For lovers of Lord of the Rings, you’ll be aware of the cache that comes with having not only seen the extended editions (multiple times), but to know of the many stories and background trivia that comes with the trilogy.
I am 100% this person. The one who, on a visit to Disneyland, bores her comrades with park trivia. The one who pops up in office convos with random pop trivia, or obscure factoids about random nonsense. Some may find it annoying, and I couldn’t care less if I tried. I love the detail. The intrigue. The ‘how’ and ‘why’. The story behind the story.
Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards have delivered exactly what I wanted in MCU: The Reign of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It goes right back to the origin story of the origin stories – Iron Man, Feige, Perlmutter, the Disney merger, the Sony drama (who DOES own Spiderman??), financing, international censorship… it’s all here. It goes wide and deep and now, during the credits to Guardians of the Galaxy, I can exclaim to all: ‘Did you know that’s James Gunn in mocap dancing as Baby Groot?!?’. It’s just so damned satisfying.
And to their credit, the stories within are not salacious or gossipy. This is a well-researched book that gives its insights in an unbiased manner.
For any MCU fan, or pop culture aficionado, this is the book for you.
My only wish was that Robinson narrated the audiobook herself. I love her voice (having first heard it on the Buffering podcast) and could listen to her talk all day.
Overall, 4(00) hours of green makeup application out of 5.