The Marvel Cinematic Multiverse

[Paddy]

Seems like a lot of people are saying Holland was great in this (not just YouTubers occasionally referring to scripts). Hopefully my friends want to go in the next couple of days so I can find out whether its worth the time myself.

[Neon Ignition]

Yep, the film finally really gives him something to work with this time out and he does well with it. It's only slightly distracted from because there are so many others making an impression too.

[Golgo]

Saw the new Spiderman and thought it was quite a mess as a whole with the dumbest set-up ever (

->Open Spoiler<-

Spidey's chattering disturbing Dr. Strange's spell, from which all chaos ensues

) but it was really enjoyable in its individual bits and set-pieces. I prefer either of the first two Holland films, and was surprised by how the most affecting themes had just been lifted wholesale from the Multiverse cartoon. Willem Dafoe and Alfred Molina, though...class. especially Alf. Couldn't tell you who the other villains were. Cumberbatch/Strange were wasted with some flat, cringeworthy script, I felt.

[Neon Ignition]

Breaking it down in full spoiler form:

->Open Spoiler<-

Holland - The dramatic moments they gave his character I found he rose to. I'd agree that the initial set up of him ruining Strange's spell is a bit of an eye roller though as his entire trilogy feels like an endless chain of how useless a character he is. In Civil War he shows up and fails to turn the tide, Homecoming he makes constant mistakes that Stark has to fix and gets his friends in danger, Avengers he tags along but doesn't really make a huge difference either before getting dusted, Endgame he gets revived and offers little, Far From Home he hands over military grade tech to obvious bad guy instead of just giving it to the multitude of obvious safe contacts he has (putting aside it's beyond dumb Stark gave it to him in the first place) and then here he doofus' his way through most of the plot too.

I like that the plot swings (ba-dum tish) him around to giving up things to protect those around him, living in a cheap apartment in the city, giving up the tech to be a back to basic Spider-Man etc but this tying off of the trilogy also works because... let's be honest, it's rushing through all the Maguire era character moments. I'm mindful that what looks like a clean slate can very easily be brushed over too as they wiped all of Earths memory of Parker as Spider-Man, so all the off world Avenger characters presumably still remember. But, overall, that's not on Holland who does well with what he's given here.

Maguire - It's just good to see him at it again. I really, really hope this isn't the last we see either as the idea of seeing an older experienced version of the character still really appeals. There's not much to really say as it's mostly a nostalgia trip.

Garfield - Really is the star of the three, partly it's because ASM2 didn't close things out as neatly as SM3 did and it's genuinely great that they didn't miss the opportunity to make his moments a direct resolution for the character. They're obvious moments but 7 years on they still land and Garfield nails every moment he's on screen. He'd be great to see return in the MCU.

Dafoe - Given the cure plot I'm going to assume we'll never see him again unless we ever go back to the Raimi world where he'd now still be alive along with Harry. But it's endlessly great to see him chewing up the scenery again, he's so much more of a presence that most Marvel villain's are and I could happily see him in more films.

Molina - Similarly great, it's more of the same but given how many years it's been it's telling he can slip into the role with no rust.

Foxx - Probably the weakest link, not awful but there's still an air of cheese like there was in ASM2 about his performance. Not helped by the quality of those around him.

Sandman/Lizard - Tbh, apparently it was all done with stock lines and footage from the older films so really well done.

It's really good that a fourth film can get back to basics but at the same time a slight niggle how an Amazing Spider-Man 3 or Spider-Man 4 seem much more interesting a concept because a Homecoming 4 would still ultimately be a bit of a retread of those.

The film though is just out and out fanservice rather than a fresh cohesive film in of itself. The freeway section is fun, the villain interactions, the apartment battle, the first meet ups between Spider-Men, the final battle etc. Even Eddie/Venom get one of the best lines in the film in their brief appearance.

Interested to see how Doctor Strange 2 follows it up. It's clear Strange etc know what they've done but in theory they shouldn't remember why

[Yakumo]

I don't follow Marvel. I couldn't care less but I do enjoy spiderman movies. Saying that, I never saw the last one and here comes my confusion.
When I went to see the latest Matrix movie last week, they had an ad for Home Coming. Spidey was white again. Can someone explain why the last spidey was black but now he is white again.
I know the previous movie was called Miles Moralis or something. I'm guessing the previous spidey wasn't Peter Parker?

[Golgo]

I don't follow Marvel. I couldn't care less but I do enjoy spiderman movies. Saying that, I never saw the last one and here comes my confusion.
When I went to see the latest Matrix movie last week, they had an ad for Home Coming. Spidey was white again. Can someone explain why the last spidey was black but now he is white again.
I know the previous movie was called Miles Moralis or something. I'm guessing the previous spidey wasn't Peter Parker?

There are multiple universes now so multiple versions of everyone, so basically anything goes. Yes, it's ridiculous.

[Cassius_Smoke]

Miles was in Enter the Spiderverse Sony movie.
Peter Parker is in all the live action films. As far as I know Miles has not been in any of the Marvel universe films.

Then there is the Mile Morales spiderman game, where both Peter And Miles exist together.

...then the comics confuse it all even more...

[Yakumo]

Bloody hell. thanks for the explanation guys. This is why I'm not interested in Marvel movies. It's just a mess that only the hardcore fan can follow. Well, at least I'm now wiser to why spiderman changed from Peter to Miles and back again.

[Nu-Eclipse]

[teddymeow]

That. Looks. Awesome!!

[prinnysquad]

Massively Interconnected Cinematic Universe Requires Some Audience Commitment To Understand SHOCKER.

Jesus, did I just really read the ‘mess’ comment? It’s only a mess if you don’t try to follow it. See: every book series and tv series ever.

[Dogg Thang]

I finished watching Hawkeye last night and I found myself unsatisfied. I loved the first few episodes of the show and think it had all the right ingredients for a great show right there. Hawkeye was great and fantastic that we get to explore a bit more of him. I loved Kate Bishop as a character and there was obviously lots of intrigue around her mother and her mother’s boyfriend, the sword guy. And the tracksuit mafia were decent enough. And then it just seemed to lose its way, first by tying it to the Black Widow movie, which seemed on the surface like a perfect move and yet didn’t really fit with the other story elements or even what they seemed to be exploring with the characters. And then right at the end by bringing in a whole other character pretty much out of nowhere and trying to make it all be about that character and I found it very hard to care at that point because I started to feel like maybe I was just watching a teaser for some other show. The parts just didn’t fit and I don’t feel like I really got to see the story that was set up in the first few episodes. Technically stuff was resolved but in a clumsy and unsatisfactory way, with just a fraction of the payoff being realised.

[Cassius_Smoke]

Yeah I'm in.

[Golgo]

Massively Interconnected Cinematic Universe Requires Some Audience Commitment To Understand SHOCKER.

Jesus, did I just really read the ‘mess’ comment? It’s only a mess if you don’t try to follow it. See: every book series and tv series ever.

To be fair, I do think the shift into the multiverse and time-travel business is pretty messy. Especially as it seems largely to work as a device to reverse dramatic plot points and character deaths so that you can kill off your big box-office draws then undead them later - or offer 'alternative universe' versions of them - for more coinage.

[prinnysquad]

Possibly. But I’ll draw attention to the original posts, about not following Marvel, not caring less, not being interested and it being only accessible to the hardcore fan. Which is blatant nonsense - a comment hiding being a personal dislike. There was also very little to suggest that the above ‘complaints’ were limited to non-MCU multiverse-based entries, too.