Iron Man 2

[WindupAtheist]

This movie will be remembered as either one of the last movies before, or the first real inking of, Marvel's slaughtering the golden goose in order to create the Marvel Film Universe(tm).

[Selby]

I saw this in the theaters way back in almost July.  I had a hard time following what was going on as I was completely unfamiliar with the story and didn't see the first one.  Not sure if that's a true problem or not though...

[Sheepherder]

Go watch the first one.

[Lakov_Sanite]

This movie will be remembered as either one of the last movies before, or the first real inking of, Marvel's slaughtering the golden goose in order to create the Marvel Film Universe(tm).

Pretty much. While I'm looking forward to Thor as an enjoyable experience it does not look like it will be half the movie an iron man or dark knight was. Also captain america would be great if it was purely a world war 2 flick but i highly doubt they are going to stay in that time period the whole movie and will therefore suck.  I mean, I love cap but seriously, a guy running around in a red white and blue jumpsuit throwing a shield looks dumb in real life no matter how you look at it.

[LK]

Avengers priority aside, Captain America, at this point in history, would be nice to insert into modern day times and become an embodiment of the American ideal by fighting the American reality.

[Merusk]

Too real to make money, Lore, but I agree.

[LK]

My favorite part of Punisher: MAX was, during the storyline where Frank attempts to rescue a child held captive in Russia, Nick Fury beat the shit out of an American five-star general involved with orchestrating an event similar to 9/11 in Moscow as a distraction for Frank's covert action. Nick did this WITH HIS BELT.

That's what I want to see more of.

[Slyfeind]

Pretty much. While I'm looking forward to Thor as an enjoyable experience it does not look like it will be half the movie an iron man or dark knight was. Also captain america would be great if it was purely a world war 2 flick but i highly doubt they are going to stay in that time period the whole movie and will therefore suck.  I mean, I love cap but seriously, a guy running around in a red white and blue jumpsuit throwing a shield looks dumb in real life no matter how you look at it.

Actually yeah, almost the whole movie will be set in WW2.

[Morat20]

I can't imagine how Thor won't be cheesy. But I can hope.

Then again, never a big Thor fan.

[NowhereMan]

Honestly I think Thor could have worked as a, slightly weird, fantasy romp through Valhalla ending with Loki finally revealing some great trick and Thor getting banished to Midgard. Instead he's on earth acting all cool and punching people while riding around in a truck. Yes I think it will be cheesy.

[Slyfeind]

I think it would be great if the audience was acclimated to life in Asgard, so that life on Earth looks stupid by comparisson. Have all the Norse deities be realistic and subtle and downright human, while the actual humans are caricature and cheesy.

[NowhereMan]

I'd been thinking a great, larger than life epic for the Asgard portion with a real emphasis on huge characters. Balder, the Warriors Three, etc. would all just be great fun, classic heroes leaping into the fray and getting involved in huge action sequences. The last 15 minutes would be Thor on Earth and just played really low key. Fuck have his one opportunity to be a great hero stopping some guy robbing a Kwik-e-mart while the human police scurry about scared to do anything, just really emphasise what a shitty comedown this is for him. End with Samuel L. Jackson appearing with an offer he can't refuse.

Of course it'd never get greenlit because big epic fantasy isn't what they want in the Marvel movie universe and I don't think studios would want it. Plus I imagine they'd be really put off by the idea of having the climax of the movie 15-20 minutes before the end, especially if the tone radically changes. To be honest, from a commercial standpoint they'd probably be right, I doubt the movie in my head would make bank and I imagine critics would pan it for having a really weak ending. I imagine the epic fantasy could work though if they picked a semi-decent story arc and had fun with it, not too much drama but guys getting into fights with legions of ice giants and clearly having the time of their lives. Hell make Thor clearly something of an asshole who just wants to hit things with his hammer and can't fathom anyone that doesn't, even if he is well intentioned.

I think the other problem is that they've obviously set the movie universe tone with the success of Iron Man and I imagine they'll shy away from introducing any dark themes. The Ultimates Thor was an interesting Avengers character  (spoilered in case anyone hasn't read Ultimates yet and wants to). I don't think they'll want that sort of thing in the Avengers movie though I hope they at least have some grit to the Captain America one. Personally I'm really hoping for something in the vein of Saving Private Ryan with a Capt. Winters style character who just happens to wear a silly costume, something that uses the early part of the film to build Cap as a heroic figure and the middle and end to try and show his humanity. I think there's the opportunity for some dark stuff there just because of the time difference, as long as Cap is a good guy it doesn't need to be carried over to any cross-over movie.