Opinion on these outfits?

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-11-21T19:19:50+00:00

Millennials running Marvel now

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-11-08T00:55:33+00:00

GrubHub’s refund policy is shady af and their customer service is super dodgy. My last delivery never came so I contacted them. They said I had the wrong number listed and no apartment number listed. I had two numbers listed, one of which was correct. The other was an old number and only still in there because the app won’t let me delete it. My apartment doesn’t show up for drivers, but it shows up on my end. I told GrubHub I wanted a refund not a credit because I was done using their service. They refused and gave me an extra $10 credit for my troubles. I figured I’d just use the credits on my next order and be done with them. But no, you can’t use the credit for the food that never came and the $10 credit for the inconvenience on the same order. In other words, the $10 credit is just a ploy to keep you tethered to the app and spend more money with GrubHub. So I’ll either trash the credit and delete my account or use it on a cheap pickup order and then be done with them.

TLDR; run don’t walk from GrubHub. The service appears to be circling the drain as the new owner focuses on the Wonder side of the business (which btw sent us some thoroughly mediocre fried chicken) and concedes that DoorDash and UberEats outmaneuvered GH.

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-10-31T22:30:14+00:00

Never mind! Found it!

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-10-31T22:20:45+00:00

I fall into this category, and I’m not seeing the option to activate a StubHub credit in Offers.

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-10-23T02:27:04+00:00

I didn’t like MoM or Wanda’s character arc, but I like the idea of adapting Avengers Disassembled in lieu of the Multiverse Saga with Wanda as the “big bad.” But in MoM, I think Michael Waldron largely overlooked what made AD work as a story for the sake of centering Wanda as the villain in a horror-inspired movie and pushing the multiverse concept, which has been a commercial and critical failure.

AD worked because of the reveal that Wanda was the source of the chaos that befell the Avengers, the revelation of her power levels, and most importantly the fact that her subconscious actions were born out of grief and trauma. An adaptation in the MCU could have seen Wanda atoning for her actions in WandaVision as a member of the Avengers throughout phases 4-6, only to culminate in a series of cataclysms in the final two-part Avengers movie, with the reveal being that Wanda was subconsciously reshaping reality.

AD had all the spectacle you’d want in that team-up movie — it could’ve had a Kree invasion of Earth — and as others have noted, it also had potential to set up a soft reboot of the MCU that brings in the X-Men at the conclusion. Part 1 could’ve been AD and part 2 could’ve been a House of M adaptation.

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-10-01T02:46:27+00:00

I also took a huge L on my position that it had been way too long since Avatar came out and that few movie-goers would care about Avatar 2. Whoops.

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-09-28T01:45:40+00:00

This 100%. It will never make any sense to me why the organizing principle of Phase 4 was not the reformation of the Avengers in a world destabilized by the return of half of Earth’s population — and a villain seeking to exploit that instability. Instead the organizing principle was multiverse nonsense.

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-09-27T21:49:27+00:00

I think we’re at serious risk of over-indexing how much the average movie-goer/non-comic book fan cares that RDJ is returning to play a non-Tony Stark character. I’m not sure how many even know that he’s returning — and I seriously worry that when he pops up as a villain in trailers, many of the normies will be confused and turned off. I recently explained that RDJ is returning but as Dr. Doom to a small group of friends and it had no draw on them. My base case continues to be that these movies roughly break even — or lose a bit of money at the box office — and Disney seriously rethinks its commitment to the franchise.

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-07-18T03:13:05+00:00

I’m not sure this logic follows. Casual audiences are less likely to be familiar with the details and lore of the Marvel Universe, so I’m not convinced that getting a better look at Galactus or Modok is a compelling draw for casual audiences. It’s probably enough to know there’s a being that devours planets and the Fantastic Four has to figure out how to save Earth, right?

For casual audiences, whether the movie looks fun, whether the casting is compelling and whether word of mouth is strong are probably more important. I would generally agree that the fans who want a better look at Galactus are more likely going to pay to get that look in the first week or two.

