Imagine saying a character “know[ing] they’re right and doesn’t want to hear it when you tell them they’re wrong” was a good thing. That this wasn’t one of Steve Rogers, Captain America’s greatest flaws.
Imagine believing that this is a character trait that CAROL DANVERS would be proud to have. Imagine never having picked up a comic book in your life, and saying that Carol Danvers isn’t one of these “flawed, fucked up people”.
Imagine if Marcus & McFeely actually gave a f*ck about Carol and didn’t get her character so wrong.
No. Thank fuck they’re not writing Captain Marvel.
Wait, so… they didn’t think that was a flaw in Steve Rogers? They wrote Civil War thinking that Steve was the sympathetic one and Tony “contorted ego” [???] Stark was the villain? Because boy, did that go wrong. I came out of that movie thinking that Steve was a complete asshole and Tony was the one being (relatively) reasonable.
…kind of like what happened when Waititi, Pearson, and Hemsworth tried to make Thor the “best” character in his own movie, eh, @fuckyeahrichardiii?
In preparation for Infinity War (sort of), I just re-watched Iron Man (2008) for the first time in 3 years. Some thoughts:
I guess they were doing this on purpose, but early Tony’s attitude toward women is really pretty gross… and Pepper kind of reinforces it with her loyalty to Tony and her attitude toward the women he sleeps with (“sometimes I even take out the trash”). That seems to support the stereotypical division between women you hook up with and women you marry – trashy, disposable women and respectable, valuable women. That aspect of the movie has not aged well.
I also kind of winced at the generic Arab-looking terrorists. Yinsen did say they were from a variety of nations, speaking a variety of languages including European ones, but they still all looked vaguely brown and threatening. As usual, that part of the world is mostly divided into villains and victims; Tony needs to fly in with his high-tech suit to save the poor villagers (though it was a good touch that he didn’t personally take vengeance on the man who captured and tortured him). Yinsen is something of an exception, since he’s shown having skill, ingenuity, and initiative… but then he sacrifices himself to save Tony. Of course.
Having gotten used to Don Cheadle playing Rhodey, it’s very weird to see Terrence Howard in the role. What a strange recast. Facial structure, skin tone, vocal register, and general manner are all completely different. Don Cheadle strikes me as more serious, so more believable as a high-ranking military officer, but Terrence Howard seems more like the kind of guy who hung out with Tony Stark in college and continues to put up with his shit.
I love Coulson so much. It’s so funny to see him in his first movie appearance, now that he’s become a running gag and then a sacrificial lamb and then one of the heroes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. He does mild-mannered and put-upon so adorably.
How far Tony Stark has come! And Robert Downey, Jr. has shepherded him gradually and organically through his maturation from self-centered, immature playboy to cocky, self-assured part-time hero to struggling PTSD sufferer to adult man trying to carry the world on his shoulders (and co-raise a teenage kid) while still maintaining a dry sense of humor and a cool facade. Tony has had the most consistent, compelling character arc in the MCU and surely one of the major reasons for that is that RDJ cares so much about him and goes to bat for the integrity of the character.
Tony Stark meeting Shuri for the first time goes a little like this in my mind??
Shuri not terrified, Shuri is brave and stubborn and knows she’s smarter than Tony. But she also knows that up until now Tony’s been under the impression that he’s the smartest and he’s the best. So she’s worried, not of him turning out to be smarter, but of him being insulted by her genius.
And they meet and Shuri show’s him her work and he stay’s ridiculously quiet through most of the ordeal, only asking questions here and there. Watching her work with the sand tables as she explains each item in her lab and Tony watches closely.
And then, she stops, cause she’s shown him everything and told him what everything is and she just looks at him and waits for the ‘this is child’s play’ comment and to have to defend herself against a man who doesn’t know shit.
And slowly Tony lifts up his sunglasses and his eyes are fucking shining and his grin is huge and he looks at her like she’s the best thing to touch planet earth and he just mutters, “I’ve never had to say this, but explain that again, and slower.”
wOW rdj talking about tony and steve is SUCH A WILD RIDE like one second it’s “for me i just think about obadiah’s deception” and then “i don’t know what i’m gonna do when chris is not cap anymore” and “mY FIRST INSTINCT WOULD BE TO BUST STEVE’S JAW PROBABLY” and “STEVE JUST HAS THE TRUEST MORAL PSYCHOLOGY” “but can tony really in good conscience pick up that phone to call steve” “LOVE YOU CAP” oh my god that is why rdj and chris evans could literally have like, cardboard, actual literal cardboard for scripted lines and the chemistry between them would still flow RDJ LIKES CHRIS SO MUCH AND TONY AND STEVE ARE SO INTENSE AND EXPLOSIVE i’m gonna cry
One of my favorite things about Tony and Steve and their relationship is that, for all his cynicism, Tony is fundamentally an optimist and for all his idealism, Steve is fundamentally not.
Tony has never had much faith in anyone else to do anything right. And when it comes down to it he’s not a big fan if himself, either. But he believes in the future. He believes that, for all its flaws, humanity is bettering itself. It’s worth investing in. It’s why he does what he does and why he’s a futurist.
Steve is the exact opposite. He believes in individuals. But, coming from the 40s, he’s already seen the future, and what it looks like is a while lot of the same. Sure, some things are better, but there still war and strife and pain and inequality. He has no reason to believe that another couple decades will make any difference at all.
But when you put them together, they complement each other perfectly, whether as teammates or friends or anything else. Tony has more than enough faith in humanity for the both of them and Steve has more than enough faith in people. And I just think that’s beautiful.
Loki is the Philosopher King 