Tag: Marvel

Iron Man and Captain America: a Deeper Look Into the Success of Avengers Endgame

Iron Man and Captain America: a Deeper Look Into the Success of Avengers Endgame

 

I think that it’s safe to say that Avengers Endgame has become a true cultural phenomenon. Marvel has accomplished what other movie studios have only dreamed of  doing by delivering this culmination of the epic MCU Saga. They have created a franchise that has not only been met with enormous financial and critical success, but also one that has come a define an entire generation.

But how has the marvel Cinematic Universe risen to such unparalleled success? What has been the key ingredient with their meteoric rise to fame? What is the one common thread that makes the average Marvel movie better than most other superhero films? There are many answers to this question, but if I had to pick one, I would said that it has to be Marvel’s emphasis on character.

Endgame represents, not only the epic conclusion of an entire saga, but also the symbolic fulfillment of a dozen beautiful character arcs. Every single character in Endgame has an ending that represents the thematic culmination of who they are as a person, and what they mean to the greater MCU story. Even if a character’s story isn’t over in Endgame (Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy, Winter Soldier, Etc.) it comes to a crisis point; leaving every Avenger changed.

The most obvious examples of this genius character-driven storytelling is the culmination of the iconic legacies of both Iron Man and Captain America; the two key players of the Avengers in the MCU. And to understand how these stories were so brilliantly told, we have to take a closer look at end of these Avenger’s stories.

(WARNING: Heavy spoilers for Avengers- Endgame ahead!!!)

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The death of Iron Man.

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It was not a cheap trick. It wasn’t a sacrifice just to earn a quick tear from the audience. It meant something. From the very beginning Iron Man was the tortured hero. The hero who made mistakes. He was always a little prideful, but he also always tried to be better. Through the course of the three Iron Man movies, Tony Stark has struggled with what it means to be a hero.

In the first Iron Man film, he saw his weapons in the hands of the terrorists who almost killed him. That moment defined him. It changed who he was. From that moment forward, Tony Stark’s character was driven by a singular purpose. He knew that he had to use his second chance at life to protect the people instead of building weapons to destroy them…He had to use his wealth to save the world instead of destroying it.

And sometimes, like in the case of Ultron and the Sokovia Accords, he went too far or made mistakes. But Iron Man’s goal was always to protect. His heart was always in the right place, even if his head wasn’t. He wanted to be an armor for the weak. He wanted to save the world that he had once so recklessly endangered.

So, when Tony Stark gave up his life to undo Thanos’s snap, it represented the fulfillment of his life’s purpose…to protect the world, even if it meant giving up his own life! He gave up all of his selfish impulses once and for all. None of his past mistakes mattered anymore, because he gave up everything to save the people he loved. Everything came full circle when Iron Man fulfilled his own prophetic quote from the first MCU film;  “I shouldn’t be alive… unless it was for a reason.” This was the second chance that Tony had been waiting the rest of his life for. This was the reason why he was alive, and the ending was so beautifully executed that you feel that sacrifice. Right in the heart.

Captain America’s Last Chance at Peace

 

cap 2Likewise, Captain America also has a very meaningful sendoff in Endgame, but in a very different way. It’s one that represents the fulfillment of what fan’s have been asking for for years…A chance for the most selfless Avenger to have a shot at happiness.

Captain America has always been the soldier. He’s always been the one to sacrifice everything in the service of others, sometimes to his own detriment. In the first Captain America, Steve Rogers proved that it’s what’s on the inside that counts. He proved that power meant nothing if it wasn’t given in service to others. The Red Skull lorded his strength over others, while Cap gave up his own life to protect those who were weaker than him. That experience in World War 2 shaped who he was for the rest of his life. It propelled him on a path to always do what was right

Frozen in ice for decades after sacrificing himself to save countless millions from death, he was revived only to face a torment worse than death; loneliness. He became a man out of time. All of his friends were dead. All of the things that he once knew were taken away from him. And the one friend that he still had was twisted into a weapon against him. But no matter what, Steve Rogers always laid down his life to save others. He always put others before himself; even if it meant losing everything.. In every single Captain America film, Cap gave all that he had, and sacrificed everything that he had held dear, to fight for what he believed in; truth, friendship, unity, and protecting those who couldn’t protect themselves.

