Current Events > AirFresh watches The Marvel Cinematic Universe *Spoilers*

(+) Yeah! (+)

I made a topic asking about The Incredible Hulk (2008) but some peeps requested I make this a deep dive take since I virtually know nothing about Marvel other than Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and 2 and I'm aware of the snap because how can you really avoid that? I will be watching every Marvel movie since I've been really wanting to dive into that world but I'm someone who has to watch everything. It was a passing comment in a WWE PPV Discussion topic that sparked this because I was praising a women wrestler's outfit and someone was like "That's Scarlet Witch!" and it made me go god damn it I hate being out of touch and it seems good.

Alright so I watched Iron Man and I very much enjoyed it, it was a bit different than I thought, Tony Stark was a lot more nihilistic than what I thought he was and they straight up went for the middle east tensions storyline. It was very good, I especially thought Pepper was a standout character. I knew her actresses name but really never watched her before so now I know why she is so beloved. Awesome, stand out performance. I did not realize Tony Stark is such a nihilist, for a super hero that is honestly a great angle. He's heroic for sure but has that proper level of cynicism that makes him a billionaire super hero.

But yeah, great movie, it was disjointed at the beginning and the timeline of his torture wasn't conveyed properly and they were playing him as a womanizer too strong when it's really not that much of a character trait so far from what I can tell. Feel free to discuss the movies and despite me saying *spoilers* that's more so I can freely discuss it without having to tag, if you discus anything from a movie I have yet to watch yet then please spoiler it. I'm going in mostly blind and would like to keep it that way.

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@ScarfForLife
@BakonBitz

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Neat.
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Alright, I rented The Incredible Hulk 2008, after hearing an essential villain appears in a newer movie Shang-Chi, I will consider it essential viewing. One of those spoilers where I am fine honestly since I asked if it was important to watch. But yeah it's HULK time.

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This sounds like fun. *takes out popcorn*

AlCalavicci posted...

@BakonBitz @ScarfForLife

Ty sir!

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tag

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Bump

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HULK SMASH! caps

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Crescente posted...

This sounds like fun. *takes out popcorn*

Man Stark Industries in the opening montage for this. Since I already know this is a huge multiverse, that is a huge little sign to things to come. Especially with the end of Iron Man the guy with the eye patch asked Tony to be part of the Avengers. Please spoiler tag any necessary response to this but man you can already tell this shit is connected just by that. Had to comment on that, back to the movie!

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Tag

Alright, I just want to clarify this is not going to be an overly negative topic but Jesus fucking Christ what a mess The Hulk (2008) was. I give absolute no shits that the actor changes because they did not a single job getting you to give a shit about Bruce, like at all, or his love interest, at all. It was just story beat after story beat with no emphasis on character. I can't even remember Bruce's love interests name and I just saw the movie 5 minutes ago. What was that? They just assumed you knew who he was, what he stood for, but even then he was so painfully generic and cookie character that it was hard to get into.

I don't have much more to say other than the final fight was good but I did not give a single fuck about the villain, Bruce Banner at the very least while I thought he was kinda weak had the whole, "I worked for your dad. I backstabbed you" angle to it so he was compelling. I can see why Disney gives no fucks about trying to secure it. Iron Man was GREAT This was BLEH. And I went out of my way to pay for this. I want to reiterate this is not going to be a negative topic, but man lol. Iron Man coming at the end was cool but at this time I give literally no fucks about Bruce.

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I was asking to myself if the son of that Russia guy was Mickey Rourke, and the opening credits confirmed it. Very optimistic if he's the bad guy, this is already shaping up to be a cleanser to Hulk lol.

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AirFresh posted...

They just assumed you knew who he was

Have you been a fan of any comic book movies in the past? Ever seen Hulk (2003)?

I feel like for the time Incredible Hulk was released (2008), they realized that it was a reboot only 5 years later, and they just didn't want to retread and spend a lot of time on the origin story since it had just been done a few years prior. IIRC they retold the origin through opening credits?

