What I thought of Captain America: Brave New World (no spoilers)
Well, today in my country (the 12th) the new Captain America film was showing — but, curiously, the posters were saying it would premiere on the 13th — and I went to watch it. I left the movie theater a few hours ago. Now it’s exactly 2am on the 13th, and I felt the need to make this post…
(I'll give some context about my decision to see the film, but if you prefer, you can skip to the opinion section.
When I saw the trailer, I didn't like it very much. None of my close friends and colleagues had expectations about this film. Honestly, the lack of Steven Rogers in the MCU still hurts me a lot and, other than that, expectations were low due to Marvel's recent failure with films — honestly, the last one I genuinely liked was Guardians of the Galaxy 3.
I don't know if it was because my country thought the film would premiere on the 13th (because of the posters), or if nobody cares about the film. But the movie theater was relatively empty — I think it only filled 15% of the seats or less.
I honestly went in and sat down with no expectations — but I thought: well, the movie is short. It's been a while since Marvel released a film under two hours. This one is approximately 1h50 long (and, for those who want to know, there are post-credits scenes, as usual). So I thought that, even if I didn't like it, I wouldn't be wasting too much time of my life because the film was short.
And then the movie started, and—
My opinion: what did I think of the film?
The film is….
Very good.
I'm being honest about this. The trailers (the little I remember) don't do the film justice.
I'm going to give my opinion and detail it without giving spoilers, but I'll say that my rating for this film is 7.5/10! And that's high by recent MCU standards. Below, you will find topics such as: actors, CGI, comedy in the film, action in the film, characters, villains, what I didn't like, and then an overall about everything.
Captain America (Sam)/Anthony Mackie: well, what to say about him? Great acting. I remember when Tom Holland (Spider-Man) told Anthony about him not having his own film — and, honestly, I never thought it was necessary, even due to some resentment over the loss of the beloved Steven Rogers/Chris Evans to the MCU. Honestly, I've been carrying the thought of “there are only secondary heroes left and new heroes who the directors/screenwriters aren't managing well (at least, in the films)”, and I thought this film would be bad like all the recent ones, but… this new Captain America is… badass. Like, wow. The fight choreography? Incredible, it's been a LONG time since I've been so excited by 1x1 action scenes. (You might consider the following sentence a spoiler, but it's mild) And, my god, the new Captain America is STRONG and well trained, he does NOT depend on his uniform. And, man, the use of the shield is super creative and USEFUL in many cases. It's not just an obstacle he carries around because of the meaning.
Captain America's supporting character: I don't remember what the trailers show, so I won't say the character's name or his role, but he is important to the plot — and also a comedy relief. I LOVED this new character, he is funny on the right level and full of life. I would like to talk more about him, but these are things that might be spoilers.
Red Hulk: well, what I thought wouldn't be good... ended up being FANTASTIC. At least for me and my friend, and I feel like y’all won't be disappointed. When I saw him in action… He's like the out-of-control Hulk we had in the past. Hulk Smash!!! Seriously, my friends and I were left open-mouthed watching the final fight, because it was simply so exciting! If you had concerns about this, I say I did too and I was proven otherwise. In fact, I wish he had had more screen time than he did because it was really good. For me, it was the highlight of the film together with Cap. It should have lasted longer! It gave me such nostalgia that I almost cried.
There are 4 other characters I'd like to mention (a bad guy, the president, the inmate shown in the trailer, and the president's female security advisor), but again, I don't know how much the trailer shows of them, so I'll keep those things to myself. I can say about them that they are good characters, although I think one of them didn't have much importance in the film — and another one so cool that he should have lasted longer.
CGI: for Marvel level... it's very meh. It's quite noticeable that it's CGI, it doesn't look like it actually exists. But it doesn't ruin the experience, and I, in particular, liked it!!! This, for some reason, made me nostalgic. You might notice the CGI, but the film entertains you well enough to distract you from it.
Comedy of the film: it has good jokes, I genuinely laughed at most of them. It's just the right amount and, for me, it didn't hinder the experience at any point. The timing was good!
Action in the film: seriously, it was one of the things I liked most. There were a lot of 1v1 fights, punches, etc., and they were all well done, good choreography!!! In the final fight or the aerial scenes I was jumping in my seat with excitement. It's been a long time since I've seen action scenes that entertained me so much.
Characters: there were good characters and others that, despite their importance, don't appear much and are lost in the middle. And there were great characters who disappeared too soon too! At the beginning of the film, we have a super interesting and badass character, but we also don't have a lot of him.
