First off, let me say that I have not enjoyed myself so much at a movie in a long long time. I was sitting there grinning like a fool for large portions of the final act. It was exceptional.
Onto the actual film itself... and the repercussions of the film, I suppose
Wonderfully written. A couple of the jokes didn't land quite cleanly, but the humor was very nicely executed. I think "he's adopted" was probably the best line, but I'm not sure - there were quite a few great ones. Every scene between RDJ and Mark Ruffalo was brilliant, and made the final battle all the more resonant. I really cannot say enough about how masterfully that was set up and executed.
I thought almost everyone got a good share of the screen time, which is very tough in a movie like this. Hawkeye and Widow got relegated a little bit, but Renner's got such great screen presence that their scenes were still very very good. I would wager that a lot of people thought Agent Hill was underused, but my assumption is that she was more there as a setup for Iron Man 3 / Captain America 2 / Avengers 2, since she really only matters in Civil War / Dark Reign. Otherwise, why not use Carol Danvers, who makes a lot more sense to introduce for future usage?
I also thoroughly enjoyed the first post-credits scene. Thanos has long been one of my favorite Marvel characters, and with the Cosmic Cube being the focal point, it only makes sense that he'd be involved. I am kinda bummed that Marvel Studios doesn't have the Fantastic Four in-house (at least, not yet), because this means that we won't get to see [comics spoiler]Doom with the Cube before Thanos gets his hands on it, but I'm okay with that. Plus, there's the chance that Marvel will get the Fantastic Four back in the next year or two, since Fox seems to be doing nothing with the property. That would open up a whole lot of doors down the line.
Actually, strike that - I just did some quick research and found that the Fantastic Four rights don't revert to Marvel until 2015 (and yet, Punisher has already reverted and Daredevil is fairly close, I believe). Goddamn it, Fox. Maybe by the time we hit Avengers 4 >_>
Moving on, Loki and the Chitauri (another borrowance from the Ultimate Marvel universe, much like black Nick Fury) were suitable villains, but I'm glad we won't have to deal with Loki all that much more, as I never really found him to be all that threatening or imposing. I'm sure he'll be in Thor 2, but I suspect he won't be the chief troublemaker, even in that.
Speaking of Thor 2, it'll be interesting to see what it and Iron Man 3 set up for Avengers 2, aside from what we already know is coming. I know Ben Kingsley is set to be the villain of Iron Man 3, though I'm not sure we know who he is going to be portraying yet. I don't think he'll be a recurring villain though. It's pretty clear that they are going to turn Stark Tower into the Avengers complex, like in the comics, which should be good, especially since the top of the tower has historically been a lookout for The Sentry, and then later Heimdall. So that could be neat.
Mostly though, I want one of these movies to eventually feature MODOK, because MODOK is great.
Or Doctor Strange, because who doesn't love Doctor Strange?
It's a shame that it would take almost every Marvel property being under the control of Marvel Studios for those things to happen (barring one hell of a deal to get them all in the same film). Never gonna get to see any of the stories with Wolverine and/or Spider-Man in the Avengers. Of course, it also prevents us from having to deal with the Scarlet Witch >___>.
Also, not enough Dum Dum Dugan. Why even have him in Captain America if you're not gonna bring him back to be in SHIELD, where he belongs? Though, I guess they can still do this.
From: CherryCokes | #001 I also thoroughly enjoyed the first post-credits scene ... I'm guessing you're one of the ones who didn't realize there was a second post-credits scene. The second one wipes the floor with the first.
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There's always hope for better things in life. But you can't let anything, friend, lover, God himself, be your hope. You have to be your own hope.
I hope they get Ant-Man and Wasp in the sequel. They're really the only other guys I want added into the group, and I feel like just adding those two probably wouldn't cut down on the time for everyone else too much, especially if they make an Ant-Man movie before then.
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From: CherryCokes | #001 I also thoroughly enjoyed the first post-credits scene ... I'm guessing you're one of the ones who didn't realize there was a second post-credits scene. The second one wipes the floor with the first.
