Continuing my MCU rewatch

[Fletch]

But instead of letting us enjoy the ride with her and be happy for her that she finally found some relief, the audience is never on her side emotionally

I'm pretty sure I would not have enjoyed this series as much if I'd known what was happening from the start. The mysteries, clues and red herrings were all part of the fun, and I enjoyed it even more in the amount of time I spent between episodes trying to solve it.

I'd even argue that you'd be less on her side if you knew from the start that she'd enslaved an entire town. As-is, it was pretty clear from episode 2 that she was controlling things (when she "noped" the beekeeper away), and I still spent the next few episodes in denial.

where did the deed for the house come from?

You know, I never questioned it. I just took it as their retirement plan, with Vision's little heart and monogram telling me he'd arranged for it.

Just now rewatching the scene, though, she does seem confused when reading it in the car. What a great observation and an interesting plot point to be picked up later. (Question mark?)

there's also the fact that in Marvel's first two female-fronted projects, both lead women are brainwashed.

I guess? I wouldn't consider Wanda brainwashed, but I take your point. It's like back when superheroines could only fight fashion icons and perfume execs.

Conversely, I was too afraid to say this in my Ant-Man 2 review, but I was frustrated by the reveal that Janet was *also* a scientific genius. They seem to be really scared of showing any woman as being anything other than super-competent.

For what it's worth, though, WandaVision and Captain Marvel were written by women, so it feels less like misogyny and more like coincidence.

I wonder if they got scared thinking about how egregious her behavior was and wanted to downplay it

I'm not sure, because they'd go on to do the same thing with Karli in F&WS. "Don't you feel sorry for this terrorist?" they'd try to convince us.

They weren't shy about showing us the horror of being in her spell (that poor woman stuck putting up Halloween decorations, fer instance). I don't know why they thought we'd ever be rooting for her after that.

 

[fac]

You know, I never questioned it. I just took it as their retirement plan, with Vision's little heart and monogram telling me he'd arranged for it. Just now rewatching the scene, though, she does seem confused when reading it in the car. What a great observation and an interesting plot point to be picked up later. (Question mark?)

I assumed that Agatha did that. But they never fully state that. The implication was that Agatha lived there before Wanda moved in, I think that was part of the plan to get her here, to maybe fake that Vision had done this.

I'm not sure, because they'd go on to do the same thing with Karli in F&WS. "Don't you feel sorry for this terrorist?" they'd try to convince us.

I think that was more an editing issue when they decided to obscure that what she was after was medicine for a pandemic - I think she would have been more sympathetic (and the show would have worked better) if it was the classic "do you steal bread from the baker in order to live" morality debate.

 

[Fletch]

I assumed that Agatha did that.

I don't think so. I believe she pretty clearly says she was brought there by the Hex. She says she sensed the place by the afterglow of her spells. Then, I'm presuming, she took over Bohner's house to be her nosey neighbor and find out how she did it.

 

[fac]

I don't think so. I believe she pretty clearly says she was brought there by the Hex. She says she sensed the place by the afterglow of her spells. Then, I'm presuming, she took over Bohner's house to be her nosey neighbor and find out how she did it.

Interesting, I need to rewatch it myself I guess....

 

[Schizm]

In the Agatha song we see her land in Westview with her robes and transform into the 60s look. She was attracted by the POWAH.

I forgot - I really like the ending of Agatha vs Wanda, with Wanda withering while missing spells and Agatha not noticing the ruse/runes until it was too late. It's not obvious, it's clever, it's based in the story and shows Wanda being smart.

I've always wanted to turn my extra Netflix Colleen Wing into sweatsuit Wanda all the time and this conversation is pushing me to do it.

I forgot where it was but Jac Schaeffer said they weren't sure if they could do Evan Peters for the longest time and then got approval. I think it's a really good idea that missed in execution - maybe he should have been in *just* the Halloween episode and not revealed to be Ralph.

 

[Schizm]

You know, I never questioned it. I just took it as their retirement plan, with Vision's little heart and monogram telling me he'd arranged for it.

