Avengers -- Three Months On

[yakalskovich]

In early May, large portions of fandom and most of the Milli-muns went and saw Joss Whedon's 'The Avengers'. I must admit I was all 'Duh yet another American comic book turned into a movie' for about a week, and then I got curious from all the excitement in Crackchat, borrowed 'Thor' from Falk downstairs to get context, and went with the Nazgul to see 'The Avengers' on a Sunday.

Now it's three months since the Nazgul and I thought that Loki should have popcorn, and I can see that this movie has turned into something of a fannish slingshot, changing what we're into and catapulting us down completely unexpected directions. I, for example, have started doing tumblr quite differently from before, got a Twitter account, ditto one on AO3 where I actually posted fic that apparently did get read, and am considering apping one Ned Poins from Shakespeare's Henry IV, come September -- my life is too busy at the moment to start on a new charrie, as I've got a new job overlapping with my old one, and one of the selling points for actually taking that new job was "We work for Marvel, occasionally". In connection of my old job, I busily contemplate that Stark screens are definitely a possibility five years down the road IRL.

I find people getting into Norse myth that wouldn't have touched it with a ten foot pole before, a number of neo-pagan bloggers declared July to be Loki month (which may or may not have been related), one of them even snarking at me because I had called their 'actual god' a tulpa (actually, I regard all gods, saints, mythological figures, and tarot cards as entities, but that's another tale another, and a post for my own journal, eventual). People are even reading Mircea Eliade. Voluntarily. Not for class. The paper magazine for living history and re-enactment that I subscribe to hurriedly put Norse and Germanic gods on the cover and published a slightly undirected but deeply fascinating article about animals and shamanic connections in Germanic myth, which was full of Loki this and Loki that.

So, I wonder how all that Avengers/Marvel/Loki fandom that exploded three months ago has influenced other people as fen and RPers, what new things they got into, what new ideas or fandoms collided with them during that frenzy, and how it changed their outlook on life, storytelling, and the memetic inventory of humanity?



Seems I am stealing the Weekend Entertainment again, but actually, Saturday's are the days when I don't have to run to either job in a hurry, and end up thinking about stuff...

Comments

[bjornwilde]

Does my continued hope that the news of Marvel trying to borrow or get the rights to use Galactus and Silver Surfer for some future movie opening the way to the return of the Fantastic Four to Marvel proper count?

[yakalskovich]

Course it does. To a dyed-in-the-wool comics fan, this fandom frenzy must feel quite different. More like I who read LotR and Silmarillion at age 13 felt about people suddenly understanding what I meant when I called them orcs, sometime around ten years ago...

[bjornwilde]

Pretty much. I'm also quite thrilled at how well done each movie has been and I like the fact that they've changed things in this world yet the characters are still recognizable. And Loki is still a glorious bastard. = ]

[yakalskovich]

Yep, Loki is much of what made this one different. Without him, it would really have been another (albeit very good) superhero movie, like 'Iron Man' or 'Captain America'.

That's another effect it had on me: - without the Avengers, I'd never never ever have touched something called 'Captain America' with a ten foot pole. Not even a thirty foot pole. Because just, ugh ugh ugh, 'merkins waxing patriotic? DO NOT WANT!! Actually, the Nazgul and I keeled over laughing at the moment when the first thing they wanted him to do after the seruming was sheer propaganda and show, also there was Hugo Weaving doing an interesting bad guy, so we found we liked it as much as Iron Man or Thor. Which latter I hadn't seen until three months ago, either, because some American comic book interpretation of Norse myth? Better avoid, too.

[inlovewithwords]

At the risk of being The Killjoy... I will nonetheless be a, if not the voice of those who weren't even whelmed enough to be underwhelmed.

I found the movie to be fun, entertaining, and quality storytelling.

I also discovered that I continue to have exactly no interest in the Marvel universe. I will cheerfully watch any new and entertaining films, but I honestly could not care less if they never made another.

So really, I had no changed outlooks on life, beyond a rather jaded, "Well, at least this time a fan frenzy is over something quality instead of a lot of crap that's come before. 'sbeen ten years since Lord of the Rings, I guess we were due."

I felt like my camp needed representation.

