Yeah, that's pretty much what I'm familiar with. I guess it's good to see people have handled it differently. Again, I think the idea has merit.

 

We're talking badass Quicksilver? Try this one for size http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/7/75188/2351323-thunderbolts_143___quicksilver1.jpg

 

If only he didn't look...so very silly, in this one.

 

To be fair he has literally no way of knowing what just happened given how fast they were going.

 

That was his running joke. Everyone would complain that Quicksilver either didn't show up or was doing a recreational activity instead of fighting when he would promptly tell them he saved their life a dozen times and to double check the cameras.

 

McGregor (my favorite Black Panther writer) introduced Wakanda as a country struggling between it's own traditions and those of the West, slowly modernizing and rebelling at the same time under T'Challa's rule, as things like cars, industry and modern infrastructure was slowly being introduced under T'Challa's rule. Wakanda's technological progress at this time was limited to a few distinct renaissance men and mad scientists, with T'Challa's techno-jungle (think Batcave but cooler), the Lightning Riders and some biological enhancements being the majority of the super-tech present. It was far more involved in the mysticism aspect, which meant it fit nicely with T'Challa's efforts to bring his country's technology in the modern age in spite of significant internal resistance and even a civil war.

Priest did even more with that trend by reintroducing Wakanda as just a normal country. Skyscrapers, cities, etc... Just all built by Africans/black people without anyone else coming in. The super-tech at this point was also limited. There were significant military advances such as space and deep-ocean capable carriers, vibranium-based tech and such, but overall it was a largely normal African country (albeit on the level of the Cold War era Soviet Union due to it's superior military power, it's significant mineral wealth and financial prowess). That all got halted significantly during Priest's run what with civil wars, financial collapses when T'Challa briefly nationalized everything (long story, but it was awesome) and other such stuff.

Hudlin just went overturned that in the first issue he wrote, with a time lapse showing various efforts to invade Wakanda with the Wakandans consistently having superior to the tech to the point where it was ludicrous they hadn't done anything at all in interaction with anyone else on the continent or in space. Also, they had cured cancer and refused to release it for fear of the cures being weaponized. That was more insulting when you realize Black Panther had been in the hospital room when Captain Marvel died of cancer.

So yeah. Hudlin's run is so-so. You either like it and the Wakanda was always super-tech and powerful, or you prefer the Priest run and the idea that T'Challa modernized the country by sheer force of will. I'm part of a small minority that sticks with McGregror first in the fanbase as the best writer we had, though I do agree with the T'Challa preference.

 

Good. Wakanda has had an enema of nuclear fire coming for a long time, and Namor is a walking sack of dicks. I don't really want to see movies about either of them.

 

Them's fighting word's Raine. Not so much about Namor, because he's always been a massive ass. Or at least, flanderized as such. Mostly the Wakanda bit. Yeah, just that really.

 

I'm not against the idea of a fictional comic book country, but they've been fucked up so badly by Marvel that I can't like them anymore. Wakanda was cool at one point, but scooping the shit out of the bowl of cereal doesn't make it edible again. Withholding the cure for cancer? Having more firepower in one platoon than the entire military of a First World country? Just being massive fucking dicks all the time for no goddamn reason, Black Panther included?

There's regular Mary Sue faggotry, and then there's being a country that was invented by Lionheart. That is what Wakanda is now, even if that's not what it was before. It is literally what Naruto turned Konoha into. It is in all ways Harry's dwarven-built city-state from Partially-Kissed Hero. People paid money for that, Hashasheen. Somebody wrote that, and somebody else read that, and that other guy said "this is printable. We can print this." And then they fucking sold it, and people bought it.

That shit needs to be rebooted completely and possibly have it's name changed before you can get me to like it again. And I'm going to need Hudlin's scalp nailed over the door the Marvel writers have to walk through to get to their desks every day.

 

At the moment Wakanda was destroyed by Namor last I checked. Probably to erase all the Hudlin nonsense. And is in a war with Atlantis.

Personally, I'm sad at the lack of Namor because I'd kill for an Invaders movie with Namor and the original Human torch who we saw in Cap just fighting together in WW 2.

Speaking of MCU, GOTG has apparently been green lighted for a sequel and the trailer is being dropped next week.

 

Don't even remind me about that cancer bullshit. I had to read Hudlin's run with weeks of interspersal reading of McGregor, Kirby and Priest so that I wouldn't rage out too badly. Though the firepower thing isn't that bad of a change. Priest's Wakanda was relatively advanced in it's military options and compared to places not called the United States of America, I could and do easily buy Wakanda's military strength (based largely on a mix of vibranium, mysticism, mutations and plain ol' science tech) being able to outstrip them by far. It's the same level attributed to countries like Latveria, Atlantis, the Lemurians and the Inhumans.

