). I used to not like Captain America: The First Avenger, but it has since grown on me (as I get now that it’s supposed to be a homage to swashbuckler adventure serials), though it still has some problems. Captain America: Civil War was also good, though often felt like two movies combined together. I appreciate the first Avengers film for being the first to pull off the whole superhero crossover thing. Both Ant-Man films have some charm. Doctor Strange was pretty trippy, which I can respect. Black Panther was good, for the most part. What happened to Chadwick Boseman was absolutely heartbreaking. Hopefully they find a tasteful way to honor him in the sequel. I have mixed feelings on Captain Marvel (more on that one later). Daredevil was good, but it’s not clear just how canon that show is or isn’t, so whatever. Haven’t seen the other shows.
So on that note, let’s move on to…
The DC Extended Universe (DCEU)/ Snyderverse
Man… Where do I even start with this one?!… Okay, first thing is first: It’s annoying how the two sides of this fandom literally talk to each other in hashtags. On one side, you have people crying out “ReleaseTheSnyderCut” and “RestoreTheSnyderVerse,” and on the other side, you have people crying out “RejectTheSnyderCut” and “ResistTheSnyderCULT.” Personally, I find both of these sides to be way too extreme. They both represent fan entitlement at its worst. Who are any of these people to say what DC Films should or shouldn’t do? What’s interesting is that none of this would’ve ever happened before social media existed, but that’s a whole other can of worms…
I suppose the argument could be made that DC caving in to all the fan demand to actually finish the director’s cut of Justice League (now dubbed Zack Snyder’s Justice League) sets a bad standard for the future, as it leads fans to expecting that they can get whatever they want as long as they bitch and moan about it for long enough. That being said, however, the circumstances here are a little different, considering that Snyder stepped away from the original production of Justice League after his daughter’s tragic passing. I may not like Snyder’s films, or most of the things he says in interviews, but it was still a shame that he never got the chance to finish his original vision due to such a sad situation, so the fact that he’s finally getting the opportunity to do so now is cool.
For those who are pissed about it, here’s my suggestion: Just pretend that the timeline splits after Man of Steel. On one timeline branch, you have Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice - Ultimate Edition and Zack Snyder’s Justice League completing Snyder’s “trilogy,” with Suicide Squad: Extended Cut thrown in for good measure. Together, all these films make up “the Snyderverse.” Then, on the other timeline branch, you have the theatrical versions of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad and Justice League, along with all the other films that have been released since, and the planned future ones too. Together, these all make up the proper “DC Extended Universe.” See? Was that so hard? I’m not a fan of the whole multiverse thing (as we’ll discuss here soon), but in this case, seeing it that way really helps to properly organize all this shit.
I guess it doesn’t really matter anyway, though, since the DCEU’s foundation was so flimsy to begin with. Man of Steel retroactively became the start of it all once DC realized that they weren’t making as much money as the Avengers films were. This is especially bad, because Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman were directed by Zack Snyder, a man who once called Superman “the enemy” and said he wished Batman was raped in prison in Batman Begins, and written by David S. Goyer, a man who once said that the only people who like characters like Martian Manhunter and She-Hulk are virgins, and that Batman Vs. Superman is what you do when you run out of ideas… Yikes…
But again, I’m fine with Zack Snyder’s Justice League being a real thing now. What I’m not fine with, however, is the fan culture that has resulted from it since. As much as I try to be neutral with all this, I have to admit that I absolutely hate seeing the “RestoreTheSnyderVerse” hashtag everywhere now. Just because Snyder is getting the chance to properly close out his vision (I know he was originally supposed to do one or two more Justice League films, but whatever) doesn’t mean DC should just suddenly scrap all of their current plans and give him all the power back now. Whether people like it or not, the DC Extended Universe at large has moved on. That being said, if for whatever reason the powers that be at DC decide to cancel all the upcoming films and give the keys to the kingdom back to Snyder, then fine, but that should be their decision, made on their own terms. They shouldn’t do that just because a bunch of so-called “fans” are clamoring for it.
The reason this is all different from the fan uproar to get the final season of The Clone Wars finally completed and released is because that show doesn’t really override the rest of the continuity in the (post-Disney sale) Star Wars universe, whereas “restoring the Snyderverse” would. Unless, that is, they decided to have the Snyderverse and the proper DCEU continuing to run alongside each other (kinda like what I suggested above for all the stuff that exists up until now), but there’s no way they’d ever do that, especially since all of the other multiverse stuff they’re planning now is already confusing as is.
And then there’s all the controversy that surrounds DC’s parent company, Warner Bros. The Joss Whedon and Ray Fisher controversy, the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard controversy, the Ezra Miller controversy, the fact that Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill keep stepping in and out of all this, the fact that WB released an announcement about a fake Frosty the Snowman reboot with Jason Mamoa just to try to distract people from all of their other bad press… I can go on! I’m not gonna go into any detail here, though, because it doesn’t really have anything to do with the topic of pop culture itself. I will say this, though: I have a sinking feeling that every studio in Hollywood is fucked up like this. The rest of them just seem to mostly do a better job at covering their own tracks than WB does, is all.
