::facepalm:: I completely forgot Reporter was a generic keyword! That's a WAY better pick for this dial. Thank you so much for the reminder!

I've always been amused by the generic keywords in the game. It struck me that most of them were designed with Marvel sets in mind and only later became more universal. Not that I want to inflict any more changes on the game, but I'd like to see either more generic keywords added (Alien stands out to me as one we're missing) or maybe to renovate the generic keywords.

Ike Perlmutter has been fired from Disney

My take? Good. F*** that guy.

If you're a regular to my movie threads, you know Perlmutter was notoriously bigoted against women and people of color in leading roles in Marvel movies. He's the reason that AGE OF ULTRON failed, and removing him from power on the movie side is what lead to the success of Phase 3.

On the comics side, he was notoriously anti-LGBTQ+, conservative, and pro-Trump-- to the point of firing Chelsea Cain & Aud Koch over Cain's anti-Trump comments on Twitter. He also refused to publish Art Spiegelman's forward to Marvel's WWII era comics for referring to Trump as "The Orange Skull." If you're censoring the creator of Maus, maybe you need to take a long, hard look in the mirror.

I will not miss this potlicker.

Good riddance to bad rubbish! That a guy like Perlmutter was ever allowed any creative control over anything is a travesty. There’s just too much to pick about his awfulness to even really narrow it down.

Honestly the moment he became a part of the Tronald Dump cabinet, he should have been ousted, if for no other reason than the grossness of double-dipping in the private and public sectors.

Here's an all-encompassing update on what's happening. Rough sailing ahead.

https://kotaku.com/marvel-victoria-a...ors-1850289779

Good share.

Honestly, Ike Perlmutter's departure is nothing but an unambiguous win in my books. Dude was a toxic presence that only held back the MCU and the comicbook industry. Also refreshing that normally layoffs are just for the folks living paycheck to paycheck - glad to see a useless clown executive eat the layoff hammer too.

I can't comment as much with Victoria Alonso. Clearly the way Marvel Studios handles their VFX department and contractors is a problem, but how much of that was Alonso? I don't know. And how much of it will change with her gone? Also unclear, as paying folks a living wage and slowing down are expensive things to do.

The Jonathan Majors news was really saddening and I haven't even seen Quantumania (it'll join Shang-chi, Homecoming, and Incredible Hulk on the "I'll just stream it" pile). Reading the article the whole thing is a mess. That's total firstworld problems to be sad about it, and luckily I guess Kang is known for variants so if they just cast someone else it won't be that bad. The MCU survived (and has mostly been better for) the recasting of some folks like Hulk and War Machine; it can survive that.

But hey - first trailer for The Marvels dropped today, and it looks fun? I'm also confident that GotG3 is gonna go back to making bank for Marvel. And I'm not worried for Marvel compared to the "esteemed" competition - while the MCU has finally had a few movies that weren't commercial slamdunks and barely broke even (Eternals, Quantumania) or even lost a bit of money (Black Widow especially with the whole lawsuit), it has yet to have a true catastrophic bomb like Sony or DC. And even post-pandemic with this new normal, its also continued to pump out wildly profitable stuff like No Way Home and Multiverse of Madness. The MCU is gonna be fine.

Those just about mirror my thoughts.

Seems like there's more to the Alonso story than we know. Will be curious to see how that shakes out.

It does seem like Majors is being minimized or excluded in the most recent QUANTUMANIA advertising, and you're right-- Kang would be one of the easiest characters possible to recast. I don't know the full story of the allegations, but I hope that the most just verdict is reached and that the studio acts appropriately.

Beyond that, yeah, I agree, THE MARVEL's first trailer looks fun and that it uses a much-higher-than-QUANTUMANIA amount of practical sets and shooting on location, which will all be good for verisimilitude. The effects we're seeing so far look good, which will also be good for course-correcting "The MCU Look" narrative.

The big question is if the story will be good. Speaking personally, this straight isn't the Captain marvel movie I wanted. I wanted to see her solo adventures across space, maybe have a WINTER SOLDIER-level of team-up with other space characters. Financially, CAPTAIN MARVEL won over a billion dollars for Marvel Studios, and the Disney+ projects have been up and down-- there's a high subscriber base, but not that high to make this concept --one where Captain Marvel feels like a tertiary character in her own movie-- feel like a failure to read the room.

