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What'cha Watching Wednesday #3

Due to my long absence from Blogging this is only the third instalment of the What’cha Watching Wednesday, but also one that will span more than one week.

What is this about?

Each Wednesday evening I will publish a post in which I collected the thoughts I had throughout the week while watching the latest or any episode of a series or maybe even a movie.
Depending on how my time allows it, the comment will also be for those that I watched that day.
You’re warned: There will be Spoilers.

Let’s start

Grimm – Season Two, Episode 14: Bad Luck (Watch Date: ~21.03.)

When I felt a bit better I tried to regain some normalcy by catching up with the shows I watch. Grimm was one of them. Some time back I already talked a bit about the show (still have to re-write that post) and I also mentioned that I want to make another series about the weird usage of German words in it, but so far I didn’t get around to talk more about it.
What I also didn’t manage to do is catch up further.
I’m still a few episodes behind and this one is the last I saw (I tried watching Double Date, but stopped after ten minutes or so, because I didn’t feel like watching more).
Anyway, the episode put an interesting twist on the „Lucky Rabbits Foot“ myth, but took a weird turn on the actual story line.
I’m still not sure about the whole Juliet-turned-into-a-Hexenbiest plot, but I do believe this could turn out interesting, as they so far usually portrayed them as the evil/bad guys and with one of the good guys becoming this kind of Wesen they could gain some redeeming features – like they did from the get go with Monroe and Rosalee as good Blutbad/Fuchsbau. I know Renard is technically a Half-Zauberbiest, but he is still not as good as the other two in my book.
What I do not get is the new plot with Adalind. She is such an annoying character and now she is pregnant from the Grimm thanks to a One Night Stand under a spell? Yes, awesome plot. [/sarcasm]
Seriously, when has a weird-ass pregnancy ever been a good plot-devise?
I mean she isn’t even a good mother to the child she designed to have as insurance/bargaining chip and she gets a second child right away?
As harsh as it may sound, do I hope – for plots and everyone’s sake – that she loses the child.
As interesting as a Wesen-Grimm baby would be is this predicament something I do not need explored while they are dealing with other more interesting things.

Marvels Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Season Two, Episode 12/13: Who You Really Are/One of Us (Watch Date:~21.03.)

Skye struggles with her new powers, Bobbie and Mack reveal to Hunter who they really work for and Skye’s dad teams up with quite destructive forces.
Or simply put: This show gets more and more interesting and I just don’t feel like watching, as much as I want to. >_<
As for these two episodes: The glimpse at Mays back story with the appearance of her ex-husband was nice and gave her a little more depth. Though Skyes character development throughout the Seasons is by far the most explored. She now has people she sees as family and therefore rather harms herself than accidentally hurting them. It is not the healthiest of traits, but a good one to have.
Her path is understandable, what I didn’t understand was why Mack kidnapped Hunter to reveal that they are secretly working for the real S.H.I.E.L.D. He kind of lost credibility and sympathy points for that …
It just didn’t really make sense to me, but I guess it will be explained in the episodes I haven’t watched yet.
I really want to know how the Inhumans and the second S.H.I.E.L.D. story line come along, while trying to stay away from Spoilers, but I just can’t bring myself to watch the next episodes…

The Musketeers – Season Two, Episode 18: The Prodigal Father (Watch Date: ~21.03.)

Another series I probably haven’t mentioned yet.
I initially started watching this one because I wanted to see Peter Capaldi in a different role than the strange rival Doctor from Fortysomething and to see him in action before he became The Doctor.
The show is fun and interesting and the actors are great.
This episode focused a bit on Porthos, who soon became one of my favourites (in fact I’m even considering to change this guys‚ origins just so we could use him when Warlords get’s a screen adaptation one day >_< – though I’m afraid Howard Charles is a tad bit too short…).
It’s great to see a bit of his back story and have him show his wits for once. I mean, it is one thing to trust a newly found father, but it is a totally different thing to pretend to trust him, while still being loyal to the people, who became his family. I think this whole situation was handled quite well and as audience I did wonder were Porthos‘ loyalties lay, but I really liked the conclusion.
Rochfort on the other hand was the weird, creepy guy from the start and he now has his signature eye-patch and a plot to plan against the queen. As I haven’t seen the last two episodes of the Season I don’t know yet how it concludes, but I guess it will be interesting.
And just for the record: It was so weird when I heard the English pronunciation of the names the first time – especially d’Atagnon. Not that I’m doing any better at using the French way of their names – I can’t say Richelieu without nearly breaking my tongue – but it’s still weird…

Supernatural – Season 10, Episodes 15-17: The things they carried/Paint it Black/Inside Man (Watch Date: ~21.03./~Easter)

Logging on to Tumblr and not being spoilered for Supernatural is quite impossible, so I did manage/was forced to get up to date with this one.
I don’t really know what to think about the current story line. I never really felt connected to Sam and his character becomes more and more ruthless and dislikeable by the Seasons. Dean is supposed to be the Knight of Hell, that is coping rather well considering the circumstances, but Sam is human and that makes this an even more terrifying development.
After 10 Season they also have not learned that doing stuff behind the other ones back isn’t the best of ideas – though I liked seeing Bobby again and the whole plan they thought up was quite fun/interesting.
Though I still don’t really get the relevance of Cole. Sure he has a history with Dean and seeks/sought revenge and kind of reflects how many Hunters came into their world from a different perspective, but it is still kind of annoying…
By the way: My Review for the Second Season of Supernatural was recently published over at Extremis Reviews.

Once Upon a Time – Season Four, Episodes 14-16: Darkness on the Edge of Town/Unforgiven/Enter the Dragon (Watch Date: ~23.03)

As I mentioned before (another re-write worthy post) did I get hooked onto this series quite fast. Now it’s into its fourth Season and many things have happened since then.
Though a few things remained unchanged for me: Regina is still my favourite character and I still don’t like the Charmings. If any of the enormous cast deserves a Happy Ending it’s the (no longer) Evil Queen. Yes, she did some really bad things, but throughout the Seasons she has done a lot to redeem herself and we’ve seen that a lot of what she did was due to a twisted sense of vengeance.
Unlike the Frozen storyline do I enjoy the current turn to the search for the author and focus on the bad guys. Rumpelstiltskin got quite dull throughout the Seasons and is now finally getting back to his former glory, even though his actions are quite cowardly, which is his theme anyway.
We also got some new villains trying to get their turn at a Happy Ending. I really like their portrayal and back story so far. It really makes the actual story line more and more interesting again. The only things I wonder is who would date a Dragon (And why does everyone need to be related in some way? o.O)? And how much time has passed since Rumpel was exiled, that Belle is already seeing someone else? (Another subtraction from the sympathy points)
Still, I couldn’t get myself to continue watching as well…

The Pretender – Season One-Four + Movies (Watch Date: March/April)

Well….the only thing I currently seem to be able to watch is this old show…
When I was a teenager I caught some episodes on television and really liked what I saw. For quite some time now I wanted to watch the whole series and now as I didn’t want to tarnish the other series I’m following by watching them with a heavy heart I decided to catch up with this one. (I also tried Parks and Recreations to get my mind off of things, but I got kind of bored after the first Season)
I do believe there will be a separate post about it one day, but let me tell you this: It is surprisingly helpful when trying to cope with the loss of a loved one. The series deals a lot with these kind of things and portrays some great life values.
It’s also quite funny and has many interesting characters, just the main story line gets weirder and weirder by the Season/episode…I mean, like, really weird, Adalinds-baby-is-normal-in-comparison-weird…
I still started to re-watch it now in German with Unmei and occasionally re-watch one of the English episodes, as this is still the only thing I feel like watching at the moment…

What were you watching?

What episodes (or movies) did you enjoy/dislike throughout the week/month?
Anything you’d recommend checking out?
Let me know in the comments below!

