RDU Neil

You're well within your rights to say that in your opinion, a given film isn't or shouldn't be impactful and meaningful to people. But if enough other people say that it is for them, then it is. That's the case with Black Panther, as with Wonder Woman. Very large numbers of people say they were affected by those movies, in a way other films hadn't touched them. That's just the reality.

I'm not sure what this success says about the movie-going public. Nor what influence it may have on superhero movies going forward. Venom feels like the kind of supers film that would have been made twenty years ago -- I thought the genre had moved on.

Disney has a long history of releasing adult-oriented films; IIRC that's the entire reason Touchstone Pictures was created.  I'd expect Deadpool to be PG-13 in Marvel ensemble films and R in his own. 
 
Of course movie ratings themselves are highly variable.  I regularly argue with my wife as to whether it's okay to take the kids with us to see certain R movies.  Her values are exactly backwards--she has no problem with ultraviolence, gunplay, and suicide, but the portrayal of healthy same sex relationships bothers her, and God forbid the boys see a boob.

Heh... I've actually considered something this extreme, but I do realize that game balance is an issue. 
 
One thing I should note is that I'm also reverting to old Danger International range mods. Those are way more punishing and appropriate for "realistic" gun combat. -1 per 3" (6 meters) after the first 6. Not doubling -1 7-12 meters, -2 12-18 meters, etc. Double the modifiers if autofire (or multiple attacks)... so at any kind of range, you start to miss with most of your rounds... which again, is pretty realistic. Heck... 6 meters, almost 20 feet, is pretty much handgun range , and beyond that you better be REALLY good.
 
Hmmm... maybe it is worth going back to those old Autofire rules... +4 OCV if full auto, +2 for 5 round burst, etc. That would make things "gross" at close range, but quickly move into mostly missed shots as the distance increases.
 
Man I loved DI back in the day. I'm looking at my, still in good condition, Dennis Loubet '84 cover as I type. Single best game book I've ever owned.
 
 

A few hours for that many posts, I think. But it would probably go faster if you Select All for each page, Copy and Paste everything into a text program, and then highlight and delete the extraneous bits.

"Soon I Will Be Invincible" by Austin Grossman. Absolutely hilarious, but at the same time, completely honest portrayal of comic book characters and stories. Excellent novel.

'Hawkeye' Film or Mini-Series in Development and may Feature Kate Bishop
https://mcuexchange.com/hawkeye-film-series-kate-bishop/

See, in the comics costumes never get dirty.  It's just another example of Hollywood making everything grim and gritty.  No wonder MCU films aren't profitable.

While I personally tend to be a comic-book Thor purist, and am not really happy with the direction Thor Ragnarok went in, various metrics were all indicating MCU Thor to that point had not connected with audiences the way other Marvel heroes had, so a change in direction was probably warranted. A direction taking advantage of Chris Hemsworth's obvious comedic talents seems like a smart choice. I forget where I first read the observation that MCU Thor now resembles Marvel Comics' Hercules -- a lovable goof who's also extremely competent in a fight due to his centuries of experience.
 
IMO Infinity War did a splendid job of blending that new take on Thor with the more serious elements of the story, and inherent godliness of the character, to create a Thor who often stole the movie in the opinion of many (including myself). The past year has greatly swelled the ranks of Thor fans, and that's hard to fault.
 
 

Serious Grandmaster wouldn't have worked in that movie....at all.

Wonder how long, if none of these streaming services are reaching the numbers they expect, before we start seeing them making deals with places like Netflix and Hulu to stream their shows.

Tom Hiddleston: The choices we make have a lasting impact. Not just on ourselves, but on those around us. On our communities. Even on the world. When considering the question before us, we must take into account--
 
Clerk, interrupting: Sir, I just need to know whether you want paper or plastic.

"Soon I Will Be Invincible" by Austin Grossman. Absolutely hilarious, but at the same time, completely honest portrayal of comic book characters and stories. Excellent novel.

As Ross said to the Avengers, "People are afraid." The practical underlying reasons for the Sokovia Accords can be argued, but public concern over extraordinarily powerful individuals active in the world without accountability is clearly one factor. I daresay world governments insecure over their inability to control such people is another, political motivation. But the Avengers up until Civil War are, without question, global vigilantes, imposing their own definition of justice without authorization from any body. That their intentions and most of their actions have been benevolent doesn't change that fact. Very few people would think armed fighter jets or cruise missiles in the hands of private individuals acting on their own would be a good idea, and the Avengers are the living equivalent of such weapons. All of us submit ourselves to the authority of the governments we live under, even if we sometimes question or have concerns about the actions of said governments.
 
