A History of The Marvel Universe - Part 1 - In The Beginning

3 things I hate about the MCU

1. Bruce Banner
I've always been annoyed that the actor for Bruce Banner has changed 3 times. Bruce Banner as a character is pretty boring anyway but I think Edward Norton did the best job in making him decent. Eric Bana's version was to depressing, and Mark Ruffalo who is the current version of the character doesn't really seem in it entirely partially because the writing just ignores the events from the other two Hulk movies as if they never happened.

2. The Villain's
Outside of Loki I think most of the villain's of the movies are very forgettable and the majority of them end up dying. Ronan the accuser, Whiplash, Malekith, and the Red Skull have all been underwhelming and most people probably can't really put a face to the names.

3. The Mandarin
The Mandarin is Iron Man's arch enemy and while I understand what Marvel was trying to do with the Trevor Slattery twist for most people it just didn't work. The Mandarin was marvel's chance to finally establish another good villain outside of Loki. The Mandarin for the first hour of the movie was scary he was making Tony Stark look stupid on live television and executing people. Once the twist was revealed Iron Man 3 was still good but it blew a chance to establish an iconic villain for later uses in the movies.

Dr. Strange

Dr. Stephen Strange first appeared in Strange Tales #115. Dr Strange is one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel universe and he is not known very well by the average marvel fan. Strange was once a gifted but egotistical surgeon who cared about nothing but gaining wealth. He only performed surgery on the richest people and ignored people who actually needed his help more. One day Strange was on his way to meet up with a wealthy stockbroker who was interested in a business deal so Strange without paying attention to the driving condition skidded off the road and drove off a small cliff. Strange awoke hours later in a hospital with his several broken bones and serious nerve damage in his hands, with the damage to his hands his career as a surgeon was effectively over. Strange fell into a deep depression and spent all of his wealth on experimental surgeries to fix the nerve damage in his hands but nothing worked. A year or so later Strange had spent all of his money and went broke until one day in a bar he heard an old sailor talking about a mysterious Chinese healer known as the Ancient One, with nothing left to lose Strange pawned the last of his possessions for a one way trip to the Himalaya's when he got there he searched for days for any trace of the mysterious being until he got caught in a terrible ice storm. Strange retreated into a cave to avoid freezing and there he found the old man known as the Ancient One. The Ancient One healed Strange but in exchange Strange had to become his student and learn the art of magic, Strange agreed to become the wizards apprentice and as the months passed Strange began to realize he needed to become a better person. Strange began performing uncharacteristically selfless acts impressing the old wizard enough to truly be trained in the art of magic.

Based on the early trailers for the new movie coming out it looks like the movie will pretty much follow the comic origins. I'm really excited to see Dr. Strange on the big screen because he will bring a new and genre to the Marvel cinematic universe.

Photo courtesy of http://screenrant.com

Iron Fist

With the arrival of the hit Netflix series Luke Cage, it's only natural I talk about Netflix's next Marvel series to hit Netflix in early 2017, Iron Fist. Daniel Rand AKA Iron Fist was created in 1974. Marvel created the character in response to the kung fu craze of the 1970s. Iron Fist knows nearly every form of martial arts along with the ability to channel chi into his fist allowing him to break through wood, rock, and even iron. Daniel Rand was born into a wealthy family of industrialist who were in search of the legendary city of K'un-L'un to learn of the martial arts in that city. While searching for the city Danny's father is killed by his best friend who wants the city's knowledge all to himself, after his fathers murder Danny and his Mother run away into the mountains where she sacrifices herself to save Danny from a pack of wolves. Danny eventually makes it to K'un-L'un where he is adopted by the citizen's and taught martial arts by them.

Photo courtesy of http://comicvine.com

Luke Cage

Seeing as the show just came out I thought it was appropriate to do another post about one of my personal favorite lesser known characters in the Marvel universe. Luke Cage better known as Power Man at the time first appeared in June 1972 in the comic Luke Cage#1 Hero for hire he became very popular early for being one the first black superheroes in mainstream comic books. Initially Luke Cage wasn't portrayed as a goody two shoe superhero because he was initially involved in gangs and some thought he was promoting racial stereotypes, eventually the outrage died down and Cage later gained popularity among young african american's.

Luke Cage was born in Harlem, New York where as a kid he and his friend Willis Stryker were part of a gang to meet ends meet. Eventually Cage got tired of being apart of gangs and running from the law and quit which did not sit well with his friend Stryker. Months later Cage was framed by his old friend Stryker who had planted drugs in his apartment and had him arrested by the police. Cage was taken to jail where he was offered to be in an experiment for less jail time. Cage took the offer seeing it has his only way out. Off course with this being a comic book something went wrong during the experiment and Cage gained superpowers like super strength and invulnerable skin. Cage used his new powers to escape prison and went into hiding until an old friend of his convinced him to use his powers to make money allowing him to become a hero for hire.

Photo courtesy of http://marvel.com

Marvel's Netflix deal.

Following the disastrous 2003 Daredevil film Fox decided not to make another film allowing the rights to the character revert back to Marvel. In 2013 Marvel decided instead of making another Daredevil film they'd make a mini-series available for streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon prime but Netflix bought the rights to stream the show. Marvel was excited for the show because it allowed them to explore the darker aspects of the Marvel universe. Daredevil was an instant hit on Netflix causing Marvel and Netflix to order 4 more series, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and the Defenders. 

 

My predictions for the MCU

Seeing has to how Marvel isn't anywhere near done with Marvel phase 3 of their movies I've got some super early predictions about phase 4.

1. Iron man will die.
Okay so Robert Downey Jr's contract will expire after Avengers infinity war part 2 and I am convinced that several characters will die and honestly I can't see anyone being able to take the reins of a character that Downey has made an icon.

2. Wolverine will return to Marvel studios. 
Hugh Jackman is already confirmed to be wrapping up his final movie as Wolverine next year he's been playing the character for 17 years and Fox as pretty much exhausted him at this point. If Wolverine is going to stay popular a return to Marvel Studios is probably the best move for the character.

3. Daredevil will finally make an appearance in the marvel movies. 
He is already dominating Netflix and everyone wanted him in Civil War but unfortunately Marvel couldn't fit him in the movie. All of the actors in the Netflix's shows have already spoken about their desire to appear in one of the upcoming movies so the ball is in Marvel's court.