mcu_cosmic | Entries tagged with entry: discussion

The cosmic MCU has given us some aliens--though, in my humble opinion, never enough (you can never have too many aliens)--but they mostly tend to be roughly humanoid. Have you noticed any intriguing background aliens? For the aliens who are generally "like humans, but green/blue/pink/gold," are there any other biological differences you like to imagine them having? Do you have any speculations on how Groot's species or the Skrulls--two of the more diverse types of aliens we've seen--may be particularly adapted to their original environments?

Xeno speculation welcome!

scioscribe

A.k.a. "Kreeform."

At the end of Captain Marvel, Carol sends Yon-Rogg back to Hala with a message that she's coming to end the war and, by implication, Kree dominion, at least in its most ruthlessly imperialistic forms. And by the time of Guardians of the Galaxy, Ronan the Accuser is at least a slightly rogue figure, one who can't be officially sanctioned by his government--but who isn't being strongly denied, either. And people on Hala were still protesting the treaty with the Xandar.

The gap in the history of Hala and the Kree is really intriguing. What's been happening there since Carol sent back her message? How much has Kree society changed (or not changed) in the intervening years? What internal or external changes would it take to produce a Kree Empire, or a Hala, less dependent on militaristic conquering of other worlds and cultures?

And how much time has Carol spent there between Captain Marvel and the post-credits scene in Infinity War? Has Yon-Rogg played a role in any cultural shifts, and if so, how? Do you take the reference to a "Kree Emperor" in Guardians of the Galaxy to mean canonical replacement of the Supreme Intelligence, or do you take a Doylist perspective and say the SI is still around and it's just a pre-CM inconsistency?

scioscribe

There's a vast array of cosmic ships and platonic relationships--which ones are you crossing your fingers that future material (or future fanworks) will explore?

These could be relationships that have been extensively portrayed but that you always want more of anyway--I know I could watch movie after movie of the complicated Thor & Loki relationship gradually settling into a happier, more stable state. But there are also a ton of relationships that exist on-screen but haven't been given a ton of time, like certain individual relationships between the Guardians, and then, of course, there are all the characters who have never even met, but whose interactions would hold so much untapped potential.

So what are some of your rarepairs, romantic or platonic? Some of your mainstay relationships that you'd always welcome more of? Do you have actual hopes of them making it to the screen at some point--in theaters or on Disney+--or are you convinced fandom will have to fill the void for you?

scioscribe

The cosmic movies have a lot of fish out of water moments and culture clashes (and cross-cultural connection), from Thor smashing a coffee cup on the floor of a diner to Talos not knowing what a cat is to Peter Quill's constant deflation over people not getting his pop culture references. These usually get played for humor, and usually involve Earth characters interacting with cosmic ones or vice-versa. What are some of your favorite examples of these jokes? What's the funniest--or the most illuminating about characterization or worldbuilding?

And it's possible to imagine variations on this theme that the films haven't worked with as often. What kind of culture clashes would you like to see that are exclusively cosmic? A reformed Kree being a fish out of water in a Skrull settlement? The Guardians having completely different ideas of etiquette? It's a big galaxy out there, and it must be filled with tons of cultures that are more alien to Earth norms than the ones we've seen--and that are plenty alien to each other. And what are some culture clashes that would provide serious dramatic conflict, not just laughs? What huge differences can you imagine in terms of how different parts of the galaxy deal with big-picture issues of life, death, love, and social behavior?

Plus, are there any characters you particularly like to see thrown off their game in a new environment? Are there any worlds whose culture you'd especially like to see in depth? Any general problems or rewards in cross-cultural exchanges that you think the movies should explore more often?

sholio

An open-ended one this week: talk about your favorite space movie(s), and why you like them!

For me, for "favorite," I guess it's a toss-up between GotG2 and Thor: Ragnarok. I find both endlessly rewatchable. GotG2 just has infinite feels and the visuals are absolutely gorgeous, and it carries the character relationships forward from the first movie in a way I really loved -- plus Baby Groot, who is adorable but also just real-kid-like enough not to be saccharine (at least for my tastes).

And Ragnarok was what made me fall in love with the Thor franchise. I will never get tired of that movie, and clips/gifs can always pick me up on a bad day. The brother feelings! Valkyrie! Even the Strange cameo is really delightful.

What about you?

sholio

Let's talk about Nebula's arc through the movies! That kind of arc is absolute id catnip for me and it's so rare for female characters to get the kind of development she gets. She starts out as a fairly one-dimensional antagonist, and I would have been happy if we'd just gotten the development she got in GotG2 when she levels up to shades-of-gray antagonistic ally, but THEN IW and Endgame happened, and she got to journey onward on her villain-to-hero arc, from the bitter, angry person she was, to someone who is starting to learn how to have friends!! and is solidly on Team Hero in the last few fights. I never dreamed we'd get this much Nebula content!

What do you think of her arc now that we have four movies' worth of development? Favorite parts? Least favorite parts? Any missed opportunities, or things you'd do differently?

Or just anything Nebula-related you want to talk about; that's good too. :D

sholio

Let's talk about holidays! There's no actual canon for this (that I can remember; someone please refresh my memory if they do talk about it at some point) so it's pretty much down to speculation and headcanon.

What kind of holidays do you suppose they celebrate in the Cosmic MCU?

Did Peter try to make the Ravagers do Christmas with him one year, with predictably terrible results? Do all of Drax's holidays involve stabbing large hunks of meat, while Rocket makes up fake holidays that no one is quite ready to call him out on? Do Groots have holidays and if so, what do they involve?