[yakalskovich]

Fair enough. Liking but not really caring is an option as well.-

[sky_child]

...it didn't have an effect on me at all. I never even saw the movie.

[kd7sov]

No known effect.

I did learn, in that time period, that they appear to have dropped the Crossgen reimaginings, which is sad, but the learning had nothing to do with any movies.

[cameoflage]

Well, I am now fond of the Avengers characters. I was going to say "especially X, Y, and Z" but then I realised I'd be listing most of the main characters. And, mostly from hanging around other Thor and/or Loki fans rather than doing any research myself, I am now more knowledgeable about Norse mythology!

And I now intend to watch the other MCU movies. (I saw Avengers without watching Thor. I was in a hurry and it wasn't on Netflix Instant Watch yet.)

That's about the sum of it. I still don't want to read the comics, but I'd watch another Avengers movie.

[withherhands]

Well, now I've got an entirely new headvoice for PanfandomSandbox, I'm actually writing fanfic for a different canon than the one I've written fic for for the last however many years, and the avengers kink meme has eaten my life.

Thanks, Avengers. I think. ;)

[mighty_avenger]

I got into Marvel/Avengers fandom through the movies, then started reading the comics, which led me to discovering Carol Danvers, who I soon learned was about to get her own solo series this summer. And then The Avengers came out and it was awesome (even without Carol.)

Can't say it's gotten me into Norse mythology. Just into super-powered women who kick ass. And Tony and Steve's epic romance. Yep.

[msofarc]

I'm a comic fan but not a big Avengers fan, nothing against them but comic books just get expensive after a while so I have to stick to certain characters/stories to keep the costs down. (I know, I know, go to the library. Shhh...Leave me alone.) The movie was good though, not enough to make me

Really the only thing that affected me is my non-comic friends asking me details about The Avengers which I can't really answer since I have maybe 2-3 issues of it.

It is interesting though seeing people who weren't into comic books before so fascinated with the movies and characters though, and I kind of hope that some of them go out and buy the comics because if what I've heard is true, the industry isn't doing so well. Which is funny because with the popularity of the movies and the fact that Comic-Con is larger now than it's ever been, you'd think comic sales would be at an all-time high. Granted the people I've heard things from write independent comics and I'm sure that makes a huge difference.

[chanter1944]

I'm in the extreme minority here, I think. I know bugger all about the Avengers, or comics in general (visual art, um, what the?) and haven't seen the movie in question. I have no idea what all the fuss is about, honestly, and I'm wondering whether seeing the movie at all will leave me going ... that must have been another reference that went over my head, and another.

... Um. Like I said, probable minority among minorities.

[genarti]

If you like Joss Whedon's other stuff, you'll probably at least somewhat like The Avengers? I don't know if you'll actively like it or not. But they do mostly explain things in the movie, so that you can come in without having seen the other movies or read the comics and you'll be told who these people are and what they're doing. Even if watching the other movies (Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, etc) or getting a quick primer from somebody will give you more backstory context.

That said, some people just don't like the film, and that's totally fine too. :) I'm certainly not saying you or anyone else has to see it, or has to like it. But it does, at least, work in infodumps pretty deftly.

[genarti]

I mean, well... I picked up a new Milliways character? (Before seeing Avengers, based just on the Thor movie at that point, but it did influence my timing.) I've read a whole lot of fanfic?

To be honest, it didn't really affect me in any overarching way. Certainly it didn't change my outlook on life, storytelling, and the memetic inventory of humanity. What fascination I had with Norse myths -- and I do, but mostly I'm interested in folklore in general, and the Norse tales are just ones I'm more familiar with than some (and less than others) -- was preexisting. Avengers hasn't given me any more. As a matter of fact, I carefully disregard a lot of Norse myth when writing Thor, because I think it can make fun 'Easter eggs' but mostly doesn't align with the Marvel interpretations when you try to work it in seriously.

And Avengers fandom is, for me, the new shiny juggernaut fandom, with all the pros and cons that entails. Like Harry Potter, like any of a dozen others, it will subside eventually into some people burned out and some people feeling a lasting but quieter fondness and some people still deeply invested, and some other canon will take over for a while instead.

So, basically: fun movie, fun characters, fun banter! And it made enough money that we're likely to get some more fun movies. That's good enough for me.