Board 8 > MCU General: Up Next The Falcon and The Winter Soldier

(+) Yeah! (+)

mnkboy907 posted...

Walker was probably good at being a normal soldier, but the pressure of being the new Captain America and living up to everything that entails was too much for him, and it gave him a huge inferiority complex.

It's also pretty shitty of the military to put him on this mission. They know he's just a normal dude, sending him after a bunch of super soldiers that can easily punk him is a horrible call on their part too. And since he's basically just a figure head, a mascot, it's actually kinda unbelievable that they would even send him on a mission way beyond his power level. You'd think they'd just want to coddle/protect him by only giving him easy stuff.

I guess they dont have anyone better to send? I dont know if theres anyone even vaguely superheroey available for the US to send other than Sam.
Maybe they could have asked War Machine for help? I dunno, theres some logistical issues about Iron Man suits existing but no one actually using them. Seems like the US military should invest in some Iron Men to go along with their Captain America.
---

MoogleKupo141 posted...

I guess they dont have anyone better to send? I dont know if theres anyone even vaguely superheroey available for the US to send other than Sam.
Maybe they could have asked War Machine for help? I dunno, theres some logistical issues about Iron Man suits existing but no one actually using them. Seems like the US military should invest in some Iron Men to go along with their Captain America.

That would probably be a good idea, but I don't see Pepper sanctioning that at all.

---

God I'm so bleh on karli

---

I'm enjoying this show, but they're really trying to make me dislike Sam and Bucky

I was going to make a list of all the stuff they've done wrong but it's honestly so long it's not worth doing

---

Great episode. This show has surprised me with how good its been!

---

i almost gave up on this show after episode 3 but i liked this one. agree that it's the best one so far.

gotta agree with para about the sam/karli conversation being bad, though. "killing people is bad" is easy enough to say when you're sitting in your armchair and you're not being oppressed by a militant regime. dude should go back to telling terrible jokes, he's obviously better at that than talking about complex moral issues.

---

Best episode so far. Lots of great little moments with the characters. Especially loved the scenes with Bucky in the beginning and with the "the Avengers, not the Nazis" line.

I think I expected the ending to happen, but it was a bit more brutal than I thought it would be. Really looking forward to the next episode now. Seems like there's a lot to wrap up in the next two episodes.

---

BlackDra90n posted...

the Avengers, not the Nazis

I almost forgot about that, it got a laugh out of me.

---

Only two episodes left? Oh geez.

Since we haven't even seen a glimpse of the Power Broker, I agree it has to be Sharon.

---

Maybe Power Broker just gets revealed at the end and then he's an antagonist in a future show or movie?

If not yeah it probably has to be Sharon which I don't think I'll like.

---

I want a John Walker captain America movie

---

I think John Walker would've landed a little bit better if they didn't sell him in prior episodes as being as turdy, yeah.

The point of the character is to be someone who on paper should be the next Captain America, but is too pressured to fill shoes that he can't. They did well enough in the first two episodes at making you dislike him without making him a bad guy, but then went a bit further on making this break too obvious. Would've preferred it if emotionally we hated the guy but rationally knew he wasn't so bad.

The Wakandan/American fight scene in Zemo's apartment was a little silly too. Bucky and Sam only stepped in to prevent the killing of the guys, which was unnecessary on the part of the Dora Milaje.


---

This episode was really bad bc it focused way too much on Karli and she's a terrible character. She's leading a movement but what does she want? All they've said it's the Flag Smashers think it was better during the Blip, but they haven't shown is anything about WHAT was better. What does Karli want to change? She's helping refugees, but she's also attacking the GRC who are... also helping refugees? All her ideas seem completely half-baked, and it was way too easy for Sam to bait her into authoritarian rhetoric.

The only person who seems to be a clear-minded good guy in this show is... Zemo? I don't think we're supposed to think Zemo is the hero, but so far Zemo is the hero. Sam & Bucky may want to be the heroes, but they're far too uninformed about what's going on. It's not like this is a mystery intrigue thing though, they don't seem to WANT to know. Then again the show doesn't seem to know what's going on either.

There's still 2 episodes left to turn it around but right now this show is the rare MCU miss for me.

https://i.imgur.co m/IFjTKT5.jpg

Oh spoilering it didn't work, so I put a space.

---

MrGreenonion posted...

The only person who seems to be a clear-minded good guy in this show is... Zemo?

Honestly you can make an argument that he's the hero in Civil War. I mean, he's not, because he's killing civilians and we know that the superheroes are needed because of other threats like Loki, Thanos, etc. He's still some what correct in some warped way that having less heroes might be better for the planet. If those greater threats didn't exist I definitely understand how he can view their presence more through the lens of something like The Boys, especially after the whole Ultron disaster.

---

Just watched the episode. John Walker is legitimately a fascinating character.

The show wants me to sympathize with Karli, but I can't.

---

I find it amazing that so many people can't or won't sympathize with Karli because the show doesn't hand hold us through what they might be going through. I find it hard to believe people can't see what the world is like in reality and use that to fill in the blanks.

---

IfGodCouldDie posted...

I find it amazing that so many people can't or won't sympathize with Karli because the show doesn't hand hold us through what they might be going through. I find it hard to believe people can't see what the world is like in reality and use that to fill in the blanks.

Sorry?

---

LeonhartFour posted...

Sorry?

It wasn't directed at you specifically. I've seen a lot of people talk about how the show wants us to sympathize with Flagsmashers but they don't show us why we should so they decide they won't.

---

Well, to me, it feels like Karli thinks she can get away with doing whatever she feels like because she's a Super Soldier, until the very end when she realizes someone else who wants to kill her has now taken the serum, too. And that's why she runs away scared.

