Superheroes!

[warpus]

In Black Panther, Agent Ross is a white version/nod to the type of character that black people have been watching their whole lives in movies featuring an almost all white cast. It's kind of like "hey we're doing an mostly black cast, but lets put in a white sidekick"..

Yeah, exactly, I got that right on when I was watching the movie. Token white guy, just like there used to be token African-American characters in movies back when we were less enlightened, the way that South Park pokes at it by including one character like that who's name is Token.

So yeah, basically my complaint isn't "Hey, there's only one white guy in this movie, what the hell". That'd be the exact complaint African-american audiences would have had back in the day when watching a movie with an all white cast and one token dude. There were other white dudes in this movie so that doesn't work as you pointed out. My complaint was more like: "I see what they're doing and it's stupid, but okay". It was pretty blatant and seemed largely unnecessary.

This character redeems himself in the end, like I predicted. But becomes a bit more interesting as a result. Just totally unnecessary IMO, he could have been written better. But like I said, it doesn't take away a lot from the movie, just makes me roll my eyes a bit and move on. He played his token role well, so there's that too.

I get that they probably included it so all the people who used to hate these token characters could go: "Aww yeah, the script is flipped" or whatever. But from my pov it was unnecessary from a storytelling point of view and detracted from the story a bit. Not in a big way but it did. It felt a pit patronizing too.

 

[RobAnybody]

He also serves the purpose of the complete outsider who needs to have everything explained to him. Otherwise the movie would need a bunch of characters going "As we all know & have no reason to explain to each other, [proceeds to explain something everyone in the society already knows]".

 

[warpus]

Yeah, that's partially what I meant by "he played his part well". He belonged in the story in that sort of capacity, but some of it felt as being unnecessary and patrionizing. I also didn't like how easily he accepted everything and how easily they trusted him, given that their society had been in hiding since forever. Sort of what I meant that he was written as a "chump". He just takes beating after beating and goes along with everything without a thought. Seems like one person finding out the truth could easily destroy everything singlehandedly (i.e. their secret society) - and yet they trust this guy to keep quiet without an explanation. And he's what, CIA, or something like that? The last guy you'd want to trust. It's possible I missed something in the story, but that just seemed too convenient.

In the end the movie was about the Black Panther and his people and that's what I focused on, so I enjoyed the movie overall. Just pointing out the things I didn't like. I liked that BP & his people had a slightly different accent from everyone else too, that made it a lot more believable that they're some ancient peoples, similar to Atlantis or whatever.

It makes me wonder though. What did Wakanda do during big wars like WW2? Seems like they could have easily defeated the Nazis, even maybe in secret? Why not have a Wakandan commando team / spaceship /whatever show up to blow up German u-boats? The Nazis or Allies would never figure it out. I don't want to hear an answer to this if it's covered in some other movie (or there are plans for one, i.e. this exists as a story in the comics books but has not been made into a movie yet). It seems that this could very well be the case. If not, it does make you wonder..

For now I'm looking forward to the next Avengers movie. I've met a lot of characters in these movies and i sort of have a decent grasp on them (except dude with wings lol), so it'll be fun to watch an ensemble movie with all of them duking it out again. But that might have to wait until the weekend.

I've also changed my stance on Thor: Ragnarok. It's sort of.. brilliant? At first it just seemed so random and stupid, but now I can't help it but think back to the various scenes from it and compare them to a movie like The Fifth Element. I think my initial reaction was as such because I expected the same sort of superhero fare.. not weirdos on acid.

 

[EgonSpengler]

I liked that BP & his people had a slightly different accent from everyone else too, that made it a lot more believable that they're some ancient peoples, similar to Atlantis or whatever.

I recall Chadwick Boseman saying that he didn't want to give T'Challa a British or American accent, even though it's not uncommon for children of wealthy African families to be sent to prep schools in the US or Europe. He thought that a Wakandan would be educated in Wakanda.

It makes me wonder though. What did Wakanda do during big wars like WW2? Seems like they could have easily defeated the Nazis, even maybe in secret? Why not have a Wakandan commando team / spaceship /whatever show up to blow up German u-boats? The Nazis or Allies would never figure it out. I don't want to hear an answer to this if it's covered in some other movie (or there are plans for one, i.e. this exists as a story in the comics books but has not been made into a movie yet). It seems that this could very well be the case. If not, it does make you wonder..

