zslane

This can't be laid at Hemsworth's feet. He was doing what was written for him and acting as the director(s) asked him to.
 
As for Ultimates Thor, he was more of an eco-hippie, not an Asgardian imitation of Jeffrey Lebowski. Moreover, Ultimates Thor was not out of shape. I really don't see much of a similarity.

If I were ever to write a campaign setting for the Hero System, I'd use the Plot Point Campaign structure. I think this structure can be adopted for any system, and I'd like to see it become the preferred approach for all future Hero System campaign settings, regardless of who authors them.

I would argue that Asgard was not very developed in the comics when Thor first appeared in them either. It took a long time to develop Asgard and the rest of that pantheon of super-beings in the comics. Readers simply accepted Thor as he was without question for many hundreds of issues. But mainstream movie audiences don't have the same mindset that comic readers do, and so they demand something quite different from these characters. The need for (MCU) Thor to remain a viable solo "franchise" character put great pressure on Feige to pivot and make him funny and relatable so as to appeal to the masses, a problem Stan Lee never really faced with comic-book Thor.

In my view, Dark Champions is misnamed today. It started out as a dork dark roleplaying tribute to the Image Comics superhero stuff hitting shelves in the '90s. But since then it has expanded to more general coverage of the modern action genre. I share the opinion of others here that it should be more accurately called Action Hero, and as such is as much a replacement for Danger International as it is a source book for comics like Shadowhawk or Wetworks.

In a single movie:
Tony Stark goes from arrogant weapons dealer to shutting down the weapons division of his company and becoming a superhero. Thor goes from spoiled, arrogant, Asgardian prince to humbled hero who realizes he isn't fit to be king. T'Challa goes from believing Wakanda should stay hidden and isolated (the "old way" of his father) to reaching out and sharing its science, technology, and culture with the world. Dr. Strange goes from arrogant, narcissistic surgeon to sorcerer supreme protecting Earth and the multi-verse. Other characters, like Nebula and Bucky were supporting characters who didn't enjoy the luxury of being the stars of their own movies in which to travel a full character development arc. For them it had to happen over the course of a larger story arc dedicated to other, more prominent, characters. I think it's only fair to nevertheless recognize their development despite the longer, draw-out trajectory it had to take.

Thor could have spent his days building an Asgardian-style "fortress of solitude" for himself somewhere in Scandanavia. I would have preferred a Thor single-mindedly obsessed with building some giant structure in homage to his lost people and lost realm than a Thor wallowing in pity and serving as the focal point for farce.

Thor could have spent his days building an Asgardian-style "fortress of solitude" for himself somewhere in Scandanavia. I would have preferred a Thor single-mindedly obsessed with building some giant structure in homage to his lost people and lost realm than a Thor wallowing in pity and serving as the focal point for farce.

I don't quite understand why Marvel gets a bad rap for "lack of character development". Tony Stark, Thor, Loki, Bucky/Winter Soldier, T'Challa, Captain Marvel, Banner/Hulk, Dr. Strange, Nebula, and Spider-Man all go through clear character development, sometimes during a single film, other times over the course of several films. But the development is undeniably there in a way that isn't there for any DCEU character.

He doesn't appear to carry a narcissistic pathology anymore. Since the third act of his debut movie, his first concern has been for safety of Earth and the multiverse, not himself.

I think there was a different way they could have gone to shake up the character if they thought his appeal was growing stale.
 
Just look at what happened in the comics when the Watcher whispered to him just exactly how he was unworthy.
 
Thor got to go through the whole redemption arc without all the fat jokes.

Not all comic book tropes and practices are good ones worthy of imitation in other media. Just sayin'.

I don't quite understand why Marvel gets a bad rap for "lack of character development". Tony Stark, Thor, Loki, Bucky/Winter Soldier, T'Challa, Captain Marvel, Banner/Hulk, Dr. Strange, Nebula, and Spider-Man all go through clear character development, sometimes during a single film, other times over the course of several films. But the development is undeniably there in a way that isn't there for any DCEU character.

I don't quite understand why Marvel gets a bad rap for "lack of character development". Tony Stark, Thor, Loki, Bucky/Winter Soldier, T'Challa, Captain Marvel, Banner/Hulk, Dr. Strange, Nebula, and Spider-Man all go through clear character development, sometimes during a single film, other times over the course of several films. But the development is undeniably there in a way that isn't there for any DCEU character.

