616 To MCU: ‘Captain America: Civil War’ Comparison – Part 3: ‘Loki And The Rest Of The Field’
Check out Part I here, and Part II here!
I’d like to start this segment about the villains of the MCU and their 616 Universe counterparts by saying that I am a huge fan of Tom Hiddleston and his portrayal of Loki. Therefore, like many of you, I’m a fan of Loki in the films. I agree that he is far and away the best Marvel villain thus far. But, before I get to the but, let’s hop in the DeLorean and zip back to 1978.
In the very first Superman film, Lex Luthor launched two, count em’ two nuclear missiles at the United States, and it took time travel to stop him. The most incredible feat however, is that he survived the experience. In the comics, at that time in history, that outcome was still fairly reasonable. Looking back however, it’s one of the dumbest endings in movie history. The fact that it was acceptable in the comics is one of the reasons comic books as a literary medium was scoffed at by all the other literary mediums. Don’t believe me? Ask Stan Lieber why he changed his last name to Lee. Comic books at one point were kind of dumb, and it took Stan Lee and others a really long time to change that perception after the industry itself had a near 50 year head start.
As a kid reading comics, I honestly didn’t think Marvel based comic book movies could ever be done properly. I always felt that the hurdle that would be the highest would always be the villains. Because film, better yet live action film brings the audience to the razors edge of reality even in Sci-Fi. The consequences for the actions of villains in comic book movies always range to either extreme of hyper-realism. Lex Luthor inexplicably lives, while the Joker dies during his first big mission, both twice. The moment you attempt to bring the grandiose ambitions of a super villain to the ‘realism-by-default’ of film, you have to accept the same level of consequence. Or your movie doesn’t hold up over time.
The Marvel Way includes their use of villains
As a kid, the MCU was beyond comprehension. I couldn’t imagine it, because I was too young to understand what comic films would have to become in order to succeed. In order for the MCU to work, Marvel/Disney had to prop the entire genre up on their shoulders. Every success allows them to do more, it also allows all the other companies to become more active including DC. We’ve seen this before, but it only becomes clear when you strip away the paint. The Comic Book Movie genre is the second coming of The American Western genre.
Most movie buffs won’t be too quick to throw Westerns in with the Action Movie genre. There’s just too much room to work with in the environment to relegate it to just one thing, but the environment makes it unique. The Shootist isn’t an action movie, but it sure as hell is a Western. The genre itself is as old as film and TV, and that’s where I like the comparison. In order for Marvel to justify the initial investment into the undertaking that is the MCU it had to prove sustainable. Marvel has succeeded so far by efficiently producing a steady stream of quality films, TV shows, cartoons and video games. Each property has a tone and uniqueness that plays to the expanse of the fictional story. Sure, maybe Winter Soldier is an action film in some ways, but is Jessica Jones an ‘action show’? Marvel built a film genre that stands all on its own. In order to get there, the villains have to exist as they do currently.
What we have so far…
Some say that The Red Skull won’t be back because Hugo Weaving won’t be coming back, and that’s why there’s no War Machine in the Marvel movies…wait. No, Red Skull is likely dead for good, or won’t show up until way down the line. He presents a threat level too high to just let him exist. Super hero films can’t end like super hero cartoons, where the villain escapes while shaking their fist in anger. Bully’s wipe their nose and high tail it out of there, murderers typically die in a hail of gunfire. You don’t show a little kid Falling Down for that reason.
Obadiah Stane had to die for a very different reason. Once he’s revealed as the villain in the film, The Dude became an evil businessman. We kind of have a sore spot for evil businessmen these days. If he survives the film, he’s completely unusable because he can’t retain his resources and wealth. He also publically tried and succeeded to commit murder. Killing Stane had value for setting the tone of the films to come.
Some people didn’t care for Iron Man 2, and part of me thinks it’s because Marvel didn’t swing for the fences when it came to Sam Rockwell as ‘100% id Tony Stark’ Justin Hammer. It might have pleased the fans more if Hammer built/stole the Whiplash armor and they just omitted Mickey ‘The Wrestler’ Rourke all together. Iron Man villains in the comics are all over the map, from business rivals to giant magic dragons named Fin Fang Foom. The moment Stark Industries stops making weapons, it eliminates all of his 616 business rivals. The current stance that there are no more Iron Man films at the moment is legit, because Marvel has used the meat.
Loki makes his debut in Thor and puts all the fans on notice. He is magnificent. It doesn’t hurt that he’s Loki. Loki is THE villain that can at one time present a world ending threat, and also get to escape shaking his fist in anger. Even the watered down version we see in the MCU. I could write a whole series on nerfing alone, but suffice to say Thor and Loki both are diminished compared to their 616 selves. The best example I could give goes back to a limited series called X-Men & Alpha Flight. The combined might of both teams managed to displease Loki. And he decided to kill them. They prepared to die. Wolverine looked over at Colossus to say his final goodbyes, because a god was going to smite them. The gods that Loki answered to were the only reason our heroes survived. Those gods would feature prominently years later in a Thor event called Ragnarok. However, Loki doesn’t really give a crap about Earth, not really. His general disinterest ultimately rationalizes his continued existence.
The Abomination lives, and fulfilled his purpose. He’s in play for future films. Incredible Hulk also gives you William Hurt as Thunderbolt Ross who worked out well in Civil War. He could potentially be seen as not only an antagonist, but one that could be seen on the Agents of SHIELD TV series without missing a beat.
The appearance of Thanos at the end credit scene in The Avengers would be the barometer for whether or not your favorite youtube commentator actually read comics. The ones that thought it was funny that Thanos was so obscure, are the ones who’ve never actually walked into a comic book shop. They only know who Darksied is because cartoons, like Bryan friggin’ Singer. The major difference between Darksied and The Mad Titan, is that Darksied needs a planet/army/slaves; while Thanos just needs The Watcher to show up and witness his work, as there will be no actual survivors. He is the ultimate nihilist, eventually the universes greatest hero, and oh yeah… his brother is Cupid, yeah that Cupid… and Cupid is an Avenger….long story.
The Avengers marked the first big event in the MCU. We’ll end our discussion here, and look at the rest of the villains next time!
