Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie • Page 50

I’d argue for it. I like both, but Dr. Strange was just Iron Man 2.0, while at least Iron Man 3 tried to do something a little different.

 

I fail to see how Dr. Strange was Iron Man 4.6 or whatever. I see comparisons but doesn't every origin story have the same set up?

 

I refuse to click through that many pages.

 

Douchebag rich guy learns not to be a douchebag while gaining extraordinary abilities/tech. Learns to treat the woman in his life appropriately. Loses older mentor/helper. Both fight essentially mirror versions of themselves.

 

Kinda the plot point for; Iron-Man, Thor, Hulk, Captain America and also Doctor Strange minus a few slight differences. Hell, i'm sure I watched Big Hero 6 and that was the same.

I'm not saying you're wrong, I just feel that many origin stories can be pinpointed to that same trope.

 

Don’t get me wrong, a lot of origin stories are fairly similar, but I think these two are just especially so.

I actually like both movies too.

 

What? Captain America and Big Hero Six are about douchey rich guys who get powers and learn to treat people better?

 

Fair point... I guess in my mind the argument could go either way haha.

In any event, it is fun to see how different people rank these films. Heck, my own ranking changes quite often.

 

I’m gonna assume it was more granted powers/fighting mirror part that was being referred to.

 

Okay, so they’re actually more different from Iron Man’s basic plot than Doctor Strange is.

 

I did say there are slight differences but Cap and Red Skull both took the serum. Hiro learned to treat his aunt better. Both fought versions of themselves that used the same formula (serum/microbots). But yeah, not the best examples but I hope I got my point across a little better haha.

Nah I do agree to an extent. I think Marvel just have their formula down and that's why everything is so similar but they know it works.

 

I think I would need to watch both again for it to flip in my personal rankings. I hate ranking things so I made a list on Letterboxd and just kinda went roughly with how I rated them on my initial watch or from how well I remembered them if they didn't have a rating lol. Seeing the other personal rankings from those who contributed was even more interesting though.

 

Finally saw Ragnarok, wow that really was a fantastic movie, so tonally different from the first two Thor movies.

It's rather frustrating to see how this movie seems to be pretty much for nothing after the opening 5 minutes of Infinity War, though.

 

Glad I'm not the only one who felt that way. Giving him his eye back AND sending him on a quest to get another weapon? They didn't have to do both.

 

I really hope Waititi gets to do a Fantastic Four movie. He's always expressed it's his favourite Marvel property and has such admiration for Kirby and those are the kind of directors we need.

 

Yeah, it didn't really bother me that they gave his eye back, but definitely him immediately needing to get another weapon.

Also, that huge payoff of Thor saving his people only to have (half of?) them immediately killed at the very beginning of the next movie is such a bummer.

 

To be fair, going up against Thanos makes sense as to why he needed another weapon. Thor struggled against Hela with his new powers and then Thanos borderline killed him in the first 10 minutes of Infinity War. A new weapon was the only way to bridge the power gap.

It just showed that everything prior to Infinity War was recess hour compared to what was coming next.

 

Yes, I agree. I didn't mind the quest for the weapon. I did think the eye thing was a bit stupid though (especially considering how good he looked with the eyepatch.)

 

Re: Thor’s new weapon, I don’t like the concept of sacrificing key growth of theme and character for pure plot. It undercuts the meaning of these significant moments and is a flaw in Marvel’s storytelling formula of building for “events” like Infinity War by ignoring the actual stories being told in between.

 

I get that. It was a shame that Infinity War started literally straight after Ragnarok had finished.

 

Thank you. It's just bad writing. "He needed a weapon because (blah blah)" or just write a better scenario where it doesn't ruin a good character arc?

I get it though. They have a lot of things to try to take on all at once. They have so many movies, characters, scripts, directors, etc that it's not easy putting something together that encompasses all of that.

 

I get what people are saying with it making Thor’s arc from Ragnarok hault and go in another direction, but I don’t see how else his character could evolve with where he was placed in Infinity War. Either he died or gets sidelined for the rest of the film or either he could seek out something to help him fight Thanos.

I liked how Thor continued to move forward after Ragnarok. At the end of that film he saved his people, awakened new power within himself, and was the “king”. Then when Thanos came along he basically bitched slapped Thor back into reality and showed him it doesn’t matter how much power you find within yourself, you can’t escape this situation without finding alternative source of power.

 

The quest for a weapon is fine. Different scenarios require different approaches, and the quest was really cool. That alone really isn't bad in relation to Ragnarok.

The eye is garbage. And casually wrecking the remnants of Asgard off screen is bad. Those were some of the clearest signs that this massive storytelling endeavor was fundamentally flawed. But, Thor's quest was cool.

 

I've gotten on board with all of the arguments around Thor's arc in IW but I really have a hard time when people push back on the eye thing. I've said it before, but what purpose did that serve other than Hela getting the opportunity to say "ugh now you really look like dad!". Like I get it... losing an eye sucks, but from a storytelling perspective that could have been wiped from the script and the movie wouldn't change other than Thor having an eye patch now.