For the most part, I think the Wakandans wouldn't have cared about European and Asian wars, except where they impacted Africa. They'd certainly have sent agents to conduct espionage and sabotage against the Europeans in Africa, and not just the Germans. There was more action in sub-Saharan Africa during WWI, I believe; the British and Germans actually fought a 'naval' battle on Lake Tanganyika during WWI. If you've seen The African Queen, the German gunboat in the movie was based on a real German ship that patrolled Lake Tanganyika during WWI (the very same boat served as a supply freighter on the lake until very recently). Fodder for a Black Panther story set in 1916, perhaps. The novel Heart of Darkness takes place before WWI, in 1899, but it's easy to imagine someone like Kurtz as the supervillain of a Black Panther story, set at the turn of the century, with T'Challa's great-great-grandfather.

Regardless of what else was going on, Wakandan spies would have been on the lookout for errant stocks of vibranium, such as what Howard Stark used to make Capt. America's shield, or the axe that Kilmonger took from the museum at the beginning of Black Panther. It's easy to imagine that organizations like Hydra and the SSR would be keen to get their hands on some vibranium. I could also see the Black Panther of various eras fighting global threats like Hydra before they reach Africa. Also, the Black Panther isn't the only legacy superhero in the MCU - Iron Fist and Ghost Rider both exist in the MCU. A clever writer could probably contrive a reason for the Black Panther and the Iron Fist of 1943 to team up to fight Hydra in Southeast Asia, or India, or just about anywhere, really.

I've also changed my stance on Thor: Ragnarok. It's sort of.. brilliant? At first it just seemed so random and stupid, but now I can't help it but think back to the various scenes from it and compare them to a movie like The Fifth Element. I think my initial reaction was as such because I expected the same sort of superhero fare.. not weirdos on acid.

I go round-and-round with myself on which MCU movie is my favorite, but I think Ragnarok and The Winter Soldier are the top two.

 

[Sommerswerd]

It felt a pit patronizing too.

A token character felt patronizing to you? You don't say... tell me more . Again... I think that was the point. The eye-rolling, irritation that you felt about the "chump" token character... that was pretty much every movie for me growing up. Having you say you felt that, to me, means that an on-the-nose character like Agent Ross accomplished exactly what was intended.

He also serves the purpose of the complete outsider who needs to have everything explained to him. Otherwise the movie would need a bunch of characters going "As we all know & have no reason to explain to each other, [proceeds to explain something everyone in the society already knows]".

Good point. They obviously watch Cinema Sins but as @warpus alludes to... they could have done that with an American black character, or Asian, or Latino, or woman. He didn't have to be a white male.

I also didn't like how easily he accepted everything and how easily they trusted him, given that their society had been in hiding since forever. Sort of what I meant that he was written as a "chump". He just takes beating after beating and goes along with everything without a thought. Seems like one person finding out the truth could easily destroy everything singlehandedly (i.e. their secret society) - and yet they trust this guy to keep quiet without an explanation. And he's what, CIA, or something like that? The last guy you'd want to trust. It's possible I missed something in the story, but that just seemed too convenient.

Well he "easily accepted everything", at least partly because 1) Klaue had already spilled the beans to him about Wakanda as an explanation for the seemingly impossibly advanced weapon in his arm and 2) Shuri had just completely healed him from seemingly fatal/permanently paralyzing bullet wound in a seemingly impossibly short amount of time.

As for them trusting him... they didn't. Okoye (who obviously watches Cinema Sins) explicitly states exactly what you did in protest of bringing him to Wakanda before they arrive, but she is overruled by... none other than the King, who felt obligated to Ross, because he'd just sacrificed his own life to save the King's girlfriend's life.

I liked that BP & his people had a slightly different accent from everyone else too, that made it a lot more believable that they're some ancient peoples, similar to Atlantis or whatever.

They intentionally included a multitude of accents and attributes from many different African countries to indicate that Wakanda was the original source of all the different tribes and cultures of Africa, and so contained attributes and traditions from a multitude of different countries across the continent.

It makes me wonder though. What did Wakanda do during big wars like WW2? Seems like they could have easily defeated the Nazis, even maybe in secret? Why not have a Wakandan commando team / spaceship /whatever show up to blow up German u-boats? The Nazis or Allies would never figure it out. I don't want to hear an answer to this if it's covered in some other movie

The same as the Amazons on Themiscyra in Wonder Woman, and the Atlantians in Aquaman. They prioritized keeping themselves secret over helping the world at large. They address this in the movie semi-directly, because that is part of what Killmonger, via his father, are so mad about, and the source of the movie's primary conflict. Killmonger is disgusted with Wakanda for not intervening in world affairs... and T'Challah explains to him, essentially "This is the way".

