Captain America: Winter Soldier – GTGC – #174

This week the table is full as Arthur, Dalton, Alex, Caleb, and Dustin discuss the first avenger. The game this week, inspired by Zack Snyder’s comments about being inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai in working on the Justice League stuff, is Superhero Movies That We Want to See Directed by Classic Directors. This is one of our favorite games in a while and we have a good time getting into these faux pitches. Let us know some of your picks in the comments or on social media!

To set the stage for this week’s analysis, Arthur walks us through a history of the Superhero Film Cycle. He discusses where these cycles begin and how they build traction. Building off this foundation, Caleb looks at the culture from a different angle and how the impact of and reaction to 9/11 has impacted entertainment and the action film. These ideas of identity and personhood and Steve Rogers are taken even further as Dalton puts together his treatise on why Captain America is so interesting as a character. He builds off of Caleb’s analysis while also looking back at his reading from Django (1966) and puts together a solid profile of Cap. Dustin then flips the coin and looks at the dark side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He brings up the works of Slavoj Zizek  and ideology and discusses how Captain America: Winter Soldier wants to buck the norm and counter ideology, but at the end of the day nothing is really that different.

Alright, suit up Dear Listener. The war is brewing. So grab your infinity gauntlet, mine your reserve of vibranium, and then go ahead and hit that play button.