Final Words

I hope I can get back to watching stuff like I used to, but right now I have this enormous watching-block (just like writer’s block only with shows – only that I’m also having a writer’s block right now when it comes to stories…) whenever I think about starting an episode. I really hope this gets better, but I’m not sure if there will be another instalment next week.
PoiSonPaiNter

What'cha Watching Wednesday #2

And we continue with the second instalment of What’cha Watching Wednesday.

What am I going to do?

Let’s start

Sleepy Hollow – Season Two, Episode 18: Tempus Fugit (Watch Date: 26.02.)

Well, last week I ranted about not liking Katrina’s character development and now she’s dead…
But frankly I care more about how Ichabod will deal with having lost both his wife and his son on the same day, than about their actual passing. In regards to characterization both of them were spent: Henry’s story expired with him turning against Moloch, and her grief was turning Katrina useless.
It’s a pity the writers decided to move her that way, as she would have been a good magical addition to the team, but like this it seemed more like they were going for love-triangle (or square if you include the Headless Horseman).
I really hope they wont turn Abbie and Ichabod into a couple, that would so ruin their chemistry…
Though while getting rid of a stagnating character was a nice turn of events, it also felt a bit rushed and we unfortunately did not stay in the 19th century for long…
It was only a one time deal. 🙁
At least as far as this season goes, who knows what they’ll come up with if the series is renewed for a third season.
Just like Agent Carter, I do hope it will be.
The premise is just too interesting to be dropped…

Marvels Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Season Two, Episode 11: Aftershocks (Watch Date:04.03)

So, Agent Carter finished and now the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. are back and I have to say that it was a nice start into the second half of the season.
Not too rushed, but not too slow either, some of the lose ends were brought to a nice conclusion, though I still don’t like that they killed off Trip. Back then it felt like such a wasted death, but with Skye struggling to comprehend her change it gains some meaning.
Bobbie and Mac seem to plan something bigger, might even be Hydra spies, Fitz protects Skye’s secret from Simmons, who seems to be a little too forward with her solution for what happened.
I always liked Fitz and Simmons and their chemistry, but since their separation and the weird re-union, I prefer Fitz on his own. He seems to still have the compassion, Simmons is currently lacking, though I do hope his condition will improve soon, as it is a bit tiring to see him helpless each episode – and yes I know it was a heavy injury, but characterization-wise does it get boring soon.
All in all some interesting developments and nice character development in this episode.

What were you watching?

What episodes or movies did you enjoy throughout the week?
Anything you’d recommend checking out?
Let me know in the comments below!

Final Words

Things have gotten in the way all week, so unlike I anticipated, again only two episodes.
PoiSonPaiNter

What'cha Watching Wednesday

Soo….as I’m following a couple of series and the Reading Together works quite well for keeping track of thoughts regarding my current reads and I kind of did something like this with this post already, I thought, it was high time that I rant a bit about what I’ve seen in the past week in a more appropriate setting.

What am I going to do?

Let’s start

Sleepy Hollow – Season Two, Episode 17: Awakening (Watch Date: 19.02.)

I do believe I haven’t mentioned yet that I am watching this series, but tadaa: I do.
It’s a really interesting concept and even though it had me confused more than once throughout the first season, do I still enjoy it.
It has great characters and interesting foes.
Anyway, from the beginning I kind of felt odd about Katrina. She never really fit into the group or at least tried to fit in and her arrogance and stubbornness made her dislikeable to me. Her whole obsession with Henry/Jeremy(, whose own madness is brilliantly portrayed by John Noble, though the portrayal does remind me of his role in Fringe) is just so…annoying…for a lack of a better word. She just doesn’t want to move on and keeps going in circles characterization-wise, up to the point were she drives herself quite mad. I get that she is a mother, but that’s just weird character development.
Though there is one upside to this: A set-switch to the 18th century, with Abbie now being in the wrong period!
Can’t wait for the next episode to see that happening and I just hope it wont just be a one time deal…

Agent Carter – Season One, Episode 8 – Valediction (Watch Date 25.02.)

I can’t believe this season is already over…
When I read last week that the upcoming episode would be the finale I was utterly shocked. It was far too soon to leave Peggy (and Jarvis I feel the need to add him here).
It’s such a fun and great and cool series and Hayley Atwell is just such a beautiful and brilliant actress. James D’Arcy does a great job as well and it’s just such a joy to watch those two interact.
Right after the first episode aired I wanted to watch more and I dearly hope the series will be renewed for another season – and many more after that.
The finale followed the slow narration of the previous episodes, but it is still packed with action and incredible fight scenes. It’s just fun to watch.
I really enjoyed the progress Peggy’s colleagues Thompson and Souza made in regards to their view on her, and even the late chief towards his end (that kind of still doesn’t bother me). Though I have to admit, that I find it confusing that in this series the characterization tables are turned.
Where there is barely any depth to the women in pretty much every show or movie, here the men are portrayed quite shallow. (Hence my apathy regarding Dooley’s passing)
For a series that does so much good in terms of representation (especially for women) this is a bit unfortunate. Still, this might as well have been due to the low amount of episodes, as we did get a few glimpses at the main male side characters‘ actual personalities.
But all in all great series and a great finale.
And I really want to see more of Peggy’s adventures!

What were you watching?

What episodes or movies did you enjoy throughout the week?
Anything you’d recommend checking out?
Let me know in the comments below!

Final Words

I start a new regular thing and I nearly managed to only watch one episode the entire week. Go me! Luckily I couldn’t resist watching the finale of Agent Carter right away, so you get two thought-thingies.
Next week will most likely be more, as I now have to catch up with all the episodes I’ve missed.
PoiSonPaiNter

X-Men: Days of Future Past

So much for me not writing anything until June…
I am really good at keeping up with my own predictions…
But after spontaneously attending the advanced showing of X-Men: Days of Future Past yesterday, I can’t help myself giving an on time review for it – and yes it will contain Spoilers.

What is it about?

Official Poster

DoFP is a continuation of both X-Men: First Class and X-Men: The Last Stand and starts off in a dystopian future where specifically programmed robots hunt down mutants and humans who are helping them (or are capable of one day having a mutant offspring). In their hunt the so-called Sentinels have destroyed the Earth quite thoroughly and to stop this war from ever happening the remaining X-Men think up a clever plan: Stop the whole thing from ever getting started.
To accomplish this the prominently featured Wolverine‘s mind is sent back in time into his younger self’s body to help a lost Charles Xavier to find shape-shifter Mystique and stop her from killing Bolivar Trask, the mastermind behind the Sentinels.

The watching experience

As I hadn’t decided on going to the cinema until Tuesday I wasn’t sure if I’d actually be able to get a ticket, but I wasn’t surprised to find the cinema hall only half empty either. Though I did expect the people attending an advanced viewing to look a bit more nerdy – though there were a few examples of that. Some of them seemed more like they just wanted to see the next movie of the franchise and picked the date out of schedule reasons, but I digress.
The good thing about watching something in the cinema is that you can see the reaction of other viewers straight away and there were a couple quite interesting ones.
Two of them were due to the mutant Quicksilver.
When they had shown how his fast movements seem to him and how he could defeat their enemies in mere seconds nearly the whole hall was laughing at the scurrility of the slow/fast motion sequence and his slight editions to the movement of certain objects and persons.
The second reaction was way before that scene when his mother announced him as „Peter“. Several murmurs rose up as those who know the franchise from outside the cinema noticed the wrongness of the name. Though I do have to admit that while I was confused at the name I simply couldn’t remember what it truly was. It is by the way „Pietro“ as I now know again. I am not sure if this „mistake“ will be the same in the English version of the movie, as again I’ve only seen the dubbed version. If you know more, let me know in the comments below. (Apparently as Wikipedia has been changed now, the English version is also „Peter“.)
The third reaction was towards the end of the movie at the conclusion of the time travel and the imminent annihilation of the future mutants. When it was finally concluded you could hear a deep exhale in the hall as someone had indeed been holding their breath.
Like with so many movies recently was this one in 3D again.
Apart from quite interesting glass-destructions and some other good scenes, the thing I remembered most was a 3D close up of – I believe it was his – Wolverine’s nose and the utter confusion of why someone would want a nose sticking out of the screen like that…
And again you could see who has watched a couple of Marvel movies in the past, as not that many people left the hall before the post-credit scene.

