MCU - Phase Four

[matticus]

The MCU is now completely unrecognizable. But that's okay, 2008-2019 was a great run.

Sure was. Will now have to jump in and out. Looks like I'm out till Spidey3, then DS2 and Moon Knight. Problem is DS2 has a little girl like this, American Chavez. That is becoming concerning for what is supposed to be an awesome acid trip witch hunt.

 

[Wor-Gar]

The MCU is now completely unrecognizable. But that's okay, 2008-2019 was a great run.

It actually looks a lot like the CW.

 

[Sassafras]

Welp this aged badly. After Falcon/WS I have little hope for the Marvel Woke Universe.

Yeah, the thought occurred to me, while I was tryin' to assimilate the IMO character derailing of 2 favs in FWS - that the Disney social media bean counters, along with Feige, and Nate Moore; knew &^%$# good and well that these "socially conscious message" shows aren't gonna go over with part of the audience.

Fans that may or may not have invested $$$$ in merch over the years.

E.g., to Disney, a portion of the fan base is expendable. Acceptable collateral damage as the company targets new revenue streams. There ain't gonna be anything like Avengers 1, any more. Now and then, in the future, there might be a production that slides through, but I already think Loki might have fallen.

(It's not like I can look forward to the new Cap movie, with Cap flying around putting his finger in peoples' faces telling them to do better; while Bucky apologizes some more (probably for being a soldier in WW2), embraces Buddhism, and takes courses in regional cooking, where the instructor praises Bucky for being able to perfectly filet a fish. Actually if that were a parody it could be pretty funny.)

Still turning over the fact that as a fan, a major corporation has determined me to be expendable. My $$$$$ anyway. Not a great plan.

Looks like the 'bay at the moment agrees with me, all my favs are up in $$$$$; Bucky, Cap, Falcon - I should sell everything off $$$$

 

[Victοr]

The MCU just looks like a constant crossover event at this point. Every "issue" is too empty and boring on its own, they all build together to something, and it ends up being a disappointment. I'm almost glad I don't care about the X-Men. I just worry they'll involve the F4 too much with them and I'll be forced to sit through Mutie Problems to get my Fantastifix. At the very least I can do with a good F4+Doom+Namor cast to get the dollies, but with the way the MCU is going I'm not betting on it... Honestly, I'm tired of pop culture in general. It's all the same, reheated nonsense over and over again. I only look forward to some random stuff these days, be they films, mini-series, whatever. I sat down the other and started writing down all the comic book characters/teams/etc I've ever liked/read. I reached 300 and that was without going to movies, books, shows, video-games and so on. I dread to imagine wanting to buy all of these characters. In fact it led me to clean up my storage HDs a bit and slim down my "to get" list. The MCU will keep on going though, and going and going. I wonder when it will became too big and start falling apart.

Still turning over the fact that as a fan, a major corporation has determined me to be expendable. My $$$$$ anyway. Not a great plan.

Realizing that is what made me start to distance myself with all pop culture. I don't care about whether I can keep enjoying cape**** or not, I just hate myself for investing so much time and money on meaningless drivel. Apparently, going by Twitter/Tumblr/Cons/Articles/PR Vids/etc, the new 'fandoms' the Major Corpos are after these days are 20-Something "Artists" who are living paycheck to paycheck, hadn't picked up a comic book since until the last three years, buy no merch and are mostly just drawing characters but this time they're all some kind of vague shade, the men have nail polish, they're all in a polyamory relationship and they exist merely to be mouthpieces. But then again, this is what the current X-Line is, so... Eh, what do we know? If they make a good dolly of some character we liked as kids we'll buy it and that'll be the end of it. It's not worth to care more. I'm just waiting to see it all crash and burn. Maybe it'll make me feel better for how much of my life I wasted on all this malarkey.

