Board 8 > Han continues watching the MCU (digi)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Antoine Triplett strikes me as a recurring character.

That alien looked like a kree? But given v the Asgardian's appearance at the end of the episode... the regenerative properties remind me of Asgardian. But it didn't look asgardian.

This is getting really good.
---

Lorelei is a bitch.

It's Sif! :O
---

Sif is pretty great on AOS imo. I think the first season was already a lot better by this point.

Also AOS is my one of my favorite shows so Im glad youre sticking with it. My favorite MCU show by far, although I also wish Carter had a season 3.
---

Ok, finished episode 16, the last one before I'm supposed to watch Winter Soldier.

AKA, the climax is starting but I have to watch the movie first.

All of this stuff about the Clairvoyant... it was odd that Ward shot the vegetable and that was where it was left. It was especially odd when all the agents arrived on the bus to talk about the op...

Throughout all of this season, it's been very clear that Hand is a bitch. Too clear. I was suspicious as hell of her through all the debriefing, and even her saying she was going to go from the Hub, instead of being an agent in the field. I had that nagging feeling, the entire time - there is going to be a traitor. Somebody is a plant. Someone is the villain.

But Hand was the obvious candidate. Too obvious. It wasn't going to be Sitwell. So I was pretty sure it was going to be either Triplett or Garrett. Not the old guy either - obviously a staple we should trust. And like I said, Hand was too obvious - we were supposed to be suspicious of her. So she was the red herring.

Except the writers were trying to foreshadow and not set up a red herring.

May was OBVIOUSLY not the baddie - the person on the other side of her line has to be Fury. Most likely is Fury. This was a clear red herring. I suppose there was a chance she was compromised, but clearly a red herring.

But it actually is Hand. I'm disappointed. It was the obvious one... the one who wanted Ward and Fitz dead from their op, who has been terrible the whole time. Perhaps it was supposed to be more of a surprise... but it wasn't. And that's dull.

Here are predictions: PLEASE DO NOT COMMENT ON THESE UNTIL AFTER THEY COME TO PASS

1. Fuck Centipede, it's always been HYDRA.
2. HYDRA has compromised SHIELD at one of the highest levels. Fury has been offgrid... to find the mole?
3. Winter Soldier is going to have a lot to do with this schism at SHIELD. Which is why I have to watch it first - before being spoiled on the events of the movie, which will have more of an effect on the show than anything before.
4. Skye is named Skye because she came from the sky? IS SHE AN ALIEN

I have to go help out at my grandmother's house, but when I get home tonight, I will probably watch Winter Soldier. I was really into Agent Carter... but I am more pulled into Agents of SHIELD right now than I have been pulled into anything else so far in the MCU. If what my sister says is true, then I'm about to reach the highest point of the MCU with this movie.
---

Winter Soldier might be my favorite MCU movie. Looking forward to seeing what you think.

And SHIELD is about to pick up in a big way.
---

Winter Soldier is probably still my favorite movie out of the MCU.
---

Really though guys, my D&D group told me yesterday that Iron Man 2 was a great movie and that Iron Man 3 was boring.

I don't mind people saying Iron Man 3 was boring, but Jesus the love for Iron Man 2 was awful I had to dip.
---

Very excited to see how this goes
---

Agreeing with all the Winter Soldier comments here, it's probably still my favourite out of all the MCU movies.
---

Winter Soldier into the AoS fallout might be my favourite point in the MCU timeline.

I fell off of this show early into season 3, but this topic has made me want to get back into it. It had nothing to do with it being bad, and everything to do with me being burnt out from watching every single superhero show at the same time.

Now I watch none of them! (except the Netflix stuff which has been fantastic)
---

I'm gonna get so burnt out, lol
---

You will not get burnt out until this season is over

Maybe take a break before GotG or Daredevil or whatever
---

I'm considering skipping daredevil, as I've seen it before.
---

Yeah well Matt cant see it, okay?
---

DD season 1 was amazing. Just worried about burning out.
---

Hype

It's nice to see you've already been enjoying AoS.
---

Looking forward to seeing you take on post winter soldier shield

No spoilers, but its quite exciting. :)
---

There was one particular "joke" in The Avengers I wanted to discuss, but doing so would likely involve spoiling The Winter Soldier so I'll just wait.
---

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

hyyyyyyyype

Fury has been off the grid. Cap has been driving a motorcycle since the attack on New York. My cat(Loki) is really into this bad from Barnes and Noble. I am cooking eggs. What will happen next?