What sort of holidays might the Kree have - big bombastic public-affairs kinds of things? After Carol remembers her real origins, does she teach her own traditions to the Skrulls? (Possibly leading to Peter running into a Skrull Halloween haunted house or Christmas village 20 years later and being like "what the actual fuck, this is weird".)

What are Asgard holidays like? Do they still try to keep their traditions alive after the planet blows up? Thor seems like the type who would like to teach his friends about his holiday traditions and want to learn about theirs.

sholio

Here's something I don't think we've had a discussion post about yet - we finally got the backstory behind Fury's eyepatch in Captain Marvel, and it's not what anyone thought it was going to be! What did you think about that reveal? Did you like it? Or would you have preferred something else, and if so, what kind of thing?

sholio

This one is kind of an open-ended question about life on the Statesman (the Grandmaster's ship) post-Ragnarok. Share your thoughts, headcanons, even recs for fanworks on this topic that you particularly liked! Is it crowded? Does everyone have individual rooms or do they have to share? How are meals arranged - individually, communally? Do they have Games Night or arrange tournament fighting to keep everyone busy? Is Thor in charge of everything, or does he delegate?

sholio

Back in old-school Avengers fandom, there used to be a lot of fic about the Avengers hanging out in the tower, having movie nights, and the like.

But what do the Guardians do for fun? All that time living in close quarters on the Milano and later the Benatar ... they must have their own version of Avengers movie nights. But they're all so different that finding something they all like to do might have been hard. What are some of their team bonding activities like? Is Peter the guy who sets up karaoke every night while Drax and Gamora just want to spar, or are they all addicted to a particular Xandarian soap opera featuring fictionalized versions of themselves*, or what?

*help, I want to write this now

sholio

Hi! I'm going to be doing the next few discussion posts so

lynnenne can take a break. (And thank you for all the discussion topics the last few months,

lynnenne! <3)

This week's discussion topic is Groot, the language. Somehow three words, always in the same order, seem to be able to convey all the meaning normally found in a language, so how does that work, exactly? When we hear "I am Groot," is that what he's actually saying, or is the translator choking on it somehow and that's all it can produce? Does the language have tones that are beyond the normal human range of hearing? Incredibly fine shades of meaning encoded in slightly different pitches? However it works, we know non-Groots can learn it, since Rocket and Thor both know it, so it presumably doesn't involve something like telepathy or pheromones. (Or does it?)

Have you seen any fanworks that handled it in a particularly clever or interesting way?

All your Groot language headcanons - go!

lynnenne

Hello, and welcome to your weekly Sunday discussion post! This will be my last post for a while;

sholio has graciously volunteered to take over the discussions starting next week.

This week's topic comes to us courtesy of this article in The Mary Sue, "The Marvel Cinematic Universe as We Know it Owes Everything to Thor (and also Loki)."

What do you think of the arguments made here? Do you agree with the author's assessment that "If Thor had failed, nothing that came after would have worked"? Or do you think the MCU would have simply gone in a different direction? Can you imagine a Marvel cinematic universe without Thor and Loki as key players? If so, what would it look like?

lynnenne

Hello, and welcome to your weekly Sunday discussion post! I'm a bit under the weather this weekend, so today's post will basically be just a prompt:

THOR AND LOKI: any aspect of their relationship that interests you, across any MCU film (or films). Discuss!

lynnenne

Hello, and welcome to your weekly Sunday discussion post! Just a reminder that last week's topic is still open for discussion, so please share your Groot thoughts! (Mild spoilers for GotG).

Today's topic: Carol Danvers/Maria Rambeau. Do you ship it? As BFFs or as a romantic pairing? Why do you ship them? What is it that you love about their relationship? What do you wish Marvel had done differently? Share your thoughts!

lynnenne

Hello, and welcome to your weekly discussion post! Sorry this one is a day late. I re-watched Guardians of the Galaxy this weekend, so today's topic is all about Groot.

( Spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy )

snickfic

Just one post this week!
Discussion post: What Are Your Favorite Space Travel Moments? by

lynnenne (12 comments)

lynnenne

Hello, and welcome to your weekly Sunday discussion post! This week's topic relates to this community's moniker, "MCU IN SPAAAAAAAACE!"

( What are your favorite 'in space' moments? Spoilers for MCU movies )

lynnenne

Hello, and welcome to your weekly Sunday discussion post! Last week's topic about Thanos as an abusive parent got a lot of discussion. Following up on that topic, who are the other abusive parents in the MCU? (Parental figures also qualify.) I honestly don't know the comics backstory for many of the characters, so I'd love to hear your take on some of the protagonists and the upbringings they had to survive.

(Spoilers in comments, as usual, along with possibly triggery subject matter.)

lynnenne

Hello friends! I apologize for my recent absence... I've been travelling and then there was a hurricane and my power was out for 3 days, so I've been preoccupied. Thank you to

snickfic for last week's discussion topic about Thor at university learning to speak Groot.

I'm still travelling, and I watched Infinity War on the plane yesterday, so this week's topic is about that big purple dude we all hate.

( Spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War )

snickfic

As we know from Infinity War, Thor studied the Groot language at university, which means Thor went to university. I have not seen NEARLY enough discussion/fic on this topic. Where do we figure he went? How long ago? What else did he study? Did they let him on any sports teams? Was he the biggest bro to ever bro? Do lots of Asgardians go to university off-world? Did Loki? I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS.

What do you guys think?