To all the MCU fans saying that Sam "should've" taken the super soldier serum and that being of average human strenght won't be helpful when fighting against mightier, bigger villains such as Doom or Galactus, to them I say:
Sam may technically not have super strenght, but let's not knock his fighting skills either, even without taking his suit's Wakandan enhancements into account. Just look at the BNW opening scene and then we'll talk. Sam is a super skilled fighter in his own right.
I know not all villains are going to be able to be reasoned out of their villain ways, but it's always worth a shot, and Sam is by far the best person to do that. Empathy and compassion ARE strenghts, ones that superhero movies way too often overlook, and it's honestly refreshing to see a hero that can promote that.
It's not as if he doesn't know anyone who can give him a hand in the fighting. The point of the BNW ending is that Sam's going to assemble his Avengers line-up, and chances are a GOOD chunk of the ones already announced for Doomsday are gonna be part of his team. Plus, if it wasn't for that stupid and OOC Thunderbolts* ending, Bucky would for sure be on his team as well, to satisfy the fanboys who are so desperate for serum-infused heroes. In a world where the TB* ending is less idiotic, Bucky would've presented the new team to Sam after getting Valentina in jail (as they should have), and I'm sure Sam would've been willing to give them a shot. Or at least a trial period or something.
What Bucky said in BNW was true: Sam gives people something to aspire to. Heroes in the MCU are Earth's protectors, true, but they're also public figures and celebrities. That's a fact we can't ignore. So the importance of Sam inspiring people, ALL kinds of people, to be better and to never give up regardless of their limitations is HUGE actually, and shouldn't be overlooked.
Today I saw these near the entrance of a clothing store we went to (first time I see KPDH merch that's not obviously a bootleg in the wild BTW), and I got SO HYPED for a moment... until I noticed they're kid sized. 😑
Darn companies who refuse to make cool stuff like this for adults! 💢 Their loss TBH, they're the ones missing out on my adult nerd money.
James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes did NOT valiantly serve in WWII, fight decades of torture and brainwashing to save his best friend's life, spend 2 years in Wakanda recovering from said brainwashing, fight against Thanos' army before and after getting blipped, and help Captain America take down the Flag Smashers, directly saving the lives of several hostages in the process, only to be treated as a "spare" and "not a hero".
Well, I have preemptively salted on this movie for so long now, that I'm betting at least some of you are curious to know my opinion on Thunderbolts* by now. Specifically Bucky's role in it.
Disclaimer, I have not actually watched the movie and I have absolutely zero plans to go to the theaters and spend money on it, but I have read several plot summaries for it and seen many spoilers. So I do know about 90% of what happens in it, and my opinion is solely based on that. And let me tell you, it's a strong one.
Spoilers ahead, if anyone cares.
Bucky is not a "NeW aVenGeR".
Because he already was an actual Avenger.
Because he already was working with Captain America and already had done heroic acts working beside him.
He was referred to as an Avenger onscreen, by Walker no less.
This movie refuses to acknowledge any of that.
You can throw all the technicalities you want at me, you can hit me with all the "Uhm, but aCTUALLY..."s that you want.
The truth is this movie takes away so much of what Bucky had already worked so hard to achieve. Including a stable and reliable friendship with Sam Wilson, a clear name, a newfound purpose...
But most importantly, they took away one my man's most defining traits, and one of the biggest reasons why I fell in love with Bucky in the first place: his loyalty.
The man who showed up for Sam Wilson time and time again (especially when he needed emotional support after his protegé was in critical condition), the man who reassured him, the man who was visibly, personally offended when his late friend's shield, title, and legacy was handed by the government to someone who hadn't earned it, the man who fought to give it back to the person Steve had actually trusted with it because he believed only he could carry that legacy with the respect that it deserved...
I refuse to believe that's the same man who tried to talk Sam into just "letting them" use the title of the Avengers, despite knowing damn well why Sam would be opposed to letting the likes of Valentina and the government in general just appropiate it so thoughtlessly. Or heck, even the same man who would just hear Alexei casually insult his best friend and just say nothing??? Like what have they done to him, that's not the Bucky I know!!!