So in Endgame, when the final battle was won, and the new heroes took up the torch, Captain America finally got what he so rightly deserved. For once, Steve Rogers obtained lasting happiness. There were no more sacrifices to be made. No more wars to be won. It was just Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter for the rest of his life. It was second chance at joy. After almost a hundred years of selflessly giving up his life in service of others, Cap finally got some peace for himself. and it felt meaningful because it was earned.

And just like Iron Man, Captain America’s ending hit us right in the heart, just in a different way; proving that these two characters are two sides of the same coin. Iron Man and Captain America. Grieving and joy, sadness and peace, sacrifice and reward. The two endings may give us opposite feelings individually, but put them together and they give us a story unlike any other.

Iron Man and Captain America represent the very heart and soul of the MCU. Iron Man was the foundation and the center for the MCU’s grand story, and Captain America represented the heart; the spirit that it stood for. Together, their character arcs not only stay true to their own personal journeys, but they also represent the core of the beautiful story that they have both been a part of!

Tony and Steve feel like real people because they each changed naturally over time, and the story changed with them. They both grew as people with their own ups and downs in life. So, it’s only fitting that their endings would change the story again. This time, they would make way for a new generation to grow and change. Together, the two of them ushered in a new era for new stories.

With character-driven stories like theirs, the possibilities are endless…

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Infinity War Analysis and Review

Infinity War Analysis and Review

Everyone seems to be sharing their thoughts on Infinity War. At first, I thought writing a review of my own would just be creating white noise. But then I gave it some more thought and realized that I had to write a review; because if I don’t, I might go crazy from all the thoughts swirling around in my head! I need to get them out of my mind before I’m driven mad, so without further ado, here’s my Infinity War review and analysis!

Warning: Spoilers!

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Infinity War is different from any other Marvel movie in history. It opens different. It ends different. It even plays out different. Right from the cold open, to the end credits, this movie takes you through a unique journey. And when I say cold open, I mean a cold open out in the middle of space, where in the first five minutes of the movie, two of the longest running characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe die. Both Loki and Heimdall, fan favorites, die relatively harsh deaths before the actual story even starts. The directors want to make it very clear to the audience that this movie will be unlike any other Avengers movie ever made. In one genius stroke, they let the audience know that no one is safe. For once, a Marvel movie has very real stakes.

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It’s totally ambitious, not just because it is the culmination of 10 years and 18 movies in one shared universe, but also because it risks alienating the very fans that have made the franchise so popular. They took risks with the themes of the film and even with the lives of characters, raising the death toll with the possibility of making some viewers upset that favorite characters had been axed. The fans of the comics, including myself, may have been mentally prepared for it (even if they didn’t know the exact details), but the average viewer was not. With one wrong move, the makers of this film could have alienated a large portion of the fan base.

But with a brilliance that is often overlooked, the directors (the Russo Brothers) managed to pull off these calculated risks, all whilst honoring what had come before, juggling dozens of A-list stars, and even…dare I say it…telling a fairly engaging story. It’s interesting how many people take this feat for granted. If you looked at the facts, you’d see how nearly impossible this film should have been to pull off; at least on a technical level. And yet they did it.

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The theme is sacrifice. We don’t have time to cover all the instances of this theme here, but there are quite a few (especially from Gamorra and Vision). Even with the villain, the Russos didn’t shy away from playing with this theme. Even if I still hate Thanos, and his backstory only makes me hate him even more, at least they managed to make him believable. The character, even through heavy CGI manages to convey weighty emotion, and really makes you believe he’s a real person with real motivations (whether we sympathize with those emotions as an audience or not).

