Marvel Studios has another massive blockbuster on its hands, as Captain Marvel is already the highest-grossing movie of 2019 in North America and will become the year's biggest film worldwide this weekend when it tops $750+ million. This fantastic outcome and the fact the movie is now pacing toward a final worldwide cume of $1+ billion hasn't stopped some viewers from complaining about the film. While some criticisms are simply a matter of personal artistic taste and therefore aren't "wrong," a lot of the bashing and critiques are rooted in silly prejudices, immature expectations, simple misunderstandings about certain plot points, or outright factual inaccuracies. In other words, many complaints about Captain Marvel are flat-out wrong.
First, let's deal quickly with the most absurd complaints about Captain Marvel -- the sexism from fanboys who don't want girls in their clubhouse.
Captain Marvel's remarkable box office performance has stomped angry fanboy boycotts into the dust, making the attempted boycott and organized fan downvoting on sites like Rotten Tomatoes a laughable failure that revealed just how irrelevant and ineffective the toxic segment of fandom truly is. If this sounds harsh, that's because it is -- but it's well-earned harshness, since that little group of resentful fans engaged in rampant misogynist rants and dishonest behavior to try to harm the film simply because it has a female lead or because star Brie Larson had the audacity to suggest white men didn't deserve to always have the largest number of seats during press coverage and interviews.
Of course, the fans who engaged in this toxic behavior are the same ones who fly into unhinged rages when anyone criticizes movies they like. They constantly claim such complaints -- be it from other fans or from film critics -- are part of a big conspiracy to upset them and hurt the movies they prefer.
These fans particularly love to complain about "SJWs" -- or "social justice warriors" -- the nickname toxic fans give to anyone who cares about stopping bigotry and persecution, or who thinks movies and entertainment can legitimately include social issues and politics since that's literally always been part of entertainment -- including comic books -- from the earliest days of any form of entertainment and art.
What the toxic fans really mean, though, is they don't like it when imaginary stories about flying people or aliens flying around in space happen to include perspectives and representation of people who don't look exactly like those fans. Fans who expect the world around them to perpetually serve as a mirror, reflecting their own face and preferences back at them, are the sort who instantly freak out and scream the loudest when they see someone else's face show up. And when that's the root cause of your complaints and resentments about the world, your perspective lacks legitimacy.
But this does not mean that every and all complaints and criticisms of Captain Marvel are simplistic, infantalized prejudices from self-entitled children. There are plenty of people who simply did not like the movie for other reasons. Again, while the issue of taste and artistic preference is not "wrong" and anyone who just dislikes the story, characters, and other aspects based on such subjective interpretations and reasoning have every right to their opinion and should not be lumped in with the toxicity of the mob who tried to harm the film out of jealousy and misogyny.
That said, there are a few particularly popular negative refrains repeated by fans and even journalists which do not hold up to scrutiny. So let me address those and explain why, if you believed such criticisms, you should take another look at the film and rethinking those complaints.
Landon Robinson
One of the most common criticisms I hear from critics, fans, and journalists complaining about plot points in Captain Marvel is, "Why didn't Nick Fury call Captain Marvel during previous crises?"
Well, the first and most obvious question in response to that complaint is, "How do you know he didn't try?" Marvel Studios President Feige himself said Fury might've tried to call CM in the past, and that we shouldn't assume it's the first time he's tried to reach her. And it wouldn't have made sense to show Fury trying to use the device in previous films, since audiences would have no context to understand or guess what it means until recently.
Likewise, Feige also reminds us that Captain Marvel has literally been out in space fighting to stop a intergalactic war that was destroying entire planets and civilizations. Her responsibilities aren't just for a single planet, but rather for entire star systems and galaxies. And after a certain point in time -- say, roughly around 2012 -- if Captain Marvel occasionally checked in on Earth, she would have seen the Avengers existed to defend Earth against major threats, including successfully repelling an invasion attempt by Thanos' forces.
There is also the question of how long it would take for Captain Marvel to detect Fury's signal across space, and to then respond in time. So if Fury called her in the past, it's possible she got the message and replied, but that the crisis was already averted or at least under control enough for Captain Marvel to avoid having to fly across the galaxy or universe to help.
This is all hypothetical, of course, since we do not know if or when Fury might have tried to call her in the past. Maybe he didn't try, because the Avengers were present and in each case seemed capable of handling the threats that arose.
Ian Lee
Indeed, until Thanos showed up, each of the major crises that fans and critics claim should've warranted a call to Captain Marvel were in fact handled and defeated within a few hours or a day of Fury finding out about the threat and realizing the full extent of it. In each case, there were heroes who were working to solve the problem, and who did in fact soon defeat the threats.
So Fury had every reason not to call Captain Marvel in the past, since he's smart enough to realize he had an army of superhumans -- including a nearly indestructable God from Asgard and an equally near-unstoppable Hulk -- whom Fury could entrust to solve the problems. He also would know that by the time his signal to Captain Marvel was received and she had time to stop whatever mission she was on in deep space to reply and return to Earth, it would probably be a moot point anyway. Would he want to interrupt her battle to save other entire worlds and galaxies, knowing she might not make it back in time to help, knowing he already had a team with enough power to win the day?
