Rex Racer said:

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CowtownAg06 said:

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Nicolas Cage on whether he would join the Marvel Cinematic Universe

"I don't need to be in the MCU, I'm Nic Cage"

(via @Variety) pic.twitter.com/hJQD0szzjN

— Lights, Camera, Barstool (@LightsCameraPod) March 7, 2023

Yes Nick, but the MCU needs you.

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Well, he was in one crappy pre-MCU Ghost Rider movie. So there's that.

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So he should definitely reprise his role?

Although, I would be happy to see more of the Robbie version of Ghostrider from Agents of Shield.

I mean, if you are going to do it.. why not with What If?

it's the perfect platform for any and all of that

Better in a What If than an actual movie or tv show.

I knew as soon as I saw this announcement that someone would be complaining about it on Texags

Agreed, if you can't try and experiment with unique, one off stories for lesser known/newer characters in something as separate from the MCU as What If, you are just admitting you never want these stories told at all

bluefire579 said:

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I knew as soon as I saw this announcement that someone would be complaining about it on Texags

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I'm not complaining, I just think it's pathetic.

Inclusion can sometimes be about appeasement, but other times it's just about opening up your product/stories to new groups of people you haven't sought out previously. Widening your audience isn't necessarily a bad thing when it's executed well.

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Just when Marvel thought it had appeased all non-white people by cranking out Black Panther, Shang Chi, the Eternals, and Ms Marvel in the last 5 years, they realized they forgot about the Native Americans. So now they're shoehorning in this person, who is somewhere between Pocahantas and Apache Chief into the second season of "What If", which I personally loved the first season of.

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No offense, but this may be one of the most cynical things I've ever read on here. If you want to edit that post, I'll make sure I do the same here.

Yeah… pretty random. Echo will check the box (so to speak) for Native American representation anyway, so I think this bit or cynicism is off the mark.

But also… this is a what-if that has never been asked, really. "What if characters we never met found the Tesseract?" Not exactly drawing me back in for S2, if those are the great premises they've thought up.

I think the timeline aspect of it is fun

The Porkchop Express said:

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You're totally missing my point. I don't have a problem with them introducing other characters. It's the manner in which it's being done.

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You said "pathetic". How so?

I'm saying 10 years of non stop white people (plus Gamora, Rhodes and Falcon) followed by 5 years of trying to check every box on the diversity scorecard is lame. Tell the stories you want to tell without being pressured by outside forces.

It's basically the Disney Princess reaction. You had the existing Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella, then added on Belle and Ariel in the late 80s/early 90s. People get upset about no diversity, so Disney cranks out Aladdin, Pocahantas, and Mulan and Princess and the Frog as their next 4 princess movies all in a row so they can check the boxes.

I guess I half agree with you. On the one hand, yeah they did some, or all, of it to check boxes. On the other hand, so? At least for those they still made pretty dang good movies, with maybe Pocahontas being the lesser of that group. Where they failed was the attempt to leave out the music when they made Atlantis. As far as I can see that was no box checking attempt.

I also think that is different b/c 3 of those stories were basically already written for them and they made sense in the Disney animation kind of catalog. With marvel they took stuff and tried to force it in where it doesn't feel as natural, like the all girl power moment in Endgame, or the preachiness of Eternals.

As far as tell the stories they want to tell...has there been any vocal outrage about the lack of Native representation? Maybe they do want to tell it.

I have to say I'm a bit surprised by your take on this. Some of the best of the recent marvel offerings has been diversity minded (Ms Marvel). I admit it's possible I still don't quite understand your meaning, and I apologize if that is the case.

My only thing is if there's a writer, of any background, and they pitch a story about What If? the tesseract was found by a native american, and the story is good, let's go. Why not?

Just like the recent Predator that took place among native americans. Did I ask for that? No. But a story is a story.

I don't find any of that pathetic.

The Porkchop Express said:

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Just when Marvel thought it had appeased all non-white people by cranking out Black Panther, Shang Chi, the Eternals, and Ms Marvel in the last 5 years, they realized they forgot about the Native Americans. So now they're shoehorning in this person, who is somewhere between Pocahantas and Apache Chief into the second season of "What If", which I personally loved the first season of.



The What If is if the Tessaract had come to Earth pre-colonization of North America.

"the Tesseract transforms a lake into a gateway that leads Kahhori on a quest to unlock her powers"

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I love how for some of you, anyone who is not a white dude is simply there to appease groups and is being shoehorned in.

Y'all tell on yourselves.

The Porkchop Express said:

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You're totally missing my point. I don't have a problem with them introducing other characters. It's the manner in which it's being done.

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Nah you made it crystal clear what about those characters upsets you.

Black Panther and Wakanda Forever combined box office take: over $2 billion.

No idea why they keep making these dumb movies just to check boxes…

The Porkchop Express said:

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Again, I'm not talking about the stories themselves. I'm talking about the timeline.

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So what's an acceptable timeline for you? Alternating film featured characters by white and non-white? Five years between non-white characters?

Again, reaching out to audiences you haven't featured before is smart business. "Checking boxes" is your more cynical take. And since you aren't getting it, your OP with the shoehorning and Pocahontas and Apache Chief comments is dripping with pretty thinly veiled racism and wasn't focused on timing of the stories at all. That may have not been your intent, but that's why you're getting some strong reactions from others here.

Well, time travel is sadly off the table, so what is an acceptable timeline for you?

The Porkchop Express said:

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Please enlighten me.

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Look man, its right there for all to see. You were unprompted and came in complaining about PoC being used in films for no reason other than to check boxes without thinking that these might just be the stories PoC's who are finally getting the chance to tell stories important to them want to tell.

No one asked people to come in and show their bias in the most obvious way and yet you did for some unbeknownst reason. I can't possibly convey to you how awful it is that your first reaction to PoC in starring roles is to write it off as some affirmative action nonsense and not instead assume they deserve to be there. Its not an unfamiliar narrative for those of us with melanin to hear that we are diversity hires.

If it was me typing these things, I might try being a bit introspective and try thinking about why my first reaction to these characters is to assume they're not there because of the writers/actors merit but rather because of some corporates policy (as if casting mostly white men and telling mostly white men's stories hasn't been a corporate stable of Hollywood since, forever?). But that's just me.

There's no need for you to keep derailing this thread in this way, though.

Nah, you didn't read what he was actually saying. But good job of trying to find racism where there is none.

The Porkchop Express said:

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You can't read.

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If you aren't looking for a solution, and you won't give your own acceptable timeline for when Marcel should have introduced women and POC led stories…

What was the intent of your post?