Thanos is not some forgettable Dark Elf that wants revenge. He’s a deeply disturbed individual who believes that killing half the universe will curb overpopulation. He watched his home world die because of that, and he wants to prevent it from happening anywhere else. It may be insane and morally wrong, but it’s also a unique and plausible motivation for this ‘Mad Titan’. He really believes himself to be the hero. Most of the audience is pulled into this slightly different perspective. In Thanos’ mind, he is the hero who is sacrificing everything that he has, and the Avengers are the villains arrayed against him; attempting to stop him from obtaining universal peace.

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This uncomfortable perspective makes the audience, at least in my opinion, hate him even more, as one-by-one my favorite heroes are swatted away like mere insects. It’s a bit depressing to see our heroes not have much of a chance. Thanos managed to dispatch Hulk with a single Infinity Stone.  What can our heroes possibly do when he has more? The answer is nothing. Even the strongest Avenger is no match for Thanos and for the first time in Marvel cinematic history, the heroes have lost before the movie even begins. They can do absolutely nothing about it.

Well, almost nothing. My last point is the theme of failure and mistakes. The heroes have several opportunities to beat Thanos, and every small glimmer of hope is snatched away by a single character’s mistake. It’s not just Star-Lord and his sentiments for Gamorra that you should be mad at…everyone had a chance to mess things up. Of course, there were several of these chances that I’m glad they avoided (like Star-Lord killing Gamorra so Thanos didn’t get the Sould stone, or Scarlet Witch killing Vision so that he didn’t get the Mind Stone), but there are also several that would have been fine. Iron Man went to Titan to fight Thanos on his own turf, even when Strange said it was a stupid idea. Scarlet Witch went out to battle in Wakanda when she should have been protecting Vision. Even Thor failed to land a killing blow, or at least cut the gauntlet off Thanos’ hand, with Stormbreaker. There were so many moments when the good guys could have won, but they did not and that is the true art of this movie; to show that, even in the world of superheroes, mistakes have real consequences.

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For the first time, several real heroes died in battle; not just token characters. They did not shy away from killing off popular heroes that we love, and they even managed to surprise the audience with who died; leaving alive the older heroes that everyone thought were going to die, and instead killing the newer ones that we expected to live. Not only was it emotional for the audience, but it was also emotional for the characters. The filmmakers have, by killing off the Avengers’ closest friends and family, brought the original heroes of this universe to the lowest place that they have ever been; raising the stakes to the absolute maximum to bring them to the point of desperation for the coming battle in Part 2…and that is feat to be reckoned with!

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How Captain America Was Almost Erased From Marvel History (The Surprising History of Captain America)

How Captain America Was Almost Erased From Marvel History (The Surprising History of Captain America)

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Captain America is easily one of the greatest and most recognizable comic book characters of all time. He is pretty much featured in every ‘top superheroes’ list and is often sited as one of Marvel’s flagship heroes, alongside the likes of Spider-Man, Thor, and Wolverine. Now with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America is more popular than ever, constantly toe-to-toe with Iron Man as the franchise’s most iconic character.

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But, did you know that this almost never happened? Did you know that Captain America almost never existed in the Marvel Universe? For those of you who don’t know, we must go back in time to explain. We must go back to 1940, when Marvel Comics went by a different name; Timely Comics.

During this time, the comic publishing house that would one day become one of the industry’s forerunners, was nothing more than a small company trying to keep afloat amidst the explosion of DC’s (known as National Comics at the time) superhero characters. Realizing that superheroes were the future of comics, writer Joe Simon decided to create a character of his own for Timely. The character, inspired by Simon’s disgust over the Nazi agenda and America’s lack of involvement in combating them, was created with artist Jack Kirby in 1940 as a political statement. Thus, a superhero legend was born in the form of Captain America.