Tony Stark's argument in favor of signing the Accords turned out to be prophetic: "If we don't do this now, it'll be done to us later."

Black Panther 2 is a go, writer-director signs on for #2. 

I could really see them being in the 60s as part of the race to space, with Reed being the scientist so ahead of everyone else, they deny what he is presenting.
 

Here's to being on the side of desperate men. For whatever acts they may have committed (or not) to get them incarcerated, the use of what amounts to slave labor should be completely unacceptable.

States are made up of people, but they're not actually people.  The current system effectively privileges the interests of the minority over the majority.  That is actually a real problem from an equity standpoint. You could construct a legislative majority in the Senate that represents a quarter or less of the population.   And let gerrymandering leverage you to a narrow majority in the House, even while receiving fewer votes overall.  It's a subversion of democracy rather than a realization of it.

The Senate is essentially broken, as far as representative democracy goes.  The 15 most populous states have around 2/3 of the population/citizens of the country, and in a decade or so, this number will hit around 70%.  The other 35 states have around 1/3, and soon only about 30%.  However, those 15 states have 30 senators, and those 35 have 70.  So you will have 70% of the citizenry represented by 30% of the Senate, and 30% of the citizenry represented by 70% of the Senate.  The Senate's consent is required for any legislation, for the appointment of government officials, and for the removal of government officials via impeachment.  It also has an oversight function.  The population ratio, in 1790, between the most and least populous states, was about 10:1.  The population ratio today, between California and Wyoming, is nearly 80:1.  The amount of power allocated to small states under this scheme is not only disproportionate to their population, it's disproportionate to their economic power as well.  Those small state senators wind up having power not only over policy affecting their own states, but the big states as well, including such crucial things as urban policy, infrastructure policy, and so forth.  The countermajoritarian nature of the Senate is reinforced by the staggered election of Senators, with only 1/3 up every 2 years, while the House members are all up for re-election every 2 years.  The Senate essentially embodies a sort of "tyranny of the minority".  

A quick question to people who are closely following the Benghazi/Her E-mails controversy:
 
If the FBI investigation turns up nothing, the supposed victims don't follow up with any legal actions, and Trump gets elected to the Presidency, are you planning to let the matter drop or will you be planning to refer to her as a criminal in every Trump rally for the next 8 years?
 
(Note: I am not someone who is following the controversy closely. Asking for a friend.)

I think you guys are picturing them zooming around NYC superheroing. Not really necessary. Mole Man? Lives underground. Negative Zone? Literally another dimension. They could introduce the Savage Land via a FF franchise. Again, not in the public's eye. The FF adventuring and exploring isn't a radical change. They directly trace their lineage to Jules Verne type adventures and pulp Sci Fi adventures. There's nothing at all radical about having them be mostly out of the public eye.
 
And if they were in the public eye? So what? Why would someone comment on a group of supers who were around 50 years ago in the context of any of the other MCU material? When would that have naturally come up in conversation in any Marvel movie to date? I think Fury has commented on a rise in the number of powered people, but he never said the current crop is the first crop of same.

The thing about Ant-Man and Captain Marvel is, it's easy to explain why the Earth as a whole wasn't aware of them or doesn't remember them. Ant-Man was literally as low-profile as it's possible to get , and most of his adventures were covert government missions. Captain Marvel has presumably spent most of the past decades far from Earth. But neither of those factors would apply to the FF, at least without radically re-interpreting their concept.

I don't see a problem: Frame them as scientists, adventurers and explorers, not superheroes. No reason for them to ever really be in the public eye much. Certainly as easy as fitting in Pym's original Ant Man.

For Dr Doom to work properly in the MCU it will mean to treat Doom as a main character, and not a main villain. In other words, Doom needs a trilogy of his own. First film is his origin, how the villain took over Latveria and became its ruler. The second film is about him as ruler, with the ending (a end credits scene) involving Doom discovering Galactus is heading for Earth. His third film is shared with Fantastic Four opposing Galactus. 

Team uniforms are not unprecedented in comics: original X-Men/New Mutants, Fantastic Four, Blackhawks, Green Lantern Corps, Doom Patrol, Power Pack, Challengers of the Unknown. Individual members usually have some distinguishing visual element, but if they're generally thought of as a team, a common look can make them even more distinctive and identifiable by the public.