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phantom-le6 · 5 months

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Ramble of the month December 2023: Phase 4 of the Batman Begins-Led DCEU

We now come to the last ramble of 2023, and to keep me from feeling more stress than I need to around the occasion I often call Stress-Mas, I’m sticking with my comfort zone of superhero film universes that could have been. In this case, it’s back to imagining the DCEU that could have been if Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins had launched DC’s live-action film continuity instead of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. So, let’s get right into it by quickly re-capping phases 1-3.

Phase 1:

2005: Batman Begins

2006: Man of Steel

2007: Wonder Woman

2008: The Dark Knight, Green Lantern

2009: The Flash, Man of Steel 2

2010: Aquaman, Justice League

Phase 2:

2011: Wonder Woman 2, Green Lantern 2, Green Arrow

2012: Hawkman, Batman/Superman, Aquaman 2

2013: John Constantine, The Flash 2, Suicide Squad

2014: Justice League 2, Green Arrow 2, Batman: The Long Crusade

Phase 3:

2015: Shazam, Man of Steel 3, The Atom

2016: Wonder Woman 3, Batgirl, Teen Titans

2017: Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Shazam vs Black Adam, Suicide Squad 2

2018: Justice League: Darkseid Rising, Aquaman 3, Doom Patrol

So, phase 1 is basically there to establish the DC universe in a film format and get the Justice League together. Phase 2 builds on that foundation, but it also takes a big whack at it by having Batman’s caution over his colleagues going rogue cause issues within the league. With Green Arrow 2, the caution proves apt and brings about a lot of change, which is followed up in phase 3. Now with the third Justice League film focusing on a prelude to an attack by Darkseid, one may assume phase 4 will take a similar tack to phase 3 of the real-life MCU and play into similar plot threads to Infinity War and Endgame. However, when we look into phase 4, things aren’t totally what you’d expect.

Phase 4:

2019: Superman: Doomsday, New Gods, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

2020: Suicide Squad: Arkham, Knightfall, Green Arrow 3

2021: Reign of the Supermen, Green Lantern: Twilight, Knightsend

2022: Justice League: Armageddon, Teen Titans 3, Justice Society

Looking at this, the more knowledgeable DC fans out there can probably see what I mean when I talk about phase 4 maybe not going where you’d think. We’re channelling some major shake-up story arcs from the 1990’s in this phase, so expect the unexpected is definitely a must. However, for those who may be less knowledgeable and for those who want to get into the blow-by-blow details, let’s check these hypothetical DCEU phase 4 films.

Superman: Doomsday (2019) Directed by JJ Abrams

Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent = Brandon Routh

Lois Lane = Kate Bosworth

Kara Zor-El/Supergirl = Dakota Fanning

Doomsday = Terry Notary

Lex Luthor = Kelsey Grammer

Mercy Graves = Scarlett Johannsen

John Henry Irons = Aldis Hodge

Hank Henshaw = John Kraskinski

Terri Henshaw = Kate Mara

Martha Kent = Diane Lane

Jonathan Kent = Kevin Costner

Jor-El = Russell Crowe

Dr Emil Hamilton = Richard Schiff

Perry White = Sam Neill

Jimmy Olsen = Rider Strong

Cat Grant = January Jones

Steve Lombard = Josh Brolin

Capt. Maggie Sawyer = Jeri Ryan

Insp. Turpin = Colin Farrell

Bibbo Bibbowski = Luke Hemsworth

Mongul = Ioan Gruffudd

Guy Gardner = Damian Lewis

Dinah Lance/Black Canary = Malin Akerman

J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter = Chiwetel Ejiofor

Barry Allen/The Flash = Matt Damon

Booster Gold/Michael Jon Carter = Alexander Ludwig

Fire/Beatriz Bonilla da Costa = Selena Gomez

Ice/Tora Olafsdotter = Kristine Froseth

Mari McCabe/Vixen = Lupita Nyong'o

To date, the Death of Superman story arc of the 1990’s has had three adaptations in film. The first was an animated home-release film called Superman: Doomsday, which heavily shortened the death arc and went a long way off the original source material story regarding Superman’s absence and eventual return. Next came Zack Snyder’s Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, which essentially shoe-horned a version of the story into its ending, then mangled the resurrection arc between Snyder and Joss Whedon in the 2017 Justice League film. Third were the DCAMU film adaptations from 2018 and 2019, with the first being a fairly accurate adaptation of the Death arc, while the second film was similarly good quality on part 2.

For this alternate DCEU, I’d want to borrow the title of the first attempt, ignore anything Snyder-based and try for a longer and slightly different variation on what the DCAMU gave us. As a result, we still get a good quality adaptation without being a carbon copy. The plot is roughly the same, in that Superman would have to go up against an alien monster called Doomsday, and has to lay down his life to end the threat. However, changes include the Justice League line-up aiding him, Lex Luthor isn’t trying to pass himself off as his illegitimate Australian son (don’t know what the comics were thinking on that one), and of course it’s the more modern Supergirl on hand instead of the 90’s version.

The cast is mostly retained from prior films, though a few are new in this film, specifically Doomsday, the Henshaws, Bibbowski, Mongul and JL members Fire, Ice and Booster Gold. In addition, there’s a change of direction; up to now, each Superman film has had different directors, going from Roland Emmerich to Ron Howard to Guillermo del Toro, with Rob Marshall directing the Batman/Superman film in phase 2. This time, it’s JJ Abrams taking up the reigns, having previously been my selection for the two Flash solo films of this alternate DCEU.

New Gods (2019) Directed by Ridley Scott

Scott Free/Mister Miracle = Charlie Cox

Barda Free/Big Barda = Lindsay Kay Hayward

Darkseid = Bernard Hill

Izaya the Inheritor/Highfather = Brian Cox

Orion = Tom Hardy

Solis/Lightray = Charlie Hunnam

Bekka = Danielle Fishel

Metron = Jonny Lee Miller

Forager = Steven Yeun

DeSaad = David Wenham

Mantis = Winston Duke

Virman Vundabar = August Diehl

Granny Goodness = Stockard Channing

Bernadeth = Rachel Weisz

Bloody Mary = Jennifer Stone

Lashina = Kristin Kreuk

Mad Harriett = Hannah John-Kamen

Stompa = Ronda Rousey

Steppenwolf = Ciarán Hinds

Kalibak = Liev Schreiber

For this film, we’re following up on events from the previous Justice League film as well as our Death of Superman adaptation. With Superman down, the heroes Mister Miracle and Big Barda return to their home-world of New Genesis in an attempt to bring their kin to Earth’s defence against an almost-certain assault by Darkseid. However, their leader Highfather is unwilling to violate a non-aggression pact between their world and Darkseid’s planet Apokolips. However, Darkseid is less scrupulous and facing potential usurpation by Virman Vundabar, so it’s actually New Genesis that comes under attack.

This film is very much about getting a better look at Darkseid and his supporting cast, while at the same time getting to explore the New Gods and paying cinematic homage to one of the more notable Jack Kirby creations from his DC Comics work. Mister Miracle, Big Barda, Darkseid, DeSaad, Steppenwolf and Kalibak are brought back from the last Justice League film, while everyone else is introduced for the first time. The castings of Danielle Fishel and Jennifer Stone attest to the attention I’ve paid at times to Disney Channel sit-coms (in this case, Boy Meets World/Girl Meets World and Wizards of Waverley Place, respectively), while most others are from a smattering of various mainstream films and shows.

As we’re dealing with alien worlds, I picked Aliens director Ridley Scott to helm this one. This is a first-time pick for this alternate DCEU.

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (2019) Directed by Matthew Vaughan

Richard Grayson/Robin/Nightwing = Patrick Schwarzenegger

Koriand'r/Starfire = Elle Fanning

Donna Troy/Wonder Girl = Ciara Bravo

Wallace "Wally" West/Kid Flash = Calum Worthy

Raven = Maisie Williams

Victor Stone/Cyborg = Ashton Sanders

Garfield "Gar" Logan/Beast Boy = Dylan Sprayberry

Tara Markov/Terra = Emma Bading

Joseph Wilson/Jericho = Brenock O'Connor

Slade Wilson/Deathstroke = Daniel Day-Lewis

Sebastian Blood/Brother Blood = Tyler Hoechlin

Mother Mayhem = Jennifer Connelly

Adeline Kane = Kristin Davis

Wintergreen = Martin Shaw

The Judas Contract is a 1980’s story arc for the young heroes that’s seen a couple of adaptations, first in the team’s animated series of the early 2000’s and then as a film within the DCAMU. It’s a good tragic story, as well as a coming-of-age story about being careful who you trust. This film version would try to adapt it a bit closer to the comics, including the incorporation of Deathstroke’s mute son Jericho, his estranged wife Adeline and his best friend Wintergreen. The film would also showcase Dick Grayson’s shift from Robin to Nightwing, and since Terra is of Eastern/Mid-European descent like her brother in the Outsiders, the casting takes this into account.

While the main Titans and Deathstroke return from past films, Terra and the other characters are new. Emma Bading is a German actress with a decent filmography who would be of comparable age to the other Titans, hence her selection. Direction-wise, I’m looking to Matthew Vaughan, having previously picked him in this alternate DCEU for the solo Green Lantern films, based primarily on the work he did on X-Men: First Class.

Suicide Squad: Arkham (2020) Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Amanda Waller = Viola Davis

Rick Flag Jr. = Joel Kinnaman

Floyd Lawton/Deadshot = Christian Slater

Captain Boomerang/Digger Harkness = Hugh Jackman

Dr Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn = Margot Robbie

Ben Turner/Bronze Tiger = Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Cheshire/Jade Nguyen = Rila Fukushima

Nanaue/King Shark = Sylvester Stalone

Claire Selton/Volcana = Kirsten Stewart

Killer Croc/Waylon Jones = Tyler Mane

Cluemaster/Arthur Brown = Martin McDonagh

Cavalier/Mortimer Drake = Kit Harington

Sonar/Bito Wladon = Silvio Simac

Baffler/Titus Czonka = Michael Chicklis

Bane = Rodrigo Santoro

Angel Vallelunga/Bird = Diego Luna

Zombie = Stephen Merchant

Trogg = Luis Guzmán

Dr Jeremiah Arkham = Dan Stevens

Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin = Sean Astin

Det. Crispus Allen = Djimon Honsou

Det. Peter Foley = Matt Le Blanc

Barbara Gordon/Batgirl = Bella Thorne

Having used Guillermo del Toro of Blade 2 fame to helm a third solo Superman film and the second Suicide Squad film of this alternate DC film universe, I’ve brought him back for a film that leads directly into the Knightfall/Knightsend duology. In this case, Amanda Waller has heard rumours of a new player in Gotham City planning to make some kind of move on Arkham Asylum. To that end, she recruits two Suicide Squads; one made up mostly of lesser Gotham villains who are to find out who the new player is and stop them, the other as back-up in case the first team fails or turns traitor. As to why team 1 lacks the usual explosive fail-safes, this is so Waller can avoid being found out, as Batman is wise to such things. However, as the film progresses, it’s more Batgirl and Detectives Allen and Foley of the GCPD who periodically disrupt the operation.

As the plot develops, the threat of Bane is ultimately revealed, at great cost to the Squad. In fact, this is where the first real shock probably comes in, because this film will see Harley Quinn killed by Bane. This is done largely to show that no one is safe from Bane and increase the stakes for the upcoming Batman films, but it also sets up for a Joker-related film plot in the next phase of this alternate DCEU. I won’t go into unpicking all the new versus old casting on this one; if you look through my Ramble articles past on this alternate DCEU, you’ll be able to see for yourselves.

Knightfall (2020) Directed by Matt Reeves

Bruce Wayne/Batman = Christian Bale

Alfred Pennyworth = Michael Caine

Tim Drake/Robin II = David Mazouz

Lucius Fox = Morgan Freeman

James "Jim" Gordon = Gary Oldman

Bane = Rodrigo Santoro

Angel Vallelunga/Bird = Diego Luna

Zombie = Stephen Merchant

Trogg = Luis Guzmán

Jean-Paul Valley/Azrael/Batman II = Connor Jessup

Nomoz = Michael Klebba

Det. Harvey Bullock = Donal Logue

Det. Renee Montoya = Penelope Cruz

The Joker = Willem Dafoe

Dr Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy = April Bowlby

Edward Nygma/Riddler = John Barrowman

Arnold Wesker/Ventriloquist = Giovanni Ribisi

Burt Weston/Film Freak = Luke Mitchell

Jervis Tetch/Mad Hatter = Matthew Jaeger

Aaron Helzinger/Amygdala = David Denman

Victor Zsasz = Elijah Wood

Maxie Zeus = Goran Višnjić

Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow = Cillian Murphy

Carleton LeHah = Lambert Wilson

Jack Drake = Tobey Maguire

Mrs. McIlvaine = Sinéad Cusack

Dr Shondra Kinsolving = Aisha Tyler

Mayor Armand Krol = Eli Roth

Dr Jeremiah Arkham = Dan Stevens

Dr Simpson Flanders = Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Knightfall is an epic-length film that covers much of the comic story arc of the same name from Batman comics on the 1990’s. In the original arc, Bane breaks out all the villains of Arkham Asylum, forcing an already weary Batman to exhaust himself chasing down the escapees prior to a showdown with Bane. In that showdown, Bane broke Batman’s back, forcing Bruce Wayne to hand the cape-and-cowl over to apprentice superhero Jean-Paul Valley, who was trying to overcome brainwashing he’d undergone to be an assassin of sorts called Azrael. After an opening act to introduce Azrael a few months prior, the film then jumps in at the moment the preceding Suicide Squad film ends; with Bane firing a rocket at Arkham to bust the villains out.

With a montage here and there to expedite matters, Batman wears himself down as before, only to be broken by Bane as in the comics, and as before, Jean-Paul is handed the mantle of the Batman. However, it soon becomes clear this may have been a mistake, and when Jean-Paul confronts Bane, it’s uncertain whether the new Batman will triumph over his mental trauma or not. The film contains a huge ensemble cast and covers a wide range of Batman characters both good and evil. To direct, I’ve picked Matt Reeves, who did the Planet of the Apes reboots and in this alternate DCEU has already helmed the third solo Batman film.

Green Arrow 3 (2020) Directed by Rian Johnson

Oliver Queen/Green Arrow = Ethan Hawke

Dinah Lance/Black Canary = Malin Akerman

Connor Hawke/Green Arrow II = Levon Hawke

Eddie Fyers = Seth Green

Roy Harper/Speedy/Arsenal = Cameron Monaghan

Veronica Dale/Hyrax = Anna Kendrick

Leopard/Leonard/Ed Pinkwater = Ian Somerhalder

Camorouge = Émilie Dequenne

Callendar = Jon Cryer

Dreyfus = Method Man

Nathan = Sam Worthington

Paine = Michael B Jordan

Monroe = Jon Bernthal

Belle = Sara Paxton

Green Lantern/Hal Jordan = Ben Affleck

As 90’s DC fans might guess, this film is all about adapting Oliver Queen’s death from 90’s comics into film, though I swap Superman out for Green Lantern on three counts. First, slating this film for in-between Superman’s death and return prohibits his involvement. Two, Hal and Ollie have long had a major bromance to add greater importance to the climax. Three, it makes the built-up to our solo GL film a bit better, as we will see. Aside from Hal Jordan, only Oliver Queen, Dinah and Roy are returning rolls, while the rest of the characters are all new and largely exclusive to this film and its storyline.

What is the story line, beyond killing the original Green Arrow? Well, like the comics, Ollie goes undercover with a group of eco-terrorists to uncover their plans, but he starts to fall for a member of the group, and at the same time, Ollie’s illegitimate son shows up looking to connect with his dad. For film direction, I’ve gone with Rian Johnson, a new selection for our alternate DCEU based on his work with the Star Wars film The Last Jedi.

Reign of the Supermen (2021) Directed by JJ Abrams

Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent = Brandon Routh

Lois Lane = Kate Bosworth

Kara Zor-El/Supergirl = Dakota Fanning

Hank Henshaw/Cyborg Superman = Brandon Routh

The Eradicator = Brandon Routh

Conner Kent/Con-El/Superboy = Asher Angel

Mongul = Ioan Gruffudd

Lex Luthor = Kelsey Grammer

Mercy Graves = Scarlett Johannsen

John Henry Irons/Steel = Aldis Hodge

Jaina Hudson/White Rabbit = Hayley Kiyoko

Green Lantern/Hal Jordan = Ben Affleck

Martha Kent = Diane Lane

Jonathan Kent = Kevin Costner

Jor-El = Russell Crowe

Dr Emil Hamilton = Richard Schiff

Perry White = Sam Neill

Jimmy Olsen = Rider Strong

Cat Grant = January Jones

Steve Lombard = Josh Brolin

Capt. Maggie Sawyer = Jeri Ryan

Insp. Turpin = Colin Farrell

Bibbo Bibbowski = Luke Hemsworth

Obviously, this film covers the return of Superman arc in much the same way as the comics do in the broadest sense; four Supermen turn up, Lois tries to work out who the real one is, one turns out to be a villain in league with the alien tyrant Mongul, whose role is expanded in this film. Their plans destroy Hal Jordan’s home town of Coast City, but Metropolis is saved by the returning real Superman. The film borrows a bit from its DCAMU counterpart by simplifying the Eradicator’s history, and indeed over this film and the previous Superman one we’ve done the same with Hank Henshaw. This is because the characters had prior history with Superman in the comics, but our film continuity wouldn’t cover that, so a bit of a tweak is in order.