Just now rewatching the scene, though, she does seem confused when reading it in the car. What a great observation and an interesting plot point to be picked up later. (Question mark?)

It would have made more sense, any sense if we saw the origin of the deed and also - if the deed was a gift from Wanda to Vision. Since it's an added idea that she dreamed of an idyllic American sitcom existence - a very good idea - it would make way more sense if Wanda had purchased it to fulfill the future she always wanted with Vision. And that it was her next stop after grabbing his body - she planned to fulfill her dream. But it's set-up as another mystery - again.

In either case, in-universe logic means that lot was purchased eight years prior to Wanda pulling up to it - three years on the run plus five years Snapped inbetween. Which makes it make even less sense.

 

[Fletch]

In the Agatha song we see her land in Westview with her robes and transform into the 60s look.

Look at that, you're *exactly* right. She lands right before the knock on the door that introduces her in Episode 1. Same plant gift and everything. Well spotted.

in-universe logic means that lot was purchased eight years prior to Wanda pulling up to it

I'll allow that no developments were made in Westview during the Blip, and Wanda would certainly not have noticed any passage of time. What makes the most sense to me is that they (or just Vision) bought it while they were still meeting secretly around the world, perhaps with a romanticized idea that eventually it would all get sorted out and they could settle down together. That feels perfectly reasonable for a couple in their situation to do. Conceivably, Vision could have presented it to her right before we catch up with them in Scotland in Infinity War, but honestly I'm getting real EDITH vibes in regards to when characters were supposed to have taken the steps they seem to have taken to launch Phase 4.

 

[Fletch]

I also want to pitch my vanity project and talk about how I would've liked to have seen the Multiverse Saga develop. I'm not sure of the best format to do it in, but I did want to keep it in this thread just to keep it all contained. These aren't actually criticisms of the movies themselves, just a personal preference. And while things will seem to start off pretty minor, things will get a little out of hand after a while when I'm moving around and deleting entire films.

Standard disclaimer that this isn't me thinking I know better than the people who actually made these movies, I just know *me* better, and am empowered by hindsight.

But without any further ado, let's get to how I would've done things differently with WandaVision in my MCU. Or MyCU, if you like:

• Remember in my Captain Marvel breakdown when I posited the theory that the Infinity Stones affect people in a cosmic effort to create other Infinity Stones? Like how the Space Stone gave Carol Power powers? This is where that's explained explicitly, with Agatha explaining how the Mind Stone gave her Reality powers (and, if you're curious, gave Pietro Space powers that he never fully grew into before dying.) It's a subtle change that might not even be worth typing out, but it's important to me that Wanda be an enhanced being who learns witchcraft to better use her powers (such as copying Agatha's runes or learning from the Darkhold) rather than a witch who was "awakened" by the Mind Stone.
  
  
• Speaking of the Darkhold, I don't want that to make an appearance yet. It certainly gets mentioned, and Agatha can even say it foretold Wanda as the Scarlet Witch, but it's to be a goal to find rather than a tome she already has.
  
  
• And on the subject of power origins, I want it explicitly said, likely by Darcy, that Monica crossing back and forth across the Hex, converting her physical form to and from TV signals, has made her molecules unstable and there's a risk of permanently converting to energy if she does it again. Then she demonstrably has energy conversion powers when she's fighting Pietro and, later, Hayward. I mean, it's right there! How do you NOT have a character, famous for turning into electromagnetic energy, get those powers after being force converted back and forth to electromagnetic energy?

And that's really it. I really did like this show and don't see a need for changes other than some power origins clarifications and setting a path to a larger Darkhold story.

 

[Fletch]

Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Falcon was an unexpected breakout character for me in the MCU, so I was pretty excited he was getting a series. Bucky's cool too, I guess. It obviously doesn't take full advantage of the episodic TV format as WandaVision and I can easily imagine this as compacted down into a 2-hour movie. Still, I liked it plenty enough when I saw it back in the day, and think I might've actually enjoyed it more on rewatch this time around.