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Captain America was an instant success, with his first issue selling almost 1 million copies; a monumental feat for comics at the time. There was something about the character which instantly connected with the public. Perhaps the connection came from Cap’s bravery, self-sacrifice, loyalty, humility, or even his relatable origins as a weakling with a big heart. No matter the reason, people couldn’t seem to get enough of him. Captain America quickly became Timely Comic’s most popular character, and even rivaled some of the biggest heroes from other publishers during the era.

But as they say, all good things must come to an end, and with the end of WW2 the popularity of Captain America began to wane. The writers of Captain America didn’t know what to do with the extremely patriotic Captain without the black-and-white evils of the Hitler to function as a backdrop. It was clear that they could not continue writing Captain America the same way. However, instead of keeping the character’s personality and integrity, they made the mistake of using him as branding tool to sell their stranger and less-marketable comics. As a result, the character suffered even more and was eventually dropped.

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Seriously… is THIS ridiculousness what you want to associate Cap with?!?

The character stayed in limbo from 1949-1953 where he went largely ignored by Timely Comics, which was renamed Atlas Comics in 1950. In 1953 Atlas tried to revive many of its forgotten superhero titles and Captain America was first on the list to receive the new treatment. Atlas had the idea to not only revive the characters, but to also rebrand them, with Captain America now called “Commie Smasher” and being pitted against any ‘anti-American’ enemy that Atlas could imagine; often changing Cap’s personality to fit their more cynical stories. The result of this change in Cap’s morals and integrity was disastrous. Fans rejected the revival, and this version of the character didn’t last a year before being cancelled.

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This was a major blow to the character, and Captain America seemed as if he would never rise to popularity again. It seemed as if Captain America would die a very slow and painful death as he slowly vanished from the public eye. Years passed, and although Cap never technically disappeared from Atlas entirely, he seemed to be constantly ignored.

Captain America almost disappeared forever. In fact, it looked as if comics would never see the good Captain’s return.

However, by 1961 two things would happen that would change the comic book industry forever. The first was cosmetic. After going through years of branding turmoil, leadership changes, and financial hardships, the company finally permanently renamed itself as Marvel Comics, the moniker that would eventually go down in history as one of the biggest names in comics. The second thing was much more tangible; the debut of Stan Lee’s ‘Fantastic Four’ which marked the first major step in Lee’s rapid rise as the comic industry’s biggest name. It also rebooted Marvel’s in-story universe; tying it all into a single interconnected continuity. The combination of the company’s attempt to rebrand itself, Stan Lee’s revival of superhero comics, and a firm new direction for its publications, all made the time ripe for a triumphant return.

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In 1964, after 10 years of obscurity and neglect, Captain America finally made his triumphant return in 1964’s Avengers #4. Stan Lee had insisted on the return of the icon that he grew up with, and personally championed the retcon (meaning retroactive continuity) that changed Captain America’s history to fit the new emerging canon of superheroes in the 60’s. Firstly, gone were the embarrassing Captain Americas of the 50’s, which were revealed to be imposters that took over for the real Captain America. Secondly, it was soon revealed that, although Captain America had been thought dead since 1945, he was instead hidden beneath the ice of the North Atlantic Ocean, frozen in an ageless state; waiting to be revived. His emergence from this ‘suspended animation’ in Avengers #4 was an instant success. The rest is history.

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Finally, the person writing Captain America’s story was someone who cared about the character’s personality and rich history. It certainly showed, as Captain America quickly gained the status of Marvel’s moral center; the character that fans could count on to do the right thing, no matter the cost. He’s someone to aspire to, and we all want to be like him. Even after his 75-plus years of existence, Captain America still challenges us to be the best that we can be, and to consider our fellow man over ourselves. He remains one of the most beloved comic characters of all time. So, it’s astounding to think that he was almost erased from comics forever! Could you imagine if he never existed in the Marvel Universe that we know and love today? We certainly can’t!

