Marvel is in shambles (according to that misleading Variety article)

[@NerdSyncProductions]

Compare news coverage from diverse sources around the world. Take advantage of their Black Friday sale to get 40% off unlimited access by going to: ground.news/nerdsync. Sale ends November 30.

[@standout6595]

why are you straw manning the issue? I need sources. Yeah, the texts weren't amazing, but I think you even straw manned those. I already wrote my essay of a comment elsewhere, but there are sources that at least question, perhaps disprove most of your points. Majors maybe called the police on her because he was being abused. Because you don't like Majors there's obviously reasons that people can dislike actors, so why is it necessarily because Larson is a women that people who dislike her are "weirdos", that's such a lazy characterization of people not liking an actress. At least some people don't like her just as an actresses and cite her as given stiff and wooden performances. I don't have an opinion one way or the other about her, but that is a legit reason not to see a movie, and it's not bigotry or misogyny, or something that makes them "weirdos," especially not in the accusatory way you are using the term. Also highest earning movie by a female, black director? Celebrating that is racist and sexist because the celebration is predicated on her sex and race. Are you insinuating that we have to lower the standards for women? lower the standards for black people? I believe in them, I wish you did too; especially when they are riding the coat-tails of a multi-billion dollar brand within a milti-billion dollar company. So, I refute your racism and sexism. A failure of an expected earning gap of $400 Million less than anticipated is nothing to celebrate when a success practically guarantied by the IP you are working with if you give out something passable.

[@sclair2854]

@@standout6595 People who dislike Larson online tend to be weirdos cause they are very loud about it, like- Hating her is kind of a youtube genre. As a counter example I don't like James Woods and this comment here is the first time I've ever mentioned this to anyone- And I think this mention alone is enough to say I'm being a bit weird about it.

[@standout6595]

​@@sclair2854 Okay, LGBTQ+ are very loud about everything they dislike. So, they are also negatively weirdos.

[@sclair2854]

@@standout6595 I'm pretty impressed you went mask off in a single comment, but kudos. Thats gotta be like a speedrun or something

[@standout6595]

@@sclair2854 Well, that's your logic. If someone is loud about what they dislike, they are weirdo's; and Scott used, as I called out, "weirdoes," as a derogatory term. So, being consistent with that logic, and logic can only be logical if consistent. LGBTQ+, not as a reflection of my believes but as an inference of you based on your logic, is that when LGBTQ+ are lout about what they dislike, they are negatively wierdoes. I will in fact state, I find that movement to be harmful to most people. especially the T part. We could get into it, but I'm not trying to make a big deal about it. I do want to be honest which is what the disclosure is for. But, if you find that you aren't annoyed by LGBTQ+ people being loud about the topics they dislike, then consistency would show that your explanation of the Larson distaste is insufficient. In that case, I invite you to try again. If you do find LGBTQ+ to be negatively weirdos for being loud about the topics they dislike; then my condolences for being on the wrong side of the alphabet mofia.

[@mickeyveach3612]

At this point, talking about how the MCU is failing has become its own industry.

[@scarboroughdebutante]

1000000% I am so sick of every channels new weekly take on "here's why the MCU is failing"

[@OG_Agrivar]

@@scarboroughdebutante Amen

[@katherinealvarez9216]

I'm getting impatient because of it. If the MCU is failing, when am I going to get my October Daye movies?

[@bryansteele832]

Star wars is in shambles is also its own industry.

[@TheChrisHype]

Endgame saved my life. I was diagnosed with cancer shortly after Infinity War came out, and was told that without treatment, I was looking at maybe six months. The very first thought that popped in my head was “I’m not going to see how Avengers ends”. Lo and behold, Endgame’s tagline was “whatever it takes”, giving me the spiritual guidance to power through my treatments and change my lifestyle, and as of January, I will be five years as No Evidence of Disease, all because these silly little comic book movies everyone suddenly hates all the sudden made me strive to best cancer to see how the story continues. I can never hate the MCU for that. I will always be its supporter.

[@vanishingllama7342]

Aww wholesome 💕 ☺️ Stinks you had cancer but this this is a Suprisingly wholesome story

[@Courier_333]

I don't think people suddenly hate them. I love a lot of MCU movies too. So I'm glad they had a profound effect on you. (guardians 3 and loki made me cry this year) I think it's more Hollywood's obsession with franchise films over original art.

[@Professional_NerdNonsense]

Glad you’re still here!

[@TheChrisHype]

@@alexandrahope8814So beyond happy that you’re still here with us!

[@oscaradolfosandovalrojas6237]

Same here. WandaVision and Loki (season 1) brought me joy and excitement during a very sad period of my life, after my dad passed away.

[@HollowGolem]

"Can't say they don't respect the source material" is the funniest thing I've heard in at least a week. Well-done, Scott.

[@Optimegatrongodzilla]

@HollowGolem They clearly don't respect the source material; neither Kevin Feige, the writers, or the directors. They have done so much disgraceful disservice to the comics, especially in the past 5 years! They have stupidly killed off a ton of characters for whom it would be the understatement of the century to say that they hadn't been used to their full potential, and they bastardized a number of characters, including Hela, Mar-Vell, Mysterio, Targetmaster, and MODOK just to name several!

[@HollowGolem]

@@Optimegatrongodzilla context is your friend. Maybe watch the video so you'll understand why that's funny.

[@Optimegatrongodzilla]

@@HollowGolem I have watched it. I never said it wasn't funny. I was just stating facts.

[@Abridgimation]

@@Optimegatrongodzilla Yeah, this isn't uncommon with adapatations, let alone trying to fit it into 2 hour films. Good thing you still got the original comics and cartoons to watch instead if this bothers you so much.

[@Kris-ju4tj]

Really appreciating the "viewer who listens in the background while folding laundry" representation in this video.

[@Gabriel-doodle]

At this point, I don’t think I can feel anger anymore. It’s all just disappointment now.

[@rambu3013]

Apathy

[@mig4868]

You'll eventually learn to enjoy the turmoil.

[@FosukeLordOfError]

Thanks dad

[@langreeves6419]

Yep, the toxic fans have made it not fun anymore

[@StonedPriest]

Everyone just wants to stir up drama. Every game that comes out people speed run, then talk trash online about the game being "linear garbage". Same for every single movie franchise that has a female lead. The drama they create gets clicks, those clicks then create the reality the video creators wanted to as they have people overlook story logic for the sake of boosting their own brand. They get to say "look I found a plot hole" in like the second film in a series, before a third part that can fill in the knowledge gap. By the time the third film releases "the fan base" is so self-elevated thinking they have outsmarted the writers, then they don't get their precious fan theories that didn't make sense anyway. That's okay though. They get what they really wanted. They get to complain online. The only thing that makes their sad lives any better. They don't understand the writing process, and they don't have to. They aren't story tellers for a reason. They're not fans, they're self important critics. You are allowed to not enjoy a story as an audience, as a critic your goal is to critique for the purpose of expanding the medium. What we have is clout seekers who want to see everything burn so they can build their brand on tik tok, KZbin, ect.