I mean, I get the general plight of the people who rally under the Flag Smasher banner, but Karli herself is just...nah, can't do it.

---

LeonhartFour posted...

Well, to me, it feels like Karli thinks she can get away with doing whatever she feels like because she's a Super Soldier, until the very end when she realizes someone else who wants to kill her has now taken the serum, too. And that's why she runs away scared.

I mean, I get the general plight of the people who rally under the Flag Smasher banner, but Karli herself is just...nah, can't do it.

I suppose that's fair. I view her as someone who is clearly in over her head and doing the best she can while making mistakes along the way. I think her story is supposed to be tragic more than it is heroic or villainous.

---

LeonhartFour posted...

The show wants me to sympathize with Karli, but I can't.

Does it?

They outright had her blowing up a building and then had a whole scene indicating how innocent the people she killed were.

---

I feel like it would be easier to sympathize with Karli if the show could make up their mind on what kind of character she is.

It really was at its worst in this most recent episode. She jumps between kind of understanding to threatening innocent children. The mood whiplash is way too severe and just feels really forced.

---

red13n posted...

Does it?

They outright had her blowing up a building and then had a whole scene indicating how innocent the people she killed were.

Right, but it feels like they're trying to lean into the well-intentioned extremist trope here.

---

Well, at least with this episode we can now say that Bucky has finally given us the long awaited appearance of Arm-Fall-Off-Boy in a superhero show.

---

IfGodCouldDie posted...

I suppose that's fair. I view her as someone who is clearly in over her head and doing the best she can while making mistakes along the way. I think her story is supposed to be tragic more than it is heroic or villainous.

To me it makes her look like even worse. She didn't HAVE to start a terrorist group! She didn't HAVE to blow people up! She's not "in over her head and doing the best she can", she's a violent reactionary with half-baked ideals and demands! That's bad!

MrGreenonion posted...

To me it makes her look like even worse. She didn't HAVE to start a terrorist group! She didn't HAVE to blow people up! She's not "in over her head and doing the best she can", she's a violent reactionary with half-baked ideals and demands! That's bad!

No one ever has ever had to fight for what they believe is right. Good point, I guess?

---

UltimaterializerX posted...

I didnt realize Elon Musk was in Iron Man 2

Wow I did not remember this either.

---

Some merch for the upcoming What If series was shown. No idea what it's about yet but here's Party Thor.

https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/What-If--Party-Thor.jpg

And an image of a bunch of characters. Really looking forward to this one, especially Captain Peggy and T'Challa Star-Lord. (Gonna be a little bittersweet hearing Boseman as T'Challa one last time.)

https://whatsondisneyplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/fye.000000638211204506_0-1.jpg

---

ha ha holy shit, there had been some rumors of a big deal surprise actor showing up and I never could have guessed who it would be.

that was maybe my favorite moment of the series when I saw her, I had to rewind because I was laughing so hard
---

What a weird episode for the second to last of the season.

---

Liked this episode a lot! No complaints today.

I feel every episode has been better than the last. Good to see The Thunderbolts dream is still alive.

---

Its Uatu the Watcher

hes one of the Watchers, weird space guys who are just supposed to observe reality and not interfere, but he sucks at his job and directly involves himself in stuff all the time

(I think hes a narrator for the series?)
---

Just watched a recap of the Civil War comic arc and I just want to say, I hope we see Peter Parker make the deal with Mephisto to restore his secret identity.

---

oh boy I hope not, thats like a universally reviled storyline in the comic
---

as soon as Julia Louis-Dreyfus showed up at the capital I immediately connected the MCU to Veep and now I can never undo it

---

Ah the ol' 'downtime before the climax' episode.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the Contessa was great for the couple minutes she was there.

Not really much to say about the episode, it was a lot of fallout for the last one and setup for the next one, but it was pretty great. Bucky definitely hooking up with Sam's sister for sure.

Oh there's an end credits scene this time for anyone who missed it.


---

Yeah at this point my biggest question going into the finale is what is Sharon's role. I expect everything else to be as I expect >_>

---

MoogleKupo141 posted...

oh boy I hope not, thats like a universally reviled storyline in the comic

Like not just for Spider-man....

or even Marvel...

thats a strong contender for most hated comics storyline of all time.

---

time to watch this episode of John Walker Texas Ranger

---

oh ya that midcredits scene

---

IfGodCouldDie posted...

Just watched a recap of the Civil War comic arc and I just want to say, I hope we see Peter Parker make the deal with Mephisto to restore his secret identity.

Get out

---

Lol

---

IfGodCouldDie posted...

Just watched a recap of the Civil War comic arc and I just want to say, I hope we see Peter Parker make the deal with Mephisto to restore his secret identity.

Hey hey HEY! That's just blatantly inaccurate.

He made a deal with Mephisto to save his elderly Aunt May, him getting his secret ID back was just a bonus god what a terrible story that was.

---

bryans7 posted...

Hey hey HEY! That's just blatantly inaccurate.

He made a deal with Mephisto to save his elderly Aunt May, him getting his secret ID back was just a bonus god what a terrible story that was.

Spider(no hypen)man got the shit end of the stick at pretty much every turn.

---

I hated Julia-Louis Dreyfus' character. She felt so out of place, like a cartoon/comedy villain in the follow-up to a serious scene and in a serious scene as well. Did not sell me on threatening either. I wonder if the card being blank is a thing where it will reveal contact information once the reader is in the "right mindset" and these Disney+ series are basically setting up all kinds of evil sorcerers and sorceresses?

Fun enough episode, but considering next week is the last episode I feel this finale is getting rushed? I don't know, with the Karli thing at the end and then realizing next week is the last one I just kinda didn't expect it all.

Also Sharon is for sure the Power Broker now, or it's a red herring. Well, I guess it could also be the Contessa.

---