This presents a nice intersection of pure setting (ala gazetteers) and plot hooks. It is hard to imagine an interesting setting that doesn't have something epic brewing within it.
 
I like the Savage Worlds structure of the Plot Point Campaign: an over-arching epic plotline engulfing the entire setting. The core campaign setting book provides the major beats of the epic plotline with lots of suggestions for where GM-made adventures could be inserted. For GMs who don't have the time to do that, there are published adventures that have a plug-and-play relationship to the overall storyline. This structure gives you the best of both worlds: broad scale guidance on an epic crisis affecting the entire game world, with space created for GMs to fit their own adventures within it, along with pre-made adventure support for GMs who need that.

So publish a small setting book featuring angsty pouch-riddled gun nuts and call _that_ Dark Champions.
 
Or ditch the name completely.  Given the last couple of decades of both and emo culture and sparkling vampires and the increasing occurrence of actual gun nuts...
 
Dark this and Dark that...
 
The name is more _embarrassing_ than it is enticing at this point.  Anymore, I pull my hat down low and look away from the cashier just to buy "Dark" chocolate....
 
 
 

I thought it was pretty darn terrific, excluding the uninspired final boss fight, of course, and even that wasn't bad, per se, it was just not up to the level of the rest of the movie. Wonder Woman was better than many MCU movies, IMO, and far better than any other DCEU movie. I guess it comes down to the small intangibles that either really resonate with you or don't. The first WW movie checked all the boxes for me, including a few I wasn't expecting. It is a hard act to follow, and from the get-go I was highly skeptical that Patty Jenkins could repeat that magic in a sequel. I'm not at all surprised that WW84 is a let-down; I really didn't see how it could have been anything but a let-down, to be frank. Movies like Godfather 2, Terminator 2 are extremely rare; more often than not sequels to great movies turn out like Jaws 2 or Temple of Doom. Maybe Patty Jenkins can redeem herself with the third movie and make something more like Last Crusade than Godfather 3.

I thought it was pretty darn terrific, excluding the uninspired final boss fight, of course, and even that wasn't bad, per se, it was just not up to the level of the rest of the movie. Wonder Woman was better than many MCU movies, IMO, and far better than any other DCEU movie. I guess it comes down to the small intangibles that either really resonate with you or don't. The first WW movie checked all the boxes for me, including a few I wasn't expecting. It is a hard act to follow, and from the get-go I was highly skeptical that Patty Jenkins could repeat that magic in a sequel. I'm not at all surprised that WW84 is a let-down; I really didn't see how it could have been anything but a let-down, to be frank. Movies like Godfather 2, Terminator 2 are extremely rare; more often than not sequels to great movies turn out like Jaws 2 or Temple of Doom. Maybe Patty Jenkins can redeem herself with the third movie and make something more like Last Crusade than Godfather 3.

I agree with Chris to an extent. I always felt that the best edition was 4e with a few of 5e's new ideas sprinkled in. But using 5e or 6e as the foundation is not my preference.
 
One huge advantage of 4e, in my view, is that it doesn't lure you into thinking you have to search the rulebook for the "official" answer to every tiny piece of minutiae that comes up in play (or during character creation). Quite a bit is left up to you and your players to reasonably extrapolate from what's given. Once you get the hang of that, you'll be using the system as a general framework for playing anything you can think of, and you won't find yourself consulting the rulebook very often. The same can't really be said, IMO, of 5e or 6e, as those editions attempt to encode every little possible contingency into the main rulebook, filling every margin with stuff you will feel compelled to use and adhere to.

Yeah, I'm pretty "meh" on WW84 as well.
 
For me the first film was truly wonderful, while this one felt rushed (storywise) and lacked nuance. Moreover, the whole swapping of the Fish Out of Water trope with Steve being the fish this time just didn't resonate with me for some reason. And this rendition of Maxwell Lord, while very well acted by Pedro Pascal, was not very compelling for me, especially at the end. I felt like I was watching a movie version of CW's Supergirl (who solved a world-ending crisis in pretty much the exact same way in one of her seasons). Lastly, I think they could have done without Dr. Minerva in this movie; that whole sub-plotline felt so tangential--and largely inconsequential--that it caused the movie to feel unfocused to me.
 
I absolutely love Gal Gadot in the role, and I think Chris Pine is fine as Steve Trevor, but overall I just felt underwhelmed by this movie. I'll just go and watch my Blu-ray of the first movie again (and again) instead.