I can and will only accept that ending if they confirm that Sam and Bucky are actually secretly working together to outsmart that woman, and have to keep up appearances in the meantime and pretend to be in a tiff. Otherwise, it does not make sense for either of them and just character-assassinates my fav.
From what I'm seeing and hearing, this movie probably should've just been Black Widow 2 and focus on Yelena and Alexei helping out Bob. Those three seem to be who the movie cares the most about anyway. It's certainly not Antonia. 🙄 (That's my second biggest gripe with this film by the way, I get that she wasn't the most popular character, but that was straight up NASTY of them)
So there may be many good things about this movie. But unfortunately, they decided to rope my favorite character into it in a way that ignores most of what was so great and inspiring about his character arc so far. And they also chose to shamelessly insult and undermine my second favorite character and paint him as a petty bully (which is very OOC for him I might add). And they also chose to do all of this with a cheeky little "LOL we're the New Avengerz now 🤪" attitude and publicity campaign.
And for that alone, they could never make me like this movie.
I get it, we all have our preferences in the types of fiction we consume and the arcs we enjoy watching.
But the hate I'm seeing lately for characters who are genuinely kind, or characters who chose to redeem themselves is ridiculous, and people need to chill about it.
Some of us actually like seeing characters choosing good, compassion, and light. Some of us are actually comforted and reassured when we see fictional characters who had seemingly fallen too deep but still find a way out and discover true peace. Sometimes it's nice seeing characters who remain genuinely good despite going through immense pain and unfairness (they still have the right to feel things and work on their trauma of course, but when they actually manage to not become a villain because of it... I like that, I actually do like seeing that)
There's nothing wrong with stories about hope.
If you prefer to see characters become evil, destroy things, and making others suffer, good for you, and you enjoy that. But let those of us who like goodness in our stories enjoy it, and maybe diss on it a little less?
There are more than enough damnation arcs in real life and sometimes we need a break from that.
You know guys, I actually can't wait for Thunderbolts* to come out.
No, I don't mean that in the "OMG I'm so hyped and excited for this movie and I'm sure it's gonna be amazing and I'm going to have a great time watching my fav in it" sense.
I mean it in a "The journey ever since the announcement of this movie has been so stressful to me as a Bucky fangirl, the marketing campaign has been a complete rollercoaster, and for every choice that I actually kind of like they make 3 decisions that completely appal me; so I just want to know what happens in the damn thing already so I can get it over with, plan out a fix/rewrite for our AU with my friend, and move on" kind of sense.
A very specific nitpick I have with 'Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate'
I don't do text posts here very often. This feels odd, let's just get on with it.
I was originally going to write down a full-on review expressing my utter disappointment and disgust dislike towards the horrible and cheap "sequel" to my favorite Dreamworks movie, Megamind. A sequel which, by now, we all know was nothing but a glorified extended pilot for a Peacock series that I have not watched, but it honestly looks just as mediocre, so I have no current plans to.
Hoooowever, I have since seen many reviews of this "movie", most of which have been able to express my feelings and thoughts pretty well. So it felt like I didn't have much else to contribute to the discourse.
Except for one thing that I have not seen anyone talk about (or maybe they have talked about it and I just haven't seen it), and it was one of the things that bothered me most about the film. So this post's entire purpose is to publicly point it out.
No, I'm not talking about Keiko herself (although yes, she was my least favorite character and completely ruined the movie and this franchise for me thanks for asking). It's more the purpose of her character.
You see, and allow me to put my cranky old lady pants for just a moment, I believe most people have been able to guess that the entire reason this character was put into the movie was to be a target audience insert. So the 8 to 12 year-olds watching can go "Hey! This character is around my age and has the same interest as me! I'll keep watching for her!" (Do no ask me how well that's going because I personally do not find the excecution of it all that great, but I digress). And although, as a more mature viewer and long-time follower of the franchise, this does feel a bit annoying, having this kind of character when you're trying to appeal to a new audience is, technically speaking, not a bad thing in itself. And when executed well, this can totally work.
