In terms of MCU spiderman, yes I think the plots have been hard to predict.
at first things are going well, but then our hero suffers a crisis putting everything in doubt, only to be resolved by a fistfight and ultimately the power of friendship?
I’m not interested in the big scope “heroes journey” that you learn about in primary school, because that is the same for about every movie there is. I’m interested in how they work with the source material - because every superhero film is an adaptation of existing work.
Let’s look at examples of stuff i fiund surprising and interesting:
Homecoming
Tony Stark created the mess that spiderman has to deal with = new, kind of subversive
The Vulture was Liz Allen’s dad = surprise twist, and while other movies do twists like that it clearly had huge impact on the audience and was the most beloved element of the film
Far From Home
Spiderman is in Europe
School stuff doesn’t really factor in, nor does the expected rhythm of spiderman daily life. He’s just trying to woo MJ instead
Shield wants to work with Spiderman
No Way Home
I think the Goblin was used to great effect.
The villains were on his side at first after being captured.
Dr Strange Tie-in
Spiderman defeats Dr Strange in combat
This one is a lot more “what i anticipated,” I’ll be honest
Brand New Day
Jean Grey. Come on. Big bad villain was
Nice guy at damage control is a villain
Damage Control is rehabilitating villains? Damage control is focused on repurposing weapon technology for civil applications?
Damage Control chose The Hand specifically to counter Spider-Man, as well as developing weapons to counter his webs. You didn’t see that until you saw it
Aunt may featured in it again. Didn’t expect that
specific utilisation of ned Leeds & MJ, and of the punisher, surprised me. I thought Peter’s old friends would be gone forever.
Utilisation of Black Widow and The Hulk was surprising and interesting, and done well i think.
Walking out of the hospital scene
Punisher’s base. I personally knew as soon as the traps went off that it was him, but I bet some people would have thought it was the mind-hopper.
Jean Grey has a sister.
V-Max.
You’re probably going to complain that I’m just listing tiny things, but I don’t know what to tell you, I was surprised and on edge for my first viewing of all of these films. I like them more than the Raimi Spiderman trilogy, which I also love, and more than Andrew Garfield’s spiderman films (I should really find out the directors name).
I think the key difference is being into comic books and their adaptations, or not. Complaining about superhero films centering around physical confrontation (you said “solved by a big fist fight”) is like eating spoonfuls of marmite to make yourself like it.
Thanks for the reply! I definitely see where you’re coming from, and you’re right they are quite good as comic book implementations.
I find MCU movies quite predictable overall, especially compared to e.g. Nolan’s Batman movies or the Joker movies, but I can definitely see that for many people that’s the point.
Personally I am always a bit disappointed though, things usually get really interesting around the middle but then fizzles out into fist fights and the power of friendship. But as you say, this is absolutely the established format, and I can just go elsewhere if I don’t like it.
In terms of MCU spiderman, yes I think the plots have been hard to predict.
I’m not interested in the big scope “heroes journey” that you learn about in primary school, because that is the same for about every movie there is. I’m interested in how they work with the source material - because every superhero film is an adaptation of existing work.
Let’s look at examples of stuff i fiund surprising and interesting:
Homecoming
Far From Home
No Way Home
Brand New Day
You’re probably going to complain that I’m just listing tiny things, but I don’t know what to tell you, I was surprised and on edge for my first viewing of all of these films. I like them more than the Raimi Spiderman trilogy, which I also love, and more than Andrew Garfield’s spiderman films (I should really find out the directors name).
I think the key difference is being into comic books and their adaptations, or not. Complaining about superhero films centering around physical confrontation (you said “solved by a big fist fight”) is like eating spoonfuls of marmite to make yourself like it.
Thanks for the reply! I definitely see where you’re coming from, and you’re right they are quite good as comic book implementations.
I find MCU movies quite predictable overall, especially compared to e.g. Nolan’s Batman movies or the Joker movies, but I can definitely see that for many people that’s the point.
Personally I am always a bit disappointed though, things usually get really interesting around the middle but then fizzles out into fist fights and the power of friendship. But as you say, this is absolutely the established format, and I can just go elsewhere if I don’t like it.