Marvel Cinematic Universe

[BryceC]

Just got back myself, and yes, this movie has some flaws. It is a CGI fest, the story lacked in some spots, and it might be a little hard to understand fully what is going on without following the MCU thus far, especially Loki. HOWEVER, I don't care what the critics say, I actually greatly enjoyed this movie, mostly due to one thing..... Kang. Kang is a BEAST in this movie, and Majors puts on yet another ridiculously good performance. The dude is truly terrifying at multiple spots and is already one of the best villains in the MCU. I used the word BEAST because there is no better word, and you will realize why I use that word afterwards.. I also saw this movie in 3D, and really loved seeing it that way. Some of the MCU movies work well in 3D for me like this one and the Dr. Strange movies, and some don't, like Wakanda Forever. If it helps for more of a recent context to take in my opinion or not, I did not like Love and Thunder but really liked Multiverse of Madness. I also loved Ant-Man 1 and was so so on Ant-Man 2. To me, this movie surpasses the second movie but probably trails behind the first. With all that said, take my opinion for what it is worth.

Spoiler: Kang

Kang was both the best thing of the movie and my biggest problem with it.

If you're as strong as Kang the Conquerer, you can't lose to Ant Man. I'm sorry bruh but Thanos ain't going out like that.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

Yeah I didn’t like it which isn’t shocking. But went with partner and two friends who all three are big Marvel and comic fans. One said ‘yeah that was bad’ the other said ‘I’m really disappointed’ and my partner just said ‘wtf that was just too goofy’.



I will say I like Majors. He’s always good. I will also say it’s not the worst Marvel movie. That’s all I got. Haha

I like that you still go to these movies with your partner knowing that you're probably not going to like it. Props to you.

I'm probably going to see this over the weekend, but I'm going in with the same expectation that I had with Ant-Man and the Wasp.

 

[Gorm]

These poor movies are why I think Disney brought Iger back and is bringing Favreau back into the MCU for reviewing stuff. I'm glad they're reducing the disney plus series and focusing more on the main movie plots again. I just hope that doesn't diminish the quality of the mandoverse stuff.

Ant-Man Quantum was already in progress under Iger before he left. Bob Capek had almost ZERO impact on the animation / Marvel / Star Wars projects before he got ousted.

Disney+ has been an epic disaster in terms of watch time and "subscribers attracted." They finally relized that they can no longer be a "content factory" as their quality of their content has slipped considerably. Both in writing and production.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

I heard that too. I'm gonna try to get to it this weekend. I'm planning on watching it in the darkest room in my house and hope the contrast helps out. I found that worked during the big white walker fight scene for Game of Thrones.

I finally watched Black Panther Wakanda Forever this past weekend. Watching it in a very dark room was helpful, but there were still some scenes that were a struggle to follow.

I enjoyed the movie, but there were definitely some moments that were lacking. Choosing to attack the Talokans in the ocean (where they are strongest) with one craft and one sonic weapon was an interesting war tactic. The Talokans not using those extremely effective water bomb things in the final battle was also confusing.

I wasn't looking forward to this movie, but came away liking it more than I thought. Not great, but lowering expectations sure helped.

 

[dahliaclone]

I like that you still go to these movies with your partner knowing that you're probably not going to like it. Props to you.

I'm probably going to see this over the weekend, but I'm going in with the same expectation that I had with Ant-Man and the Wasp.

I wish I did like them. They are all just too formulaic to me. I'm also not their demographic. But I love movies and he loves these and I drag him to horror movies which he hates so it's a fair trade off.

 

[BryceC]

Ant-Man Quantum was already in progress under Iger before he left. Bob Capek had almost ZERO impact on the animation / Marvel / Star Wars projects before he got ousted.

Disney+ has been an epic disaster in terms of watch time and "subscribers attracted." They finally relized that they can no longer be a "content factory" as their quality of their content has slipped considerably. Both in writing and production.

They have 160 million subscribers. When they launched, they said they hoped to reach 60 million to 90 million subscribers by 2024. That's not a disaster by any means.

 

[Gorm]

They have 160 million subscribers. When they launched, they said they hoped to reach 60 million to 90 million subscribers by 2024. That's not a disaster by any means.

There is quite a bit of fuzzy math in those numbers.

Per their latest earnings call, Disney has sold most of its subscriptions via "bundles". Even though people are paying 1 lower price, they get counted as a paying subscriber to 3 different services. (D+, HULU, EPSN+) Even though the revenue they brought in isn't the same as actual paying subscribers.

Not to mention, they are counting any FREE subscription to the service as if they were a paying subscriber.

So in short, when Disney reports a "Subscriber" - They do no differentiate between if that subscription is free or full paying. Nor do they have to report this to their shareholders.

All of the "new" content produced directly for Disney+ has cost them too much for what they are getting back in return. This is why you are seeing scale backs. The service doesn't have the viewership numbers to continue on their current strategy.

 

[BryceC]

Certainly possible. But they are at 2x their ‘24 projections right now, bundles be damned.

Everybody is scaling back their streaming stuff. The market is different. That’s not unique to Disney at all.

