Never Forget

The Black Widow didn't have heroic roots. She used to be a villain. She committed crimes in the past and S.H.I.E.L.D. has a record of these crimes.  During the Hydra's takeover of S.H.I.E.L.D., Black Widow was willing to reveal her dark secrets to the world if it meant taking down Hydra. 

I find this very interesting because these days, there are people who are trying to cover up their crimes. There are already public records of the crimes and some people are spreading false information to make it look like the crime never happened or trying to place the blame on someone else. These are the same people who claim that the dictator responsible for these crimes was a great leader. These are the same people who fault other people who can't forgive and move on from the crimes even if they were committed decades ago. 

Maybe if they admitted the crimes and subject themselves to the authorities, the way Black Widow admitted her crimes and subject herself to a Senate subcommittee, maybe there is a chance to see them in a different light.

Revisionism

This is the Marvel Universe Avengers: Age of Ultron Captain America with motorcycle.  The box indicates that it is Marvel Legends Captain America: Civil War Captain America with motorcycle. The Marvel Universe toy line is for the 4-inch action dolls while the Marvel Legends is for the 6-inch action dolls. Now, Hasbro is revising the toy lines and calling all their Marvel action dolls, whether it's 4, 6 or 12 inch, as Marvel Legends. This has brought  a lot of confusion among toy collectors. Hasbro doesn't care as long as their products sell.

The toy is being associated with the Captain America: Civil War movie. I don't remember Captain America riding a motorcycle there. He did use a motorcycle in the Avengers: Age of Ultron movie. The action doll's uniform looks closer to that of the Civil War movie than the Age of Ultron movie, though. Still it's not exactly like the ones from those movies.

What's the problem with this revisions? It is an outright denial of what happened. It is an attack on the truth. If there is anything good about the Captain America: Civil War movie, it gives some attention on the victims of the tragic events. People died. There was no denial. The characters were not treated as if they were not affected. They didn't move on just like that.  They tried to learn from the past.

This toy defeats the aim of upholding the truth. It is just another denial exercise. It associates itself to the wrong movie for it's own benefit. The buzz for the older movie has died so marketing it along with the newer movie is the practical move. It may be a practical move but it certainly isn't truthful. I find it villainous.  Their exercise of power on naming toys reminds of how a dictator name his humans right violation and corruption as progress and development using state owned mass media.

It's a good thing I didn't pay for the full price for this. (I paid 50%.) That's what it's worth with its half-truths and reduced articulation. With all the undesirable revisions, I'm going have to revise my desire to collect this line of toys and watching the movie versions of these characters. I may just settle for watching the pirated version and just stop with the Age of Ultron. Not all characters in the Civil War movie will be made available, anyways. Another option is to just buy the knock off toys. They have more than five points of articulation and a whole lot cheaper. Plus, it is a good idea to know where to stop. Here.

Cheese

This first Captain Marvel action doll fits more in my collection than the current Captain Marvel, although I don't know much about him. I googled and saw cheesy (by today's standards, although they might been acceptable back in the days) comic book covers and decided to recreate them.

Gotta love what you have.

Reconsideration

I'm not a Ms. Marvel/Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel fan. I bought this figure because of the possibility for turning it into another character.  That shouldn't keep me from enjoying this toy in its original form. 

I heard a new movie will be made based on this character but that will be released around 3 years from now. I bet the comics will make this character more interesting. But then again, a Black female lead is overdue. The female Captain Marvel could be the Monica Rambeau. That's far-fetched, of course. You can't expect too much  from the Marvel Cinematic Universe writers/producers/directors.

I might like the character by then. I might regret not having a Captain Marvel action doll. There is no urgent reason for me to create a new character out of this toy, anyways. Who knows, other toy releases would be more suitable for the character I have in mind, or they will release a toy version of that character. This toy will remain as is, for now.

The toy came with a comic book. Unlike previous comics that came with toys like this, this comic book has an ad for another toy line. I feel that Hasbro is really pushing us 4-inch collectors to switch to the 6-inch line. No way!

They can end the 4-inch line, for all I care. I'm quite satisfied already with my 4-inch collection. I really don't need this toy. It was just accessible and available and I have the funds and it takes so little space to store this. I would have preferred the unmasked version, since one can do more with that head sculpt than this one,  but it sold out. No big deal. Toys aren't.

Denial Exercise

I have a problem with the look-at-the-bright-side mentality. The not-so-bright side doesn't get enough attention. I think that is why we have necks, to help us look at every side, bright or not. I'm a self-confessed pessimist so that should be expected of me.

At least, I don't know anyone personally who was affected when it was revealed that Captain America is an agent of Hydra. I did saw online reactions of some fans, mostly of disbelief, thinking/hoping that there will be a twist somewhere down the line. 

I'm more concerned with how people are not reacting when someone says that if you are a corrupt journalist, you might as well expect to be assassinated. This is from the same person who finds it appropriate to kill criminals even before they are tried. Look at the bright side. At least, there will be less criminals and corrupt journalists.

As of late, there has been a number of alleged criminals being killed. What can stop a cop, or somebody else, from killing a civilian and make it look like the victim is a criminal? How difficult could it be to plant evidences against a dead person? Bag and tag the body as a drug dealer or as a corrupt journalist and a common person will sleep soundly at night.

After reading the news about an alleged criminal who was killed, how many people will ask themselves if the dead person was indeed a criminal? Who can review the evidences? How can someone appeal to reverse the judgement? Due process, all that is taken away, not just from the person who was killed but from everybody who knows that the due process is part of what keeps us safe.

Somebody is killing our due process. Should we kill the murderer?