I just realized that this article goes on for like ten more posts worth of text so I'm done posting it.
William Campbell
tldr
Carter Reed
You think it's long now you should see how much longer it goes.
Landon Ortiz
Wondering how this someone defends her being owerpowered and unnecessary retcons.
Jordan Kelly
Oh, that's in the article too.
Moving on, another common complaint about Captain Marvel is the origin or the team name "Avengers." Many fans and journalists question why the origin of the name was retconned, but the truth is it was not retconned at all. Nick Fury uses the phrase "The Avenger Initiative" from the very start of the MCU, way back in 2008's Iron Man post-credit scene. And notice, he also refers to his organization as "SHIELD," a point I'll get to in a moment.
So, despite some repeated mistaken claims by some fans and entertainment writers, the team name "The Avengers" did not originate in the 2012 Avengers movie, nor was it coined by Tony Stark when he tells Loki they will "avenge" the world. The name for the group and the initiative already existed and predated the first Iron Man movie, so rather than changing anything about the MCU continuity, Captain Marvel's reveal of how Nick Fury came up with the name in fact fits perfectly with the fact he invented it long before he had even met any of the superheroes who would first join the team.
Kayden Wood
Lmfao so the people complaining about retcons are people who didn't even pay attention to the old movies. "Lemme just use my vague memories of a movie I saw ten years ago, trust me I totally found a plot hole!"
Connor Gomez
>This gay movie needs 750 million to BREAK EVEN Imagine the ammount of money disney wasted in ads and in buying tickets to boost this shitty movie.
Still costs nowhere near as much as flying to Florida every weekend to golf, which uses taxpayer money and only benefits one person.
Nolan Edwards
BAsed
Nathaniel Ramirez
Don’t drag Obama into this
Ian Long
He was referring to Cheeto Benito.
Luis Ortiz
I guess you guys fucking did It...It sucked all the Fun and hype i could have from Avengers Endgane to the point i dont even want to watch.All this mean spirited articles,this agressive fight,its soo tiresome.How can you not blame this SJW forced diversity crap for ruining everything remotelly Fun and wholesome?
>its soo tiresome Every time I see this I know it's a /pol/tard coping.
Anthony Collins
This isn't a bad thing man. Infinity War was a nice, daring ending that was probably better than it deserved to be. R E N T F R E E
Ayden Gray
Cope harder, incel.
Lincoln Long
The great hairdoderidoo?
Gavin White
I'm fucking tired of all those articles protecting and kissing ass of this movie. This is the exact kind of shit we had with The Last Jedi. Don't media journalists have any integrity these days?
Luis Nguyen
That's not a retcon but it's a really hamfisted way of trying to hammer in how super special Captain Marvel is, so it's easy to see why people don't like it. An actual retcon would be Fury losing his eye to a fucking cat.
Matthew Allen
This movie was received far more poorly by critics than TLJ. Critics don't "get" the MCU.
Mason Davis
Just telling what i feel...Seeing such baffling absurd tactics(shitting on the people that actually put you at the First place)is fucking insane...It legit Hurts my brain thinking about it
Better question, why do they care so much about it to write more than just a review 1 week after release? Clickbait but in such a positive defending way isnt just "muh clicks" its just an agenda to earn money with your believe.
Gavin Scott
One complaint is relative minor, but also more complicated. It's said that Nick Fury's loss of an eye in Captain Marvel is inconsistent with his past as described in multiple other MCU films. Part of this complaint is that in 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Fury says, "The last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye." Well, the fact is, Fury mentions that he's going to trust Goose -- the alien cat -- moments before Goose scratches Fury's eye in Captain Marvel, so nothing in the scene contradicts what Fury said previously about losing his eye.
However, Winter Soldier includes other clues about Fury's past that are harder to square with the timeline in Captain Marvel. At one point in Winter Soldier, Alexander Pierce says he met Nick Fury during a crisis in Colombia, after which Pierce made Fury head of SHIELD. We see a photo of the two men together at Fury's swearing-in ceremony. Both men look a couple of decades younger in the photo, and Fury seems to have both of his eyes intact.
Let's consider some history that puts this information into better perspective. The crisis Pierce references happened in Bogota, Colombia, when the ELN (Ejército de Liberación Nacional, or National Liberation Army) stormed the American embassy and took people hostage. This almost surely took place sometime after 1980, since that's roughly the time when the ELN ramped up kidnappings and attacks for the purpose of raising money for their guerrilla activities. Fury was Deputy Station Chief of the SHIELD station in Columbia at the time, so while that is a higher position than the seemingly lower-level agent status he has in Captain Marvel, it's also not necessary an extremely high level position either.
But more to the point, pay close attention to what Pierce actually says about the timing of events. (cont.)
Benjamin Ortiz
The people who are bitching about the movie are not the ones who made it a success.
