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V23

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,949
Yep, agreed. It's the reason I've only seen three MCU movies (Iron Man 1, GotG 1 and GotG 2). I prefer the more grounded, serious tone a la Batman.
 

Bradford

terminus est
Member
Aug 12, 2018
5,423
humor has been part of marvel's brand since ancient times predating the mcu

I am very much not bothered by it. It's part of the appeal.
 

Budi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,883
Finland
I'd otherwise might agree, but not when Ragnarok is the example. It's probably my favorite MCU flick. So not sure if I would actually enjoy them more if other MCU movies dropped any pretense of seriousnes, or if they commited more to being serious and lose that out of place quipping. Winter Soldier is my second favorite MCU and it's better off without dabbling into comedy.

Thor and Hemsworth are definitely better with the comedy. Not a big fan of the guardians, besides when interacting with Thor. But I think the tone works for those movies aswell.
 
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Feb 24, 2018
5,226
I see your point and it very much a movie by movie basis. I think it worked with the original GOTG, but GOTG2 felt like it went overboard with it, like when Star-Lord and Gamora are talking in the woods about going with Ego and they keep cutting back to Ego urinting, not only does completely undermine the scene, I'm not sure what the joke actually supposed to be other then people pee which.. Yeah what about it? It felt like that movie didn't think the audience couldn't have a somber or quieter moment, especially in the first half.

This of course isn't an issue just with MCU movies, children's animated movies outside of Disney in the West have had this issue, mostly due to the writers being under the impression they can make the movie too sad or have quieter scenes (both things Disney, anime films targeted at younger audiences, Don Bluth movies etc proved otherwise)

But it's also pretty obvious that GOTG's success and style did have an impact on Western movies at it's style of comedy started appearing elsewhere.... For good and for bad. The sequel Star Wars movie are a mixed bag for it for me because they don't land as well and just feels out of place some of the time.

Also, some users, please don't conflate people wanting less humour or allowing for quitter moments = "Edgelord" or wanting everything dark and angsty, that's rarely the case, you're just making a strawman and coming across as a defensive fanboy.
 

HMD

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,300
Superhero stories are not exactly the most original, they need something to make them watchable besides the occasional cross-over.
 

ClickyCal'

Member
Oct 25, 2017
59,508
Fat Thor was the one thing that just went too far for me. If they didn't go for the most low hanging fruit jokes, it would have been more okay.
 

Baron Von Beans

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,176
I definitely think this is the case, but with the new Star Wars movies. The older ones had comedy in them, but not like the new ones do. It really turned me off the last three movies.
 
OP
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DragonSJG

DragonSJG

Banned
Mar 4, 2019
14,338
And? It only blows up because it's literally Thor's plan to do so. His investment is in the peoples' survival.
Imagine there was a movie about Wakanda being destroyed and it was a comedy or played for laughs
Like if Namor floods Wakanda like in the comics and its just played as a joke
 
Feb 24, 2018
5,226
Superhero stories are not exactly the most original, they need something to make them watchable besides the occasional cross-over.
That's really not true at all, if you read the comics, their is a lot of variety in story telling, plots, tones, themes etc. What you're describing is more an issue with the Hollywood system and it's limited ideas of make a successful blockbuster movie which is the case of superhero movies, is thinking they all need to be large action set pieces.
 

dejay

Member
Nov 5, 2017
4,068
Fat Thor was the one thing that just went too far for me. If they didn't go for the most low hanging fruit jokes, it would have been more okay.

Yeah, Fat Thor wasn't bad per se, it was the fat jokes. Like Cheez Whiz. Totally not funny and totally unnecessary. Thor letting himself go was an outward manifestation of what was happening inside. I thought Thor's arc between Ragnarok and End Game was interesting.
 

SPRidley

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,232
No.
But this take doesnt surprise of someone with that character on their avatar, im sorry :P (at least is not bakugo lol )
Like, dc turned into trash thanks to snyder (i know you said thars not what you were asking for but then you described why you didnt like ragnarok and i dont think it should really go the way you said, the world ending part is not the important part of the movie) and we had the full 2000s fucking everything up, let me have at least it on marvel, they at least made me care of characters i didnt give a fuck about thanks to stuff like Thor ragnarok.
I mean, i know people that thinks its too much, but i never had that big of a problem myself

I know things in the exact middle can be done and when done well are awesome, like batman tas. But movies havent done anything like that yet sadly.
 
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TooFriendly

Member
Oct 30, 2017
2,028
Ragnarok is probably my favourite marvel movie. Because it has that Taika Waititi sense of humour,

most of the other Marvel movies though... all of the characters have the same sense of humour. The jokes could be interchangeable between any of the characters. They all ended up sounding like iron man.
The writers must have thought 'oh people like those quick sarcastic quips from robert Downey jr. Let's have everybody do those'.

