Hello, true believers! Welcome to the return of Thought Bubble Thursdays! I'm not sure how regular this would be, but at least for this week... I'm back. He's back! He's back!!
As you probably now, a little indie film entitled Avengers: Infinity War came out recently, which served as a culmination of a 10-year, 18-film story arc and whose predecessors are in the top ten highest grossing films of all time. No big deal.
Initially, I thought about putting up this post during the premiere, but unlike an earlier, spoiler-filled edition, I decided against it. So, y'all can rest easy.
This time around, I want to write something to honor the Infinity Stones. Like the Time Stone (which grants the power to manipulate time), I'm hoping to take you back to the beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe; the Reality Stone (which grants the power to alter reality), I want to rewrite the whole universe in retrospect; the Space Stone, to take you far out; the Soul Stone, to touch your heart; the Power Stone, to grant me the power to move you; and the Mind Stone, to blow your minds.
So, hold on to your hats as I prepare to say, welcome to the return of...
Buzz Source, Infinity Gauntlet Source
But, First
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I want to start things off by admitting things I predicted wrong in the past, which I guess contains spoilers, if you want to be technical about it. Ultron's not Tony's abused bot helper (just had to put it out there), Heimdall doesn't have the Soul Stone, and Captain America doesn't bite the dust (still possible).
In any case, it feels great to be proven wrong when it comes to these things. Keeps you on your toes. If all of my predictions were right, then the films would be too... predictable, would't they?
Anyway, I won't drag this on for too long. Time to slip on the reality stone and rewrite a whole universe!
SNAP!
For those of you following, this is how I would rewrite the Marvel Cinematic Universe given everything so far (up until Avengers: Infinity War) so there could be mild spoilers peppered here and there. Also, this might be a long post, so hold on to your hats.
(in chronological order)
Phase One
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Iron Man. Kept in its glorious original form. Robert Downey, Jr. is the best lynchpin for a multi-billion dollar franchise you could ever ask for.
The Incredible Hulk. Kept mostly the same but with Betty biting the dust in the end, by way of the Abomination. This would add more motivation for Thunderbolt Ross' hunt for the Hulk.
Iron Man 2. This is where it gets tricky. I didn't like how this movie was originally set up. I didn't hate it either, but I felt that a lot of potential was lost with this. They could've used Cross Technological Enterprises along with Hammer Industries and other rival companies. CTE could've employed Hawkeye as Head of Security. Yes, introduce Hawkeye and NOT Black Widow. Bear with me, I'll get to it later. The film could've also introduced a certain Dr. Hank Pym (mostly in the background) and Gene Khan, a Chinese Mogul with a hidden agenda. Hammer could've employed the Ghost to sabotage Stark Industries, while CTE could've employed Spymaster for the same purpose.
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The film will be divided into two main storylines: the corporate espionage/public shaming story and the blow back of the Ten Rings which War Machine would cover. The Iron Man storyline would involve more successful armored counterparts, borrowing heavily from Armor Wars, and would lead Tony to turn to alcohol for solace until War Machine finds himself in a desperate situation where in the Ten Rings get control of armored suits of their own. Clint Barton will realize that he has been working for the enemy and switch sides. Tony will unleash the full force of his armory and, with the help of a rehabilitated Hawkeye, defeat the enemies on all fronts, albeit in a very violent manner. Stark would eventually resolve to stop making weapons. Nick Fury would rescind his invitation to Stark and instead recruit Hawkeye to join SHIELD. In the after credits, Gene Khan will be revealed to the viewers as the one who manipulated the conflicts and that it was all just a distraction as he collected his Makluan Rings under the radar.
Side note: Hawkeye was originally an Iron Man villain and he has worked for Cross Technological Enterprises in the past. The introduction of Hank Pym will drastically change the Ant-Man plot.
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Captain America. Kept mostly the same, but with an increase of easter eggs. The end credits should be a diluted version of the Agent Carter one-shot and introduce the foundation of SHIELD.
Thor. Kept mostly the same, but with more exposure for Sif and the Warriors Three instead of Jane Foster and the other Earth-bound characters. Also, no dyed eyebrows for Thor.
Avengers. This would mark Black Widow's first appearance and would be kept mostly the same. Loki will still manipulate everyone leading the Hulk to heavily damage the Helicarrier. Hawkeye would still be mind controlled until the Helicarrier battle. Hank Pym would collaborate with Tony to form Stark Resilient, leading the science division. Working with FuturePharm, Stark, Pym and Maya Hansen have developed the Extremis. Tony has also employed the Extremis to his armor.
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Pym would be working on a side project, unbeknownst to Tony, and when Loki takes control of Stark Tower and his magic makes the building go haywire... but, that's for another tale. In the end, Hawkeye will suffer a concussion, Coulson dies and Tony will still save the day. Thanos would still be featured in the end credits but instead of talking with a random minion, he would be conversing with his lieutenant Corvus Glaive.
Phase Two
Agents of SHIELD (Season One). Kept mostly the same, but with a few more notable B-list and C-list characters. Marvel should take this opportunity to do a kind of Marvel Spotlight sort of thing to introduce minor characters and bring them to prominence.