Oh, hello Sam Wilson, aka, The Falcon.

Cap's list of things to check out is great. Disco, Thai Food, Nirvana, Star Wars crossed out in favor of Star Trek...

Uh oh, Sitwell is in trouble. This is where he went from that Agents episode.

Time for some hot Cap shield on people face action. I'm not sure why they brought Natalie Rushmore along. Isn't she just a secretary?

I find it a little odd that Cap, with level 8 clearance, can't get access to the hangar below the Triskelion. There's no way everyone down there is level 9. Secretary Pierce strikes me as a possible bad guy. Asking for Iron Man to appear at his niece's birthday? Clearly Scum.

It's Peg! Aww she's got dementia. Cap is kinda hitting on an elderly married (widowed?) woman Still waiting on Sharon to make appearance.

Long hair? Grenade launcher? Metal arm? This must be... the Winter Soldier. But I guess NOW Fury is off the grid. Timelines, man.

OH THE NURSE IS SHARON

Nick Fury is dead. Which means he's alive and just put into a catatonic state so that he can get underground and lie low, as per usual, I assume.

Ok, this conversation with Pierce makes him seem more trustworthy.

Black Widow is only like 30 in this movie?

Did Zola just blow himself up? Seems nonstandard. But those bastards killed Howard. Ugh. Hydra officially the WORST. Aaaaaand yeah, Pierce is the bad guy.

Ugh Sitwell you better be fucking pulling a double-blind.

Falcon has his fucking suit already yes. Aaaaand bye Sitwell :( that one hurts.

Ugh this movie is full of so many blinds and doubleblinds. So far, our list of good SHIELD agents is... Maria Hill, Sharon Carter... obviously alive Nick Fury, this doctor guy... that seems to be it so far.

Stan Lee is SO fired for letting Captain America steal his old suit.

"Launch the ships. Is there a problem?" "Yeah, Hydra fucking sucks dude."

Widow kicking Pierce's ass is sweet but I kinda wish that council member was just badass on her own.

Meeting the adversary on a bridge above a great fall... how tropey.

Ohhhhhh the Hydra soldier guy was totally Crossbones.

Postcredits scene - OH GOD THE MIND STONE
OH GOD THAT ACCENT
QUICKSILVER AND SCARLET WITCH
IS IT
IS IT HIM?

Oh, I didn't realize it, but that guy from the beginning was Batroc, the Leaper. And they got Gary Sinise to be a voice in the movie. The leader in the post-credits scene isn't in the credits... but it's totally the Skull, isn't it? Please don't actually answer this question, but omg yes please.

Full post-writeup coming in the next post.
---

Cap's list of things to check out is different depending on the country.

Last five items are the same worldwide, but the UK version has stuff like Sherlock and The Beatles on it, for instance.

And they got Gary Sinise specifically for the voiceover in the museum because he's known for doing those in real life.

Sitwell's death is so hilariously abrupt.
---

Actual Postcredits scene - Buckyyyyyyy!!!!!!!

I know my thoughts weren't very full this movie, but I wanted to pay attention to most of it.

That was special. I feel that broke the MCU standard enough, but everything you would want from a good Captain America movie (solid cast of characters, including villains and heroes).

Cap was great - it was a movie about him, where he was the center, but unlike Iron Man 2, it didn't create false character development for the hell of it. Cap is very much established... they spend a way too long movie on securing that, and Avengers did as well. They didn't fuck with his character - they just utilized it in the proper way. He still had his bits of getting used to the new world, but it was more exploration of his character - him seeing Peggy, him kinda asking Sharon out, him meeting Falcon and all that. And at the core, he was still Captain America.