Now because both the Eradicator and Henshaw were meant to resemble Superman outwardly to some extent, the casting of them is now a matter of putting Brandon Routh into those roles as well as playing his original Superman role in the third act. We also get another step on Hal Jordan’s descent into darkness, something that hasn’t had a proper adaptation in any media. The closest we’ve come is the last Green Lantern solo film in DC’s Tomorrow-verse continuity, which frankly isn’t that good, but more on this under the next film. JJ Abrams remains the director here to keep things consistent within this duology.

Green Lantern: Twilight (2021) Directed by Sam Raimi

Green Lantern/Hal Jordan/Parallax = Ben Affleck

Carol Ferris = Liv Tyler

Tom Kalmaku = Taika Waititi

Thaal Sinestro = Mark Strong

Kilowog = Tyrese Gibson

Kyle Rayner/Green Lantern II = Taylor Lautner

Alex DeWitt = Hunter King

Clifford Zmeck/Major Force = Luke Evans

Mongul = Ioan Gruffudd

Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent = Brandon Routh

Boodikka = Gina Carano

Ke'Haan = Kevin Durand

Laira = Emma Stone

Kreon = Ryan Philippe

Ganthet = Patrick Stewart

Sayd = Glenn Close

Appa Ali Apsa = Hugo Weaving

Tomar Tu = Tom Hiddleston

Jack T. Chance = Colton Haynes

Hannu = Lee Pace

Graf Toren = Hiroyuki Sanada

As you might imagine, this film would be filmed in close proximity to the two before it to facilitate the various cross-over aspects of it. This time, we’re doing the Emerald Twilight/New Dawn story arc, in which Hal Jordan suffers a mental breakdown after his home town is destroyed during the events of Superman’s return. In a fit of anger, he rampages across the stars to Oa, home planet of the Green Lantern Corps, defeating fellow lanterns and swiping their power rings. After a final showdown with his friend Kilowog and enemy Sinestro, Hal takes all the power of the central Lantern battery, becoming a villain known as Parallax who plans to remake the universe to prevent the destruction of Coast City. However, a last member of the Guardians travels to Earth and bestows a last Lantern ring on freelance artist Kyle Rayner, and thus a new Green Lantern is found, but one who must master the ring with no GL corps or Guardians to guide him.

Again, not going to unpick who is new and who is long-standing for this film as it would be a bit long-winded to explain. However, as we don’t really include Golden Age superheroes like original GL Alan Scott, exposition regarding Hal’s actions to Kyle ends up coming from Superman’s appearances in the film, as well as human GLs Guy Gardner and John Stewart. Due to the way Hal acts in this story arc, not to mention this film adapting the infamous murder of Kyle Rayner’s girlfriend, I picked Sam Raimi to direct this film based on his horror film background. Raimi was also my pick to direct a John Constantine one-off film in phase 2 of this alternate DCEU.

Knightsend (2021) Directed by Matt Reeves

Bruce Wayne/Batman = Christian Bale

Alfred Pennyworth = Michael Caine

Tim Drake/Robin II = David Mazouz

Jean-Paul Valley/Azrael/Batman II = Connor Jessup

Lucius Fox = Morgan Freeman

James "Jim" Gordon = Gary Oldman

Bane = Rodrigo Santoro

Richard Grayson/Nightwing = Patrick Schwarzenegger

Jack Drake = Tobey Maguire

Mrs. McIlvaine = Sinéad Cusack

Dr Shondra Kinsolving = Aisha Tyler

Mayor Armand Krol = Eli Roth

Det. Harvey Bullock = Donal Logue

Det. Renee Montoya = Penelope Cruz

The Joker = Willem Dafoe

Tallyman = Bill Skarsgard

Lady Shiva = Ming-Na Wen

Tony Bressi = Milo Ventimiglia

Arnold Etchison/Abattoir = Robert Kazinsky

Benedict Asp = Jason Isaacs

Colonel Vega = David Nykl

Yuri = John Morrison

Graham Etchison = Bill Hader

Penn Selkirk = Jason Sudeikis

Carter = Liam Cunningham

Barbara Gordon/Batgirl = Bella Thorne

When Bruce’s doctor Shondra Kinsolving is abducted, the crippled Bruce Wayne begins a search that leads to the healing of his back at great cost, while Jean-Paul Valley grows increasingly unstable. Now heavily armoured and armed, this Batman is more brutal, and when a man dies from Jean-Paul’s behaviour, the recovered Bruce Wayne must begin a crash-course in the fighting arts in order to confront his errant replacement and reclaim the mantle of the bat. Again keeping Matt Reeves in the directorial position for duology consistency, this film focuses on the follow-up to Knightfall as the defeated Bane is moved aside and the battle comes out as original Batman versus would-be replacement.

Justice League: Armageddon (2022) Directed by The Russo Brothers

Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent = Brandon Routh

Diana/Wonder Woman = Kate Beckinsale

J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter = Chiwetel Ejiofor

Barry Allen/The Flash = Matt Damon

Kyle Rayner/Green Lantern II = Taylor Lautner

Fire/Beatriz Bonilla da Costa = Selena Gomez

Ice/Tora Olafsdotter = Kristine Froseth

Arthur Curry/Aquaman = Chris Pine

Dinah Lance/Black Canary = Malin Akerman

Amanda Waller = Viola Davis

Floyd Lawton/Deadshot = Christian Slater

Ben Turner/Bronze Tiger = Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Killer Croc/Waylon Jones = Tyler Mane

Jaina Hudson/White Rabbit = Hayley Kiyoko

Weather Wizard/Mark Mardon = Michael Fassbender

Shimmer = Anna Faris

Eve Eden/Nightshade = Debby Ryan

Dr Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy = April Bowlby

Scott Free/Mister Miracle = Charlie Cox

Barda Free/Big Barda = Lindsay Kay Hayward

Darkseid = Bernard Hill

Orion = Tom Hardy

Metron = Jonny Lee Miller

Granny Goodness = Stockard Channing

Bernadeth = Rachel Weisz

Bloody Mary = Jennifer Stone

Lashina = Kristin Kreuk

Mad Harriett = Hannah John-Kamen

Stompa = Ronda Rousey

Steppenwolf = Ciarán Hinds

Kalibak = Liev Schreiber

Dr Niles Caulder/The Chief = Pierce Brosnan

Clifford Steele/Robot Man = Johnny Whitworth

Larry Trainor/Negative Man = Alessandro Nivola

Rita Farr/Elasti-Girl = Alyssa Milano

Mento/Steve Dayton = Nathan Fillion

Bumblebee/Karen Beecher = Kyla Pratt

Vox/Malcom Duncan = Donald Glover

Hal Jordan/Parallax = Ben Affleck

John Stewart = Derek Luke

Guy Gardner = Damian Lewis

Wallace "Wally" West/Kid Flash = Calum Worthy

Our latest Justice League film brings a few different plot threads in from past films. Following the events of Justice League: Darkseid Rising, the death and return of Superman and the New Gods film, Darkseid finally dares to try and assault Earth. Forewarned by survivors sent from New Genesis, the Justice League gathers what heroes it can, and also reaches out to the Suicide Squad. The Doom Patrol also appears, but at the climax of the film, as Darkseid takes to the field of battle, there are two major shocks; the death of the Flash, and the arrival of Parallax, who decides to wipe out the forces of Apokalips. Suddenly it's not an alien tyrant who threatens the armageddon of the film’s title, but one of their very own turned to darkness by grief and fear.

The film has a huge ensemble cast, largely reprising roles from past films. Debby Ryan as Suicide Squad member Nightshade is the sole piece of new casting in this film, and as for direction, I decided that the work done by the Russo Brothers in the MCU, especially Infinity War and Endgame, earns them the chance to direct this film and one or two subsequent instalments in this film universe.

Teen Titans 3 (2022) Directed by Matthew Vaughan

Richard Grayson/Nightwing = Patrick Schwarzenegger

Koriand'r/Starfire = Elle Fanning

Donna Troy/Wonder Girl/Troia = Ciara Bravo

Raven = Maisie Williams

Victor Stone/Cyborg = Ashton Sanders

Garfield "Gar" Logan/Beast Boy = Dylan Sprayberry

Trigon = Viggo Mortensen

Dr Arthur Light = James McAvoy

Cassie Sandsmark/Wonder Girl II = Amiah Miller

M'Gann M'orzz/Miss Martian = Marsai Martin

Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle = Iñaki Godoy

Tim Drake/Robin II = David Mazouz

Conner Kent/Con-El/Superboy = Asher Angel

Roy Harper/Speedy/Arsenal = Cameron Monaghan

Tempest/Garth = Luke Benward

For this film, we retain Matthew Vaughan from our last Teen Titans film for directing and explain the absence of the Teen Titans from Justice League: Apocalypse a little. Following an arc over all three Teen Titans films, Raven is struggling to contain her father’s presence, but after a major fight with the villainous Doctor Light, Trigon manages to possess Raven and attacks the Titans through her. With the main team decimated, a group of new, younger teen heroes rise to aid their predecessors. By the end, what Titans remain would not be in much shape to fight, win or lose. Much of the cast is retained from past films, with the characters of Doctor Light, Wonder Girl II, Miss Martian and Blue Beetle being the newcomers for this instalment.

Justice Society (2022) Directed by James Gunn

Jay Garrick/Flash = Miles Teller

Alan Scott/Green Lantern = Lucas Till

Ted Grant/Wildcat = Robbie Amell

Rex Tyler/Hourman = Adam DeVine

Carter Hall/Hawkman = Sullivan Stapleton

Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl = Jessica Alba

Billy Batson/Shazam = Zachary Gordon/Zachary Levi

Isaac Brown/Fiddler = Stephen Dorff

Cameron Mahkent/Icicle = Sendhil Ramamurthy

Richard Swift/Shade = Anthony Carrigan

Paula Brooks/Huntress = Gemma Chan

Neal Emerson/Doctor Polaris = Nicholas Hoult

Henry King Jr./Brain Wave = Ray Stevenson

Hal Jordan/Parallax = Ben Affleck

Black Adam/Teth-Adam = Dwayne Johnson

Metron = Jonny Lee Miller

Closing out phase 4 of my alternate DCEU is a take on the Justice Society that borrows from a Justice League animated series story line and Marvel’s Wandavision series. In this film, Hawkman, Hawkgirl and Shazam wake up in a world where they’re part of the Justice Society, a superhero team operating in a 1950’s-style American mid-west town. Though they initially suspect nothing wrong, Hawkman’s past life memories and Shazam’s wisdom of Soloman begin to disrupt a strange mental hold, and as they do, the infamous Injustice Guild becomes much deadlier. In reality, Parallax is doing a test-run of his proposed plans to the time stream, but as the test is disrupted from within, the New God Metron convinces anti-hero Black Adam to interfere from without.

For direction, I went with James Gunn out of curiosity to see what he could do with this, given that in real life he’s become the DC film-verse’s equivalent to Marvel’s Kevin Feige. In terms of casting, the individual characters mentioned in the paragraph above are all returning actors, while everyone else is new and exclusive to this film. As for why I think this would be a good approach on the Justice Society, that’s down to a desire to pay homage to the early comics in a way that’s nostalgic while also advancing the Parallax story arc.

So, that’s it for phase 4 of this alternate DCEU. More to come on this and my alternate MCU in the new year, but not right away as I’m hoping to get more variation on the go in the new year. So, until next month, Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating that occasion, Happy Holidays for those celebrating something else, have a prosperous new year when we get to the end of this year, and otherwise ta-ta for now.

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recentlyheardcom · 6 months

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After the eventual reveal of Captain Marvel’s full-length official trailer yesterday, fans just want one thing in the world now: Avengers 4 Trailer. But Marvel is letting no stone unturned in making them go beyond being impatient and madly furious too. Though now it seems that this long wait may get over on December 5th, 2018, which is ultimately today. Basically today’s the day when the Avengers 4 Prelude comic book is going to be revealed and as it’s certain that it will also be containing the title for the yet untitled Avengers 4 movie, the rumors and speculations are very high that the movie’s trailer will be released earlier than the prelude comic’s reveal. Nothing can be believed now since many previously expected dates for the Avengers 4 trailer have turned out to be horribly wrong and Marvel Studios is just not ready to tell anything either of the trailer or of its release date. Read More: Ranking All The AVENGERS In The MCU Based On Their Power Meanwhile for the fans to be even more excited, just recently the preview of the Avengers 4 Prelude comic book has been released that you can see below. It is basically teasing the upcoming film by showing the moments and scenes from Avengers: Infinity War, in the first few pages of the first prelude comic for Avengers 4. The pages show the starting scene from Infinity War where Thanos attacks the Asgardian ship, fights with the Hulk, smashes Thor badly, and takes the Space Stone/Tesseract from Loki, and also kills him eventually. First images of the first issue of the Avengers 4 prelude comic pic.twitter.com/Rd8OMdXkOZ — Zakk (@ZakkisBatman) November 30, 2018 For those of you who still haven’t read the preview for @MarvelStudios @Avengers 4 Prelude comic, you’ve got the images below. Like this tweet, please and visit my profile. If you like what you see, follow me. #Avengers #Avengers4 #Avengers4trailer #WhereIsTheAvengers4Trailer pic.twitter.com/D7J2oWJDWM — P.Suraj (@PSurajofficial) December 2, 2018 There has been no official word from Marvel on whether today there will be a trailer reveal or not. Everyone’s thinking, again, that it will definitely arrive, and that too on the Good Morning America show on Wednesday morning, in the US. Read More: WATCH: The Lion King Live Action Teaser Trailer will make you nostalgic Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Avengers 4 will be releasing after Captain Marvel, next year, on May 3, 2019. The film will star a huge cast involving Josh Brolin, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, and Brie Larson also. The MCU flick will be distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Read More: PETER DINKLAGE: Net worth, Awards, Family, Earning, Work

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thefakerachelray · 3 years

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Wong: hey remember when aliens attacked New York?

Strange: I try not to

#some of the mcu tie in comics are valid. this is one of them.#(it’s from Infinity War prelude 2)#marvel #mcu #stephen strange

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wulfies-kpop-fanfics · 3 years

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One Photo → Mark Lee [3]

↳ Pairing: Mark Lee/Reader

↳ AU: Soulmate!AU - The first touch of two soulmates permanently scars their bodies.

↳ Word count: 3,063

↳ Chapters: Prelude | 1 | 2 | You Are Here! | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

⁙ Summary: For an end of the year photography project, you’re tasked with taking a photograph for your favourite group, NCT127, and coincidentally, discover your soulmate.

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WEDNESDAY - 3

The sun is shining brightly through your window when the morning stirs you awake. The curtains of your room are wide open, and just outside you can hear the songs of two birds in the near distance. Groaning, you wonder how you managed to get in bed, swearing that you had just been watching Infinity War with Mark.

You slip out from under your covers, grabbing and putting on your glasses that were set neatly on your desk. You realize once you stand that you're also fully clad in soft pyjamas. Confused, you wander out of your room and out to the living area.

“Rhi?” your meek call into the kitchen and living room was met with silence. Holding your sides in a sort of self-hug, you wandered into the kitchen and looked at the stove time. It was around 10:30, and your class alarms never went off, so today must be a day where Rhiannon had class and you didn't.

Your thoughts put together what happened after you fell asleep in the moments after your fatigue was washed away in the shower, and you spend the rest of your morning poking at a bowl of cereal. Your days off usually meant staying in your pyjamas all day, playing Overwatch on the PlayStation you brought to your dorm from home or trying to take photos of dust particles if it was sunny enough.

You didn't know whether to feel alone or content in the first moments of your day. Time passed as it always did, taunting you with anxiety and making you worry about not getting anything done. It eventually compels you to start cleaning, ticking off little boxes on the chore chart attached to your fridge. You're not sure how long you've been absorbed in sweeping the floors, but eventually, you're brought back from absent daydreams because of a gentle knock on the door.

“One moment!” you call out, putting the broom back where it belongs and smoothing out your hair. You lick your lips and approach the door, opening it and looking straight into the face of Mark.

“Hi, (Y/N),” he greets you cheerfully, gingerly holding out a small bouquet of flowers out to you.

“Hi,” you answer softly, clearly surprised that he's there. “Thank you…”

“Rhiannon gave me a code to sign into the building as a guest,” he explains, “I want to take you out on a date if that's okay.”

Gingerly you take the flowers, a mix of tulips, sunflowers and roses. You smile up at him, a little embarrassed that you're not completely decent in front of him. “I'd like that, but…”

Mark raised his eyebrows. “But?” he repeated.

“I'm, uh… I need to get ready.”

Mark looks you up and down, and his face goes red. He smiles awkwardly at you and nods. “Okay, I can wait.”

“Okay. Make yourself at home and I'll get ready,” Mark follows you inside and watches you put the bouquet in a large glass that you fill with water. “I'll be right back.”

You stare at yourself in your full-length mirror for a while as soon as you close the door to your room. After taking off your pyjamas, the scar on your body stands out. You're definitely not used to seeing it, and you're feeling a little worried that it will draw more attention to you than you want.

Once you remember that Mark is waiting for you, you choose a pair of blue jeans and a loose pink top. Smoothing out your clothes, you stare at yourself. You haven't been on a date since high school, and after that date, your crush stopped talking to you- he believed too much in only dating the one you were made for, and it broke your heart.

“You can do this,” you told yourself. “He likes you. He's your soulmate. It's fine, you're fine. It's fine, we're all fine. Don't freak out." you took in a deep breath, making your way back out.

Mark was sitting politely on your couch, and once he noticed you were back, he immediately stood, smiling. “You look great,” he said, approaching you.

You felt a twinge in your chest and you felt your cheeks get red. “So do you,” you manage to mumble, watching as his smile grew wider.

