Well. it’s not like I get review copies…but I finally got to see the newest offering from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
It’s a good bit of entertainment – we get to see the entire team of Avengers as we knew them from the first movie at the very beginning. We get a feel for all of the characters and what they can do. We are then introduced to Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. We then get to see a relationship sparking between the Black Widow and Bruce Banner/Hulk. Tony Stark lets some pre-A.I. get out of hand, and Ultron evolves itself beyond Stark’s control. In evolving, he updates his protocols and threatens all life on Earth, but of course, the Avengers are up to the task. Quicksilver, however, sacrifices his life to save Hawkeye and a child.
Okay…there’s a lot more to this movie, but I want to stress three things (two immediately):
- The cast is really having fun portraying the various characters;
- The movie didn’t disappoint me – it brings the Avengers Initiative forward;
- The differences between the MU and the MCU will need to be accounted for in some fashion.
The third point obviously requires some elaboration.
I came across Joss Whedon’s Q&A in amNY and his decisions regarding Natasha’s relationship with Clint.
You see, in the MU, Henry Pym created Ultron. He wasn’t much more than a blender (?) with a face when he was Ultron 1; but in the course of Hank turning to other things, Ultron 1 evolved itself four times, eventually becoming the maniacal Ultron 5, who then developed an Oedipus complex. This was further established when he created first the Vision, who turned on him (as in the movie), and later, Jocasta, forged in the form of his “mother”, Janet Van Dyne/Pym. It even forged a simulacrum of Hawkeye’s significant other, Mockingbird/Bobbi Morse, called Alkhema.
In the MU, Hawkeye was introduced as being in a relationship with the Black Widow, so I can understand the consternation his MCU rendition is taking. Whedon wrote some X-Men, but it’s entirely possible that those advising him never read those issues of Tales of Suspense.
There are a couple of sticking points:
- Speedsters are a total pain in the ass to conceive. If I were a speedster, I’d actively disarm all of the easy targets and leave the heavy hitting to the heavy hitters. It’s slightly implausible that Quicksilver couldn’t have moved Hawkeye and the child completely out of harm’s way, but in doing so, overtasked himself, and was rendered comatose….or something like that.
- Steve Rogers was deemed worthy to lift the hammer of Thor in the MU…I hope that he will prove to be the same in the MCU.
I can deal with it, though.
I anxiously await the next chapter in the Avengers saga.
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