At the moment Patty Jenkins is feeling no pain. She's got Cleopatra for Paramount and Rogue Squadron for Disney keeping her busy for the next 3+ years. After that she's got the third Wonder Woman movie--which WB has already greenlit--to look forward to. Seems to me that the divided reception of WW84 isn't likely to slow her roll much, if at all.

I just got around to seeing the second best Fantastic Four movie of all time....Incredibles 2. 
  The story had the characterization, humor and actual feeling of family that the last big budget travesty lacked. 
The people behind the MCU should give Brad Bird the job of screenwriting and directing the live action film in the works.  Also I think I’d be great for an Easter Egg seeing Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter and the voice actors who played the kids all sitting together somewhere in the movie.

Wonder Woman 1984
Definitely not as good as the first, but still watchable.  Seemed to struggle with tone and was kinda quirky at times.  Expanded her powers, occasionally breaking my suspension of disbelief - although casual fans probably won't care.  I give it a C+.

Thanks
 
His name is usually Monty.  It gets lengthened or shortened (or changed to something really profane) as the need arrises.  Typically, he gets called "Munch" or "Munchy."  He is quite possibly the most affectionate cat I have ever run across, is extremely talkative, and surprisingly intelligent.  He adores the kids (which is weird for a cat, I think) and loves company of any kind.  This is the reason the videos are shot with at least one cat wrangler.
 
He is also not our cat.
 
We have no idea where he came from.  I assume he walked up out of the woods behind the house one day and just stayed.
 
 
More about Monty, because the internet loves pests-- uh, pets. 
 
He is _all_ fluff.  I mean that.  He weighs about six pounds, period.  He begs to be picked up, at which point he will he beg to be put down.  He will follow you everywhere around the yard, leaping onto any and everything that gets him at least as high as your hand, to make petting him easier.  He yaks non-stop, but won't talk when you are talking.  It's uncanny, and a bit creepy.  He hunts only small trinkets (like the Wonder Bunny mini) and lizards.  When he catches a lizard, he has no idea what to do with it, and will walk around the yard for up to an hour just... I don't know-- smoking it?  Anyway, it just hangs out of his mouth like a cigarette.  Eventually he gets bored and lets it go.
 
He will only puke his little hairballs directly in front of the door, and only at night.  Randomly, your trip to work becomes a one-heeled ice-skating session.  i have to head out to work every morning ten minutes earlier than I want to in case I need to hose off the porch.  When the youth group convenes for a game, we play outside at a large picnic table (social distancing, etc, and with all the Karens out there, you don't even want to let your nieces and nephews get close to you without witnesses these days, and I've got retired neighbors who sit home all day and mind everyone else's business, so it's all good).  Monty will get in the middle of the table and help roll dice.
 
If you are sitting near any sort of perch, Monty will tell you what he wants-- specifically.  No; I'm not kidding.  If he wants his head rubbed, he will find a way to pat you on the head.  If he wants his shoulders rubbed, he will pat you on the shoulder.  If he wants his back rubbed, etc.  I know I'm not imagining this, because if you get it wrong, he will move away from petting and "tell" you again.  He will continue doing so until you get it right.  If he has no demands, he will just keep squaking until you pet him.
 
Monty _hates_ groceries.  On all occasions of you crossing the yard, he will do everything he can to stay next to you and at hand-height where possible.  He was wearing a groove in the roof of my wife's last car; I swear he was.  If you are carrying groceries, he will dart in front of you and stop.  If you fail to trip, he will repeat over and over until you trip and die, or at least until you trip and drop something he can investigate.
 
He _loves_ brain massages, and  won't let you quit until he's dizzy.  He's also been caught sneaking food to the raccoons in the woods.
 
He used to be dark green, but turned brown as he matured.   Yeah; I don't blame you: no one else believes it, either.
 
He's also disgustingly charming, and no matter how much I wanted him to find his way home when he showed up, I really can't help but like him.  If my wife ever comes to her senses and packs up and leaves, he's going to be my secret weapon to find a new one. 
 
 
 
 

Indeed. I feel there is little to no chance that anyone is going to try to challenge the TOS in court. The only way this gets "fixed" is in the marketplace. A competitor would have to come along offering the same services without the overreaching TOS and Hero Forge would have little choice but to respond in kind. In the mean time, it is probably wisest for artists/writers/animators/creators who intend to monetize their superhero creations avoid Hero Forge like the plague.

I'd say the Conan movies are good pulp movies to watch, as is the Solomon Kane movie with James Purefoy.