“Are you ready?” he asked, holding out his hand for you to take.

“Yeah,” you gently took his hand, and after you got your shoes on and grabbed your little drawstring backpack, the two of you stepped out and began your day.

It almost felt like a dream, walking and talking with Mark. The two of you got ice cream together and sat in a small park, feeling the cool dew of morning turn into the sunny warmth of the afternoon.

“Have you ever been on a date?” Mark asked as the two of you were walking through a crosswalk to Union Station.

“One,” you answer. “Back in High School before I left home. I really liked him, but I knew we weren't going to be soulmates. It was when I wanted to be rid of the soulmate trope once and for all- live life scar-free, y'know?”

Mark frowned at you for a moment but then nodded for you to continue. He leads you into the building and toward the escalator that went down into the station.

“He took me out, bought me dinner and we had a good time. He took me home that night and he touched my shoulder… it was the first time he and I had physical contact. The next day at school we were both scar-free, and he told me that he didn't want to see me in that way anymore.” you half-smiled at Mark, tightening your grip on his hand.

“I'm sorry,” he said. “You won't have to deal with that anymore, I promise.”

“How about you?" You almost felt afraid to ask him, a twinge in your chest affirming that you may not even want to know his answer.

He smiled. "Not really, no, unless you count Johnny taking me out for dinner when he debuted with 127."

You raised your eyebrows. "Really? You're so good looking, though." Wind rushed through your hair as you both went down the stairs into the main station, the subway car you were to board whizzing through into the station.

Mark blushed and wrapped an arm around your shoulders. "I didn't have the time. I was too busy thinking about my dream and my career. But now that I do have some time, I really am happy I found you."

You both climbed onto the subway car, Mark holding you close as the busy subway filled up. He was smiling cheerfully at you, red still dusting his cheeks. You returned the look, wondering how you could have gotten so lucky.

The two of you saw Avengers together at the Yorkdale mall. Of course, you cried, trying your best and failing to keep your sniffling silent. Mark took your hand in the dark of the theatre and squeezed it gently, making your heart flutter and your lips quiver.

You both decided to shop around after the film finished, sharing an enormous poutine in the food court once Mark's stomach began to audibly rumble. Mark was wolfing down the food at a breakneck pace, making you giggle at him once he managed to get gravy on his cheek.

"Slow down," you laughed, reaching over the table to wipe his cheek with a napkin. "Next thing you know you'll get it on your shirt."

Mark paused for a moment, a little surprised at the touch. "Not like I have a photoshoot later," he joked. "It's been years since I've had poutine."

You licked your lips. "Maybe, um, I would like to take pictures later?"

Mark's eyes widened. "Really?"

You nodded and smiled sheepishly, taking a bite of your fries before you missed your chance. "Just to make sure it's all real."

"(Y/N)," your name left Mark's lips, sounding like sweet sugar and honey. It sent shivers down your spine. "I can promise it's all real, but if you want, we can take some."

"Wow," you sighed, examining Mark's face. He was already so picturesque, no makeup, no hairspray or crazy visual design. He finished off the fries, another blob of gravy somehow made it onto his cheek, which made your eyes travel to stop at his lips. You licked your own, not even catching yourself thinking about what it would be like to kiss him.

Mark stared back at you, resting his head on the palm of his hand. "How long have you been thinking about taking pictures?"

You perked up and managed to make eye contact with him. "In general or just of you?" You asked shyly, tapping the corner of your lips with your finger. "You have more gravy on you."

Mark laughed bashfully and wiped his face with a napkin. "Uh, both, I suppose."

"I've loved taking pictures since I was a kid. I didn't know I wanted to do it as a living until I started to take pictures of nature with my phone camera. After that day in the forest with my grandparents, I knew I had to drop out of my biology courses and go into photography instead."

Mark nodded as he listened. "That's really admirable," he said, making you blush again. He stood, gathering up the tray and tilting his head as a gesture to join him.

You cleared your throat and continued with a shy smile, "I, um, just really want to take pictures of things I like, and… uh, you have always been one of them."

Mark put away the tray and took your hand, "there's no need to be embarrassed about it," he laughed quietly, "I like you too."

You felt at home with Mark, warm and happy. Your heart fluttered more and more when he looked at you, smiled, or talked with you. At random times you'd want to take a picture, he'd stop and pose for you. Whether it was silly, romantic or a chic fashion-style photo in the subway station on your way home that evening, he did it for you.

The camera you kept with you in your little drawstring bag was now full of photos, ready to be manipulated (not that you really had much to touch up anyway) and saved to your computer. Perhaps you would frame your favourite one.

The night rolled over you both like it had when you first spent the day together, which was only a few days ago, but it felt like a lifetime. The roads of Toronto were quieting down and the street lights were beginning to bathe the walkways in a soft amber glow. When you returned to your building, you didn't want to go in.

"We should both rest," Mark insisted when you clung to him in a hug. "Big day tomorrow." He still wrapped his arms around you and pressed his cheek against your head gently.

"What?" You looked up at Mark, confused. He leant back enough so he could look at you, a smile dancing on his lips.

"The guys want to take that one photo tomorrow. In the park with all the cherry blossom trees. I knew it was the place I wanted the night you took me there. You kept staring off in the distance, and once I figured out why, I wouldn't even consider any other place you would suggest if I had asked."

"Mark-"

"Don't be embarrassed," he assured you quickly. "I really like that about you."

"Well, I…" you were trying to avoid eye contact with Mark, not quite able to handle the compliments. "I'm looking forward to tomorrow," you say quietly, pouting, "but I still don't want you to go."

"I promise that after it's done, we will spend the entire day together, okay?" Mark placed a finger under your chin gently. "Sound like a plan?"

You couldn't hold your pout while making direct eye contact, so it melted away into a reluctant smile. "Okay."

The two of you went inside, walking down the hallway together toward the door to your apartment. When you arrived, you held both of Mark's hands. "Text me when you get back safely, okay?"

He squeezed your hands gently. "I will. I'd like to do one more thing, though, if it's okay with you."

You raised an eyebrow at him. "Like what?"

Your heart began beating wildly in your chest when he smiled at you. Mark was such a wonderful person. On the surface, he was confident and funny, but below that was a shy and quiet nature, that knew what he wanted but didn't quite know how to get there. His hands left yours and instead cupped your cheeks.

"This," his voice hit your ears so softly that you almost didn't hear it. Once he leant toward you, you caught on. With your heartbeat audible in your ears and your stomach doing acrobatics, your lips met.

It was chaste, borderline experimental, soft and nervous. When he separated from you, he rested his forehead against yours for a moment. "I thought about doing that all last night," he admitted.

"Do you really expect me to let you leave now?" Your question came out with a quiet laugh, almost letting yourself get carried away when Mark's hands left your cheeks.

"I expect you to be reluctant, but I really do need to go," he's smiling sadly at you, "I just had to know what it was like before I left."

"You owe me," grabbing his hand for one last moment before he turned to leave.

"I'll pay you in full," he said with a grin. "I promise."

"Be safe."

"I promise. I'll text you!" With that, he was gone.

You nearly screamed the moment you heard the large doors to the building click shut. You had just kissed him. Mark Lee kissed you. Taking in a deep, shaking breath, you dug into your backpack and shakily grabbed your keys to unlock the door to your apartment. As you were opening the door, you felt resistance for half a second and heard quick scrambling on the other side for another half a second when you pushed your way inside.

The first thing your eyes met once you walked inside was none other than your best friend.

"Sorry," she said bashfully, hands behind her back. "I, uh, wasn't expecting to get caught."

You rolled your eyes, grinning at her. "Are you apologizing because you were spying on me through the peephole or because you got caught?" You raised an eyebrow playfully at her.

"Look, we both know which one it is, so I'd rather not make myself look much worse."

With that you both are laughing, Rhiannon takes your bag for you and hung it up on the small coat rack while you took off your shoes.

"I've been texting Haechan; or should I say Donghyuck now..." she said as the two of you sat together in the kitchen, Rhiannon applying a face mask to your skin. She was already wearing hers, perfectly attached. "He's been helping me with my Korean grammar, which according to him is quote-unquote atrocious," she says, patting your face gently before taking her seat again and leaning back.

"Well, you've never had a proper teacher," you remark. "It's incredible you can keep studying it with all the dental stuff you have to do. I can't even keep my studies up and I have less of a school workload than you."

"Sometimes I think you're just lazy," she said teasingly. "Considering you just made me put a face mask on for you."

"Don't hate, you know I can never get these stupid things on right. Anyway, I was gonna ask you if you wanted to come to the boys' shoot tomorrow. You can show off your vocab in person, your spoken is way better than your texting." You looked over at her, watching her frown beneath the moisturizer mask.

"But I have a lab tomorrow,"

"Well, how about you meet us then? High Park, in the cherry blossom area where you like to people-watch while I take photos."

Rhiannon hummed. "If you wait for me, yeah. I'll pack an outfit in my bag to change into after."

You smiled. "Good, I wouldn't want to miss watching you meet Haechan in person."

"Like I'd ever let you miss that. Unlike you, who went to meet Mark, Johnny and Jaehyun without me."

"Hey," you whine, "you knew I had no idea they were gonna be there."

"Yeah yeah, make up all the excuses you want."

After your masks came off, you washed your face and changed into your pyjamas. Slipping under the covers, you checked your phone. There was a text from Mark, which you probably got while you were doing masks with Rhiannon.

Mark: I'm back safe

Mark: I really can't stop thinking about it

You: I'm happy you're safe, sorry I couldn't reply, was doing face masks

You: I can't either

Mark: It's ok

Mark: I'm getting ready for bed, all the guys are pumped for tomorrow, and the concert is getting closer

You: are you nervous?

Mark: A little, but I will be less so knowing you're going to be in the front row

You: I'm thankful I can be so close, I've never been in the front row of a concert before

Mark: itll be loud, bring earplugs

You: kay, I will be able to hear still right?

Mark: oh yeah, for sure hahah

Mark: It gets super loud, I don't want your hearing to get hurt

You: thank you for worrying about me

Mark: always :)

Mark: We will meet you around 11:30 in the park along the path where you and I walked

Mark: See you tomorrow, we should probably sleep

You: Okay, I'll see you

You: Good night Mark

Mark: nighty night (Y/N) <3 :)

You: <3

You were barely able to put your phone down to go to sleep. The day was constantly running through your head, especially your first kiss. Your heart fluttered, your stomach flipped, and you felt like you could squirm under the covers of your bed enough to tie yourself up in blankets.

When you finally managed to drift off, your dreams were entirely of what the future could hold.

#mark lee #mark lee x reader #mark x reader #nct #nct127 #nctu #nct scenarios #nct imagines #reader insert #fanfiction #kpop fanfictions #kpop scenarios #kpop imagines

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moontheoretist · 3 years

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I am watching What IF...?

Episode 1: What if... Captain Carter were the First Avenger?

You know... when I saw that it started from the breach in Captain America timeline and saw Peggy become a super soldier, I was pretty sure that Steve will resent her for what she did, because his portrayal in the First Avenger movie even before the serum indicated that he would be, just like he was of Bucky for being drafted while he was left behind. It’s canon behavior for him as far as I noticed.

What If..?’s Steve however is a better man. I dunno when exactly he changed, but he did. He doesn’t act as if he resented Peggy, and he seems quite ok with how everything turned out. Which is like, wow, I didn’t expect that. Also, Peggy has a far better story as Captain.

Like, she isn’t put into USO, she is denied being a soldier even, because she is a woman, the only thing she seems to share with Captain America is murdering punching bags and throwing stuff when angry, which is kinda a bad sign, but ok, everybody needs coping mechanisms. ANYWAY, when she learns where Hydra went, she quickly figured out what they were after, but the guy in charge (John Flynn), the same one who told her that she is a woman not a soldier, doesn’t want to send her there even though they still have a chance to get it back in time. So Howard steps in and her whole rebellion against the military is about not endangering everybody with a stupid ass decision made by a general who doesn’t get how important the cube is, instead of about saving just one man and accidentally saving 400 others by extension by literally going AWOL and endangering his friends like MCU Steve did. Everything about the mission which makes her recognized is about retrieving the Tesseract. And Howard gives her a uniform and a shield to do just that. All in British colors, because American military sucks.

(I love their “she just reaped the bars out, holy shit” faces xD)

AND THEN they go SAVE BUCKY. That makes much more sense story wise. And also Howard is showing Steve that technology can aid him when the serum now can’t, because Peggy is the super soldier instead, literally building better foundations for Steve’s attitude towards technology and the future. He will not be stuck in ice and come back for the Avengers, but at least he is getting better development not only in relation to this topic, but also to his hatred towards his body and his masculinity. Peggy still wanting him despite him being small and frail and now also disabled even more after he was shot and has to walk with a cane, literally builds in Steve the idea that his masculinity is not weak or bad, because he is not a macho muscly type and that his body isn’t something which he should hate or which makes him less than others. AND he is literally Tony now! I did suspect that the technology he got was a suit, but damn, is Steve in this universe fated to be the first Iron Man and then Tony second?

Lol, they named him “Hydra Stomper”.

And now Peggy teaches Steve the most important lesson “the Suit is nothing without the man inside”, which he as much as Tony needed to learn to finally feel free and not less than the others, because they rely on something. The only difference between Steve and Tony here is that Iron Man without Tony is truly nothing, because he made it, while Steve's suit was given to him, so anybody can technically pilot it. Anyway, I like this Steve so much more than MCU one.

(Which when I think about it now creates a pothole in the later part of the episode. Like why Hydra and Red Scull let the suit hanging instead of use it against Peggy? Why put Steve in chains next to it? It kinda looks like damseling him for literally no reason. I wonder why they didn’t kill him right away? Because what? Because he had blonde hair and blue eyes? Or what? Scull liked him? And we cannot even say it was done for the sake of Peggy saving him, because Peggy never sees Steve in chains. She went the other way, so why is he there? To save for whom? Bucky? It would be more logical if Red Scull just killed Steve and put the suit himself and fought Peggy in it to hurt her. Then at least space squid wouldn’t kill him, lol... ah wait. OH, yeah, Tesseract was inside the suit, so he just took it out. Still, he could power up the suit with something else and put one of his people inside to fight Peggy anyway, just in case she came for him).

AND OF COURSE HE HAD TO TRAGICALLY DIE WHEN I FINALLY STARTED LIKING THE WEASEL! LOL, we know what will happen next. He will become the new Winter Soldier, I suppose? If he survived the explosion.

Oh, they brought the original castle storyline back! It never appeared in the Captain America: The First Avenger, even though I personally remember a castle being a main stage for the whole “Steve sacrificed himself prelude” thing, so it’s nice to have a castle and an interdimensional portal back, instead of a plane battle.

“I am up for anything, but this is crazy”.

“And so is Steve Rogers”

Me: *wheezing*

Anyway, he survived. There is no Winter Soldier in this universe and Peggy gets lost in the portal, and she is brought back to 2012 by I suspect Project Pegasus as it is the “Loki’s arrival” scene.

I think that now, if we assume that everybody else is still present in this universe, meaning that Tony became Iron Man and all, Steve becoming a Hydra Stomper and working with Peggy gave Captain Carter an experience in fighting alongside someone in a metal suit. Plus her friendship with Howard means that she won’t have any bad disposition towards Tony and hence Avengers team will actually work better, and if there is Civil War it would be different and about something else, because Captain Carter knows her way around learning political related stuff, so she wouldn’t really kick Accords in the ass unless it was a Hydra plot. I also suppose that without her making Project Paperclip, Hydra would not infiltrate SHIELD, or someone else does that, and Captain Carter would notice something is not right with SHIELD, and she would root the Hydra out herself.

Also, I wanna point out that the scene in which Peggy is shown to be “smarter than Howard” is there only to establish the difference between her and MCU Steve Rogers, who doesn’t know shit about technology. It’s not that Howard isn’t smart anymore. He is a civilian, who is not a brawling type, in a room with a huge octopus which crushed Red Scull like a wooden stick. It stands to reason that he would be panicked enough to not be able to articulate properly. It also establishes that no “it runs on some kind of electricity” will happen in this universe during the Avengers storyline, where she ends by the end of the episode. It comes out a little out of the blue, that’s true, but this is not a line which only “genius” or “science type” can say. It’s just a typical sci-fi approach to the problem with anything, which also sounds smart at the same time. She could even take it out from a sci-fi novel. But I agree that they didn’t establish where that knowledge comes from in any of the previous scenes.

Episode 2: What if... T’Challa became a Star-Lord?

Lol, a vastly different reaction xD

And this was the moment when young T’Challa thought, “who needs to tell their baba that they’re going into space, anyway?” and just went and disappeared. I don’t even wanna know what Wakanda did after the prince vanished. Though it means that Shuri can become a queen and the Black Panther now, HELL YEAH!

And this is the proof that anybody who says that we have to murder someone else to “save the planet” from overpopulation is wrong. (Because they are wrong, just go and check studies about that). T’Challa just showed Thanos the benefits of equal share of the resources and saved the universe with logic and diplomacy.

And my hopes for Queen Shuri just went out the window. BTW, why Nebula turned into a living example of “blue space babe” (from feminist studies which pointed out that alien women are just human women painted colors and shown in sexy clothes or portrayed as dancers and prostitutes for the benefit of the male gaze). She got sexy hair, sexy dress, and she is later shown to be some kind of spy by the clothes she wears and her general attitude. She reminds me so much of Natasha that I am tempted to say she is a sexy spy cliché.

It’s kind of degrading after the whole episode which centered around a woman being denied being a soldier, which in the whole militaristic and male dominated setting was pretty much conveying feminist messages, while here in another male dominated setting we have only two women shown with any lines and one of them is Nebula sexy spy. It just comes across weird after the previous episode, tbh.