In short; the Snyder films feel more like “elseworld” films, and probably should’ve been marketed that way from the very get-go, instead of retroactively being turned into the foundation of DC’s mainline answer to the MCU. The theatrical version of Batman v. Superman in particular should’ve been an “elseworld” thing that was rated R. When I saw it, there was a little kid sitting with his dad right in front of me, to my right, and when Batman was killing a bunch of thugs, the kid said “Daddy, is that a bad Batman?” Then when the two titular characters finally started fighting (90 minutes into the movie), the kid started happily swinging his fists in the air, cause what he came to see was finally happening, but then the fight ended just a few minutes later, and the kid went back to looking confused. Also, as Wonder Woman was looking at the clips of the other heroes, the dad had to whisper into the kid’s ear what was going on and who each character was, and the kid still looked lost as all hell…
The funniest thing though is that, as soon as the movie ended, some teenager sitting right next to me screamed to his friend that was right next to him “That was so bad, dude!” and then the friend shouted “Nooooo!” as he ran out of the theater. I caught some other fellow attendees outside, and overheard one of them say “I can’t believe they spent that much money on something that bad!” I knew right then and there that the DCEU was destined to be controversial in some way or another forever. Actually, right before I saw it, some random guy told me in the bathroom “It was weird. Be wary of the first 90 minutes.” I should’ve known right then and there that I was in trouble…
That all being said, even if Snyder’s films were “elseworld” things, they still wouldn’t fully work, cause if you’re trying to imagine what Superman would be like in real life, then you might as well just go all the way with it and make him evil. Either that, or WB should just adapt one of the good elseworld Superman stories from the comics (All-Star Superman, Kingdom Come, New Frontier, etc.). Either way, it’s clear that Snyder never wanted to make “MCU-like” films, so WB should’ve just rebooted again after Man of Steel, with someone else in charge. Oh, and when I say “the Snyder films,” by the way, I’m not counting the theatrical version of Justice League (since he didn’t really direct that one, despite still getting credit). Ironically, I actually enjoy that one, but only when I pretend it’s a comedy movie from 1995 (same can be said for Sony’s Venom). As far as my opinions on the rest of them go; Suicide Squad sucked (the new one looks good though), the first Wonder Woman was good, Aquaman was charming but weird and too long (the secondary villain should’ve been cut), Shazam was good (for the most part), and Joker was a little pretentious (I know it’s not really in the DCEU, but whatever). Haven’t seen any others… Okay, moving on!
The X-Men Foxverse
Similar to the whole DCEU/ Snyderverse situation, I just pretend that the X-Men Origins: Wolverine film from 2009 isn’t canon, since it causes so many continuity issues. I know both Deadpool films reference it, but those films are meant to be “loose” and break the fourth wall already as is, so it doesn’t matter. Also, I had to look this up, but apparently the original X-Men trilogy has been retconned a bit and no longer takes place in the early 2000’s (which was when those movies were made), but rather much later, to explain why the characters all look so much older there than they do in Dark Phoenix, which takes place in 1992 (and in a different timeline, but that doesn’t matter). Kinda like how the third Fast & Furious film, Tokyo Drift, was made in 2006 but now retroactively takes place much later (in between the sixth and seventh films, to be exact). If I recall correctly, though, there’s at least one character in Tokyo Drift that uses an old flip phone (let alone all the old cars). Maybe we can retroactively consider that guy to be a hipster? Are there any old phones and stuff in the first three X-Men films too? Also, this still doesn’t explain why the X-Men looked the same from the 1960’s to the 1990’s. Do all mutants just age slowly, like Logan does? Oh wait, that doesn't add up, cause Mystique is still younger than Charles and Eric in the first film from 2000. Is that just one of her fake looks? Or do different mutants age at different rates or something? Ugh, my brain hurts…
As far as which I like and which I don’t, I agree with the majority out there on this one. The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants are all really bad, and the rest of them are all really good. Not much else to say there. So let's move on to…
Spider-Man
I liked all three Raimi movies when I was a kid (except Spider-Man 3 of course), but nowadays I find them all to be a little overrated. This version of Mary Jane is very poorly written in my opinion, and the fact that Peter Parker’s entire character arc seems to pivot around his affection for her makes it even worse, for me. I also don’t like either of the Andrew Garfield films, and the Tom Holland films are only good if you kinda forget that he’s Peter Parker/ Spider-Man. The only movie that I think has gotten it completely right so far is the 2018 animated film Into the Spider-Verse. Funny that the live-action films seem to be trying to copy it now, somewhat. Speaking of which…
Multiverses
The fact that both Marvel and DC are confirmed to be moving in the direction of multiverse storytelling, let alone at the same time as one another, just gives me a raging headache. They seriously expect me to keep up with multiple Batmen and multiple Spider-Men and whatnot? All at once? Give me a break! As much as I enjoy stuff like Michael Keaton’s Batman, I’d rather he not coexist alongside two other Batmen (those being Ben Affleck and Robert Pattinson, of course). And if rumors are to be believed, Star Wars might also start playing around with this multiverse concept via the upcoming Ahsoka show. I would like to think that Star Wars wouldn’t sink that low, but these days, nothing really surprises me anymore… But you know what, as much as I dislike the thought of all this multiverse shit, even I have to admit that it was inevitable. All of these fandoms are getting too big, and different people want different things… UPDATE: Star Wars: Visions doesn’t really count as true “multiverse” stuff, in my opinion, and besides, the fact that it’s not canon is probably for the best, as it allows the creators to tell whatever stories they truly want to tell.
Hypocrites in the superhero movies biz
You know what’s funny? When critically-acclaimed composer Hans Zimmer did the music for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, he said he’d be “retiring from the superhero business” after that. You know what other films he’s done the music for since then? Dark Phoenix and Wonder Woman 1984. So much for retiring from superhero stuff, I guess! Now, to be fair, he probably just genuinely had a change of heart about the superhero genre, though I have a feeling something else was at play here (cough-money!-cough). Hans is just one of many examples of this, though. Remember when Ben Affleck vowed to never play a superhero again after that Daredevil film he did in 2003?
Let’s stop there for now. I know there are other superhero films, but I don’t think I really care enough to talk about them, so we’ll talk about some non-superhero franchises next time.
Peace!
Click here for Part 2.
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