Josiah Martin
Still having fun with your imaginary numbers I see.
Nolan Clark
Cope
Lucas Fisher
Trump is your president faggot. See you in 2024
Christian Powell
Incel, sweety, it wasnt made for you. Capt. Marvel doesnt need you. Toodle on now
Mason Williams
Absolute Cringe Bingo.
Hudson Adams
Lads, the new narrative is that the film needs 1bn just to break even because of marketing costs, keep the damage control going and we will prove it was actually a flop. Keep fighting the good fight brothers
Henry Adams
>I merely smiled at an Asgardian God and then he said he liked me. To live life as a woman is to live life on the defense
Dylan Hernandez
If It wasnt made for me why attack me for not watching?
Tyler Foster
People posted the 750 million number so much that this won't work. Yea Forums is so fucking stupid, should have picked a higher number.
buddy, you're literally just typing the same thing over and over again, your just making your self look retarded. I bet in know what your response is gonna be...
>A lot of the bashing and critiques are rooted in silly prejudices
Can we get a source on this? How do they know it's "a lot"? How much is "a lot" in this case? The movie is doing well, so why does it matter if a few people don't like it, and why does it matter so much their reasons for disliking it are? Did they send out a cenus for this film? Did the numbers show a disproportionate amount of people that don't like the film over people that do? If that's the case then why does it matter since the movie is just another success?
Colton Gomez
>little group Oh so now it's a little group? What happened to a lot? Which one is it? A lot or a little?
David Nguyen
Samefag.
Benjamin Hill
They write the articles in such a way to provoke people so they'll share it and spread it around. Even if it's to say, look at this dumb article, they still get the outcome they want as people cannot help but share it. They are absolutely trolls in their own way but they get paid for it :(
Asher Carter
>not even a new IP Simmer down, incel.
Robert Green
You are a treat, user, and I thank you for it.
Noah Lewis
too long; didn't read, but you're are probably right this movie had these haters before it even came out
Blake Carter
Should I go see this movie? My apprehension is that it looks very humorless in the trailer.
Julian Nguyen
The humor is actually really good and seldom used. What it lacks is proper narrative structure. It's fun tho.
Jaxson Ramirez
I thought that Pocahontas had a better trailer than The Lion King, but guess which one was more enjoyable and had me watch it multiple times.
Grayson Howard
It's not just them defending it, it's the ridicilously confrontational tone they take.
It really is just clickbait and I'm sick of it.
Jayden Barnes
People are attacking this movie with the exact same sort of clickbait but it's okay when your side does it, right pal?
IT ALREADY BROKE EVEN! AND IT'S STILL GOING! NO! THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING!
Zachary Anderson
Simmer down.
Isaac Jenkins
fpbp /thread
Jayden Wood
>journalists >integrity Those are antithetical concepts anymore friendo
Cooper Hughes
>What the toxic fans really mean, though, is they don't like it when imaginary stories about flying people or aliens flying around in space happen to include perspectives and representation of people who don't look exactly like those fans. Fans who expect the world around them to perpetually serve as a mirror, reflecting their own face and preferences back at them, are the sort who instantly freak out and scream the loudest when they see someone else's face show up. And when that's the root cause of your complaints and resentments about the world, your perspective lacks legitimacy. Imagine actually believing this when every comic nerd ever is in love with female characters like Storm and Rogue who are actually good instead of a fucking C-lister like Captain Miscast
Christian Richardson
Boo hoo, inel.
Carter Ross
Lol it's funny seeing this beta babies cry about a mediocre movie with a disgusing Main character
Oliver Perez
Cry, inel. Cry.
Asher Walker
The Avengers thing was devised by Howard Stark after meeting Captain America though.
Christopher Hughes
>thinks Donald Trump has a chance of being reelected I wish I was this oblivious
Kayden Sullivan
Carol is a killer
Logan Carter
Women didn't go watch this film plus it got really mixed reviews So were the trolls really wrong ?
Jason Gomez
They're always wrong.
Blake Miller
But were they really? Seems like they said everything the film has been criticized for .
Jordan James
>60% male audience Imagine the smell
Levi Taylor
>But were they really? They were. They're always wrong.
Ian Diaz
From a filmmaking standpoint it's an almost completely terrible film, and pandering. Almost. the only thing that saves the experience of watching this film is bhendleson's performance and youngified samuel l jackson dicking around in every scene
it would be less obvious that this movie is shit if brie larson was a fun lead. She just comes off as smug through the whole movie and it was frustrating. but the script is partly to blame because she didn't have to overcome anything genuinely challenging so she's hard to truly respect. she didn't have to leave mary jane at the cemetery, she didn't have to take the blame for harvey dent's crimes, she just got near an explosion and then pulled a thing off her neck near the end, now she's essentially superman. her character arc throughout the whole film is "she is strong". Her winning at the end felt utterly engaging because how could she lose? not that the rest of the film wasn't tensionless either, every scene you know where it's gonna go.