 

[Gorm]

Certainly possible. But they are at 2x their ‘24 projections right now, bundles be damned.

And over half those numbers are questionable in some way shape or form to how they are being reported. Major Wall Street publications have called this out recently as well.

Everybody is scaling back their streaming stuff. The market is different. That’s not unique to Disney at all.

Agreed. Every content provider who wanted a bite of the streaming pie spent money as if the 2020 viewership numbers were going to continue on that trend. Well now the market is saturated and most folks do not like paying for more than a handful of subscriptions. In fact, the saturation has led a lot of people back to pirating their content.

 

[jctisu]

There is quite a bit of fuzzy math in those numbers.

Per their latest earnings call, Disney has sold most of its subscriptions via "bundles". Even though people are paying 1 lower price, they get counted as a paying subscriber to 3 different services. (D+, HULU, EPSN+) Even though the revenue they brought in isn't the same as actual paying subscribers.

Not to mention, they are counting any FREE subscription to the service as if they were a paying subscriber.

So in short, when Disney reports a "Subscriber" - They do no differentiate between if that subscription is free or full paying. Nor do they have to report this to their shareholders.

All of the "new" content produced directly for Disney+ has cost them too much for what they are getting back in return. This is why you are seeing scale backs. The service doesn't have the viewership numbers to continue on their current strategy.

Disney+ is what most are purchasing the bundle for. ESPN+ has very few standalone subscribers. Disney+ is on track still to hit profitability by end of year. To call it a disaster is just factually false.

There are things they need to address with it, but it’s been solid for them and is projected to be very profitable moving forward.

 

[Gorm]

Disney+ is what most are purchasing the bundle for. ESPN+ has very few standalone subscribers. Disney+ is on track still to hit profitability by end of year. To call it a disaster is just factually false.

There are things they need to address with it, but it’s been solid for them and is projected to be very profitable moving forward.

I'll be happy to eat crow if by the end of the year Disney+ hits profitability. That service haven't gotten to profitability since it started and they had to borrow money that was earmarked for the Disney Channel in order to shore up Disney+ in 2022.

"Disaster" is a very appropriate term to call the service and the original content created for that service. She-Hulk was an epic failure in both story telling, editing, and CGI. (Although bad CGI is becoming a calling card for ALL Disney funded projects.)

Not to mention, a company firing their CEO at 5:55 pm on a Sunday night right before that CEO was supposed to speak at an Elton John concert sure seems like the behavior of a healthy company. I'm sure it had NOTHING to do with the rumor that Disney put a lot of money into FTX which of course is now gone.

 

[jctisu]

I'll be happy to eat crow if by the end of the year Disney+ hits profitability. That service haven't gotten to profitability since it started and they had to borrow money that was earmarked for the Disney Channel in order to shore up Disney+ in 2022.

"Disaster" is a very appropriate term to call the service and the original content created for that service. She-Hulk was an epic failure in both story telling, editing, and CGI. (Although bad CGI is becoming a calling card for ALL Disney funded projects.)

Not to mention, a company firing their CEO at 5:55 on a Sunday night right before that CEO was supposed to speak at an Elton John concert sure seems like the behavior of a healthy company.

Go back and see Iger’s initial reports when Disney+ was launched. Their goal and target, which was promised to shareholders by him, was Disney+ would reach profitability by their fiscal ‘24 year which starts October 1, 2023.

Starting up a streaming business is extremely expensive, and they knew/said out of the gate it would be very expensive and lose money. Everyone on Wall Street knew this. What nobody knew was this thing called COVID shutting down Disney parks for many months and then hampering allowed attendance for months after that. That was this biggest hit to their bottom line and they turned impressive parks profit in the last couple of quarters now.

Chapek was a guy who was VP material but not able to run the whole show. Bob Iger is one of the most impressive CEOs any company has had. Just finished his book, and the dude is so damn good at what he does. I encourage others to read it. To the point many powerful people wanted him to run for President of the United States.

His announced plans to get things back on track makes sense, but I guess to your point, it absolutely might not work. But that’s ANY business ever. What you don’t want is someone running the show like Chapek who had zero plan, and it was obvious. That’s the sign of an unhealthy company and hence why the board ousted him.

It’s up to Iger to fix things and find a better replacement because that is one thing Iger didn’t get right was making Chapek his heir so to speak.

I guess in the long run I trust most companies who have been around doing overall great business for 100 years. Doesn’t mean it’s a guarantee, but percentages say they will be fine. Just like life there are ebbs and flows. And right now we are all in a valley with the markets, inflation, etc.

 

[Gorm]

Go back and see Iger’s initial reports when Disney+ was launched. Their goal and target, which was promised to shareholders by him, was Disney+ would reach profitability by their fiscal ‘24 year which starts October 1, 2023.

How close are they to this goal? The latest earning reports call didn't fill anyone with any confidence.

Starting up a streaming business is extremely expensive, and they knew/said out of the gate it would be very expensive and lose money. Everyone on Wall Street knew this. What nobody knew was this thing called COVID shutting down Disney parks for many months and then hampering allowed attendance for months after that. That was this biggest hit to their bottom line and they turned impressive parks profit in the last couple of quarters now.

