HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY! Today is also #watchherrise’s 1st birthday and the one year anniversary of Captain Marvel’s release. To commentate all three of those wonderful things, the #WatchHerRise website now offers a new section called Marvel Gateways. To counter the gate keeping that so often happens in the fan community, Marvel Gateways outlines different mediums that Marvel uses for storytelling such as comic books and and podcast dramatisations with recommendations and interviews of how the stories were created. There are so many different ways to enjoy Marvel’s stories, which means you can personalise your Marvel experience. A gateway is the starting point of that experience. I want to thank every single fan artist and cosplayer allowed me to repost their work. You guys are the reason this has been so fun and I can’t wait to see what you make next! https://www.instagram.com/p/B9fC0uGjOJi/?igshid=kr8rdu6lv427
Happy World Book Day! What a person reads shapes them and tells us a little about who they might become. Allowing children to take pleasure in reading can open a world of doors for them, but it can also help them understand themselves and other people a little better. It lets them know they are not alone in what they are feeling. I definitely know that is Marvel has done that for me. One of my favourite quotes about stories was something that Kazuo Ishiguro said in his Nobel Speech: ‘In the end, stories are about one person saying to another: This is the way it feels to me. Can you understand what I’m saying? Does it feel this way to you?’ #worldbookday #worldbookday2020 #marvel https://www.instagram.com/p/B9XJZ8UjBJ1/?igshid=i6h9uvuqp65t
Sana Amanat on working as a editor at Marvel! Listen to the whole interview with @thewomenofmarvel (Episode Eight - “All About The Editors”) #editors #editing #womenofmarvel #marvel #mcu #wom #womenhistorymonth #marvelcomics #comics #comic #comicbooks #watcherrise https://www.instagram.com/p/B9PVpucjEy4/?igshid=crad3aqsoqpp
Jeanine Schaefer on working as a editor at Marvel! Listen to the whole interview with @thewomenofmarvel (Episode Eight - “All About The Editors” #editors #editing #womenofmarvel #marvel #mcu #wom #womenhistorymonth #marvelcomics #comics #comic #comicbooks https://www.instagram.com/p/B9PLq-CDM4b/?igshid=14z3glvggxvc8
Happy Women’s History Month! The theme of #internationalwomensday this year will be ‘I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights’. According to the UN, ‘the theme is aligned with UN Women’s new multigenerational campaign, Generation Equality, which marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Adopted in 1995 at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, the Beijing Platform for Action is recognized as the most progressive roadmap for the empowerment of women and girls, everywhere. The year 2020 is a pivotal year for advancing gender equality worldwide, as the global community takes stock of progress made for women’s rights since the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action.’ As a way to advance gender equality in comic book and storytelling in general, I will be looking at different jobs in the industry and advice from the @thewomenofmarvel (their podcast is available on several podcasting platforms and www.watchherrise.co.uk) about different careers in storytelling. If there is a chance someone could read about what a comic book editor or an animator does and realise that is the career path they want to take, that’s pretty exciting. Message me if there is particular career you want to hear about! #iwd #iwd2020 #womenofmarvel #iamgenerationequality #generationequality #marvel #mcu #marvelcomics #womenincomics #womeninfilm #womeningaming #avengers #comics #cosplay #comicbooks #womenshistorymonth #womenshistorymonth2020 https://www.instagram.com/p/B9MycLeDknm/?igshid=pstp2m1aa5z7
With Natasha’s death in ‘Avengers: Endgame’, it was assumed that her movie was going to be a prequel, but the teaser trailer suggests that when the movie is set might be more complicated. The ‘Black Widow’ film is supposed to be set after ‘Civil War’, and the majority of it is likely to be, however the trailer suggests there is still an alternate ending for Natasha than the one in ‘Endgame’. Even if Natasha remains dead, there is still quite a bright future for the Black Widow mantel.
The ‘Black Widow’ title sequence is one of the biggest indicators that there will be a plot line with time - travel. The silhouette of Natasha walking through her own mantel - the hour glass - could be symbolic of her walking through time, as well as metaphorically 'walking through her past'. The two glowing, red lines that run through the title come from the hour glass. If the hour glass is symbolic of time, they start to look like two separate timelines: one where Natasha dies, like in ‘Endgame’, and possibly one where both she and Tony both live in ‘Black Widow’. The version of Natasha walking through the hour glass was from ‘Iron Man 2’, and since its been confirmed Tony is in the film, a past Tony might be able to come back to the future with Natasha.