What I didn't like: first, the editing of the film. There was more than one moment where there was a sudden cut, or something happened quite suddenly — for example, the scene cut suddenly and the character in the new scene received a direct call. I don't know if it's because this movie is shorter, but you can feel it sometimes — and my friend noticed it too. But for me, it definitely didn't ruin the experience: it's still a good action movie. And if I were to point out other things: good characters that disappear very quickly (leaving a taste of “I want more”) / characters that seem like they will be important, but then end up not being much of anything / perhaps the special effects at very specific times involving the Hulk.
Villains: well, the main villain… was okay for me, interesting, but okay. He's very smart, though. A lot of people know who he is, you'll recognize it in the film, but I expected more from him. My friend said he was nerfed, so to speak, lmao.
Overall: the film is good, action and fights and good comedy. New characters that are interesting and VERY good. The Hulk was so good, I wish he had lasted longer. I honestly don't know if it was emotion and nostalgia that made me like the film so much — most people will probably think it's bad (or not) and this post will age poorly. But really, it's been a while since the MCU released a good film, and this was definitely one of the best recent ones.
This is my first drawing in a while (n it's Jason!!), two of my friends told me to post it. Idk how to do hair or scars, but I tried. It's so fck difficult to do a hair with two colors 💔 but yeah i really liked the eyes n nose
Midnighter and Apollo: A (slightly in depth) comic breakdown by someone who originally misunderstood the themes.
While I have always adored this comic, there was something that always bothered me a bit. But having re-read the series now that I am older and better understand media / media literacy, I can firmly say I was wrong about being bothered, and this comic deserves more praise and recognition.
Spoilers for a decade old comic
First things first, the part that made me uncomfortable when I was younger: The fact that Apollo ended up in Hell in the first place.
One of the few openly gay characters in DC gets killed and sent to Hell, pretty unceremoniously and suddenly. And while it worked from a narrative standpoint, having Midnighter go to Hell for his love, it did strike me as uncomfortable as a young queer kid struggling with my self-worth because of being queer.
And it’s implied, if not outright said at times, that it weren’t Apollo’s ‘normal’ sins that brought him to Hell. Pride, Murder, that kinda stuff. Yes, this is mostly said by Apollo himself, but the comic frames him as being in the right about this, and so we as an audience are pushed to believe this.
So then, why did he end up in Hell?
And that is where I originally went wrong. I shouldn’t have felt uncomfortable about the fact DC sent one of their only queer characters to Hell. Because that was the whole point of it. It wasn’t condemning and it wasn't some thoughtless, empty decision that just happened to have some negative connotations attached to it.
This comic is a beautiful, metaphorical representation of the queer experience
This story is one of love and accepting those around you (and yourself) as who they are, while helping them be the best version of themselves.
Apollo talks about how he has already gone through his own kind of Hell before, many times. From how he got his powers to his unaccepting father. Yet he persisted. He stayed true to himself, he didn’t break and he didn’t give in to what people wanted of him. Apollo being in Hell is nothing new, this time it's just more literal.
And we see that he persists. We see him fight and overcome because he knows that he deserves better than the sentences and punishments pushed onto him by other people. He knows that he doesn’t deserve this Hell of someone else's making.
And while he can survive, or even escape this Hell, on his own, it becomes easier with someone there at his side. Someone willing to risk anything, because Apollo is his everything.
In the beginning of the story, Midnighter refuses to accept Apollo is gone. He knows there must be something he can do, something to try or someone to beat up to get his love back. While Apollo is in a literal Hell, Midnighter goes through a personal one. The worst kind of Hell for someone like Midnighter; he feels helpless. He wants to protect the man he loves, but he simply can't. He doesn't know what to do.
And where Apollo's side of the story deals with being sure of who you are and persisting through the bad times, Midnighter's side is about the consequences that come with being who you are.
An enemy from Minighter’s past wanted to hurt him, and did so by way of targeting Apollo. The hate and anger pointed at Midnighter is what killed Apollo.
Apollo became a victim for loving Midnigher.
At the end of the comic, Midnighter explains to Apollo that he is, and always will be, a killer. That he is sure of himself and he hopes Apollo can accept. This scene, while likely not intended as such, reads so much as a way of coming out.
I know I probably read too much into it, and that Steve Orlando likely just wanted to write a fun and heartfelt story reminiscent of Greek mythology between these two lovers.
But to me, this story really represents the queer experience. The Hell forced upon you by others, watching those you surround yourself with get hurt because of who you or they are, but also the steadfastness of knowing who you are, the love and support that comes with being yourself, and knowing there's always the light to pull you out of the dark.
