Apparently having Asian characters is a big no-no for the MCU based on what the screenwriter for Dr. Strange was spewing. Well, unless they're someone's houseboy, I guess.

Yeah.... That train of thought really started with the Dr Strange trailer.

Oh hey, Steph et al. -- what was "the thing"? And did they do it?

I don't get how Age of Ultron couldn't handle a large cast, but Civil War was all "Here, have T'Challa! Ant-Man? Why not? Hey, let's have some Spider-Man, too!" and it worked just fine. (Though, to be totally fair, I think the film didn't *need* T'Challa, Ant-Man, Spidey, or Hawkguy. But they didn't bloat it or slow it down.)

Though yes, damn it, if you're going to give us more existing characters, Carol Danvers would be nice, you jerks.

Man, this whole movie was basically Broken People Make Questionable Choices and Shit Goes Boom, wasn't it? Not in a bad way, and I like my characters to have depth, but Tony and Steve are so fucked up.

I should have known we were getting more Maria Stark as soon as we got the flashback scene at MIT, and yet I didn't see the footage of her death coming. (And wow, I totally forgot what RDJ looked like when he was young. Super pretty.)

It goes without saying that I'm SO RELIEVED they didn't kill Steve. [edit: Jesse, that was The Thing. Cap is killed in the comics storyline of Civil War.] I was all set for it, and as the movie progressed, I was thinking, "Well, everyone wants to kill Bucky, so I can't see how he'll be the next Cap. I guess it'll be Sam?" Literally, when the end credits started, I let out this huge breath and said "Oh thank GOD." (Also "West Coast Avengers!")

In the Civil War comics, the quote that Sharon attributes to Peggy is actually something Cap says to Spider-Man. [link] But I immediately made it headcanon that Steve got the quote from Peggy.

OH MY GOD. Sam and Bucky in the car watching Steve mack on Sharon. BEST SCENE. (Or maybe second best, behind "Can you move your seat up?" "No.")

And who the hell does Zemo remind me of? I guess I can just check his IMDB page, but I don't think it's another actor/character.

#streamofconsciousness #sorrynotsorry

So I saw it last night with fangirls. t waves at Shrift

That was fun, and much what I expected. Most of the character beats made sense to me, although I think that it would have worked better if Steve had signed the agreement and then blown it off in order to protect Bucky. Because Steve cannot be utterly opposed to civilian oversight; he's too smart for that, especially since the Hydra/SHIELD thing went down. Oversight is important.

That said, the whole Sokovia Accords plot element would have made more sense if it hadn't been sprung on the Avengers as a done deal, but if they'd had a chance to participate in the drafting. Or if at least one of them had -- like Tony, or Natasha. Nobody does that kind of big-scale thing in a vacuum, and they would need technical advice and wordsmithing.

I got weary of the endless fighting. Seriously, people, take some lessons in diplomacy and negotiating. Isn't there some room between "I disagree with you!" and "Let's break each other's ribs!" The big line-up at the airport with both groups running at each other -- OMG I kept waiting for a Joss-ish humorous undercut. It was too much, too portentous, too overdramatic. In sum: too many fights.

I saw a nice note on Twitter about how the fantasy expressed by this movie isn't super-strength or magic abilities, but super-resilience. Because nearly all of those people walked away from dozens of hits that would have killed or permanently disabled anyone else. And at least Clint, t'Challa, Natasha, and Carol are regular humans.

I too would have liked more women, and more other kinds of people. The Doctor Strange trailer gave me no reason to see that movie. Also no reason to see the movie about the shark and the woman swimmer, although for different reasons. I did cheer when the Rogue One trailer came up, though.

Oh, post-credits question: What is the meaning of the hologram thing that Parker puts on his ceiling, that came out of his wrist thing? What was that about? Why did part of the audience whisper excitedly about that?

I have complicated feelings about Tony recruiting Peter Parker, because it was probably the only scene where I just had SUPER uncomplicated love for Tony -- you just see how he responds to a kid who is fundamentally JUST LIKE HIM, and it just got me right in the feels -- but then, for real now, WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING recruiting a 16-year-old KID (yeah, superhero, whatever; he's still 16 years old and has, thus far, been stopping purse snatchers as far as we know) to fight in a battle that could have gotten him killed in the first 2 minutes???? SERIOUSLY. You're on board with signing the Accords because you think the Avengers need oversight...and then you go on a secret mission to recruit A KID without the consent of his guardian???

Tony, you got issues. So. Many. Issues.

Ant-Man and Spider-Man were awesome, though. I'm on board with this Spider-Man (though I really loved Andrew Garfield).

I am just going to keep posting stream of consciousness until either: (1) we go to Trader Joe's, (2) I pass out and take a nap because of all the meds I took for this sinus headache, or (3) someone comes along and posts with me.

Also, damn, you guys. ita would have loved Chadwick Boseman in this. T'Challa was fantastic.

ita would have loved Chadwick Boseman in this

She totally would have. Although I had a thought, when I was watching it, borne out of seeing too many argument/discussions online about racism. Which is that it's always the black guy who has to be The Bigger Man, and not react to provocation. This was doubled-down on by the fact that Boseman also played Jackie Robinson in 42, where that was pretty much the defining element of his character. And in this movie it's not the main characters who have to learn to let something go, but the black guy whose father is dead because, ultimately, of Tony Stark and his inability to learn from his mistakes.

I have issues with the way the plot played out in some way: I would have liked more explicit recognition that all of this was a result of Tony's actions in AoU. "The Avengers" didn't cause what happened in Sokovia: Tony did. And as out of character as it was for post-Iron Man III Tony to do it, it's now canon and they need to own it. And I don't think they did.