The characters

As is the case with all the X-Men movies this one again had a great ensemble cast of different mutants and humans. With the past and future present throughout the story we also have the chance to not just see Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Patrick Stewart reprise their roles as Magneto and Professor X respectively, but also see Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy continue the younger portrayal of the characters.
Ever since the „original“ X-Men triology – especially The Last Stand, even though a lot of fans despise it – and X-Men: Evolutions did Magneto become one of my favourite characters of the franchise. Despite his silly hat and his very, very dark views on things is he one of the most incredibly portrayed mutants. I mean: He ripped out the friggin‘ Golden Gate Bridge to build a passage to an island…
In this one his younger self is tearing out a football stadium to create a wall to close them off from spectators. But his powers aren’t the only thing I find fascinating about him. Even if it is a dark and twisted view on things he follows his own path and motivates others to follow in his way. I guess he is just one of those characters that I like because they kind of live in a grey area (a bit like Mephisto, but different as Magneto at least tries to change things for his kind for the better, though he uses some rather unfriendly methods). Needless to say both McKellen and Fassbender again did a great jobs at bringing across the arrogance, determination and vulnerability that are so…Magneto.
Xavier in the originals – and in this one too – is mostly the mentor figure that seems like he just knows everything – maybe he does or at least knows which mind to look into for the information -, while his younger self already has this know-it-all air about him he is far less self-confident. The events of First Class leave him crippled, not just physically, but also mentally as one student after the other left his school and his childhood friend turned her back on him. When we meet him in DoFP he is broken and resorted to alcohol and a medicament that keeps him walking but blocks his abilities and it is Wolverines task to show him that there is still hope. As much as I like Fassbenders outbursts and McKellens speeches, do I have to admit that McAvoy did a great job at portraying this shattered version of a otherwise powerful character, even if he looks like he is about to cry in most of the close ups.
With actress Jennifer Lawrence‘ rising fame Mystique seems to become the new Wolverine. More screen time, more incredibly choreographed fights and I also heard rumours of a spin-off. As clear as it is from the beginning that her actions are what causes the Sentinel program to be launched, as unclear is it why she actually wants to do just that. We see that she finds autopsy files of the mutants she and Magneto went off with after First Class (which was ten years before the current storyline! I still can’t get my head around that) and you assume that they became quite close in the time before they were used as lap rats by Bolivar Trask, but why she sets out for a personal vendetta still isn’t said openly. Assuming they go by comic book history and she had a thing with Azazel (*cough*aka baby aka Kurt Wagner aka Nightcrawler *cough*) it would make a little more sense why a formerly good natured person becomes a cold blooded murderer, but I kind of doubt that. She still had some highly impressive stunts and I am just stunned by the abilities of Lawrence and her stunt double.
Originally it was Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat who was sent back in time to change it, for movie reasons they however changed this to her being the one with the abilities to sent back Wolverine/Logan who’s mind would be the only one strong enough to endure such a long journey. In a way he does he not do much to change things and seems to be more of a tag-along than anything else. This might be due to restraints of the time travel, but I guess also because of his claws that are still bones instead of Adamantium and you could really see how he enjoyed that Magneto wasn’t able to Metal-bend him. 😀 As I said Logan did not really feel like a main character this time, which was quite a nice change.
Another tag-along was Beast or Hank McCoy who seems like he isn’t good for anything beside providing meds for Xavier, quarrelling with Magneto and looking longingly at Raven. The young version is such a sweet guy that it is quite a pity he struggles so much with what he is, but as we all know he will turn out to be quite a badass blue ape thing. 😀
The mutant I was most curious about seeing was Quicksilver or Pietro Maximoff, as he is not just portrayed in this movie, but will also have a role in Avengers: Age of Ultron (not the same actor mind you). Even though he was funny, he was a bid too childish for my liking and of course there was his strange hair and outfit that looked like a wig and and terrible fashion sense. As it is known to X-Men fans Pietro is the son of Magneto and even if the mention of his sister (Scarlet Witch) was cut out we still get a comment that his „Mum knew a mutant who also could manipulate metal“. 😀 In short: He wasn’t as bad as I expected he’d be.
Honorary mentions go to the X-Men from the future as they kind of died a lot in the few scenes we had with them. While the first time was a „No!“-moment (in regards to Shawn Ashmores‚ Bobby Drake/Iceman, whom we have known from two movies, being decapitated) for me, the second time was more of a „Shit now it’s final“-moment as I roughly remembered that even though Kitty could change the events in the past, the future was still unchanged.

General Opinion

X-Men: Days of Future Past has a thrilling music score that accompanies visually interesting/stunning scenes and offers a great/incredible cast. It also includes well made nods to the other movies and does something pretty cool with the conclusion – and this is probably a major spoiler: With Wolverines return to his actual time line and the actual success of the whole time travel thing the events of The Last Stand are retconned and the characters who had died in that Sequel are alive again. Meaning: We get cameos from Famke Janssen and James Marsden (Jean Grey and Cyclops), but also a view on Rogue (Anna Paquin) and the „old“ Beast (Kelsey Grammer) at the end of the movie.
Already when the credits rolled down I would have liked to watch it again, though not for the price they made me pay…

Stuff I’d like to add

The German additional name of the movie is by the way „Zukunft ist Vergangenheit„, which roughly translates to „Future is Past“ and I think it has as much of a different ring to it as „The Dark World“ and „The Dark Kingdom“ had for Thor.
The post-credit scene was rather cryptic and I believe it hinted at X-Men: Apocalypse (seeing as a worshipped being just build a pyramid without moving that much of a muscle), but the person who did that looked more like a woman that the rather masculine version I remember from the Cartoons. If the next piece in the franchise is indeed Apocalypse than I guess it will be interesting if they will continue with the new cast (McAvoy and Fassbender) or the renewed cast (Stewart and McKellen).
When I got the link from Wikipedia for the poster, the plot was quite interestingly phrased:

„In the dystopian future of 2023, The X-Men go back in time to save the world from the abomination that is X-men: Origins Wolverine.“

Why it did indeed have some major issues, I wouldn’t call the first Wolverine spinn-off an abomination and not that much had been changed with Wolverine’s Origin as the stuff portrayed in that movie was still about to happen to his younger self (see bone claws). If it saved us from anything then from the awful deaths and de-mutations from The Last Stand.
PoiSonPaiNter
© For the poster belongs to its rightful owner.

Thor: Movie vs. Myth

The topic of this post is an assignment I got from The Extremis Reviews to see if my work is good enough for me to become a guest author for their page. I’m curious how that will work out, but as usual I do not put too much hope into it.
Regardless of me getting „the job“ or not, I already had thought about writing about Norse Mythology a bit more than the few mentions I had so far. Therefore I also see this as possibility for me to start my work on it properly.

As I mentioned in my review for Thor: The Dark World was I sceptical about the Thor-film in regards to its adaptations of the myths. I already knew a few things about the myths when I first heard about the film/the characters and the more I learned about both the myths and the Marvel-version, the more I was reluctant to actually try it. The way they portray characters and their relationships with each other seemed so wrong to me that I had a hard time grasping my head around it.

So with this post I want to show you some of the major differences between the adaptations of the myths in Marvels Cinematic Universe’s „Thor“ (and its follow-up films) and Norse Mythology itself. Please do keep in mind that I am not an expert on this matter and most of this is recited by memory, so if you see any mistakes you are more than welcome to inform me about them.

What confused me the most when I started watching the first Thor film were the

Family relationships;

especially Loki being Thor’s brother.

Deep down in the back of my mind something practically ranted at me: „He is not the brother. He wasn’t the brother. Was he?“ until I took my Laptop and looked it up.
Needles to say my nagging mind was indeed correct: According to Norse Mythology Loki is NOT the brother of Thor, but instead the blood brother (meaning no blood relationship whatsoever) of Odin, as Loki otherwise would not have been allowed to stay in Asgard due to being a giant. Though he does share some rather funny adventures with the God of Thunder (including for example cross-dressing, but covering that would stray too far away from the topic).