Captain America 2. Kept mostly the same. I feel like this is where Black Widow shined brightest and this is where she should have been highlighted instead of Iron Man 2. Agent 13 would have an expanded role and Alexander Pearce would've been the Red Skull. In the end, Red Skull dies, Crossbones gets badly burned and Winter Soldier still goes on the lam. The ending should establish that Agent 13 is Peggy Carter's niece.
Thor 2. The enemies of Asgard are banding together to launch an offensive. While Asgard is preparing, there is dissension among their ranks. Enchantress and Skurge are working behind the scenes to thin the ranks. The Mangog, a manifestation of all the anger against Asgard formed by way of the Reality Stone, is sent to Earth to wreck havoc and prove as a distraction for Thor. In the end, the forces turn on each other and Thor returns to save the day. Loki still seemingly dies and takes over Asgard disguised as Odin. Thor chooses to return to Earth to serve as its protector.
Guardians of the Galaxy. Kept in its glorious original form. Maybe introduce Nathan Fillion as a Nova Corps member named Richard Ryder.
Agent Carter (TV Series). Detail the founding of SHIELD and distill the series to only one season. Howard Stark and Edwin Jarvis still play major roles.
Iron Man 3. Reeling from the Battle of New York, Tony is suffering from PTSD. Hank Pym has left Resilient to work for SHIELD, and Stark Tower is being rebuilt as Avengers Tower. Gene Khan invites Stark to go on a retreat in China. Iron Patriot, now under the employ of the US government is left alone to handle the terrorist group Ten Rings, who have found a way to weaponize Extremis. Tony is held up in a Chinese village because of reports of a mythical dragon-like creature that the locals have dubbed Fin Fang Foom. The United States becomes under siege by the Mandarin and the Ten Rings while SHIELD is preoccupied. Stark barely survives Fin Fang Foom, but makes it back to the US, only to be defeated by the Mandarin.
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The villain systematically destroys Stark's life. Going back to basics, Stark uses whatever resources he has to defeat the Mandarin. In a last ditch effort, he employs Fin Fang Foom and Hulk to help defeat the Mandarin.
Hawkeye (Netflix). Take cues from Fraction and Aja's Hawkeye run. Clint Barton finds himself rehabilitating from the Battle of New York, slowly going deaf. In this reality, he's not a family man and he lives in a building that's in the middle of a hostile takeover by the Tracksuit Draculas (not actual vampires, but a mafia that ends every sentence with "bro").
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His estranged brother Barney comes in to help out as they go head to head with the mafia's ace in the hole, Kazi the Clown. In the end, the brothers emerge victorious but Grills still dies and Lucky the Pizza Dog would still have an episode in his perspective. Black Widow would stop by informing the now-deaf Hawkeye that SHIELD has dissolved and she is going to Madripoor to clear some red off her ledger. She asks him if he wants to go with her as she knows someone who could fix his hearing in Wundagore Mountain.
Agents of SHIELD (Season Two). Introduce the Inhumans and eventually tie in with Avengers 2. When the slogan of the company is "It's All Connected" they should at least try to make it work. None of that scheduling is hard bullshit.
Avengers 2. Open with Hawkeye, with fully restored vision, awaiting Black Widow's return from a mission. He comes across rumors of sorcery high up in the mountains. He investigates and comes across Scarlet Witch. Thinking of her as a threat, Hawkeye launches an offensive but is deterred by Quicksilver. Barton discovers that they are working for Strucker's division of Hydra. Widow arrives in time to bail him out and they escape to New York. Back in Avengers Tower, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Falcon, Banner, Coulson and Rhodes are celebrating Coulson's revival. They discover his revival because of that Agents of SHIELD episode where Sif encounters Coulson, and she informs the Thunder God of his resurrection. Thor finds him and informs everyone, off-screen, of course. They are having a contest of who is worthy to lift Mjolnir, with Rogers almost lifting the hammer off the table to everyone's surprise but then Hawkeye and Widow arrive to inform them that Hydra has returned. Coulson is not surprised by this revelation, since his team has been fighting Hydra in AoS. Stark and Banner activate their global defense program, inadvertently giving sentience to Ultron, Hank Pym's side project from the first film. The Avengers, with their new robotic ally and the army of drones invade the Hydra base and encounter the twins and they put a stop to the threat. They seize control of the sceptre and bring the prisoners back to Avengers Tower. Unbeknownst to the team, Ultron has been slowly descending to madness. The robot manipulates the Scarlet Witch to invoke a spell that would shape the world in his likeness with the help of the Mind Stone embedded within the sceptre.
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The Avengers are powerless to stop him and are eventually forced into hiding. Ultron kidnaps Janet Van Dyne, thinking he's better than his father, Hank Pym. The Avengers retaliate, but they always come up short. So, they decide to recruit Hank Pym to help defeat Ultron. Janet rejects Ultron, so the robot downloads her brain and banishes her to the Quantum Realm. Ultron then creates the synthezoid Vision to help him achieve his goal, but Vision forms a bond with the imprisoned Scarlet Witch and realize that Ultron has twisted ideals. The Avengers discover Ultron's Sokovia endgame, and with the help of Ant-Man (Pym), they manage to find a way to defeat the villain. Hydra scurries off to fight another day, and Pym is locked up for his part in the creation of Ultron. Whew!