 

[Sassafras]

Realizing that is what made me start to distance myself with all pop culture. I don't care about whether I can keep enjoying cape**** or not, I just hate myself for investing so much time and money on meaningless drivel. Apparently, going by Twitter/Tumblr/Cons/Articles/PR Vids/etc, the new 'fandoms' the Major Corpos are after these days are 20-Something "Artists" who are living paycheck to paycheck, hadn't picked up a comic book since until the last three years, buy no merch and are mostly just drawing characters but this time they're all some kind of vague shade, the men have nail polish, they're all in a polyamory relationship and they exist merely to be mouthpieces. But then again, this is what the current X-Line is, so... Eh, what do we know? If they make a good dolly of some character we liked as kids we'll buy it and that'll be the end of it. It's not worth to care more. I'm just waiting to see it all crash and burn. Maybe it'll make me feel better for how much of my life I wasted on all this malarkey.

I got into comics late, compared to a comic-loving bro; was always more of a fantasy Middle Earth type fan. Still am. Then learned some Photoshop and other programs; started paying more attention to art in general (don't think if you learn graphic programs you can't not pay more attention to art, photography, even fonts....)

Didn't like comic art at first tho.

But, u learn more and appreciate more; so basically I look at the 10-year MCU and the comics I'm reading (still catching up) as just this great door that opened, to another world. History, an art form, story-telling. A world I was way behind on compared to my bro, and other folks, but for me it worked out, coz I'd be around for the MCU, and what could be done on film with characters that had been around in comic form for years.

Of course, there had been DC, and other attempts, but thanks to a whole lot of factors the MCU was pretty much a global phenomenon. Srsly they opened clinics or something to deal with the wave of depression after the dustings in IW.

IMO it's not that there isn't a lot of very good comic material out there (even if it's IMO the older, better stuff); but it's a mistake on Disney's part to over-target the audience you describe; who may or may not have any job/money; who don't read; have short attention spans, etc. Or - u make the Hobbit dwarves into a bunch of feisty short women, I'm out of there. (One thing I think I'm noticing - a lot of the newer comic art is &^%$ compared to the older stuff; tho don't know enough to be sure. )

So, for the money I've spent; I just view it as when my world expanded; and I was lucky enough to be part of the Golden Age of the MCU; and I had a blast. My collection is what I think of as classic characters; Cap's been around since the 40s. So if I put a period on it, now, I'm good. There'll probably be the occasional movie/series I like (I actually liked WandaVision, tho not enough to spend on more merch). I'll keep reading. Pick up the occasional Marvel piece. Maybe sell off some of the collection (but not my Iron Studios 1/4 Bucky, Cap, and Falcon).

No regrets, except the *&^^$ FWS T-shirt which I'll use for greasy, dirty work (never thought that IMO, FWS would be a leaden effort, but here I am). If that's what Disney wants to do - well, it's like a favorite pizza restaurant where the new cooks make &^%$ food. Just 'coz it's the same name on the menu doesn't mean it's the same pizza. Also, with rising collectible prices, but possibly less quality, it's a good time to ratchet back.

 

[matticus]

You guys do realize that Loki can go on these fun adventures, but it has to end where he picked up the cube at Stark Tower. He has to come back to that exact point in Endgame to get the timeline back on. This is just a pocket universe that will be fixed whenever they decide to end the show.

 

[matticus]

The MCU just looks like a constant crossover event at this point. Every "issue" is too empty and boring on its own, they all build together to something, and it ends up being a disappointment. I'm almost glad I don't care about the X-Men. I just worry they'll involve the F4 too much with them and I'll be forced to sit through Mutie Problems to get my Fantastifix. At the very least I can do with a good F4+Doom+Namor cast to get the dollies, but with the way the MCU is going I'm not betting on it... Honestly, I'm tired of pop culture in general. It's all the same, reheated nonsense over and over again. I only look forward to some random stuff these days, be they films, mini-series, whatever. I sat down the other and started writing down all the comic book characters/teams/etc I've ever liked/read. I reached 300 and that was without going to movies, books, shows, video-games and so on. I dread to imagine wanting to buy all of these characters. In fact it led me to clean up my storage HDs a bit and slim down my "to get" list. The MCU will keep on going though, and going and going. I wonder when it will became too big and start falling apart.


