[Weekly Update] You Couldn't Live with Your Own Failure

So, I'm taking a things a bit slow this week. We have yet another video being copyright claimed, and my health was still recovering. It has been a high stress couple of weeks, and I'll need to recharge a bit. It'll also give me more time to work on the next video as well.

CHANNEL UPDATE

Hope you all enjoy our last video on fat-shaming and Steven Seagal. Due to the limited appeal of the subject matter, the video is expected to not perform very well. Nevertheless, it is something I need off my chest. If it makes a few more people a bit more tolerant of others, it is worth it.

As stated before, our next video will be about historical films that are set in an around the same time, within about a hundred years. I'm still looking for more films from the ancient world and Middle Ages. If you have any recommendations, especially foreign films, let me know!

This idea came to me when I realize the film Gladiator and the Chinese film Red Cliff happens only 28 years apart. It's a fascinating way to see history, not from a linear timeline perspective, but from a horizontal wide angle. I have since found more pairings such as 300 and Confucious, Joan of Arc and One-Bak 2, and of course, rather hilariously, Yojimbo and A Fistful of Dollars. Again, if you know any east-west pairings, leave a comment!

Our bonus video is being worked on, and should go live tomorrow. It's about the original Predator and how it is a critique of American imperialism, and how nearly every sequel missed the point by glorifying the titular monster.

MEDIA TALK

So... What's going on with the MCU? I stopped following half-way through Moon Knight because there was so many shows coming out, all of them are canon, all of them are time sinks, and not a whole lot of them are good.

From what I understand, the original plan for MCU was to build up King as the big bad of the Multiverse Saga, and a whole new generation of Avengers. But then Kang's actor, Jonathan Majors, turned out to be a total piece of human trash, leading to the whole thing wrapping up in the Loki TV series. And the MCU has to re-tool itself into something else entirely.

It's shame, too, because I thought Kang is a fascinating sci-fi idea. Sort of like the Dark Forest Hypothesis, but with dimensions rather than space. You don't know what lies beyond, and there's a chance what's in the other universe is not friendly. At last, Kang got his ass whooped by Ant-Man. So the man isn't exactly threatening to begin with.

And so, we arrive to the news from a couple of days ago: Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the MCU, playing Victor von Doom. It's a decision that gives me such a weird mixed feelings.

I've been a fan of RDJ for a long time, but in his post Iron Man career, dude has been playing the exact same character in almost all movies. Tony Stark is Doctor Dolittle is Wing-Chun Sherlock Holmes. We get a glimpse of his range in Oppenheimer, but that's nothing compare to his younger days when he was Charlie Chaplin. With von Doom being a much more self-serious character, perhaps we'll get a chance to see RDJ doing something that's absolutely opposite of what he did with Tony Stark. Alternatively, he could just be Tony Stark again, because that's what people wanted.

It's also weird that the MCU shifted away from Kang entirely. The series had no problem recasting other characters. Even as recent as the new Ant-Man movies, they recasted Lang's daughter (without notifying the original actress, bunch of assholes). It's almost like the team was having trouble with the multiverse concept, and decided to scrap it before it goes bad. A part of me wonder if it's because the new DCU led by James Gunn was applying market pressure to Disney.

Amidst this mess, I can't help but wonder: What is all of this building up towards? Back when the MCU was new, it was building up towards an epic cross-over movie. The Avengers was something unlike what we've seen before. This hype somewhat died in Avengers 2, because it's practically more of the same thing. But comes Infinity War, it gets exciting again, as we have never seen some of the heroes interact, many of whom have entirely different settings. Spider-Man in space? How would that work?

Now, though... I have no idea what it is leading to. Legacy series are doing the same thing, while WandaVision turns out to be a one off experiment. If it were to leading to whackier stuff, maybe it would have been interesting. But with so many shows and so many threads, it's clear Marvel and Disney is no longer interested in the casual audience, and are only milking the existing comic book fans. It's perhaps a good business decision, but definitely not one that will creatively satisfy anyone, fans or non-fans.

So that's my rant about Marvel. Been a while since we talk about super heroes. I wonder when is Spider-verse 3 coming out.

Anyway, I'll see you in the next update!