Another strange change are Thor and Sif, which in the original are married, while in the Marvel universe they are but friends. They fight alongside each other with Sif having a crush on him and Thor simply ignoring it and swooning over the „mortal“ Jane Foster. In the comics I believe Sif even becomes a Valkyrie, which would make any proper relationship quite impossible (in the myths they are the ones picking up the fallen warriors that are granted access to Valhalla, their „heaven“).

Not mentioned at all in the films, so far, are other family members of Thor and Loki.

As far as I know Thor has at least two brother’s (Baldr and Hodur) that play a major role on the way to Ragnarök (the Twilight of the Gods, the end of everything that is known). From a bit of research I know that Baldr has an appearance in the comics, but I believe the films will shelve Ragnarök for quite some time to cover other stories before that.

On Loki’s side there are the other pieces missing that are to bring about the end: The monster babies. 🙂
Jörmungandr (a gigantic serpent, large enough to circle the world entirely – and Thor’s arch enemy), Fenrir (an enormous wolf and the one said to kill Odin) and Hel(a – half young and beautiful woman, half rotten corpse and mistress of Helheim/Niflheim, the realm of the deceased that were not allowed to enter Valhalla, whose inhabitants she will lead into the fight against the Aesir at her fathers‘ side) the children of Loki and the giantess Angrboda that are very badly treated in the myths and do not appear in the films or stories of Marvel. Though Hel(a) is mentioned and shown in some of the cartoon versions and even called Loki’s daughter, though no mentioning of her mother or her brothers at all (there also are a wolf called Fenrir and a serpent, but it is not clear if they are in any way related to Loki and/or Marvels versions of them).
And let’s not forget his other two children with his Aesir-wife Sigyn (who is actually depicted in some of the comics and cartoons) that are used for his punishment shortly before Ragnarök (and I better not get into details about this right now, as it is quite nasty).

Origins:

As we already are talking about Loki’s children: Did you know that the eight-legged horse Odin is riding into battle (you can see it when he arrives in Jotunheim to rescue Thor and the others in the first film) is supposed to be Loki’s offspring? And did you also know that he is the mother?
Regardless if you answered these questions with yes or no, it is indeed the case that there is a story in the Norse Mythology about how the wall of Asgard was build and how Loki was forced to trick the horse of the builder into running off so that the builder (who was a giant in disguise) could not finish his work in time. As he had disguised himself as a white mare the God of Mischief returned several months after the ordeal with a foal, Sleipnir, that he then gave to Odin. Speaking of disguises: You think Loki’s illusions are fun? In the real stories he occasionally turns himself into all kind of things including a fish and several different women. 😉

If you think Sleipnir’s heritage is strange then let me tell you what is „wrong“ about Loki’s: In the myths Loki is not just depicted as the God of Mischief, but also as the God of Fire, due to him being a Fire Giant (Loki or Locke even means something like flame if I’m not mistaken) and yes, Marvel turned this around and made him a Frost Giant. Though they turned around something way more hilarious as well.
You remember the king of the Frost Giants, Laufey, who is said to be Loki’s father? Well, in the myths „Laufey“ is the name of Loki’s mother …

Though not a person the origin of Thor’s hammer Mjolnir differs in the stories as well. In Marvel it is said that the hammer was forged in a dying dwarf star from one of the strongest metals in the universe – incidentally the same as Captain America‘s shield, explaining the blast they emit when they collide in The Avengers. The only thing that coincides with the myths, however, is the word „dwarf“.
Mjolnir was forged by a dwarf – or dwarve, as the fantasy version is referred to – that got himself into a bet with Loki when the god had badmouthed the dwarves abilities to forge proper weaponry. While the dwarve worked on the hammer another one was trying to keep the flames steady. As he, however, was distracted by a fly (*cough*Loki*cough*) he failed at his task and the handle of the hammer ended up being rather short. Due to this Loki saw himself the victor, but the Aesir still preferred the dwarves work over the work Loki had presented them. As the dwarve could not get Loki’s head as he had demanded (cutting off the head without doing the same with the neck proofed difficulty) he instead stitched up the lips of the lying god. Though none of this is portrayed in the Marvel universe, which is rather unfortunate.

What is however portrayed in Marvel and not in the myths are the Warriors Three. I don’t remember something like them existing in the stories as the most frequent companion Thor had on his adventures was Loki.

Appearance

It is normal to change the appearance of characters to fit a different audience, but some decision might be true to the Marvel version, but are still quite different from the Norse one.

So even though Jamie Alexander is a beautiful woman it is indeed unfortunate that she is not depicted with Norse-Sif’s golden hair that resulted from one of Loki’s many mischiefs (and is made of real gold). Other changed hair colours include Thor (red) and Loki (occasionally blond) themselves.

The strangest change however is Heimdal and a former fellow student of mine even declared that she stopped watching the first film as soon as she saw him. It is highly unlikely that someone of Idris Elbas skin-colour would have found his way into Norse Mythology; as Loki’s arch enemy nonetheless. (This is in no way meant offensive and I think Elba does a pretty good job as Asgards gate keeper. It just doesn’t really fit with what the myths tell us.)

But as she so nicely put it: At least Odin has only one eye.

The Nine realms

As I wrote in the review: I do like how they described Yggdrasil, the World Tree, and its connection to the other realms. A nice scientific explanation.
In the myths it is an actual tree that connects the different realms with his roots, trunk and branches. Deep down underneath the World Tree lie the dark realms, like Helheim. Where the trunk stands Midgard stretches on and high above the branches lies Asgard, home of the Aesir. The other realms lie somewhere as well, but I can’t really remember where exactly, sorry.
The difference in this is simply put: No science, actual tree and rainbow.

As you might have noticed I referred to the (main, as there are others too) inhabitants of Asgard as Aesir instead of Asgardians as Marvel calls them. The latter sounds more like simply referring to the alien-species that lives in Asgard than for what it is used to describe in the myths (alien super-human vs. actual god) and it just feels better to use it when talking about them.

Characters Reasoning

In the myths it is quite understandable why Loki turns against the Aesir (you only have to look at how they treat him and his children). In Marvel he is depicted more as a jealous, greedy prat than actually having reason to behave the way he does.

This however is not really a difference like the others, but I felt like it was worth mentioning.

The few things above are probably only barely scratching the surface of all the differences between Marvel’s version and the original, but I hope I could give you at least a small overview of them. I am also sorry that I didn’t get into too much detail with some of them, as that would have been too Off Topic.

Anyway, I am off to Berlin again for a long weekend and a Van Canto concert and am already curious what kind of replies will await me on my return.

PoiSonPaiNter

The Elevator – Relaunch?