Realizing that is what made me start to distance myself with all pop culture. I don't care about whether I can keep enjoying cape**** or not, I just hate myself for investing so much time and money on meaningless drivel. Apparently, going by Twitter/Tumblr/Cons/Articles/PR Vids/etc, the new 'fandoms' the Major Corpos are after these days are 20-Something "Artists" who are living paycheck to paycheck, hadn't picked up a comic book since until the last three years, buy no merch and are mostly just drawing characters but this time they're all some kind of vague shade, the men have nail polish, they're all in a polyamory relationship and they exist merely to be mouthpieces. But then again, this is what the current X-Line is, so... Eh, what do we know? If they make a good dolly of some character we liked as kids we'll buy it and that'll be the end of it. It's not worth to care more. I'm just waiting to see it all crash and burn. Maybe it'll make me feel better for how much of my life I wasted on all this malarkey.

darth, I know how you feel. I needed to significantly reduce what I owned in order to feel better. It got out of control with collecting here and there every so often. 99% of comics gone. I still have a decent amount of miniatures and small busts/statues, but I just want Hot Toys 1/6th and very rarely at that. I've gotten super picky and realize that Marvel on D+ is trying to reach certain demographics with C characters, just like certain comics want to reach certain readers. I am counting myself out on many shows, now that I see what they are up to. And best to get away from this stuff for a period of time and enjoy the outdoors!

 

[Sassafras]

darth, I know how you feel. I needed to significantly reduce what I owned in order to feel better. It got out of control with collecting here and there every so often. 99% of comics gone. I still have a decent amount of miniatures and small busts/statues, but I just want Hot Toys 1/6th and very rarely at that. I've gotten super picky and realize that Marvel on D+ is trying to reach certain demographics with C characters, just like certain comics want to reach certain readers. I am counting myself out on many shows, now that I see what they are up to. And best to get away from this stuff for a period of time and enjoy the outdoors!

And best to get away from this stuff for a period of time and enjoy the outdoors!

Yep. Got my first kayak last year. Too bad so many other people decided to enjoy the outdoors too, but at least on the water you could keep distant, most if the time.
The money I save skipping figs will get me another kayak.

You guys do realize that Loki can go on these fun adventures, but it has to end where he picked up the cube at Stark Tower. He has to come back to that exact point in Endgame to get the timeline back on. This is just a pocket universe that will be fixed whenever they decide to end the show.

I'm not even gonna think too hard about time travel, my head would explode.

 

[matticus]

Yep. Got my first kayak last year. Too bad so many other people decided to enjoy the outdoors too, but at least on the water you could keep distant, most if the time.
The money I save skipping figs will get me another kayak.



I'm not even gonna think too hard about time travel, my head would explode.

Simple. It just is like a rubber band and will end where it started.

 

[jye4ever]

The MCU is now completely unrecognizable. But that's okay, 2008-2019 was a great run.

The worst part she is just a derivative of Reed Richards powers.

 

[Victοr]

I got into comics late, compared to a comic-loving bro; was always more of a fantasy Middle Earth type fan. Still am. Then learned some Photoshop and other programs; started paying more attention to art in general (don't think if you learn graphic programs you can't not pay more attention to art, photography, even fonts....)

Compared to others I got into them "late" too. They'd been around for decades before I was even born. But the point is to start reading the things, no matter what your introduction to them was. That's not to say that if you enjoy the movies you need to read the floppies, but if you fancy yourself an "uberfan" and go around "redesigning" characters, then I bloody well expect some more "loyalty" than pirating the latest capeflick. I got into graphic programs myself, but that was because I wanted to make stopmotion animation. It took too much time and in the end I abandoned it completely before finishing a single brickfilm. I've put that completly behind me now and I've even forgotten how to use those programs.

