The lazy fan's guide to the Avengers
I spent this weekend recovering from surgery, which meant that I was incredibly bored and had a lot of time on my hands. Fandom is my usual go-to in such situations, but this was the weekend of The Avengers and pretty much nothing else was happening. (I mean, Quinto and Pegg tweeted pics of each other out with Cumberbatch, and fandom barely even noticed, that's how Avenger-centric this weekend was.)
I quickly realized that if I wanted to know what fandom was talking about this weekend, I needed to brush up on Avengers past and present, as not only did I not go see the movie this weekend, but I actually haven't seen any of the movies. (Yes, even "Iron Man" -- I keep meaning to watch it on Netflix, but haven't yet.) Accuracy was not my goal here, I just wanted to have a rough sense of what was going on. But I thought those of you who *have* seen the movie would be amused by my conclusions (spoilers, obviously, including potentially erroneous ones):
Here's what I knew about the Avengers before this weekend:
1) The basic premise of a group of superheroes gathering together to fight evil, and that this particular group had all previously starred in their own individual movies.
2) That the movie definitely had both Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr as Batman with more social skills) and a character called Steve who was also Captain America (which I had no idea was a real thing until last winter), because half of fandom wrote them as a pairing for Yuletide.
3) That Thor, another movie/character I only know from fic, was also somehow connected to this. And the Incredible Hulk, but not starring either of the last two guys who were in Hulk movies.
4) That there was exactly one female superhero and she didn't get her own movie like the others.
5) That Joss Whedon was somewhat randomly in charge, so everyone was taking bets on who would die.
And here's what I know now, courtesy of a weekend spent reading fandom reaction, plus a bit of googling so I could figure out whether Clint and Coulson were the same guy or not (they're not):
THE PLOT
1) It's your classic aliens invade and a group of reluctant warriors join forces to bicker and fight back. It's like one of those Doctor Who episodes where all the companions come back, but with more superpowers and explosions. There's also a big airship and a MacGuffin energy thingie.
2) The Big Bad is Loki, Thor's sort-of brother, about whom there was apparently a lot of backstory in the Thor movie but that doesn't seem hugely relevant to this plot. He's evil, he wants to rule the humans, Thor has issues with this, etc. (I still have no idea how Norse mythology got mixed in with a film set in modern-day Earth, btw, but I think it's helpful in this case to have spent a lot of time watching opera. Once you've sat through the Ring cycle a few times, you'll put up with pretty much anything, narrative-wise.)
3) There's a vaguely sinister government group called SHIELD that's sort of like UNIT from Doctor Who in that no one's sure if they're really the good guys or not. Anyway, it's run by Samuel Jackson.
4) In addition to Stark, Captain America, Hulk and Thor, the other superheroes are some guy with a bow (seriously, I don't think I realized this was the same guy as "Clint" until sometime on Sunday) and Natasha the spy aka Scarlett Johansson with dark hair (so you know she's serious.)
5) The other main character is Clark Gregg (the guy who buys CSC at the end of Sports Night, and I'm sure many other things too) as a lovable everyman whose death spurs everyone on at the right moment.
6) In the obligatory post-credits scene it turns out that there's an even bigger bad alien than the ones Loki was working with, and it's someone comic nerds are excited about. There's also a second post-credits scene (shown in the US only) in which we see our heroes silently eating schwarma. (Yeah, whatever. Still less strange then the frickin' Norn.)
FANDOM REACTION
1) Basically joyful, with no small amount of surprise and relief.
2) In particular, everyone seems to be very pleasantly surprised at how well done Bruce's character is (after two previous Hulks who apparently sucked) and how badass the lone female superhero gets to be. There's a lot of talk about both of them getting their own movies after this. (I mean, the Hulk's had two, but I think everyone would rather pretend they didn't exist. Also, it's comics.)
3) People are mourning Coulson (Gregg's character) while simultaneously arguing about if he's really dead (on the yes side: it's Joss; on the no side: it's comics). Joss meanwhile is busy defending himself and saying it was Marvel's idea.
4) The emerging ships seem to be Tony and Bruce (though the Tony/Steve gang did apparently get some stuff to work with) and Clint and Natasha.
5) Everyone's favorite scene is apparently one where the Hulk gets to beat up Loki. (Picspams, incidentally, suggest that in a move full of unfortunate clothing choices, Loki manages to make everyone else look restrained.)
