With Avengers: Age of Ultron finally in theaters in the United States with a solid $188 Million opening weekend, it’s to be anticipated that the film is talked about at length among us here on The Young Folks staff. So, we organized a four person chat of two mega-Marvel Fans, and two more casual fans.
It should be pretty obvious that through Evan, Jon, Kev and Melissa’s conversation, there’s some deep SPOILER talk here about this Avengers sequel, and potential spoilers of comic plots that may or may not mean anything later on, so you have been warned, True Believers!
First Reactions
Jon: So what was everyone’s reaction to the film?
Kev: RiRi’s BBHMM. This film’s excessive action made me feel that.
Evan: I think my first text to my brother was something along the lines of “SEGSFDHRSTHAFHTAHGSAERATRESHA RGAGSDGGSDHAG ARDBSB”
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Melissa: I was falling asleep… But that could mean I didn’t get enough sleep the night before. It was entertaining enough.
Jon: I thought it was too much like the first one, and that lasted the impact of it.
Melissa: How are they still dealing with the problem of not being connected??
Evan: My reaction after a few minutes of talking and thinking made me go “Wait, all I’m doing is thinking about future movies and character stuff that was set up here, in the movie I waited 3 years for anyway”
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Whedon Deaths
Kev: So who cried when Scarlett got stood up? I did.
Jon: I didn’t. I didn’t like the fact that they had to have some romantic angle in it.
Kev: The first 50 minutes were actually more entertaining then the first, but from there were some missteps that turned me away.
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Melissa: I didn’t cry at all.
Evan: Were we supposed to cry?
Jon: I feel like they glossed over Quicksilvers death, like it was nothing. I have a feeling he’ll be back soon.
Evan: I agree. Especially because he has a contract for multiple movies.
Kev: I mean, his last hurrah was sort of meh. Like just being nice to Hawkeye after being a major dick to him a lot before… sort of typical for me.
Evan: I loved Aaron Taylor Johnson through the movie. Puts that one set piece in X-Men to shame, and his facial expressions made me laugh out loud every time. I felt like his death was an obligatory “Whedon” thing where people may have expected a Hawkeye death instead.
Hawkeye and Banner/Natasha
Kevin: Linda Cardellini threw me off at the house. Such a recognizable face, not a recognizable name, unless you watch Grey’s Anatomy.
Evan: I feel like Hawkeye’s power after this movie is just putting up with bullshit in a way other heroes cant.
Jon: In an almost superhuman capacity.
Evan: …but introducing him as a vulnerable guy with a family makes me think of the way he is in the comics too, especially the current Marvel Now run by Matt Fraction.
Kev: I wonder how many Hawk-Widow fan-people were disappointed in the end…
Melissa: I would have liked that more than her and Hulk.
Jon: They’re just setting it up for her to get with Winter Soldier, like she does in the comics.
Kev: I can see that Jon, considering Sebastian Stan got a nine movie contract to Evans’s 3.
Ultron
Kev: After a while though Ultron started to become very one note for me. He comes up with the plan, and then goes through with it. Nothing short of excitement.
Jon: Really? I loved James Spader as Ultron.
Evan: I feel like there was more to Ultron (and really all the characters) than we were given time to see outside the action scenes. I really enjoyed how Spader-y Spader was as Ultron.
Kev: He peaked heavily in the beginning, then not so much. The only other scene I liked was the Truck chase.. With him that is.
Jon: Baron Von Strucker was on screen for like 3 minutes. That was kind of disappointing.
Evan: It’s frankly a miracle that this movie was able to balance enough of Ultron, plus six returning heroes, plus three new ones, and it somehow is pulled off. Or maybe it wasn’t and I was just going to love it anyway.
Jon: I don’t think it completely pulled it off. That villain in Wakanda, just to take the story to that area was kind of pathetic.
Thanos Stinger
Melissa: Whose that guy in the ending credits, btw?
Evan: CAN I EXPLAIN??? I WANT TO EXPLAIN THANOS! CAN I?
Jon: Do it!
Evan: Remember the purple guy with the shit eating grin at the end of Avengers and somewhere for a minute in Guardians of the Galaxy?