After I published my post about the Elevator-Meme (the one with certain characters from different Fandoms being stuck in the same elevator, read the link to know which one I’m talking about), quite a lot of people read (or looked at) the analysis and its accompanying One Shot that I had published on both Fanfiction.net and Animexx. I got some interesting and lovely responses so far (I even inspired someone to make a challenge out of this! o.O) and well, what can I say…the mind keeps wandering back to it…
Several people have asked me if I will continue the idea, but at that time I didn’t have any idea how to.
The biggest problem being that I don’t know the majority of Fandoms as well as would be necessary to properly write such an enormous „Fandom soup“ (as a reviewer put it).
But as I said: The mind keeps wandering…I am more and more inclined to add more story to what I already have, to include scenes of everyone receiving the invite to get to the conference, to add some more thoughts and descriptions in certain moments and to simply continue where I left off.
As the Doctor Who Fandom is the one I feel most confident writing about, it his highly likely that the solution of the problem I created (As a reminder: The universes merged and they met up to figure out how that happened and how they can reverse it) will be solved with the help of The Doctors companions (including Jack/Torchwood, River Song and the Ponds to some extend).
Though I see possibilities to also include „The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.“ and other Marvel researchers and possibly heroes as well. A mentioning of the Star Trek people is kind of inevitable , but I’m afraid I know too little about them to actually make that work beyond receiving and acting on orders. (If anyone wants to help, let me know how you would include them in my setting.)
Another thing I would need to worry about would be:
How do I include the other characters?
I have a rough idea what they could be useful for like the Holmes brothers for the planning, House for assembling and coordinating medical teams, Sheldon doing the same with „normal“ researchers, but that still leaves the question:
What am I supposed to do with the pirate and the angel? o.O (And the possibility of characters from their respective universes running amok…)
So you can see still a lot of thought is necessary to even get the characters to properly work for the sake of the story.
Regardless of that another important topic still needs to be contemplated:
How the hell did all that happen? Who caused it and how could the assembled people actually stop and reverse it?
The setting I created is quite Sci-Fi-y and as I said I’m most comfortable with Doctor Who, therefore my current thought is that the classic DW villains, the Daleks, caused it.
We have seen them mess with universes through their Reality Bomb, who is to say they would not create something that would merge universes, making it easier for them to kill everything in one go?
Quite overused probably, but the only thing I feel adequate to write about.
But long story short: The possibility that I re-work what I wrote to simply prove my points in the analysis and widen it into a more complex story with more details and an actual solution, becomes more and more likely.
It is just a matter of time until I find the missing pieces to start writing, I suppose. But you are more than welcome to join me in my musing. 🙂
PoiSonPaiNter

Imagine all these guys were stuck in an elevator…

If you are amongst the people that look around the Internet for (funny) things concerning your fandoms than you probably came across this thing at some point:

So why am I writing about this?
Well, I started thinking about it when my brain was supposed to think about other – way more important – things and that usually ends up as a post…

Anyway, let’s have a look at this situation:

Eight guys from several different fandoms get stuck in an elevator for 24 hours.
In my opinion more interesting than: What would happen if they all were stuck? is: How the hell did they all end up in the same elevator? But before we get to that.

Who are these guys anyway?

We have: Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory, Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, The Doctor from Doctor Who, (Reboot) Spock from Star Trek, Dr. House from House M.D., Castiel from Supernatural, Sherlock Holmes from Sherlock and Tony Stark from Iron Man/The Marvel Cinematic Universe.
You could pretty much say that every person derives from a different universe, at least that’s what it looks like. Based on what we know of the stories and the connections between them we can soon come to some interesting conclusion:

Sheldon is a fan of both DW and ST and as Comic Book nerd he of course knows about Iron Man – all of them fictional in his universe.
There is however no – to me known – mentioning of House, Supernatural or PotC, yet the last two are most likely fiction as well
There is no mentioning of TBBT or House in one of the other formats
Sherlock seems to be fiction in all of the universes.
Except the one version of ST where Spock quotes Sherlock and says the line is from one of his ancestors.
Whereas Sherlock is mocked by John Watson for quoting Spock, making ST fiction in his universe.
Same goes for DW, when Rose Tyler calls the Doctor „Spock“
TBBT, House and Sherlock all play in a modern day setting that resembles our universe
So do Supernatural, IM and DW, but they have far to much influence on the time line of their respective universes, to be considered as one.
PotC plays in the past and is most likely fiction in both House and TBBT

To summarize that, we have:

TBBT and House, that could be from the same universe where all the other people are fictional
DW, where at least ST and Sherlock are fictional
Sherlock, where at least ST is fiction
ST, where Sherlock could be fiction or history
IM, where at least Sherlock is fiction (and judging from characters in an Avenger Comic, the Doctor might be not-fictional)
Supernatural, where at least Sherlock and ST are fiction and
PotC, where non of the fictions yet exist and that might be a possible past for TBBT and House.

That makes, let’s say, 6 universes and a different time line of one that need to come together for them to end up in the same elevator.

How would that be possible?

Well, with ST and DW we have two of the leading Sci-Fi shows that occasionally deal with parallel universes and overlapping time lines. Add the Marvel Universe to the mix and the mash up is pretty much self-explanatory. I mean: The TARDIS blew up once and created a whole lot of cracks in the universe, combine that with the Alien technology of ST and IM and it could happen.

But why would these people be in the same elevator?

If you look at the people you soon realize that all of them – except Jack and Castiel – are really good at something. Well, Jack is good at retreating and Castiel’s an angel, but not in the way the others are. Just look at this:

Sheldon	Theoretical Physicists
House	Medical Genius
Sherlock	Consulting Detective
Spock	Scientist
The Doctor	The Doctor
Tony Stark	Technology Genius

Now imagine a messed up combination of all 6 universes. Don’t you think the governments wouldn’t send their experts to meet up and figure out what’s happening? Now it is arguable why House would be involved, but I guess they would just want to include someone that can figure out if the mess-up will be unhealthy for the inhabitants of the planet.
In regards to Jack I’d say the Doctor is prone to picking up strays, so why should he let a disorientated pirate roam the streets of a major American city?

Why American? Well, most of the characters are American and I can clearly imagine it being some fancy meeting in one of those really high buildings. With lots of stops for an elevator.

So how did they end up in the same elevator?

I imagine it to be like this:
Sheldon had been asked to attend a meeting where his skills were needed. They had been quite secretive as to about what it really were, but they were government officials so he didn’t question them and was rather flattered by the invitation. The meeting would be in one of the highest levels, so he made sure to get a spot in the corner away from the console station as every other person that would enter would most likely leave before him. Before he entered he had seen an old man with a cane making his way to the elevator as well. For a second there he thought of just closing the door and let him take the next one, but he felt generous today. So he pushed the button to open the doors again for the man to enter. The man muttered a „Thanks“ and leaned against the side opposite of him. The physicist tried grinning at the other replying „My pleasure“ in a mocking tone, only gaining a suspicious look for that. When he was about to ask the man if he didn’t want to pick out a level the doors were stopped from closing again. For a moment Sheldon stared at the well-dressed foot, before the doors opened to reveal a man around his age in a coat that looked far to warm for this time of the year. The new arrival apologized with a wide grin and a „Sorry“ that didn’t feel at all sincere. The man glanced at the control station and the other passengers. With a small grin he then positioned himself in front of Sheldon facing the doors.
A loud yell emerged from the hall in front of the elevator when another man was fast approaching the machine: „Please hold that!“
The man in the coat stepped forward like he had done to enter. It would have been a waste of time to let another member of the meeting wait for the next elevator.
„Thanks.“ He said to the coat-guy before he added to the one that had followed him: „After you.“ The man wearing a blue Star Trek uniform entered before him. A cautious look in his eyes and a small courtesy smile on his lips. He stopped in the center of the small room while the other positioned himself in front of the console.
„Apparently we all have the same destination. That’s convenient.“ He commented with a smug grin, but did not get a reaction as he had hoped to get.
Bored with the other passengers he started to type away on a gadget.
For a moment there was silence in the room and the vehicle started to make its way upwards. Without any warning the latest arrival bluntly asked the Star Trek guy: „Are they real or did you have surgery to look more like Spock?“
He gained a snort from both the coat-guy and the one with the cane and a nod from the skinny boy in the back. The one in question just looked at him as if he didn’t get the reference. But before the gadget-guy could get an answer the elevator stopped abruptly and went down again. Quite faster than the passengers would have liked. When the doors opened they revealed two guys that looked like they had just robbed a costume store: One had decided to dress up as pirate, while the other pretended to be his own grandfather.
„Hello everyone, sorry for that. But I needed to take the lift. They didn’t allow me to enter the meeting with my own transport.“ He started babbling.
He shoved the other guy in front of him mumbling „Get in mate. Ha. Mate.“
„I’m The Doctor by the way and this is Jack Sparrow.“ He introduced himself and the other man that was just staring at the strange room.
„Captain Jack Sparrow“ Jack corrected and proceeded to knock on the metal walls.
„You know I once traveled with a Captain Jack. Nice fella. Became a fixed point in time though. Oh, and of course Sally Sparrow. Lovely Sally Sparrow. Had a run in with the Weeping Angels, but defeated them most brilliantly. You don’t happen to be related to her do you? No, that wouldn’t be possible. Would it? Hmm…“ The Doctor mused with his usual demeanor of running about and using his hands, only to stop and look at the Captain. When he noticed the others stared at them he added: „Oh don’t mind him. He’s a pirate from the 18th century. Doesn’t know what a lift is.“

Why isn’t Sheldon recognizing any of his heroes?