Covid is what threw gas on the "streaming bubble" that burst once everyone left their homes. This is not a discussion about Disney's theme park division. If you want to bring them into this that is fine but that means you want to talk about the entire scope of the company. That would include ESPN, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox, Buena Vista, ABC television...etc all need to be considered as well.

https://www.titlemax.com/wp-content/uploads/every-company-disney-owns.jpeg

Chapek was a guy who was VP material but not able to run the whole show. Bob Iger is one of the most impressive CEOs any company has had. Just finished his book, and the dude is so damn good at what he does. I encourage others to read it. To the point many powerful people wanted him to run for President of the United States.

From what I've heard Bob Iger never left. In fact, he continued to use his main office in Disney HQ well after he was told to vacate. He openly tells people he wants to run for President of the United States. IMO he would do about as well as Bloomberg did. At the end of the day, every movie including latest Ant-Man was Greenlit and in production before Iger left the first time. Trying to pin these failures on Capek is industry gaslighting.

His announced plans to get things back on track makes sense, but I guess to your point, it absolutely might not work. But that’s ANY business ever. What you don’t want is someone running the show like Chapek who had zero plan, and it was obvious. That’s the sign of an unhealthy company and hence why the board ousted him.

Chapek had a plan. The others on the board just didn't like the direction he wanted to go. Don't forget Chapek originally didn't want Disney to get involved in the "Don't Say Gay" bill. He only did so under pressure from the rest of the board. Until we know Disney's full involvement in the FTX scandal, I'm going to pin his ousting on that. The FTX story blew up on a Friday, and on Sunday the CEO was fired.

I guess in the long run I trust most companies who have been around doing overall great business for 100 years. Doesn’t mean it’s a guarantee, but percentages say they will be fine. Just like life there are ebbs and flows. And right now we are all in a valley with the markets, inflation, etc.

Walt Disney would be ashamed of what has become of his company in 2022.

 

[AirWalke]

Fully disagree with the critics on this one, great movie!

 

[AirWalke]

I was expecting this one to be kind of a headache to watch like Multiverse of Madness and Love & Thunder, but it was a great watch. CGI fest yes, but the CGI was gorgeous. I love all the imagination that went into the denizens of the Quantum Realm. I love movies like this that just allow the artists to go crazy and do what they do best.

Spoiler: Only thing I didn’t like…

… was MODOK. He was way to reigned in. I bet they were worried that he’d be too silly for the movie but really if you’re going to bring Darren Cross back into the mix as a giant ******* head you need to lean into it and just go balls to the wall. He seemed too human.

Otherwise, I’m excited for what the future of the Multiverse storyline entails. I don’t care how much critics hate it. Bring it on. Bring it all on.

 

[jctisu]

How close are they to this goal? The latest earning reports call didn't fill anyone with any confidence.


Covid is what threw gas on the "streaming bubble" that burst once everyone left their homes. This is not a discussion about Disney's theme park division. If you want to bring them into this that is fine but that means you want to talk about the entire scope of the company. That would include ESPN, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox, Buena Vista, ABC television...etc all need to be considered as well.

https://www.titlemax.com/wp-content/uploads/every-company-disney-owns.jpeg

From what I've heard Bob Iger never left. In fact, he continued to use his main office in Disney HQ well after he was told to vacate. He openly tells people he wants to run for President of the United States. IMO he would do about as well as Bloomberg did. At the end of the day, every movie including latest Ant-Man was Greenlit and in production before Iger left the first time. Trying to pin these failures on Capek is industry gaslighting.

Chapek had a plan. The others on the board just didn't like the direction he wanted to go. Don't forget Chapek originally didn't want Disney to get involved in the "Don't Say Gay" bill. He only did so under pressure from the rest of the board. Until we know Disney's full involvement in the FTX scandal, I'm going to pin his ousting on that. The FTX story blew up on a Friday, and on Sunday the CEO was fired.


Walt Disney would be ashamed of what has become of his company in 2022.

Zero convincing you as you revealed a few things that tells me all I need to know. We will agree to disagree and I will go about my day knowing what I know and think based on reports and fact-checked things.

Have a good one.

 

[Gorm]

Zero convincing you as you revealed a few things that tells me all I need to know. We will agree to disagree and I will go about my day knowing what I know and think based on reports and fact-checked things.

Have a good one.

Cool.

Whatever you need to tell yourself in order to justify not having to defend your position and leave a discussion is fine by me.

Not something I would choose to do, but you do you.

 

[BryceC]

Walt Disney would be ashamed of what has become of his company in 2022.

Why?

 

[Gorm]

Why?

This thread is derailed enough, and I am fully aware I was a participant. That conversation will need to be in a new thread, and likely in the cave.

 

[Die4Cy]

Saw the movie last night and we all really enjoyed it. There were some schmaltzy jokes and it seems like the screenwriters have dumbed things down a little since Phase 1-2, but if you haven't seen it you should. A good time.