Melissa: No, Evan, but go ahead… Lol
Evan: No, thats pretty much it. That’s who he is. And he’s gonna literally slaughter EVERYTHING.
Kev: Howard the Duck?
Evan: Yes, Kevin. Howard the duck is going to slaughter the Avengers.
Kev: I mean he did slaughter his own stand-alone film. ZING!
Infinity Stone Side Plot
Evan: I was frankly surprised by how the introduction of “Infinity Stones” came to the Avengers themselves so early on. I thought the bit in Guardians of the Galaxy was enough for a while, and this felt shoehorned in.
Jon: Yeah, Thor’s part in this story felt weak to me
Kev: I think they want to have one apocalypse every three phases. I was disappointed in the pool scene. The trailers promised me PG-13 nudity.
Jon: And it was only to introduce the Infinity Stones and Thanos
Evan: Right, Thor had to LITERALLY go and be like “Hey I gotta go do this thing, hate to leave you hanging.”
Kev: I mean they’ve already found like 3/6 of those stones right?
Jon: No, more than that.
Kev: Stellan Skarsgaard needed more time. I like when he does science.
Evan: Yes, thank God for extra science exposition.
Jon: No, they needed a greater female presence besides Black Widow, and even then she was the victim of more than a few tropes
Kev: But in all seriousness, they really bring too many characters from the previous films for like not even 5 minutes, and it bothered me cause I liked these characters a lot in their initial film
Scarlet Witch
Kev: SHE is WANDA
Jon: I thought Pietro was the one killed.
Kev: Jon. too soon man. But yeah, she is Scarlet Witch.
Jon: Quicksilver would want us to move on fast.
Kev: You have no idea how much I’m laughing right now cause of that pun.
Cutting Loki
Jon: After seeing the film, I’d like to know what Loki’s scene was that was cut out.
Melissa: Oh, yeah..WHERE’S LOKI???
Kev: Five bucks says it was just exposition about the scepter.
Evan: I would too, but I feel like he was the last thing the movie needed. I think Whedon himself said “Too many voices in the chorus.”
Jon: They didn’t even include Jane or Pepper.
Evan: They didn’t, but I still really loved the party sequence. I could watch 30 minutes of that. “Real World Avengers Tower”
Kev: DUDE GET MTV ON THE PHONE. I’m dead serious, too. That’s instant gold.
Reactions to The Vision
Kev: I liked when RDJ sounded like the villain, made him more popping.
Jon: Well Ultron was basically Stark.
Evan: So I don’t want to derail anything, but one at a time (please), I’m really curious what everyone’s first impressions of Vision were. I’m just curious what that looks like to someone who has no idea.
Kev: Not a fan. He was just there.
Jon: Loved him. Costume design and personality. And his joke right before he destroyed Ultron sealed the deal.
Kev: I didn’t hear a joke. I heard more white noise. Hey-OH!
Melissa: Who? Someone else they “accidentally” made?
Evan: When Jarvis comes out of the tank as the purple man.
Jon: If I didn’t already know he was going to get with Scarlet Witch, I’d try to get on that.
Evan: See, I loved SEEING him, and I cant wait to see him later in other films, but I felt 50% of his dialogue was exposition. He came in basically in the 3rd act, and his powers were cool, but I would just have liked to see more. Especially any kind of hint of chemistry with Wanda.
Jon: They showed the hints to their chemistry. Although it was a little more one sided.
Evan: Did I miss it?
Kev: He saved her at the bus?
Jon: No, the longing stares. I saw it twice so maybe that’s why I caught that. It was subtle, but it was there.
Evan: Well, I mean, I could stare at Elizabeth Olson too… but I can control myself from doing that.
Kev: She is so attractive up close. I almost embarrassed myself in front of her.
Evan: I get what you mean though, I need to see it again to see what I missed. There’s stuff cram packed into every second.
Jon: Was it just me, or did she look very strange in the closing scene?
The Black Widow Problem
(and how much Whedon is too much Whedon?)
