The Marvel Cinematic Universe

I Could go for Tricia Helfer since she's my celebrity birthday buddy.

I'm happy with announcements, but they are leaving money on the table not doing a Black Widow movie.

I think Benedict Cumberbatch has been rumored for a while for Dr. Strange (along with a bunch of other actors).  I'm a fan of his, but I'd rather NOT see him take the part.  I think he'd make a fine Dr. Strange, but I think there are plenty of other actors who could play the part as well.  Kevin Feige says the part has not been cast yet (otherwise it would ahve been announced today), so I tend to think it's still up in the air.

I'd heard that Joaquin Phoenix mostly balked at the idea of signing a contract for something like nine films.  I can totally see how there is no way in HELL he would agree to something like that.

I was watching a commentary on the Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer that surmised that the reason they may not be announcing a Black Widow movie is that ScarJo probably has the next several years of projects booked and it may be a matter of timing. She is super in demand right now and it may be her and Marvel trying to slot that project into a schedule that is filling up.

Snarryfan wrote:I was watching a commentary on the Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer that surmised that the reason they may not be announcing a Black Widow movie is that ScarJo probably has the next several years of projects booked and it may be a matter of timing.  She is super in demand right now and it may be her and Marvel trying to slot that project into a schedule that is filling up.

Not to mention that being about to give birth/having given birth (eh, I'm too lazy to check), she's probably not too keen to sign up to lead an action movie right now.

I don't dislike Benedict Cumberbatch but I am just. So. Tired. Of him being rumored for every big Hollywood franchise. It seems like a big failure of imagination on the part of casting directors.

Yeah, that's the thing, in addition to another white dude face. If it were four years ago, Cumberbatch might have been an exciting casting option, but now it's just expected and boring. I still love the guy as an actor, and I'm sure if he gets it, he'll do a great job, but it's going to just make me shrug and continue to wait for the Captain Marvel casting announcement.

In a weird way, Dr. Strange is a Marvel hero where his whiteness actually is an intrinsic part of his character, but only in the sense that it perpetuates the racist tropes of "Asia is a magical, mysterious place, but when they teach their magical secrets to a white guy, he's THE BEST EVER at it." (The same could be said for Iron Fist.) So, yeah, maybe finding someone other than a white guy to play Dr. Strange would be a good thing.

We've got an Infinity Gauntlet!!!!!!!!!!

eta: The Avengers Tower party scene leading into the previous trailer.

I love the way Thor's face just drops when he hears Mjolnir squeak when Steve tries. I think Steve could have picked it up, but didn't want to make Tony and Rhodey feel bad. "Are we even pulling?"

It could be a subtle joke, it could be Chekov's gun. I don't think it's a stretch to expect that at some point in Act Three, Cap is going to have to pick up Mjolnir.

The Hollywood Reporter quoting comicsalliance pointed out:

"If Marvel makes Thor 3 [as its first 2017 release], it will have made ten movies headlined by blond white men named Chris before it makes one movie headlined by someone who isn’t even white." While not besmirching the talent or integrity of Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pratt, that’s taking lack of diversity to admirably comic levels.

ETA: properly attributing the quoted part.

In Marvel's... well, defense... who else, *ever*, has put out this many interconnected movies this rapidly? I'm not saying they don't need diversity. They really, really do. I'm very disappointed that it took them this long to announce Black Panther and Captain Marvel. But Marvel is not somehow *worse* than any other studio where diversity is concerned - they just have a smaller, more focused output which makes it more noticeable. The fact that three of their leads are white blonde guys named Chris makes a good joke but it's not somehow emblematic of Marvel or Kevin Feige being any more anti-diversity than any other studio that has risks to manage that still buys into the "action movies need white guys to succeed financially" mindset.

I mean, I don't think it's that egregious that there will be three Captain America and Thor movies before Carol Danvers gets one. Keep in mind, it was only two years ago that people were really, really getting into the character. (I mean, I guess as opposed to Ant Man, who's still counting...) But yeah, it's gonna take a few years--that's how long movies take to make. (If you do them right) Even Green Lantern, who's like, emblematic of white privilege superheroes, took sixty years to make it to the big screen. Not that Marvel shouldn't have been called out for a lack of diversity in their headliners, just that a lot of these white guys took quite a long time to get to the screen as it is. Also, this means comic fans have something fresh to look forward to in 2018, besides a third reboot of Spider-Man.

And points to DC for announcing some diversity in the line-up first. But they have one movie under their belts "in universe" that is very divisive amongst fans, and a history of garbage for anything not Batman (and some Batman) unless you go all the way back to '81 (if you consider Superman II a good movie). And not garbage that they can blame other studios for, like Marvel. Announcing a movie is easy, but so far there's nothing done on any movie that isn't Batman v Superman: Justice Boogaloo that can't be scrapped in a heartbeat.

Marvel, at least, has the infrastructure in place that makes me believe we will see Black Panther and Captain Marvel on the dates announced yesterday. But Warner Bros. couldn't even settle on a release date for BvS until halfway through shooting and then they changed it to get out of Marvel's way. So... DC gets props for one-upping Marvel in the press release department. Marvel's still the one I'm expecting to actually produce something.

Though I wonder if DC rushed to release those things because they had gotten wind of Marvel's Phase III plans and wanted to get ahead of them.

All right, people, it's happened:

The Cumberbatch IS Doctor Strange

I'm just glad it's over.

Now. Who's playing Captain Marvel?

Katee Sackhoff or I will compose some strongly worded letters.

nazlan wrote:Katee Sackhoff or I will compose some strongly worded letters.

I concur, but I am willing to accept Natalie Dormer with minimal argument.

I like both of those and also the Emily Blunt thought I've seen kicked around.

So would we be saying that Carol's grandmother served in the SSR where she got briefly inappropriate with Captain America? Or do you really expect me to believe that those two women just randomly look alike?

(That's in response to the Natalie Dormer suggestion)

It's based on comics. Most of the women look alike.

And no one seems to have any trouble believing Steve Rogers and Johnny Storm look suspiciously alike, either.

(That said, I find Dormer smirky and one-note and am NOT rooting for her for CM.)

So I was just watching Cap 2. This is really shallow, but it's bothering me. Scarlett's MCU hair. Wig or dye? I suspect wig, but I'm not sure. Related, when Steve takes his helmet off, he's got hat hair. It's a nice little realistic touch. And colour aside, Peggy has the most lustrous old-person hair ever. Yeah, I seem to be all about the hair tonight.

Nat's hair is like my big sticking point, but not the same way. When they hide out at Sam's, she's gingerly towelling it dry and you can see it starting to kink and wave a little. Then we cut to the dining room and it's dry and perfectly straight.

WHERE DID SHE FIND A FLATIRON IN THE APARTMENT OF A MAN WHO KEEPS HIS HEAD SHAVED?

Red Wolf wrote:So I was just watching Cap 2. This is really shallow, but it's bothering me. Scarlett's MCU hair. Wig or dye? I suspect wig, but I'm not sure. Related, when Steve takes his helmet off, he's got hat hair. It's a nice little realistic touch. And colour aside, Peggy has the most lustrous old-person hair ever. Yeah, I seem to be all about the hair tonight.

Definitely a wig (a really, really bad wig). She was blonde in appearances during filming. Pretty sure it was a wig for IM2, then dyed for Avengers, and a wig again for AoU.

Thanks, Moneypenny. That makes sense. Laddical, I noticed that too. Funny yet puzzling. :)

Also, if Natasha was born in 1984, how could she have been a Soviet agent? Perhaps the USSR lasted longer in the MCU.