She even speaks like Natasha from the MCU... and she betrays just like our dear russian friend, Natasha. Anyway, it looks like Queen Shuri is still on the table! Wakanda prevails! It was not destroyed!

Ok, nevermind. She is a space Black Widow, but in this way that she plays every side just like Natasha does. Apparently... betrayal was part of the plan, lol. What is with this idea that women named with a name starting with N are good spies in this universe?

Carina the badass! GO CARINA! SHOW THEM!

At least in this universe, she doesn’t foolishly die for “drama”. Or, in MCU’s case, for exposition to show “what happens to those who touch the infinity stone”. I gotta say, her revenge was sweet.

#what if...?#what if...? spoilers #peggy carter #bucky barnes #nebula #t'challa #thanos #mcu steve rogers critical #what if...? steve rogers rulez #mcu critical #feminism #why did you have to sexualize Nebula to make her second Natasha?

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arborescentarecaceae · 3 years

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Ranking the looks of Rocket Raccoon, Part 4: The Best

#20

Guardians Team-Up (2015), #2 (Stephane Roux, Jay Leisten, Brett Smith)

I like the shading and the teeth.

#19

Rocket Raccoon (2014), #10 (Jake Parker, Jean-Francois Beaulieu)

For some reason this style reminds me of Calvin and Hobbes.

#18

Guardians Team-Up (2015), #10 (Mike Norton, Jessica Kholinne)

I don’t understand why every comic book character has a bunch of random pouches everywhere.

#17

Guardians of the Galaxy Prelude (2014), #2 (Wellinton Alves, Manny Clark, Jay David Ramos)

He angry.

#16

Civil War II (2016), #5 (David Marquez, Sean Izaakse, Justin Ponsor)

How does his tail not catch on fire, being so close to that rocket/jetpack/whatever that is?

#15

Guardians Team-Up (2015), #7 (Shawn Crystal, Matthew Wilson)

Is he naked here? It’s hard to tell.

#14

Infinity Countdown Prime (2018), (Mike Deodato Jr., Frank Martin Jr.)

He’s sad :(

#13

Guardians of Knowhere (2015), #1 (Mike Deodato Jr., Frank Martin Jr.)

I had trouble ranking this and #14, and then it turns out they’re by the same artists. I think they’re both worth including though, considering they’re a few years apart (also I was too lazy to renumber the rest of them).

#12

Rocket Raccoon (2016), #3 (Jorge Coelho, Antonio Fabela)

Never mind #37, this one is my mood at all times.

#11

All-New Guardians of the Galaxy (2017), #12 (Rod Reis)

It’s hard to find things to say about the good ones other than “It’s good”.

#10

Symbiote Spider-Man: King In Black (2020), #1 (Greg Land, Jay Leisten, Frank D’Armata)

His ‘80’s outfit is back! I think there’s time travel involved or something?

Rocket Raccoon and Groot (2016), #9 (Michael Walsh, Michael Garland)

This shows that it is possible to show him head-on and not make his face look flat.

Deadpool: Too Soon? (2016), #1 (Todd Nauck, Reilly Brown, Jim Charalampidis)

Rocket and Deadpool have met a weirdly high number of times, but then again I think deadpool just kind of shows up everywhere.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2013), #14 (Nick Bradshaw, Jason Masters, Todd Nauck, Walden Wong, Justin Ponsor, Jason Keith)

If only I had an angry not-a-raccoon to get me out of bed in the morning. Then again Peter doesn’t seem to be that happy about it so maybe it’s for the best.

All-New Wolverine (2016), #22 (Leonard Kirk, Cory Hamscher, Michael Garland, Erick Arciniega)

It’s interesting to see the continuity of his outfits. There’s the iconic 80’s green bodysuit; the orange jumpsuit from the first movie, which he also wore in the comics around then; there’s this, which he started wearing around 2016; and I won’t spoil it for you but his 2020 outfit is the best.

All-New Guardians of the Galaxy (2017), #9 (Mike Hawthorne, Terry Pallot, Jordie Bellaire)

Something about this reminds me of Ukiyo-e and I don’t know why.

All-New Guardians of the Galaxy (2017), #1 (Aaron Kuder, Ive Svorcina)

He kind of looks like a dog but in a good way.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2018), #146 (Marcus To, Ian Herring)

There aren’t any good pictures of him without the helmet, but he looks good in it.

Rocket (2017), #4 (Adam Gorham, Michael Garland)

He looks good in a suit.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2020), #1 (Juan Cabal, Frederico Blee)

Finally, #1 is his look in the ongoing Guardians of the Galaxy comics. If you haven’t, you should check them out. The story is mostly comprehensible (which is the best you can hope for in comics) and the characters and art are really good.

#rocket raccoon #guardians of the galaxy #marvel #comics #comic books

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vormirjumper · 4 years

Photo

Hello Loves! I’ve reached 1500 followers recently and I wanted to celebrate by honouring all my favourite gif makers. Gif Makers really do put a lot of effort into what they create and gif making is time consuming so let's give our gif makers a little more love everytime you see their creations! shower them with likes and reblogs they deserve ❤️All these people are super talented!!!

p.s. i’ve linked my top 5 favourite edits that they have made (in no particular order) so do reblog &/or like if you like them too :)

@ptrbprkrs thank you for always looking out for me and helping me with my blog :) i think your gifs are great and your blog is lovely!!!

peter parker + rainbow

peter parker + the grey t-shirt

tom, your handsome is showing

tom holland’s wise advice on social media

peter parker + facial expressions while preparing for his trip

@pterparkers (you have too many amazing gifs to choose from i died trying to choose 5)

I really like MJ, man, okay? She’s awesome, she’s super funny in a king of dark way and sometimes i catch her looking at me.

I only act like I know everything.

spider-man: far from home bloopers

#same energy

we’re in the endgame now.

@stardustony U ARE THE QUEEN OF COLOURING OMG. you need to drop a colouring tutorial cause my gifs are trying to glow like that

˗ˏˋ Somebody’s got to look out for the little guy, right? ˊˎ˗

There’s no title to this but i really liked this concept

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. ・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

THE TONY STARK LOOKBOOK | Iron Man 1 edition

THOR ODINSON ˗ˏˋ Point me in the direction of whoever’s ass I have to kick ˊˎ˗

@momentofmemory your creativity is insane and how you blend different elements (idk if i phrased that right) is just so pretty i really love it a lot hehe

og6 avengers + knowledge

mj and peter, in the amazing spider-man vol. 5 #1, #5

5 times steve left people shook™ + 1 time he shook himself

black widow #1 (2014) i think i followed you because of this giftset. then i fell in love with you haha

og6 avengers + firsts and lasts

@schoflield you are an iconic gif maker for so many films!!!

THE DEPARTED (2006)

GIFTED (2017)

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA : THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER (2010)

GONE GIRL (2014)

DUNKIRK (2017)

@robertdowneys your gifs never fail to be so aesthetically pleasing my eyes can’t handle them anymore

MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE + FAVORITE ONE-LINERS

IRON MAN

SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME

Arrival (2016)

WONDER WOMAN / CAPTAIN MARVEL / HARLEY QUINN + values

@downey-junior I’m really doing you an injustice by picking 5 of your gifsets THEY ARE ALL SO GOOD LIKE HOW??? all so colourful and in high quality i love

READY OR NOT (2019)

infinity saga rewatch: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2014) dir. James Gunn

ORIGINAL SIX AVENGERS + name etymology (insp.)

WANDA MAXIMOFF in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (2018)

THOR: RAGNAROK (2017)

@bobnorley the most popular searches gif will always be one my favourites of yours!

Natasha Romanoff + Most popular searches

Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rogers (MCU 2011-2019)

All of Natasha’s Scenes: 270/?

The Perfect Score (2004) x The Winter Soldier (2014)

Most of the time the people we like don’t like us back

@heybinary you are literally one of the reasons why i make gifs now!!! i’m so thankful for you and your gif skills are unmatched!!!

Black Panther + Details

you know, baby, you know...

Fight like a GIRL.

“ Tell me about the shooter. ”

“Black Widow (2020) ”

@natashasromanofff your blog was one of the very first accounts that i followed when i started tumblr about 3 years ago and i’ve always loved all your gifs!! your colouring is really just so pretty!

Marriage Story (2019)

Marvel’s Black Widow Prelude (2020) #2

We Bought a Zoo (2011)

Marvel’s Black Widow Prelude (2020) #3 (these gifs are my favourite!!!)

Avengers Endgame (2019)

@chrisheavans i love your blog!!!

Chris Evans as Andy Barber in Defending Jacob - Episode 4

Andy Barber in Defending Jacob - Episode 2

Chris Evans for Esquire

Let’s…name the time and place.

entitled little shit

@forchrisevans HOW DO U MAKE ALL YOUR GIFS SO CRISP I LOVE IT

Chris Evans as Andy Barber in Defending Jacob - Episode 8

of course he don’t need doors😏

Chris Evans as Steve Rogers in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) (dir. Joe and Anthony Russo)

Chris Evans as Andy Barber in Defending Jacob - Episode 5

ok husband! (ﾟ∇^*)

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9worldstales · 3 years

Text

MCU: Is Loki a serial betrayal or not?

So one of the things I see often discussed in the MCU is the long, long history of deceit and betrayal that goes on between Thor and Loki that got mentioned in “Thor – Ragnarok”.

As various MCU movies and comics get mentioned, I made a list of the sources referenced so you’ll know if they might end up spoiling you. Consider yourself warned (or feel free to skip the list if it bores you).

SOURCES MENTIONED:

Movies: “Thor” (2011), “The Avengers” (2012), “Thor – The Dark World” (2013), “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015), “Thor – Ragnark” (2017), “The Avengers – Infinity War” (2018), “The Avengers – Endgame” (2019), “WandaVision” (2021)

Comics: “Thor: Son of Asgard” (2004) “Marvel's The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week” (2012)

Direct-to-video animated film: “Thor - Tales of Asgard” (2011)

Motion comics: None mentioned

Books: “Thor: heroes and villains” (2011), “Marvel Studios The first 10 years” (2018)

Novels: “Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase One: Thor” by Alex Irvine (2015), “Thor: The Dark World Junior Novelization” by Michael Siglain (2013), “Loki – Where mischief lies” by Mackenzi Lee (2019), “The pirate angel, the talking tree and captain rabbit” by Steve Behling (2019)

Webs: None mentioned

Others: Interview “A Talk With THOR: RAGNAROK’s Eric Pearson”, interview “Joss Whedon told Comic-Con the question he doesn’t want us to ask ever again”, Interview “Chris Hemsworth (Thor: The Dark World)”, Interview “Tom Hiddleston Talks the Love-Hate of Loki and ‘Thor’”, Interview “Chris Hemsworth Talks Expanding Beyond Asgard, Interview “Building to THE AVENGERS 2, and More on the Set of THOR: THE DARK WORLD”, Interview “Chris Hemsworth ‘Thor: Ragnarok’, Embracing the Comedy, the Thor/Loki Relationship and More”, Interview “Avengers 4 Endgame: Is Loki ALIVE? Chris Hemsworth gave a massive hint at London fan event”, Interview “Avengers stars reveal one big downside to the job”, “How Taika Waititi Made Thor: Ragnarok So Damn Funny”, Interview “How 'Thor: Ragnarok' Honors & Deviates from Its Comics Foundation”, Interview “Empire Podcast Spoiler Special: Thor: Ragnarok with Taika Waititi”, interview “Kevin Fiege Talks Iron Man 2, The Avengers and More”

So now, let’s start with a quote from Eric Pearson, one of the guys responsible for the script of “Thor - Ragnarok”.

“Thor and Loki have had so many interactions, and alliances, and betrayals. They’ve been each others’ nemesis for so long that even they’re a little exhausted by themselves. It’s almost like the fatigue of dealing with each other allows this terminator like force of Hela to just walk in. They’re divided so she conquers.” [A Talk With THOR: RAGNAROK’s Eric Pearson]

So, since math is an awesome thing and “Marvel Studios The first 10 years” gave us an official timeline let’s do some math.

For start the official timeline.

965: Odin adopts Loki

2011: Thor

2012: The Avengers

2013: Thor: The Dark World

2015: Avengers: Age of Ultron

2017: Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War

2022: Avengers: Endgame (actually not mentioned in the timeline but it takes place 5 years after “Avengers: Infinity War”)

Loki is adopted in 965 so he and Thor are adopted brothers by 1052 years in “Thor - Ragnarok”.

So… “Thor” takes place in 2011 and overall covers three days and, in 2 of them, Thor and Loki are on opposing sides. At the end of “Thor” Loki is believed to be dead.

In 2012 Loki shows up again in “Avengers”. Thor arrives on Earth by night and spend there what, a day? before going back to Asgard with Loki, who then spends a year in jail with Thor never visiting him before he is freed in “Thor: The Dark World”, which takes place in 2013.

It’s worth to mention in “Thor: The Dark World” Thor and Loki are allied against Malekit before Loki is believed dead again and instead rules Asgard up until 2017, when “Thor – Ragnarok” takes place.

Anyway this means that in those 1052 years they spent together Loki and Thor had been on opposing sides for 6 years… during which only 1 year was spent with Thor knowing Loki was alive and only 4 days were spent with them actively fighting each other.

But maybe those days were days of intense betrayal… so let’s sum them up.

For start let’s remember everyone that betrayal is a deliberate break of trust, of faith.

“Thor” is the one which contain most betrayal, even though some things weren’t meant to be as such at the time in which it was filmed but whatever, let’s be strict.

- Loki ruined Thor’s coronation

- Loki had Odin warned they were going to Jotunheim so that Odin came saving their lives

- Loki lied about Odin being dead and Frigga not wanting Thor back.

- After making clear he was Thor’s enemy (I mean he sent the Destroyer to ‘Ensure his brother does not return’, could he have been more explicit?) he tricked him into helping him making him believe he was dangling on the edge of the Bifrost and needed his help.

Okay, that’s a total of 4, one of which done to save everyone’s live (and it saved everyone’s life but, as I said, I’ll be strict and still count 4).

“The Avengers” despite painting Loki as the villain, has no betrayal. Loki doesn’t make any attempt to paint himself as Thor’s friend, he doesn’t even call Thor ‘brother’, he makes clear he wants Earth’s crown and he has made clear in “Thor” he wouldn’t hesitate to kill him. Yes, he lies to him about sending the Tesseract away, uses an illusion to trick Thor into ending up in the cage and drop the cage on the ground and stabs Thor on surprise as they’re fighting. He however never let Thor believe they’re on the same side, I’ll say with dropping the cage he remarked how he wasn’t on Thor’s side since he wondered if the fall could kill Thor. If Thor didn’t want to get the message, this was not Loki betraying him, this was Thor refusing to listen. As for Loki surviving to a fall into the void and not warning Thor about it, that’s not betrayal either. When Loki let himself fall in the void it was a suicide attempt. His survival is a plot hole for whom Whedon didn’t really bother making up an explanation.

“Well, I can’t tell you exactly what went on because it’s this dark, dark secret that I didn’t make up yet. But, the other day, I had trouble with that because he had this very passionate Shakespearean tragedy thing going on in Thor and then I needed a villain who’s not only capable, but ready and willing and anxious to take on all these heroes. For me, he just basically went on some horrible walkabout… That was pretty much as far as I got.” [Joss Whedon told Comic-Con the question he doesn’t want us to ask ever again ]

“Avengers: Infinity War” suggested Thanos resurrected him, how is up to speculation. I wonder if it has to do with the mind stone, which somehow resurrected his mind in a way similar to how Wanda resurrected Vision. But I’m not sure Marvel really tried to figure this out beyond ‘it just happened’. Anyway Loki didn’t plan to fake his death, his survival/resurrection was accidental and he didn’t own to his family to send them a note saying ‘I’m alive’.

So we’ve a total of 0.

“Thor: The Dark World” has merely the fact that Loki again didn’t die when he was supposed to. Mind you, he was supposed to die (or if he were to survive this was meant to be a secret as the movie’s ending was meant to be very different), but then they decided to keep him alive and on the throne of Asgard for “Thor: Ragnarok”. So, he clearly was stabbed and let Thor believe the wound was fatal, then went back to Asgard, took Odin’s place, offered Thor the throne and when the latter refused, took it for himself. We can’t count the fact he told Kurse ‘You might want to take the stairs to the left’ as betrayal because, again, being jailed, he’s clearly not on Thor’s same side nor trusted. Betrayal is a break of trust from someone you believed on your side. An enemy doesn’t betray you, a friend does, and Thor stated he doesn’t view anymore Loki as his brother. We also know the action was a miscalculation on his part, he thought Kurse was merely a Marauder, a pirate, not a Dark Elf part of a Dark Elves’ invasion, and he didn’t think it would end up causing Frigga’s death, just some troubles for his father and brother who cast him in that cell and, according to the novelization, he was meant to end up regretting it short after doing it.

“The east stairs lead to the barraks. You’ll find them mostly unguarded.” Loki said and Kurse nodded, then continued on, glad for the inside information. Loki wanted revenge against Thor and Odin – he just hoped that he wasn’t getting more than he hoped for. [“Thor: The Dark World Junior Novelization”]

More explosions occurred aboveground and Loki glanced upward. “Don’t you think you ought to look into that?” he said. Thor scowled at his brother, then strode off toward the stairs. Loki watched his brother leave, a hint of guilt in his eyes. What had he done? [“Thor: The Dark World Junior Novelization”]

So okay, if we count the fact he let Thor believe him he died, and that he was Odin, we’ve a total of 2.