Evan: So I’m curious who other than myself considers themselves a “Whedon-holic” in any way? I ask because the first 5 minutes to me seemed like a Whedon show, and after the opening title, just another Marvel movie, but with really good witty dialogue
Jon: I am.
Kev: I’m a Buffy-Holic. Angel lost me at season 3.
Melissa: Buffy is cool.
Melissa: I want to know more about her.
Evan: I think he did it for contractual obligation. He started the account as he started production, and today is the day after the opening weekend. But yeah sure, not being enough of a feminist could be a reason.
Kev: Poorly represented. Like when she talked about her past and how she had to become infertile for the job, made me sad. But that was the biggest thing to come out of her for me and yet it is only brought up like once or twice.
Jon: Yeah, but we never got enough background on her. At least we saw a different side of Hawkeye in this film, and Widow has been in many more films than Hawkeye
Evan: I think for what it’s worth, her character has grown immensely with every film she’s in. They definitely don’t waste her in my opinion. She just hasn’t gotten her own film yet…
Kev: Do you think she ever will?
Jon: I don’t believe it was Whedon’s fault really. I’m sure the studio told him what things had to be in there, and he made due with what he could.
Evan: I feel that’s exactly what it was.
Melissa: I don’t know. But she should. What is doing when she’s not wrangling Avengers??
Jon: I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt considering his track record with strong females. I think a stand alone film could help her, and show some of the history between Hawkeye and her.
Melissa: Yesssss. Then again, Marvel doesn’t have Widow merchandise, why would they give her a movie?
Jon: I was at Build a Bear the other day and they had all of the Avengers as bears except Black Widow. I would have gotten a Black Widow bear, but none were available.
Kev: Imagine if he gets Sarah Michelle Gellar to come back as Buffy and it then becomes ten times better. I mean in a sex symbol kind of way they do. Guys drool over Scar-Jo. I’m guilty.
Evan: I wonder if that’s MARVEL STUDIOS or the toy companies though. Kevin Feige tends to handle these topics very delicately when asked about them
Jon: Also, I did like Widow’s upgraded costume.
Kev: I didn’t notice it.
Melissa: Widow’s costume kept reminding me of TRON
Evan: Yeah the costuming differences for all the characters were subtly different. And Tony is still plastering Under Armor on his back
Marvel’s Phase 2 Closes
Evan: Where do we think this stands among all the Phase 2 / Post Avengers stuff so far? 2015 is interesting for Marvel with stuff like Daredevil and Agent Carter.
Kev: What’s Phase 2? Or rather what films are a part of them? I lose track of this kind of stuff.
Evan: Iron Man 3 – Avengers 2. And technically Agents of SHIELD, Daredevil and Agent Carter.
Jon: Not a good start at all. To the films at least
Kev: Cap’n ‘Merica 2, GOTG, Avengers 2, IM3, Thor 2. Am I missing something?
Evan: No that’s all 5
Kev: BTW I abhor Thor 2.
Evan: Thor 2 is forgettable, and I still really like Iron Man 3 for what it is, I don’t get the hate.Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy were a crazy good combo last year.
Kev: I hate IM3 too. Also that movie holds bad luck with me.
Jon: Daredevil succeeded because I don’t think it had any creative boundaries or restrictions since it was on Netflix
Final Thoughts
Melissa: I thought Avengers 2 was okay. I was entertained in some parts, but for whatever reason this series just doesn’t spark with me…
Evan: I’m curious if the superhero fatigue will continue to get worse with the majority, this past weekend seemed to not hit their expectations at the Box Office and by the time Infinity War II rolls around I’m gonna be like “YEA FIGHTING THANOS IN SPACE WITH DOCTOR STRANGE AND ADAM WARLOCK,” and people will be like “pfft what?”
Jon: No, but that’s because there was a ton of other national things going on. Draft Day, that one PPV fight.
Evan: Really? people still watch the Kentucky Derby?
Jon: Not to mention that they released the film a week early overseas. They pirate stuff over there pretty fast.
Kev: I’ll give my thoughts.
Evan: Go for it!
Kev: 5/10.
Evan: Would you like to elaborate on that arbitrary number?