Because he can’t. Their stories are fiction in his universe, that means if the producers of the show have a rough idea of what the actual person looked like, they will hire an actor that resembles him. So to be clear: The Doctor, Tony, Sherlock, Spock and Jack (and Castiel) dress similar to their fictional counterpart and they resemble the versions played by Matt Smith, Robert Downey Jr., Benedict Cumberbatch, Zachary Quinto and Johnny Depp (and Misha Collins), but they are not them. Just as Sheldon doesn’t look exactly like Jim Parsons and House not like Hugh Laurie.
Strong resemblance: Yes. Alternative version of the actors: Not really.
It’s a bit like making a movie about a historical person: You take what you know about them and an actor that looks like them and wrap it in a tale.

But how would they get stuck in the elevator?

Let the tale continue…
Soon The Doctor noticed that the others were staring at him and not the pirate.
„Ooooh. I see. It’s me you are wondering about, not him. Some of the most brilliant minds of the universes and they are puzzled by me. Ha. Isn’t that something?“ He concluded clapping his hands together in delight.
„Oh please. We’re not puzzled. You clearly are just a lunatic babbling about pirates, that has the fashion sense of an old man.“ The man in the coat countered with distaste.
„Lunatic?“ The Doctor pondered this for a moment, before he replied with a wide grin: „No. I might be a mad man with a blue box, but I’m clearly not a lunatic. And: Bow Ties. Are. Cool.“ He declared, straightening the accessory and started to look more closely at the other one. Something was odd about him.
„Yes. That’s it. All of you listen up. Something is odd here. I don’t know what so far but I will figure it out soon. So now, everyone state their name, species and qualification.“ He ordered.
„And why would we do that?“ The coat-guy retorted in a superficial tone.
„Because if you hadn’t noticed: The lift stopped moving and it wont start moving again until you tell me what I need to know and we will all miss the meeting.“
„You can’t do that.“ Coat stated unconvinced.
„Apparently he can. I just checked the elevator software. It’s deadlocked. Heck, it’s that locked, I can’t even get through it and that says something.“ The man with the gadget admitted awed. „You’re brilliant. You have to teach me how to do that.“
„Awww…thank you. Maybe later. First introductions. You there in the corner. You go first.“ He pointed at Sheldon.
Nervous and unsure he fidgeted with his fingers. This man claimed to be The Doctor and if he wasn’t just an insane lookalike than he was really stuck in an elevator with one of the most incredible people he had ever heard about. Taking a deep breath he let it out in one go saying: „Sheldon Cooper, Human, theoretical physicist“
„Hello, Sheldon Cooper nice to meet you.“ The Doctor took his hand and shook it.
„N-nice to meet you too…Doctor“ He replied still shaking a little.
The Doctor then turned to the man with the cane and moved his hands into a „go-on“ gesture. „Gregory House, Human, doctor“ he simply replied.
„Ha. A doctor. Hello.“ The Doctor greeting him as well through shaking his hand.
When he turned around the man with the gadget had a wide grin on his face when he answered: „Tony Stark, Human, Genius“
„But not smart enough to break my deadlock.“ The Doctor mocked him before he took the offered hand.
„I am working on that and you have to teach me how to do that.“
„I will, later. Now you.“ He then started to circle the guy with the pointy ears. „You are not human. Maybe half-human.“
„That is true.“ He affirmed. „I AM Spock“ He started and stared at Tony for a moment „and I am half-human, half-vulcan and a scientist.“
„That is impossible.“ The remaining passenger commented, while they all were staring at Spock.
„Why would that be…oh…yes…you’re fiction…or at least you’re supposed to be fiction. Yet you are here. Oh, that is brilliant.“ The Doctor concluded in excitement.
„Fiction?“ Spock repeated when The Doctor went on to the last one.
„And you are?“ He prodded again.
With a sigh he complied. „Sherlock Holmes. Human. Consulting Detective“ This time all eyes were on him. Ignoring them he confronted the other man with the same question.
Straightening his bow tie again he answered „I am The Doctor. I’m a Timelord. I know how universes work.“
He grinned again pulling a metal stick out of his pocked and pointed it at the console
„And now: Geronimo!“ The Doctor yelled and the elevator started to move again, but not without throwing out sparks and making an abrupt start. When the machine had settled on a normal speed The Doctor grinned at the passengers.
„Sherlock Holmes. The great detective. Mr. Spock and other brilliant people. Oh this will be fun.“
Tony was just about to ask what a Timelord is and what that strange stick was when an eighth passenger arrived out of nowhere.
„Hello? Did you call for an angel?“ He asked slightly unsure.
„Why would anybody call for an angel?“ Sherlock remarked.
„People do that. If they need help.“ The angel replied.
„You are a real, proper angel?“ The Doctor asked, staring at the man with slight distrust.
„Yes. Of course.“ The other replied.
„Does anybody know anything about angels existing?“ The Doctor asked the rest, when no one said anything he added: „Thought so. That makes…5 different universes and a different time line at least.“
„Six.“ Came a quiet correction.
„Six? Why six? What makes you think six?“ The Doctor started questioning Sheldon and tried to figure out what was different about him that he would think of a sixth universe.
With recovered confidence he cleared his throat and said: „I am fairly certain that Mr. Tony Stark aka Iron Man is not a part of my universe. Even though it’d be great if he was. You are quite incredible Mr. Stark.“
„Oh, thank you. I know.“ Stark replied to the flattery.
„Iron Man? You’re not made of metal.“ The Doctor wondered, pocking Tony in the chest. „And luckily you’re not a Cyberman either. Uuuh that would be bad. Oh that would be really bad. Let’s just hope neither the Cybermen nor the Daleks have noticed that there are several universes to destroy. And hopefully not the Sontarans either….“ He then went into another rant before he turned to Spock. „Did you know that the vulcan greeting is perfect for opening the doors in Sontaran battle fleets space ships? Probably not…poor Donna…But that’s not the point. Anyone else not having an ‚Iron Man‘?“
„Only in the movies.“ House replied.
„Yeah. I think there was one of those awful and loud obnoxious films called like that.“ Sherlock added with distaste.
„There’s a movie about me?“ Tony wanted to know.
„Three, by now. Plus an appearance in The Avengers. Several comic book series and cartoons.“ Listed Sheldon.
„Well, that’s awesome.“
„Wait a minute.“ Interrupted The Doctor and turned to Sherlock again. „A LOUD film?“
„Yes. Loud, as in: The volume of the film in the cinema is always turned up far too loud. Are you retarded?“
„Of course not. What year do you live in?“
„2013, why would that be of relevance?“
„Really?“ Asked Tony this time.
„Yes of course. What is this nonsense about?“
„Interesting. You’re supposed to be from the 19th century…“ The Doctor told him, while observing him again.
„Apparently I’m not.“ Sherlock and emphasized his comment through rolling his eyes.
„Apparently you’re not. And that is really interesting. Angel man!“ The Doctor moved up front again to talk properly to the man that was just standing there.
„Cas. That’s what…people call me.“
„Cas. Hello Cas. I’m The Doctor. Nice to meet you.“ He greeted him properly and shook his hand.
„So, Cas. Do you need to be anywhere. I think it’d be most interesting to have someone from your universe as well to be able to revert this whole mess back to normal.“
„Unless I’m called I don’t really need to leave.“
„Good. Very good. You stay. Jack stays. Jack stop pressing buttons. They make us stop every time.“ The Doctor then proceeded to scold the pirate.
„Sorry mate.“ He apologized and held up his hands in defence.