Totally makes sense though that watching the movie without any previous context can make it a little awkward for the first time viewer. Of all the MCU movies, I'd say Incredible Hulk feels the most disconnected from the rest of the pack, so i think your assessment of it is fair.

It gets better from here :)

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Tag to follow along as you watch the movies. I always enjoy these watch through topics.

Yeah, I think Incredible Hulk was made with the idea of it being a very loose sequel to the 2003 film.

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Posting here to keep track. Yeah, kinda felt the Hulk movie was forgettable myself.

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Like Al said, gets better from here theres definitely some stepping stones here though. And the end fight was fun.

I think youll like the new actor better. Apparently Norton was very difficult and tried to tailor the script the way he wanted to and it kinda suffered.

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Alright I watched Iron Man II, am watching wrassling so I can't give immediate thoughts but my god that was actually really fucking good and I love the teases, I'll gush more about it tomorrow but one even as a filthy casual that was Captain American's Shield, as far as I know HAMMER is a somewhat deal and the closing credits we see Thor's Hammer which is the next movie. That was fun as shit! Such a cleanser from Hulk which was a movie I didn't like, that was better than Iron Man 1 though I'll admit Pepper was significantly weaker in this one lol. She was a breakout in I, in 2, she was pretty much there.

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I think incredible hulk gets a bad rap just because it never got any sequels. Not actual spoilers but iron man and avengers are the only good phase 1 movies. The rest of these guys didn't get any respect until years later but hulk gets to languish with his one mediocre movie.

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Tag.

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AirFresh posted...

Alright I watched Iron Man II, am watching wrassling so I can't give immediate thoughts but my god that was actually really fucking good and I love the teases, I'll gush more about it tomorrow but one even as a filthy casual that was Captain American's Shield, as far as I know HAMMER is a somewhat deal and the closing credits we see Thor's Hammer which is the next movie. That was fun as shit! Such a cleanser from Hulk which was a movie I didn't like, that was better than Iron Man 1 though I'll admit Pepper was significantly weaker in this one lol. She was a breakout in I, in 2, she was pretty much there.

This is not a very popular opinion, in fact a lot of people say Iron Man 2 sucks. I personally dig it, but I think I prefer the original over it. But good to hear you liked it- interested to see how you feel about Thor.

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I'm not a Marvel guy but that was a really fun movie. How is that hated? I dunno, there was nothing BAD about it from what I can tell. I loved the electric whip weapon Mickey had.

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AirFresh posted...

I'm not a Marvel guy but that was a really fun movie. How is that hated? I dunno, there was nothing BAD about it from what I can tell. I loved the electric whip weapon Mickey had.

It gets undue hate (imo) for being too much of a set-up for Avengers and not "as good" as the first film.

For me, the middle part lags a bit but the begining and end more than make up for it. The action is much better than the first film, too.

Interesting trivia about the first Iron Man -- a lot of it was basically ad-libbed and/or scripted out the day the scenes were shot, since the higher-ups were super unsure about the direction of the movie and what they wanted. So Robert Downey and the cast basically just wrote the movie as they shot it. For something so on-the-fly, it turned out spectacular.

A lot of Marvel's Phase 1 stuff is pretty meh, esp the Thor movies, so I hope these early ones don't dissuade you from sticking around for all the good stuff later.

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The first Thor is great IMO and gets way too much hate.

AirFresh posted...

Alright I watched Iron Man II, am watching wrassling so I can't give immediate thoughts but my god that was actually really fucking good and I love the teases, I'll gush more about it tomorrow but one even as a filthy casual that was Captain American's Shield, as far as I know HAMMER is a somewhat deal and the closing credits we see Thor's Hammer which is the next movie. That was fun as shit! Such a cleanser from Hulk which was a movie I didn't like, that was better than Iron Man 1 though I'll admit Pepper was significantly weaker in this one lol. She was a breakout in I, in 2, she was pretty much there.

