Marvel Dialogue HAS to Change

Do you think the MCU should experiment with less joke-y dialogue? Give to charity by going to www.givewell.org/ pick YouTube and enter "captainmidnight"

I remember early in the MCU that everyone was distinctive. Thor was Shakespearean, Steve Rogers was from the 40s, Bruce Banner was an awkward scientist. They all don't have to be as quippy and sarcastic as Tony Stark.

Marvel should really learn that not every hero has to be quippy.

While the quips are annoying, the core frustration isn't just the jokes but how they fit these characters. While Phase 1 had its quippy moments, they worked in context, with Tony being the best example. It makes sense when he talks about getting shawarma or a cheeseburger in The Avengers or Iron Man because he uses humor to deflect emotional turmoil. Tony gravitates to humor through food since it is one of the few things he can unapologetically control. Meanwhile, what motivation does Captain America or Ultron have to quip when it doesn't feed into their handling of stress?

Studios don't want screen writers to write meaningful character driven dialogue exchanges. They want meme material.

I genuinely believe James Gunns first Guardians of the Galaxy movie really has had a unintentional impact on the way writers write Marvel movies i miss when thor was written with a more serious shakespearean personality of the first thor movie

“Telling their stories in air quotes” nails it.

The issue is that the dialog was great, when it was Tony doing it. Making every character the wisecracker is boring. Actually think back to the movies before the Avengers. Only Tony quipped.

I think it's one of the reasons why I love Ryan coogler and James Gunn for some reason they always knew how to balance the humor in a way that was genuinely funny, and it never felt inconsistent.

It's important to understand Tony as a character was naturally funny, but as the MCU went on: then you come to understand Tony was a very hurt man who used comedy as a weapon and a shield. Even in the first Avenger's film, Stark was distinct from the other team members and he even butts heads with Cap (a man who worked with his father), who at first sort of thinks Stark is just another empty suit and a bully. But they eventually see eye to eye, and become good friends who respected one another as the films progressed. THAT is what is important. I don't mind quipsters, but when everyone is doing it you enter the realm of self parody which makes getting invested in the character drama and the threats they face all the more difficult.

Like you said, I feel like a lot of popular properties nowadays are afraid of being sincere. Witty and irreverent dialogue can be fun but I appreciate stories that can also manage to be deep and sobering.

"[They] feel like they've been telling their stories in air quotes" has gotta be one of the best summations of these movies I've read yet.

The one thing they need to fix is the humour. Not every character needs to be a comedian. It works with Tony, some can crack a couple jokes every now and then but there are some who need to be taken seriously.

The problem is EVERY character in the MCU now has to be ''quippy'' and it makes the whole universe feel tongue in cheek. Like no one writing it takes any of it seriously anymore. So why should the viewer? It all becomes meaningless.

What you're discussing here is actually why I think Infinity War works so well. The heroes go in arrogant, quippy, thinking the battle is fun. And then they fail. They've been programmed to believe for 20+ movies at that point that everything would work out, and it doesn't. It was really effective, and it's still in my top-two Marvel movies as a result.

I think the main problem is every character does it. Well every hero. Part of why I enjoyed Black Panther, the character, is because he was arguably the only main hero who didn’t do the typical MCU humor. Ever since Civil War when his response to Clint saying his name being “I don’t care”, I was in love. But anyway, it’s about which character does what type of dialogue. It suits Tony Stark perfectly. It suits him. Ant Man? Yeah totally. Hawkeye even has his own flavor. Ironically Spider-Man could’ve used more quipping in his thwiping. But when I heard Captain America do it in Age of Ultron, that’s when I first noticed the it’s not a one size fits all thing. Especially when it feels so jarringly out of character (there’s whiplash hearing Cap in Winter Soldier but then hearing him in Age of Ultro quipping at robots).

"Uhhh well that just happened" I say as I see this video pop up in my notifications and I start screehing with glee like a chimpanzee

Marvel made every movie a comedy. Literally after Avengers came out every movie was quippy quirky and sarcastic

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 is a perfect example of handling this tone right. Even though objectively the film has far smaller stakes than Quantumania or Love and Thunder (saving Rocket and a few hundred test subjects vs. saving the entire universe), it feels so much more intense because the jokes (while there aplenty) are balanced by a sense of real drama. It never really felt like Kang actually could take over the universe, or like Gorr could wipe out the gods, because the heroes never treat the situation with that much gravity. But in GotG Vol 3, the Guardians are scared to lose their friend, and by extension the audience is scared because it feels like they really could.

I’ve seen everything MCU since I was a 13 year old boy in 2008 and I just feel like I’m in too deep to stop but they also inspired me to actually branch out and look for quality movies and the difference is night and day with the dialogue.