Honestly, I was never much into Fantasy (except Conan I guess, but that's different) but I envy you for getting into those things first. I wish I had grown up with classic Sci-Fi books instead of capes. I'm just now taking to read Heinlein and the such. I knew about them ever since I got the net, but always from afar. Well, at least I had Star Wars, so that's something. I'm mostly guiding my collection to SW, with the odd things here and there, at least 1/6th wise. With capes I've reached a fatigue, but I still manage to enjoy SW, WH40K and the such. The settings are huge, varied yet consistent. That doesn't exist with capes. It's all generic nonsense and Newah Yarhk. And not the good kind of New York like in films. For me, it's a creatively bankrupt genre. Like I said, I'm not much of a Fantasy guy, but I'd rather read some Fantasy Genre Fiction than more capes.

Didn't like comic art at first tho.

House Style can be adequate, and certain styles can be great, but the majority of comic art is either completely boring or just bad.

But, u learn more and appreciate more; so basically I look at the 10-year MCU and the comics I'm reading (still catching up) as just this great door that opened, to another world. History, an art form, story-telling. A world I was way behind on compared to my bro, and other folks, but for me it worked out, coz I'd be around for the MCU, and what could be done on film with characters that had been around in comic form for years.

Of course, there had been DC, and other attempts, but thanks to a whole lot of factors the MCU was pretty much a global phenomenon. Srsly they opened clinics or something to deal with the wave of depression after the dustings in IW.

I began feeling the fatigue around 2016 and it's only gotten worse. They were never films I ever sat down to rewatch, so I didn't see them as anything beyond live action retellings of the stuff I read. But as I begun to tire of the general cape format, I started losing more and more interest. It's all just so similar and not in a good way. It's like a network tv show that keeps being renewed and every season follows the same beats.

IMO it's not that there isn't a lot of very good comic material out there (even if it's IMO the older, better stuff); but it's a mistake on Disney's part to over-target the audience you describe; who may or may not have any job/money; who don't read; have short attention spans, etc. Or - u make the Hobbit dwarves into a bunch of feisty short women, I'm out of there. (One thing I think I'm noticing - a lot of the newer comic art is &^%$ compared to the older stuff; tho don't know enough to be sure. )

Having read heaps upon heaps of the things, there's honestly not much great stuff across all cape****. There are some good ideas, moments, parts of a run, but by and large they're costumed strongmen who have been repeating the same stories for decades now. Maybe I'm just burnt out, but it's tiresome to me. Too juvenile trying to be mature with the inherent cape theme ruining even other genres they try.

Comics are an entire medium with tons of stuff in them. Capes are capes and nothing more. The Big Bad Bat is literally an unstable manchild who buckles at the first sign of real trouble. You have heroes going haywire and killing a million people then Cap/Superman goes "dere'z always a guy hurdur" they bicker, they fight and next month a global catastrophe is forgotten. I'd let it go as childish fiction, but they go in so much trouble to seem "mature" that I just can't deal with it anymore. Even things I used to like I just cannot stand these days. I'm all fed up.

So, for the money I've spent; I just view it as when my world expanded; and I was lucky enough to be part of the Golden Age of the MCU; and I had a blast. My collection is what I think of as classic characters; Cap's been around since the 40s. So if I put a period on it, now, I'm good. There'll probably be the occasional movie/series I like (I actually liked WandaVision, tho not enough to spend on more merch). I'll keep reading. Pick up the occasional Marvel piece. Maybe sell off some of the collection (but not my Iron Studios 1/4 Bucky, Cap, and Falcon).

I have some figures too. I'll buy an MK as well or the other 5 folks I want. But I'm past caring about the flicks themselves and just seeing them as ways to get Hot Toys dollies of said characters. I'll keep watching in a way, some skipping through, some fully. But I'm not invested in the entire gimmick.

