Marvel Cinematic Universe

What I’m left wondering is if that’s going to be an anthology type thing, collection of individual “what if” stories like the comics, or will it be some kind of bigger interconnected thing.I hope for an anthology, but I feel that Marvel can as well get overly ambitious with something like that.

Pretty sure it’s not going to be interconnected. the comics it’s inspired by were usually one to two issue stories.

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Based on what I saw, it’s going to be an anthology of various stories with the Watcher setting the stage in each episode as the framing device. I don’t know if they will end up tying all of these stories together or have any larger impact on the MCU, but it seems like it’s going to play out like the comics did.

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That word is supposed to read “Quantumania.”
Because it’s totally readable. Of course!

I can see some traces of the word but not all of it.

I assumed this was a freeze frame from half way through an animated reveal of the name. Is that wrong? Is it the final still image?

Hypothesis: superhero movies are soap operas for… whatever target demographic the MCU is going for these days:

  • Amnesia/comas a frequent plot point
  • Ditto evil twins
  • A zillion characters
  • Largely the same plot over and over, everything always returns to the status quo

Galaxy Brain: Comic books have always been soap operas. The movies are doing better than they used to because they have embraced this.

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Comic books have always been soap operas. Before they had super-heros, before the CCA, most comic magazines were romance and western serials.

But like I’ve grown fond of repeating…

Every good comic book is Nazi Smasher.

Captain America? X-Men? Literally Nazi Smasher.

Akira, Astro Boy? Just some more Nazi Smashers.

Maus? The most literally Nazi Smasher.

The only good comic I could think of that isn’t Nazi Smasher is maybe Urusei Yatsura.

Everything else I could see on my shelf: Hellboy, Squirrel Girl, Yotsuba&!, Thor, and Saga are all just Nazi Smasher by another name. Even if they’re not the literal kind, they’re still books containing the kind of art and stories that actual Nazis want to ban and burn, or at least not let children read.

Not having seen MCU movies since Spider-Man (2002) I can’t say, but I’ve never gotten the vibe that they have quite enough Nazi Smasher in them. These are worldwide mass market media productions. They have to screen in China and all kinds of other places. They have to sell tickets to people of all ideologies, and therefore be as inoffensive as possible.

And perhaps I’ve finally answered my own question of “Why don’t they just have the original comic writers that are still alive write the screenplays for the movies?” If Chris Claremont wrote the X-Men movie it would be right up in the audiences face with all the left wing ideals of X-Men comics. Bare minimum Cyclops and Wolverine are gonna kiss in scene 2. In other words, an amazing movie that wouldn’t be able to screen worldwide, and would have severely diminished profits.

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I mean, I get the sentiment kind off, but I would say that Yotsuba&! is far less offensive than anything else and even the MUC. The MCU being most certainly a capitalistic enterprise and kowtowing to China is definitely concerning. But even the MCU is quite literally “Nazi Smasher” with Hydra and space fascist Thanos being the biggest threats so far. Particularly Captain America: The Winter Soldier which is about a covert fascist takeover of the U.S. government through the establishment of a security state in the wake of a major attack on New York, which is unfortunately way too familiar.

P.S. Spider-Man (2002) is not an MCU film.

On the surface level if you only examine the content, yes, it’s easy to see why you say that. But if you consider the fact that many adult males sincerely enjoy reading Yotsuba&!, that is something that flies in the face of fascist misogyny.

Good.

Shows how much I know.

Spoilers

Maybe it is now?

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MCU starts with Iron Man in 2007. Everything past that may be MCU if it has characters related directly to to the Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy. Anything Mutants, Fantastic Four or Spider-man related is not MCU unless it has Tom Holland in it.


Anyway, the idea that superhero comics are “Nazi Smasher” instead of literally fascists themselves at least up in debate in some circles. Even comics have explored this to a degree (Superman: Red Son, Irredeemable, and Marvel’s un-universe organization The (Evil) Brotherhood of Mutants come to mind). In those comics literal super-humans running around can be easily compared to a coretennant of Nazi ideology re: “Master Race”. Then again, theology can also grapple with the question “if god exists and his literal power over everything and decrees as he wishes, how is that god different from a fascist?”

I didn’t say all superhero comics. I said all good comics, superhero or otherwise. After Steve Ditko became a recluse he made Mr. A. It’s libertarian nonsense, obviously not nazi smasher. However, it is also not good.

Fascism doesn’t mean powerful or just authoritarian. It means something very specific.

  1. Powerful and continuing nationalism
  2. Disregard for Human Rights
  3. Identification of enemies as a unifying cause
  4. Supremacy of the military
  5. Anti-feminist Sexism / Sex-specific Chauvinism
  6. Controlled mass media
  7. Obsession with national security
  8. Intertwining of government and religion
  9. Supreme protection of corporate interests
  10. Suppression of Labor
  11. Widespread disrespect for intellectualism, intellectuals, and arts
  12. Obsession with crime and punishment
  13. Kleptocratic governing structure
  14. Fraudulent elections

There isn’t even a remotely interesting argument about most comic book superheroes being “fascist.” It’s a superficial discussion at best.

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I agree I am probably over-using “fascists” when I should really say “authoritarian”. However, I also kind of disagree that an organization or ideology has to check every single box on your list to count as fascist.

I however most disagree that this is “It’s a superficial discussion at best.” considering how often it is grappled with by the people who make those comics.

Hell, a lot of superhero comics are about vigilantes which are portrayed as righteous and heroic. In real life however, I consider vigilantism as despicable and horrifying. The reason for that is because it is violent subversion of communal rule. We abhor cops because of their frequent abuse of authority to inflict violence on others. Vigilantism is worse because this authority is just assumed without justification and without oversight.

Authoritarianism is in essence “might makes right”. “Do this or otherwise we will inflict violent consequences”. Vigilantism is little more than Authoritarianism on a small scale.

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S.H.I.E.L.D aka the like CIA or maybe even just the US Military more broadly, isn’t portrayed as the problem in The Winter Soldier. It’s a group of H.Y.D.R.A agents inside it aka “Just a few bad apples”. A good movie it may be but Nazi Smasher it is not.

That particular definition of facism, isn’t one I’ve seen before. It’s not Eco and it’s not Britt. Which of the definitions are you using here?

There is no definition of fascism that has its sole definition around a master race and authoritarianism alone.