My point in this is basically: They wouldn’t get stuck. It would have to be one hell of an elevator to make them get stuck for 24 hours.
I can see The Doctor wanting to get information from the others so he knows whom he is working with and therefore stopping it or simply using his Sonic Screwdriver to get it working again.
Given enough time Tony would probably be able to unlock the machine and Spock would be able as well, if he saw fit in doing so.
It isn’t said much about Sherlocks hacking skills, but I think even though they would be quite good they’d still be far from Tony’s or Spock’s.
House, Sheldon, Jack and Cas would be pretty useless when it comes to technology.
Jack would only be helpful if they needed to escape and for that he would have at least a little bit of knowledge about where he is – which he doesn’t have as a pirate in an elevator. And of course only useful for pressing random buttons.
Cas would just teleport himself out, no idea who the other people are and what he would be supposed to do.
House would be good if someone hyperventilated.
Sheldon would probably be the one hyperventilating.

Anyway, what I find even also interesting in the thought process I just went through is:

What happens when they all exit the elevator?

In the „little“ tale I told with this, they all were send to a meeting to figure out what had happened.
So here is a glimpse at said meeting:

Finally the elevator had reached its destination. Pushing his way through the others Sherlock hurriedly exited the machine.
„Mycroft!“ He addressed his brother that was already awaiting him.
„What took you so long, brother mine?“ The older Holmes calmly retorted with he hinge of menace in his voice.
„That lunatic with the bow tie, babbling about time travel, space ships and different universes. How am I supposed to work with them? They’re useless. Why wasn’t I allowed to bring John? He would have been better company than those people.“
“ Oh dear. They were asked to come here just as we were. Just bear with them for a while.“ Mycroft tried to stop his brothers tirade, but he only got a snort.
„Hello. I’m The Doctor and you are?“ The ‚lunatic with the bow tie‘ interrupted their conversation, holding out his hand.
„Mycroft Holmes. I’m with the British Government.“ He introduced himself and accepted the hand.
„You are the British Government“ Sherlock mumbled and got one of his brother’s famous smiles in return.
„Lovely, the older brother and the British Government. They like me there. Mostly. I was knighted by Queen Victoria…and then exiled. And don’t get me started on Elizabeth I….Still mad I never took her on a honeymoon. Anyway, British Government! I saved London a couple of times from alien invasions. Usually around Christmas.“ The Doctor rattled down, still shaking the hand, before he added: „Do I know you? You look familiar…“
„I can assure you that we have never met before.“ Mycroft replied taking back his hand.
„You saved London from alien invasions? Than you can’t be from my universe or you probably would have helped Thor.“ Stark interjected.
„Thor as in the Norse god of Thunder?“ Spock joined the conversation.
„Yes. In my universe he is a demigod travelling through different realms with the help of an Einstein-Rosen bridge. He recently stopped some Dark Elves from taking over the world. In London.“ Tony explained and showed the others pictures of Thor, Malekith and the destruction of London through his gadget.
In the back Sherlock gestured to his brother that these people were clearly insane.
„That is interesting. He looks a bit like me don’t you think?“ The Doctor held up the gadget that showed a picture of Malekith beside his face.
„Nope.“
„Really? Oh, yes…old face, not this face. Had different faces before. My mistake.“ He amended his statement and gave back the gadget.
Sheldon and House had already found themselves a seat at the long table that stood in the room, while Cas and Jack stared out of the window. As it was too ridiculous for him, Sherlock made his way to the far end of the table away from the others. His brother following him suit.
„They either are completely insane or they truly believe what they are saying.“ Mycroft concluded.
After a moment The Doctor turned to the ones responsible for the meeting.
„Can I bring up my TARDIS it’ll be helpful for figuring this out.“ As he was allowed he send a signal with the Screwdriver and the blue telephone box appeared beside him.
„That is one cool trick.“ Tony remarked.
„That is not a trick. That is technology I thought you’d know better than that.“ The Doctor retorted slightly offended.
„How can a wooden blue box help us?“ Did Spock want to know.
„Because it’s bigger on the inside.“ Sheldon answered before The Doctor could even open his mouth.
„Yes. How do you know that?“
„You are fiction in my universe too.“
„Oh. I am fiction. Haha.“ The Doctor clapped his hands in delight.
„Your show is called ‚Doctor Who‘ and it’s the longest running Sci-Fi show. Closely followed my Mr. Spock’s show ‚Star Trek'“ Sheldon explained.
„‚Doctor Who‘. I like that. Doctor who. Doctor who.“ The Doctor couldn’t help but repeat it in a sing-song.
„‚The oldest question. The question that must never be answered. Hidden in plain sight.'“
„What did you say?“ The Doctor now void of all delight and utterly serious.
„It was just a quote from the show!“ Sheldon replied in defence.
„You have my life in a show and even that made it into it. Not good. Really not good.“ He contemplated this for a moment before pointing a finger at the physicist and saying: „You might know things about my future. About everyone’s future that are fiction in your universe. You must be really careful of what you say. But first I need to set up some things.“
He then proceeded to go inside the TARDIS and pull out some cables that he then connected to screens on the far end of the room. Tony and Spock had provided him with their help to see more of that strange technology, while the others examined the box in suspicion.
„That is impossible.“ Sherlock concluded after he had rounded the box for the third time.
„‚Once you’ve ruled out the impossible, whatever remains must be the truth.‘ This box is a spaceship capable of flying through time and space and has bigger-on-the-inside technology.“ Spock told him with a hinge of admiration in his voice.
„What did you say?“ Sherlock demanded to know.
„You clearly heard what I said.“
„How can you know that? I haven’t said it here. Ah, right ‚fiction‘.“ Sherlock concluded raising his eyebrows in annoyance.
„You are fiction in the Star Trek and probably all the other universes. Though an alternative time line of Star Trek suggests you’re also related to Spock as one of his ancestors.“ Sheldon explained.
„Anc..?“ Sherlock started and stopped himself from letting his mind wander into that direction, while Mycroft burst out laughing.
The awkward moment of silence after this was then interrupted by the yelling of The Doctor:“Lazarus!“ As he turned to look at Mycroft.
„I hope you don’t turn into a giant spider thingy that sucks out the life force of other people.“ The Timelord mumbled and then proceeded to push a button he was holding: „Hello Kate! How is UNIT coping?“ He turned around in a swift motion to greet the blond woman that had just appeared on one of the screens.
„Not well Doctor. We have all kind of strange reports floating in. We have to find out what caused this and how we can reverse it before any severe damage is done.“ The head of UNIT Kate Steward reported.
„Working on that. Just let me add a couple of others to the conference. You ready Tony?“
„Yup.“ Stark answered and pushed another button.
„Stark what is the meaning of this?“ Nick Fury of SHIELD answered right away.
„We just need a bit more information that’s all.“
„Spock! Your turn!“ The Doctor yelled again, making a turn to point at the scientist; earning confused looks by both Steward and Fury.
„On it.“ The other replied and pressed the third button that held a connection to his starship.
„Now that we are all together. We need to combine our knowledge about everything unusual. Everything strange. Everything that can help us to get out of this mess.“ The Doctor stated their plan.
„You mean aside from the fact that there are several supposedly fictional people meeting up in the same conference room discussing matters of high importance for their respective universes?“ Sherlock summarized their situation with a smug grin.
„Yes. Aside from that.“ The Doctor acknowledged dryly pointing at him.

Well, this is how I’d imagine it. As I said I don’t see most of the peoples actual usefulness in the given setting, but it’s the only one that’d make sense. Given the opportunity they might excel in their respective fields, but just for information gathering and techno-babble. Don’t thinks so.
And I hope you had as much fun reading the tale as I had writing it. 😉
(And if I might add: I haven’t seen that much of ST, TBBT, House and Supernatural. So any miss-characterizations or miss-informations derive from that.)

