*SPOILERS FOLLOW*
Aah! How did I not think to call the movie "Less Than Zemo"? #fail
— Joss Whedon (@josswhedon) May 1, 2015
What was that pool that Thor and Skaarsgard/Selvig visit? Looked like Selvig was carrying something resembling the Casket of Ancient Winters with him, no? The pool allows Thor to re-enter his dream/vision, the one that reveals the collection of the Infinity Stones and the gauntlet. The gauntlet is not something new in the MCU, tho. You'd think he'd recognize it, call it by name, what with it sitting in his father's vault, right?Thanos end-credits scene. Is Thanos in the vault in the end-credits scene? Or has he fashioned his own?
I don't love that the Mind Gem turns out to be in Loki's scepter. It all fits together nicely except that it was in the presence of two Asgardians on Earth (Loki and Thor), and must have been described to if not seen by other Asgardians as well, without anyone guessing at its nature. Maybe a little more exposition would've helped sell it to me—something about the encasing gem/energy being designed to camouflage its true nature. There was *some* talk by Thor of how the Mind Gem's true power has not yet been released, but it was vague, warning of how dangerous it would be to have in the open.
It was a nice final piece of a Vision puzzle. I'm not sure how logical it is, but it's nice. I feel like there was a positive conflation of the Adam Warlock + Soul Gem into the origin of MCU's Vision. Does this mean there won't be an Adam Warlock? No soul gem? Was the Knowhere cocoon a pulsating red herring? Or perhaps rewritten as the chrysalis for some other cosmic super?
What’s the MCU calling the Infinity items? Stones? Gems? I feel like we might’ve heard each used in different movies. The comics use Gems.
Why do the Avengers use "enhanced" and the Agents use "powered." I prefer "enhanced." Unless you just use "power" as the noun, like in Bendis/Oeming's POWERS.
Joss. You had to kill Quicksilver. Dammit. That was nice. And you disarmed me so that I wasn't *looking* for it, just like w Coulson. I mean, I recognized the moment when it came, when Pietro sees Hawkeye in Ultron's sights, but I wasn't looking for it.
Nice. Heroic. Cool, even, if you will.
The updated roster: Cap, Widow, Falcon, War Machine, Scarlet Witch, Vision. Interrresting. I wonder how everyone will split come Civil War time.
I like that Vision saves the Witch when the city is in free fall. I also like that extra little look/cut to the Witch when the Vision first reveals himself. A little somethin’ somethin’…
A smart and strategic rewrite of Scarlet Witch's powers. She's more Jean Grey than Wanda Maximoff. No "chaos magic" (altho I always liked the idea of the probability-altering hex, despite being annoyed with the imaginary details of it =). TK and a kind of Danielle Moonstar-flavored telepathy, that works nicely.
I would've liked some exposition of Pietro's training or enhancement beyond speed. He seemed to be fine actually smashing his fists into Ultrons, not, like, taking them apart with a can opener, or shaking them to bits, y'know? His fists vs. flesh, or even body armor, hundreds of times a second, okay. Vs. titanium? Not so much okay.
I *love* that Thor and Cap did the "Liberty Bell" Mjolnir-on-Shield combo in the field! =)
Love love love that sword-from-the-stone Mjolnir contest, and the payoff with Vision (altho I'm still not sure what it means). The Vision is pure of heart? Something to do with Thor’s Asgardian energies helping with his creation? When he picks up the hammer, he isn’t imbued with Thor-ness the way you’d expect, a la Beta Ray Bill, Thor the Frog of Thunder, and the most recent incarnation of Thor from the comics.
I'm afraid I might have missed some line or two between Banner and Stark about the AI they discover and want to use as a basis for Ultron. What is its origin? Was it created by Strucker and Hydra? Was it being studied by them? O well, guess I'll have to see it again!
I felt like Ultron was built on an already existing consciousness. Something extraterrestrial. Got me thinking of a mad Spaceknight, or maybe even the Phalanx.
AGENTS OF SHIELD. Nice to see Segovia, Strucker, and List, dovetailing with the latest AGENTS OF SHIELD. Maybe a little clunkily. Was hoping to see Coulson on the bridge of the carrier, foo. In this week’s ep, Coulson says something like "Time to call in the Avengers" and that’s when in our heads, we should cut to AVENGERS 2, right? It happens. I guess thru Maria Hill, who along w Fury, must be keeping Coulson's new life a secret from the Avengers. Altho I do like to think that Thor knows and is keeping mum as well. I mean, Heimdal can see him. Sif's worked with the Agents (I can't remember what Sif agree to tell and not disclose).
My hope of seeing a possibly CG-d Spidey and Daredevil, protecting Hell's Kitcheners from Ultrons in Manhattan in the film—alas, not meant to be.
Nice to see Linda Cardelini in the MCU. The safe house was a good break geographically and cinematically for regrouping, for the characters and audience.
Interesting to hear Ultron talk about Scarlet Witch doing damage "from within." Hearing that played into my limited fanboy knowledge of Ultron's early plans involving Vision. Planting him among the Avengers, y'know? Got me thinking that the idea was to have Wanda and Pietro join the Avengers now (this movie?) to betray them later (a later movie?), in a long game/con sort of way. Alas, for pretty awesome or excellent, turns out he was using "from within" or "from inside" to refer to each Avenger's own minds and fears.
Spader was a great choice smarmy choice for Ultron's voice.
I appreciated the slight hints at Ultron's imprinting on his creator, Tony Stark. I might've liked it if that was pushed more, along w the father-son relationship (regularly used between Hank Pym and Ultron in the comics), but I also might've not have liked it. As it is, the way it was handled, it's definitely there for us to walk away with and play with as we like.
Thanos end-credits scene. As cliche as it would've been, I guess I've kinda been trained to expect that that mass of sculpted metal was gonna be a piece of Ultron (a la Terminator) and not the empty-gemmed Gauntlet. Having a piece of "live" Ultron collected by a baddie is something we can see later.
I *do* kind of like to think that the final encounter between Vision and Ultron might've been that scene. Vision, on the side of life, finds it abhorrent to exterminate Ultron. I think he might have absorbed his code or consciousness into some part of himself for imprisonment and safe-keeping. Not sure when he'd be useful again, but hey, if the Avengers face off against an enemy fleet, wouldn't it be nice to spike their network with some Ultron (who's maybe been converted to the church of Vision, maybe? =).
More crazy talk later, no doubt.
Keep on keepin' on~
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