Little Reac' : SDCC 2024

A few days ago SDCC 2024 happened, Marvel Studios came back and with them a lot of stuff to talk about. So let's reac to it.

I was on vacations during SDCC, chilling at the beach and taking a huge deserved break from pretty much everything so I didn't really pay attention to it (except for everything Cap), that's why I'm not gonna talk about anything else.

I never really cared about comics news anyway, unless it's related to Hulk, 'cause I'm the kind of person who just enjoy wandering in a library and randomly pick a comics.

I didn't really look at the F4 and Thunderbolts* news either, I just saw one specific Thunderbolts* enjoyer (yes I'm talking about you Alex, btw if you're into Captain America, Bucky, Thunderbolts you should give him a follow, he mostly posts in French but he's a very nice lad and he's at least as passionate as me, if not more).

I didn't lost my interest in the MCU, not anymore at least, but I don't really wanna care that much. The MCU is heading to its 20 anniversary and I went through a lot of phases myself through it, from being overly hyped to not caring anymore and even starting to disliking it until I understood my main issue with the MCU wasn't the MCU itself but how medias (not just social medias) and people online talk about it. And honestly since I stopped really seeking informations about the MCU and started avoiding social medias, my genuine love for the MCU slowly cameback.

I don't wanna get my hope high or expect anything 'cause it's the best way to feel disappointed and I'm just here to have a good time, so yeah, while Thunderbolts* is a movie I'm looking forward about I rather not know too much.

Though I did watch David Harbour entrance and it was awesome but I have a soft spot for him.

I don't really wanna talk about RDJ as Doom either, unlike most people I'm in a "wait and see" mindset. I'll wait to see what they'll do with that first, even if I wanted a Romani person too to portray him, I still wanna give him a chance to make sense.

You know me, I only have eyes for Sam Sterns.

Simping the Leader to the point of developping such a big obsession is complicated 'cause while he's the main Hulk antagonist with Ross, there's barely anything about him to enjoy. Abomination being shown in his gamma form and as the main villain of Incredible Hulk 2008 (so a MCU movie), Marvel mostly pushed him rather than Sam and while he was very popular among Marvel readers back in the 90s, now barely anybody know who he is anymore.

So I'm gonna focus on Tim Blake Nelson here (and being a huge huge fan of him, it's a double win for me). He said a few interesting things in these interviews he gave and I love listening to him, he's a very passionate person but he's also quite smart with his hints so let's see what he might have given us.

First of all, seeing Tim Blake Nelson, Harrison Ford, Anthony Mackie and Giancarlo Esposito all together is INSANE to me, like, you have no idea. I'm not familiar with Danny Ramirez, I only saw him in Falcon and the Winter Soldier but I'm curious about him, Joaquin is a nice character and I'm sure he'll do an amazing job but you know me, I don't say shit until I see by myself.

The important information here is that Tim is playing mandolin and he's going to have another movie with Anthony Mackie

I love their dynamics, they seems to have a lot of fun and complicity together, I love their energy and I hope it will have a positive impact on the movie. I also hope we'll see more of them all together during the promo tour but I honestly don't have much hope 'cause it seems Marvel themself have little to no faith in this movie (and previous projects), it's becoming kinda rare having huge promo tour like we used to so I don't get much hope on that, sadly.

Anyway, let's talk Tim now.

Seeing him talking about Sam, about how sad and angry it made him to not being able to portray him anymore, gives me a lot of happiness. I'm not happy he was hurt OF COURSE but you get what I mean, he just seems to care. That's it yeah, he seems to care and having the guy who portrays my beloved on the big screen caring for him is important to me. Here's the thing, I don't know why nor how but I developped a parasocial relationship with Tim, but not with "me and him", rather in the way that his opinion is important to me. It's important to me that he appreciates Sam as a character because Sam is everything to me. I don't give a shit if he never heard of me, if he doesn't know I exist (though I'll be honest with you, I did try to send a fanletter when I was at my worst, don't judge me, I wanted a little hope to cling to). But it's super important to me that he likes Sam.

That being said, back to our matter. He's talking about behind the scenes stuff and I love that, I spend a lot of time watching behind the scenes and documentaries on my blu-rays and DVD (even sadly it's not really "a thing" anymore). I hope Marvel will share his makeup process at some point.

He's also, once again, talking about the writing that he seems to like a lot and implying we might feel empathy for Sam. Reinforcing my theory he probably spent these 16 years suffering, being forced to do shit by Ross and stuff like that. I project a lot in Sam, I understand his struggle and his anger. But I'm not sure I'm ready to face a tragic Sam, in the way that I'm afraid of having to face my own traumas through him lol

Sam is a character about hatred and he's full of bitterness, ressent and RAGE, it's the central point of his character and if you wanna properly write him without Bruce then that's what you should care about so I'm very happy Tim got it.

That's the first thing I want to talk about and the first important information about Sam, he has "a good reason" to do what he does, a reason we might understand. He's full of rage and "pathos".