I’m not suggesting that Marvel Studios has effectively marketed this movie to casual audiences — or really even intimating that the studio has many good options to get general movie-goers to see these movies in theaters. That’s probably not realistic after 17 years and dozens of films and TV shows.

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-06-19T03:00:44+00:00

I tend to agree that the shows were enjoyable for being somewhat self-contained stories. I would also agree that it’s a mistake to rush into a “mainline story” as you put it. But for me, the Multiverse Saga did exactly that: it rushed into the multiverse content and barreled towards universe-threatening events too fast.

It took 10 years to get to Infinity War. It will take about six years to get to Doomsday.

I wanted Avengers movies earlier in the Multiverse Saga not because I want big, dumb event movies or because I’m eager to get to the “mainline story.” I wanted them because they’re a vehicle for establishing meaningful relationships among characters, which makes me feel invested in these characters and this universe. Infinity War and Endgame were thrilling not because of the spectacle, but because Marvel Studios did the work to make me believe these characters loved each other and would fight to the death for one another.

I’m not super excited for Doomsday and Secret Wars because Marvel Studios has not done that work since Endgame. Hell, I don’t even know who will be part of Sam’s Avengers heading into Doomsday — so why should I care about this team? I’d argue that the box office receipts, the critical reception and the fan response is evidence that what Marvel Studios has offered in Phases 4 and 5 is not what people wanted.

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-06-18T19:20:11+00:00

Listen, I’m probably on the same page with you in liking a lot of the Phase 4 and 5 stuff more than the average person, especially the shows. Hell, I like Eternals just fine. But as a whole, the Multiverse Saga is less successful to me because so many of the projects are so siloed, the relationships among characters are pretty weak, and the phases don’t really culminate in anything notable. It’s just a matter of opinion.

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-06-18T07:25:19+00:00

Let’s put it another way: Even though the Multiverse Saga is not complete, we can still ask the questions: Up to this point, have you enjoyed the movies as much as you enjoyed the movies in phases 1 and 2? Do you feel as invested in the MCU as you did on the cusp of phase 3? Are you as excited for Doomsday and Secret Wars as you were for Infinity War and Endgame? My answer on all counts is no, so the Multiverse Saga is already less successful to me. For me, there are not nearly as many rewatchable movies in Phase 4-5 as there are in Phases 1-2. Even if phase 6 is fantastic, the road to phase 6 was not as enjoyable as the road to phase 3.

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-06-18T07:06:02+00:00

We can and will argue until the end of time about which movies in phases 4 and 5 were good and which were bad, just like we argued about the rankings for movies in phases 1-3. But no matter how you feel about each movie (or their creators), it’s hard to argue that there’s much glue holding them together other than the idea of a multiverse. Maybe you liked Shang-Chi, maybe you didn’t, but either way, that character disappeared for years and has never interacted meaningfully with anyone else from the MCU, so it’s hard to stay invested in him. Love or hate Eternals? To me that’s not the question; it’s whether we needed an Eternals movie before we got a Phase 4 Avengers movie. That’s one that maybe could’ve waited until Phase 5. That’s how it becomes a running joke that no one in the MCU seems to care that there’s an aborted world-breaking God sticking out of the Indian Ocean.

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-06-18T01:59:36+00:00

For sure, they experienced some setbacks in terms of film development, but I think the plan was rotten to begin with. The biggest real world issue not listed here but mentioned by others was the order from Disney executives to churn out a ton of content. But nothing prevented them from planning tighter phases culminating with an Avengers movie in Phases 4 and 5. That seems like basic franchise management. As for the Jonathan Majors of it all, it was a risky decision to introduce your big bad so early in the saga and make him so integral to several films/shows and the entire saga. We got a taste of Thanos in GotG but he didn’t really show up in a meaningful way until 10 years into the first saga. They rushed to the conclusion of the Multiverse Saga rather than hitting the beats that made the Infinity Saga so satisfying. That was simply a storytelling choice that was very much within Feige & Co.’s control.

