MCU: The Marvel Cinematic Universe Official Discussion - Part 4

[Eddie]

I could totally be misremembering but I THINK AoS introduced the Dark Force already in Season 1. Maybe?

IIRC they may not have named it that. There was a dude that could sorta teleport by going in and out of some other dimension, though. He was tied to this other place after an accident (he may have been a Roxxon employee). It was presumably an early tease of it, though.

I may be a bit off, though. It's been some time since I saw that one.

 

[Mike Murdock]

There was also Blackout later on, no?

 

[Silvermoon]

I could totally be misremembering but I THINK AoS introduced the Dark Force already in Season 1. Maybe?

IIRC they may not have named it that. There was a dude that could sorta teleport by going in and out of some other dimension, though. He was tied to this other place after an accident (he may have been a Roxxon employee). It was presumably an early tease of it, though.

I may be a bit off, though. It's been some time since I saw that one.

Darkforce was indeed mentioned. Season 1, episode 19 ("The Only Light in the Darkness" - the episode where we meet Coulson's cellist)

Coulson: Marcus Daniels was an assistant at a physics lab where they were trying to harness the electrical power of something called "Darkforce". And nothing bad ever happens when you work with something called "Darkforce."

 

[Eddie]

Oh yeah. I forgot about the use of Darkforce as an offensive skill via Blackout. There's also the dimension the stuff comes from.

Either way it looks to be something Marvel TV is building up. (and to think there are people that dropped AoS after a few episodes for not drawing enough from the comics...)

 

[third3ye]

Not sure if these have been posted, couple good reads related to superhero fatigue and the rampant Studio vs TV rumors that came out of NYCC.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhug...-is-a-hit-and-superhero-fatigue-isnt-a-thing/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhug...vil-war-between-marvel-studios-and-marvel-tv/

 

[spideymouse]

Not sure if these have been posted, couple good reads related to superhero fatigue and the rampant Studio vs TV rumors that came out of NYCC.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhug...-is-a-hit-and-superhero-fatigue-isnt-a-thing/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhug...vil-war-between-marvel-studios-and-marvel-tv/

Yeah I read those yesterday... Mark Hughes writes some pretty solid articles about the MCU often.

 

[kedrell]

So today the MCU crosses $9 billion in WW ticket sales.

 

[kedrell]

Superhero fatigue has always been one of 2 things, either a fear by nervous fanboys that the golden goose will run dry OR something eagerly hoped for by the beret-wearing cine'stas who see this genre and the MCU in particular as an affront to 'real art' at the movies. They bring it up often in a pathetic attempt to hopefully subliminally place the idea of getting bored with superhero movies in the minds of average cinema goers who are members of neither of these two groups. A sort of 'speak truth to power' type of thing going on from them. They are determined to whittle this genre down and reclaim(what is in their tiny, closed minds) their rightful spot at the top of the movie food chain. Screw'em, I say. The best thing to do is keep succeeding and sticking it in their craw.

Now as to the first group, I get it but I wish they'd stop being such worry warts.

 

[kedrell]

Not sure if these have been posted, couple good reads related to superhero fatigue and the rampant Studio vs TV rumors that came out of NYCC.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhug...-is-a-hit-and-superhero-fatigue-isnt-a-thing/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhug...vil-war-between-marvel-studios-and-marvel-tv/

Grace Randolph should read these. She's always spinning anything Marvel as negatively as she can and misleading her viewers. I get it, she's still bitter that Marvel fired her from her hosting gig on their youtube channel(or something like that) but come on lady, have some journalistic integrity, jeez!

 

[kedrell]

And with Monday's numbers for Ant-Man in China(around $4.5m-$5m) 2015 eclipses 2013 as the highest grossing year for the MCU.

 

[MbJ]

THREAD: REPORT: MARVEL PLANS TO CREATE CHARACTERS FOR CHINESE MARKET

At a press event promoting the release of "Ant-Man" in China, Marvel representatives told the audience it is developing Chinese characters to add to its roster of heroes and villains.

According to a report by the Xinhua News Agency (translated by GB TImes),Marvel's Manager of Licensed Publishing Jeffrey Reingold and VP of Animation Steve Wacker told the crowd that in addition to bringing its already-existing catalog of characters to China, Marvel is working on adding new, Chinese characters to its universe.

