//NOTE: Am I making these too long? I was originally afraid I have too little to say, now I feel the opposite. If people feel these have too much irrelevant stuff, please let me know and I'll try making them shorter//
I was supposed to write about The Incredible Hulk -film next. But the first trailer for Captain Marvel, the next film in the MCU, dropped today. Because of that I decided to write little about how I follow my beloved Marvel Cinematic Universe outside of the actual films and tv-shows. And also I’ll write a little reaction piece after I’ve watched the trailer.
How did I get here?
Before the first big team up movie, The Avengers (2012), I really didn’t follow news or conversations about the MCU at all. The way I jumped on the hype train of that film was pretty much just watching the previous installments. Few times even, because I was showing the movies to my younger sibling as well. I saw the first teaser for The Avengers at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), the last film before the team-up, and that was really enough to get me excited. All the conversations I had were with my friend and sibling.
After seeing The Avengers, I was really wanted to have more. Of course I was also curious about what the films would look like after the huge team-up. And the wait for the next film, Iron Man 3 (2013), was a whole year! So this was the time I jumped online to search for news. I remember finding sites like comicbook.com and comicbookresources that focused (almost) exclusively on things based on comic books. Also my interest in films in general grew and I found sites like screenrant that were more about films in general. At the time I mostly read news and interviews and such.
In summer of 2015 I started to want for more content related to the MCU. At the time no one else really shared my passion, at least not as strongly as I did. I also had lot of time on my hands because I didn’t have my summer job anymore. Also because I had just graduated from vocational school and failed to get a place from an university, I was really stressed out. I started searching from YouTube for longer videos about the subject matter.
Hello there, fellow geeks!
First thing I really liked was Marvel Movie News on Popcorn Talk YouTube channel. The name of the show already tells you a lot. It’s a show about the news related to Marvel films (sometimes tv-shows too). The positive attitude and enthusiasm of the three hosts and their guests really spoke to me. They were comics fans seeing their favorite characters coming to life. Even though most of the hosts have changed since I started watching I still watch the latest episode every week. Hearing Marvel-fans talk about the latest news just makes waiting for a new film that much better.
Latest episode of Marvel Movie News. It's almost 1 hour long so I don't expect you to actually watch it.
Through Marvel Movie News I also found the Superhero News. Another hour long weekly show that was not only about the Marvel films, but superhero films (and Star Wars) in general. The three hosts Adam Hlavac, Agustin Rios and especially Hector Navarro really made an impression on me. They were also lifelong comic book fans, but also had history with actual movie special effects (mostly 3D converting I think). They have such a great chemistry together and think about stuff lot like me, I followed them to their current show Hyper Heroes on Hyper RPG -channel. The idea of the Hyper Heroes is mostly the same as was with Superhero News, just different company which I assume has been better fit for them.
Latest episode of Hyper Heroes. It's over 1 hour long so I don't expect you to actually watch it.
Through Marvel Movie News and Hyper Heroes, and other film/popculture channels like Screen Junkies and MovieBob, I’ve started to get satisfying amount of MCU (and other film) conversations to my life. I’m pretty active follower (not writer) in Twitter where I read lot of their reactions and thoughts first hand. It always makes the wait for the new film more exciting. Hearing other people’s expectations, reactions and enthusiasm always makes me feel more connected to the subject I love and to the larger fandom around it.
Trailers
Trailers are basically just ads for films. I'm not going to pretend that's not the case. This is not to say that it's not an art form of it's own, it definitely is, but the main goal is always to sell the film. I'm going to see the new MCU films no matter what, so one might wonder the point of watching the trailers. I mean I do sometimes.
For me the first thing is curiosity. I really want to see what kind of movie is coming up next. I don't really need specific plot points, but overall tone, visuals, maybe some action to get me pumped. The other thing is that it creates conversation. Like I said before, I like following conversations about these films. And trailers are some of the best conversation pieces, for they create reactions and more speculation about the future. And of course watching the trailer with a friend and then sharing thoughts is also fun.
So while writing this, I have not seen the new trailer for Captain Marvel. I'm going to pause writing just to watch it and then share my first impressions. I don't have really specific expectations. Usually Marvel Studios has done pretty exciting trailers, so I guess that's all I want.
Of course I liked it!
I mean it really isn't hard for Marvel Studios to sell me a Marvel movie at this point. If I had to say a one complaint, it would be lack of humor in this trailer. I mean I'm sure film will have funny stuff in it, so it's not necessary in the first trailer, but just something I thought after watching it.
The trailer didn't really have much surprises, because lot of it already had been told in previous news. Like the 90's setting, the fact that it takes place partly in space and returning MCU characters. That being said, it all looks like a fun adventure. The suit looks nice. I appreciate that they are not afraid of making the character shoot energy blast (I mean those are just so much fun).
What I did find interesting that they seem to be changing the origins of the main character, Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel. They are keeping the air force background and involvement of the alien race Kree. But the trailer seems to indicate that there's some kind of memory loss thing going on, which I don't think has been part of her origin. That being said I'm not expert on her history, I've mostly focused on the recent stuff. (Edit: and apparantley the memory loss thing might be a homage to her early appearances, but I'm too lazy to investigate further right now. Sorry)
That all being said, I'm satisfied for now. I look forward to seeing bit more of the movie in trailers and seeing how the internet reacts to it.
Have fun. Love and respect each other
- OK
I don't think your posts are too long at all, no need to keep them short if you have something you like to write about!
VastaaPoistaReading your blog is interesting to me because I personally have never understood the hype surrounding Marvel-movies, so considering them from completely different point of view is actually pretty fun. And you've already even made me think about possibly rewatching Iron Man...
As a side note, as someone who knows absolutely nothing about Captain Marvel, that trailer made me really confused as to why she's punching sweet old ladies in a train D:
Good to hear about the lenght of my post.
PoistaAlso it's fine if Marvel movies ain't for you, everyone has their own taste : 3
Yeah, the grandma punching has been going around in the web. It's kind of clever of them, it makes people Google Captain Marvel and creates conversation.
Luckily you don't have to google it! I'll explain: the granny is mostly likely actually member of the Skrull-race. In comic books they are shapeshifting aliens. The movie is supposed to take some inspiration from two Skrull-related story lines; Kree-Skrull war and Secret Invasion. How much remains to be seen.
Thanks for your comment :3