Best Black Widow appearance to date. I like that they DID use this movie to give her development. She was wasted with her intro in Iron Man 2, and was solid in her establishment in Avengers, but this gave her background. It gave her motivation, pitfalls, showed her actually having emotion... her action scenes were worth it. She didn't just kick ass for the sake of it. It was well choreographed, and purposeful.

Sam Wilson was amazing. So glad they introduced him in the very beginning instead of midway through. Hawkeye and Widow's introductions were a little awkward... not done necessarily poorly. War Machine was... I thought done well-enough. One of the few things I liked about Iron Man 2... excluding their fight. Still love how Tony programmed the suit to respond to Rhodey, knowing he would take it some day. But man, Falcon's introduction was so clean. The only thing that was really weird was that, I guess he just happened to have used his suit before and they kinda skipped over getting it, but that was probably a very good choice. The guy was awesome, probably the best non-title character intro in the MCU so far... except for Nick Fury.

Fury was typical good. Obvious he didn't die though. I mean, really. At this point, I'm expecting this near death experience to lead to him creating some Fury-duplicates. Maria Hill was once again used well... I'm glad they chose to implement her and make her a great MCU character, as opposed to her less established comic self. I loved Sharon's introduction, but I'm worried she's not going to get the development I want her to have. I was REALLY hoping that Widow was going to tell Cap her last name when he told her his name, but... didn't. The non-comic reading audience at this point has NO idea that she's Cap's girlfriend's granddaughter. But she was great. Great surprise, made me happy as someone who has read some comics, but kinda jobbed to the Bones.

Not enough side-villains in these movies. Hulk was kinda setting up a villain for the next movie... Loki isn't really a side-villain... he's complex, but that's what makes him great. Mandarin doesn't really count, Avengers really only had Loki... I guess Cap 1 had Zola. That was good. But Cap 2 has Crossbones, and I didn't realize it until they recovered his burned body... that was a great realization. I'm surprised it took me so long. He was great. Just a bad Hydra dude.

The main villain... fell into the pitfall that all MCU movies do. "Here's a powerful man associated with a main character, ignore that he's on the movie poster and you might just not catch that he's the main villain!" I guess it's not that big of a deal because they want you to know he's the villain early-on enough, but man. Anyway, he served his purpose fine. He didn't matter as much as him being the head of HYDRA did... at least, seeming head. If you're going to make a massive coup, might as well make the guy at the top the bad guy. Kinda disappointed he killed the councilpeople though. Indian guy was badass.

Sitwell :(

(to be continued)
---

No comment on Sitwells list of names?
---

Great movie. By far my favourite scene is Cap's speech and then the follow up where that nerd refuses to follow Rumlow's commands. Captain's orders.
---

I think that takes us to Bucky. For a movie subtitled The Winter Soldier... they sure didn't resolve his story. I guess that's a good thing. Realistically, the movie was "Captain America: The Fall of SHIELD", but that would be a pretty shitty way to give away the plot, and they'd rather use the comic story as a name anyway (like they inevitably do with Civil War). It was good though... his introduction was slight, and unfolded very well. Telegraphed, and obvious for those of us who know the comics, but developed well. It was interesting that Pierce was his handler... I wonder if he was passed down throughout the years.

Still weird that Zola took a missile to take out Cap.

I didn't feel that there were any down moments in the movie. Pacing-wise, each progressive scene served a real purpose in driving everything forward. The writing was great too. There were a few jokes throughout.. maybe one or two was a little cringey and out of place (or in place, for an MCU movie), but the humor mostly didn't detract. Every character was utilized well... even computer nerd who refused to launch the carriers. I hope that guy turned out fine.

What this movie had that some others didn't... and maybe this is the criticism of these movies I see happening the most... is stakes. It had stakes... because shield DID fall. It was a little cheap to not kill Fury, but I don't count that because it was obvious. Obviously, they would save the day, but in the process, SHIELD had to come down. Curious to see where this leads in AoS...

I want to watch the movie again already. That's as good of praise as a movie can get, so it's placement is a no-brainer. The Winter Soldier was a tremendous tale of being chased, all the while trying to securely find out who is chasing you and who you can trust.