1. Falcon continues to be awesome. His new wings, with the reticulated feather slats, looks great. He always looks so dynamic flying around, way better than that chump Iron Man. I also really like that they remembered his history in social services and counseling and tied that so strongly into the story. I'm a little skeptical that an Avenger can't get a boat loan, but otherwise enjoy that they added a little family for him to interact with.
   
   
2. Not as big a fan of Bucky, but I enjoyed the take of him trying to find peace by making amends for his actions as Winter Soldier. This, unfortunately, didn't integrate as well into the story as Sam's B Story elements did. It was nice that he was able to bring in the Dora Milaje, but Mr. Nakajima was a footnote that we spent too much time on.
   
   
3. At no point was I convinced that they had a real frienemy rivalry going on. I mean, Bucky gave a really effective monolog about how Sam giving up the shield affected him personally, but Sam just walks out with no response. I got no idea of why Sam didn't like working with Bucky other than that was the vibe in Civil War and they tried to use it here too.
   
   
4. John Walker, Captain America is my second favorite Captain America in the MCU. You have a really hard time disliking him at the start, even if you feel like you're supposed to. And Wyatt Russell did such a great job of showing him cracking under the pressure even before he took the serum. Erskine said it was more important to be a good man than a good soldier, and Walker proved that clearly.
   
   
5. Karli is okay, but didn't live up to what we were supposed to think of her. At the start of this rewatch, I was starting to think that I'd misremembered her actions. She was described as, and shown to be, a real Robin Hood for the Blippers. But then she straight up murders people by blowing up a building they're tied up in. Even her partner was shocked by it. It immediately strips her of any compassion I might've tried finding for her. And it makes Sam look like a tool for wanting to just talk down a literal terrorist. Much better if she had a slower decent that Sam was trying to get ahead of. Like maybe she just starts with some bombings and no one's hurt (or she has to come to terms with learning that someone accidentally was killed). As things move against her, she graduates to threatening Sam's nephews, then accidentally kills Lemar, and ultimately works her way up to kidnapping, and then attempting to assassinate, the council members. When you start with a murder bombing, you've nothing to escalate to.
   
   
6. I mostly liked Zemo in the show, which is a shame because I kind of hated that he was there. Like, he has such great chemistry with Sam and Bucky and brings a new dynamic to the mission. At the same time, he has the lamest reason for even being involved and just sort of takes over the show for a couple episodes. "He knows Hydra" turns out to not even be important, and he doesn't do anything that couldn't be done by Sam and Bucky except that they're supposed to be the stars of the show. Bucky already knew of Madripoor's existence, and I don't doubt they could come up with the plan to act like Bucky is still in Winter Soldier mode, with "Snap" Wilson as his handler (still hilariously overdressed, of course, because Sam doesn't know how to be a bad guy). Then Sam is able to charm the kids into learning where the funeral is being held. It's well in character for those two to do everything that Zemo did. And yet, in all their other scenes they're so good together. I can't decide if Zemo adds more to the show than he takes away.
   
   
7. But the biggest flaw in the show is the total failure to convince me that life was better during the Blip than it is now. Or that it's chaos now and needs action to resolve. Maybe these were scenes lost to COVID, but all we really know is that Karli liked it when it was "one world," and the GRC was going to "vote on global resettlement," whatever that means. For as good as all the character developments and interactions were, they were all hung on this tissue paper of a premise.
   
   
8. Finally, and obviously more of a "that's not how *I* would've done it" thing, but I hate that Sam became the new Captain America. Maybe I'm not the right guy to talk about Black messaging, but I've always felt that a person of color taking on a white dude's identity was not flattering to the POC. Sam went from being the coolest Falcon to being maybe the 3rd coolest Captain America (depending on your thoughts on Bradley). I didn't like it in the comics and I don't like it here. I do think it's kind of funny that Bucky basically made the decision for him, by ordering a new vibranium suit from Wakanda in Captain America colors. And loosely related to all of this, I wanted to point out that Bucky confirms in this series that he and Steve had talked about his plan to give Sam the shield, so that scene in Endgame no longer feels as awkward as it did.