Personally, I've always felt that shared universes were far too big, and once the novelty wore off, I began to feel the same way about the MCU as well. It was great looking for Easter Eggs in Iron Man. But when everything goes the stories lose their impact. Me, I prefer "mini-verses". I've always been like that. I never liked the countless crossovers, or how totally different books had tie-ins to the same event or whatever. To me, the story hits much harder if there are set limitations. Otherwise, what's the point? I can deal with the Avengers all in the same U. But when you add the GotG and the X-Men and everything...

No regrets, except the *&^^$ FWS T-shirt which I'll use for greasy, dirty work (never thought that IMO, FWS would be a leaden effort, but here I am). If that's what Disney wants to do - well, it's like a favorite pizza restaurant where the new cooks make &^%$ food. Just 'coz it's the same name on the menu doesn't mean it's the same pizza. Also, with rising collectible prices, but possibly less quality, it's a good time to ratchet back.

I get that that's how business works. They want new customers. But why do you have to kick the old ones, the ones who've been supporting you for so long, to the curb? It's just in poor taste.

At the end of the day it's all pop culture meant to be cnsumed and then discarded. Whatever works for every one of us is fine. I have the few stuff I still like. But I'm done with capes. The MCU had some good moments and it was a nice experiment. But I'm just waiting to see it go down at this point.

Honestly, I'm just tired. Burnt out. I can't even think of more things to say anymore, or to express my "boredom" with it all. I'm just... done. I want to go back to the days where each character got their own mini-world with the films having their own feel and director's touch. I'll take Raimi-Man over the MCU any day. It's still better than the FoX-Men, yes, but you get my point. I remember Post-Ninth Gate & Spider-Man how people wanted a Raimi-directed Dr. Strange with Depp. That's the stuff I want. But, alas...

darth, I know how you feel. I needed to significantly reduce what I owned in order to feel better. It got out of control with collecting here and there every so often. 99% of comics gone. I still have a decent amount of miniatures and small busts/statues, but I just want Hot Toys 1/6th and very rarely at that. I've gotten super picky and realize that Marvel on D+ is trying to reach certain demographics with C characters, just like certain comics want to reach certain readers. I am counting myself out on many shows, now that I see what they are up to. And best to get away from this stuff for a period of time and enjoy the outdoors!

Thankfully I haven't amassed a "huge" collection. Just a couple thousands thus far. So I don't have much to get rid of past some floppies. But I sat down, made a list of everything I want to buy, and then started trimming. I imagined having all these things, and beyond the money and the space, I wondered how useless it'd be. A 300$ dolly of a figure is supposed to make it an important one. When you've got 300 of them, what the Hell do they mean? It's all just so useless, you know? I look at the other scales I've collected over the years. All the completed teams, all the runs I've collected, and I feel... nothing. It's all just trash. All I have left is this "need" to buy more stuff to "complete"... something. There are some stuff I still like and am glad I spent the money on. But they're not all the capes. Maybe a run here and there. I have fondest memories of painting my first WH40K miniatures than any run I've colelcted since I started subscribing. I hold to a higher ideal that cheap Iron Man book I found on some mini-market than all the Slott and Gillen and whatever books of his I have.

At the end of the day, I had to cut things down, and I still am trimming the fat. I have a vision of what I want my PopCulture collection to look like. For better or worse, I do feel the "need" to buy some stuff. But I'm trimming it more and more. Media, characters, titles, series, everything and anything.

As for shows, I've dropped mostly everything. I'm looking forward to Succession and Barry coming back, plus the odd miniseries. Chastain & Isaac have a new mini coming out based on Bergman's Scenes From A Marriage. It won't be as good, but I can give it 6 hours of my life. The days of keeping up with everything are just gone for me. I'm tired. I've consumed too much. It's just books for me now.

As for physical activities, yes, that's the thing. Life's too short to be spent on Batman's newest reheated plot. And I now that we all have some time to kill, but on average that's a very small window so you have to choose. For my money, I'd rather play an online match on Halo than keep up with the X-Men's new orgy cult island... If anything I wish I could do more physical hobbies, learn more stuff, pick up more abillities. But...