Let us know what you think makes Captain America so popular!

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Thor Related to Hercules?!?

Thor Related to Hercules?!?

Thor Related to Hercules?!?

A short, strange spotlight on the Mighty Avenger

Like many Marvel fans, we like to go back over some of the comics related to our favorite Marvel characters and refresh our memories on their backstories. In so doing, we came across something wild in Marvel canon that we had almost forgotten. Thor is a relative of Hercules! No joke!

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the general reaction we get when we say this!

How do we know this? We recently read the Thor entry to the 80’s version of the Essential Handbook of the Marvel Universe; an encyclopedic series breaking down every Marvel character’s powers, story, and appearance in meticulous detail. In this series, they list the known relatives of every hero in the Marvel universe, and under Thor, it lists his mother as…Gaea?

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a scan to prove it; the info is circled! a more up-to-date version is below!

 

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For those of you who don’t know, Gaea (also spelled as Gaia, Giah, etc.) is a primordial Greek Goddess (in Marvel canon: a powerful alien being that originates from an alternate dimension), and is the mother of the Greek Titan Kronos, as well as the grandmother of Zeus! And we are pretty sure that everyone knows who Zeus’s son was… Hercules! Thor has a unique relationship with the extremely powerful Gaea in the Marvel universe for a specific reason; Marvel wanted Thor to have a reasonable reason for being the most powerful Asgardian besides Odin, and they wanted to bind the Asgardian and Olympian mythologies together for a more cohesive Marvel lore.

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Obviously, in the original myth of Thor, Frigga is Thor’s real mother, and this seems to be the route they’re taking in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (but who knows, maybe Frigga will be revealed to be Thor’s step-mother). However, Marvel’s version of the Thor story presents us with a fascinating family tree that the original myth does not! We did some checking to make sure that this familial relationship is still canon (after all we were looking at the outdated 80’s version of this encyclopedia for nostalgic reasons) and we confirmed that it remains canon in the Marvel timeline…at least for now. So, what does this mean for Thor?

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It means that, as of now, Thor is the brother of the Titan Kronos, and the Uncle of Zeus…making him the Great Uncle of Hercules!

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Now, because this blog’s usual audience are often Disney fans and may not be familiar with the intricacies of the Marvel universe, we must present a disclaimer: the Hercules Thor is related to is NOT the same one from Disney’s animated film, but rather a lesser-known Marvel character that we will show below…

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Marvel’s Hercules

Unfortunately for you Disney nuts out there, this dashes the hopes of there being a definitive Disney/Marvel Universe crossover…unless you count Big Hero 6. Some people will be relieved and some will be disappointed…it just depends on what kind of pop-culture fan you are.

Of course, Disney’s animated film Hercules is just a different interpretation (or point of view) of the same mythology shown in Marvel. If the enterprising fan wanted a headcanon/fan-theory excuse, they could say that Disney’s Hercules is the human’s legend of Hercules, and not what really happened (which could be the events of Marvel’s Hercules)? After all, humans did accidentally mistake the Asgardians and Olympians for Gods in Marvel, so it’s possible that they could have exaggerated the myths a little from what really happened.

You can take that theory as far as you like, but we just find it fascinating that Thor is related to both the Asgardians and Olympians in Marvel continuity; a Son of Odin and an Uncle of Zeus!

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our reaction to this glimmer of false nerd hope.

One last thought for crossover junkies: There’s even a theory floating around that connects Ariel’s family to Hercules’ through Ariel’s father Triton! It’s not our theory, but we do think it makes perfect sense and has a lot of evidence, so maybe we’ll cover the theory someday if you really want to know about it. But for now, just be satisfied to know that Thor could be a distant relation of Ariel! Marvel mythology presents such an interconnected family tree that it makes our heads spin to think about it! Who knows; maybe Disney Animation and Marvel might be connected by more ways than just business/ownership. What do you think Disney should do about this?

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