[@grantbaugh2773]

Stuff definitely needs to change across the industry in general, but it's also annoying to see all these people declaring this is the end of the MCU considering we've had talk like this since Age of Ultron. I remember back then reading so many articles talking about how there was nothing left to look forward to and they were scraping the bottom of the barrel. Of course the MCU as we know it is going to end someday, and when that happens all of these people are going to announce that they predicted it while ignoring the numerous times they've already been wrong. Maybe this is actually the end, but I'll believe it when it actually happens.

[@heroicgangster9981]

I think people just love trolling and making fun of each others tastes. Apparently people think success and failure means everything will go right or wrong. And who can blame them? Production studios and especially Hollywood are reactionary. Entire franchises just die if movies aren't successful.

[@corriethomson4431]

​@heroicgangster9981 you only have the mental capacity to throw off buzzwords like trolling?

[@grantbaugh2773]

@@corriethomson4431 what's wrong with the word "trolling"? It has a use case and using it doesn't mean you're just using buzz words

[@__keys]

But they're not wrong are they? Pointing out every misstep, every drop in quality. Every hundred million dollar flop as a sign of the MCU's decline is detailing its "end". Just because the massive company keeps pumping out more movies doesn't mean the MCU is 'not over' If you consider the lifeless corpse of something being paraded around as it being 'not over' then good for you buddy.

[@grantbaugh2773]

@@__keys but like I said, they were doing this years before, similar points saying that the was clearly a decline in the quality of movies. Maybe this is actually the end, I don't know, I'm just saying that they've been saying it for years so I'm not gonna be impressed if they happen to be right after their previous claims were wrong.

[@krim7]

Marvel's real problem is that they wrapped the epic story up too well with Endgame. It put a period on the end of an entire era of cinematic history. Marvel failed the Wrestlemania Test. For the WWE, Wrestlemania is the largest show in the calendar year. It is an event where stories you have been building all year go to end. But, you see, you can't end every story at Wrestlemania because the show must go on - the very next day. If you end all of your stories at Wrestlemania, then you have very little to hook people into coming back on Monday for your normally broadcast episode. So you need to end some of your biggest stories but make some of your smaller ones continue on, so that they can sustain viewership while you slowly build your next epic tale. Marvel did not leave many plot threads for after Endgame. All of your major heroes' stories were wrapped, and most of the fan favorites were dead or retired. Basically all they had left were some story threads for Thor (which were not followed up on) and the Guardians (which wound up getting massively delayed). So, basically, Marvel had nothing to build off of, right when a massive mandate came down on high to start churning out content - i.e. a recipe for disaster. It would not have been hard to really rectify this problem. You go back to what worked in Phase I, you pick your new central cast of characters, give them a solo movie, then make an Avengers film. Give the most popular of those characters a sequel in the new phase, while expanding out to some new characters. Then do an Avengers movie. Repeat again and put a capstone on another beloved three phase story arc. Even with the mandate to make TV shows, they could have created a two tiered structure where the TV shows interact but only particular shows interact with the movies. But all of that would have to take time and energy to work out, which Disney did not give to Marvel. Churn baby, churn.

[@WebbedManiac]

Adding to this, IMO Marvel should have taken a break after Endgame. Like you said, Endgame was the highest point in Marvel history. It was literally the end of an era. People who were still riding the Endgame high should have been given the time to unwind and rest. Marvel could have used this time to plan out their next phase and then started Phase 4 with new vigor.

[@sylvy16]

@@WebbedManiacyes exactly. honestly even now it’s not too late to just take a break and actually assess if everything that is in the pipeline needs to be made to tell a cohesive story. they should also focus on stories that stand well enough on their own and actually deal with some character growth and development.

[@dariusseiber1605]

Wrapping up with endgame wasn’t the problem. That concluded a saga. Like Star Wars trilogies. They started a new chapter with useless pointless characters for the sake of representation and a plot that goes nowhere. They should’ve started with F4 or Xmen reboot

[@misteraskman3668]

Why is it that I've been seeing wrestling mentioned in some capacity everywhere I watch critique about some form of storytelling? Don't get me wrong, I love wrestling, I am a huge fan of the artform but it is getting weird that now it is in so many places. Just wanted to mention this. 100% agree with you.

[@StardustWhip]

I think, if you will excuse me for bringing my even bigger hyperfixation into this, this is something that Kingdom Hearts III did better than Endgame. KH3 wrapped up the saga that had been going since the first game, big bad villain goes bye-bye, heroes who had gone missing or died are back and living happily with their friends... but it also introduces new characters who are mysterious enough to intrigue the player, ends with our main protagonist going missing with all his friends setting off to search for and save him, and has a post-credits scene properly introducing our _new_ big bad villain gang. Meanwhile, Avengers: Endgame does truly feel like, as the title suggests, the _endgame_ of the MCU. Thanos and Tony Stark are _dead_ dead, Steve Rogers lived happily ever after, Bruce Banner has made peace with the Hulk. The Guardians and Thor are off traveling the galaxy together, but that read more to me like an ending than a tease for future movies, and didn't even amount to anything when those future movies _did_ end up happening. Everything just feels so final, and there isn't anything to get viewers interested in what comes next.

[@jonseyjones321]

Another thing to note with Nia Leaving is, the film could have been Picture Locked, so there isn't really anything else for her to do, so doing it remotely would be perfectly acceptable. When it's Picture Locked, no more notes or changes can really be made. Everyone is working on the last set of notes given and heading towards what the goal was when they Locked it. Leaving during Picture Lock is fine. The Edit is Locked. It's just waiting for the next batch of renders to come in and be updated in Avid and stuff.

[@li_celly]

Exactly my thought. I work post-production and we rarely interact with film directors since all we need to work on is the final coloring, small detailed changes, vfx, etc. All what DaCosta needed to do was approve or give out feedbacks through the remote end, and that's perfectl normal.

[@krim7]

Doom needs way more set up than a slap dash appearance, especially if you want him to be a mega villain for multiple phases.

[@Forcastthebold]

Hey! Who put comic book content in my Scooby-Doo channel?! Great video Scott. Thanks for highlighting the outrageously underappreciated fact that the movie opened to the highest earning box office for a black woman director. It's weird that more people aren't discussing this angle.

[@ALNizhoni]

There are a few reasons for this, but I'll touch on a couple of them. I can only speak for myself, but I think that for starters, we're (African-American woman here) pretty tired of having the few scraps we've earned being damned with faint praise. 'Hey everyone, this thing over here is absolute garbage, but it's the bestest kind of garbage because...Black woman, so yay!' In addition, the film being the highet grossing film directed by a Black woman, in this very specific instance, is much less about her involvement and talent and more about the fact that some folks will literally show up for anything Marvel. Personally, I found her work on the Candyman film to be much more indicative of her talent than this piece of painfully average blandness. For all of this, I would say these things about a white, male director or anyone else who puts out mediocre stuff that falls well below what their previous output would seem to suggest. Edgar Wright? The very wrong choice to direct the first Ant Man film. Chloe Zhao? She was 100% the wrong choice to direct The Eternals. Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck? How in the actual f*ck were these folks let anywhere near a Marvel movie? It's not about her being a Black woman, it's about the fact that this is just not a good film. Unspeakably bad? Absolutely not, but it's just not what she's going to want to be connected with for quite some time.