If this whole meme however means that the actors get stuck in an elevator.
Well, then one of them might know the meme and animate the others to make up a funny story of what happened when they got stuck.
But most likely they will only make smalltalk and wait like every other person for the elevator to move again.
Real people don’t really have „super powers“ after all…

PoiSonPaiNter

© The picture and it’s content, as well as all the characters belong to their rightful owners. Mine are only the ideas and the story formulated in this post. If you’d like to use it, let me know beforehand.

Thor: The Dark World

This time a quite on time review about Thor: The Dark World as I have just watched it in the cinema.

But before I start I’d like to say: Back in 2011 I refused to watch the Thor movie, due to my dislike for Marvels approach on the myths. I only did it because someone in The Forum claimed it would be essential for understanding The Avengers, which I’d really wanted to see. So I borrowed a copy of the DVD from Iron Eve and watched it the day before we went into the cinema.

And what can I say?

Looking at it as just a movie it was pretty entertaining.
I only had to not think about it as Marvels (crippled) version of the Norse Mythology, (otherwise I’d be pretty much like the comic artist Humon in this comic).

For the Marvel Cinematic Universe to move on they had to continue with stories about the supposedly demi-gods of Space-Asgard.
So one kind of had to at least watch it to see if there is any major link from this towards the next Avenger movie.
My reasons for actually watching it in the theater were kind of weak …

#1 Christopher Eccleston plays the villain: As I probably won’t get to see „The Day of the Doctor“ I at least wanted to see „my“ Doctor on the big screen.
#2 Tom Hiddleston reprises his role as Loki: Apart from the fact, that Hiddleston is a brilliant actor, the character is pretty fun, but more to that later.

So much for my motivation to see this movie … *cough*

But what’s the movie about?

(If you can’t guess from the meaningful trailer)

Unsurprisingly Thor: The Dark World or Thor 2 is the continuation of the events of Thor and The Avengers. The nine realms went into chaos after the Byfrost (The Rainbow Bridge of Asgard, that is used for travelling between realms) was destroyed and Thor and his Warriors Three and the Lady Sif have to sort it out after it was repaired, while Loki is put into prison underneath the palace. All the while life on Earth continues and we meet Jane Foster, Darcy Lewis and Dr. Eric Selvig again, trying to cope with live after everything that had happened. While doing that Jane discover an anomaly and is transferred to a different realm where she accidentally re-awakens an old power source called the Aether, which then inhabits her.

With it the Dark Elve Malekith awakens as well, striving to get a hold of it. Long before the current events his kind has battled Odins father Bor to gain control over it. He wanted to return the universe into the state of darkness it was before the light and the realms were created and for that he needed the Aether and a special constellation of all the realms, the so called convergence, when all realms are within a straight line, which is coincidentally close by.

So all the hammer-wielding hero needs to do to save the day: Free the imprisoned brother, save the girl and stop the elve.

The watching experience

As I don’t really have much time the upcoming weeks I spontaneously decided to go this week. Eve would have accompanied me, but didn’t get my message in time so I went on my own, which had the only downside that I couldn’t discuss it right away with someone. But that’s beside the point.

The movie was in 3D, again, but it could have worked just as well without it. Some scenes were nice to look at, but most of it was nothing special.
Additionally, it was pretty weird to read the 3D-subtitles used for the Elvish.

Which brings me to the point that you could at least hear Ecclestons voice throughout those scenes, while everything else was dubbed. The German dub is quite well done though, especially Peter Lontzek, the voice actor of Hiddleston in all three movies, does a great job as he manages to capture quite a bit of the original portrayal of the character.

Other than that it was not surprising how empty the cinema was (roughly 20 people), even though the movie had only started a week ago. Even less surprising was the number of men compared to women, the movie is after all aimed more at men and as by now most people knew that there always comes a scene after the credits quite a few waited for it.

The characters

Let’s start this part with Thor, so I am done with that. And yes, I don’t like him. But that has nothing to do with Hemsworths way of portraying him, which he does quite well, and more with the fact that I generally don’t like main characters. What we see of him throughout the three movies is just not enough to make him remotely likable for me. At one point in the story my brain even shortly went into a sing-song of „Thor is being clobbered, Thor is being clobbered“ before I told it to stop and quietly enjoy the scene. Still this movie had some nice scenes that made him a bit less shallow and a bit deeper, but those were more thanks to his interaction with Loki.
Also his movie relationship with Jane is just plain weird. I mean: They knew each other for like three days, from what I’ve read about the comics, this whole things makes a bit more sense, but movie-wise it’s far too rushed. But I better stop right here before I get completely Off Topic. Again: This is my dislike for the characters, NOT the actors. They still do a pretty good job.

Loki on the other hand is a completely different matter. For a semi-side character he is shown to have quite an emotional depth, though that might come from Hiddlestons portrayal of him, which I think is utterly brilliant. You kind of can see all the suffering he is put through, yet he still manages to surprise the audience with his actions. Apart from that do I simply like this kind of character and I already rambled enough about it in my post about Faust’s Mephisto – which also was my first encounter with a character of this kind. I also drifted into the topic again when I introduced our devilish character from the book I’m co-writing – and yes he is based on Mephisto not Loki.

As mentioned above my other reason for watching this movie was Christopher Eccleston playing Malekith the Dark Elve. Apart from the fact that I imagine Dark Elves to not be blond and pale, he had far too little screen time, but what little he had was quite interesting. You couldn’t completely understand his reasoning as the movie kind of rushed through that part and as Icewolf put it so nicely: One could ask if he exchanged his brain with a wet bread roll during his sleep as he simply tried to do the same thing again after his first failure. Only this time getting into trouble with the offspring of those that had defeated him the first time.
And it was fun to see him attack London, a city that Eccleston had saved as The Doctor before. 😀
By the way: Is the English version of his name pronounced with „th“? They kind of dropped the „h“ in German.

In this movie they tried to include the side characters a bit more.
We learn a bit about Hogun. We see a bit more of what Sif thinks about/feels for Thor. We learn how protective everyone is about him, with a quite funny queue-joke. And we learn that even though Zachary Levi replaced Josh Dallas it didn’t really make a difference. Though I buy the philandering Fandral a bit more from Levi.
What we also learn is that Dr. Selvig apparently didn’t take Lokis mind control as well as Hawkeye, but judging from the post credit scene of Thor the „god“ might have stayed with him a little longer than the Chitauri invasion. All of this resulting in quite some hilarious scenes. Another unintentionally funny scene was when Jane tried to date someone, who is none other than Chris O’Dowd, known as Roy from The IT Crowd, which was quite a nice surprise as I hadn’t expected him to be part of the movie.

One of the visually most beautiful scenes concerned Frigga, the (adopted) mother of Thor and Loki. We learn a bit more about her and her relationship with her husband and son(s). I don’t know how much Joss Whedon(, who is said to have re-written some of the scenes) had a say in those scenes but it looked pretty much like his writing …

All in all the characters gained a bit more colour throughout this movie, though Darcy still is pretty much only a comic-relief character.
And even Hugin and Munin, Odins ravens, had a proper cameo this time. 😀
And speaking of cameos: Stan Lee’s was pretty fun again, too.

General opinion

The movie again was fun to watch. It had pretty great humor and action, but also conveyed some parts with much emotions. It all felt a bit rushed at times (e.g. the Frigga scene) and was mostly carried forward through character interaction, but I can live with that. I don’t mind seeing it again this time with the original voices, as that is always a bit different.

However, I still prefer the Myth-version of the characters and stories. Marvel does well in creating a world that makes sense on its own, but it still has this weird aftertaste of wrongness. Especially as Marvel leaves out all the fun: The Horse, the Cross-dressing and the Monster Babies. 😀

Stuff I’d like to add

Apparently the movie was released in Germany/Europe before it was broadcasted in the States. Which doesn’t happen that often and quite surprised me upon finding out.

And „The Dark World“ is a „Kingdom“ in the German version, for whatever reason.

They also had a funny advertisement before the movie:
They showed a trailer for Call of Duty and started with a shot if a satellite called „Odin“ and who was the narrator? Odin >_< (Or at least his German voice actor.)

PoiSonPaiNter