 

[Schizm]

Not even a footnote for Sharon?!? For shame!!!

This obnoxiously-titled show should have been called "Wingmen" and what do you do when you lose your guy?

 

[fac]

I haven't watched this in years, so all this seems reasonable -

• John Walker, Captain America is my second favorite Captain America in the MCU. You have a really hard time disliking him at the start, even if you feel like you're supposed to. And Wyatt Russell did such a great job of showing him cracking under the pressure even before he took the serum. Erskine said it was more important to be a good man than a good soldier, and Walker proved that clearly.

I didn't really like that Sam and Bucky were so instantly hostile to Walker. It telegraphed too much that he wasn't going to work out, and I felt Sam and Bucky - both in the military themselves and heroes - seem petty and unwilling to help/support a fellow soldier who was asked to do this. If the show ended with "there is only one Captain America - the shield should be retired - but I am the Falcon" then I'd have been more OK with not wanting anyone to "be Steve".

I also agree that having Sam be unable to get a loan was a little much. Marvel has ignored it to some extent, but the Avengers should be massive celebrities (and a GoFundMe to give Sam money to fix up his boat would likely take about an hour to reach its goal). Everything that was discussed about the FF being given adulation in their film, that should be the Avengers reality - cartoons, licensing deals, made for life.

Karli's motivation must have gotten messed up due to editing out the pandemic part. I am not sure that the show wasn't also re-edited to have events occur at different points than originally planned. Karli blowing up the building should have come later in her arc, after we had been on her side for a bit...

 

[Fletch]

Not even a footnote for Sharon?!? For shame!!!

I'm pretty meh on Sharon here.

I might've been surprised the first time through by the reveal that she's the Power Broker, but on second watch, it doesn't make a lot of sense. Like, why did she take Sam and Bucky to her scientist? Why did she need Sam to get her a pardon?

It was cool that she appeared, like a sort of Civil War band reunion, and I didn't hate that she had turned to darker pursuits. But I don't think her early role supported the twist ending.

I didn't really like that Sam and Bucky were so instantly hostile to Walker.

I took this as them having personal stakes in Steve as Cap. He's basically the stepfather that wants his kids to call him "dad."

I also agree that having Sam be unable to get a loan was a little much.

Thinking more about it, I think this was an underused opportunity to show how the world was struggling post-Blip. There's maybe a line or two about how the financial system is struggling, and I think they could've expanded that more. Sam can't get a loan because the capital just isn't available while the banking system still stabilizes, come back in six months.

This movie needed a lot more "life is hard" imagery. Between this, Far from Home, and WandaVision, I think the only image we've seen of Blip-struggles was how truly miserable everybody in Westview looked when Wanda drove through to her new property.

Instead of Sam walking through a school with a single over-worked teacher, he walks through a cafeteria where kids are eating meager rice dinners. Sarah has to deal with rolling blackouts because power generation isn't enough for everyone. There were a half-dozen chances to play up that element, but it just looked like the world outside my window.

 

[Fletch]

An Alternate Falcon & the Winter

There are a few minor things I would've liked to have seen done differently, but one huge change you can probably guess.

• This series actually came out better than I'd remembered in the rewatch. I'd initially had some ideas to replace the Flag Smashers with another group entirely, but found this time through that I really liked what they and Karli brought out in Sam (and the conflict she created between Sam/Bucky and Walker). If you get rid of the murder bombing, you've got a solid escalation arc for her. After that, make the post-Blip struggles more explicit so we can understand her motivation better, and the Flag Smashers are a really good fit.
  
  
• But if you're curious, my scrapped idea was to use the Sons of the Serpent as a hostile group of Snap survivors pushing back on the "time refugees" who came back and were trying to take what the SoS had gained. Refugees were a hot topic at the time, so I thought it'd resonate better. They'd be a more strictly villainous group, though, without the nuance that played to Sam's strengths so well.
  