And the best change between Cap 1 and this? They took out all the stupid slo-mo.

Movies
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The Avengers
Iron Man 3/Iron Man (feeling a little weird about this placement, might sit on it a little more and see if Iron Man 3 holds onto being ahead)
Captain America: The First Avenger
Thor
Thor: The Dark World
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Iron Man 2
---

Jasper's betrayal still doesn't sit well with me.
---

On your left.
---

Jakyl25 posted...

No comment on Sitwells list of names?

Stephen Strange is obvious. Not sure who the valedictorian in Iowa City was supposed to be, unless they were planning to make Peter Parker from there. Cairo was Moon Knight, obv. And Banner was on there... but I would've been curious to see what happens when a helicarrier targets the Hulk. Presumably doesn't kill him, and then Hulk would smash. Doctor Strange probably doesn't get taken out by a helicarrier either.

I forgot to put this in my writeup - where was Tony Stark? Unless Cap felt he couldn't trust him. Probably hard to get the message out as well.

I need to see what's going on with Coulson and his team, now.

LinkMarioSamus posted...

There was one particular "joke" in The Avengers I wanted to discuss, but doing so would likely involve spoiling The Winter Soldier so I'll just wait.

goferit
---

HanOfTheNekos posted...

Stephen Strange is obvious. Not sure who the valedictorian in Iowa City was supposed to be, unless they were planning to make Peter Parker from there. Cairo was Moon Knight, obv. And Banner was on there... but I would've been curious to see what happens when a helicarrier targets the Hulk. Presumably doesn't kill him, and then Hulk would smash. Doctor Strange probably doesn't get taken out by a helicarrier either.

It was really neat at the time before we knew they were gonna use Dr Strange in the MCU
---

Best part of the movie is still the elevator scene.

"Before we get started... Does anyone want to get out?"
---

Jakyl25 posted...

It was really neat at the time before we knew they were gonna use Dr Strange in the MCU

eh, i didn't think it was that neat.

they already made a reference to dr. strange in spider-man 2 so the novelty value wasn't really there anymore!
---

Spider-Man 2 isn't an MCU movie though so there it's just a reference.

Here it's more hype because it hinted at things to come.
---

CA2 is the best MCU movie for sure.
---

Murphiroth posted...

Here it's more hype because it hinted at things to come.

at the time i didn't necessarily take it as a hint that he was going to appear, though. moon knight was on the list as well and he still hasn't appeared anywhere in the MCU.
---

Mr Lasastryke posted...

Murphiroth posted...

Here it's more hype because it hinted at things to come.

at the time i didn't necessarily take it as a hint that he was going to appear, though. moon knight was on the list as well and he still hasn't appeared anywhere in the MCU.

He says a TV anchor in Cairo.

That's not a Moon Knight reference, he's not a TV anchor. The only link is Cairo and that's super vague. Some of the people he rattles off are just normal people to show that Insight will target anyone. I mean I guess you can assume it's Moon Knight but if they wanted a Moon Knight reference they would have made it more overt I think.

Also...

http://www.slashfilm.com/eternals-movie-confirmed/

Feige has been teasing Moon Knight for the past few months.
---

The thing about saying Stephen Strange is that I don't think he was Doctor Strange the superhero yet. He was still a normal doctor.

Zola's algorithm just identified him as a highly competent person who could become a problem for Hydra in the right set of circumstances. that's why it was kinda neat. Like Zola saw this guy coming.

Also you knew about Hydra before the movie already. How did that happen?
---

Oh no. Agent Garrett!

Triplett seems to be good still.

Ugh thank goodness.

Hand... is not HYDRA? No. She's lying. Has to be.

Ward and Skye probably shouldn't be kissing in the closet when they're supposed to be doing their op.

Oh no. Hand isn't Hydra. FUCKING GARRETT.

Augh this is so good.

Hahaha May didn't have her cuffs on the entire time.

FITZ JUST KILLED A GUY

Oh hey, Nathan Fillion as random SHIELD agent.

I don't trust Ward.

No I don't trust Ward.

No no no.

UGH

NO

FUCK

May > Coulson > Skye > Fitz > Simmons >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ward
---

CoolCly posted...