Side note: Hank Pym here is around the age of Banner, and not the veteran scientist he currently is.
Phase Three
Captain America 3. Kept mostly the same, but without Ant-Man, who would be replaced by Quicksilver.
Daredevil (Netflix). Kept mostly the same, but introduces a minor character named Parker Robbins, who witnesses Daerdevil beating up one of his opponents.
AKA Jessica Jones (Netflix). Kept mostly the same, but includes a scene where Jones interrogates Parker Robbins for a lead in a case she's working on. She busts him for cheating on his pregnant wife with a prostitute.
Doctor Strange. Kept mostly the same, except the villain should be more notable, but still played by Mads Mikkelsen. Also, more use of Strange's full breadth of powers, not just shields and whips. The end credits scene would see Dormammu spitting out items into the world.
Luke Cage (Netflix). Kept mostly the same, but one episode involves Luke busting a gang smuggling with Parker Robbins a part of the heist.
Spider-Man. Kept mostly the same, but replace Faux MJ with Gwen Stacy and Ned Leeds with Harry Osborn. Introduce Norman Osborn as more of a father figure, but stretch the Green Goblin arc until the third movie. That way, Peter would form a more natural bond with him and be more devastated when he eventually kills Gwen. Oops.
Iron Fist (Netflix). Definitely ditch the current one and go with Fraction and Aja's Immortal Iron Fist run. Culminates in him returning to New York.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Kept in its glorious original form. Change nothing.
Agents of SHIELD (Season Three). Form the Secret Warriors and deal with the ramifications of Sokovia (from Avengers: Age of Ultron). The main villain would still be HYDRA and Hive.
Ant-Man. Starts at the prison, where Hank Pym formulates his escape. He sets up a burglary on his house, leading Scott Lang to get the Ant-Man suit. Lang's daughter Cassie was diagnosed as having a serious congenital heart condition and he agrees to work for Darren Cross to steal the suit in exchange for a cure. Lang discovers that this was Pym's plan all along and they form an unlikely alliance to escape prison. They would be pitted against a slew of B-list and C-list villains during their prison break. In the end, Pym helps Lang find a cure for Cassie, then gives him the Ant-Man suit. Pym goes subatomic to find Janet Van Dyne.
The Runaways (Hulu). Kept mostly the same, but also introduces Victor Mancha.
Thor 3. Still Earth-bound, Thor tackles the likes of the Wrecking Crew, a group of ordinary humans empowered by Loki. Through his machinations, the God of Mischief inadvertently sets Ragnarok in motion. In Odin's absence, Gorr the God Butcher has been killing gods of several pantheons, amassing power to take down Asgard. He comes across Thor and destroys Mjolnir. Thor and Loki make a deal with Surtur, and they band together to destroy Gorr. Surtur turns on them, and they escape with the survivors. Asgard falls and the debris is scattered throughout the Nine Realms. In the end, the survivors encounter Thanos' Sanctuary II.
Black Widow (Netflix). A flashback movie of what happened in Budapest with Hawkeye. This connects her motivations in Civil War. Also ties in with the Winter Soldier.
Black Panther. Kept mostly the same, but with Bucky playing a more active role in the story.
The Defenders (Netflix). Parker Robbins gets a tip from his cousin John King that a package filled with mystical artifacts is rife for the picking. Daredevil discovers his old flame Elektra is now working for the Hand and tries to reason with her. Luke Cage asks for Jessica Jones' help in finding a wayward youth. Iron Fist discovers that the Hand is using Rand Corporation as a front to smuggle artifacts, which prompts him to go to the yard to stop the shipment. Doctor Strange is alerted by the presence of the items and goes to the shipping yard to detain them. The Hand is using wayward youth as a distraction, and they get into an altercation with the heroes. In the middle of the conflict, Parker Robbins and his cousin try to steal the items, but they were attacked by a demon in a cloak. Parker shot the being, and assumed he killed it. Not wanting to leave empty-handed, he stole the being's red cloak and boots.
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A few days later, he discovers that the items had magical powers, and he uses it to commit crimes. He encounters the heroes separately, and his attitude degrades to become demonic. Parker Robbins is dubbed "The Hood" and he slowly becomes consumed by Dormammu. Strange discovers that Dormammu is using The Hood as a conduit to enter their dimension. The heroes band together to stop the threat. Parker Robbins is sent to prison, with some of the demonic powers still lingering within him.
Avengers 3. Kept mostly the same but the TV and Netflix characters are included in the fight. Cap dies protecting the final stone.
Whew!!
Sorry for the long read. I hope you didn't snap your fingers and unfollowed me after this post. If you followed this post until the end, might as well give it an upvote, right? Have you seen Infinity War? What are your thoughts? Feel free to share them below in the comments section.
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