6) Other things people love include Steve's happiness at getting a Wizard of Oz reference, Coulson being a dorky fan, Natasha going RiverSong on her captors, and pretty much anytime Tony Stark says anything.
This entry was also posted at http://dafna.dreamwidth.org/213495.html. (
) Please comment in either place.
I quickly realized that if I wanted to know what fandom was talking about this weekend, I needed to brush up on Avengers past and present, as not only did I not go see the movie this weekend, but I actually haven't seen any of the movies. (Yes, even "Iron Man" -- I keep meaning to watch it on Netflix, but haven't yet.) Accuracy was not my goal here, I just wanted to have a rough sense of what was going on. But I thought those of you who *have* seen the movie would be amused by my conclusions (spoilers, obviously, including potentially erroneous ones):
Here's what I knew about the Avengers before this weekend:
1) The basic premise of a group of superheroes gathering together to fight evil, and that this particular group had all previously starred in their own individual movies.
2) That the movie definitely had both Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr as Batman with more social skills) and a character called Steve who was also Captain America (which I had no idea was a real thing until last winter), because half of fandom wrote them as a pairing for Yuletide.
3) That Thor, another movie/character I only know from fic, was also somehow connected to this. And the Incredible Hulk, but not starring either of the last two guys who were in Hulk movies.
4) That there was exactly one female superhero and she didn't get her own movie like the others.
5) That Joss Whedon was somewhat randomly in charge, so everyone was taking bets on who would die.
And here's what I know now, courtesy of a weekend spent reading fandom reaction, plus a bit of googling so I could figure out whether Clint and Coulson were the same guy or not (they're not):
THE PLOT
1) It's your classic aliens invade and a group of reluctant warriors join forces to bicker and fight back. It's like one of those Doctor Who episodes where all the companions come back, but with more superpowers and explosions. There's also a big airship and a MacGuffin energy thingie.
2) The Big Bad is Loki, Thor's sort-of brother, about whom there was apparently a lot of backstory in the Thor movie but that doesn't seem hugely relevant to this plot. He's evil, he wants to rule the humans, Thor has issues with this, etc. (I still have no idea how Norse mythology got mixed in with a film set in modern-day Earth, btw, but I think it's helpful in this case to have spent a lot of time watching opera. Once you've sat through the Ring cycle a few times, you'll put up with pretty much anything, narrative-wise.)
3) There's a vaguely sinister government group called SHIELD that's sort of like UNIT from Doctor Who in that no one's sure if they're really the good guys or not. Anyway, it's run by Samuel Jackson.
4) In addition to Stark, Captain America, Hulk and Thor, the other superheroes are some guy with a bow (seriously, I don't think I realized this was the same guy as "Clint" until sometime on Sunday) and Natasha the spy aka Scarlett Johansson with dark hair (so you know she's serious.)
5) The other main character is Clark Gregg (the guy who buys CSC at the end of Sports Night, and I'm sure many other things too) as a lovable everyman whose death spurs everyone on at the right moment.
6) In the obligatory post-credits scene it turns out that there's an even bigger bad alien than the ones Loki was working with, and it's someone comic nerds are excited about. There's also a second post-credits scene (shown in the US only) in which we see our heroes silently eating schwarma. (Yeah, whatever. Still less strange then the frickin' Norn.)
FANDOM REACTION
1) Basically joyful, with no small amount of surprise and relief.
2) In particular, everyone seems to be very pleasantly surprised at how well done Bruce's character is (after two previous Hulks who apparently sucked) and how badass the lone female superhero gets to be. There's a lot of talk about both of them getting their own movies after this. (I mean, the Hulk's had two, but I think everyone would rather pretend they didn't exist. Also, it's comics.)
3) People are mourning Coulson (Gregg's character) while simultaneously arguing about if he's really dead (on the yes side: it's Joss; on the no side: it's comics). Joss meanwhile is busy defending himself and saying it was Marvel's idea.
4) The emerging ships seem to be Tony and Bruce (though the Tony/Steve gang did apparently get some stuff to work with) and Clint and Natasha.
5) Everyone's favorite scene is apparently one where the Hulk gets to beat up Loki. (Picspams, incidentally, suggest that in a move full of unfortunate clothing choices, Loki manages to make everyone else look restrained.)
6) Other things people love include Steve's happiness at getting a Wizard of Oz reference, Coulson being a dorky fan, Natasha going RiverSong on her captors, and pretty much anytime Tony Stark says anything.
This entry was also posted at http://dafna.dreamwidth.org/213495.html. (
) Please comment in either place.