MCU May with GGB Reno!

Reno GGB’s 2019 May Brunch was all about MARVEL, or the Marvel Cinematic Universe, to be specific. The 12 attendees were treated with fantastic service, delicious eats, and more than enough coffee at Black Bear Diner in South Reno.

We went around the table discussing our favorite films and characters in the series. Julie and Lindsay both called Captain Marvel their favorite of the movies. For Julie, it hit so many perfect notes, including the whole 90’s nostalgia thing, and even Brie Larson’s love of Sailor Moon which is one of her own biggest fandoms!

Beth reminded all of us how Marvel movies weren’t always great. She didn’t like pre-MCU films like Fantastic Four and the original Spider-Man movies, but thankfully her daughter (officer Julie!) introduced her to the MCU. Her favorite characters are the often unsung support characters, such as Jarvis, and she absolutely loved seeing Pepper in her Iron suit (Rescue!) in Endgame!

Janet prefers the Phase 3 films, but her favorite is probably Iron Man. She finds Tony Stark one of the more interesting characters, plus he really kicked off the entire universe . It’s not her biggest fandom but she still finds the movies really enjoyable, even the ones she doesn’t like so much are still fun to watch.

Angela, staunchly devoted to her favorite Marvel hero, Iron Man, developed an excellent coping mechanism for the traumatic finale of Endgame. She still contends that since technically Tony didn’t die until 5 years from now, so technically he’s still alive right now, in our current time. While she loves the MCU, she thinks that the goofiness that makes it entertaining also sometimes undercuts the feeling that there are any real consequences to the events in them. She also educated many of us regarding the unfortunate stereotype used in the portrayal of Hawkeye’s Ronin persona.

Though she’s a big Captain Marvel fan, Cathy still considers Iron Man her absolute favorite. She loved Tony’s series-long arc of becoming a father. Her favorite part about Endgame was the meme and discussion that came out of it regarding Thor’s weight gain and mental state. She loved that his depression and possible PTSD did not take away from his worthiness to wield Mjolnir!  

The first mention by Z was her love for all the girl power moments in Endgame. While the internet at large has complained about such moments – particularly the “She’s not alone” scene with the female heroes – almost everyone seemed to agree that they LOVED when it happened. That said, Cap is definitely Z’s favorite (she’s “a huge fan of America’s ass”). She’s also a rare fan of Thor: The Dark World because she loves Loki’s character development. Aaaaannndd cue a minutes-long tangent on geek girl love for Tom Hiddleston…

Vanessa is admittedly more of a DC fan, but really likes the MCU, and cried like a baby at so many points in Endgame. She feels incredibly lucky because her favorite characters all served large roles in Endgame, including Black Widow, Hawkeye, Nebula, Spider-Man, Ant-Man and Iron Man (although that love comes more from a decades-long love of RDJ). She thinks the clever casting in the MCU is one of the main reasons the series has been so successful. Her favorite of the films is Spider-Man: Homecoming, and she thinks Tom Holland is an absolute GEM. She also can’t believe Josh from Clueless is a major superhero now!

Lindsay’s favorite film is also Captain Marvel, and she’s even cosplayed as her. She is also a fan of supporting characters, such as Jarvis in the Agent Carter show. This led to the incredibly popular tangent discussing “Captain Peggy Carter,” which then led to talks about the reported Disney+ series “What If?” both of which made everyone at the table quite giddy with excitement.

Amy continued this train of thought, talking about her own love of Cap and Agent Carter. She also loves the Captain America Peggy Carter version from the Exiles storyline. Her favorites include the first 2 Captain America movies, and she really loved the “on your left” reference in Endgame. She also likes Thor & Loki and their dynamic.

Jess gives credit where credit is due – she thanks her husband for getting her into the Marvel movies, since he was a “comic book store kid” he was able to give her a lot of backstory of all the films and characters. Her favorite character is Captain America, but she also loves Thor: Ragnarok and the Ant-Man movies. She cried during Endgame more times than she expected (cue the rest of the table agreeing!). She thought it was a tremendously satisfying ending.

Chelsea is another fan of Captain America, but she does also love Thor and Captain Marvel. Despite being a Wonder Woman fan as well, she felt that Captain Marvel was more the “hero she needed,” being a hero who kept getting up even when she was a human, before she had any powers. She really loved Captain America wielding Mjolnir in Endgame, and appreciated the closure on so many multi-film story arcs.

Anna loves characters who can be heroes or villains, depending on the circumstances, and her favorite character is definitely Loki. She really loves the brotherly love/hate dynamic between him and Thor. She had a really hard time with character deaths in Infinity War and Endgame!!

Mix in a lot of brainy banter about the rules (or lack of rules) regarding time travel, a quiz involving release order (harder than it sounds!), and swag for the winners, and we had an overall marvelous brunch.

GGB Reno will return for J.R.R. Tolkien June!