I've also changed my stance on Thor: Ragnarok. It's sort of.. brilliant? At first it just seemed so random and stupid, but now I can't help it but think back to the various scenes from it and compare them to a movie like The Fifth Element. I think my initial reaction was as such because I expected the same sort of superhero fare.. not weirdos on acid.

I agree. Ragnarok is awesome, precisely because its so weird, and different from the rest of the non-Guardians movies. Incidentally, I just happened to watch Ragnarok last night. Cate Blanchett is spectacular. "You look like a smart boy with good survival instincts..." fantastic. Also... "Immigrant Song" FTW. I could (and have) listen(ed) to that on repeat for days on end. No joke.

 

[warpus]

I recall Chadwick Boseman saying that he didn't want to give T'Challa a British or American accent, even though it's not uncommon for children of wealthy African families to be sent to prep schools in the US or Europe. He thought that a Wakandan would be educated in Wakanda.

The different accent sort of cemented in my mind that this is an ancient society that doesn't really care about the rest of humanity so much. They do their own thing and that accent is a part of that. That's how I saw it anyway. It also made it easier to identify who was who exactly, as at times it's not easy to follow all these characters properly.

A token character felt patronizing to you? You don't say... tell me more . Again... I think that was the point.

Yeah, I got the point almost right away and I didn't like what they were doing. Surely that's a fair opinion to have. I do the same thing when I watch an older movie and an obviously token African-American or Asian-American character shows up. *eyeroll* from me and we move on with the story.. I prefer complex characters and not just token single-dimensional ones that are easy to predict. It's just not good storytelling, IMO.

The eye-rolling, irritation that you felt about the "chump" token character... that was pretty much every movie for me growing up.

So wouldn't you be against this sort of writing, for this reason? I won't tell you what you should be or shouldn't be against of course, but I don't like these sorts of dynamics, so I'm pointing them out. It just seems unnecessary, like I said. It didn't help the story, and I'm watching these movies for the story and the characters. So if I see flaws, I point them out.

Having you say you felt that, to me, means that an on-the-nose character like Agent Ross accomplished exactly what was intended.

If the intent was to have me say: "well, that's stupid", then mission accomplished. But surely a storyteller's main job should be to tell a good story and not have people stop him and say: "Wait a second, that's sort of dumb"

As for them trusting him... they didn't Okoye explicitly states exactly what you did in protest of bringing him to Wakanda before they arrive, but she is overruled by... none other than the King, who felt obligated to Ross, because he'd just sacrificed his own life to save the King's girlfriend's life. They intentionally included a multitude of accents and attributes from many different African countries to indicate that Wakanda was the original source of all the different tribes and cultures of African, and so contained attributes and traditions from a multitude of different countries across the continent.The same as the Amazons on Themiscyra in Wonder Woman, and the Atlantians in Aquaman. They prioritized keeping themselves secret over helping the world at large. They address this in the movie semi-directly, because that is part of what Killmonger, via his father, are so mad about, and the source of the movie's primary conflict. Killmonger is disgusted with Wakanda for not intervening in world affairs... and T'Challah explains to him, essentially "This is the way".

I guess my issue was mainly with.. that female character (I forget her name), sister of the Black Panther. She just went all in and trusted this guy. It just seems to me that if you're trying to hide a civilization and have been doing so for thousands of years, you'll have really strict rules in place about this sort of thing. I also didn't like how the token guy wasn't surprised about any of the technology he was seeing. To summarize - it all just seemed to just happen way too fast, I guess I would have preferred a scene where there is some struggle to determine whether this guy can be trusted, some confusion from the guy about all this technology and so on. So in the end my main issue was just that it just sort of happened and in my mind actual humans would have reacted to all of that a bit differently.

I agree. Ragnarok is awesome, precisely because its so weird, and different from the rest of the non-Guardians movies. Incidentally, I just happened to watch Ragnarok last night. Cate Blanchett is spectacular. "You look like a smart boy with good survival instincts..." fantastic. Also... "Immigrant Song" FTW. I could (and have) listen(ed) to that on repeat for days on end. No joke.