While I firmly believe Midnighter and Apollo were at their best in the old Wildstorm/Authority comics, this run has really become a favorite of mine that I highly recommend to anyone even remotely interested in comics or these characters.
And I hope I managed to portray my thoughts semi-cohesively.
okay, recently I had a strange thought: I miss reading 3 types of things in heroes/DC/batfam fanfics. Like, the things I'm going to mention here are not mandatory to write, and if you think they are unnecessary details, okay. I also won't stop reading precious fanfics because of this. I just thought about creating this post commenting on the subject, because I thought it would be interesting.
So, I miss 3 things in fanfics:
(headcanon) the fact that the heroes, at least public figures like Bruce/Oliver and Batfam, know how to apply makeup professionally (at least, do the foundation). They probably have someone who knows how to do this for them, like Alfred. But they alone must know how to apply makeup very well. Bruce for exemple has to know how to do this, because he must have A LOT of dark circles under his eyes and permanent bruises on his jaw, and he's probably paler than he appears to be on television. It's so funny that he probably puts on makeup before appearing in public! It would be great to see fanfics show this side of him without makeup: worn out and with several scratches on his chin.
Training or warming up. Like, they're already strong naturally, especially with daily practice on the streets or saving the world. But sometimes it would be so cool for more fanfics to casually describe, for example, Jason at his place lifting weights, doing sit-ups and other warm-ups while talking to someone (or just warming up for a patrol). This is a simple detail, not necessary, but I dunno, just imagining it makes me like: 🫦🫦. Imagine Cass doing push-ups all sweaty 🫦 (we listen n we dont judged).
body hair. I don't read a lot of straight sex, but of the few I've seen, the characters' private parts are either smooth, or there's no mention of hair. And it’s like that in lesbian and gay sex too. Of course, there are fanfics that describe characters having body hair, but it's not common. DON'T GET ME WRONG, this is not a fetish of mine, and I personally prefer my partner and I to be "smooth" (forgive me for the gratuitous intimacy), but in the superhero universe it makes sense for them not to be smooth. Some of the characters may like to shave, especially women characters, but they wouldn't always have the time. Describing the characters as having body hair would be more realistic for me. Normally for hero men in comics, their chests and legs contain some hair, although not all of them and it depends on the artist. Of course, sometimes the writer might not like this, or don't think it's an important detail to mention. I know! With this post I'm not trying to force anyone into anything because it would be more "real". These are just thoughts that came to my mind.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
The Hornet's Concern
rated E; 4,528 words; no archive warnings apply
summary: The Hornet was acting oddly tonight, and Britt even more so. But Kato wasn't going to ask for an explanation, not until Britt was ready to give him one.
Did you know that a Brazilian singer made a gay animation music video based on Naruto, where Naruto and Sakura are black, and Sasuke loves Naruto romantically? Spoiler: THEY KISSED!
(btw, they are brazilian who live in a favela called Konoha in the music video)
Watch the video clip here -> KONOHA, by Thiago Pantelão and Lukinhas
Far as I can tell a lot of M|M fans seem to still default to SUPER outdated concepts rooted in old school yaoi/bl like the whole femme emaciated uke with the huge buff seme and it’s really exhausting.
Yes Tim isn’t the biggest bat but as Robin the first time around he was also just a scrawny kid. Now? He’s had decades (literally cough cough) of training under Bruce and other masters, and he’s grown into himself. He’s built like the crime fighting machine he is and reducing him to some stereotype from the 90s and early 00s is just such a waste of a character.
At this point I’m actively avoiding fics tagged with anything that hints at this uke twink junk so I can enjoy what I’m reading and it’ll actually feel like the character. It’s one thing if people are trying to explore something (trans Tim is popular for example) but that is NOT the majority of this. I’ve been through the whole Tim tag on ao3.
It’s just kinda gross stereotyping about how queer male couples need to be formulated and Tim is shorter so he’s default uke. Ugh. Let’s please move past it.
There just won’t be an adult batfam member who isn’t in prime human condition without a good reason…which generally is not because you think gay men are “girly” and thus thin and weak. They all have to be maxed out, as the resident humans in any given situation.
*(Yes I count Tim as an adult because my god he’s been 17 for how many years now? In fic he’s usually just rightfully aged up)
I fucking love you, tysm for explaining my really short post. You are ✨ necessary ✨
And a point: people who usually think that there has to be one man who is short/frail/thin and another one being the opposite of that in an M/M relationship are usually people with a fetish. Or heterosexual women who have a heteronormative view of any couple that exists (for example, thinking that in a F/F couple, one of the women has to play the role of the man). I SAID USUALLY, GUYS, not always.
