NOSTALGIA CAFE | Why Loki Failed as a Villain (And How Killmonger Succeeded)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has done miraculous things, namely building a highly successful franchise with eighteen (and running) feature films, turning formerly B-list heroes into household names. Who had even heard of Tony Stark before his popular appearance in his successful solo movie, Iron Man?  But when it comes to villains, the writers suddenly revert back to eight-year-old children who still see villains as the exact cartoon cut-out of the cackling monster-alien super-beings from the comic books they read in the 80s and 90s. That’s fine: generic comic villains are okay for a few runs before they become tedious and predictable. Unfortunately, most superhero movies are trapped in their limited existing beliefs of what a superhero story should be, with the first law of superhero movies being: the hero can’t die.