So, let me tell you my feelings on Captain Marvel. In general, I appreciate that they are finally giving a woman her own movie – definitely late in the game, but better late than never, I guess. And from what I know of Captain Marvel (which, admittedly, isn’t much at all), she’s a cool character who is very powerful. Also, it’s taking place in the 90s, which – um, yes, please. All of my 90s feels. So I don’t necessarily have a problem with Captain Marvel herself.
However. The way that she is being shoe-horned into the current phase of the MCU feels very, very out of place. I mean, there has not been a single mention of her in 18 movies, and now suddenly, we see that Fury has her on speed-beeper for an emergency? Why haven’t we seen this before? It seems to me that when aliens were attacking New York for the first time ever would have been a good time to call in an emergency. Why didn’t Fury recruit her for the Avengers Initiative? Why wasn’t she alluded to or foreshadowed?
Maybe these things will be explained in her movie, I don’t know. But essentially we’re getting this character whom no one’s ever heard of (in-universe, I mean) swooping in at the eleventh hour with all of her extraordinary powers to save the day because the Avengers – the heroes we’ve grown to care about deeply – couldn’t. And that’s how they want to conclude this MCU phase? With a big old dues ex machina? What is the goal here, exactly? Because if the goal is good storytelling, then Marvel, you’re doing it wrong.
It would have been fabulous to truly see Loki’s journey come full circle with Thanos and the Infinity stones. It would have been immensely rewarding and fitting to end this MCU phase with the first villain being the latest hero. Fighting side by side with Thor. Saving the planet he once tried to invade. I mean, it’s poetic. Unfortunately, Marvel seems to operate under the assumption that once a person flimsily recovers from their depression/mental health issues and makes a flimsy peace with their brother, then that person literally has no reason left to live anymore and can be killed off. Marvel seems to operate under the assumption that death is the only way to find redemption – like, if you don’t die for it, it doesn’t mean anything, I suppose? I don’t know what the logic is, but either way, we deserved Loki and there’s no need, at this point in the game, for a completely brand new character to come in and be the savior.
But that’s just, like, my opinion, man.
I still think Whedon would have given a satisfying payoff for the Loki-Thanos connection he established. The MCU is a prime example of a horse designed by committee, and boy, is it a narrative mess.
Everything Loki said and/or did in the opening sequence of Infinity War makes very little sense. Yes, we can pull out some meaning out of it but in actuality, none of it makes senseas a whole. When you put all of his words and actions together, it seems like they were throwing darts at an idea board and going with whatever came up. That could ultimately mean two things: 1) They didn’t know what they were doing with Loki or 2) There are reasons why he said and did those things which need to be explained at a later date, with multiple clues suggesting that Loki has a plan of some sort. I’m thinking about how Strange let Thanos win, too. Loki has a lot of the same powers as Strange, and a lot more than that. It wouldn’t be two weird for the both of them to come to the same conclusions about how this will end in this timeline. Still, my faith in the MCU as a whole has been wavering a bit and I don’t know how much I should read into anything because of that.
I feel it was lazy writing and not knowing the character of Loki or not caring about him. Marvel has shit on Thor and Loki since the first movie, for some strange reason. Maybe because they didn’t expect those two characters to get as popular as they did, sometimes over shadowing their “babies” of Iron Man and Capt America.
It was very uncharacteristic of Loki to do what he did. Especially after seeing him do multiple fight scenes in the other movies. Which again leads me to think either bad writing or them not caring about the character.
He better come back in the next Avengers because how he was taken out was shitty, cheap and a low blow by Marvel and the writers/directors.
After several movies of not knowing how to deal with Loki’s unplanned popularity they finally sacrificed him as a launchpad for King!Thor. Which also 100% appeased the fanboys with their “characters won’t stay dead” complaint. So Loki was doubly sacrificed: in-story and as a fourth wall shout out (no resurrection this time).
As for the writing, Marvel shrouded the entire thing in “ambiguity” (not even Loki’s main characteristic) and ended up making a mess.
It was an artless mess. I have no idea who these fanboys are, they are attempting to appease. But their time might be better spent watching Adam Sandler movies. Or Mall Cop.
Oh, the Reddit fanboys (and fanboys in general) hate Loki. There is a black hole around his name that is wildly suspicious. Even in discussions where a mention of Loki would be completely pertinent, there is no said mention. Korg? Awesome. Heimdall? Great guy. The warriors 3? Still remembered. Loki? Who dis. I’m not sure what aspect of his makes them clutch their pearls and overcompensate trying to hide it, but they are wildly threatened.
And that’s the demo Marvel is actively trying to cultivate.
I know exactly what aspects threaten them: he isn’t a conventionally masculine power fantasy, and more women are into him than are into the male power fantasies. I think TR was trying to make him less threatening by making him a ridiculous gay stereotype, before IW took him out altogether.
The best part is that there are SO MANY DISASTERS IN THE MCU that there could legitimately be like eight to twelve teams of absolute failures attempting and failing to survive basic tasks.
Like, you have the people who are good at undercover high-level spy work but not really at humaning.
You have the people excellent at science but completely unprepared to take care of anything in their own lives.
You have the people who otherwise seem competent but see nothing wrong with throwing themselves from great heights without a parachute because fuck gravity, I guess, they have superserum or wings and that makes it totally fine.
You have the people just totally unfamiliar with earth.
Loki is the Philosopher King 