# MCU movies have begun to bore me **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 27, 2018, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244 "2018-04-27T22:24:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244/61 "2018-04-30T17:22:00Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > This is true. But it’s far from absolute. For instance, is the end of CA:Civil War a trope? The old “two friends fight each other because one blames the other one’s best bud for the death of his parents, and their friendship is ruined and half the good guys are captured by other basically-good guys, and the actual villain of the movie is captured, but that’s basically a sideshow” trope? > For anyone who thinks the Marvel movies are predictable, that’s super easy to test. Bring a piece of paper and pencil with you to the movie. After 15 minutes, write down what you think will happen for the rest of the movie. Then check to see if you were right! > > I’m not saying you’ll never get it right, but I think that MCU movies are generally less predictable than the average big-budget action blockbuster. Which is why they’re better received than the average big-budget action blockbuster. They’re still pretty much well-made popcorn movies, though. Which isn’t always enough gristle for some people. Even some people who love superheroes and comics. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244/62 "2018-04-30T18:06:44Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > So you want to watch “adventure movies” which are an hour and a half of people just talking to each other? [Here you go.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NOFXtAHg7vU) Don’t be an jerk, unless that was a whoosh (YOU ARE STANDING AT THE END OF A ROAD BEFORE A SMALL BRICK BUILDING. AROUND YOU IS A FOREST. A SMALL STREAM FLOWS OUT OF THE BUILDING AND DOWN A GULLY.). You know what I mean, and you’re better than **rikwriter** and his unceasing _argumentum ad populum._ (Yes, I had to look it up.) Like I said, I want good, exciting movies, and superheroes are the flavor of the decade, so I need to deal. > [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Sure, the Marvel movies aren’t perfect. And if they’re not for you they’re not for you. But pound for pound, they’re as good as any remotely similar project in pop culture has ever been, and a lot better than most. I agree absolutely. I just want them to be better. This thread may not have happened if I hadn’t tried to remember _Ultron_–and then watched it. And _Suicide Squad_ was awful. I think we can agree on that. And that it is good that Stan Lee didn’t make a cameo in _Black Panther_. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244/63 "2018-04-30T18:30:49Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Don’t be an jerk, I’m really not trying to be a jerk, and whatever your reasons you are fully entitled to hold whatever opinion you like about any movie regardless of how well received it is; it just seems as though your stated rationales for what you expect and how the MCU films are lacking is inconsistentand contradictory. And pointing at _Age of Ultron_ as being and exemplar for Marvel Studios overall is like complaining that the Edsel is proof that Ford cannot build good cars. They’ve made worse films, and many that were better, but if none of them appeal to you so far you should probably drop them because they have a production formula that is pretty dialed in and are making money faster than an oil tycoon in the 1930s, even as they take risks with giving unproven independent film directors multi-hundred dollar budgets to work with. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244/64 "2018-04-30T19:31:08Z")
I pointed to _Ultron_ because it was the one I was watching at the time, and if I dislike them so much then why have I seen so damned many of them? Including the [1944 Captain America serial](https://youtu.be/6FU6v-vzKvQ) (I was going to lie about seeing that one until it started and, yup, seen it and I can recall when and where) and the [1990 Captain America](https://youtu.be/6-MlQHU-n8M), though it took the Son of Svengoolie (inspiration for some of the MST3K crew) to get me through it. Not so much Hulk (Banner was always a whiney bitch) and Spidey (too much teenage angst) and complaining about the first Thor without seeing it got me suspended. I refer again to the title of this thread, “MCU movies have begun to bore me.” Put the emphasis on “have begun.” Finally, the Edsel was no worse than its contemporaries. It had some styling miscues, also common at the time, and an ugly name but Henry II loved his dad and, had he lived longer, Edsel himself would never have greenlighted such an ugly car. He had better taste than that. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244/65 "2018-05-01T00:38:02Z")