[@justinfrancis7011]

Who put Scott in my scooby-doo/comic book channel?😂

[@robertt9342]

@@ALNizhoni. Honestly, and I may be way off base here, but I am not sure how, “ this film was the worst performing film in the MCU, but hey look it’s the best performing one by a black female director” comes across a positive as people would wish it to be.

[@RedCatHabitat]

@@ALNizhoni thank you for putting this way more eloquently than I could have. Everyone seems to get caught up in these superfluous political points (which do have their own arena) and would apparently prefer use said points to discuss these films and ip's indirectly, rather than looking first and foremost at the art. I think the political points have a place in the discussion but not so much that they over shadow the art and creators themselves. The work, creators, and process and the success or failure therein should be the main area of discussion, in my opinion.

[@salvadorHombre]

@@ALNizhoni this is my exact feeling. Do we really want to celebrate a black woman director's success because of a badly performing Marvel film? It's the bigotry of low expectations honestly.

[@comixproviderftw_02]

People with the MCU right now are like; “Man, there was a time I was rooting for this franchise. Never thought I’d see myself going ‘will you just go away?’”

[@katherinealvarez9216]

I'm more like "Pay your workers and stop exploiting the VFX artists!"

[@ShayanQ]

No that's just you, there are actual fans

[@shybard]

As someone who has loved Carol Danvers since she was being called Ms. Marvel and used to collect her comics, I'm mostly disappointed that they've never done the character justice. Granted, I have the same issue with Doctor Strange and Hulk. Maybe I'm just picky.

[@thefreerocketman5777]

I feel the same about She-Hulk, her comics are so cool

[@chancepaladin]

@@thefreerocketman5777She-Hulk could have been top tier, same with Moon Knight. but how they got twisted stripped most of my lingering faith away.

[@thefreerocketman5777]

@@chancepaladin Facts. I think they can still save Moon Knight, but unfortunately I believe the hate for She-Hulk is so big that at this point there's no way to redeem her character in the eyes of the audience

[@ensabahnur7657]

Carol used to be cool in the Comics IMO until about 20 years ago & DEFINITELY agree with you on Stephen & Bruce especially!💯📠

[@phenixnunlee372]

Big strange fan and yeah I feel liek they really didn't get him right. I did like atleast in the multiverse of madness they had gim use to dark hold because strange will use dadk amgic to save earth but it is not his first choice.

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

AVENGERS: Assemble! DISNEY: Shamble!

[@nicholas-dv1mg]

ehshamble or ahshamble, trying to take the sound made by the a in assemble and add it to shamble.

[@katherinealvarez9216]

12:52 this isn't the first time an entertainment journalist decided to paint Nia DeCosta in a bad light. 17:30 thank you though for mentioning this. Kind of funny how this isn't brought up more. Thank god VFX artists are unionizing. The crunch time needs to stop. 25:07 I find it a bit frustrating that film critics and "film snobs" are so comfortable with disregarding the amount of work and artistry CGI and VFX artists and then you get directors not giving these employees any credit or a break. Its like Hollywood hates what it exploits.

[@heroicgangster9981]

Hollywood does hate what they exploit. They hate animation until they need animation to be used as filler projects because their live action divisions aren't giving them the mainstream success. And then they abandon animation when live action becomes available.

[@katherinealvarez9216]

😮​@@heroicgangster9981agreed. But I’m not remembering any examples, maybe when Disney back in the 80s and they were planning on shutting down the entire animation department. Then again when they fired a bunch of animators when they switched to CGI, and look how the CGI animators are treated.

[@heroicgangster9981]

@@katherinealvarez9216 I'm more so thinking about what Hollywood tried to do during COVID. They were all about promoting animation. But now animated shows barely have means to survive especially thanks to David Zaslav. It just sucks that there is obvious media bias that it comes at the sacrifice of people's livelihoods or the existence of a genre to begin with

[@misteraskman3668]

I can see reasons as to why it wouldn't be mentioned, but, do they actually matter? No. The one that is the coldest though is that, marketing wise, it is a Marvel movie, not a Nia DaCosta movie. The studio brand matters more than the people who make the product, and that is sad beyond words.

[@MRDLT00]

I mean, the MCU sure isn’t doing good in recent years. Like, is anyone going to argue against that here???

[@katherinealvarez9216]

Not really. But I'm going to be honest, I'll believe that the MCU is going away when they also stop making DC movies and videogame movies. I don't think they'll ever really go away. Slow down maybe- actually that's preferable.

[@papajcina]

IDK man In my top 5 MCU projects, four of them come from phases 4 and 5 (but the same goes for my bottom 5) IMO some of the best AND some of the worst shit has come from the last 3 years, so I dont think itd be fair to just straight up say Phases 4 and 5 are shit

[@katherinealvarez9216]

@@papajcina Wakanda Forever made me cry and GotG Vol 3 was so beautiful. And honestly, the recent stuff are just fine (the series are in the same boat, Secret Invasion was the one that wasn't good or entertaining for me), but...yeah, I agree that there's needs to be structural changes and overhaul. Or it won't be Marvel in trouble, it'll be everyone

[@keyshawnwatkins4362]

Well, the critical reception of almost all of those projects are still positive with only a few real misfires. Marvel’s still trying to get back on its feet after the pandemic caused them to take a year-long break and Disney’s former CEO made them pump out so much content in a short period of time. That’s why they’re delaying things to give their new projects time to properly finish and breathe.

[@heroicgangster9981]

I mean yeah people would argue? The MCU is just becoming more like the comics they are adapting from for better or worse. The better is having more stories that are not stuck in movies. The worse is from Disney trying to make tv shows like their movies until Daredevil production became bad. People like what they like, and when there are stuff like Moon Knight getting great ratings from critics and the fans. Yeah there will be arguments. A lot of people like the MCU because they want to follow the MCU timeline, a lot of people also just want to view good superhero stories when they see it. It's kinda stupid to try to clump people's overall opinion of MCU, and especially superhero stories.

[@HewleyxAngel]

My best to all of the workers who have unionized and also to the writers and actors. I fell off of the MCU a looooong time ago, but I think that the way Marvel and Disney treat their employees is a magnifying glass on industry issues across the world because of their influence on this industry. I think back to how Warner Bros literally changed the laws of New Zealand before making the Hobbit films to ensure more profit went to them and less to the people working on the films. And I realize this is totally inconsequential, but my laundry is still unfolded. But I did bake some cookies and start some brioche while watching this.

