An Open Letter to Marvel: Respect Your Dead

"If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people," - Virginia Woolf

WARNING: This post contains massive spoilers for 2017's Logan and 2018's Avengers: Infinity War. 

Did y'all really think I wasn't going to make an analysis post about Infinity War? C'mon, do you even know me?

Well, this post really isn't about Infinity War strictly. It's more of a recurring trope in Marvel properties that drives me up a wall, across the ceiling, and down the other side. 

An Open Letter to Marvel: Respect Your Dead

Marvel does not respect its dead. 

Marvel does this in two ways - one being the just-kidding death slash the resurrection death, and the second by not giving fictional death the proper treatment it deserves.

Consider Loki's death at the beginning of the movie. Loki has died . . . how many times now? Maybe just once, but the fact is that we all believed he was dead, and then he 'resurrected'.  Same with Nick Fury. The problem is that many deaths in the MCU are seen as temporary, as plot devices, or for shock value instead of being portrayed as what they actually are - deaths of (fictional) human beings. (Shoutout to my homie Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 for actually giving a character a good and respectful death.)

If you'll remember from my review of the masterpiece that is Logan - read that here - then you'll remember my only real gripe was that Professor X's death wasn't given more time. The title character of the entire X-Men franchise just died. His death really needed to sink in, and there needed to be just a bit longer of a lull for both the characters and the audience to feel the full effect of the moment. 

And I have this same complaint with Infinity War.

At the very end, Thanos snapped his fingers and half of our beloved characters dissolved into dust, including Bucky Barnes. This is where the biggest crime of the century comes in. 

But it all starts with earlier in the Wakanda sequence, when Steve and Bucky are reunited. I was so incredibly excited for an emotional scene of the two life-long best friends finally seeing each other again after years of separation. 

But no. From what I remember, we got a smile and a handshake and a half-hug thing. I wanted to stand up in my seat and riot at what an absolute disappointment and bloody disservice this was to what undeniably is one of the most important relationships in the MCU. 

And it only gets worse. 

When Steve Roger's best friend of 70+ years who is his only link to his former life and whom he just got back after the trauma that was Civil War literally disappears into dust in front of his very eyes, Steve just kind of . . . touches the ground, looking shocked. 

This is not at all how he would react. His best friend has just been taken from him again and assumed dead. It was an extraordinary disservice to both Bucky and Steve that Steve had very little emotional reaction to this life-altering event. This is honestly what broke Infinity War for me, and why I'm here ripping this aspect to shreds. 

In contrast, Peter Parker's death was an absolute tear-jerker. It was so heart-breakingly human and perfect for the context of Peter and Tony. Okoye's reaction to seeing T'Challa disappear was stunning and horrifying and real. 

But the problem with all of the deaths at the end of Infinity War harks back to what I mentioned about Loki, as well as the deaths of Bucky and Professor X, etc. Most of the people who died in Infinity War probably aren't actually dead. There is the time stone after all, and heck, Red Skull is technically still out there. 

But the problem that the MCU has is, that when a character does die, the audience has trouble believing that this character is actually dead or permanently dead. This causes a myriad of problems, ranging from the inability to mourn characters when they actually do die, to breaking the suspension of disbelief within the universe. It dissolves all tension, all of the impact that a good character death can have, when in the back of the audience's mind, they're thinking of all of the other times that characters have 'died' or died and gotten resurrected. Why trick the audience with an emotional bait and switch? What narrative purpose does this serve other than shock value? By devaluing character deaths, it creates an emotional separation between the audience and the character, which is the exact opposite of a good thing. 

The truth is, is that the MCU does not allow the characters nor the audience to fully mourn the deaths of the characters, or even believe their deaths at times, abusing and overusing the intended effect of a character death. 

An argue against this is that sometimes death is sudden, and sometimes, in reality, we don't have time to process death as it happens. And to that I say: fiction - much less, superhero movies -  aren't real life. The writers/directors can and should give the characters and the audience the mourning time they deserve. These are characters we've spent hours with. Give the fictional dead and their fictional loved ones respect and care. 

Wow, it sounds like I'm crazy, doesn't it?

~The WordShaker

Some Thoughts on Logan, Amongst my Tears.

"There are many reasons to write that have nothing to do with being published. It allows us to work through some of life's hardest knocks - loss, grief, illness, addiction, disappointment, failure - and to find understanding and solace in it," -William Zinsser

*LOGAN SPOILERS, duh*

I haven't cried this hard over fictional characters in YEARS. Last time was when I finished Lost for the second time. 

If you don't believe me, you should have checked my Snapchat story that night. 

 sc: hootowltree

All great things must come to an end, and I think that's why I'm so sad. 

But, truly, this movie is a masterpiece. I don't see how anyone couldn't have sobbed when this movie ended. This movie was an absolute masterpiece, a perfect closer to an epic anti-hero.

My only gripe is that they didn't spend enough time on Charles's death. He is the title character of the X-Men series. If they had slipped only five minutes more of emotional tenderness concerning his death, then I would have been fine. His death was so sudden, that there wasn't enough time for the audience to process this. 

The only reason it took me out of the movie is because we see how much Logan cares for Charles, and when there's not enough time to see him mourn, it feels disrespectful and inappropriate. 


Logan develops character and has tender, nuanced, emotional moments without being sappy or deterring the plot. Everything germinates organically, and, like Logan himself, we don't realize how attached we are until the end, until it's too late, until it's over. 

Logan's death was . . . it had me speechless. Everything in the X-Men series, his three movies, had been building to was this. The emotional journey Logan takes is phenomenal. He's forced to face his mortality, his past, and his future with subtle clarity. 

I found it akin to Charlie Pace's death in Lost. The reason it was so touching and heartbreaking is because truthfully, we all saw it coming, and it completed his character arc. Logan finally made peace with himself, was redeemed, and found his purpose. Through Laura, Logan finds himself again, sees life through her eyes, finds love and tenderness in his hardened heart, and does what all parents are supposed to do: forge a better life for their children. It harkens back to the whole series and brings it to a close in the most Wolverine way possible. 

His death was perfect. Laura breaking down, crying, burying him, was even more perfect. It was just perfect.

I can't bear to even describe it to you. You just have to go and see it for yourself. 

This movie is a masterpiece not only because it is beautiful, flawlessly executed, masterfully directed, perfectly acted, and marvelously scored, but because it made me feel something. I cried for a solid 20 minutes during and after the movie. Now, as I'm writing this, I am numb because it was just that good. 

This was truly a fantastic story. Not a fantastic superhero movie, not a fantastic action story, but a great story in its own right, following a character we've come to adore. 

After the last shot closed, after the credits rolled, after everyone left, I just sat in my seat in the theater, sobbing. This story reached me in ways I will never be able to voice in the trillions of combinations of the English letters.

Because everything it was building to, was over.  I love the character of Wolverine - he's my favorite superhero. And to see it all end like this breaks my heart and fills it at the same time. The emotions I was feeling, the way it connected with me, is what it's all about.

~

I truly aspire to be as great as this. I aspire to tell stories that change people, that tug at their heartstrings. That make them think and feel and understand themselves and the world around them. 

I aspire to teach others these stories, and to teach them how to create ones like these, of their own. 

Because stories reach us in ways that nothing else can. 

And that's a fact, Jack.

~The WordShaker