We’re closing in on half a decade since Captain Marvel was released, and yet the trolls won’t stop coming for either Brie Larson or her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut. At this stage, we’ve all resigned ourselves to that fact, but that doesn’t mean we’re not curious to see what happens when The Marvels is gearing up to fly onto the big screen next year.
Elsewhere, Werewolf by Night has shaken off the shackles of the apathy directed towards the majority of Phase Four while also sneaking in an Easter Egg nodding towards Thor: Love and Thunder that nobody picked up on, and the age-old villain problem rears its head once again.
The Captain Marvel hate train keeps on rolling
Despite earning over a billion dollars at the box office, it’s clear there’s a huge amount of MCU fans who don’t care much for Captain Marvel, and that sentiment extends towards its star Brie Larson. Of course, she’s fully aware of the constant backlash and doesn’t seem to care at all, with the latest twist in the tale calling the movie “undeserving” of its status as the franchise’s first female-led flick.
A lot of people believe that a standalone Black Widow adventure should have taken that slot instead, based on Scarlett Johansson’s longevity and popularity as Natasha Romanoff. While you can understand the thought process, saying that one film should have taken the other’s spot based on perceived merit and personal preference alone is not how Hollywood works.
Werewolf by Night howls at the curse of Phase Four
Phase Four has proven to be about as polarizing as it’s ever gotten for the MCU, with Kevin Feige’s outfit coming in for criticism that it had largely never experienced outside of maybe Thor: The Dark World, or Iron Man 2 and 3 at a push. Thankfully, then, Werewolf by Night has found critics and audiences in full agreement of its impeccable quality, and it currently ranks as one of the entire superhero saga’s best-reviewed projects ever on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Special Presentation experiment is off to a strong start, and we’d fully expect that to continue with James Gunn’s The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.
Nobody notices the God Butcher lurking in the shadows
Any MCU offering is guaranteed to be filled to the brim with Easter Eggs, references, callbacks, and other hidden goodies, but one of the biggest background secrets in Werewolf by Night went completely unnoticed by the majority of viewers – with Gorr the God Butcher being depicted on a mural deep within the bowels of Ulysses Bloodstone’s palatial estate.
Gorr’s co-creator Jason Aaron offered a side-by-side comparison on Twitter, revealing that the Halloween one-off had faithfully recreated one of the most iconic images of the intergalactic antagonist who didn’t get anywhere near enough screentime (or god butchery, for that matter) in this summer’s Thor: Love and Thunder
Another solution to the age-old villain problem
Ever since its inception, the MCU has come under fire for a cacophony of underwhelming villains, with memorable antagonists tending to be the exception rather than the rule. In typically self-aware fashion, we’re not even sure who the big bad of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law even is, and the series wraps up in just a few days.
Using Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk as the blueprint, fans have been suggesting that long-term recurring villains would be a solution to the mediocre sea of villainy that’s been a recurring issue in the franchise for well over a decade. After all, he terrorized Daredevil for 39 episodes split across three seasons, and the same effect is hardly going to be replicated by giving the likes of Darren Cross, Malekith, or Whiplash a few minutes to state their case.
As always, then, it’s been another busy and highly contentious day for the MCU-loving masses, but don’t forget to check back tomorrow for the latest roundup of the day’s biggest Marvel stories.
Published: Oct 9, 2022 11:00 pm