I'll have to re-watch it at some point, there's probably a bunch of stuff i missed. I didn't even realize that was Blanchet somehow.

 

[EgonSpengler]

This isn't the same interview I was thinking of - I'd guess he got asked about the accent a lot - but he mentions a previous movie in which he played a South African, and researched that character with a trip to S. Africa, so I guess T'Challa's accent is mainly South African. I think he also pronounces "Xhosa" correctly, which I can't. John Kani, who played T'Chaka, speaks Xhosa, so they decided to use Xhosa for Wakandan.

 

[Sommerswerd]

Yeah, I got the point almost right away and I didn't like what they were doing. Surely that's a fair opinion to have.

Of course it is. Its kind of strange, because we're in this bizzare sort of limbo where you get it... but you don't get that you get it. It's hard to explain and I don't know that I really can. Its like you and I are in almost total agreement but you seem to think we are disagreeing.

So wouldn't you be against this sort of writing, for this reason? I won't tell you what you should be or shouldn't be against of course, but I don't like these sorts of dynamics, so I'm pointing them out. It just seems unnecessary, like I said. It didn't help the story, and I'm watching these movies for the story and the characters. So if I see flaws, I point them out.

But that's what I've been saying this whole time. What you are saying is exactly the point that they were making. You get it, you felt it, but its like you think they did it by accident, when in reality, the way you feel about it was exactly the point. It wasn't unnecessary, precisely because you noticed it and were annoyed by it, but then moved on to enjoy the film. I hear you when you say you're colorblind or whatever when it comes to that sort of thing, but surely you can imagine that isn't the case for everyone.

If the intent was to have me say: "well, that's stupid", then mission accomplished.

Yes! YES!! You get it!... but again... I think there is a disconnect. I guess maybe one way to explain it, is that it seems like you assume the writers think that you're dumb, when they actually are giving you a lot more credit than you think.

A common theme in "black" cinema is "the message"... there is commonly some sort of (or multiple) socioeconomic or political message(s) being delivered via the film. This was a big thing especially in the 90's... the spoof film Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, lambasted this tradition mercilessly throughout the film, with various on-the-nose things including an actual mailman, with a letter, breaking the 4th wall and staring directly into the camera and screaming "Message!" after depositing the letter in the mailbox while a character gave some odd line about one of the various problems facing black America. So for me the different messages being delivered were pretty standard fare, but I can see that someone who doesn't watch alot of black cast/directed movies might not be as used to that.

I didn't even realize that was Blanchet somehow.

She is such an iconic blonde, that I think the black hair almost makes her seem like a different person. It would be like if Demi Moore was blonde... she might slip by unnoticed.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Is it weird that I thought the psychotic goddess of death was kind of hot?

 

[tjs282]

I didn't even realize that was Blanchet somehow.

She is such an iconic blonde, that I think the blakc hair almost makes her seem like a different person. It would be like if Demi Moore was blonde... she might slip by unnoticed.

And Hel is a long way removed from Galadriel...

Is it weird that I thought the psychotic goddess of death was kind of hot?

Ermmm... yes?

 

[EgonSpengler]

My favorite line from Ragnarok: "Sir, the slaves have armed themselves." "You know I don't like that word." "Sorry. The 'prisoners-with-jobs' have armed themselves."

 

[Sommerswerd]

I guess my issue was mainly with.. that female character (I forget her name), sister of the Black Panther. She just went all in and trusted this guy. It just seems to me that if you're trying to hide a civilization and have been doing so for thousands of years, you'll have really strict rules in place about this sort of thing. I also didn't like how the token guy wasn't surprised about any of the technology he was seeing. To summarize - it all just seemed to just happen way too fast, I guess I would have preferred a scene where there is some struggle to determine whether this guy can be trusted, some confusion from the guy about all this technology and so on. So in the end my main issue was just that it just sort of happened and in my mind actual humans would have reacted to all of that a bit differently.

The sister's name is Shuri. There is a rumor that she will be the new Black Panther, so better get acquainted

Yeah, sure, they could have done to him what they tried to do with Captain America when they thawed him out. I actually never thought of that... they did kind of keep Ross alot more in the open and disclosed alot more to him that was really necessary.