Which leads us to the amazing number of 6.

Now okay, betraying 1 time is 1 time too much but this is not a pattern that pervaded his whole life, this is 2 days in which Loki was not in his right mind due to pain (“Thor”) and a day in which he wanted to avoid being jailed for life as Thor has promised him he would be once they were to get back (“Thor: The Dark World”).

But, but, but, didn’t Loki betrayed and attempted to murder Thor PRIOR to “Thor”? And why aren’t I considering “Thor: Ragnarok” at all?

I mean, in addition to Loki betraying Thor for money, there’s this bit in “Thor: Ragnarok”:

Banner: Okay, can I just... A quick FYI, I was just talking to him just a couple minutes ago and he was totally ready to kill any of us.

Valkyrie: He did try to kill me.

Thor: Yes, me too. On many, many occasions. There was one time when we were children, he transformed himself into a snake, and he knows that I love snakes. So, I went to pick up the snake to admire it and he transformed back into himself and he was like, "Yeah, it's me!" And he stabbed me. We were eight at the time. [“Thor – Ragnarok”]

But the problem is to quote Wanda in“WandaVision” when her ‘brother’ talks about their shared childhood, this sort of relationship, well, ‘That’s not exactly how I remember it.’ From the previous movies, interviews, books, novels and extra material, I mean.

But let’s start with order.

So “Thor: Ragnarok”.

Remember Eric Pearson, the guy whose quote I used to start all this?

For start this guy never worked on a script with Thor and Loki previously.

The most he did was to be involved in the “Marvel's The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week” in which Thor and Loki have some cameo appearances.

So let’s hear what he has to say about Thor and Loki’s relation.

“For introductions, working on Thor’s voice was really great just because Hemsworth is great with the script. He actually pulled me aside one morning to talk to me about the Thor and Loki scenes. He pointed out, correctly so, that what I had was retreading a bit of what had already happened in Thor, Thor: The Dark World and The Avengers. We needed to have their relationship exhibit the amount of awareness that it should have after the audience spent so much time with them on screen. So, the Thor and Loki stuff is also some of my favorite.” [A Talk With THOR: RAGNAROK’s Eric Pearson]

So Hemsworth informed his opinion and which opinion has Chris Hemsworth of the whole matter?

Well, his opinion on Thor’s relationship with Loki evolved as time went by… but FIRST let’s focus on how he believed it was their relationship during or prior the “Thor” movie.

“In the very first film Loki and Thor as brothers had a friendship where there was less hatred involved.” [Chris Hemsworth (Thor: The Dark World)]

It’s not terribly explicative but let’s say that they were more or less friends? So his brother wasn’t trying to murder him from childhood? He wasn’t betraying him from childhood?

According to Thom Hiddleston definitely not.

“I think Loki grows up with an older brother who he loves and respects. They play, they banter and they bash each other about, but there is a latent jealousy. Craig Kyle ‐ one of our producers ‐ always used to talk about the analogy of the quarterback and the artist. Thor is the quarterback. He’s a chip off the old block and he’s just like his dad. Loki’s problem is, maybe not his problem, but [that] he’s more drawn to the powers of intellect, magic, and the dark arts. He’s not going to be out in the fields throwing a hammer around. That’s just not where his passion lies. There’s a disconnect with Odin and there’s a disconnect with Thor. He loves them very much, but he’s not just made of the same stalk. In the course of the film there’s a big reveal both for Loki and the audience about the truth of Loki’s true lineage and who his real parents are. I think that begets any jealous that was within him towards Thor develops into a dark, cancerous rage that then becomes a destructive rage.” [“Tom Hiddleston Talks the Love-Hate of Loki and ‘Thor’”]

And the ruining of the coronation? As the movie itself said it was done because he didn’t believe his brother was ready to rule… but let’s also read this bit always from Tom Hiddleston.

“He’s certainly not an anarchist who wants to burn the house down. I think he has an inner conviction. He loves a practical joke, he loves mischief and he loves playing around. He loves starting a bonfire in the next room and hearing people scream, but nobody would be killed.” [“Tom Hiddleston Talks the Love-Hate of Loki and ‘Thor’”]

In short it wasn’t meant to cause any serious harm... same as warning his father was meant to save them. Of the 4 times in “Thor” in which Loki betrays Thor, 2 are not done with evil intentions in mind.

But maybe it’s just Tom Hiddleston?

Nope, we’ve the booklet “Thor: heroes and villains” agree with this.

“Loki is often the voice of reason to Thor’s impulsiveness and is usually relied on to talk his older brother out of sticky situation.” [“Thor: heroes and villains”]

“As Odin’s younger son, Loki has always known the throne of Asgard will never belong to him. He has, however, tried his best to be a good brother to Thor and a son Odin could be proud of.” [“Thor: heroes and villains”]

Then we’ve this in the “Thor” movie:

Sif: He may speak of the good of Asgard, but he's always been jealous of Thor.

Volstagg: We should be grateful to him, he saved our lives.

Hogun: Laufey said there were traitors in the House of Odin. A master of magic could bring three Jotuns into Asgard.

Fandral: Loki's always been one for mischief, but you're talking about something else entirely. [“Thor”]

The group suspects Loki wants to hand Asgard to the Jotuns, but up till the end of the movie Loki will have Asgard’s best interests in mind. His way to pursue them though, by destroying the Jotuns, is beyond ruthless but it’s not traitorous toward Asgard.

Also they’ve nothing against him beyond the fact he was jealous of Thor. They mention no stabbing episode, no murdering attempt no previous betrayal. Loki was jealous and they fear this had caused him to do something extreme. NOW. They’ve nothing they can use against him from the past, their suspects are based on Loki’s jealousy, the fact he’s a wizard and Laufey’s words.

Even the “Thor” novelization, which discusses their relation, doesn’t mention murder attempts prior to the Destroyer thing.

From Thor’s point of view:

“His younger brother has always been something of a mystery to him. While Thor had been eager to spread his wings, fight in battles, and go off on grand adventures, Loki had always been more hesitant. True, he had Thor’s back, but it was often only out of necessity.” [“Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase One: Thor”]

From Loki’s point of view:

“Why did he always seem to get into trouble because of his older brother? Wasn’t he supposed to be the wiser one? Odin has expressly forbidden that they enter Jotunheim. Yet it wasn’t the first time Thor had done something reckless. And it wouldn’t be the first time Loki was powerless to stop him.” [“Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase One: Thor”]

Loki had Thor’s back, albeit he wasn’t happy about it, Thor is the one who causes troubles, everyone knows and in the novel Loki is regularly sent by Sif and the Warriors Three to calm Thor down and make him think.

Long story short Thor and Loki seemed to be originally planned to have a relationship similar to the one they had in “Thor - Tales of Asgard” direct-to-video animated superhero film which came out in the same year as “Thor”.

So, why somehow in “Thor: Ragnarok” it morphed into the one they have in the comics “Thor: Son of Asgard” (2004) if not worse?

Well, somehow Hemsworth’s feelings shifted along the way between “Thor: The Dark World” and “Thor: Ragnarok”. He was aware of how Loki and Thor’s relationship was portrayed in the comics and this bits fits with how in “Thor: Ragnarok” he just wants to tell Loki he didn’t care anymore.

I mean I can’t say too much but I think in the comic books, you kind of roll your eyes sometimes at the amount of times that they’re back to being best friends so we wanted to keep in mind that he did just try to kill you for the seventh time, and Earth and millions of people and what have you, so… [Chris Hemsworth Talks Expanding Beyond Asgard, Building to THE AVENGERS 2, and More on the Set of THOR: THE DARK WORLD]

Without giving too much away, I didn't want to repeat that relationship either. And Tom felt the same. All of us were like, ‘What can we do again here?’ There’s a bit of reversal as far as... In the first films, a lot of the time you’re seeing Thor going, 'Come back Loki, and da-da-da-da.' [But now] there’s a feeling from Thor that’s just like, 'You know what, kid? Do what you want. You’re a screw up. So whatever. Do your thing.' [Chris Hemsworth ‘Thor: Ragnarok’, Embracing the Comedy, the Thor/Loki Relationship and More]

"Ahhh, he's like the girlfriend you break up with and they don't get the message. Like, 'You're dead, sorry, it's over,' and they're coming round to hang the new drapes. "The most poignant moments (of Thor's movies) have been with Loki." [Avengers 4 Endgame: Is Loki ALIVE? Chris Hemsworth gave a massive hint at London fan event]

Until we get to “Avengers: Infinity War” in which he makes clear he believes Loki fooled him time and time again so that he doesn’t want him back…

While the cast share an obvious camaraderie, a void remains after Tom Hiddleston’s Loki died in Infinity War. Would Hemsworth bring back his troublesome onscreen brother if he could? “No. Why would I do that?” he answers, blankly. “He fooled me time and time again. But on the personal side, I was with Tom since the beginning of this journey and I learned a lot from him.” Hemsworth pauses. “If you’re asking if Thor would bring him back, I think if he could have done he would have. But for me, I don’t know.” [Avengers stars reveal one big downside to the job]

…even if Thor would have (and of course he would have if we’ve to believe Thor’s tears in “Avengers: Infinity War” and his depression in “Avengers: Endgame” are due to Loki’s death and it’s not merely due to how ‘fun’ it is to have a depressed Thor who ends up neglecting his health by drinking too much and getting fat… because being a source of amusement isn’t really a reason why you should introduce a depressed character in a story).

So yes, maybe Pearson didn’t go to the right source of info for Thor and Loki’s relationship.

However, credits when it’s due, the scene about Loki wanting to kill Thor from childhood is not so much due to Pearson or Hemsworth but due to Waititi.

Hewitt: You know, there’s another moment I love, when they have the little huddle about Loki, and he tells the story about how Loki turned into a snake.

Waititi: Yeah, yeah.

Hewitt: And that felt improv’d.

Waititi: Yeah, there was basically- what we did about six different versions of that story, and that was just us standing around, while the cameras are rolling, while I would just feed them lines, and feed Chris ideas for some stories. I was, “Oh, do one, this one, um, say, “I was walking through a field, and I saw a lovely Turkish rug in the middle of the grass, and I love Turkish rugs, so I went to stand on it, and it was Loki, and he turned back into Loki, and it was a hole, and I fell through the hole, and was impaled in the hole, full of spikes”.”

Hewitt: *laughs*

Waititi: As I did all versions of that and I just kept going with- Yeah, the one with the snake just turned out to be the one we used. [Taika Waititi On Screenwriting: An Empire 30th Anniversary Special]

And so how did Waititi envisioned the Thor-Loki dynamics? This is how Waititi describes Thor’s live:

“To be perfectly honest, he’s a rich kid who lives in a castle in outer space. I don’t know any of those people, but I do know people who come from dysfunctional families. He barely talks to his parents — well, his mom’s dead now — his brother is trying to kill him his entire life, and he’s supposed to be king, and he doesn’t want to be a king. A lot of it is also this father-son relationship stuff of him trying to prove himself, or trying to find his own identity, and I really relate to that. My dad was a very big personality in New Zealand and in our area, and I’ve always been trying to do my own thing to separate from him, while at the same time trying to impress him. Which is the story of pretty much all guys, and probably most girls, who are choosing a parent to impress. That was my way in with him.” [“How Taika Waititi Made Thor: Ragnarok So Damn Funny”]

Why Waititi came up with such an idea for their dynamics is up to everyone’s speculation because in itself it’s not important if he actually got told about it by Hemsworth, Pearson or by Brad Winderbaum, who admitted taking inspiration from the comics for “Thor – Ragnarok”…

“I'll tell you the three things we looked at the most. We're pulling a lot stylistically from Kirby [but] we're also looking at the Walt Simonson Ragnarok arc [and]… God of Thunder, the Jason Aaron book.” [How 'Thor: Ragnarok' Honors & Deviates from Its Comics Foundation]

… if this is the result of that 1 short comic he read…

“That’s a thing about me, guys, I did not do my research.” … “I read one issue of Thor as my research. Not even a graphic novel, it was one of the thin-thin ones.” … “And by the end of it, “Hm, well, we’re not doing that”. [Empire Podcast Spoiler Special: Thor: Ragnarok with Taika Waititi]

Waititi wanted to do his own story, not a continuation of the previous movies.

“I was lucky enough they didn’t force me to acknowledge things- there were certain things in the film, like the play, which makes fun of the scene in The Dark World where Loki dies, but there’s a point to that play, sort of to recap what happened, but also to tell the audience, “This is not what you think it’s going to be, this film is not going to be a continuation of that. It’s its own thing, and what you think you expect from this film ends at this play.”” [Empire Podcast Spoiler Special: Thor: Ragnarok with Taika Waititi]

This is not the point where I discuss what I think of this idea of stepping all over the previous movies to create a ‘new Thor’ that the Russo brothers proceeded to dismantle in the next movie.

In 2010 Feige was already on board with the idea ‘the movie comes first’ and the ‘connective tissue’ is fun and very important if you want it to be.

“It's never been done before and that's kind of the spirit everybody's taking it in. The other filmmakers aren't used to getting actors from other movies that other filmmakers have cast, certain plot lines that are connected or certain locations that are connected but I think for the most part, in fact, entirely everyone was on board for it and thinks that its fun. Primarily because we've always remained consistent saying that the movie that we are making comes first. All of the connective tissue, all of that stuff is fun and is going to be very important if you want it to be. If the fans want to look further and find connections than they're there. There are a few big ones obviously, that hopefully the mainstream audience will able to follow as well. But the most important thing and I think the reason that all the filmmakers are on board is that their movies need to stand on their own. They need to have a fresh vision, a unique tone and the fact that they can interconnect if you want to follow those breadcrumbs is a bonus.” [Kevin Fiege Talks Iron Man 2, The Avengers and More]

“Thor – Ragnarok” merely took it to an extreme, retconning a lot from the original to the point some feel “Thor – Ragnarok” is a parallel universe compared to the previous 4 movies, with its own canon.

So when they needed a joke they didn’t bother checking the previous canon, they just needed a joke and so they added that scene, and it somehow got so popular it got referenced in two novels, sorta, even if in both gets ‘adapted’.

Once he was in the room, the servant girl would likely go unnoticed enough to eavesdrop – certainly less noticed than a snake, which had been his initial plan, and which was easier to imitate than an Asgardian. But snakes tended to gather attention – Thor would pick up any serpent to admire it. [“Loki- Where mischief lies”]

In “Loki – Where mischief lies” by Mackenzi Lee the stabbing isn’t included, the book only keep Thor’s fascination for snakes and his habit to pick them up… but the scene couldn’t have happened when they were children as Loki is a teen in the book and has learnt only recently to use shapeshifting magic.

In “The pirate angel, the talking tree and captain rabbit” by Steve Behling the scene is partially retconned as well.

Where in the movie is played as a clear murder attempt in the book we’ve the same story but in a different contest.

“Hey, what did I tell you about insulting our guest?” Rocket scolded, shaking his head. “If anyone’s gonna do any insulting around here, it’s gonna be me.”

Groot looked at Rocket, and enacted an impressive-albeit obnoxious-imitation of the same sneet that Rocket used on Thor just few second earlier.

“I am-“

“Don’t finish that sentence,” Rocket warned.

“Gr-“

“I mean it! You wanna have tablet privileges revocked for a week, you go right ahead and finish that though.”

If Groot had pockets, he would have showed his limbs stubbornly into them, turned around grumbling, and walked away. As it was, he didn’t, so after a moment’s stare-off with Rocket he simply muttered, “I am Groot,” then ambled away.

“He’s in an awkward phase,” Rocket said to Thor by way of explanation, turning his attention to the master control panel.

“Adolescence is never easy,” Thor said looking over Rocket’s shoulder. “I remember when Loki and I were children. Loki transformed himself into a snake, and because I really, really love snake, I went to pick it up. But the moment I did, the snake transformed back into Loki, and then he stabbed me.”

It was at least ten second before Rocket spoke. And when he finally did, he sighed and said, “Why do I have the feeling you tell this story a lot? Like, A LOT.”

Thor smiled wanly. “Maybe a few times,” he acknowledged.

“I bet this Loki gets a big kick out of it every time you tell it,” Rocket said, chuckling.

The thin smile on Thor’s face quickly fell.

“Not anymore,” were the only words Thor could manage before he turned away. [“The pirate angel, the talking tree and captain rabbit”]

While in “Thor: Ragnarok” this story seems to be a proof Loki is an homicidal maniac because it’s compared to him wanting to kill Banner and Valkyrie and therefore, despite the idea this is a joke, make the whole matter a serious business, here Loki’s actions are compared to the ones of a teenager tree wanting to insult someone else and being told not to. It seems one of those stupid things little kids do in anger, or thinking it’s just a game, without really understanding the consequences they could have (=killing someone). Thor seems to almost brag about it, as if it was a funny childhood tale about the idiotic things they did as kids, not a cautious tale against his brother and the risks of trusting him.

It’s still a story that’s clearly out of character for how Loki was meant to be PRIOR to “Thor”, but at least now it’s better inserted in the contest and can fit vaguely more with the previous canon.

But whatever, that’s it.

So, in a way, we’ve two universes, one is the Pre-Ragnarok one, in which Loki prior to Thor loved his brother and had a good relation with him, and the other is the Ragnarok one, in which Loki wanted him dead from childhood.

Both exist.

It’s something a part of the fandom is well aware of, but also something another part of the fandom is ABSOLUTELY unaware of.

I’m not going to tell you which universe you’ve to favour, if the one in which Loki loved Thor or the one in which he wanted him dead, that’s up to your personal preference.

But if you’re among the many who’re still confused about why the fandom has split opinions about the relationship between the brothers… well, that’s a summary of the history behind it all.