But here's the problem.
It makes no sense for a character like this to form part of Megamind's story.
You see, my friends, for those of you who have not seen this movie (which, for your own good, I sincerely hope is the majority of people who are reading this), "Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate" is VERY explicitly supposed to take place two days after the events of the first movie.
Just two days.
This is explicitly said at least two or three times in the first act of the movie alone (I value my sanity too much to rewatch the film to double-check that fact, but I'm fairly confident in that).
If you all remember, the masterpiece known as the original Megamind movie came out in 2010. Therefore, the most logical thing to assume is that the events of the film itself also take place in 2010, if not before that, right? It's never explicitly stated, but since there is nothing that confirms or denies this, I think it's the default assumption we as an audience should make.
Now, I did not own my first cellphone until the year 2012 when I turned 13 (don't make fun of me for that fact), so, correct me if I'm wrong. But I don't think in 2010, we were seeing thing such as:
Smartphones like the one Keiko has throughout the film,
People using said smartphones to make livestreams in which people leave likes and comments in real time,
Kids who are content creators gaining half a million subscribers in TWO LITERAL DAYS (I cannot stress this enough) by getting information and newsflashes from goodness-knows-where,
App equivalents to TikTok and Instagram with as much popularity as we saw in this,
And overall, just social media getting the same treatment and functioning the same in 2010 as it does in 2024.
I mean yes, in 2010, things such as the ones I listed above were probably beginning to take popularity and to become a thing. But they surely weren't as well-established as they're being presented to us in Megamind "2".
This cheapquel "sequel" is suppossed to be only two days after the first one, and yet, everything that revolves around THIS KID'S existence suggests to us that we're in the 2020's era of internet, influencers, and social media. Heck, the earliest I could buy any of this believably happening is like, 2018. 2015 as a stretch.
We went from 2010 to (at least) 2015 in two stinkin' days.
No sense whatsoever.
Logically speaking, there's no way TikTok Childstar Keiko was even born in the year the first Megamind took place. Like, her birth year is 2011 at the earliest, and you can't convince me otherwise. Why do you even exist two days after Megamind was renowned as the hero of Metrocity? Please go back to the womb.
(That got personal, sorry. This kid gets too much on my nerves)
"Well, TECHNICALLY since it's never stated when the first Megamind took place, nothing's stopping them from making it so that it's been 2024 all along"
If that seriously does not sound like gaslighting your audience in order to force "hip" references that resonate with the kids watching almost a decade and a half after the original film came out to you, then I don't know what does. I don't even care if "you're not suppossed to think too hard about it" (which is a lame excuse for lazy writing btw), just watching both movies back-to-back, the tonal differences and any chronological references just clash way too much for me to buy this as a legitimate follow-up taking place in the same universe, same city, and even same week.
So yes, "Megamind vs The Doom Syndicate" sucks, and the inclusion of this character and this anachronistic plotline, for me, is a huge reason why. It's insulting to the audience and a clearly desperate attempt to appeal to a new generation of kids that frankly, if Megamind had gotten a genuinely good sequel, they would've liked it all the same, even if it didn't include a 12-year-old TikTok influencer with a half-baked personality and forced role in the story. Because seriously, don't even get me STARTED on how forced her joining the gang felt, holy crap. 😓 But that's a tangent for another day. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe I'll just leave this meme here and move on.
This was, of course, only one of many flaws this movie had, but I feel like other people have ranted enough about how the writing, character portrayals, poor animation, bad humor, and lame attempts at world-building did the original Megamind dirty.
Here's hoping one day Dreamworks wakes up, thinks smart, and decides to give us the Megamind 2 we deserve, so we can all happily toss this... project, into the realm of non-canon media, where it belongs.