Thinking about it... I'm realizing that, putting aside the plot convenience issues...for eg., it would have burned a ton of screentime on a "chump", "token" character to focus a bunch of time on slowly clueing him in to the situation and/or keeping him in the dark just to have to expose everything to him later... I think that the way they treated Ross, a direct contrast to the way SHIELD or the CIA would have handled things, was subconscious virtue signaling about how honest and good and upright the Wakandans were. They accepted Ross and offered him friendship and trust when they could have just let him die to keep their secret. It was a very noble "good guy" kind of thing for them to do, and kind of set the mood for what kind of benevolent society that they were trying to be ultimately. I felt this during the movie, but I never had to articulate it before... at least that's what I think they were going for... that and as I said, plot convenience.

Also, remember that T'Challah ultimately decides to drop the whole secrecy thing at the end of the film, so exposing everything to Ross has minimal effect in the end.

 

[Sommerswerd]

Is it weird that I thought the psychotic goddess of death was kind of hot?

Weird and correct are not mutually exclusive... just sayin

Ever see Liz Hurley's Satan? Jeez... I mean...

 

[warpus]

The sister's name is Shuri. There is a rumor that she will be the new Black Panther, so better get acquainted

So I liked her character, I just thought that she was a bit naive in that one particular instance. And wouldn't that mean she'd have to fight her brother and beat him in combat? Well, wait, don't answer that, I'll just wait until the movie comes out

Yeah, sure, they could have done to him what they tried to do with Captain America when they thawed him out. I actually never thought of that... they did kind of keep Ross alot more in the open and disclosed alot more to him that was really necessary.

Thinking about it... I'm realizing that, putting aside the plot convenience issues...for eg., it would have burned a ton of screentime on a "chump", "token" character to focus a bunch of time on slowly clueing him in to the situation and/or keeping him in the dark just to have to expose everything to him later... I think that the way they treated Ross, a direct contrast to the way SHIELD or the CIA would have handled things, was subconscious virtue signaling about how honest and good and upright the Wakandans were. They accepted Ross and offered him friendship and trust when they could have just let him die to keep their secret. It was a very noble "good guy" kind of thing for them to do, and kind of set the mood for what kind of benevolent society that they were trying to be ultimately. I felt this during the movie, but I never had to articulate it before... at least that's what I think they were going for... that and as I said, plot convenience.

It just seemed to me that the Wakandans should have very strict and tight rules about outsiders, but those scenes did not really hint at that, but instead made it seem like they're carefree about it instead. Other parts of the movie show us that they hide their civilization and so on, so I just found that particular set of scenes to be a questionable contrast to that. I wonder if they were trying to show Shuri as being a bit naive? If she is meant to take over the mantle in the next movie. Could be some character growth there? I dunno, I'm just theorizing.

I also bet that they didn't want to spend too much time building up the CIA dude as a character and just glossed over everything. But it just seems like a couple mins and those scenes would have made more sense in the greater context of this being a huge secret that everybody should have been super careful about. I did also get the feeling that the Wakandans are .. well, *good*. i.e. they'll look after somebody's health like that even if it's dangerous to them. Or maybe replace Wakandans with "Shuri" there.

Also, remember that T'Challah ultimately decides to drop the whole secrecy thing at the end of the film, so exposing everything to Ross has minimal effect in the end.

I did not even catch that, somehow. Will be paying closer attention to Black Panther & co. in Avengers: Infinity War, with all this in mind. It seems like they should be able to show up to any party with enough fancy weaponry to blow any baddie out of the water. It also seems that there would be other consequences of this as well though - The Americans and Russians going after some of this military tech for instance.

 

[EgonSpengler]

The sister's name is Shuri. There is a rumor that she will be the new Black Panther, so better get acquainted

I read recently that filming on Black Panther II is scheduled to begin in July, and that Letitia Wright will be getting a larger role. It's a lot to put on her shoulders to make her the lead. I don't know if Wright has ever been the lead of anything. Maybe they'll do more of an ensemble, with Shuri, Okoye and Nakia teaming up, or something.

Thinking about it... I'm realizing that, putting aside the plot convenience issues...for eg., it would have burned a ton of screentime on a "chump", "token" character to focus a bunch of time on[...]

I think this explains a ton of thin characterizations and plot holes and leaps of logic in movies. A feature film is not really a long time to tell a story. That's the main advantage that television series have. If I think about it, for example, I think Deborah Ann Woll got more screen-time to develop Karen Page than Robert Downey Jr. did playing Tony Stark. 39 episodes of Daredevil - one of which was all hers - plus a handful of eps of The Defenders and The Punisher.

