feurioo: (tv: murderbot gurathin & mensah)
Murderbae ([personal profile] feurioo) wrote in [community profile] tv_talk2025-06-28 03:45 pm

Speak Up Saturday

Assortment of black and white speech bubbles

Welcome to the weekly roundup post! What are you watching this week? What are you excited about?
violateraindrop: (Dune: Chani)

[personal profile] violateraindrop 2025-06-29 06:02 pm (UTC)(link)
No, sorry. Bad wording. I meant that Daredevil was the most recent Marvel show before Ironheart. That is getting released right now, followed by two animated Marvel shows (one about Wakanda and Marvel Zombies). The next live action show will come in December.

I still somewhat enjoy Marvel's content, but I'm not as excited as I used to be. I know many people feel that way, but I also know that many people have completely checked out of the MCU or superhero movies in general.

As for Kang...this would have been the perfect character to recast. Gender-swap and done.

I think right now they are trying to find an audience two ways, either with young heroes (like Riri) or nostalgia for a time that hasn't even been over for that long. They bring people you thought were out. I'm not sure either strategy is working right now.

DC seems even worse to me. Let people breathe between reboots, new universes, and new actors.
yourlibrarian: Thor, Iron Man & Captain America face off (AVEN-ClashofTitans-isapiens)

[personal profile] yourlibrarian 2025-06-29 06:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, why not just recast Kang? It's not like they haven't done some high level recasts for one reason or another. My suspicion is that Kang was not resonating with people and combined with poor performance of different projects they decided to go in another direction.

Mind you, I don't know that Thanos was revving any engines pre-Infinity War either. He did appear briefly in other films but he was mostly just something to fight against. Whereas they did spend a good deal of time building up Kang in Loki (which did fairly well) as well as the whole aspect of the multiverse.

But I was definitely into MCU and while I try out each series or movie they release, I haven't been excited about any of it. (I actually quite liked The Marvels, but it was more a matter of being pleasantly surprised than really loving it).

The big issue to me is that the writing isn't there. I mean Disney had been bombing with non-Mandalorian shows but then there was Andor which got a lot of people excited inside and outside the fandom. So it just needs to be something really good.

And I do appreciate them taking many different approaches, but in a way this also weakens them because people who like one sort of story aren't necessarily into another.
shadowkat: (Default)

[personal profile] shadowkat 2025-06-30 12:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, why not just recast Kang? It's not like they haven't done some high level recasts for one reason or another. My suspicion is that Kang was not resonating with people and combined with poor performance of different projects they decided to go in another direction

From what I've read - it had more to do with the character not popping or resonating enough. He's a relatively obscure comic villain that most of the audience didn't recognize. (I certainly didn't and I read comics.) And his introduction was in two properties that didn't quite hit as well as projected. The actor screwing up - just gave them the excuse they needed to go in another direction, which they were flirting with after Quantumania bombed (from Disney's perspective).

Also Doctor Doom - had a high interest level. And it lead into bringing in the Fantastic Four and X-men, the two hot properties that Marvel had been wanting to premiere in the MCU (again).

Mind you, I don't know that Thanos was revving any engines pre-Infinity War either. He did appear briefly in other films but he was mostly just something to fight against. Whereas they did spend a good deal of time building up Kang in Loki (which did fairly well) as well as the whole aspect of the multiverse.

Not quite the same? Thanos is well-known by most comics fans. And only folks with Disney + saw Loki. Kang's success hinged on Quantumania - which bombed. Also not enough people got hooked into Loki to launch Kang. Doctor Doom on the other hand is a well-known villain, basically Marvel's version of Lex Luther. Also, he's a white guy, Eastern European, and a guy with a King complex - fits very well with the current political environment, and as a statement against fascism. And they could get Downy Jr to play him. And he's complicated but not convoluted like Kang. They wanted a white male Lex Luther style villain for a diverse cast of heroes to fight.

Kang worked better prior to ahem, the current political situation. Disney is tuned into that more than you might think. And they need a villain that speaks to people - who people want to destroy, but find entertaining. Kang...was let's face it? Didn't grab folks, he wasn't interesting. Plus the who multiple time lines/multi-verse is confusing to people and not exciting for most.

The big issue to me is that the writing isn't there.

Agree. I think it's why they pulled the Russo's back in as showrunners for Doomsday and Secret Wars. Because the writing to date has been lackluster.

Although I've seen good reviews for Iron Heart, and Thunderbolts did VERY well, breaking some records, and surprising people. I've not seen either - but Thunderbolts landed well. It did better than Captain America - Brave New World.
yourlibrarian: Heimdall from the Side-sandy79 (AVEN-HeimdallSide-sandy79)

[personal profile] yourlibrarian 2025-06-30 03:37 pm (UTC)(link)
I didn't even realize Thunderbolts was out yet, but that's good for them that it's doing well.
shadowkat: (Default)

[personal profile] shadowkat 2025-06-30 03:44 pm (UTC)(link)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/5-reasons-why-thunderbolts-box-office-is-a-step-in-the-right-direction-for-marvel/ar-AA1EDgtJ?ocid=feedsansarticle

It's admittedly controversial - some think it didn't do well, others think it did? It's made about 381 Million to date. But the truth is - not as many folks go to the movies now, as they used to. I know I've not seen a movie in a movie theater since Oppenheimer. I find movie theaters uncomfortable and a pain to go to now - for various reasons. Also expensive - it costs $20 in the city.