 

[ZE_501]

I've consumed too much.[...]

This topic has been popping up repeatedly on the forum lately, not just from you. I think collecting is cyclic and maybe a lot of people move on -- but it made me wonder. Just started a new thread in the general action figure forum. One thing. What if you could only keep just one thing?

 

[matticus]

This topic has been popping up repeatedly on the forum lately, not just from you. I think collecting is cyclic and maybe a lot of people move on -- but it made me wonder. Just started a new thread in the general action figure forum. One thing. What if you could only keep just one thing?

Hate to pick! Off the top of my head, probably my SS PF Punisher. The Punisher is the greatest comic book character of all time. Which means Disney will bury him next to cigar smoking Fury and anything else that is deemed "too serious" for Disney. (Shh...but they can make an R-Rated Deadpool out of no where)

 

[Sassafras]

This topic has been popping up repeatedly on the forum lately, not just from you. I think collecting is cyclic and maybe a lot of people move on -- but it made me wonder. Just started a new thread in the general action figure forum. One thing. What if you could only keep just one thing?

I'd have to cheat and say my 1/4 Iron Studios set of Bucky, Cap, and Falcon. Or just Bucky and Cap. In Hot Toys, TWS Winter Soldier.

 

[Captain Clown]

What if you could only keep just one thing?

Either my Prime1 1/2 scale Batfleck or JoyRide Luigi's Mansion Luigi figure.

 

[Victοr]

This topic has been popping up repeatedly on the forum lately, not just from you. I think collecting is cyclic and maybe a lot of people move on -- but it made me wonder. Just started a new thread in the general action figure forum. One thing. What if you could only keep just one thing?

I'm going through that phase myself so I do bring it up a bit frequently. But I see it everywhere. Aside from forums filled with just new "fans" who are there to pirate a comic and make twitter posts, whenever I come across an account I knew from way back, they express the same kind of dissatisfaction. My take is that we're in the middle of a creative drought. Capes are especially bad because they're firmly rooted in the American Gangster, WW2, 50s Space Race and Vietnam. We've been recycling the same things for decades now. Other mediums fare better, but in general, despite the sheer amount of content that overwhelms us, there's nothing truly goundbeaking or original anymore. The new "fans" are taking that reheated product and consuming it, while the old guard is just done with it all. We have more than we can handle, but little of it is engaging or unique.

Like I said above, I can still find some new stuff to like. One-Offs mostly. But it's very hard to keep caring about some long-running IP that will keep on going till I'm dead and gone. I'm eing very selective about these things and constantly trimming them down because I'm just tired of the same repeating characters and stories. What'll survive my "purge" are the things I'm the most emotionally attached to, or find some merit and interest. Judge Dredd for example is basically the same serialized story over and over, but there's progression in his journey, and the world is vast and interesting enough for me to keep caring and still be able to enjoy it, in contrast with capes and their unimaginative plots and cyclical "progression".

I'll respond to the last point later, in its own thread.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

 

[Neal136]

Just coming to post that.
Marvel can definitely market. Start with a highlight reel to Stan's voiceover, show audience reactions to Endgame, throw in some new footage of Black Widow, the first footage of Eternals, and then reveal the official titles of a couple of sequels. Not bad for three minutes.
By the way, from July, 2021 to May, 2023 (a 22-month span), there will be TEN MCU films. That's decent.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

The Avengers assemble part in the trailer gave me goosebumps, and I'm not even a huge MCU fan. Having said that, the new stuff looks bland.

 

[matticus]

The Avengers assemble part in the trailer gave me goosebumps, and I'm not even a huge MCU fan. Having said that, the new stuff looks bland.

Yep. Hopefully SM3 and Strange are a back to back experience dealing with the multiverse. Hopefully that will be a good time between those 2 viewings.

I see some updated stuff here:

Looks like The Marvels is for Captain Marvel 2. Symbol in the A maybe Photon? and Ms. Marvel is the S.