  
• A very small change, but I'd want the Smashers to be powered by a derivative of the super soldier serum that has temporary effects (we can call it MGH). They have the stable sample from Bradley that they're able to use to make a bunch of weaker versions, choosing to have an army of soldiers who have to dose up regularly over having just one permanent one. Walker, of course, gets the permanent sample, and now the Smashers have a ticking clock to achieve their goals and they start getting desperate. Mostly a cosmetic change, but I want the serum to continue to be elusive, not have to rely on Zemo's butler to take a bunch of nameless super-goons off the board, and maybe set up MGH for Eli Bradley's story down the road.
  
  
• Let's put Zemo in the backseat. I liked every scene he was in, but i can't have him leading the show. Instead of him being an expert on Hydra (which turns out to not apply here) they recognize that his obsession with super soldiers makes him the best source of who could be making the current ones. When they go to see him in jail, though, he's already escaped (and left a minion in his place so nobody would notice him gone). Sam and Bucky track him down to Madripoor. He's the person they meet at the club, and agree to work with him to find the serum source. Of course, Sharon inserts herself into the group to try to keep her scientist alive, but everything else plays out normally, just with Sam and Buck making decisions and discoveries, not Zemo.
  
  
• I want to tie Bucky's subplot into the story better by giving Mr. Nakajima a nephew or grandson who has fallen in with the Smasher's groupies. Maybe Bucky's investigation into that is how he crosses paths with Falcon again on the same trail. At the end, they mobilize a bunch of their unpowered followers to mask up and help cause chaos, and Li'l Nakajima is there. So each hero gets their own personal showdown, with Falcon fighting Batroc (kind of weak, I know), Walker getting to confront Lamar's killer, and Bucky trying to stop this mob without hurting his friend's family.
  
  
• But the big, big (big) change, is that Sam never becomes Captain America. The shield is still there for the final battle, but it changes hands between the three heroes who each get a chance to use it in their personal fight. Like, Sam comes in with it for his fight with Batroc, but when he's disarmed of it, it winds up with Walker for his fight with Karli and the Smashers. Then he has a character moment and tosses it to Bucky when he needs it to help contain the large army of Karli's civilian followers. Ultimately, Sam stays the Falcon but with more international renown. Cap's shield gets handed over to Isaiah Bradley, the real heir to Captain America's legacy, and he accepts it rather than freaking out about it like he does in the show. Okay, that's unfair. It was a legit character moment, but I was unsatisfied that Sam left him in a state of hiding rather than emboldened to claim his place in history. Maybe that was the point, but I didn't like it.

Mostly cosmetic changes that don't change too much, but obviously the finale will end any idea of a 4th Captain America movie. I know they introduced Torres specifically to become the new Falcon, but he'll just have to learn to live with the disappointment.

As a footnote, I went back and edited my recent commentaries to use the numbered entries for the actual show discussion, and reserved the bullet points for the fanfic changes. This should help keep it straight what I'm on about for each post.

 

[fac]

Thinking more about it, I think this was an underused opportunity to show how the world was struggling post-Blip. There's maybe a line or two about how the financial system is struggling, and I think they could've expanded that more. Sam can't get a loan because the capital just isn't available while the banking system still stabilizes, come back in six months.

That would have been better, and fit better with the theme of what happens when the world had adjusted to half the people now has them all back again that was part of the Flag Smashers complaint.

Everyone returning arguably would cause more chaos than the initial loss.

 

[Fletch]

Everyone returning arguably would cause more chaos than the initial loss.

I don't know about "more" chaos, but definitely a lot of chaos. I feel like that "five year later" tag caused more headaches than the immediate shock value was worth.

Obviously we want our heroes to steal victory back from Thanos and undo his Snap, but after that long, it just feels so selfish. The entire galaxy had five years to move on and adapt, and these seven assholes on Earth are like "nope, we want Peter Parker back."

And at the same time, Marvel didn't seem able to show us a changed world. Airlines are still flying students to Europe, the FBI is still doing witness relocation, and not too long from now, Rockefeller Center is going to have its big fuck-all Christmas tree up. I just don't "get" Karli's cause.