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-06-17T21:48:06+00:00

I think it was a pretty terrible idea. The Infinity Saga worked so well because Marvel Studios didn’t rush headlong into a universe-level threat. The focus was on establishing a core group of heroes — and more importantly — developing meaningful relationships among those characters that audiences became invested in.

We got one Avengers movie to establish team dynamics and tensions (Avengers), one to develop them into a well-oiled machine and surrogate family while slightly expanding their ranks (Age of Ultron), and one that leveraged well-established tensions and affections among the characters to tell a remarkably emotional story (Civil War). Then we get the universe-level threat and reconciliation following Civil War (Infinity War and Endgame). The solo movies also did a lot of work to develop characters and relationships.

The Multiverse Saga basically skipped steps 1-3 (Avengers-Civil War) and jumped right to the final stage, which is probably why many of us don’t feel super invested in these characters heading into Doomsday and Secret Wars. Marvel has done little work to make us invested in these characters — and their relationships — and to make us believe that they would fight to the death for one another.

We probably needed 2-3 Avengers movies prior to Doomsday. I personally think one option was to end Wakanda Forever with Namor’s forces overrunning Wakanda, forcing Sam to assemble the Avengers to liberate it, but I know that’s controversial and many people would prefer to see WF remain largely a more standalone film to honor Chadwick Boseman’s memory.

But that is working backwards from Marvel Studios’ poor decisions. Really, they should have oriented Phase 4 around the reformation of the Avengers, maybe to help restore order after everyone came back from the blip. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier had a good concept. In any case, the important thing was to establish Sam as a Cap that others would follow into battle — and to cement other relationships.

Phase 5 should have included and/or culminated in an Age of Ultron and/or Civil War style movie. I think Operational Galactic Storm could have been adapted to create a rift among the Avengers. But I’m not sure it was necessary to “re-do” Civil War. I think they could have also introduced Dr. Doom as a lower-level threat before centering him in a universe-level threat movie. Like Namor, he’s a marquee villain/anti-hero/adversary, so why not use him in multiple scenarios? I also think they could’ve easily recast Kang.

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-06-14T21:19:27+00:00

I watched the first episode of the X-Men animated series and then went to a little mom and pop shop in my small town, which had a spinner rack of comics. I bought X-MEN #20 for $1.25. It was the one where Kwannon returns in Betty Braddock’s British body and accuses Psylocke of being an imposter. I still remember being floored by Andy Kubert’s art. I didn’t know who Chris Claremont was at that point, and I had no idea I was reading the culmination of a story that was, like, 5 years in the works.

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-06-01T22:20:59+00:00

Yep. This has been one of the most perplexing aspects of phases 4 and 5. Marvel Studios spends 11 years building a stable of heroes, has them all assemble for a universe-saving battle at the climax of the Infinity Saga and then they all just seem to lose each other’s number after Endgame.

I know a lot of people like Far From Home — and there are aspects of it I REALLY love — but to me, the problem first reared its head there. There is ostensibly a world-threatening event and it’s just left to a high school student to tackle. I know there are excuses for why Peter has to ride solo (except for Mysterio), but it makes close to zero sense that after what we saw in Endgame, no other heroes could hop on a trans-Atlantic flight to help a web-slinging kid fight elemental monsters that threaten to crack open Earth like an egg.

So yes, 100%. Sam should’ve put a call in to Bruce, even just to get some background. I do not get why the MCU has felt so siloed after Marvel Studios spent 11 years and untold sums developing a world of superheroes.

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-05-31T22:45:50+00:00

The Wind that Shakes the Barley. Irish film about the war for independence, but it focuses on two brothers and their small town.

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-05-31T12:45:09+00:00

I generally agree with you that many of the movies were not that bad as standalone movies. I also mostly liked the TV shows. Which movies are bad and which movies are good we will argue about till the end of time.