Honestly, with the incoming “Thor – Love and Thunder” and “Loki” series, I’ve no idea what will be the future of it all. Waititi will probably want to go back to his “Thor – Ragnarok” continuity… unless he wants to reinvent Thor all over again so we’ll get another additional universe for Strange to enjoy in his upcoming “Doctor Strange in the multiverse of madness”… in addition to the universes created in “Avengers – Endgame” when the characters changed the past and the ones Loki will be creating in “Loki”.

Sorry, Doctor Strange, I guess you’ll have your hands full.

#thor #loki odinson #thor odinson #mcu #loki #9 worlds study

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starksvixen · 3 years

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Fade Masterlist

Summary:

Erin Schulz. Hydra's Pawn, their greatest fighter yet. One of the enhanced, her power unmatched even by the Maximoff twins. Daughter of Stark but that secret has been hidden from Erin. All of her life she has been told that she is unwanted and that Hydra is her only home. But soon, that lie will be revealed. What will happen when Ultron strikes? Can she find her place in the world? Will Erin choose to be a hero or a villian?

A Wattpad Original Story

Part 1: Age of Ultron

Prelude

Chapter 1: The Maximoffs

Chapter 2: The Attack

Chapter 3: A Disastrous Combination

Chapter 4: Captured

Chapter 5: Memory

Chapter 6: A Choice

Chapter 7: Is This What Safe Feels Like?

Chapter 8: A Realization

Chapter 9: The Fight

Chapter 10: The Vision

Chapter 11: The End Of An Age

Chapter 12: Grief

Chapter 13: Time to Let Go

(Blurbs 1 - 2 - 3 - 4)

Part 2: Civil War

Prelude

Chapter 14: Wishing I Could Forget

Chapter 15: The Accords

Chapter 16: Too Much Loss For Today

Chapter 17: Finding an Old Friend

Chapter 18: A War Is Brewing

Chapter 19: A New Recruit

Chapter 20: Civil War Part I

Chapter 20: Civil War Part II

Chapter 21: Aftermath

Chapter 22: He’s Okay

Chapter 23: Visitation

Chapter 24: One Last Time

Chapter 25: Starting to Find Peace

Chapter 26: We’ll Be There

Part 3: Civil War

Prelude

Chapter 27: A Celebration

Chapter 28: A Little Longer

Chapter 29: Is This My Life Now?

Chapter 30: Cover Blown

Chapter 31: A New Threat

Chapter 32: No Matter What

Chapter 33: Myself

Chapter 34: I Guess We’re a Team Now, Huh?

Chapter 35: Milestones

Part 4: Infinity War & Endgame

Prelude

Chapter 36: He’s Here

Chapter 37: An Untimely Reunion

Chapter 38: Time to Stand

Chapter 39: We Lost

Chapter 40: Glimpses

Chapter 41: The Revival

Chapter 42: One...Last...Chance

The End

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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The Incredible Hulk’s Diminished Legacy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

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Love it or hate it, one of the things that makes the Marvel Cinematic Universe work is the long term synergy. With Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, over a decade of movies came together to pull off one of the most entertaining spectacles of our time. It’s a universe that, for the most part, feels consistent and it builds on itself as each movie feels like an essential cog in a larger machine.

Some cogs are bigger than the others, though, and when it comes to “the others,” one can’t help but notice that 2008’s Incredible Hulk is something of a black sheep in the Marvel movie roster. These days, they’re just starting to dust it off as a property with the return of Tim Roth’s Abomination in She-Hulk and William Hurt’s General Ross’ gradually increasing role in the universe itself (he’ll appear in Black Widow and possibly other projects soon enough).

Now, there are plenty of reasons why Incredible Hulk is the green-skinned stepchild of the MCU. It made the least amount of money (about $42 million less than Captain America: The First Avenger, which was the second worst showing), the lead actor was recast afterwards, and its status as a Universal co-production meant that it would be the only movie in the first three Marvel phases that would not get its own sequel, no matter how popular Hulk was in the Avengers movies and Thor: Ragnarok.

It’s not like the MCU acted like Incredible Hulk never happened, but the creators definitely had a tendency to shove it into the corner and be somewhat vague about its existence. It became easier as the MCU became rich with more and more properties, but early on, it was very much the rage-filled elephant in the room.

The Hulk Design

There were a couple of ads for Avengers: Endgame that included shots from all the previous MCU movies in chronological order. For one, when it came to Incredible Hulk, all it had to show for it was Hulk’s fist bursting through the wall. In another, they just used shots from later movies and hoped nobody would notice. That’s because CGI or not, Ed Norton’s Hulk and Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk were two very different beasts. Not only did they roughly resemble their actors, but Norton’s Hulk was more of a giant, angry bodybuilder with green skin while Ruffalo’s came off as more Cro-Magnon, like a shaved gorilla.

It means that while they could talk about Hulk’s exploits, they could never really show any flashbacks, as it would just look awkward. Similarly, Incredible Hulk filmed a cut opening where Banner tried to shoot himself, but the Hulk wouldn’t allow it. While it was a bit too extreme to show, Banner at least got to talk about it happening in Avengers.

The Effect on the World of the MCU

When you look at the events of Incredible Hulk, it keeps things focused on the characters and not the world at large. Sure, it would have been bigger news if the Abomination defeated the Hulk and went on an even bigger rampage, but that problem was nipped in the bud. If you’re a citizen of Marvel Earth, all there is to know is that some soda has been recalled and there was a monster fight in Harlem.

In the movies themselves, the only time the Harlem fight is brought up is in the background of Iron Man 2, where Nick Fury’s map signals it as a place of interest.

With the exception of the Hulk straight-up existing, the most lip service his movie got early on was the scene in Captain America: The First Avenger where Steve gave blood for further study. They needed something to give Emil Blonsky down the line and turn him into an angry Ninja Turtle.

Speaking of…

Whatever Happened to the Abomination?

Of Marvel’s Phase 1 villains, one died, a couple vanished confusingly into space only to come back later, and three were taken into custody. Ending up in custody means you’ll be back soon enough because prisons usually can’t hold the type of enemies who can throw down with the Avengers. Usually.

In other words, it’s pretty damn impressive that the Abomination has been kept off the grid since the Hulk choked him out in Harlem. She-Hulk will be his first real appearance since then, but his name has been on the tongue of Phil Coulson on Agents of SHIELD a few times.

The scene of Tony Stark appearing at the end of Incredible Hulk to confront General Ross is something that came off as a big deal at the time, but afterwards didn’t make too much sense. Piggybacking off the Iron Man post-credits scene, Stark was seemingly trying to recruit the Hulk into the Avengers. That didn’t exactly jibe with what they were going for afterwards, so they released a short film to make sense out of everything.

The Consultant featured Agent Coulson and Agent Sitwell discussing the unfortunate decision by the World Security Council to demand the Abomination join the team. After all, Blonsky is a decorated veteran and the Harlem incident could easily be blamed on Banner. Fury wasn’t in a position to refuse the Council, so the only hope was that General Ross – the guy in charge of Blonsky’s captivity – turned them down. And so, they sent Tony Stark. That final scene in Incredible Hulk was reframed as Tony Stark obnoxiously asking for the keys to Abomination for the Avengers and Ross being so annoyed by his antics that he straight-up refused.

Afterwards, Abomination was namedropped a couple of times in Agents of SHIELD, which is par for the course considering early Agents of SHIELD was about reminding us about stuff that happened in the movies and saying, “We’re part of all that!” According to the show, Abomination was kept in a special prison in Alaska that only a select few know about. There was an episode where SHIELD’s main prison lost power and one of the writers realized that they probably needed to note that Abomination wasn’t going to be an issue in this situation.

But hey, at least he finished his story. The Leader on the other hand…

Samuel Sterns and the Fate of the Leader

At the time, it was the right play. Tim Blake Nelson played the kind of surprise villain you’d find in your average CGI animated Disney movie. As Mr. Blue, he existed as Bruce Banner’s potential salvation, only to be revealed to be kind of over-the-line and sinister in terms of his gamma experiments. After turning Blonsky into the Abomination, Sterns was knocked to the floor and a sample of Banner’s irradiated blood dripped into the open wound on his head. Sterns seemed especially jazzed with a crazed expression as his head started throbbing and increasing in size.

And then…nothing! Not even a mention in a different movie or Agents of SHIELD. That’s what happens when you set up a villain for a sequel and then have legal reasons keeping you from making that sequel. That said, there is a follow-up to what the hell happened with Sterns.

Back in 2012, a prequel comic was released to coincide with the first Avengers movie. The Avengers Prelude: Fury’s Big Week showed that the events of Iron Man 2, Thor, and Incredible Hulk all happened over the course of a few days. We got to see those storylines from the perspective of SHIELD, especially a very overwhelmed and fatigued Nick Fury. That makes sense for the stuff with Tony Stark in Iron Man 2 as well as Mjolnir and the Destroyer in Thor, but what of Incredible Hulk?

As shown in this story, Black Widow was in the background of its events, keeping an eye on everything and realizing that she was way in over her head. She played clean-up on the Sterns situation by coming across his giant, mutated head in the aftermath. Sterns was quick to figure out her homeland from traces of her accent and thought to bribe her in some way, but she stonewalled him with a couple of bullets to the legs.

A year later, Sterns was shown floating in a tank, unconscious, as various SHIELD scientists studied him.

Will we ever see the Leader pop up in the MCU? I can’t imagine Tim Blake Nelson is too busy to appear on She-Hulk at some point.

Betty Ross

Bruce Banner’s old flame is now nothing but a footnote. Considering Banner moved on to another relationship and then another planet, there was never a reason to reintroduce Betty. The only nods to her were Tony Stark naming his Hulkbuster armor “Veronica” (get it?) and the Russo Brothers saying in an interview that Betty was one of those turned to dust by Thanos.

Maybe one day we’ll see Red She-Hulk. Don’t hold your breath, though.

Thunderbolt Ross

General Thaddeus Ross does the heavy lifting for keeping Incredible Hulk relevant. The guy came back for Captain America: Civil War, a movie that didn’t even have the Hulk in it! But it did give him the Henry Gyrich role in a time when Gyrich was probably off-limits since he was considered part of the X-Men corner of Marvel (he already had a very minor role in the first X-Men movie). A familiar face, Ross got to be the government liaison type who spoke with logic, but came off as an antagonistic killjoy.

Right or wrong, Ross’ insistence that the Avengers sign with the Sokovia Accords ruined the team in the face of Thanos’ rampage against the cosmos. He still got to show his respects as Tony Stark’s funeral at the end of Endgame.

Yet, that’s not the last we’ll see of him. In Black Widow, Ross is shown in the trailers. We don’t know his role quite yet, but there’s a lot of fan speculation that Ross might tie into the next roster of the Avengers. Maybe a team that’s government sanctioned and controlled. Maybe a team that’s an awful lot like the Thunderbolts.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

It does seem that as the MCU reaches further and further outward, it looks back more and more on the events of Incredible Hulk. Then again, I doubt we’ll be seeing Ty Burrell’s Leonard Samson turn into a gamma-irradiated psychiatrist with long, luxurious hair any time soon.

The post The Incredible Hulk’s Diminished Legacy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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feliciates · 5 years

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STOP Slandering Steve Rogers

#1: He was NEVER “willing to burn the world down/ let the world burn for Bucky Barnes.”

Show me one place when that was ever canon.

In CA:TFA - he wanted to wipe out Hydra after Bucky fell from the train. Sure, good for him, Hydra was unspeakably evil organization. What good person didn’t want to wipe out Hydra??

In CA:TWS Steve was prepared to do whatever it took to stop the launch of those helicarriers - up to and including BREAKING Bucky’s arm. He didn’t stop fighting Bucky until everyone but him (Steve) was safe.

In CA:CW he objected to and refused to sign the Accords BEFORE Bucky was even mentioned. It had NOTHING to do with Bucky. Steve was going to bring Bucky in when he thought he might have had something to do with the bombing. He refused to sign the Accords even when Bucky’s welfare was dangled in front of him. Steve only ran off with Bucky when it became clear there was no getting a fair shake from Ross et al. He gave up the shield for himself - okay, his motive may be open to interpretation but it’s certainly not equivalent to letting the rest of the world burn.

In the Prelude to Infinity War comics, while Bucky’s healing in Wakanda Steve and Sam and Nat are busy hunting down rogue Chitauri weapons - sure seems like he’s not willing to let the world burn down if he can help it.

#2: Someone who would be “willing to let the would burn” for their loved one is not a hero, they’re not even a good person; that is supervillain territory. That is Kingpin/Wilson Fisk or Darth Vader - not Captain America.

And lastly thinking that being willing to sacrifice everything in the world is a sign of love is seriously effed up. Really - if you think that would be somehow romantic or admirable - get help.

#Steve Rogers #Steve Rogers Defense Squad #stop just stop

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that-shamrock-vibe · 4 years

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TV Review: Crisis on Infinite Earths (Spoilers)

Parts 4 & 5: Arrow & Legends of Tomorrow

Spoiler Warning: I am posting this review the day after the episodes air in the U.S, so if you haven’t yet seen the final two parts of the crossover then don’t read on until you have.

Overview:

Wow! I can’t decide if it’s the fanboy in me but I am really impressed with how Warner Bros/DC and The CW were able to finish telling this ultimate crossover story. I will draw a lot of parallels to Avengers: Endgame in this review because you can’t really not but while obviously Infinity War and its conclusion in the comics was a massive event, Crisis is seismic, it is the event...in many respects it is Event One. So the pressure was on to not only payoff the last 8 years of storytelling in essentially 5 hours, but also honour this iconic comic-book event.

And did they do it? Well after a slightly shaky start with Arrow, in my humble opinion yes and, with Legends of Tomorrow no less, I think left audiences and fans especially with one exciting feast of food for thought...potential. There is so much potential and so many doors opened not just to our now core four shows, but for shows to come and even shows affiliated.

But with the doors now burst open for the future of the DC Multiverse, because after this I can’t just call it the Arrowverse anymore, just exactly where does The CW go from here?

Disclaimer: Because this was a two-part finalé of sorts and I am time-constrained with other responsibilities, I will be saying what I loved, what I hated and what I thought was “meh”, because there is still some “meh”.

The Great:

Earth-Prime:

So of course the first great thing for me was this new reality that all our main heroes find themselves now inhabiting, save for Oliver who I will get to. But yes, after the events of Arrow which saw our seven Paragons, and Spectre Oliver, supposedly defeat the Anti-Monitor and reboot the universe, they create Earth-Prime...as well as a new Multiverse but getting to that.

Earth-Prime now hosts not only the original inhabitants of Earth-1 (The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman etc) but also combines them with Earth-38 (Supergirl) and even Black Lightning’s Earth...which we never had an official designation for which is annoying.

So now, it’s widely speculated which state all of these relatively fictional cities are in, but from what I know you have Star City in Washington, Central City in Missouri, National City in California, Gotham City in New Jersey, Metropolis in New York and Freeland in Georgia. All of which are now in the same reality as they should have been from the start but I digress.

This is possibly a novelty that will soon wear off, particularly when our individual heroes face off against a big-bad and cannot call one of their new allies for help, but for the time being it is really awesome to see that not only has this happened, but it is a direct ramification of the events of the crossover that is permanent...this doesn’t get retconned and isn’t temporary...Earth-Prime is now the main setting of the Arrowverse.

Justice League?:

Right at the end of the episode when our main heroes (Genuinely everyone who is the main character of a current series or future series as well as Martian Manhunter are lined up) to mourn their fallen friend Oliver, it turns out that where they have decided to do this is the same S.T.A.R. Labs Hall that the first major team-up first assembled in.

The reasoning for this is because Barry has decided to make this all-star team-up official for “future missions” (meaning future crossovers) and even has brought in a round table with chairs for every member there as well as an empty seat for Oliver.

This is clearly either a nod or an introduction to the Justice League of the Arrowverse. Obviously here the founding members are The Flash, Supergirl, Martian Manhunter, Superman, White Canary, Batwoman, Black Lightning and, posthumously, Green Arrow.

Although on that note, I feel that Green Arrow slot may soon be filled by Mia Smoak given that she is set to become the new Green Arrow. Although how she gets back from the future remains a mystery even if she does.

Regardless, this is something that has been either preluded to or wanted by fans since the all-star team up first came together during the Invasion crossover. I love the logos on each chair representing each character, I love the characters that are involved. I mean it may seem a bit biased to have three characters from Supergirl involved but not only do I feel this is because Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman is getting his own series but also you can’t have a Justice League-style founding team without Martian Manhunter.

Also, it’s unclear as to exactly how large this team is. Yes these 7/8 are the founding members but do the rest of Teams Arrow, Flash, Superfriends and the Legends act as subsidiaries akin to Justice League Unlimited? Only time will tell.

I mean we know that both Black Canaries are heading over to Green Arrow and the Canaries with Mia but I would love to see Elongated Man, Mister Terrific, Vixen, Brainiac 5 and Ragman being part of this team going forward.

Going Meta:

Tying into this Justice League scene, I did love how Meta the last episode got, not so much Part 4 but definitely Part 5. I will admit the constant Meta-References on Legends of Tomorrow is one of the reasons why I’m so annoyed with the show recently but because I guess Legends hasn’t been on until now in this current run I guess I missed it.

Also on a side-note the very term of “Meta” is bemusing to me in regards to this series of shows because of course there’s meta-referencing but also here metahumans that are also called “metas”.

But anyway, there’s been a running gag throughout the crossover about how the Legends don’t want to be a part of the crossover, yet Ray seems to be excited that there was a crossover. Sara seems to want the crossover to finish as soon as possible despite she, and Barry, being the de-facto leaders of the all-star team before Barry formally forms the Justice League team.