CBR News has reached out to Marvel for further information.

Marvel continues to grow in popularity in China, where "Ant-Man" opened in the number one position for the weekend, bringing in $43.5 million to make it the second-biggest Marvel/Disney opening in that country, after "Avengers: Age of Ultron."

"We have felt the passion of Chinese fans," Reingold said. "As long as there is a demand in the market, it is possible to add Chinese elements and culture to Marvel products and create Chinese heroes and stories."

 

[Dark Raven]

Well it's about time. It's taken them long enough to realise their value. But then they should also bring back Shang Chi, although get rid of the Fu Manchu background.

Although I hope they won't all be Kung Fu fighting characters but that some of them will just be regular superheroes with powers who just happen to be Chinese. No need to feed into that stereotype.

 

[Tymminator]

Superhero fatigue has always been one of 2 things, either a fear by nervous fanboys that the golden goose will run dry OR something eagerly hoped for by the beret-wearing cine'stas who see this genre and the MCU in particular as an affront to 'real art' at the movies. They bring it up often in a pathetic attempt to hopefully subliminally place the idea of getting bored with superhero movies in the minds of average cinema goers who are members of neither of these two groups. A sort of 'speak truth to power' type of thing going on from them. They are determined to whittle this genre down and reclaim(what is in their tiny, closed minds) their rightful spot at the top of the movie food chain. Screw'em, I say. The best thing to do is keep succeeding and sticking it in their craw.

Now as to the first group, I get it but I wish they'd stop being such worry warts.

Well said.

 

[CaptainWagner]

THREAD: REPORT: MARVEL PLANS TO CREATE CHARACTERS FOR CHINESE MARKET

Radioactive Man comes to mind as someone who could easily be retooled as a great character with a more heroic tint. Shang Chi is good too.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

Simpsons did it.

 

[SirStrangefolk]

Radioactive Man comes to mind as someone who could easily be retooled as a great character with a more heroic tint. Shang Chi is good too.

They also recently introduced Blindspot in the comics.

 

[Dark Raven]

I do think it's ridiculous though that you can't have any Chinese or Asian villains whatsoever now in the MCU, just to appeal to their market. What about in all these Kung Fu films made by the Chinese? They had heroes and villains, and guess what? The villains were Chinese! There is evil found in every nationality. It's not like one is exempt.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Screenrant has their top ten MCU casting ideas:

http://screenrant.com/best-marvel-movies-casting-cinematic-universe/

 

[MbJ]

I do think it's ridiculous though that you can't have any Chinese or Asian villains whatsoever now in the MCU, just to appeal to their market. What about in all these Kung Fu films made by the Chinese? They had heroes and villains, and guess what? The villains were Chinese! There is evil found in every nationality. It's not like one is exempt.

I've never heard anyone say officially that there can't be any Asian villains. It's an issue probably because there's pretty much no Asian or Chinese superheroes in the MCU at all. You just named Kung Fu films as an example but pretty much all of them star Chinese actors as the heroes and heroines.

If you're referring to the Mandarin situation I imagine that's not just an example of them not wanting to alienate China by having a Chinese villain, but specifically the fact that the Mandarin is kind of an outdated stereotype. Even in America there's a lot of fans who find the character embarrassing.

Though the MCU has been pretty bad about having minority superheroes in general until very recently, not just with Chinese ones.

 

[metaphysician]

I actually have heard that the Chinese government is very testy about Chinese villains in foreign movies. I'm not 100% sure they would approve a movie for Chinese release if it has a Chinese villain, unless the villain were basically designed by the PR wing of the Communist Party.

 

[MbJ]

Oh it's definitely true I'm just saying I wonder how many of the cases could have been mitigated had there been heroic Chinese characters. Like Pirates of the Caribbean 3 came under fire there and I thought it was less that Chow Yun Fat's character was a villain and more that he was the only Chinese person in the movie of any note AND a rapist.

They had similar concerns about the Mr. Lau character in The Dark Knight who again was not only a Chinese villain but also the only Chinese (or Asian at all) character in the movie.