[@captainawesome0711]

I’ve heard the reason that Kang is being replaced is because Jonathon Majors has it in his contract that he plays every version of Kang, placing them between a rock and a hard place

[@Merione]

I've heard that too. But it sounds weird. Contracts usually have some sort of "moral clause", which would make the whole thing void if Majors was actually found to be guilty of assault. In that case (and we don't know yet), the rest of the contract wouldn't matter.

[@Jayfive276]

@@Merione This. It seems illogical that a contract would force a studio to have someone appear in their film if they had committed crimes of a sort that would mean audiences would avoid or boycott the film.

[@captainawesome0711]

@@Merione I could see where Disney neglected to add that in negotiations

[@Merione]

@@captainawesome0711 C'mon, man, keep your feet on the ground. Now you're starting to get into real conspiracy theory territory haha! Disney is one of the largest multinational companies in the world, they have the best lawyers and tons of money to spend on them. Do you really think they would forget to put such a standard clause into the contract, while at the same time agreeing to an exclusive relationship with Majors as the only actor that's ever allowed to play Kang? A moral clause would protect them exactly from this kind of situations and is standard practice across the industry. Capitalism is evil, but not stupid lol! That rumor is BS.

[@misteraskman3668]

Honestly, I'd just pay off that contract so I could replace him. But I am not a grossillionare, so what do I know about paying a lot of money for that sort of thing.

[@edenpredawn822]

"So pop in your headphones and start holding your laundry -" Yep he knows his audience so well. Listening to thus as I prep my late Thanksgiving meal.

[@brandonhoward3672]

I was one of the 12 people that actually saw The Marvels and I was pleasantly surprised to find it was decent. Doubly impressive considering that I have never seen another movie with so much baggage

[@kadegetslaid634]

Same for me

[@uchihabomber1296]

I agree man I expected it to be bad but it literally wasn’t that at all so people that call it the worst MCU movie are hating for no reason

[@ChipInDip]

Dude I thought it was fantastic!

[@thiccgoblin3662]

I always say all I want out of my movies is fun and the marvels was very fun

[@conormurphy4328]

Nice trash opinion

[@jinglebellm538]

I will say that, I did work as a PA in the VFX industry on a couple of Marvel projects before the company I worked for stopped working with Marvel, and a few months before I left the industry to do something new. Victoria would scream at our VFX producers over Teams meetings, and did make us work countless hours of over time, even on holidays. So while I empathize with her on a human level, I am glad that other workers wont be treated like that.

[@wolfman100hits]

I heard of this too, that many even celebrated her firing cause of this till the news came out that it might have been to do with her sticking up for the LGBTQ community. Makes my head scramble on her thoughts on how she treated the vfx workers considering her turning a blind eye on their time crunches and stress for a long while but finally snapping at the LGBTQ discrimination

[@Prodighee]

"Highest grossing opening for a film Directed by a Black woman" doesn't mean much when it's still underperforming/bad.

[@salvadorHombre]

Especially when it's a Marvel/Disney movie. This is not a Christopher Nolan movie where people specifically go because of the director. This is a Marvel movie. How many people can name the director of most MCU films?

[@NerdSyncProductions]

Let me know if you like this sort of video. In the future I’ll try to be faster with this upload since those ~other channels~ tend to be much quicker lol

[@acgeewhiz]

I like pretty much any video you choose to upload, but if you want to do more videos like this I certainly will not complain. Thanks for asking. You’ll almost never beat those (as Nando v Movies calls them: “jabronis”) for the speed of their angry uploads, so don’t stress about that if you have things you want to say.

[@calebmarmon1310]

I appreciate you understand that my process of watching video essays is listening while doing dishes and occasionally glancing at the screen if I feel like I’m missing something.

[@WevvMang]

I keep telling y’all, cast Denzel as Kang for a movie, let him chew the scenery and then do guest casting for Kang and his, key word, variants. Problem solved.

[@chancepaladin]

female Kang would fix it tooooooooo.

[@acgeewhiz]

Oh man… if Denzel went for a one off like that (probably preferable to being locked in for lots of movies), it could be amazing.

[@jenniferhunter4074]

no thanks. I think Denzel has started dialing in his acting and now, he's just grumpy old black man, not to be confused with grumpy old white man (Harrison Ford). Meanwhile, Majors, for all his faults and his potential in court issues, is a good actor. I saw the Quantumania movie and he was excellent. He came on my radar big time. For some sense of scale.. matthew mcconaughey became interesting in True Detective. No offense but he's pretty but I felt he was replaceable with a pretty face and I'd get the same character. True Detective was when I considered him to be on that very small list of good actors. (It's the little stuff. Their face when they emote. That's where you see how good an actor is. The quietness rather than the bombastic scene chewing.) There are other actors out there who can play Kang if Majors is out. The key is to get the director(s) who was (were) able to give the direction to Majors that gave me the Kang in Loki and the Kang in Quantumania. If we really want to go left field, get me somebody from S. Korea or China or Japan or India. There is some fabulous talent there. It even makes sense because Kang is well.. it sounds very much like a last name from a east asian culture. As for the Indian one.. I'm a big fan of Aamir Khan. (or the leads from RRR. They're just more examples of talent.) Imagine what Ken Watanabe would do to create his Kang. It would be glorious. He's a fabulous actor who manages to create depth in the details. If we want to play a gender flip.. I'm always down for Meryl Streep. I mean, the devil wears prada. Imagine a Kang who is so soft spoken but so so deadly. You don't even notice that you've lost before you even started. I'd be curious about actresses as well. Michelle Williams would be interesting as well - she's so good with faces. Viola Davis if we want a fabulous black actress. I love her acting. She embodies her characters so well that it's hard to see Viola and you see the character instead. You can see she can pull out danger .. I mean, "How to get away with murder" she has a delicious role. (I didn't see it all. I do tend to hate American series because they drag out the story too much. 2 seasons and done. That's what it should be.) Really make Kang someone so massive that all the avengers together are scared. Not one will think of going one on one with Kang because they know, they can't win. Not the gaudy boom boom bang bang performance art.. but the real menace. The really dangerous people do not have muscles. they're dangerous because they know how to move the world and get the world to do what they want. What is one beaten up individual when you can destroy a world of people because you want to?

[@spacebadger21]

Dude, Denzel as Kang would be killer!

[@Oranos2115]

that cutaway at 4:51 was way funnier than it had to be from the reversed whatever you have on as the judge to the joke itself your sense of humor always brightens my day

[@davidnabbit]

I liked The Marvels. It wasn't perfect, but I agree that the reasons it has struggled were probably not what that article suggested.

[@92brunod]

@@aNickKnack First time in what sense? This was her 3rd movie as a director.

[@ALNizhoni]

@@aNickKnack Probably because that is patently false. She directed TWO other feature films prior to directing The Marvels. Stop infantilizing Black women. We can take criticism. What we don't want is to continue polishing turds and then to be blamed when people rightly point out, 'Hey, that's a turd, ya know.'