With both ‘timelines’ glowing red, there is a link back to one of the final trailers in ‘Avengers: Endgame’, which had sections of the image highlighted red while the rest of the shot remained in black and white. Natasha’s trailer started with flashbacks as well, but since they were of her family at SHIELD and her life as an Avenger, there is an equal chance this was just be a reminder for the audience of when the film is set. Despite this, Natasha’s voice over: ‘I used to have nothing. And then I got this job. This family. But nothing lasts for forever’ is very similar to her line in ‘Endgame’: ‘I used to have nothing. Then I got this. This job…this family. And I was…I was better because of it. And even though…they’re gone…I’m still trying to be better.’. The Endgame trailer had flashbacks to the dusted heroes and the remaining Avengers’ loved ones, and now that Natasha is dead, her own flashbacks and the red timelines could be a link to ‘Endgame’. The two films using exactly the same techniques suggest that that their films will have similar themes, like time travel. Or more specifically, time-heists.
Alternatively, even if the timeline remains the same, the is still a likely chance that the Black Widow mantel will survive a post-Endgame world. It had been said even before the trailer came out with characters like Yelena that this film will contain multiple Black Widows. One of them could easily take the mantel in her name, or even individualize the mantle e.g. Crimson Widow, Red Widow etc. In Yelena and Natasha’s close up fight - sequence, they switched guns, like they were switching roles. As shown with Sam as Captain America and Jane as the Mighty Thor, mantles don’t have to carried by the original character.
In either version of events, there is much to be revealed about Natasha’s past; the fact that she is a super soldier being one of them. The sequence where she jumps out of a plane is not dissimilar from the way Steve jumped out the SHIELD aircraft in ‘Winter Soldier’. There is very little chance Natasha could have survived jumping out a plane from such a great hight without the same or similar skills. It would also mean that Natasha survived the fall in ‘Endgame’. Clint might have only needed to believe he sacrificed his loved one, and gone through the loss of doing so to gain the Soul Stone.
The Black Widow lives, through people remembering who she was in her past, or who she is going to become in the future. It seems quite fitting as master spy, that her first film is heist movie.
Favourite Line: I can’t control their fear, only my own.
As a central character in Infinity War, it is likely that Wanda will be one of main characters in Endgame.The dust scene at the end of Infinity War is uncanny in its similarity to the promotional photo for The House of M comic series. The House Of M is a 2005 series that revolves around Wanda’s powers and her descent into madness as a result of Magneto’s (her father) war on humans, creating a Once Upon A Time -esque world where no remembers their true identities. The first time I watched Infinity War, the effect used when everyone turned to dust reminded me of House of M, where Wanda created an alternate reality in a world.
The plot of The House of M centres around Quicksilver and Magneto along with the rest of the X-Men, and so re-creating that in the MCU would be difficult. However, the transfer from the Civil War comics (which also involved the X-Men) onto the film Captain America: Civil War shows that Marvel are capable of making a transfer from comic to screen despite dominant characters being missing. Marvel have confirmed that the X-Men will be in the Marvel Universe post-2019, and that The Scarlet Witch will be a TV show. At the very least, this suggests that Wanda will be a main feature of Endgame or post-Endgame plot lines.
The problem that arises when suggesting that Marvel are drawing inspiration from the comic House of M, is that it takes place after Magneto has lost the war against humans; it was his obsession leading up to the war that made his children mentally unstable. MCU Wanda cannot become mentally unstable over something that has not yet happened. Pietro’s death in Age of Ultron also creates (without spoiling the story for those who have not read it) a very clear problem in terms of plot. Luke Cage also has a large role in the series; his Netflix Original being cancelled doesn’t bode well, and neither does the lack of a Wolverine. However, Endgame might resurrect Pietro through the time travel plot set up for Endgame in order to create an alternate timeline involving the X-Men with Pietro and Magneto alive - and perhaps (although it’s highly unlikely) with Luke Cage and Wolverine.
In terms of Infinity War, the way that the timeline might have been altered could link to the final scene, where Wanda is both destroying the mind stone in Vison and defending herself from Thanos who was using four of the stones but one against her. Taking into a count that in this reality, Wanda’s abilities were actually created by an infinity stone, Wanda’s powers connecting with the stones might mean they had a slightly different effect than Thanos intended. Instead of half the population being destroyed, Wanda’s powers might have moved them to an alternate reality.
Wasn’t it mentioned in the secret ending of The Dark World that it was dangerous for just two infinity stones to be too close to each other? That is without even considering products of the infinity stones like Wanda.
One of the biggest issues with this progression with this possible House of M plot in the MCU is that it would not address Wanda’s mental state; her lack of a grip on reality is reason the event happens in the comics. But again, Marvel might shift the plot around slightly to match what they have done with the Civil War, creating a lead up to her television series. In the comics, Wanda’s desire is to create a world where ‘everyone [is] happy’, similar to the concept of the Framework in Agents of Shield. Wanda might create a version of reality that involves Pietro and their family, which could be a way that they bring Magneto into the picture if they wanted.
Without spoiling too much, one of main members of the cast of House of M is Hawkeye, who has already been suggested in the trailer of Endgame to have a large role. Wanda and Clint’s relationship has been integral to their character development and a reasonable amount of plot development since Age of Ultron, and so there is fairly good set-up for Hawkeye’s central role in a storyline influenced by House of M. Doctor Strange is another character who helps Wanda with her mental struggles in the comics. Since the implication in Infinity War that he did something with the time stone, it is plausible he could serve the role Wolverine has in the comic. Both he and Wanda died via the dust, so they may have gone to the same place/version of reality.