Yup a lot of people rate it one of the worst in MCU but I actually like it a lot too. I mean it's not top tier IMO and I like the first one best, but the hatred for it is a bit odd to me.

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Bump for TC

lolife67 posted...

Bump for TC

Thank you! I should be watching Thor and Captain America tomorrow!

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tag

AirFresh posted...

Thank you! I should be watching Thor and Captain America tomorrow!

Keep in mind, it's Captain America first.

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pegusus123456 posted...

Keep in mind, it's Captain America first.

No, Thor is next in the release order

Bump for update

Where this topic is, I have iron man 2>iron man 1>hulk

Glad you're enjoying. It only gets better

Glad you liked Iron Man 2, but it was probably my least favorite MCU film until The Eternals stole that title.

But I actually really enjoy Incredible Hulk, so clearly I have a lot of minority views. >_>

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I was also surprised that IM2 is so hated. The biggest issue is that it kind of retreads the storyline of the first movie, but I didn't find it that big of a deal. And call me crazy, but I liked Whiplash's whips. I understood the hate for IM3 though, that one is kinda meh.

Btw, a fun fan theory that I think they made retroactively canon is that the little kid in the Iron Man mask that stands up to one of the drones is actually a young Peter Parker.

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Oh shit @AirFresh get back on this, tracking now.

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MabusIncarnate posted...

Oh shit @AirFresh get back on this, tracking now.

Been very busy with stuff but I'm trying!

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Murphiroth posted...

The first Thor is great IMO and gets way too much hate.

I cant believe there are actually people that believe this lol

The first Thor is the worst MCU film of all time and it isnt even close. Awful dialogue, awful plot, awful characters, awful everything

DavidZ2844 posted...

The first Thor is the worst MCU film of all time and it isnt even close. Awful dialogue, awful plot, awful characters, awful everything

I cant believe there are actually people that believe this lol

Murphiroth posted...

I cant believe there are actually people that believe this lol

Thor 2 is far less watchable than Thor 1

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AlCalavicci posted...

Thor 2 is far less watchable than Thor 1

Agreed.

Add me to the camp of people who actually liked Iron Man 2. Had it's faults, no doubt, but I enjoyed it overall. Sam Rockwell stole the show.

Iron Man 3 was the one I really didn't care for. I think by the time I watched it I was having a major fit of what the kids nowadays call 'superhero fatigue.' I'd enjoyed the MCU movies up to that point to varying degrees, but none of them had really grabbed me yet and I just didn't see myself continuing to be invested in this thing if IM3 was the direction these movies were going in.

Fortunately, Winter Soldier and GotG were waiting on the horizon to finally get me good and genuinely hooked on the whole cinematic universe deal.

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Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Thor 2 always get put at the bottom of the pile but I think they're all still very watchable. Iron Man 2's only sin is being kind of a retread of Iron Man. I really have no idea why people hate that one so much. The first two Thor's really aren't any worse than other middling MCU movies like Ant Man or Doctor Strange.

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I too like Iron Man 2, it's a middle of the pack MCU movie for me. I think Black Widow is now my least favorite.

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The Top Crusader posted...

Glad you liked Iron Man 2, but it was probably my least favorite MCU film until The Eternals stole that title.

But I actually really enjoy Incredible Hulk, so clearly I have a lot of minority views. >_>

eternals was dope as hell


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AlCalavicci posted...

Thor 2 is far less watchable than Thor 1

You are definitely getting your movies mixed up. Or maybe you just havent seen it in a while and are blinded by nostalgia or something.

Oh. My. God. -Academy Award winner Natalie Portman, Thor (2011)

DavidZ2844 posted...

You are definitely getting your movies mixed up. Or maybe you just havent seen it in a while and are blinded by nostalgia or something.

Oh. My. God. -Academy Award winner Natalie Portman, Thor (2011)

Nah Thor 2 is bottom of the barrel of the MCU

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