[@SarastistheSerpent]

@@aNickKnack what? she directed Candyman, which was actually a pretty good movie

[@TheFlashman]

Hi Scott, I'm a long term fan of yours. I've been watching your content for, what is now, a decade or so and I've got to say mischaracterizing the criticism of the Captain Marvel film as exclusively misogynistic is unfair. I saw that film, and it was just bad. It was boring filler and absolutely unnecessary before Endgame. And Brie's performance was flat and inspiring. It really was the first phase of the post Engame drop in quality and super hero fatigue which has set in. If you still haven't seen it, the Marvels is Captain Marvel 2. And while it's markedly better than Captain Marvel. It still suffers from the legacy of that movie. I'm sure a lot of people didn't show up because they didn't like the first movie. Let alone the fact people are losing interest in 'the chore' of watching all Marvel content.

[@Lisa_Flowers]

@@TheFlashman okay but like... when did he characterize the criticism of Caprain Marvel as exclusively misogynistic? He didn't say that the only reason people disliked Captain Marvel was because of misogyny. He said that there was a specific subset of people who intensely focused on it from that specific angle (which there were) and that was a big thing on the internet at the time. Fair enough if you criticise the actual movie based on quality, but a ton of people were hating on specifically Brie Larson or the fact that it was a woman-led movie, and that is definitely the audience that would have hated it regardless of the actual quality of the film. It also just happened to be a pretty mediocre film - which, a lot of other Marvel films pre-phase 4 are also intensely mediocre but got less hate from those audiences. The issue wasn't that the film was criticised, it's more so how people were going about doing the criticism, especially the very loud group of toxic dudes who are going to put the 'woman' part at the very forefront of their criticism regardless of how good or bad a movie is.

[@ZigUncut]

The word Shambles sounds like a thrift store for trendy middle class preschool kids and their on-point parents Tarquin and Gemima.

[@rickrivers2021]

The fact you haven't even seen Quantamania or the Marvel's shows plenty well enough that the MCU is indeed on the ropes. But the biggest reason isn't really touched on in the article. The MCU got big bc it was so consistent that people would watch all of it. Then they made it harder to watch all of it by drowning people in inconsistent projects. People are just exhausted by the MCU. They're way behind and hVe little interest jn getting caught back up

[@Oldnoname]

Really annoys me when someone says "I have a lot to say about the MCU" then say "I haven't watched the past 5 projects"

[@MasterPeibol]

If they really want to make money again, Marvel Studios has to stop, and start working on those scripts to get at least ONE good story, instead of bombarding us with dozens of new characters most of the audience don't even care about, to see what sticks

[@Kantohammer]

For the Spielberg thing, he also had responsibilities for the cartoons his name was on while working on those two projects as well. That dude spun as many plates as possible.

[@sclair2854]

In regards to "this could be a video in itself" I would fucking LOVE to see an in depth video on VFX crunch from this channel. My heart still burns with passion for Rhythm & Hues- And its one of those rare instances where even idiots who dont care about workers would benefit from better awareness of the issues, because it's actively making their entertainment worse. How are we even suppose to remain a pliant populous if they cant even get our bread and circus's right anymore! Argh!

[@russanloke]

The movie that made me want to disconnect with the MCU was the Multiverse of Madness... the thing you said about coherence hit the spot. The people that made the Dr Strange movie *didnt see* Wandavision. They wanted to make their own movie and needed a villain, so lets pick Wanda. It made no sense. Every reason the plot gives is "there's no other way, sadly" in a MUL TI VERSE. I was so angry :')

[@garysturgess6757]

I think that might be overstating things a bit. By the end of WandaVision I couldn't really see a plausible path to redemption, so if you want to make the case that the MCU did Wanda a disservice - which is certainly a defensible point - I'd point the finger there. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed WandaVision - but it was essentially a Face Heel Turn series. Someone was going to have to take Wanda out at that point, and Doctor Strange makes as good a choice as any. (She was, after all, a magical threat. Perhaps if the X Men had been in the MCU at the time there would have been better options, but c'est la vie). Honestly though without the X Men rights there were always going to be limits on what they could do with Wanda (and Petrov, of course - I mean, at least Wanda survived the movie she was introduced in).

[@russanloke]

@@garysturgess6757 I won't be engaging with you on the double standards people (mostly men) have about Wanda because is very tiresome, do your own research. But is funny how the movie ignores EVERYTHING about Wanda except that she is a mother. It's disgusting.

[@Optimegatrongodzilla]

They clearly don't respect the source material; neither Kevin Feige, the writers, or the directors. They have done so much disgraceful disservice to the comics, especially in the past 5 years! They have stupidly killed off a ton of characters for whom it would be the understatement of the century to say that they hadn't been used to their full potential, and they bastardized a number of characters, including Hela, Mar-Vell, Mysterio, Targetmaster, and MODOK just to name several!

[@Peasham]

Literally from the jump MCU characters were unrecognizable from their comic counterparts, this is by no means something from the previous 5 years. The only thing that's accurate to the comics IS them killing off characters lmao

[@Optimegatrongodzilla]

@@Peasham 🤦‍♂️ I didn't say that it was. I said especially in the past 5 years.

[@fulcrum2867]

The Kang issue is strange to me, they can find a new actor and still use the character. The whole point of the multiverse is there are multiple variants of everyone, and as shown with loki and spider-man, they can use different actors for the same character

[@kellercorrield7733]

Leaving like. Coming back later

[@TheRealMrDude]

I want you to know, my buddy and I watched this together a month ago, ever since we've been leaving each other voice clips saying "the MCU is in shambles!" Thank you, Scott.

[@esbenm6544]

The main reason I dont watch Marvel is the same why I stopped watching The Walking Dead. It feels like they don't respect our time. It's like they feel entitled to make you watch hours of mediocre TV to get to the good parts. No thanks.

[@RamoneCelso]

The vfx artists didn't wanted to work with disney because of Victoria Alonso... she was a big part of the problem, but no way she was the main problem and getting her fired didn't solve a thing, vfx still look bad, movies are not making money, MCU apathy is still in full swing, etc. She was an useful excuse.

[@DigiRangerScott]

Don’t they know Shambles is a fictional city in IMAGE Comics?

[@Cartoonray]

I really appreciate the deep dive on the actual issues with Marvel Studios. Keep up the good work my friend!

[@MichaelHeide]

I would binge Baby Punisher vs Cops in an endless loop forever.

[@izzynobre]

Found your channel again after all these years and I must say, your style aged like a fine wine. Really digging this video. The bit about Punisher came out of nowhere and was phenomenal.

[@Esgoneverevers]

Hi, Izzy!