I also enjoyed the interaction between Kate and Jefferson, who essentially are the two relative newbies to the Arrowverse with Batwoman joining last year and Black Lightning officially joining this year.

When Jefferson clicks that this whole saving the world situation will be a recurring thing, Kate tries to reassure him by saying she was “the new kid” last year.

It is interesting because, aside from Supergirl, the newcomers in the year of the crossover usually sit it out or are barely in it. Nate and Amaya during Invasion! for example were only in it during their episode.

Here we of course only have Black Lightning representing because as I understand it there is something going on his his show with his team which is why they’re not active here but still.

Also on the subject of Meta references, Rene’s corrolation of Mick’s surname being Rory as a similarity to a Rory that was once on Team Arrow, being Ragman, just makes me miss Ragman on the show. I know Joe Dinicol is returning for the Arrow finalé so I am thrilled for that.

Heat, Frost & Lightning:

This does sound like I’m only loving this last episode rather than the two episodes but I’m getting to that.

Anyway Prime-Earth Heat Wave reunites with Killer Frost after two years and I am thrilled. I love these two together, I think Mick and Frost really bounce off each other well and Dominic Purcell and Danielle Panabaker do have good comedic and antihero chemistry together.

But also, they have added and somewhat unwanted assistance this time as Black Lightning shows up. I knew Cress Williams would be back in the crossover after his minor appearance in Part 3, it was also a sign that all The CW shows now inhabit this one Earth and to have three elemental heroes working together (it pains me that both Heat Wave and Killer Frost have become heroes) was very cool. I hope there’s more of this trio down the line.

Lex Luthor - Paragon of Deception:

I am not Jon Cryer’s biggest fan but I really enjoy him as Lex Luthor. While I thought his mission to kill all the Supermen was fun, him becoming the Paragon of Truth replacing Kingdom Come Superman at the last minute, as I said in my last review, was a stroke of genius that I did not see coming.

I do love the fact that, rather than becoming a good guy through becoming a Paragon, he is still Lex Luthor and still self-serving while also trying to help restart the universe.

The fact he gave himself powers with the Book of Destiny which allowed him to fend off Supergirl, I would say “and Ryan” but really Ryan Choi didn’t really do much until Part 5.

Lex also had possibly my favourite line of the two episodes which was “In the contest of Mind over Muscle, Mind wins every time”. It’s a very Eobard Thawne type of line but I can imagine any version of Lex I’ve seen saying it which makes it so classic.

Also, if they are in fact doing a Justice League-style team, they need some sort of Injustice League with Lex and Eobard. I mean they’ve had the Legion of Doom but that didn’t work out so maybe this would?

Also, I’m sorry, the fact he was the one to figure out how to save the universe and yet ends up not only back being alive but as National City’s good guy as well as the owner of the D.E.O, I am most excited to see what happens in Supergirl next because of this development.

Parallel Earths for Non-Arrowverse Properties:

So in this new Multiverse, Earth-Prime is the Arrowverse Earth. The reality where Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman and Black Lightning all take place.

The other Earths this time around seem to be Earths for other shows that aren’t Arrowverse inclusive. Earth-2 seems to belong to the upcoming Stargirl series, Earth-9 is still Titans, Earth-96 is still Kingdom Come Superman’s Earth which combines the Christopher Reeves Superman with Routh’s Superman Returns, Earth-21 is Doom Patrol which many fans believe is the same universe as Titans but despite both being DC Universe shows, they’re separate universes.

Earth-19 is where it gets interesting as what we see is the planet Oh, meaning this is a universe the Green Lantern Corps exist on and is most likely an allusion to the upcoming Green Lantern series in development on HBOMax produced by Greg Berlanti. However, originally Earth-19 was the home of the Collectors such as Gypsy and the Accelerated Man, so whether or not they cohabit I do not know

I liked this set up because Earths 2, 9, 19 and 21 are all the main settings for either current or upcoming shows. This echos the comics beautifully as now the Arrowverse is one Earth, and the affiliates are different Earths.

Also the fact that Kingdom Come Superman was shown in this line-up is probably an assurance to fans that he either could or will return at a later date. The Superman and Lois series is definitely based on Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch’s versions of the characters but Brandon Routh is stepping down from Legends this season so while he may be pulling back on The Atom he could appear as a guest or recurring guest on that show maybe?

It is also fair to assume, because of these Earth designations being the same as they were Pre-Crisis (love being able to say that), that Earth-666 is still the Earth that Lucifer is based on, Earth-89 is still the Burtonverse Batman reality, Earth-66 is still the 60s Batman reality and Earth-167 is still Smallville’s reality. Just because we don’t see them doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

Also it’s unclear about how Earths established on The Flash such as Earth-3, Earth-90 and Earth-X fit in to all of this. Because Pre-Crisis Earth-2 isn’t confirmed to be part of Earth-Prime so Earth-2 Laurel could easily cohabit the same universe as Stargirl, it can be assumed that the 90s Flash is still a separate reality and Jay Garrick still exists on his own Earth.

Wonder Twins:

While not featured directly in this crossover, the very end of the final episode features the sound of a monkey the floor above the main S.T.A.R. Labs Hall, and while the team go to investigate, the camera reveals a cage with a busted open door and the name “Gleek” on the side of it.

Gleek, as far as I am aware, is the pet monkey of Zan and Jayna better known as the Wonder Twins. Also apparently as this commotion was going on the theme music from the Wonder Twins animated series was playing over it.

I only know of Zan and Jayna primarily from Smallville in their one appearance but I do also know of them as a duo that they are.

From what I know, the Wonder Twins are alien members of the Super Friends and Justice League, so for them to be alluded to just as the Arrowverse’s Justice League are forming is quite poetic.

Whether or not they are being saved for the next crossover or if they will be featured in upcoming episodes of Supergirl, The Flash or Legends of Tomorrow remains to be seen, but I do imagine the fact that characters from these main shows, and Black Lightning and Batwoman, will not be mentioned in the next episode of each series.

The Bad:

Spectre:

Alright so I mentioned me being a fanboy at the start of the review, however I am not as familiar with the comics as I am with the movies and shows. Because of this, I still to this day have no idea who Spectre actually is and what his role in the larger DC Universe is.

For instance, when Emmett J. Scanlan was introduced in Constantine as Jim Corrigan, I understood in the comics he was supposed to become Spectre and the fact those premonitions preluded to that was interesting...but then he became Lobo on Krypton and I really wanted to see Lobo here but didn’t.

Now with have this other Jim Corrigan from some random other Earth, because Constantine made it clear that this wasn’t the Corrigan he knows, but this one has become the Spectre of the Multiverse because there can only be one Spectre at a time.

Simultaneously, Oliver dies, is brought back by the Lazarus Pit, but his soul becomes the new Spectre after Corrigan passes on that burden so now Oliver is Spectre. Which is where we find him here...sparingly.

Honestly, in the episode dedicated to him, Arrow, it is criminal how little he is actually used particularly as it’s his second death episode of the crossover.

But in regards to who the Spectre is and what he does, people can tell me to read the comics or watch other shows with Spectre in, but if this current show that I am watching doesn’t explain what this Spectre is or does, that’s bad and, in my opinion, a waste of time.

From what I gather Spectre is a lot like Pariah, he is there to bear witness to events. However, like Pariah, Spectre’s power set is never really explained, he’s just there.

He can travel interdimensionally, okay how? He had the power to ignite the flame for the new universe...okay how? The Spectre can be passed on from person to person...okay how? None of this is ever truly explained and then he dies...so does Spectre die? Will there never be another Spectre?

Speed Force Scavenger Hunt:

So I am sure this was supposed to be poignant for the fact it was the Arrow episode and all but one of the Speed Force scenes are essentially flashbacks to previous scenes from Arrow. However, the way they were filmed was completely distracting.

How do you use previous scenes while incorporating new footage? Cheat and film a new scene and clumsily stitch the two together with “clever” angles. You literally had the one scene that the Paragons were witnessing, then their own scene which were never shown together. You always have the characters talking at the camera as if they’re talking to each other, it’s disconcerting and really uncomfortable to watch.

The aim of this mission was for all the Paragons to come back together after they were scattered through the Speed Force...why? Because.

Also the scene from Invasion! with Oliver and Kara, Kara is clearly present day Kara but surely in the memory of the scene she should be wearing the suit she wore back then and had the hairstyle she had back then?

Speaking of Invasion! because it was mentioned in this scene, the Arrow episode from Invasion! celebrating 100 episodes and being another Batman rip off, was a lot better and tugging the nostalgic heartstrings than this.

The only two new scenes we get both involve Barry, the first is an odd inclusion and involves Arrowverse Barry Allen coming face to face with the DCEU’s Barry Allen, Ezra Miller.

This was the most unexpected and bizarre cameo in the entire crossover. This also calls into question how DCEU Flash is still alive considering the entirety of reality has been wiped out. They could have explained that the Vanishing Point and Speed Force were the only two places Antimatter cannot reach, but they didn’t.

It was still fun to at least see Ezra Miller’s Flash, not just because Ezra Miller agreed to appear on the TV series, but also because after Justice League I feel he needed a second chance before his movie comes.

The second new scene was after Sara is murdered and brought to the Arrowcave, John is there telling Laurel to take Sara’s place and become the new Canary...despite not being too happy that she becomes the new Canary in episodes that follow this scene but I digress.

Barry shows up, and because John and Laurel don’t know of The Flash at this time they don’t know who he is, but he electroshocks Sara back to life and she is revealed to be the modern-day Sara.

This is what I don’t understand, Marc Guggenheim made it quite clear that Earth-1 Laurel would have be a major plot point in this crossover, but all she did was extend her original emotional scene into what is, in my opinion, a plot-hole.

Giant Beebo:

Can someone please explain this freakin’ toy obsession. I know it’s not real, yet for some reason it is all Legends of Tomorrow usually resort to for a cheap laugh or a cooky villain.

Here, Giant Beebo is back, but it’s not actually Giant Beebo it’s an illusion. However, the very fact this gave the freedom for the show to reference the time the Legends transformed into a giant Megazord-like Beebo to defeat Mallus, there’s so much epic stuff happening in this episode so why go back to what makes Legends of Tomorrow so bad.

The most part of this final episode was where I want Legends to be at, not resorting to cheap gags.

The Meh:

Weather Witch:

Alright so before getting into the biggest “meh” point of this conclusion for me I do need to touch on the fact that the minor threat that started the ball rolling on discovering Earth-Prime was all-inclusive in the final episode was by Weather Witch...why?

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with Weather Witch...but what was the point in Weather Witch being there? You could have had quite literally any other villain still living from Arrow, Flash, Supergirl or Legends...have the New Rogues as a team being the conflict. It just makes no sense.

Rules of Earth-Prime:

Alright so with this new Multiverse now comes potentially new rules. For example, John and Lyla (who by the way never got a comeuppance unlike Nash) now not only have JJ but also Sara is back, as if she never left as she seems to be the same age as JJ...so does this mean they’re now twins?

It’s also stated that Connor is gone, and because we never see Mia or William it’s implied they’ve gone back to the future ready for the next Arrow episode which is also the Green Arrow and the Canaries backdoor pilot.

However, with Sara being back, what does that mean for the rest of reality? Clearly Flashpoint never happens in this reality so with Sara and JJ in the same universe are others back from non-existence? Is Cisco’s brother Dante alive? Reverse-Flash clearly can’t die but where was he during all this?

What about others who were previously dead? Captain Cold, Earth-1 Laurel? I know some of these things will probably be explored over time or at the convenience of the writers but some revelations in this episode other than Sara Diggle would have been nice to see.

Also, for some strange reason, Superman and Lois of Supergirl now have two sons rather than just the one...why?

Overall I rate the entire crossover a strong 9/10. Part 4 did let the crossover down a bit but Parts 1-3 and especially Part 5 were just so good that I cannot mark it down too far.

This was the crossover every DC fan was going to be watching and critiquing not just because of the comic-book story it is based on but the fact it is the most ambitious TV crossover to ever exist crossing over not just the five main shows, but other shows past and present and even movies.

I loved the nostalgia that played into seeing Smallville, 1989 Batman, 1960s Batman, Kevin Conroy, all of the cameos and additions were just so well done.

So that’s my review of the conclusion to Crisis on Infinite Earths, what did you guys think? Post your comments down below and check out more DC TV Reviews as well as other TV Reviews and posts.

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yeonchi · 4 years

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Kisekae Insights #4: Series Overview (Next Gen and Moushouden Series)

I decided to split this into two instalments otherwise it would have been too long for me. From this point on, I started to have full control over my stories in the series – I would end up writing whole series instead of a few episodes, which eventually started to have a detrimental effect and became one of the reasons why I wanted to end my personal project as soon as possible.

The rationale behind making these two series originated from the latter half of my high school years; many people, including my teachers and parents, were saying how those final years would be important to my future, which meant that I would have to put my writing on hiatus for the time being. However, had I known better, I would have just kept on going.

The Next Gen Series

Originally, the plan was that Block 9 of the 50th Anniversary Series would have been my last series. However, towards the end of 2013, I got ideas for more stories and also realised that I would have played the Fifth Doctor for only two years whereas those actors who played the Doctor on the BBC series did around three or four years. I created this series (under the name “Project Next Gen”) with the intent of playing the Doctor for another year before finishing my final year after the hiatus. All episodes were broadcast in 2014.

I wanted to make this a “budget series” with the tagline “A New Doctor Who For A New Era”, but things happened and I ended up making it bigger than I originally wanted it to be.

2013-14 Specials: While the Next Gen Series officially started in 2014, The Day of the Doctor and A Christmas Carol (the actual 2013 Christmas Special) are also considered part of these series. Along with a five-episode miniseries broadcast around the New Year period, three specials were broadcast during Chinese New Year, with one of them being an adaptation of Princess Twilight Sparkle and another being an original pony adventure featuring Storm Dasher. All three specials featured Hiroki and Akari as companions.

Series 8: A light-hearted series that turned sour. Basically, some stuff happened IRL and Akari had to go back to being a villain with Girl Power and her cousins, who become the main villains of the Next Gen Series. Angelina Mouseling replaced Akari as companion from the sixth episode. I also adapted three BBC Fifth Doctor stories for this, namely The King’s Demons, Warriors of the Deep and Frontios respectively. The Awakening was another idea that came to mind, but I decided against it. The series finale started with some scenes from Resurrection of the Daleks, then I adapted some scenes from both ends of the 2013 TVB drama Brother’s Keeper (巨輪). It involves Hiroki kidnapping Akari and the son of a man who owned a Chinese restaurant in my local area. This is the bit where Hiroki’s sanity starts to slip as a result of his wife’s betrayal. (tbh I could have also adapted a rape scene if I wanted to but then it wouldn’t be a family series anymore) The subsequent Christmas in July Special followed on from the Series 8 finale and featured the Master as a villain alongside Girl Power and the Daleks in an invasion of Equestria. To finish off the drama adaptation, Hiroki fights the Master and is about to shoot him when he gets shot by Shining Armor. The Master is captured and dispersed throughout time and space (ala Arc of Infinity). Megan Williams makes her debut and three new companions join the Doctor, Hiroki and Angelina from this episode, namely Satoyuki Saitō, Storm Dasher and Rainbow Dash.

Series 9: If you were to read the stories of this series, you’d think I was a creep or misogynist of some sort. This series is now entirely focused on Hiroki’s fight against Girl Power and his worsening mental health that somehow barely gets mentioned. It starts off with Hiroki rejecting his old name, the name he was originally given at birth, then ends with him beating his wife and destroying the world. The Ice King is the subject of the series opener and Twilight’s Kingdom is also adapted, but with Storm Dasher and a seventh Element of Harmony, namely time. All the stories are connected with four double-parters throughout. The prototype to the Superhero Project begins here as in the second half of the series, the Doctor and his companions fight Girl Power as the Samurai Rangers. The series finale is mostly set in Hiroki’s point of view, but it does feature a pared-down adaption of The Time of the Doctor, which involves Trenzalore being an area on Earth and him only being there for like a few days or weeks or something. The Earth gets destroyed, then everything is suddenly back to normal.

The Final Specials: Three specials were made for this block. The first two are collectively known as the “5115 Specials” because they celebrate the 51st anniversary of BBC Doctor Who and the 15th anniversary of this Doctor Who. Following the format of 24, the two specials follow on from the Series 9 finale and features the Earth being raptured, then restored after the Doctor and Hiroki fix a time distortion in Heaven. Following that, they go back to Earth and fight Girl Power and their allies. Their army is so strong that it took the second coming of Jesus in order to defeat it. Hiroki and Akari reconcile after this. The final episode, the 2014 Christmas Special, features a remnant of Hiroki’s first incarnation attempting to take over his current self until Akari and her friends prevent this.

Jee Gun’s Spinoff: Magical Tachibana

The Tachibana Mysteries is a series of crime dramas centred around detectives who are part of the legendary Tachibana family, whose ancestors have worked in the police force. Magical Tachibana is one of those series; a detective from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, Yūki Tachibana, is transferred to Minato-Sugaru Island, home of the Equestria Girls. It’s basically Equestria Girls meets Death in Paradise. In addition to this, I decided to reintroduce Jee Gun’s character, with his real self ending up on Minato-Sugaru Island following his regeneration into Storm Dasher.