And yeah, he was an unbearable tool in Hudlin's run. Probably thought he was being badass when he wrote him that way. Got a lot better when David Liss wrote him when he went to Hell's Kitchen, even if that was a massive WTF considering Wakanda had just been devastated by Doomwar.

Hey I can agree with a lot of that. Hudlin fucked with something that didn't need tinkering, and did a lot of things wrong in his run and afterwards. You've got my full and explicit agreement on that. The guy had some good ideas, but overall his run for me was wasted execution and attention.

Still, there is a reason why people bought into what Hudlin was writing, and why a significant section of the Black Panther fanbase loved his run: Panther was King. I don't mean King as in King of Wakanda, but rather as a flat out boss. Hudlin wrote him much like an action hero, throwing out cool quips and "badass" moments like candy, coupled with a very strong leaning on African-American superheroes coming and going and stylistic presentation (hell, he had MLK and MX show up in a couple of the issues), that really fired up a lot of the black readers and got them into it. I still see a lot of it and talk to a lot of them, especially those who enjoyed the shots he took at the X-Men when Storm & T'Challa reunited (in the wake of AvX of course). Some fans also liked the addition of Shuri, being a female addition to what was a largely male dominated setting (seriously, besides the Dora Milaje and maybe Malice 2.0 (aka ex-Dora Milaje), there weren't any significant females in the Black Panther setting). He was so much an African superhero during this run as he was African-American, which was reflected greatly in the writing, how Wakanda was portrayed and why a lot of the comics run was veering into Boondocks-style comedy and parody.

Compare the lavish treatment Hudlin praised on Wakanda to how it's been treated (and T'Challa as well) in the wake of Doomwar, Klaws of the Panther, AvX and just up to New Avengers under Hudlin, and you can understand why there's some support for that run.

I mean, they blew up the vibranium supplies. Killed his uncle. Divorced him from his wife (who assaulted him and told him he was a bad husband because.... reasons?). Flooded Wakanda and killed thousands. He's had to stomach Namor's presence in the holiest sanctum of his faith in order to save the multiverse. Been abandoned by the Dora Milaje. Shit's been bad for the Panther.

 

New Concept Art
Scarlet Witch is a cutie patootie (I got my first Live Action Super-Heroine skirt since Supergirl) and Avengers QS is a ridiculous improvement over DOFP.

http://i.marvelousnews.com/g/genera...s_Age_Of_Ultron_Concept_Art07__scaled_800.jpg
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/2228/bxi0.jpg
http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/8027/utip.jpg

Edit: Wanda is also confirmed to be wearing her classic red cloak and her traditional Tiara will exist in the form of a headband.

 

I'm really digging that tattered psychic waif look. Muh skirts. And I'm glad to see they weren't just teasing us with the Hulkbuster in Ironman 3.

I hope they go with unsung hero/quiet badass Pietro, instead of crazy psychopath/schizophrenic Pietro. The more he's like his Ultimate incarnation, the better, in my mind.

 

Quicksilver certainly looks better there than in the new X-Men movie. And Scarlet Witch looks like she could be my new favorite Avenger.

So since they can't use mutants in the MCU, are both their powers going to come from magic? (Oh wait, magic is just too silly for the MCU -- "advanced quantum physics")

 

I hate mutants, personally. I guess I am in the minority that was actually fiscouraged by news of these new additions.

 

Why do you hate mutants?

 

Many reasons.

I never bought the whole 'gene dishes out superpowers' thing. I kept expecting the guy whose superpower was to shit blue turds, or a sixth finger, or a quirky need to finish his sentences with 'we are pleased.'

The various mutant comics sucked. I never liked their storylines. Much too angsty and dramatized for my tastes. The same can be said for the characters, really. There are very few mutants that I like, and those do not get screentime (maybe that helps). I hate almost the entire X-men lineup.

Plus, I absolutely hate Scarlet Witch. Like, really. Of all the potential avengers they could've chosen, she ranks near the bottom of my personal list.

I was really hoping they'd stay the fuck away from the Avengers movies. Alas.

 

Xmen breaks my SoD. It wouldn't be so bad if they were stand alone but being with the rest of marvel doesn't make sense. Not to mention everybody and their dog hates mutant shit doesn't make sense however you slice it. (Yes I know why. IT just makes things worse IMO.)

So I am with Republic with this one. Except I don't know enough about Scarlet witch to hate her yet.

 

Wait isn't Scarlet Witch the one whose super power is that anything she thinks of comes true? How is that going to work in a movie?

 

I don't know much about her but I think her powers were originally hexes i.e. spells of bad luck. So they could just use that instead of her reality warping magic.