Now of course it's just an interview and sometimes (often) movies don't properly reflect those so I'm pretty sure what we're getting is not nearly as good as what Tim is hyped about, but having Tim understanding Sam so much and putting so much focus on these specific points makes me insanely happy.

I always wondered how they could write a good MCU Leader. In comics Sam became the Leader because he was craving love and attention. He had nothing, he had no friends, he was rejected by his family and blamed himself and his failures for that. He was a kind hearted lad who got destroyed and mentally abused for decades and who became the Leader as a mean to avenge himself and create a world where he would belongs while still deeply hating and blaming himself for everything so of course he's full of rage.

But in the MCU he seems to had a good life before his mutation and I always wondered what they would do with our boy, to make him relevant as the Leader. Because last time we saw him he left the evilest possible smirk and ok, cool, very Leader-ish of him but WHY? Why would he suddenly go full evil? My guess is they'll use that torture part that was hinted in the MCU comics right before Avengers, idk, we'll see.

The second thing Tim highly insisted on is how there will be little to no CGI, how he wanted to wear the props, to feel how it feels to be Sam, for him but also for the actors with whom he would interract. When that information first came out like a year ago or so I said on social media (I'm sure some of you remember) "hah, I'm sure this is a special request from Tim Blake Nelson himself" and I was right, I mean, it's not surprising, Tim is someone who's very passionate in everything he does so of course he would ask something like that.

He joked about how his neck became stronger so I guess Sam will have a big head, yet his head seems "smaller" in the trailer. It makes me think they'll go for a classic Sam design, but at the same time I think they'll lean to a more body horror aesthetic (so similar to Peter David Era when he was bald), 'cause he seems kinda bald in the trailer. It's weird 'cause some stuff point to one and some to the other.

As for his writing, Tim couldn't say more so it seems he didn't say anything truly relevant to have us theorize about.

But I think he might have left a very important hint, two in fact, that nobody talked about because they were too busy talking about Doom.

Listen carefully to what Tim says here. The way he says it, the way he's carefully picking his words, thinking and smiling at the same time. Tim is someone who talks a lot through his body, probably more that he intends to and it makes it easier to guess his intentions.

"you can go and look in the comics for hints of what we're up to and I think that the expansion of that into film language is going to astonish"

Now the interesting thing here is the last word he used, astonish, right after telling us to look in the comics for hints. Sam's first appearance was in Tales to Astonish 62, back then Hulk didn't have his own comics anymore, he was published in Tales to Astonish.

One year ago I pointed out that Sam's purple pants reminded me of Tales to Astonish. And when you think of it, Sam starts his evil career before even knowing about Hulk and Bruce, he was conspiracing again the US Gov as a spy, helping URSS by stealing their scientific weapons to get money until he would betray URSS too.

Tales to Astonish 63 (1964) writing by Stan Lee, pencil by Carl Burgos

Tales to Astonish 63 (1964) writing by Stan Lee, pencil by Carl Burgos

In the trailer, Sam doesn't seems to be wearing a "super villain outfit". He could very well be hidding it under his coat, yes, but what if the movie is about a "baby Leader". I think the movie will be his origin story. Different, mostly inspired by Peter David's writing rather than Tales to Astonish itself, but that's what I think. That's why he's not after Bruce yet, because he's in his introduction era. I think that's what Tim means here. Or maybe it's just a coincidence and I'm looking way too deep but Tim is a writer himself, he wrote screenplays, movies, books. He knows words and he knows how to use them so I want to believe that's his hint.

And speaking of his words, listen to this :

Unrelated to what I'm about to explain but the crowd's reaction to him is moving to me. For years I thought I was alone with my obsession for Sam so, idk, seeing people being so enthousiast about him makes me a bit emotional and his genuine smile and touched reaction doesn't help lol.

I might be over interpreting again but did Tim just said "no spoilers, I want them to bring me back"... ?

Like... Is he implying that he can comeback after Cap 4 ?

Maybe I'm just being paranoid but look at this moment, it's super odd. You have Tim saying this and while he keeps talking you have Kevin Feige putting a hand on his ear and making a small "yes" gesture with his head as if someone told him something and he just totally interrupt Tim to say "HAHA BUT HE DID", then you have Tim saying "yeah, right". And you know what I just said. Tim's body cannot lie, his reaction here is the reaction of someone who's like "aaaaand that's exactly what I was talking when I said I didn't want to say shit in fear of spoiling, jeez". And Anthony Mackie laughing so hard you can ear him over the mic as if he knew something we don't is only adding to the suspicous aura of this moment. 'Cause why else would he be laughing at Tim for being like "yeah, what he said...". Maybe it's just me not wanting this moment to end, because I'm having so much fun ever since Tim showed up at D23. A part of me is finding any possible rational way to explain to me he will never ever comeback after that because I'm just, y'know, I don't wanna feel disappointed.

Next week the movie will be "only" 6 months away and I'm getting more and more excited haha. So until next time, enjoy~