Conversation

Watched Black Widow and Shang-Chi. Post-infinity-war MCU feels a bit procedurally generated. It’s all efficiently scripted and produced and the effects are great, but feels a bit soulless now. Felt the same about the tv shows too. Falcon and Winter Soldier, Loki.
8
77
Spider-Man far from home too. And now there’s going to be Hawkeye and Groot shows. We’re in the fracking stage. I guess we’re seeing the downside of extended-universe storytelling. Past a point of narrative integration, there’s no more potential for surprise. Post-peak MCU.
3
41
I’m kinda off extended universes now. But don’t want stand-alone shit either. I think I want slightly messy and incoherent sprawl.
3
22
Post-credits scenes are still fun though. In fact, I mostly watch for those. Interstitials with hints of B-reel stories unfolding. This is why I like the Mandalorian. It’s got a distinct B-reel feel. Much more fun than the main epic 9-film grand history.
2
19
Riffed about that earlier. I have a soft spot for these.
Quote Tweet
Ok really enjoyed Mandalorian Ep. 4 in the same way I enjoyed Rogue One. A tiny subplot element in the movies (in this case a single imperial walker that we saw several of in the B-plot in Return of the Jedi, played for laughs vs Ewoks) is the villain in a seven samurai type plot
Show this thread
1
11
Replying to
MCU tried that a bit with the Netflix TV shows and the Agents of Shield, but it never quite worked. The Big Stuff was always overwhelming.
2
6
I get why MCU is kinda playing poorly for me post-Weirding/pandemic. It’s a vibe monoculture. All the movies and shows have the same vibe, with only minor variations. If you discriminate finely, you get maybe 3 subvibes (avengers, guardians of galaxy, doctor strange?)
1
10
Post-pandemic is sort of a vibe microterroir cultural landscape. Every turn in the zeitgeist Warren should put you in a new mood ideally. So these big, somewhat homogenized vibes feel kinda tone deaf.
9