I wrote two pilots for the series and nothing more. The first pilot isn’t remotely connected to this series and it probably makes even less sense as you read it. Basically, it’s an adaptation of the first Equestria Girls movie where Jee Gun is sent to the human world to help Twilight, but he forgets what he is supposed to do and things just go wrong. The second pilot is the actual pilot of the series, which adapts Deep Breath and is kind of an alternate or side story to Rainbow Rocks. Basically, the Dazzlings find a time ship that crashed years earlier and they attempt to harvest organs to repair it. It ends with what looks like Adagio being impaled on top of a tower, but it’s not what it looks like.

I think only one or two series were made before it got cancelled. I’ll talk more about Jee Gun when we get to his instalment.

Director’s cuts

During the two-year hiatus, I did do some rewrites, or rather, “director’s cuts” of some episodes, which mostly involved removing or rewriting some storylines that I didn’t like. For the most part, the director’s cuts take precedence in canon over the original episodes, with the exception of the first set, the Series 9 Shinkenger arc, as it is an alternative retelling altogether.

Here are the episodes that were made into director’s cuts:

Series 9 Shinkenger arc (most of the second half and the 5115 Specials)

Block 9 (with an edited cut of The Time of the Doctor from the Series 9 finale as the de facto 2015 Christmas Special)

Series 4 Kikuchi arc (from the two dramas)

Series 7 Part 1 (the Salacian Time War specials)

Blocks 2 and 4 (the highlights of the 50th Anniversary Series before Block 6)

Series 5 finale (as the de facto 2016 Christmas Special, also includes the episode before it)

The Moushouden Series

The full name of the series is Doctor Who Xtreme Legends Moushouden (named after the Koei Warriors spinoff games), but in recent years, I’ve started to call it the Moushouden Series or Project for short. I started making plans for this towards the end of the Next Gen Series in 2014 and they have been continually changing. If I told myself in 2014 what the Moushouden Series would look like by the end, I probably wouldn’t believe myself.

The Moushouden Series started in 2017 and was meant to end at the end of 2020, but the coronavirus lockdown has forced me to push it back by another year to 2021. The Fifth Doctor would undergo a big character change to be more similar to the BBC Twelfth Doctor for the adapted episodes and Gokaiger’s Captain Marvelous for everything else. The objective of this project was to “retell the past and forge the future”. I also tried my best to answer any questions and loose ends left over from previous series. There are also numerous spinoffs that are heavily linked, so they will be listed under this section as well.

Doctor Who: This is the main component of this series that eventually got overshadowed by the other spinoffs. Because each of the original series was 12 episodes long, I decided to write an additional episode for each series to make them 13 episodes long.

Series 10: Broadcast April-June 2017 and based on BBC Series 8. I also rewrote the series opener along with the original episode. The original episodes of this and the next series are broadcast as part of the preludes to the Superhero Project and Kamen Rider Project. Some of Deep Breath was also used in the series opener, including the Paternoster Gang, the Clockwork Droids and the Half-Face Man. Clara Oswald returned as companion for this series and the next. Last Christmas acted as the Christmas in July Special.

Series 11: Broadcast September-November 2017 and based on BBC Series 9. Some modifications were made to this series to fit my project’s canon. In the opening two-parter, Davros was replaced with Antoni and in The Girl Who Died, the circumstances as to how the Doctor got his face are slightly modified. Clara Oswald departed in the series finale. My interpretation of the Hybrid is different than whatever Steven Moffat meant it to be, which I will explain when I get to it. The 2017 Christmas Special marked the debut of the Gokaigers, with the Doctor being the leader of that team as well.

Series 12: Broadcast September-December 2018 and based on BBC Series 10. In a throwback to Series 1 and 2, there are 16 episodes in this series, including the original episode, The Husbands of River Song, The Return of Doctor Mysterio and Twice Upon a Time, which featured the First Doctor’s first actor. This series is also nicknamed “the Nardole saga”. Bill Potts is also a companion in this series. Like Series 11, modifications were made to this series, such as the Monks not affecting Australia due to the influence of the Power Rangers, Kamen Riders, Ultramen and Space Sheriffs. Due to some circumstances that happened in Gokaiger, the Doctor regenerates into himself at the end and appears in the 2018 Christmas Special.

Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger/Kamen Rider Decade: Broadcast back-to-back January-June 2018 with an additional movie trilogy released July-September 2018. This is the culmination of the Superhero Project and Kamen Rider Project. There are 13 episodes in this series along with a crossover special, TV movie and extended episodes for the series premiere and finale. The amount of episodes equated to 28 half-hour episodes that could be adapted from their respective counterparts. I will be making separate instalments on this in the future.

Gokaiger: Aside from adapting episodes from Gokaiger, some storylines from Boukenger, Ninninger and Zyuohger were adapted as well. I remember using ideas from the 199 Hero Great Battle movie in four episodes for some reason. Not all Sentai teams were adapted into the Superhero Project – I only adapted Zyuranger, Kakuranger, Ohranger, Hurricanger, then Dekaranger to Zyuohger. In the movie, I also adapted Goranger, JAKQ and Dairanger as the “ancient Rangers”, mostly because they were also used in the finale and I already had a limited pool of powers as it was. The movie trilogy, titled Space Squad, involves the Gokaigers fighting alongside Ultramen Ginga, Victory and X along with Space Sheriffs Gavan, Sharivan and Shaider under the banner of the Shadow Proclamation.

Decade: Consider this my attempt at making a better version of Decade than the one we eventually got under Shoji Yonemura. This version focuses on Hiroki redeeming himself for his past sins as he is sent back a month in the past in order to gain the cooperation of the Riders and save the world from destruction. Like the original, there are two arcs in this series, namely the Nine Riders Arc and the New Riders Arc. The Nine Riders Arc features a counterpart of Narutaki as the main villain, while the New Riders Arc features a quartet of villains working under Foundation X to resurrect Dai-Shocker, the villain group of the TV movie. Originally, I wanted to feature original Riders, but in the end, I only kept three (later two) original Riders as I adapted every Rider from Kuuga to Drive. The “Nine Riders” are different in this series than the original. The movie trilogy, titled Age of Riders, is derived from the Heisei Generations movies. Kamen Rider Ghost was also adapted for this as well.

Three Kingdoms: A four-series drama recounting the backstories of Hiroki’s past self and Parker. The series is inspired from the Dynasty Warriors-esque battle dramas, but with schools and armies of children fighting each other. It covers the events of the Last Great Time War on Earth from 2003 to 2011, which is kind of related to the Hybrid. Other events after that are covered in other parts of the project. This is a weeknightly drama with 60 episodes in each series. Some specials were also broadcast between Series 3 and 4. In addition to this, a side spinoff Three Corners was made, with 26 episodes broadcast weekly in the second half of 2017.

Series 1: Broadcast January-March 2017 and covers events from 2003 to 2007. Highlights include their time at kindergarten and the first years of primary school.

Series 2: Broadcast April-June 2017 and covers events from 2007 to 2010. Highlights include Hiroki and Parker’s rise to power and their rivalry with a group of young strategists.

Series 3: Broadcast October-December 2017 and covers events from 2010 to 2011. Highlights include the Salacian Rebellion and their chaotic transition to secondary school.

Series 4: Broadcast January-April 2020 and covers events from 2011 to 2012. Highlights include Parker’s death and resurrection and Hiroki’s departure to become a ronin, bridging into his Doctor Who appearances.

Soulbound: A four-series drama focused on the adventures of Shinbu Serizawa, Mogoro Kuwabara and their friends in another universe. I got the idea to make this series from my memories of playing a Doctor Who-based adventure with my friends in primary school. The TV series Parallax and other works played large roles in influencing the series lore. The first two series was contained in its universe while the last two series crossed into the main universe, where the other works are set (though with a ten year time difference). Like Three Kingdoms, this is a weeknightly drama with 60 episodes in each series. A Doctor Who 20th Anniversary Special (celebrating the anniversary for this version of Doctor Who) was broadcast as an extra episode in Series 3.

Series 1: Broadcast April-June 2019 and features adaptions of the Ape Escape games and Sonichu fancomic. The final arc of this series revolves around the Dimensional Merge, where Soulbound’s universe is merged with the main universe, explaining the appearance of anime and cartoon characters throughout the project.

Series 2: Broadcast July-September 2019 and features an adaptation of Kingdom of Paradise. The Third, Fourth and Fifth Doctors are featured in dedicated two-parters near the end of the series. The final arc involves the construction of a dimensional bridge connecting the two dimensions, allowing travel between them, and the characters becoming part of their universe’s Shadow Proclamation.

Series 3: Broadcast September-December 2019. The entire series is an Ultraman-based arc centred around Ultraman Ginga and his nemesis, Ultraman Venokatto. It’s a really long story. The Kamen Riders are also featured, but out of the Rangers, only the Gokaigers are featured (with the exception of some Samurai Rangers during a two-parter). But between you and me, it’s also a big finger to the writers of the MLP:FiM finale. More on that when I get to it.

Series 4: To be broadcast October-December 2020. Work for this series is in progress.

The Equestria Chronicles: A two-pronged series focused on Doctor Who and Ultraman respectively. The Doctor Who portion is a clip show broadcast in the second half of 2019 and it features Storm Dasher as a guest teacher at the School of Friendship telling the students about his adventures in Doctor Who. The Ultraman portion is a six-arc drama broadcast in the second half of 2020 and it features the backstories of Ginga, Victory and X, adapted from their respective Japanese series.

The Zhuge Family Chronicles: Another clip show with different members of the Zhuge family to be featured in each episode. To be broadcast in the first half of 2021.

The Final Kamen Rider Chronicle: In lieu of a fifth series for Three Kingdoms and Soulbound, it was decided that adaptations of Ex-Aid, Build and Zi-O would be made instead. The entire series will premiere in the second half of 2021 and I will be writing the Zi-O portion of it. What I can tell you now is that my version of Zi-O will take place in an alternate 2018-19 of the project, but the Legend Riders will come from the end of their respective stories, that is, their histories will not be changed.

So that’s my personal project in a nutshell. From the next instalment, I’ll be going into the specifics of certain aspects in the project.

#kisekae insights #dynasty warriors #doctor who #super sentai #kamen rider #ultraman #space sheriff #my little pony #friendship is magic #equestria girls

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doctorstrangeaskblog · 5 years

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Body Language and Facial Expression Analysis: Tony Stark meets Doctor Strange

Let’s use some technical aspects to deduce what Tony, Pepper, Bruce and Stephen were thinking and how and why they reacted the way they did. First, watch the scene and then we’ll discuss bit by bit.

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Stephen has in general a neutral expression. His lower eyelid muscle is a little bit tense but it’s because they are outside, his skin is white and his eyes are light gray, so there’s the sun factor. (if his lower eyelids were normal it could mean he recorded the scene in a studio and then the outside was “photo-shopped” into the image, but that’s not the case, they recorded the scene outside indeed.). Despite the tense situation, Stephen is shown to be capable of controlling his emotions. Of course he’s scared and tense, but at the moment, he’s cool, he’s calm, his voice is normal. (Check the video.) He’s also looking at Tony directly, he’s not covering himself with hands or arms, he’s not biting his lips. Stephen is being friendly and formal at the same time.

However, something interesting happens. When Stephen says “Tony Stark, I need you to come with me.”, Tony HAS NO IDEA WHAT THE HELL STEPHEN IS. Stephen is a good guy, yes, but Tony and Pepper have no idea, he could be a new villain, a threat, and to make things worse, Tony and Pepper were talking about it just the moment before: the need of fight, the need of danger etc. Let’s start with Tony. His eyebrows are contracted, his lips’ muscle is tense towards the external sides and his eyes are wide open, his lips are tense and parted: that’s fear. Tony is afraid of Stephen, he’s basically 99% sure Strange is a threat and he starts panicking VERY fast. The first thing he does is to hold Pepper’s shoulder, seeking for stability. He knows Pepper is the stability of their relationship, practically and emotionally, so she’s the first thing he reaches for. Also, of course he wants to protect her, however, he’s in shock, his legs are frozen, his arms are tense, he doesn’t even step in front of her or anything, so we can deduce Tony touching her is more of him seeking emotional stability, since he doesn’t know what’s coming next. About Pepper: Her raised brow’s muscle shows surprise and her lower lips’ muscle shows BAD surprise, she’s also 99% sure Strange is trouble (and he is somehow, he’s not the villain but he brings bad news anyway). She’s not contracting her eyebrows, meaning she’s not aggressive. This shows how Tony tends to react more aggressively when he’s scared while Pepper reacts more “ready to run” when she’s scared (that’s the most rational reaction, specially because we have to consider she was the one who killed the last 2 villains of Iron Man 1 and Iron Man 2, so yes, she knows when and how to be aggressive while Tony just reacts aggressive).

The next thing Pepper does is to hold Tony’s arm, for basically the same reason, she’s scared and she’s feeling safer when she holds him. Also, she also fears for him, she knows Stephen wants Tony, not her, so her action is more like trying to prevent him to go.

Stephen then realizes how silly he was. Strange forgot to tell Tony he’s an ally, not an enemy kidnapping him. Stephen raises his eyebrows, a sign of surprise, and he breathes in, meaning he noticed his stupidity, he forgot to show a sign he’s a good guy, not a bad guy. The act of someone closing their eyes without a physical reason (light, debris, dust, etc.) normally means they’re refusing to see what just happened or what they just thought, and in this case, it’s about him forgetting to properly introduce himself and what the hell he’s doing there. What can we assume from this? We can assume something obvious that actually isn’t something that obvious. Stephen ALREADY IS FAMILIAR WITH TONY while Tony clearly isn’t familiar with Stephen. Tony is a celebrity, he even saved Stephen when he saved New York, yes, but still, we know by the Infinity War prelude comics that Stephen has a mirror and he can see people through it, so we can assume Stephen peeked Tony’s life, therefore, Tony isn’t a stranger to Stephen, in his own perception.

When Stephen congratulates Tony for the wedding, Stephen gives him the green sign that he’s an ally, not an enemy, and then Tony’s fear expression becomes more like a WTF expression, he narrows his eyes (that were super wide before). His lips contracted and expanded still show he’s scared, but he’s less scared, and his forehead still keeps his aggressiveness, due to fear. Tony is scared and what does he do? He jokes. “You’re selling tickets or something?” Of course Stephen isn’t selling tickets and Tony knows, however, making the situation look ordinary, stupid and funny is a way for him to calm himself down.

Stephen then proceeds to explain their reality is in danger because of Thanos and we know the story. Stephen still has his same neutral, calm expression, however, he looks down, and his face also moves down a little. Why? When someone moves their face down, normally it means shame. It also could be someone else’s shame (when a friend does that super stupid joke etc. and you’re ashamed for them) or when someone else lets you down, but in this situation, Stephen is ashamed of himself. Stephen is the one supposed to protect our reality, and he’s admitting he can’t do it alone, nor with the other Mystic Arts Masters. He knows he can’t do it, and he’s telling Tony, a person he admires (we saw that in the other analysis), he isn’t capable of executing his own role. Of course it’s not Stephen’s fault, specially considering the huge crisis the Masters of the Mystic Arts went through because of Kaecilius and the Zealots, but still, Strange’s pride is big and he’s clearly hurt/ashamed while admitting he needs Tony and any help he can get. In fact, Strange’s plan was to assemble everyone he could, the stones, everything, but they got attacked before Tony could call Steve.

Pepper and Tony are rigid and super tense here. Tony demands information, he’s not going with Strange until he knows what’s going on, and that’s when Bruce shows up. Tony still wants to keep the control, despite just witnessing that Strange has powers, and relevant ones (open a portal and come out of nowhere is a very powerful thing). Tony still wants to control everything, specially now that he knows Stephen isn’t a threat.

Bruce shows up, he doesn’t even smile after seeing Tony after so long because of how tense and worried he is. His eyebrows are tense, but he’s not angry, he’s just tense, worried, because he knows what Thanos is capable of.

When Tony sees Bruce, his lips’ muscle starts pointing downwards, it’s sadness. Seeing Bruce after so long awakens emotions in Tony, but he’s still tense (his eyebrows). Pepper by the other hand, is less tense than Tony, we can see her lips moving upwards, she’s happy to know Bruce is alive and okay, her eyebrows move up in surprise, and it’s a good surprise. Pepper and Tony slowly let go of each other, their environment is getting safer.

Bruce hugs Tony, Tony hugs him with both hands, open hands, he’s fully accepting Bruce in his arms, and then he looks at Pepper to see her reaction. From silly to important situations, we tend to look at people we care the most to see their reaction, to get their feedback and when there’s danger, to see how they’re doing, if they’re okay, etc. In this case, Tony looks at Pepper, and it’s mutual, she looks at him. The moment Tony looks at Pepper, he stops frowning, meaning his reactive aggressiveness is negative towards her (his aggression is selective towards Strange and towards the situation itself, but not towards Pepper). Pepper’s eyebrows’ muscles move upwards while inclined, forming a curve, that means CONCERN, and a bit of sadness, considering she’s seeing Bruce is not 100% okay as she thought he was, and that explains her upper eyebrows, it means SURPRISE, again.

Pepper keeps eyes contact with Tony and then, when Tony looks at Stephen, she looks at Bruce, to check if he’s okay or how bad he is (emotionally). When Tony looks at Stephen, the frown in his eyebrows appears again, he’s still defensive against Stephen, his eyes are wide, he’s still scared, he doesn’t trust Stephen, but Bruce does, so he’ll give it a try. His lips are moved downwards, meaning he’s sad, his eyes are wetter than before, so indeed, there are a lot of emotions colliding inside Tony and if he were alone, he probably would be having an anxiety attack. Pepper’s hand moves to grab Tony’s arm, she knows Tony is considering going and she doesn’t want him to go because she doesn’t want to lose him. Again.

#iron man #avengers #doctor strange #avengers infinity war #tony stark #meta

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