 

[Silvermoon]

News on the Phase 2 collector's set... release date is December 8, 2015 (so same day that Ant-Man is released on home media). It will be an Amazon exclusive:

http://amzn.com/B00Z7EMJ4E

Unleash The Power Of The Marvel Cinematic Universe In This Action-Packed 13-Disc Collector’s Set

The limited-edition, 13-Disc Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two Collection invites you to hold the greatest power in the cosmos in your grasp – a Morag orb containing one of the legendary Infinity Stones! Plus Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and Digital Copies of all the Phase 2 films, in collectible packaging designed by artist Matt Ferguson. This set overflows with stunning Marvel Studios memorabilia, including a gold-foiled page from the book of the Dark Elves, an ancient drawing from the Morag vault, Avengers and S.T.R.I.K.E. uniform patches, a replica of the Tony Stark tattoo from Iron Man 3 and much more!

Contents Include:

• Marvel’s Iron Man 3 (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + Digital Copy)
• Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + Digital Copy)
• Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + Digital Copy)
• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + Digital Copy)
• Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + Digital Copy)
• Marvel’s Ant-Man (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + Digital Copy)
• Exclusive Bonus Content Disc
• 1:1 Prop Replica of the Morag Orb and More!

Packed with over 2 1⁄2 hours of content on an exclusive bonus disc, including never-before-seen Deleted & Extended Scenes, the complete set of Marvel One-Shot films and Commentary, From Here to Infinity: Phases 2 and 3 of the M.C.U., Tag Scenes: A Making-Of, Screen Test with Chris Pratt and Dave Bautista and more, this ultimate collection is a Marvel fan’s dream!

Edit: From Marvel's official press release on this just posting the bit that has more details on the bonus features):

http://marvel.com/news/movies/25329...x_set_coming_exclusively_to_amazon_december_8

Behind-the-Scenes Features include:

- From Here To Infinity: Phases 2 & 3 Of The M.C.U.
Journey back through Marvel’s Phase 2 films, from its launch in Iron Man 3 through its fulfillment in Ant-Man, to see how individual characters grow and change, how their relationships with each other evolve over time, and how the universe itself expands with each story. Listen to filmmakers discuss the first set of Phase 3 films– Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War, Marvel’s Doctor Strange, and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – and discover there are no limits to the adventure!

- Phase 2 Tag Scenes: A Making-Of
Learn the story behind the post-credit sequence in Marvel’s Phase 1 and 2 movies, and explore how the scenes connect and unify the far-flung characters and worlds of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

- Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant (with Audio Commentary By Clark Gregg)

- Marvel One-Shot: A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Thor’s Hammer (with Audio Commentary By Clark Gregg)

- Marvel One-Shot: Item 47 (with Audio Commentary By Louis D’Esposito, Max Hernandez, Titus Welliver And Jesse Bradford)

- Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter (with Audio Commentary By Louis D’Esposito And Hayley Atwell)

- Marvel One-Shot: All Hail The King (with Audio Commentary By Drew Pearce And Ben Kingsley)

- Marvel's "Iron Man 3": Deleted Scenes

- Marvel's "Iron Man 3": Preproduction Creative

- Marvel's "Thor: The Dark World": Deleted Scenes

- Marvel's "Thor: The Dark World" Preproduction Creative

- Marvel's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier": Deleted Scene (with Audio Commentary By Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely)

- Marvel's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier": Preproduction Creative

- Marvel's "Guardians of The Galaxy": Deleted Scenes

- Marvel's "Guardians of The Galaxy": Preproduction Creative

- Marvel's "Avengers: Age Of Ultron": Deleted Scenes

- Marvel's "Avengers: Age Of Ultron": Preproduction Creative: Hulk vs. Hulkbuster

- Marvel's "Ant-Man: Deleted Scenes"

- Marvel's "Ant-Man": Preproduction Creative

 

[Drizzle]

Set looks cool, but just like the first one, I'll be skipping out on it because I'm not going to re-purchase all of the films.

I really have to wonder what they're going to do for Phase 3. The likely replica would be the Infinity Gauntlet. But if the Phase 2 set is over $200 for 6 movies, imagine how much the Phase 3 set will be with 11 movies included!

 

[Flint Marko]

I know what I'm getting for Christmas.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

That phase 2 looks amazing, but I already own all of the movies and won't be buying the, again unless we get some extended cuts.