Marvel Movies and Canon

After watching several movies over the past few weeks a few things hit me.

1. I prefer all the live action Marvel movies over the live action DC movies.
2. I like (most of) the Marvel movie canon more than most of Marvels' comic canon. 

I will get this out of the way first by saying the above doesn't hold true with any of the Spider-Man or X-Men movies. Both have been mixed for me and X-Men can't even keep it's own canon straight. Was Xavier walking in the Flashbacks of X-Men 3 when he talked to a young Jean Grey and 15 years before the first movie in Wolverine 1? Or did it happen when he was much younger and just created the X-Men?

But back to the canon thing with the other Marvel movies, I was thinking about the changes and a lot of them are more seam lined in ways that the comics aren't. After I left Marvel comics I had very little interest in getting back in. One of the factors being how much I'd have to read to catch up and how I don't want to do that. I'm not going to rant against the new 52 because even if I agree with some of the complaints I'm kinda of tired of the argument. I will say that I think that movies like the Avengers do a better job at keeping what works and staying true to the core of the characters. A lot of the changes actually improve the story.

Jane Foster isn't a nurse and Thor never had any profound connection to Donald Blake. Jane's a genius that's been pretty interesting and we have some great supporting members in Eric/Darcy.

While I never saw Loki as the victim some see I liked how he was fleshed out and Thors' bond with him. Their mom kicked ass too and seeing her relate to her sons was short but sweet. I'll grant you that Odin went from a father desperately trying to teach his sons to be good men and being a wise ruler to a dick in between the two films. You could argue that he already was a jackass for not telling Loki the truth/letting his people think of all Frost Giants as monster/not stopping his sons issues before then but he's worse in the second film.

Even though I don't think the movies will ever have Tony and Pepper--or any couple outside Reed and Sue--settle down I like that their together. They work and it shows that he doesn't have to still be a playboy or have Pepper pine for him to make their story work. To be honest I find the will-they-won't-they pretty cliché. More should be done with Rhodey though and Iron Man 2 was my least favorite of the non-Spider-Man/X-Men Marvel films.

Sam Wilsons' history has been retconned in ways that don't work for me. I like that he's a solider that can relate to Steve. I can see a good set up with his work at helping vets recover from trauma helping Bucky out in the future. The core of his character is still there just with a stronger story.

I always liked Bucky being younger than Steve (the Brubaker explanation) but having them as childhood friend makes their relationship deeper. Having him be a unknowing test subject for a new super solider formula with a metal arm rather than a normal human with a metal arm is a big improvement too. It explains the hows and the whys of his story, it makes him a real threat for Steve. Both of them are shown being the best fighters in the movie. They outclass everyone.

I don't know if I'll ever get back into Marvel comics but the movies? I'm starting to wish the 616 rebooted to their canon. Captain America 3 is supposed to be released the same time the World Finest movie comes out. I'm far more exited over the former.