The thing about saying Stephen Strange is that I don't think he was Doctor Strange the superhero yet. He was still a normal doctor.

Zola's algorithm just identified him as a highly competent person who could become a problem for Hydra in the right set of circumstances. that's why it was kinda neat. Like Zola saw this guy coming.

Also you knew about Hydra before the movie already. How did that happen?

This also retcon explains why they wanted to kill Bruce Banner so badly.

Are you asking me that? Or is that a reference to something? Hydra was in Cap 1, but most Marvel fans know about Hydra anyway.
---

The "joke" I was referring to was Tony Stark saying that he was going to discover SHIELD's dirtiest secrets or something. Was the implication that he would have but got busy with something else? I don't remember the film well enough. Asking why Tony didn't find out about the whole HYDRA thing ahead of time, though to be fair perhaps HYDRA re-formed between The Avengers and The Winter Soldier.

The first Captain America movie is the MCU film I'm most interested in watching, since it seems like an Indiana Jones/Rocketeer style pulp adventure. And I'm a huge Indiana Jones fan.
---

The implication in Winter Soldier is that Robert Redford and others have been working in an underground version of HYDRA for decades. It just reveals itself publicly in Winter Soldier.
---

Tony would've found nothing on HYDRA in SHIELD's database because there was nothing. Nick Fury was the top agent, and he didn't know.
---

Woo, there we go.
---

Get ready for some fun characters in SHIELD btw.
---

HanOfTheNekos posted...

Tony would've found nothing on HYDRA in SHIELD's database because there was nothing. Nick Fury was the top agent, and he didn't know.

Good point.

One more complaint I have with The Avengers: lack of memorable music. There were some nice cues that brought back fond memories of Predator (same composer), but that was probably a reason the film felt kinda lacking in energy to me. To be fair a lot of the movies I've seen lately had really strong scores (to provide an example of another superhero movie: The Dark Knight) and I'm a bit of a sucker for movie music so that probably made the issue stand out even more. I know I'm far from alone in not being a big fan of the MCU scores.
---

That's always been my biggest gripe about the MCU and the one thing I give the DCEU credit on. That Wonder Woman riff IMMEDIATELY conjures an image and sticks in your head. You don't really see that in Marvel ever.
---

Tripp is great. Fitz is so jealous of him.

They've really tried hard to say "Agent of SHIELD" this episode. Three times so far?

Four times. Five.

Six.

I like when they set up a bad feeling in the pit of your stomach, and slowly unravel it, a la Ward's betrayal. I don't like when the audience knows something is up and the characters are oblivious. Not going to be a fan of dealing with that in this next episode.

That's a fair assessment of MCU music so far. Silvestri did Captain America, which is by far the best score. Understandably. But the second best score so far is... well, obviously the other big name composer, which is Bear McCreary on Agents of SHIELD.

I had an opportunity to possibly train under Bear McCreary back when this show started and I'm kinda kicking myself for not going for it.
---

The Avengers theme is great. So is the SHIELD theme. There's a few others that standout to me but yeah the scores are overall probably the weakest parts of the MCU.

Except in Ragnarok. Loved that one.
---

HanOfTheNekos posted...

I don't like when the audience knows something is up and the characters are oblivious.

There is nothing I hate more than this in TV. It actively makes me not want to watch the next episode.
---

Murphiroth posted...

The Avengers theme is great. So is the SHIELD theme. There's a few others that standout to me but yeah the scores are overall probably the weakest parts of the MCU.

Except in Ragnarok. Loved that one.

Ragnarok has a soundtrack, not a score. Like, don't get me wrong, it's fine to like the use of licensed music. Guardians and Ragnarok both do a great job with it. However, it's not like those songs will be inextricably linked with those movies forever. There's something special about an original score.
---

HanOfTheNekos posted...

I don't like when the audience knows something is up and the characters are oblivious.

RIP Shakespeare
---

HanOfTheNekos posted...

I don't like when the audience knows something is up and the characters are oblivious.

RIP Hitchcock:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPFsuc_M_3E" data-time="
---