[@Jkdabomb10A]

Great video but I have to say that uncle Ben line killed me. Did you come up with it because it’s one of the funniest things I’ve heard in awhile! 💙

[@NeoConker626]

You characterized the text to Majors as saying he strangled his accuser, but she actually said there was no strangulation. That's probably why Majors' team released those. I haven't been following it THAT closely, but I think they also want to sow doubt with the prosecutors motive. The prosecution has updated the charges. First he hit her and strangled her, then he grabbed her arm and bent her finger and shoved her at another car or something, and they got her a protection order... It just kept painting an increasingly deranged picture, which if true is certainly awful af. But the strangulation charge was actually dropped, and there was surveillance footage supposedly from a few minutes after the argument where she was (as I saw it reported at least) venting to three other people she went out dancing with shortly after. She didn't look injured, and iirc a supposed head wound is one of the alleged charges. And footage from dance club showed her being twirled by the same hand as this supposedly injured arm and fractured finger. I'm usually inclined to believe abuse allegations, but when the receipts don't line up... The prosecution seems to want to wage this on public opinion, with friends of friends going online or to rolling stone to say "he was a jerk in college" basically.

[@PoopFartNut]

But they can’t acknowledge that. Because Majors isn’t trans.

[@Yurt_enthusiast7]

Sounds like you've been fallowing it preatty close

[@NeoConker626]

@@Yurt_enthusiast7 meaning I haven't been following along this whole time. I read what was going on around when the charges were fresh, and saw an update when the protective order came out and ppl were talking about the rolling stone article (which I haven't read directly). The video I saw when I googled the case while typing that comment lol

[@NeoConker626]

@@PoopFartNut OK, we can defend someone without strawmanning a whole unrelated group of people. We're better than that, right?

[@PoopFartNut]

@@NeoConker626 not the point. NerdSync was more lax on Ezra who had oodles of evidence against them, video and otherwise, partially due to them being non-binary, hence their conflicted feeling on the matter. Majors has more evidence favoring his innocence, but NerdSync is “less conflicted” on the matter of Majors. This isn’t a dig at trans people. It’s a dig at the hypocrisy.

[@japhetaguirre4880]

No amount of promotion can save how painfully mediocre the movie is.

[@thewingedporpoise]

a member of my family works as an abuse victim advocate and just wow do those texts sound like an abuse victim, so much, they're so much an abused person apologizing and trying to gain favor with their abuser

[@lydia1634]

I got off the Marvel train during Endgame. That movie treats its female characters terribly. Black Widow gets fridged(killed to give Hawkeye a character arc) and never gets a funeral (not even 3 seconds of Hawkeye's family crying over a gravestone). Nebula gets brutalized and replaced with an evil version (that no one notices). Gamora literally gets replaced, cuz its her body that matters, not her character development. Pepper is there to support her man. Captain Marvel is given the character development of a popsicle stick, and then they have the gaul to have the "Yeah Women!" Sequence that feels pandery and doesn't even really add anything to the plot. And it keeps happening. For all of the amazing character work in WandaVision, she just becomes suddenly evil (Sharon Carter suffers the same fate). And Sylvie is a cool idea they don't know what to do with. I just...I just can't anymore. There's a fundamental story problem where Marvel doesn't seem to understand that women are people too. Not slogans in a body or ideas that can have their bodies replaced or bodies that can have their personalities replaced. They treat women like they treated Black Widow's hairstyles. And I just need a break.

[@wordsdistorted]

Marvel has always been bad about its female characters outside of the X-men, and even there it's not perfect. DC is usually much better in this regard.

[@somethingsomethingsomethingdar]

Corporations being corporations as usual. "I steal gold. I steal money. But you - you steal people's lives. So damn you. and Damn the horse that brought ya"

[@elsiemon]

Finally - someone who remembers the original uncle Ben quote

[@MrJamess1982]

I think a lot of people are just over going to theatres, especially in the covid climate. I think more movies need to do both theatrical releases and on demand at the same time if they wish to continue doing theatres. Even the host of this video has not gone to the theatre.

[@Whiteythereaper]

Not just because of Covid blazing through the community still, but rising costs over the last 2 years and the end of all financial support for Covid infections. Everyone is struggling big time, and choosing between a £25 trip to the cinema or paying £7 for a month of Disney+ in 2 months and watching it at home is a no brainer.

[@wolfman100hits]

I disagree with that cause that lowers the chances of the movie doing good in the box office. Although yes I agree that movies are just too damn expensive to go see, marvel gotta refocus on doing quality over quantity which they claimed recently that's what they are gonna do. Like when quantumania came out even though it didn't do as good as usual marvel films do, people still went to the movies and choose others like creed 3 and John wick 4 cause they had very good reputation on going conapred to the MCU that many agreed their quality has been on a roller coaster on recent years

[@TevyaSmolka]

Yeah this variety article is a complete lie and a mess.

[@RastaMage00]

'You can't say they don't respect the source material' - gold.

[@micahbottoms]

I so appreciate Scott understanding the way I consume 90% of KZbin in the background

[@sparkymularkey6970]

I was actually doing my laundry and I stopped to look at that first title card and I can't tell you how much I laughed when you told me I could go back to my laundry. 🤣

[@wolfmanbob321]

Comments for engagement: This video is in shambles .

[@BlueBeetle1939]

this comment is in shambles

[@acgeewhiz]

I find your lack of faith… in shambles.

[@doctormo]

But shambles are really fun to make! I have my Weatherwax approved rambling with shambles coat with bits of string in the pocket. You have to provide your own feathers, twigs and that sort of thing but I've busted several gnomes and a bogeyman in my spare time!

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

FTWS/Ant Man 3/Secret Invasion/ Hawkeye Mid: wow, the MCU is in shambles post Endgame. Marvels Mid: this is Women's fault

[@Sykdude]

Not all directors are Spielberg...

[@Th3Treasoner]

Trafalgar Law been working overtime with all these shambles the MCU is in.

[@CanadAce]

Once again Scott is the most level-headed voice in the room! Thanks for this video, I myself have been feeling the superhero fatigue of late but it's because the movies seem to be less and less well written and half finished and they are just stretched too thin with all the properties on other platforms etc. I think that Disney and WB need to take a break from their Star Wars/Marvel and DC franchises and restructure then by the time they figure it out not only will they have more cohesive stories written but also we'll have caught our breath as an audience and be ready to jump back in! Anyway good work again, I hate how toxic the internet can be so seeing this explanation in context without resorting to bigotry is what I like... Keep it up!

[@JediMB]

That moment when, once again, a bunch of KZbinrs just happen to make videos on the same topic, prominently featuring the very same central buzzword.

[@JediMB]

Personally, I happened to catch Covid just in time for The Marvels' release, but I did watch it about a week later and loved the heck out of it. It could have used another 15-20 minutes of character time to slow things down a bit, but I'm feeling uncharacteristically confident in ranking it as roughly my third favorite post-Endgame MCU movie. (After GotG3 and Wakanda Forever.)