Oh no, I stayed for both. But I am a comic book fan before I am a fan of comedy. The second was funny, but the first was great
Dum Dum Dugan can't really be a character since Captain America was sleeping for 70 years in this canon (if he's not dead he's ancient now). I only recently saw it too and it's a pretty fantastic movie. I think we could have used a SHIELD movie or something that just showed Nick, Black Widow, and Hawkeye doing things, but that probably wouldn't have the same appeal to casual movie goers as the other Avengers have. My only real complaint was that the Chitauri could have used a more present leader since Loki wasn't officially their commander or anything (though I know nothing about them in the comics, so it may not have made much sense anyway and inventing a character always serves to piss off hardcore fans).
Yeah, the rights thing is stupid - that's the reason why Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch weren't in the movie, and why the Chitauri were the villains rather than the Skrulls. This just doesn't work for Marvel movies - all characters are supposed to occupy the same universe and be able to appear in anything.
Dum Dum Dugan can't really be a character since Captain America was sleeping for 70 years in this canon (if he's not dead he's ancient now). I only recently saw it too and it's a pretty fantastic movie. I think we could have used a SHIELD movie or something that just showed Nick, Black Widow, and Hawkeye doing things, but that probably wouldn't have the same appeal to casual movie goers as the other Avengers have. My only real complaint was that the Chitauri could have used a more present leader since Loki wasn't officially their commander or anything (though I know nothing about them in the comics, so it may not have made much sense anyway and inventing a character always serves to piss off hardcore fans).
The Chitauri have a leader in the comics, but he would have been too similar to Red Skull - the Chitauri are shapeshifters, and their leader has been a Nazi since the second World War.
As for Dum Dum Dugan, well, there is a reason I want more of him, and that is that he, along with Gabe Jones, Nick Fury, and a number of others, are all actually very old, but were given the Infinity Formula, which has drastically slowed (if not halted) the aging process
Yeah, the rights thing is stupid - that's the reason why Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch weren't in the movie, and why the Chitauri were the villains rather than the Skrulls. This just doesn't work for Marvel movies - all characters are supposed to occupy the same universe and be able to appear in anything.
I think Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch weren't in the movie because it would be pretty weak to have them in there without anything Magneto being done with the universe yet. You can't really delve into them too far because of that.
And they clearly kept the Skrulls away from the movie for the Fantastic Four, which is perfectly fine. That means they want to use them later. Nothing wrong with that. The Chitauri were fine for the blanket random enemies they were supposed to be.
And just because they have chosen not to involve certain characters doesn't hurt the movies at all. They'll get the rights to the Fantastic Four eventually, and they'll get to play ball with them.
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Xbox GT: PrivateBiscuit1 Down with Zhang. Let there be Biscuit!
I just think there would be potential for some awesome/funny scenes with them. I've never read any Marvel stuff though so I don't even know if Iron Man and Wolverine get along or not.
I would also like to note that while Agent Hill was not particularly well-used, Cobie Smulders looked great, which is something I have never thought of her watching HIMYM
For some reason, I still think the most awesome part of the movie was how they had Hawkeye say he's got an arrow for Loki before the last major battle. They have him go through the last major battle and run out of arrows, and he scrambles to get one more. And then he shoots one final arrow at Loki and, knowing that Loki would just catch it or deflect it somehow, he made it an explosive arrow.
I was very, very happy with everything they did with Hawkeye.
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Xbox GT: PrivateBiscuit1 Down with Zhang. Let there be Biscuit!
From: CherryCokes | #011 As for Dum Dum Dugan, well, there is a reason I want more of him, and that is that he, *spoilers* I did not know that. But all the same, it would add a whole new layer of stuff the audience has to know. Nick Fury wasn't around in the Captain America movie, so he's completely believable in an Avengers movie. Having a guy from Captain America's age that isn't ancient requires too much more explanation. Now if by chance they ran with my previously mentioned idea to have a SHIELD movie that explained more about them and added Dum Dum Dugan into the mix and explained this, it would be perfectly acceptable.
I think they could probably explain something about Dugan in Cap 2. I've got a strong feeling that Cap 2 will be about Winter Soldier, so they'll need SOMETHING to explain how a guy from Cap's time could still be around.
-- SuperNiceDog didn't have to reconcile his name... But Dauntless Hunter is now MrGreenonion
I'm not sure what they intend to do with Bucky. I'm not sure audiences will want another old world hero encased in ice. And the first movie didn't exactly do much to instill any sense of connection to Bucky, either.