WotC WotC needs an Elon Musk

[Umbran]

Considering I never saw Wandavision myself? No. Hard to understand something you never saw.

Okay, well, that scene gives a reason for her behavior in the movie. The Darkhold is a corrupting influence*, and she fully immersed herself in it for some time, embracing its power trying to get back what she has lost.

They also mentioned that now Doctor Strange has the Darkhold. Does that mean he is going to murder-monster people? Is that the impact of the Final Scene of Multiverse of Madness?

I expect he'll see some impact of using it, but he was more aware of what he was dealing with, used it to a limited degree, and hasn't been as traumatized as Wanda, so... who knows where they'll take it.



*In the comics continuity, it is, for example, the book containing the spell that created the first vampire.

 

[codo]

Ok, what do you want them to make then? What would make you happy?

I am actually pretty happy with what they are doing now. Have about a decade of interconnected film that advance an overarching story, then have a big finale to wrap up arc, and do a sort of soft reboot. Kill off a bunch of characters, introduce some new ones, introduce a new overarching metaplot, and provide a convenient onramp for new viewers.

The problem with an ever expanding cannon is that as you add more and more, it becomes increasingly more difficult for new fans to become engaged. Expecting someone to watch hundreds of hours of film, just to be able to understand the new superhero movie is a pretty big ask. Its fine for a small niche company to cater to a small hardcore fanbase, but a major studio putting out a half billion dollar film needs a wider audience.

 

[RealAlHazred]

*In the comics continuity, it is, for example, the book containing the spell that created the first vampire.

IIRC, didn't he use the Darkhold at one point to kill all vampires on Earth? I wonder if they'll use that to prune that Morbius movie from canon....

 

[codo]

IIRC, didn't he use the Darkhold at one point to kill all vampires on Earth? I wonder if they'll use that to prune that Morbius movie from canon....

The Morbius movie is not a MCU movie, it is part of the Sony Spiderman Cinematic Universe. Two totally different worlds with nothing to do with each other, except they both have the same spiderman in them. Nothing confusing about that, I don't know why people keep getting it mixed up.

 

[Voadam]

The problem with an ever expanding cannon is that as you add more and more, it becomes increasingly more difficult for new fans to become engaged. Expecting someone to watch hundreds of hours of film, just to be able to understand the new superhero movie is a pretty big ask. Its fine for a small niche company to cater to a small hardcore fanbase, but a major studio putting out a half billion dollar film needs a wider audience.

I don't think that is necessary for most superhero films. Black Panther I think stands on its own without having had to watch the Winter Soldier Civil War stuff.

For Endgame and Infinity which are capstones to long drawn out plots involving so many characters I would say some background is pretty important, but Shang Chi I think stands or falls on its own without having to know about the Iron Man rings history. All you would really miss out on is context for who Wong is at the end.

My wife enjoyed WandaVision coming at it with no comics or MCU history. It was interesting on its own. To a lesser extent Falcon as well.

You can write stuff in canon heavy universes that is good for both people who know the cannon and those who don't. It is not necessary to tie everything heavily into preknowledge of what came before.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

You can write stuff in canon heavy universes that is good for both people who know the cannon and those who don't. It is not necessary to tie everything heavily into preknowledge of what came before.

Exactly.

It's always a choice. You never have to rely on canon. You never have to assume the audience has watched a dozen other films just to write a superhero movie.

 

[Azzy]

I don't mind narrative play either, but the narrative I'm keen on is usually bigger than just that which affects my character: it's the narrative or story of the company/party. That story carries on regardless of which character I happen to be playing at the moment; and sometimes having different characters means one just fits in better in the moment than another.

Sure, sure. But my character is how I interact with the narrative. Switching between characters disrupts my interaction.

Example: in the game I play in we just got done with an adventure that really had my #1 mage's interest, as it had to do with thwarting an invasion of her home country. But after that adventure I pulled her from play as she's got a laundry list of downtime stuff to see to, meanwhile the next adventure (currently in progress) involves fulfilling a quest that, once done, will rid the land of a lich. My goody-good Cleric is all up into that, so into the party he comes!

Question, if I may: when did you start playing?

1986, with BECMI and 1e.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I am actually pretty happy with what they are doing now. Have about a decade of interconnected film that advance an overarching story, then have a big finale to wrap up arc, and do a sort of soft reboot. Kill off a bunch of characters, introduce some new ones, introduce a new overarching metaplot, and provide a convenient onramp for new viewers.

The problem with an ever expanding cannon is that as you add more and more, it becomes increasingly more difficult for new fans to become engaged. Expecting someone to watch hundreds of hours of film, just to be able to understand the new superhero movie is a pretty big ask. Its fine for a small niche company to cater to a small hardcore fanbase, but a major studio putting out a half billion dollar film needs a wider audience.

I expect that's true, but without a call to action I don't really see anything to discuss.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Sure, sure. But my character is how I interact with the narrative. Switching between characters disrupts my interaction.


1986, with BECMI and 1e.

That's certainly a valid preference, but mine leans far more into @Lanefan 's camp than yours. I'm running my multi-PC game tonight, for example, and I have no idea which PCs they're actually going to run.

 

[codo]

I don't think that is necessary for most superhero films. Black Panther I think stands on its own without having had to watch the Winter Soldier Civil War stuff.

For Endgame and Infinity which are capstones to long drawn out plots involving so many characters I would say some background is pretty important, but Shang Chi I think stands or falls on its own without having to know about the Iron Man rings history. All you would really miss out on is context for who Wong is at the end.

My wife enjoyed WandaVision coming at it with no comics or MCU history. It was interesting on its own. To a lesser extent Falcon as well.

You can write stuff in canon heavy universes that is good for both people who know the cannon and those who don't. It is not necessary to tie everything heavily into preknowledge of what came before.

Marvel Studios under Kevin Feige has managed to do an exceptional job of balancing the weight of the cannon and accessibility for new viewers, but by the end of phase three things started getting a bit shaky. I think the sort of soft reboot or reset after Endgame was necessary. The analogy of juggling knives was a good one. Marvel managed to juggle dozens of knives for a decade, and they did it well, but you can't just keep adding more knives, eventually you need to put some of them down or you are going to get cut.