Unfortunately, this is deeply rooted in our society, and I hope that these types of people can grow beyond this stereotype.
Yeah at this point I’m guessing a lot of folks aren’t checking in with themselves and don’t realize they’re doing it? Or, like a lot of comments I’m seeing, different art styles are used to explain away how a young adult could be doing everything he does nightly with Bruce and somehow still be built like a twig.
But truly DC has gotten better about it recently and he’s more consistent.
having said that the artists change all the time for all of the characters and a less buff Bruce doesn’t mean people then write him as anything less than top physical condition bc we know he would be. So would Tim. Especially after Jason? No way Tim is patrolling without Bruce KNOWING he can physically hold his own even if that wasn’t what got Jason. Paranoid papabat.
I know not everyone keeps up with the comics and that’s totally fine, it’s a huge investment in time and money and frankly it can be really disappointing. I only bother if something seems really interesting. But, here’s Tim as Robin. We can see he’s not suddenly back to before he had all his muscles in RR. Young Adult Tim is built like a mature crime fighter. I do prefer a suit that shows it off better but that’s where it’s artistic choice. Regardless we know the muscles are there.
When i talked about him looking like a twink as Robin (a joke btw, it's just so funny ngl), i was specifically talking about the first few times he was shown as Robin, when he was younger (although i think u got the point). And i think people got stuck in that image, and never saw anything else of him. Like you said, that was a long time ago and he GREW UP!! Everyone in the batfam (even with different authors) is buff nowadays, even the women (btw the women... 🫦🫦)
But the real problem here is that in the fanfics community they treat characters like Tim in a very stereotypical way, like the vision of a straight couple trying to fit in a gay couple, where one of the people has to play the role of the woman, and the other the role of the man. And that doesn't exist!! In a couple between men, both are men. In a couple between women, both are women
I understand that there are gay couples who really are like that. But the problem lies with people who think that ALL of them are like that
I get what you’re saying. It’s a stereotype for a reason and it gets old seeing it all the time. We know those dynamics do exist irl but that’s also not everyone or even majority of same sex relationships. It’s just one of MANY different dynamics and since we know it’s often used to fit more of a fetish than actual representation it can feel not great to see constantly.
It makes me really appreciate the writers out there who have fics about Tim where they don’t do this. I mean again if they’re writing Tim when he’s a child or an AU where it would make sense that’s different, but you’re right that I think people still internally visualize Tim as he was when he first became Robin. Tbh the haircut isn’t helping haha idk why DC has decided Tim and Damian have the same hair but give him back his signature longer style and I think it would help.
If anyone remembers the artist let me know. I think this originally came from tumblr but I can’t find it for the life of me. LOVE our broken ass search system.
Anyway, I don’t blame anyone. Most of the media we have outside of the comics is bby Robin Tim so I get it. We remember Tim on the left, but what we have is Tim on the right and I would just like to see him handled better in fanfiction.
As for the ladies, I’m 1000% down with muscles. MORE PLEASE. This is one of the things I love about Wonder Woman. Imo Cass should have very defined and well built muscles given her whole history and capabilities.
Far as I can tell a lot of M|M fans seem to still default to SUPER outdated concepts rooted in old school yaoi/bl like the whole femme emaciated uke with the huge buff seme and it’s really exhausting.
Yes Tim isn’t the biggest bat but as Robin the first time around he was also just a scrawny kid. Now? He’s had decades (literally cough cough) of training under Bruce and other masters, and he’s grown into himself. He’s built like the crime fighting machine he is and reducing him to some stereotype from the 90s and early 00s is just such a waste of a character.
At this point I’m actively avoiding fics tagged with anything that hints at this uke twink junk so I can enjoy what I’m reading and it’ll actually feel like the character. It’s one thing if people are trying to explore something (trans Tim is popular for example) but that is NOT the majority of this. I’ve been through the whole Tim tag on ao3.
It’s just kinda gross stereotyping about how queer male couples need to be formulated and Tim is shorter so he’s default uke. Ugh. Let’s please move past it.
There just won’t be an adult batfam member who isn’t in prime human condition without a good reason…which generally is not because you think gay men are “girly” and thus thin and weak. They all have to be maxed out, as the resident humans in any given situation.