This is even before taking into account the trauma and mental damage that Wanda has suffered in the MCU. After her parents dying when she was ten, her mind was put under terrible strain from the experimentation that led to her powers, and not long after that she lost her twin brother, her last surviving family member that we know of.
The Lagos incident in Civil War and the death of Vison in Infinity War no doubt filled her with more guilt, which seems to be the connection between all of these events: Wanda constantly feels a sense of guilt throughout the films, that everything is her fault. An article that looked at the common words used by each main character in the MCU found that the most common words that Wanda says in the MCU are ‘fear’, ‘fault’, ’protect’, and ‘Vison’. In Wanda’s mind, creating ‘a world where everyone [is] happy’ might seem like the perfect solution for her past mistakes.
Wanda’s need to ‘make everyone happy’ (in terms of the MCU) may originate in her own fear, which would give a double meaning to her words to Vison in Civil War; ‘I can’t control their fear, only my own.’ Wanda hasn’t used her power of mind manipulation since Age of Ultron, likely due to guilt. It is likely by that logic that her power has been suppressed, meaning that Wanda’s mind control powers might be taking a toll on her own mental state, as it has no release.
The House of M storyline would have different effects on different people in the MCU, but the effects that it would have on Wanda would remain the same, the events simply happening in different order. Magneto’s war on humans might have taken a terrible toll on her mental health, but getting her own television series should make that transition in her perception of reality much more fluid as it approaches a climax.
Many people have said to me they don’t know what Carol’s power is, and when I explained, they told me she was overpowered (‘So Captain Marvel’s basically God?’). Comments like these don’t only disregard Carol’s character, but also the plot of the infinity stones. The stones are thought to have ‘unlimited energy’ or ‘unlimited power’, but it’s never been considered that something or someone could equate to that energy until Infinity War. Wanda and Thor are the closest characters to that sort of power, being thought to be the ones who are thought might destroy the stones during Infinity War. Wanda even succeeds in destroying the mind stone, as her power originated from that stone in the first place, which is returned to in Vison’s statement: ‘I think if it were exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source, something very similar to its own signature, perhaps…its molecular integrity will fail.’ The definition of ‘integrity’ echoes a lot of what is explained about the infinity stones and Captain Marvel’s personality in her trailer:
Jane is definitely a character that got the short straw. She is often labelled as ‘boring’ or ‘vanilla’ or even just ‘the love interest’, which seems an incredibly unfair statement when looking closer at her appearances/mentions during the MCU. If Jane’s timeline is actually broken down, her intelligence stands out above everything else, but also it shows how she belongs very specially to the Thor trilogy. It all becomes particularly clear when looking at the MCU timeline in Jane point of view.
Favourite Line: Thank you for your co-operation. (Avengers Assemble)
One of the things that I noticed recently is that there is a parrallel between Tony and Natasha, in terms of their guilt complexes. When Tony finds out that that he has been selling weapons to terrorists, he never trusts himself again, which is why he went to sign the accords and build Ultron. When Clint brings Natasha into Shield, she quickly works her way up to being one of the best spies in the world. This could be argued to be because of her past, and as Fury says in Winter Soldier ‘Agent Romanoff is comfortable with everything.’ Despite this, the famous line ‘I have blood in my leger. I would like to wipe it out’ is why she puts everything into Shield, and suggests otherwise. She doesn’t trust herself enough because of her past mistakes, so she comes as close as she can to trusting Fury and Clint, because they got her out of her situation, hence ‘love is for children, I owe him a debt.’ Hence also why she broke down when she thought Fury was dead in Winter Soldier. Fury was one of the main people who allowed her to put her past in the Red Room behind her, and without him, the people that Natasha can trust is running low. It could be argued to be why she asks Steve later on in Winter Soldier ‘what do you want me to be?’ She knows that she cannot undo the way she has been trained, and she will never be able to trust people in the way that other people could. So she works her way around it to give as much as she can to people. She shows as much vunerability as her training will allow to people like Steve and Bruce, who she wants to trust her. She knows people have diffcultly trusting her because of her spy background, so she brings as much of herself as she possibly can to the people that she cares about i.e. the Avengers.
To celebrate the crossing of the 10 years of the MCU and 100 year celebration of the suffragette movement, I thought I would do a profile on as many female marvel characters as I possibly can. Note I have not seen most of the Nextflix shows yet (ie. Jessica Jones, Luke Cage) as so it might be a while before I do profiles on the women under I get to watch the shows properly. Add me to your notifactions if you would like updates!
Just so you know the link on the profiles were meant to take you to this post, but there seems to be a glitch at the moment. I am working on it and it should work soon
theartofmadeline
yousharknotpass
pixelskylines
annaxmalina
vaporwave