That said, I hope I'm wrong and this is a great Captain Marvel movie as much as it shows off Monica and Kamala! Marvel Studios clearly needs a win, and THE MARVELS will have a lot of pressure on it to prove that Phase 4 and QUANTUMANIA's weak performance was just a fluke of the Chapek years.

To be fair, it's called "The Marvels", not "Captain Marvel 2", so Carol, Monica, and Kamala are all title characters.

Oh, for sure, and that does set expectations for it to be a three-hander. Knowing that this is probably our CAPTAIN MARVEL sequel, I just wish it'd been more of a direct sequel than a franchise sequel.

This is also fair especially since it was originally on the timeline/docket/agenda as "Captain Marvel 2" and then changed to "The Marvels" a few months before Ms. Marvel debuted iirc.

I'd like to think that's a huge vote of confidence in Iman Vellani as the new heart and soul of the superheroing world for Phases 5 and beyond, but I worry it's actually a bowing to the trolls who are out to get Brie Larson, a desire to minimize her roll in a solo film and draw a bigger crowd with more people.

And at any rate, it does mean we'll be denied a film where Carol alone gets to just be Carol, since she spent so much of her debut film with amnesia. I'm not a huge fan of Captain Marvel myself, but I get how disappointing that is for folks who are huge fans and wanted her to get the kind of treatment that Tony and Steve got...

Although then again, it would be totally reasonable to call Iron Man 2 "Iron Man and War Machine" and call Winter Soldier "Captain America and Black Widow: The Winter Soldier", so I'm going to hold out hope this is just a more accurate title for a movie that's still firmly centered on and does right by Carol (and Brie).

James Gunn’s movies are usually about imperfect -even dysfunctional- people finding themselves in the world, often with imperfect families and against toxic/abusive father figures. In that way, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 3 is in line with the rest of his work, but this time, the experience comes with a ton more baggage —and that baggage is key to understanding this.

Remember when James Gunn got canceled by a fake outrage mob orchestrated by right-wing extremist Mike Cernovich? Cernovich dragged out old Gunn tweets for which Gunn had already apologized and raised such a stink on social media that Disney unceremoniously fired Gunn just as GotG3 was leaving pre-production. Gunn’s actors, his contemporaries, and apparently Kevin Feige opposed this firing and refused to film the movie without Gunn in the director’s seat. Gunn would be poached by WB/DC to direct THE SUICIDE SQUAD, which was critically successful enough that Gunn and Peter Safran would become the new leads of DC’s film division at WB-Discovery. Following THE SUICIDE SQUAD, Disney would rehire Gunn to direct GotG3.

Now, GotG3 lands in a unique time for the MCU, which has had a rocky Phase 4. The firehose of content has seen diminishing financial returns, lower critical and fan acclaim, less impressive CGI, a lower caliber of writing, and a growing sense that the mighty Marvel Studios has stumbled, if not fallen. While no means DOA at the box office and in the zeitgeist, Marvel no longer carries its ironclad reputation among conversations of a system that doesn’t respect directors or VFX workers and that doesn’t have a clear understanding of what it is or where it’s going.

In many ways, GotG3 is a breath of fresh air— a clearly creator-driven, personal, poignant story that it scarcely feels like the studio makes anymore (whether or not that’s true).



#185 Nebula
Team: Guardians
Range: 5
Points: 60
Keywords: Guardians of the Galaxy, Robot, Pirate

7 11 18 3

7 11 18 3

6 11 17 3

6 10 18 3

5 10 17 3

5 10 17 3

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Auto-Fix: After Nebula takes damage from an attack, after actions resolve, heal her 1 click.
Jet Booster Modules: & Running Shot.
Rocket's Upgraded Arm: Free: during your turn, choose one to have until you choose again: Ranged Combat Expert, Blades/Claws/Fangs, or Force Blast.

Love that Nebula - Karen Gillian is the quiet MVP of the franchise imo, and the cynical, bitter killing machine turned tortured sister turned Avenger turned Guardian turned Governor of Knowhere building a world her "father" could never imagine is my favorite arc in a series full of great arcs. I didn't think she'd top her best moments in Volume 2 ("You just wanted to win, and all I wanted was a sister" and the little dukes she puts up when Gamora tries to hug her) but her staunch defense of Rocket here and the way she just sobs when he ends up okay did. And that dial is a suitably nasty, hard-hitting, survivor.

Can't wait to break this movie open with you. I think my feelings are best summarized by how my wife felt. "This was an incredible movie, maybe one of the best in the MCU, and I never want to watch it again."