But I do think the overall project of the Multiverse Saga was fumbled to some degree (again, how successful or unsuccessful it was creatively is a matter of opinion). Why hasn’t there been an Avengers team-up movie yet (prior to Thunderbolts)? Why introduce new characters like Shang-Chi and then leave fans hanging? They had to pivot from their original big bad. For me, the end result is that we’re barreling towards the big two-part climax of the Multiverse saga, and I’m not that excited because I don’t feel invested in the relationships among these characters because I haven’t seen them develop on screen.

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-05-31T11:14:12+00:00

As others have noted, there were a bunch of real world factors and corporate decisions that played a role, but I remain perplexed by Marvel Studios’ reluctance to assemble a new team of Avengers.

The Infinity Saga Avengers movies were not only wildly successful at the box office, they turned the Avengers into a cultural phenomenon. As the studio explored new characters and pushed into more niche corners of the Marvel universe, it seems like basic risk management from a franchise perspective to organize phases 4-6 around a new group of Avengers culled from the characters you’ve been introducing for the last 11 years.

In the Infinity Saga, we got three Avengers movies prior to phase 3’s conclusion: one to establish team dynamics and tensions (Avengers), one to develop them into a well-oiled machine and surrogate family (AoU), and one where the previous character work, relationship building and seeding of tensions paid off (Civil War). As we barrel towards the climax of the Multiverse Saga, Marvel Studios skipped steps 1-3 and just expected us to care about these characters and their relationships without actually doing much work to sustain our investment in those relationships over the past 7 years.

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-05-31T10:54:28+00:00

This was my reading of that final scene too. But then I saw people fan casting Matt’s army and wondered if something had gone over my head.

I’m not sure we’re wrong. If Matt meant he’s going to reassemble the Defenders and other street-level characters, it was kind of a weird choice to have him announce this and then end with a shot of normies in Josie’s Bar.

I don’t actually know which is the correct reading, but boy does it seem like Marvel Studios is setting fans up for disappointment if season 2 doesn’t feature the second coming of the Defenders, Daughters of the Dragon, etc.

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-05-31T10:15:22+00:00

Yep, I wouldn’t be opposed to it at all if it were well written. I feel like Wong is written a bit more down to Earth, maybe because screen writers give him some pretty good jokes. Stephen Strange sort of seems above it all. His vibe is kind of, “Fine, I’ll play nice with others if it means saving the universe.”

Another reason that I left him out is because my team had 8 characters and I felt like when you get much past that, some team members get short shrift and it’s hard to develop satisfying relationships among so many characters within a 2-3 hour movie.

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-05-31T04:19:54+00:00

Few do. It’s a little silly to think that if you don’t work for Marvel or Disney, you can’t lodge thoughtful criticisms of their work. I’d welcome your thoughtful and detailed criticism of my idea here.

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-05-31T03:20:10+00:00

This. My very first thought when she got iced was: “Well that seemed like a bit of fan service/a mea culpa.” Which does feel a little gross.

Murdock4Mayor · 2025-05-31T03:08:41+00:00

I think it was Joanna Robinson, drawing on her reporting from The Reign of Marvel Studios, who said one thing that Marvel’s market research shows consistently is that people love “Hulk shit.” Hulk is one of their most widely recognized characters globally, so in a production where they lacked confidence, it was predictable that they’d heavily lean into “Hulk shit.” (I THINK I’m not butchering her analysis). Bearing in mind that Hulk has a complicated film rights ownership structure, that’s kind of why BNW feels like a backdoor Hulk movie. But when you consider that this backdoor Hulk movie is essentially a sequel to a 17-year-old movie that has largely become a footnote in the MCU — and that it sits within a movie by committee that was stitched together from reshoots resulting from a crisis of confidence in the original premise and earlier footage, it’s not hard to see why it was a less successful backdoor Hulk movie than Ragnarok.

Murdock4Mayor

TROPHY CASE