Kev: It’s fun, and worth the early matinee, but I wouldn’t go all out to see it. I initially did cause I felt the hype, but in the end, while it was a fun watch, nothing really stood out to me but the glorified comic book violence.
Evan: Okay I can follow that thought. Makes sense.
Kev: I blame the exclusion of the rap music
Evan: That one i can’t. you lost me
Kev: Rap music makes every thing better.
Jon: What about child murder?
Evan: So Child 44 needed rap music to be better?
Kev: Whoa, whoa. Why do we have to take it that far.
Kev: I feel cornered
Evan: Okay so, with days to think about it now and talking about it, it had no way of living up to the hype. It didn’t have the chance of redoing what Avengers accomplished because that movie was A) unique for its time, and B ) was a gamble. That movie felt smaller, and it had more to prove. This had all the great pieces to make an equally good follow up, and it’s still a good movie. Like I said, it’s a miracle it works in 11 heroes, a big James Spader villain and set up for the next couple movies. It without a doubt trips some, and I’m sad to say, could have done without a couple of the action scenes and with some more moments with the characters. So like sure 7.5 out of 10. An 8 if I don’t think too hard.
Kev: Has anyone seen a film they’ve deemed better then sex?
Evan: Depends on the sex.
Kev: Drunk sex.
Evan: I feel like we’re just spit-balling here, it’s getting a little Dianne Sawyer. Jon, wanna just give the final bow here?
Jon: The first film was so successful because nothing like it had ever even been attempted in the live action avenue. The build up to the first one was perfect. They tried the same exact formula with the sequel, except the build up to it was pretty lackluster (With films like Thor 2 and Iron Man 3). It had the same energy, but to a much lessened effect. It wasn’t as impactful as the first one, and the CGI heavy enemies wore you out, so when it was time for you to feel something (like the death of Quicksilver), you were already kind of numb. It was still fun, and because I’m a huge Marvel fan I still enjoyed it, and the new characters that were introduced. I give it a solid 6/10.
Evan: I almost feel like it could feel better as a home watch instead of the theater. Kind of hoping for a directors cut with hopes that it would feel more complete like LOTR does in a way.
Kev: I heard it’s getting an extended cut.
Jon: I think a directors cut would make it worse.
Evan: Think so?
Jon: It would probably gives us more underdeveloped side stories and plots.
Evan: Yeah, maybe so. I had thought the opposite in giving more body to the ones that were there. I guess only Joss will know.
Jon: Well, they would naturally include the Loki story. Which would probably be more side plots and foreshadowing that we don’t really need.
Future Marvel: Is the Era of Superhero Films Ending?
Jon: Also, I’m not sure I’m looking forward to Captain America: Civil War. I don’t think they can do the story line justice.
Evan: They would need to drastically change it for sure, its just too big for one movie.
Jon: And it hasn’t been properly set up at all
Evan: they’ll definitely take liberties with it like they did with the Ultron origin here.
Jon: They’re all too worried about Thanos.
Evan: I know, I hoped they would get some blood boiling between Steve and Tony by the end of this, and I saw today Chris Evans said that Civil War will also be setting up more for Infinity War.
Jon: Ugh. That’s disappointing news. Maybe we’ve reached the peak of these kinds of film.
Evan: Other than the Winter Soldier its pretty arguable the first of each individual series is the best one of them. And we’re getting introduced to Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Captain Marvel and a new Spidey in phase 3 so we’ll see. Maybe it has, maybe it hasn’t.
Jon: The Comic Book Film Golden Age had to end sometime. Maybe it just needed new blood.
Evan: Lets see what happens with Ant-Man first before we call it haha
Jon: Both characters, and writers (not that I didn’t love Whedon).
Evan: Yeaah for sure
Jon: I keep forgetting Ant-Man is coming out in a few months.
Evan: Hope the Russo brothers are up to the challenge
Jon: They won’t have a choice. And now to end the conversation with our customary salute.
Evan: At this point Marvel probably has a directing style guide made up for their movies anyway.
Jon: ”HAIL HYDRA!”
Evan: Yeah, yeah. Hail Hydra. Get hit by car. Yada yada.
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