BLOG: Episode 2 – I love creepy Lucy and the MCU

When “Avengers: Age of Ultron” came out, the film left me underwhelmed and very irritated.

I grew up watching superhero shows and immersing myself in the lore. I was a Saturday morning cartoon kid and I loved them. And by them, I mean the “X-Men” television series and anything D.C. I never liked Spiderman or the Fantastic Four. I thought the Avengers franchise was a sad and pathetic version of the Justice League.

When “Iron Man” came out, I didn’t care. If I disliked The Avengers, I loathed Iron Man. 

And then the sequel came out and I didn’t watch it. 

Nor did I watch “Thor.” I did see “Captain America: The First Avenger,” but it was underwhelming. 

I didn’t even know there was an “Incredible Hulk” film for the longest time. 

If my parents had never taken me to see “The Avengers” in theatres, I probably would have never gotten into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) at all.

Watching “The Avengers” in theatres made me realize something – I was wrong. I found that the film made the characters I hated likable. I still hate Iron Man though. It never felt like a knock-off Justice League. These were characters who didn’t like each other coming together because they had to, not because they wanted to team up.

And so began my descent into the MCU. Within a week, I had seen every film. 

“Thor” was hilarious and engaging and the one Captain America film I had seen was more enjoyable and I rooted for the characters, not just the guy who played Carter Baizen on “Gossip Girl” (Sebastian Stan aka Bucky Barnes).

The prospect of seeing “Iron Man 3” made me excited. I showed up at the midnight premiere with every belief that the film would be as amazing as “The Avengers.” 

It wasn’t.

It was bad. 

I rethought my newfound love for this franchise: Did I actually like it or was the recent “X-Men” so bad that I clung to “The Avengers?”

“Thor: The Dark World” was somehow worse because at least “Iron Man 3” kinda made sense. When I thought I had completely given up on the series, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” came out and blew me away. It was better than ‘The Avengers” and I loved it. The new characters were amazing and the returning members of The Avengers were perfect for the storyline. 

And just like that, I was “Team Avengers” once again.

So when “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” came out, I was riding high on expectations. The film would include two characters that I knew from my X-Men obsession: Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, or Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, respectively. 

Now, I knew Disney and Marvel couldn’t mention that they were mutants or that their father is Magneto, but I didn’t expect to hate the storyline they created so much. It didn’t make sense to me and I couldn’t even justify the science behind the plot. The film was enjoyable but only if I completely ignored the plot.

Since then, I have loved every installment in the MCU. Even when the MCU tackled mutant and X-Men centric storylines, it made sense (“Captain America: Civil War”). 

But I never forgave the studio for what it did with Wanda and Pietro.

When “WandaVision” premiered on Disney+, I was hesitant, but early reviews were positive. So, I stayed up later to do a “midnight premiere” of sorts with the first episode. 

The show opens on what might be the creepiest and most disturbing version of “I Love Lucy” imaginable with Wanda and Vision as the leading couple. It’s an enthralling mystery and completely unlike anything I’ve ever watched. 

It’s wonderful.

My initial love for the show made me realize that my preconceived notions about the characters and the storylines that I thought I knew may have been wrong. Instead of an objective viewpoint, I thought of the MCU as the enemy – as the reason all D.C. films and most X-Men films had failed.

So I decided to give the films a clean slate. I decided I would watch every single MCU film in timeline order. I would give the films as fair of a shot as I could.

As of Jan. 29, I have watched: “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Captain Marvel,” “Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Thor,” “The Avengers,” “Thor: The Dark World,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” “Iron Man 3,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and “The Avengers: Age of Ultron.”

Rewatching these films surprised me. I enjoyed some of the earlier films like “Iron Man” and “Thor: The Dark World.” I can now appreciate Kevin Fiege’s – the mastermind behind the MCU – vision for the characters.

This doesn’t make me actually enjoy “The Avengers: Age of Ultron,” but I don’t hate it and I can appreciate it for what it was: a stepping stone for “WandaVision.” 

In all honesty, every film so far exists so that “WandaVision” can succeed. 

I am going to be extremely sad when the show’s first season is over in March.

So, to that end, maybe I shouldn’t project X-Men-sized issues onto other franchises, but I will. 

The thing I’ve learned from sitting down and rewatching these films without thinking about how much I hate Iron Man is that your favorites don’t have to be the best.

You can enjoy trashy things and you can dislike great things, but you should give everything a shot without wanting it to be bad.