*(Yes I count Tim as an adult because my god he’s been 17 for how many years now? In fic he’s usually just rightfully aged up)
I fucking love you, tysm for explaining my really short post. You are ✨ necessary ✨
And a point: people who usually think that there has to be one man who is short/frail/thin and another one being the opposite of that in an M/M relationship are usually people with a fetish. Or heterosexual women who have a heteronormative view of any couple that exists (for example, thinking that in a F/F couple, one of the women has to play the role of the man). I SAID USUALLY, GUYS, not always.
Unfortunately, this is deeply rooted in our society, and I hope that these types of people can grow beyond this stereotype.
Yeah at this point I’m guessing a lot of folks aren’t checking in with themselves and don’t realize they’re doing it? Or, like a lot of comments I’m seeing, different art styles are used to explain away how a young adult could be doing everything he does nightly with Bruce and somehow still be built like a twig.
But truly DC has gotten better about it recently and he’s more consistent.
having said that the artists change all the time for all of the characters and a less buff Bruce doesn’t mean people then write him as anything less than top physical condition bc we know he would be. So would Tim. Especially after Jason? No way Tim is patrolling without Bruce KNOWING he can physically hold his own even if that wasn’t what got Jason. Paranoid papabat.
I know not everyone keeps up with the comics and that’s totally fine, it’s a huge investment in time and money and frankly it can be really disappointing. I only bother if something seems really interesting. But, here’s Tim as Robin. We can see he’s not suddenly back to before he had all his muscles in RR. Young Adult Tim is built like a mature crime fighter. I do prefer a suit that shows it off better but that’s where it’s artistic choice. Regardless we know the muscles are there.
When i talked about him looking like a twink as Robin (a joke btw, it's just so funny ngl), i was specifically talking about the first few times he was shown as Robin, when he was younger (although i think u got the point). And i think people got stuck in that image, and never saw anything else of him. Like you said, that was a long time ago and he GREW UP!! Everyone in the batfam (even with different authors) is buff nowadays, even the women (btw the women... 🫦🫦)
But the real problem here is that in the fanfics community they treat characters like Tim in a very stereotypical way, like the vision of a straight couple trying to fit in a gay couple, where one of the people has to play the role of the woman, and the other the role of the man. And that doesn't exist!! In a couple between men, both are men. In a couple between women, both are women
I understand that there are gay couples who really are like that. But the problem lies with people who think that ALL of them are like that
Far as I can tell a lot of M|M fans seem to still default to SUPER outdated concepts rooted in old school yaoi/bl like the whole femme emaciated uke with the huge buff seme and it’s really exhausting.
Yes Tim isn’t the biggest bat but as Robin the first time around he was also just a scrawny kid. Now? He’s had decades (literally cough cough) of training under Bruce and other masters, and he’s grown into himself. He’s built like the crime fighting machine he is and reducing him to some stereotype from the 90s and early 00s is just such a waste of a character.
At this point I’m actively avoiding fics tagged with anything that hints at this uke twink junk so I can enjoy what I’m reading and it’ll actually feel like the character. It’s one thing if people are trying to explore something (trans Tim is popular for example) but that is NOT the majority of this. I’ve been through the whole Tim tag on ao3.
It’s just kinda gross stereotyping about how queer male couples need to be formulated and Tim is shorter so he’s default uke. Ugh. Let’s please move past it.
There just won’t be an adult batfam member who isn’t in prime human condition without a good reason…which generally is not because you think gay men are “girly” and thus thin and weak. They all have to be maxed out, as the resident humans in any given situation.
*(Yes I count Tim as an adult because my god he’s been 17 for how many years now? In fic he’s usually just rightfully aged up)
I fucking love you, tysm for explaining my really short post. You are ✨ necessary ✨
And a point: people who usually think that there has to be one man who is short/frail/thin and another one being the opposite of that in an M/M relationship are usually people with a fetish. Or heterosexual women who have a heteronormative view of any couple that exists (for example, thinking that in a F/F couple, one of the women has to play the role of the man). I SAID USUALLY, GUYS, not always.
Unfortunately, this is deeply rooted in our society, and I hope that these types of people can grow beyond this stereotype.
I think more people need to play around with Damian's speech. Don't get me wrong, I love the antiquated Victorian child style of speech, but also he's a teenager that swears plenty in the comics. We really need more scenes like:
Damian: Father, I regret to inform you that I have been assigned in-school suspension for the next three days.
Bruce: What, why?!
Damian: My classmate Kevin was disparaging a female classmate for turning him down, so I called him 'a rizz-less, basic-ass neckbeard bitch' and said I was going to fuck his mom and give her a son she'd actually love.
Bruce: *is completely speechless*
Damian: That is all I needed to tell you. If you will excuse me, I have homework to complete before dinner and patrol.