[@MateoLeviathon]

I was actually doing my laundry when I put this on to listen to XD

[@intersexcryptid]

I love the neurodivergent rage flowing out of this video. Also, I wasn't doing my laundry while watching. I was doing art. 😁

[@RazeAndSew]

Feige and Kathleen Kennedy weren't forced into announcing anything, they just are ruining everything on their own

[@mcruz4571]

Really, seriously, use the argument of "I don't hate women" the others do, that's why their opinion is not valid.....it's the same as saying...."I don't hate black people. ...look at me.."I have a black friend."you see me now.....Then you say, "I'm Queer, I don't hate women" as if queer people couldn't hate another group simply because of the fact of being queer.....brooo......

[@LinnaAP]

I've watched the marvels 3 times so far, I never do that, especially lately with cinema being so expensive (I got some descounts and took advantage of the day that the tickes are cheaper, so there's that), but it was so much fun, it is not perfect or great or anything, but it's good and I love carol and monica (and kamala is cute and steals every scene she is in but in a good way) and I missed them so I love that this movie exists and I'm "disapointed but not surprised" about the whole discourse about it.

[@daelen.cclark]

This doom&gloom/bias phase to MCU responses are gonna keep going on for a while, but I’m willing to ride it out. Needsync helps remind me to do that.

[@alonsoarana5307]

I don't think it's relegated to just the MCU, it's cinema as a whole. Everything is flopping, even things like Killers of the Flower Moon, and a lot of this is attributed more so to streaming services and stagnating wages, not to mention boycotts right now with what Israel is doing to Palestinians

[@evie4548]

(not a negative comment) I always feel like you over explain things.... almost defensively. Like you're afraid if you don't spell out your opinion exactly and in a way that can't be skewed, "annoying people" will exploit your word choice. And it makes me sad a little :( it's really great to hear a voice like yours say what nobody else is saying!! Thank you always for your thoughtful and nuanced takes, and your confidence to speak out when nobody else is. There are a lot of people who appreciate it.

[@SarastistheSerpent]

I think it’s more the other way around. “Annoying people” have so highjacked media criticism, that it has become synonymous with certain extremely pernicious ideas. I mean, just look at criticism of the Marvels. How much of it actually has anything to do with the quality of the film?

[@heroicgangster9981]

Another way to view it is that there is many nuances in his statements. It doesn't make me :( in fact it makes me happy because people think unfiltered opinions means "This movie is great, this movie is bad" and not like exploring the many reasons why you think the way that you think.

[@djfirewolf]

"You see all these timelines" Loki: *eye twitch*

[@dylanbusch1908]

great video! the "journalism" displayed here is abysmal.

[@johnycashgrab]

I Literally have to watch every video Scott Drops. Just have to

[@brettcampbell5991]

Another great video Scott. 10/10 I haven’t seen anyone make a more thorough video about the hypocrisy of this article. Keep up the awesome work man

[@rosssnyder4490]

I've actually saw the Marvels & its pretty good. Definitely better than Captain Marvel & I LIKED that movie.

[@panmush]

For this being “just talking” there are some killer skits and cutaways throughout 👌

[@nickperoncomedy]

The other thing that this article doesn't address is the film going pubic. Like The Marvels made the same amount of money opening weekend as Martin Scorsese's 3 hour movie Flower Of An Overly Long Film Title. That movie had two of the biggest actors in Hollywood and was directed by a legend. It made the same amount of money. I think that both of these movies also underperformed because there is record inflation and things are becoming unafordable to the average filmgoer. Going to the movies is not affordable. I think that is another reason why these movies aren't performing very well. If I have a choice between spending over 50 bucks at the movies (admission, snacks, yadda yadda yadda) or food, rent, and other various necessities, going to the movies is very low on the list. Especially, when I got a D+ sub and I know the movie will be available on there in as soon as a month and a half. Shit's expensive today. Going to the theater is not affordable to me, I cannot even imagine the financial strain it would be for a family (since these are movies targeted at a younger demo) bringing them and their children to go see a movie. Like, if you got two kids, taking them to the movies has got to eclipse $100 at least. That's a huge ask when people are trying to get by.

[@furynotes]

People really wondered how Steven Spielberg did two movies at the same time like that. Back then of course.

[@TheOnkeyomay]

OK bet joke about I totally chose Dare was the funniest thing you’ve done in like 12 years and I laughed so fucking hard at that great work my dude

[@ting280]

it's not that The Marvels is a Ms Marvel movie with Cap n Monica as supporting roles. it's equally about all 3, it's just that Kamala's personality is so amazing she shines brightest, she's the heart and soul of the trio, and since she's underage her family plays a huge role. I thought about it and realized Aunt May plays just as huge a role in the Spiderman movies so I can't really say anything about that. plus her mom is really entertaining.

[@jameskiely2788]

Apparently recasting Kang is a no go. Majors had it worked into his contract that only he would ever portray any version of Kang in the MCU. Could Marvel's lawyers work around that... probably but for now I think its too much trouble for them to do so.

[@BrendanJSmith]

People hating The Marvels has VERY little to do with sexism. There was much more sexism surrounding the original film. People just aren't that interested in the MCU anymore or it's depiction of Carol Danvers. They didn't do much to make her a compelling protagonist.

[@SarastistheSerpent]

I don’t think that’s true. Or at least, not entirely. I’d say 90% of criticism of the film has to do with “wokeness”, not the actual quality of the film. At least from what I’ve seen on KZbin. That said, I saw it and thought it was incredibly mediocre, and I agree with you that Captain Marvel is not a great protagonist. The best character in the film BY FAR was Kamala Kahn.

[@Peasham]

I can't go five minutes on KZbin without perceiving someone complaining about the MCU being woke, suffice to say I disagree.

[@Lanier2369]

Little side note about the punisher... Classically he has NEVER hated cops in general. He hated the corrupt cops and the corrupt system set up in some areas where he did his thing but in general he liked cops. He saw them as trying to do the right thing, the ones that were on thestraight and narrow which he knew made up the fair amount of cops. So no he doesn't hate cops he hates the corruption that sneaks into the area like everything else. I said classically tho, pre Garth Ennis. Haven't read anything punisher since then since the character went south after so as far as I know he probably DOES hate all cops now. But pre Ennis he never did as a general rule. And sorry about the tangent on a minor throwaway line. Great video like usual.

[@nathancarter8239]

I wish I had something to add; I'm always so invested in your analysis, but I have nothing new to say. Uh, I could make a meme? "You really think someone would do that? Just go on the internet and hate on women?"

[@brettmajeske3525]

The Marvels feels like a hack job. as if half the movie is missing. What is on scene is fine, it isn't bad, it just feels like something is missing. I think it was originally meant to be released before Secret Invasion, and both suffered because of the switch.

[@TimeSyncS]

I very rarely listen instead of watch these videos (too many fun visual gags!), but every time I stopped to do something, you mentioned it, and it cracked me up everytime. I definitely resumed watching once my laundry was put away, though 😂

[@Mephiestopholes]

Thank you Scott. I can't describe how glad I am to hear your voice and opinions.

