Captain America: Civil War finally had its North American release and my review embargo is over. So today, I’m giving you all the reviews and related goodies.
First up–this fantastic article on WWAC about Natasha Stark from Marvel comics. In this universe, Steve and Tony (Natasha) were in love, and so Civil War didn’t happen. If you’re like me and ship Steve with Tony, this is the canon confirmation you waited for. Also, genderbending characters is a fandom trope I don’t mind comics borrowing if they use it responsibly–like here.
All links below may contain spoilers for Captain America: Civil War, so click at your own peril.
While I’m still waiting for more meaty reviews, you can check out my review here, and WWAC contributor Kat Overland has an insightful review over here where she basically speaks my own frustration:
This is one of those movies where I’m torn between wanting to think/write about it from a critical analysis perspective, and wanting to just hold onto that “omg that was so fun!!!” feeling, so here is me splitting the difference while being forgiving, I suppose.
This review also comes out and says what I’ve been thinking—Captain America: Civil War is the anti-BvS, and that’s why it’s so great.
I really enjoyed this review on the LA Times (and not just because he managed to work in a Shakespeare reference AND a Stanley Cup reference), but because it addresses something important–Civil War is a great film for people who are already fans of the MCU and have seen all the movies. It’s not so great for people who haven’t seen anything else.
I’m a big fan of this review on Forbes, which is critical of some of the same things I was critical about (like the endless fight scenes), but I disagree with what he terms “The Joker Problem.”
This Vox review is great. The whole thing is great, but I have to quote this part:
If loving Captain America: Civil War is to love a soulless beast, then just leave me here. Let me lie back and dream of the English countryside as Chris Evans bicep-curls me into oblivion. And don’t wait up.
Just read it.
So, now that you’ve seen Civil War, it’s time to talk about Spider-Man.
I, like many, absolutely hated the casting of the new Spider-Man, and I thought he was going to be a boring, intrusive, useless part of Civil War. And I hate myself a little bit now that I’ve seen him in the movie because of how much I enjoyed the awkward, teenage Peter Parker as played by Tom Holland. He’s definitely more Tobey Maguire than Andrew Garfield, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, or a least not Spider-Man 3 bad. And Tobey agrees with me.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BE7-eRHLOLT/
I also was highly critical of the younger, sexier Aunt May, but I very much enjoyed Marisa Tomei’s very New York and very Marisa Tomei version. This may or may not have something to do with having seen the Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr romcom Only You back in the day. Also, as I reported, I was already excited because of Zendaya, and now there is more casting news to be excited about, and confirmation of RDJ being in the new movie. I was 150% against this movie when it was first announced, and now I’m looking forward to it as least as much as I’m looking forward to Guardians of the Galaxy 2.
(Though not as much as I’m looking forward to the Black Panther movie. Which needs to come out tomorrow. For those of you who are also waiting for more T’Challa, this article in TIME is pretty damn cool. You can also check out Marvel’s new video series narrated by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Also, Black Panther #2 is out this week.)
But I digress. Spider-Man: Homecoming looks like Marvel doing everything right, which is a contrast to what’s happening with Doctor Strange, where Marvel continues to do everything wrong. I missed George Takei posting on Facebook about the Tilda Swinton casting, but his thoughts are too important not to link to this week.
Also, you may have heard or seen this tweet from Doctor Strange‘s director, and I think it’s important to acknowledge it happening.
https://twitter.com/scottderrickson/status/727813975149137920
Doctor Strange is supposed to have a November 2018 release, and that’s a lot of time to address some–though not likely all–of the issues that Derrickson is now aware of.
But even being aware and acknowledging the need for changes isn’t always enough to get those changes made. The Russo bros think the chances of an LGBT character in the MCU “are strong,” which is not enough to get me hopeful, but is better than I expect when they’re owned by Disney, and is probably as much as they can say publicly at this point. The same can be said for Kevin Feige hinting at being committed to a Black Widow movie–at least more committed to Black Widow compared to a Hawkeye film. I’m with Vox on this one. But we will be getting another woman hero soon, as the Russo bros accidentally let it slip that Captain Marvel (or is it Barvel?) will be part of the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War I & II. Which is good news, since we’ve pretty much all but confirmed that Agent Carter won’t be renewed, which while not the best series in terms of representation and diversity, was the only series with a woman as the main character.
ICYMI
The Captain America: Civil War press tour has come to an end, but in case you missed it, here are some recent highlights.
