Tag: infinity war salt

In case you were wondering why I’ve been so bad about reading and/or writing fic lately, and instead have mostly been reblogging shitposts and liveblogging my rewatch of “Buffy” and “Angel,” with some occasional MCU-directed salt mixed in (and now Tumblr-directed salt; I started writing this post before the apocalypse), it’s because I am So Done with Marvel.

I no longer accept either Ragnarok or Infinity War as canon. I will not read fics that take them as canon – not even fix-it fics. (Or your super-dark rage fics, @illwynd. Do-overs are fair game, though, so @foundlingmother is in luck.) I regret that I wrote a few fics assuming Ragnarok as canon, before I realized what a horror show it is.

My imagination is firmly ensconced in my alternate universe in which Guillermo del Toro wrote and directed Ragnarok and Joss Whedon wrote and directed Infinity War (and its sequel/second part, as needed). Maybe Guillermo recast Charlie Hunnam as Thor once Hemsworth decided he was tired of pretending to be a dramatic actor, or maybe Hunnam was cast as Thor from the outset. (Part of the reason that Hemsworth was cast is that Whedon put in a good word for him, having worked with him on The Cabin in the Woods. Even the best creators make mistakes; Michelle Trachtenberg wasn’t great as Dawn, either.) I’m not sure who wrote Civil War, but it wasn’t those dimwitted hacks Markus and McFeely. Maybe it was Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen; they did a good job dealing with the moral quandaries of the Accords on “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Or hell, maybe it was Aaron Sorkin. This is my fantasy world. Go big or go home, amirite?

I’m not going to try to write any of these versions because I’m not Guillermo del Toro, Joss or Jed Whedon, or Aaron Sorkin. I have only very vague ideas of what these movies would be like. Maybe I’ve frozen time at the point where all of the writers/directors have been announced but the movies haven’t come out. Maybe we have some stills. Hela actually has half a face and it looks awesome. Loki and Thanos have some meaningful interactions. Josh Brolin is very excited about all of their scenes and the fraught history revealed between them.

I’m not sure what stage of grief this is. The obvious choice would be Denial, but I think Denial was actually before I figured out just how terrible TR was (and was still writing fics acknowledging it). I’ve definitely been in Anger for most of the time since then, so I guess this must be some weird form of Bargaining? Like, in my mind I’m trying to trade the canon we have for the canon we should have had.

So in Avengers: Assemble Loki was able not only to fool Thor but Coulson with not 1 but 2 illusions one of which was TANGIBLE and stabs Coulson but Marvel expects me to believe that in IW my baby just came at Thanos with a butter knife and didn’t have a plan? Nah Bro.

Correction: the Loki that stabbed Coulson wasn’t an illusion. There were 2 illusions: the one that appeared to be escaping the cell when Thor approached, and the one that was threatening Thor with dropping the cage when Coulson showed up with the big gun. It was the real Loki that then came up behind Coulson to stab him with the scepter and then gestured at it as if to say “Sorry I couldn’t have gotten here in person sooner; I needed to retrieve my scepter.”

But the basic point stands. Joss Whedon is smart enough to write Loki; Markus & McFeely are morons.

juliabohemian:

whitedaydream:

TW’s interesting recreation of Loki’s “death” in Svartalfheim and Loki’s “betrayal” in Sakaar

(There are more than 90% similarities between the novel version and the film version when it comes to Thor 1 & Thor: The Dark World. So I feel it’s safe to say Thor: Ragnarok novel reflects the original movie script before Waititi’s 80% improvisation.) 

In Thor: Ragnarok novel Thor’s first reaction to “Odin” changing back to Loki –

Thor: “How did you escape Death?”

Loki: “By evading its grasp in the first place, of course.”

Thor: “Only you would make a mockery of your own sacrifice.”

This Thor knew for sure his brother risked his own life to save him from the dark elves. He understood Loki’s play as more of self-mockery rather than self-delusion or narcissism (which would get his ideas across to the audience). And Thor didn’t blame Loki for anything except usurping the throne and blinding Odin’s mind.

Later in Sakaar when Loki helped them to escape, he told Thor he wanted to make up for his mistake –

Thor: “You’ll help us free Asgard from Hela’s grip when we arrive? I can count on you?”

Loki: “Of course. After all, I’m sure you blame me for her resurgence. It’s at least I can do.”

Then Thor admitted his own fault to Loki: “I should not have refused the throne when Asgard needed me most” and “Our self-centered conflict over Asgard has ruined our kingdom” and –

Thor: “I want to change. I want to be better. And I think you can, too. Helping us escape has shown you can take strides toward that.” He looked at Loki earnestly. “Make a fresh start, brother. It’s time.”

And Loki didn’t make an inexplicable “betrayal” later in the novel. The four of them came back to Asgard together, followed by the rebels’ big ship. (And the novel ends here.)

As a comparison, Thor’s reaction at the first sight of Loki in Thor: Gagnarok film – “Where’s Odin? Did you kill him?” Then “You faked your own death! You stripped Odin of his power! You left him to die and releasing Hela! And let’s go back than the past 2 days! Blah Blah Blah!” Then “Our path diverged long time ago” and “Life is about growth and change but you stayed the same”. – This guy pushed all the responsibility and blame to his adopted brother.

Gagnarok Thor, look at yourself first.

By the way, in the novel Thor treats Valkyrie, Hulk and Banner sincerely and kindly. None of these bullshits↓ exist.

#although waititi confessed to respectfully disrespect the early thor films #i mean no respectful disrespect to him

I think Taika’s narcissism shined through in his direction of the character of Thor. Because here Thor comes off as an uncaring asshole and not the sensitive guy we knew from previous films.

Does this mean I have to read the novel version…?

It definitely means I can place the blame for that characterization disaster squarely on Waititi (and Hemsworth!) and I don’t have to bring Eric Pearson (the screenwriter) into it. (Meanwhile, over at “Infinity War,” Markus & McFeely deserve *at least* as much blame as the Russos.)