Enemy Mine: How To Make It Work?

A common danger unites even the bitterest enemies.

— Aristotle

 

 

Before I get to the topic I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. 

 

The topic I want to discuss is team ups. Hero and Villain or Enemy Mine team ups. A concept in storytelling that have been misused more than handled well and the question in relating to the topic is can this Enemy Mine concept be used well?

 

Personally it can but only under the right circumstances. For instance. In Gargoyles the Manhattan Clan teamed up with Xanatos to combat Oberon because Oberon wanted to claim Xanatos and Fox's baby. What made this work is that both Fox and Xanatos were heading towards a face turn,if one assumes, and both of them have served time for their actions. So both Xanatos and Fox never came off as Karma Houdini's as they both payed for their crimes.

 

What also made it work is the target of their team up. Both of them wanted to save an innocent child from being taken by Oberon and there has actually been some legit human scenes from Xanatos and Fox. The desperate helplessness they both felt when trying to save Alex was enough to make you root for both villains. It also helped that both parties looked pretty good in this. Not once did Goliath and his clan looked stupid and since it involved. Also both parties are fighting for a noble goal. Fox and Xanatos is doing it to protect their child from Oberon while the Manhattan Clan is trying to save the child from Oberon's clutches.

An enemy mine situation can work but it has to be done in a tactful manner: both parties must look good in the process, done in a manner that it isn't morally questionable on the protagonist side, and handled in a way you can actually root for the villains involved. As the above example showcase.

Avengers: Infinity War

Eventhough the movie is long ways away it still doesn't hurt to provide my thoughts and expectations on the upcoming movie.

As most of you know the original director of the previous films Joss Whedon stepped down but the ones who are going to replace him leave me with some hope. Here is an example of why this replacement leaves me with some hope.

If you compare how The Russos structure of their films to how Whedon structures his latest Avengers film then you'd notice the differences on their styles of film structure. The Russo's are more story driven and establishes the characters in a manner that is more complex than what Whedon did in his Avengers films. Winter Soldier made me give a crap about Captain America and he made Hydra cool. Then you have The Winter Soldier himself.

That is all folks. If a guy can make Hydra and Bucky look awesome and threatening imagine what he'd do with Thanos? When compared to how Whedon handles his latest Avengers flick...these vids speak for themselves

I'm not even going to get into the problems this movie had as I made a topic relating to it awhile back. All I can say is this movie is a clear example that Whedon is showing his age.

Infinity War is looking to be the most epic of the MCU in comparison. Based on my expectations I can see some of the battles being taken in space. Although Earth will be the final battle as that is where everything began. As much as I'd like to see the battle end somewhere else having it all end on Earth would be a little poetic.

Depending on where Hiddleson goes from here I see Loki's arc coming to a full circle in this. Here is my theory as to what could happen. I see Loki 'dying' to redeem himself for his past actions and take Thanos with him.

There have been speculation as to who will die. I don't think any of the Avengers will die. Yeah Vision has the Gem but who says he doesn't have a backup body somewhere just incase? I think the person to bite it will be Loki. Here is why I see this as a logical solution.

Say Infinity War is the last time we will see Hiddleson as Loki then this will be the best way to write him off. Go out a hero...well anti-hero. Then we can say he got resurrected later as a completely different person and a different actor/actress to play Loki. With the right handling Loki's sacrifice could be moving despite the fact that characters being dead and coming back has been repetitive.

Normally I'd say it would be better if nobody died but honestly after Guardians made Thanos into a one note punchline a death is going to be the one thing that would make him threatening .

I expect Marvel Disney doing away with some aspects of Age of Ultron based on this article.
http://geektyrant.com/news/disney-considers-avengers-age-of-ultrons-14-billion-haul-a-failure

Hey if this means undoing Black Widows cant have children backstory and that....romance with Banner then I'm game. From the looks of Civil War they're gradually doing just that.

My concern with the MCU films is how less serious the heroes take threats. Winter Soldier is one of the few exceptions in Phase 2. So I'm intrigued in Thanos being taken seriously in this.

The safest bet I can say about Infinity War is, due to the individuals involved, I'm confident that it wont be as disappointing as Age of Ultron