[@wintyrqueen]

The Marvels was heaps of fun, like Ragnarok type fun. Not the best MCU film, but definitely in the upper quarter.

[@garysturgess6757]

Don't know if I'd go quite that far, but it was a lot better than Quantumania and Secret Invasion (I still haven't been able to bring myself to finish that, how do you get SMJ for a full TV series and make it _boring_?!) I hadn't considered Scott's points about the lack of marketing. Another personal favourite movie of mine was Scott Pilgrim, and that was so badly marketed that when my wife and I went to see it, she had literally never heard of it. It's a very valid point.

[@wintyrqueen]

@@garysturgess6757Yeah, the strikes essentially meant that the hype train never got to leave the station. Not only could the actors not do promotion, but during the WGA strikes all of the talk shows were off the air, so the directors or other crew couldn’t promote it either

[@laststorm7726]

great video, Scott. You are always great at deep diving into topics and I always learn something from your videos, and always have fun. Keep up the great work.

[@josephgonzalez9342]

Honestly, I am excited to watch the Marvels. The first trailer sold me on it. I only haven't seen it because of work and other obligations. It feels bad the director is getting hated for what's probably a decent movie.

[@conormurphy4328]

Well if somebody who hasn’t seen it says that it’s “probably” a decent movie then all those people who watched it and formed their own opinions must have been wrong.

[@josephgonzalez9342]

@@conormurphy4328 sorry i don't mean to discount opinions of those who have seen the movie already - I haven't seen any reviews because I want to go into it blind. I was commenting on the fact the article Scott is talking about came out before its release.

[@josephgonzalez9342]

I should have said "what I will probably think is a decent movie" to be fair

[@pennywaldrip3774]

Victoria Alonso was also in one of those Microsoft Surface ads AS a producer on Marvel movies.

[@bethd2410]

Thank you for saying it out loud that “issues” was in quotes cause I do have you playing in the background while at work

[@noahj9172]

Stan passed away and marvel went into the dumps. It’ll never be the same. We will never get the good movies and stories like the first 3 phases

[@TrevykinTalkBacky]

“Raw dog that ramen” is going on my tombstone.

[@theprotagonist1311]

I agree that the issues are more rooted in its corporate/production structuring than just individuals. Phase 4 and 5 have given us consistently bad films and tv shows. I am glad at least that more people are starting to realize the issues that persist within these films and the diminishing returns with each film reflecting that. I dislike that certain "crowds" have made it that you cant give negative criticism on these films or tv shows without your arguments being dismissed in favor of saying you're part of these crowds. The Marvels feels like something that was made because of corporate decisions rather than it being a film that people wanted to make. I think the best allegory would be comparing it to 90s Video game films where its bad because studios just wanted to capitalize on something without actually putting in the necessary work for it. That being said while the film isnt necessarily offensively bad, i think youll only really enjoy it if you like Kamala or if you mindless praise marvel for anything. I think its all the better that Marvel and star wars get these failures as it better reflects the work they put in and will hopefully make them restructure and work on fixing the issue as they cant ignore the problem any longer. Though expecting a corportation to admit their mistakes and fix themselves only happens once in a blue moon so i wont hold my breath.

[@anoddperspective]

It was really cool to watch the Like counter roll up as I was watching this. Also, Scott, I know it takes more effort to do longer videos, but as a person who watches 2-4 hour docs (like Folding Ideas and Swoop), 30 mins is not very long for your wonderful voice to grace my office. I would love more long-form content from you!

[@totallyofftask]

Same, I frequently will have videos that are 2-5 hours long playing in the background throughout my day. I’d love seeing longer vids with his editing style

[@LadyCrazyMonkeyPants]

Admittedly I fell away from this franchise around the third Captain America movie. But I started not remembering characters and everything kinda felt the same. I remember seeing how many movies and new characters they were going to introduce and thinking that they just didn’t have the structure in their world building to do this and make sure everyone was given the time to grow and for us to develop a relationship with these heroes. They want to recreate the comics but they have so many limitations from how long it takes to make one of these movies or shows, to actor contracts, etc. This wasn’t going to work in the long term because they have too much working against them that the comics don’t have to deal with.

[@garysturgess6757]

I mean, define "long term". It's been what, 20 years? Even their worst movies (amongst which The Marvels should not be counted, at least IMO) have made plenty of money. 20 years is a pretty decent innings in most fields of human endeavour, let alone the notoriously fickle Hollywood audience. I'd say it _has_ worked for them 'long term', just not 'forever'. Still, they've been counted out before. As the post credits sequence of The Marvels indicates (and was already hinted at in Doctor Strange) they have recaptured some valuable IP to use if people are sick of the Avengers. I wouldn't pay too much attention to the predictions that it's going to be over any time soon. And even if it is, the other thing Hollywood loves is a reboot... :)

[@rockabye274]

​​@@garysturgess6757 Yep. It's interesting that people (many of whom were never comic book fans) somehow assumed the MCU was always going to be there for them as a top-tier entertainment option. Feige (back around 2005) planned a series of movies centering around a core group of Avengers that would eventually culminate in the Infinity Saga. They had great casting choices for this core group of Avengers and for Thanos. They had a few excellent scripts in development for these early phases, but even then the first two Thor movies and one or two of the Iron Man movies were not well received by many viewers. Most people were also lukewarm about CA: First Avenger, but ultimately Feige's detailed plan for the Infinity Saga was a huge financial success and everyone congratulated him. But there was no detailed and intricate plan to advance the MCU past that point. The core group of characters had finished their character arcs and/or the actors in those roles were ready to move on. There was no long term epic plan B in place whereas everything leading up to Endgame was meticulously planned by Feige. It should be no surprise that the MCU is in "shambles" now because really there was no place to go but down. However, I do think there is a path forward if they can maximize the potential of the X-Men and Fantastic Four groups. It will be a struggle, however, because the next set of movies is not as meticulously planned as the movies leading up to and including the Infinity Saga.

[@Harper_Onions]

Pepper Potts kitted out in her Rescue suit was only briefly in the very end of ENDGAME, and that makes me madder than you can believe. WHERE'S MY RESCUE MOVIE STARRING PEPPER POTTS, Marvel?!?

[@shawnwilcowski]

Im glad its failing, lost absolutely ALL hope after that gross corporate cash grab No way home

[@Tuaron]

Dammit, Scott, I didn't put on this video to crave a Skottie Young-drawn Baby Punisher comic or show, and yet here we are. Thanks! (Seriously, though, I would read a Jeff the Land Shark Infinity comic-style version of that, and I'm a fan of Skottie's work) Very sassy Scott in this video, though, and I am loving it. Like Scott (replay clip), I have not yet seen The Marvels, but I was thinking that some of the stuff I heard from this article was weird and that The Marvels' issues were going to be the things this video highlights (along with other factors like the poor performance/reception of recent MCU movies and even shows, which has a knock-on effect, and things that tamper general drive to theatres like cost, post-pandemic fears, and the quick accessibility of streaming).