There are a couple of characters with their own schtick, like Drax, but for the most part its by the numbers, and it seems like all of the characters are exactly the same.
 
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Azriell

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,109
Yeah, too much humor. You can't expect me to give a fuck about saving the world when you are constantly undercutting your own tension with shitty jokes.

But GotG works and is easily the best part of the MCU. Ragnarok is also good. Avengers 3 and 4 also were big improvements.

Age of Ultron is one of the worth offenders though. It's obnoxious how it constantly undercuts it's tension with shitty one liners, reminding us there are no stakes. The threat of Ultron dropping the city (or whatever exactly it was, I can't remember) to kill everyone was the most toothless dog I've ever seen. Zero tension for such "huge stakes" is a massive failure.
 

hiredhand

Member
Feb 6, 2019
3,147
It's a common writing technique, if something is inherently ridiculous it needs to be pointed out on screen at some point and humour is the best way of doing that. It's basically acknowledging the elephant in the room so it's easier to go with it and focus on what they're meant to.

It is possible to do completely straight but difficult. It's why more serious stuff like Logan or Dark Knight strip back the more outlandish elements.
This. Superheroes are inherently silly as a concept. Trying to make them serious often just makes them more silly as a result (see Batman V Superman).
 

Makoto Yuki

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,408
No, humor helps give these movies soul. Even if some of it is really corny and overdone.
 

Tangyn

Member
Oct 29, 2017
2,280
Please don't include Thor Ragnaroks humour with the rest of Marvel. Please and thanks - Thor Rag is actually funny at times where as the rest of it.....
 

timshundo

CANCEL YOUR AMAZON PRIME
Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,156
CA
My sister and I realized the jokes in all these movies all feel like they're written by the same ~38 year old white man.
 

Alien Bob

Member
Nov 25, 2017
2,456
I feel like directorial style has a lot to do with this too. Whether you like them or not, the Guardians movies are very obviously James Gunn movies, and Ragnarok is very obviously a Taika Waititi movie, so their humor is also very much their humor. They are some of the most distinct MCU movies for that reason, while most others generally just follow the studio style, which sometimes works well and other times leaves things lacking. I really do hope Feige & Co continue to find directors that not only flourish with the Marvel Studios system, but aren't afraid to bring their own voices, humorous or not, to the films also, and are able to integrate both.
 

Idde

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,660
I agree, but only a tad. Generally I don't mind how quippy and funny characters are. But there were a few instances where the movies could have let dramatic scenes breathe a bit more. I remember Dr. Strange dying in his movie after the car accident, his girlfrien was watching him (bit of a waste of Rachel McAdams thinking back on it) and in half a second some character made a joke about something. Doesn't happen so often and in such egregious ways that it really bothers me, but it could be a bit better, yes.
 

FarronFox

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,429
Melbourne, Australia
Yeah, I'll say it, Thor Ragnarok being a comedy ruined it for me. It's about the end of the world and it feels like there are no stakes when there are jokes all the time

I agree with much of your sentiment and said similar things at the time but kind of feel it pointless now as Endgame has happened since.

Anyway in many respects the main part for me is with Thor Ragnarok and how the story is meant to make a major impact, but it's not felt because people think it's just jokes.

His home is gone. His dad is now dead, as are his best friends. He also loses an eye, but there are probably quite a few out there who don't realise all of that as they think it is just a funny movie and so didnt feel the impact.

It's why it's the worst Thor film for me, as these are huge life altering events that just aren't taken as seriously as they should be, and so what should actually be a tragic story, people think is a comedy instead.
 

Kay

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
2,077
Humor is fine, great even. I just really wish movies would stop the post-modern self-aware "ISNT IT CRAZY THE THING IN THIS MOVIE IS HAPPENING, GUYS?!" banter that marvel has popularized and has spread like a disease through other blockbuster movies. Its super lazy.
 

Khanimus

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
40,172
Greater Vancouver
Point is, losing a civilization or hometown in a movie about the end shouldn't be played for laughs
They repeat the "Asgard is not a place - it's a people" line like a dozen times, whilst also showing how Asgard's glory was built on bodies and pillaging the fuck out of other realms which it never actually answered for. Taika Waititi isn't in an idiot - if he wanted that moment to be played totally straight, he's perfectly capable of it. But that's not how he chooses to tackle tragedy or loss in any of his previous movies - and certainly not the loss of a bunch of buildings.
 

Dervius

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,901
UK
In general, the signature MCU style quips can grate if you're watching a lot of the movies close together, but in isolation it's almost always fine.

They've made the quips-in-the-face-of-extreme-adversity almost an art.

Thor Ragnarok however is a Straight up comedy and all the better for.it. it was the breath of fresh air that particular franchise needed and a great departure from the near-uniformity of the MCU at the time.
 