Super excited to be cracking into Volume 3! It really was a glorious experience. Brutal, hilarious, exciting, thoroughly satisfying. I haven’t been the type to be upset over the MCU, I may even be fanboy-blinders-impaired. But even I admit this is better than what we’ve been seeing from Marvel Studios lately.

And on a sad note, we lost Volstagg.

https://variety.com/2023/film/people...ka-1235621641/

I do love his take on the character, coming across a bit cooler than he usually does, since before Stevenson, Volstagg had a bit of a history of being little more than a fat joke.

Huge thanks, friend! Glad the dial is working for you! Nebula came REAL close to not getting dialed, but her jet packs and advanced arm saved her. I agree, she has a real growth toward humanity and a healthy family relationship over the course of the series that's quite affecting.

No doubt, that movie's a rough one. Haha I had given my wife trigger warnings before going into the movie. She was silent as we were walking out, and just demanded that I give her a lot of ice cream. I made sure she got the best I could find.
Yeah, critically speaking, GotG3 is much better than most of what we've gotten lately in theaters and on Disney+. Financially, it also has more staying power than most MCU films. Most of them have a huge second week drop-off, the idea being that everyone who wanted to see the films saw them in their opening weekend. GotG3 seems to have been buoyed by strong word of mouth and will be an unmitigated success-- quite the turnaround after QUANTUMANIA was likely Marvel Studio's first full-on critical and box office bomb.

My hope is that this will be a teachable moment for the studios-- time to slow down and take the time to make better quality products. The Writers Guild of America (and Screen Actor's Guild and Director's Guild of America) strike will force the MCU machine to slow down anyway. Taking advantage of the time to think will be better for everybody.

I saw the unfortunate news about Stevenson too! The guy was a mega-talented character actor. Also: let us not forget that he also headlined a Marvel movie in PUNISHER: WAR ZONE!

GotG3 tells the story of Rocket Raccoon, who, injured in an attack by Orgocorp’s newest creation, Adam Warlock, must be healed through some highly specific means from Orgocorp. In the process, the Guardians run afoul the High Evolutionary, Rocket’s creator and CEO of Orgocorp. During this, Rocket relives his origin story in a series of pre-death flashbacks. In defeating the High Evolutionary’s forces, the Guardians break up to go their separate ways.

Gunn has made it clear that of all the characters he’s written, he feels the closest to Rocket. That’s in line with Gunn’s work, which frequently has dysfunctional protagonists who have traumatic backstories. Tellingly, it’s not far cry to interpret Rocket’s journey in GotG3 as Gunn’s own experience with it. Just as Rocket thinks he has it made, he’s taken out of commission by supremacists. We learn that Rocket was instrumental in a demagogue’s attempt to create a perfect society, but he was barred from it Rocket regains his health and helps dismantle the organization that created him and creates a new version of the band he’d formed.

In the same way, Gunn was removed by Disney through the actions of white supremacists despite the fact that Gunn had apparently rewritten several Phase 2 & 3 scripts leading to their success. Gunn would eventually return to Disney to finish his film, but under the clear understanding that he was done and that a few of his regulars like Dave Batista, Pom Klementieff, and Zoe Saldana wouldn’t return without him. Upon finishing GotG3, Gunn would take up his new post, head of DC entertainment along with producer Peter Safran.

It is a dark, traumatic movie that doesn’t flinch from pain, but also vaunts found family, honesty, and healthy modes of expression and self-determination. Positivity in the face of a dehumanizing machine that is Disney Orgocorp.



#186 Cosmo
Team: Guardians
Range: 5
Points: 30
Keywords: Guardians of the Galaxy, Animal

5 11 18 2

5 11 18 2

5 10 17 2

5 10 17 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Cosmo Is Good Dog!: Telekinesis, and after Cosmo uses it, she may use it again to make a Terrain attack for Free.

Cosmo absolutely delighted me. I’m sure there are those who will be annoyed at reimagining Cosmo as a female, but that’s actually more in line with Laika, the real-life dog she’s based on. Cosmo is basically “what if Laika survived”, so I actually quite like the change to female here.

I do wish she got to have at least some kinship with Rocket since she actually has a lot in common with his origins. They’re both products of animal experimentation that gladly sacrificed animal lives for human progress (the merits and demerits of which are highly debatable), but I can’t complain too much because her repartee with Kraglin was hilarious, and her crowning moment of awesome in the end was truly remarkable. She really is a good dog.