> [@](#): > > And that it is good that Stan Lee didn’t make a cameo in Black Panther. He was in the casino in Seoul. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244/66 "2018-05-01T01:31:12Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Don’t be an jerk, unless that was a whoosh (YOU ARE STANDING AT THE END OF A ROAD BEFORE A SMALL BRICK BUILDING. AROUND YOU IS A FOREST. A SMALL STREAM FLOWS OUT OF THE BUILDING AND DOWN A GULLY.). You know what I mean, and you’re better than **rikwriter** and his unceasing _argumentum ad populum._ (Yes, I had to look it up.) Too bad you still aren’t using it right. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244/67 "2018-05-01T05:23:30Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I watched part of Suicide Squad over the weekend and the only memorable things were Margot Robbie (an interesting actress I was unfamiliar with) and her butt, which I think got (and deserved) top billing. 😉 And except for her and Joker I’d never heard of any of the characters. I didn’t watch _Suicide Squad_, because I don’t watch bad movies, but she did look good in the previews, and she is an interesting actress. Check her out in _The Wolf of Wall Street_ and _I, Tonya_ as well as her memorable cameo in _The Big Short_. And in that cameo, she speaks in her natural Australian accent. Many people don’t realize she’s an Aussie. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244/68 "2018-05-01T05:44:11Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Too bad you still aren’t using it right. > [@Wikipedia](#): > > In argumentation theory, an argumentum ad populum (Latin for “argument to the people”) is a fallacious argument that concludes that a proposition must be true because many or most people believe it, often concisely encapsulated as: “If many believe so, it is so.” Nope, I got it right. Check nearly all of your posts in this thread for examples. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244/69 "2018-05-01T06:01:53Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Check her out in _The Wolf of Wall Street_ and _I, Tonya_ as well as her memorable cameo in _The Big Short_. Y’see, Wife and I survived 40 years together because we liked similar movies. I’ll quote her criteria, though I’ve done it before. > [@dropwife](#): > > Monsters. Things blowing up. Monsters blowing up things. Things blowing up monsters. She lived long enough to see _Pacific Rim,_ her perfect movie. None of your movies qualify, though I’d probably like _The Big Short_ based on its cast. _I, Tonya_ is right out because I’m still haunted by Hardings sex tape and her showing off a handful of “little Gilloolies” (Wife’s phrase) to the camera. :eek: The ladies at church thought she was so prim and respectable. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![polar\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@polar\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polar_bear)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244/70 "2018-05-01T06:34:14Z")
One should note that suïcide squad isn’t part of the mcu. That piece of sh\*t is all DC. Verstuurd vanaf mijn Moto G (4) met Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244/71 "2018-05-01T07:17:09Z")
Yeah, but I watched part of it despite that. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244/72 "2018-05-01T11:32:03Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > And I think we’ve established that’s your opinion. We have not established that as fact or an opinion that the majority of people share. At that point it wasn’t established because the movie had just come out and most critics were not allowed to pre screen. It seems that, of people who are paid to think critically about film, most agree with me. Richard Roper doesn’t. But Infinity War seems to be coming in as a solid C+/B- of a movie. Overstuffed and overlong seem to be the themes of the critical reception. > **[Avengers: Infinity War - Movie Reviews](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/avengers_infinity_war/reviews)** > > Rotten Tomatoes, home of the Tomatometer, is the most trusted measurement of quality for Movies & TV. The definitive site for Reviews, Trailers, Showtimes, and Tickets ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244/73 "2018-05-01T12:01:43Z")
My problem with the MCU is the complete lack of stakes, both for the characters and within the movies themselves. But this isn’t necessarily a fault of the MCU, but of our legal and economic system re: copyrights, problems largely developed at the behest of the MCU owners, Disney. 1. Within the movies, the stakes are too big to be “worrisome”, for wont of a better word. Thanos is gonna destroy half the Universe? No he isn’t: I know he isn’t going to “destroy half the universe” the second that is his stated goal because the stakes are so massive they, paradoxically, descend into irrelevance. Gonna kill a person? We care. Gonna destroy the Earth? Yawn. 1. As characters, there are no stakes. Disney owns the copyright - none of these guys are going to die, period. They will all be resurrected for another generation, and again, and again. Too much money is at stake\* for the characters to actually be “in danger” of anything. So, who is going to “die” at the end of all this? None of them. The actors are going to retire, and because of this the characters will “die”, but sure as shit they will be resurrected again once Disney recasts the role. And slas soon as that happens, then this entire sequence of movies becomes, well, meaningless. \*I guess I was wrong. The stakes are incredible! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244/74 "2018-05-01T12:14:29Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > What is most surprising in this thread is how nobody has flamed me for my comment about Ms Johansson. Were you hoping for it? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244/75 "2018-05-01T13:19:23Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > 1. As characters, there are no stakes. Disney owns the copyright - none of these guys are going to die, period. They will all be resurrected for another generation, and again, and again. Too much money is at stake\* for the characters to actually be “in danger” of anything. As “superheroes”, this is true. I think that, as characters, people get invested in the actors and so ultimately care if (for example) RDJ’s contract as Iron-Man ends with him happily retiring in marriage or if he makes a noble sacrifice to save the world or otherwise goes off into the sunset. Even if we know that eventually there’ll be a new Iron-Man franchise with some other actor playing Stark. I disagree that this makes it meaningless since my interest is in what happens to this incarnation of Stark, not whether or not I’ll ever see a red & gold robot suit again in my lifetime. Of course, these days it’s so well know if there’ll be a Black Panther 3 or when people’s contracts are set to expire, etc that even casual viewers may well know this can’t be the end for Super-Guy until Movie #8. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244/76 "2018-05-01T13:56:56Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Of course, these days it’s so well know if there’ll be a Black Panther 3 or when people’s contracts are set to expire, etc that even casual viewers may well know this can’t be the end for Super-Guy until Movie #8. To that end, I’ve occasionally run into people who will go out of their way to avoid any news about casting or future projects, and will angrily declare that even sentences like “So-and-so is contracted for 2 more movies” or “Hero-Man 3 is already on the schedule” are spoilers, and should be hidden in spoiler boxes, and yell at you if you don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244/77 "2018-05-01T14:05:07Z")
I think overexposure might be part of the problem. We are being inundated by these comic based superhero movies which, by their very nature, all follow the same basic “villain-crisis-superbattle-resolution” script. One of the things that made Star Wars movies such a happening was the fact that there were so few of them. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244/78 "2018-05-01T14:27:51Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > At that point it wasn’t established because the movie had just come out and most critics were not allowed to pre screen. > > It seems that, of people who are paid to think critically about film, most agree with me. Richard Roper doesn’t. But Infinity War seems to be coming in as a solid C+/B- of a movie. Overstuffed and overlong seem to be the themes of the critical reception. > > [https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/avengers\_infinity\_war/reviews/](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/avengers_infinity_war/reviews/) They’re judging the movie on its own, which is ludicrous because it’s not on its own. Only a fucking idiot would walk into this movie thinking you can see it and none of the other Marvel movies and still understand everything. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244/79 "2018-05-01T14:35:27Z")
There can be stakes other than life or death. This is something Black Panther did very well. I won’t go into details for spoiler reasons, but very real and seemingly permanent changes were on the table and some actually happened. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244/80 "2018-05-01T14:42:50Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > 1. Within the movies, the stakes are too big to be “worrisome”, for wont of a better word. Thanos is gonna destroy half the Universe? No he isn’t: I know he isn’t going to “destroy half the universe” the second that is his stated goal because the stakes are so massive they, paradoxically, descend into irrelevance. > > Gonna kill a person? We care. Gonna destroy the Earth? Yawn. Response contains Infinity War spoilers: And yet he kills half the universe, including many big name characters. So… > [@](#): > > 1. As characters, there are no stakes. Disney owns the copyright - none of these guys are going to die, period. They will all be resurrected for another generation, and again, and again. Too much money is at stake\* for the characters to actually be “in danger” of anything. > > So, who is going to “die” at the end of all this? None of them. The actors are going to retire, and because of this the characters will “die”, but sure as shit they will be resurrected again once Disney recasts the role. And slas soon as that happens, then this entire sequence of movies becomes, well, meaningless. There hasn’t been an MCU long enough to really know how this is going to work, but one possibility is that the hero/franchise will continue but the character will die. So at some point in the universe, Tony Stark will die or retire. Then someone else will take up the mantle of Iron Man. But Tony Stark will remain dead. Not just that another actor will play Tony Stark/Iron Man, but another actor will play (some other name)/Iron Man. Precisely how they follow through with that remains to be seen… but there is a LOT of speculation that precisely that will happen for some/all of the core avengers at the end of the next Avengers movie (due next year). In any case, they’ve made enough sensible decisions to suggest to me that they are aware of this issue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcu-movies-have-begun-to-bore-me/813244.md?page=5)