LewieP

Member
Oct 26, 2017
18,094
Only film I felt that in was Doctor Strange, where it was super obvious they had a completed script, then handed it over to writers tasked with adding a bunch of jokes. Most of the jokes did nothing to serve the story or characters, and just gave me tonal whiplash.

I didn't get that feeling from any of the other movies, where the comedy feels true to the characters and naturally weaved into the story.
 

MrCibb

Member
Dec 12, 2018
5,349
UK
I might have agreed a while ago when I was younger, but I don't take superhero movies that seriously now. They're just good fun and I think Marvel's embraced that. Despite serious consequences there's always room for jokes and quips here and there. And some of the MCU movies are just comedies by design at this point, like Thor Ragnarok. The comedy's not out of place because it is basically a comedy superhero movie. And it works imo, that movie felt fresh and a great change of pace. So I don't think there's too much, I think it works as is.
 

Siggy-P

Avenger
Mar 18, 2018
11,865
Its annoys me half the time cus half the time a lot of the jokes are straight up unfunny and terrible. If you're gonna undercut a moment with a joke make it funny. I have genuinely never heard an audience sandbag a joke like Taserface, and I saw Jack and Jill in cinema.



A side point though, I was listening to a podcast last night though were Stephen Fry offhandedly mentioned that the childish retreat I to fantasy and aversion to any sense of meaning or realism beyond escapism is a major fault in the current societal mentality and landscape via its fixation on fantasy escapism. He didnt blame the MCU but used the MCU as a minor example. I would argue that's a very real and bigger issue with these movies than the bad overused humour, though the bad overused humour is still bad.
 
Oct 25, 2017
23,204
Yeah, both of those are movies are movies people like as much as they do because they embraced the humor. Thor 3 made people actually want to see a Thor movie again and GOTG turned a bunch of D-listers into household names.

Honestly the only movie where I really have a problem with the Marvel humor is Ultron because characters because Wheedon has everyone throwing out these quips to the point where it feels out of character. It's like he wrote everyone to just be Tony Stark.
 

CampFreddie

A King's Landing
Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,954
Winter Soldier and Civil War were the worst because they had quips without humour. The tone was serious, but the heroes are quipping like it's a training session in the Danger Room.

GotG and Ragnarok are excellent because they are comedies and realise that superhero fight scenes are shit at generating tension (no hero will ever lose to hydra grunts). The fights are funny and the drama/tension comes from character interactions.
 

DustyVonErich

Member
Oct 31, 2017
2,863
After some of the soulless, damn-near humorless DC movies? MCU doing just fine. Especially when it mixes in deep or dire moments as well.

My favorite recent DC movies Shazam, first WW, Aqua-man weren't all grim. Maybe leave that for the Batman stand alone films. But Superman and the rest need to smile.
 

Bulby

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 29, 2017
5,035
Berlin
Yeah in the new Star Wars trilogy it was awful. Mainly cause the characters lacked any real charm or the presence to carry it off, save for Driver.

OG Star Wars worked so well cause Ford and Fisher were such fucking gangsters on and off the screen and you bought it.
 

Punchline

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,151
Theyre based off silly comic books if they took themselves any more seriously it would be bad
 
Oct 27, 2017
6,141
I don't think their humor makes the movies less self-serious. It's just bad jokes interjected between everything else. I haven't seen many marvel movies though.
 

Elfgore

Member
Mar 2, 2020
4,565
Fat Thor felt like a joke some higher up found hilarious and made whoever keep it in, even when it got to the point of being painfully unfunny.

That's probably the only one that landed completely flat for me.
 

Thorn

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
24,446
546d8decbb6799b4372b18e0520c645a.gif
 

Muitnorts

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
2,141
I think there are plenty of different tones in MCU movies and in general the humour comes from the characters.
Stark has always thrown out one liners, the guardians are goofy as all hell and Thor since Ragnarok has embraced the fish out of water thing.
Infinity War for example is pretty serious but has jokes mainly coming from the Guardians and Iron Man. The Captain America films aren't over the top with their humour at all.

The films have been so successful because they're easy and fun to watch and humour's a big part of that. But they have a pretty solid balance right now.
 

Wackamole

Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,932
Not really. It often works really well.
Star Wars should drop all humor though. Or hire decent writers who actually have a sense of humor.
 

AstronaughtE

Member
Nov 26, 2017
10,196
Absolutely! It's the one thing that's keeping these flicks from becoming super popular.

I think, typically, they strike the right balance. If your beef is with korgs misplaced optimism just remember he's got rocks for brains and a very thick skull.
 

Punchline

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,151
If anything i feel like the mcu could be sillier. Show me vision and wanda's cow midwife in Wandavision, dont just allude to her in a completely missable background gag.