Ever see Liz Hurley's Satan? Jeez... I mean...

That does ring a bell. Was that the one with Brendan Fraser?

It seems like [the Wakandans] should be able to show up to any party with enough fancy weaponry to blow any baddie out of the water.

Spoiler :

 

[Sommerswerd]

So I liked her character, I just thought that she was a bit naive in that one particular instance. And wouldn't that mean she'd have to fight her brother and beat him in combat?

Well... he's dead (the actor, Chadwick Boseman, RIP ) so I think its more of a workaround, than a matter of her wresting the mantle from him.

I also bet that they didn't want to spend too much time building up the CIA dude as a character and just glossed over everything.

This was my feeling as well... mostly just plot convenience.

Or maybe replace Wakandans with "Shuri" there.

It was T'Challahs idea to "stabilize" Ross with Nakia's kimoyo bead and T'Challah's idea to bring Ross back to Wakanda for treatment. Since Okoye was totally against it for the understandable security concerns you mentioned, and totally willing to let Ross die in order to keep Wakanda a secret, T'Challah was the only person who could have overruled her.

I did not even catch that, somehow.

I think maybe it was in an Easter Egg scene, post-credits.

It seems like they should be able to show up to any party

Oh man...

That does ring a bell. Was that the one with Brendan Fraser?

That's the one She was mind blowing especially with that accent.

 

[warpus]

Oh yeah, I remember that actor passing away this summer. Did not connect that it's the same person. That's a shame, i hope they figure out a good way to write him out of the story. That's always tough to do.

And I guess I'll see why my comment was funny when I watch the next Avengers movie (or the one after that maybe). Their whole kingdom better not be nuked right at the beginning of the movie or something (but no spoilers plz)

 

[RobAnybody]

Incidentally, it's TChalla, no "h" at the end.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Favorite line from Black Panther: "One more word, and I will feed you to my children."

"I'm kidding. We're vegetarians."

Also, I'm waiting for a UFC fighter to use the Jabari entrance before a match, like an African hakka*. Maybe they're too scared they'd f it up. I think there are a few heavyweights who could pull it off, if they could get a couple guys to do it with them.

* Say, do you think Wakandans play rugby?

 

[warpus]

Just finished watching Avengers: Infinity War and this was the best one so far. Took me a couple days to get to it because life

What's there to say. Poor everyone who died and Starlord should be stripped of his rank and left to be a peasant. Was fun to watch everything come together.. and I was wondering when Ant Man was going to show up, but now I'm onto Ant Man and The Wasp so I guess I'll find out.

Oh yeah, Thor had some good lines.

edit: I went to sleep before I really thought this out. I was disappointed the Wakandans didn't have armoured vehicles and spaceships and stuff, I expected more of a fight back from them. Thus my comments earlier about how they could crash any party. So that was a bit deflating, I wanted them to k more a with all that fancy tech

edit2: Just finished watching Ant Man and The Wasp. Was going to complain about how the story did not seem to happen after Infinity War at all, but then.. after the credits rolled. OH SNAP. I just wish they didn't do that AFTER the credits rolled. Who knows what else I've missed in the other movies? I usually turn them off after the credits begin. WIth this one I was watching and working at the same time, so it kept rolling..

edit3: Avengers: End Game was great! All the time travel shenanigans made things a bit confusing and I generally dislike time travel stories.. but this one was alright. One question though..

So Dr. Strange went to different points in time using the time crystal and plucked out all the allies to help fight? Or what happened there?

Also, a bit of a nitpick. Where's the U.S. miiltary in all this? No Earth military showed up during any of the alien invasion scenes in the last two Avengers movies, which seems unrealistic. Surely the Americans and Russians (and Chinese?) at least would have noticed something entering orbit and scrambled some jets or whatever. But we saw nothing like that, like these militaries do not exist at all. Which they do in this universe, since.. well, Stark, Captain America, etc. are a part of the story. So on one hand it makes sense that the story would be too crazy if you cram U.S. military jets showing up.. but on the other - it just doesn't make sense the way they did it.

Also. So flying dude is the new Captain America. But he doesn't have superpowers right? Or does he? I remember him as a regular human and not somebody infused with whatever the captain was infused with. But am I just missing something ..?

Also curious what would prevent somebody else from retrieving the stones again and doing this whole thing all over again? Whether it's in the present or the past.