Chapter 4861: Wonderful Shadow, Marvelous Drama (Five)

"You spun enough?" Shiler sat on the sofa, looking at Stark turning in circles like a donkey pulling a millstone, and sighed.

Stark gave him a look, but said nothing. Shiler cleared his throat and said: "Well, if you insist that I use mind-reading..."

Shiler suddenly raised his voice: "Tony Stark is extremely jealous of Steve Rogers' personal movie being a huge success!!!"

Stark lunged forward in one step and covered his mouth.

"Keep it down!" Stark gritted his teeth, "I'm jealous of him? Why would I be jealous of him? That movie wasn't even made by him, it has nothing to do with him!"

"That's exactly the point of your jealousy." Shiler spread his hands, "You didn't spend money, didn't exert effort, yet you possess a globally explosive, near-perfect personal biopic."

"But I think you don't need to be too jealous." Shiler continued, "From the moment he was selected for the super-soldier serum injection and succeeded, you should have known he's a lucky one. God is on his side."

Stark squeezed his eyes shut tightly, waved his fist, then said: "Don't tell me this. Howard's Stark Group promotional film nobody watches, its playback rate is a fraction of this movie's, what do you want me to do?"

"You also said it's a group promotional film." Shiler sighed, "Besides the group employees under mandatory orders, who would actually like watching that thing?"

Stark immediately deflated: "Even those ordered to watch don't like it, and they brought this up online. But even so, hardly anyone pays attention. Enough already."

Shiler chuckled, Howard's promotional film was indeed miserable. Howard, though a successful businessman, was ultimately a man of the previous era, his aesthetics somewhat outdated.

The promotional film he made suited America's golden age, exuding an uplifting, upward atmosphere, almost wishing to portray Stark Group as heaven. But unfortunately, modern audiences don't favor this style; online spread and discussion are nearly zero.

To put it this way, even the video bloggers who specialize in trashing bad films haven't bothered to trash this promotional film. Some fans suggested it below, but were rejected as "too boring, dull and long."

Even Stark himself couldn't bear to watch it. Earlier, they gathered to watch it for less than ten minutes, as if collectively hypnotized, slumped left and right. Its power is evident.

"I also want to make a personal biography!" Stark suddenly said.

"What?" Shiler said, somewhat surprised, "What do you want to film?"

"My personal biography," Stark stood up again and said, "Isn't my personal experience worth recording?"

"I'm asking, what experience of yours do you plan to film? Is it your anxiety attack that almost killed you in the office, or your lab accident that almost blew up the entire Stark Building?"

"Can't you record some good things?!" Stark flared up, "These are just minor accidents, they don't affect my legendary life."

"Come on, I'm your psychiatrist. If you weren't causing trouble, why would I be called? What I see is naturally the bad." Shiler shook his head, "You'd be better off filming your time in Afghanistan..."

Stark's gaze turned somewhat strange: "You mean, Captain America in his personal movie portrays how bravely he fights in battle, while Iron Man in his personal movie portrays how he gets kidnapped?"

Shiler's motion paused: "I didn't expect you to view this experience this way."

"... Then how else could it be viewed?"

"I thought you were proud of yourself for escaping alone." Shiler said, "Back then you were just an ordinary person, kidnapped, then used your wisdom and courage to build armor and save yourself and Ethan, which counts as brave, right?"

Stark froze in place. He pursed his lips, looked at Shiler, and said: "So that's how you see it?"

"Then how else should I see it?"

Stark stood in place for a while, then let out a long sigh, sat on the nearby sofa, and said: "Don't you think I brought this on myself?"

"Where to start?"

Stark hesitated greatly, seemingly unwilling to speak. After fumbling there for a while, he still said: "I went there to showcase new weapons. Do you know where I was showcasing weapons?"

"Where?"

"A U. S. military base." Stark paused, then said, "The crux of the problem lies in how there could be a U. S. military base there."

Shiler was momentarily speechless. As for whom Captain America was fighting, no need to elaborate. But what Stark was fighting back then is worth studying.

From America's perspective, it was naturally terrorists attacking the U. S. military base. But why would there be a U. S. military base on their territory? That's also worth studying.

Because the U. S. is globally militarized, bases are indeed too many. Over 90% of places worldwide have their bases, many people no longer think much of it.

But this cannot withstand scrutiny. Having another nation's military base planted in one's own national territory looks wrong no matter how you see it. Especially, Afghanistan isn't an American colony; if you place a base there and get attacked, it's somewhat deserved.

If Stark could set aside his conscience and insist he's a victim, given Hollywood's powerful propaganda, success might still be possible. But the problem is he can't let go. He's not a happy-education-raised simpleton; American elites are clear on these issues. And Stark happens to be an elite of conscience, making him unable to invert black and white before a global audience.

"Moreover, a businessman and scientist running to the frontline—this in itself is somewhat foolish." Stark covered his face, "Back then I was too young, thought I had to personally demonstrate to achieve the best effect. Who knew..."

"Sounds like double the deserved." Shiler concluded.

"So this segment definitely can't be filmed." Stark said firmly, "This is one of my few black histories, worse than blowing up labs or such. I can barely cover it up; if filmed, I'll be scolded to death."

Shiler sighed. He thought and said: "Actually, you haven't fought Red Skull either."

Stark gave him a puzzled expression. Shiler thought and said: "To be precise, you and Captain America both fought Hydra. Do you still remember Baron Zemo?"

"Uh, completely forgot." Stark answered quickly.

Shiler wanted to explain but didn't know where to start. He said: "I died, you and Hydra started fighting. Roughly like that."

"You've died too many times," Stark said, somewhat headache, "I can't even recall which specific instance it was."

"No need for full reconstruction." Shiler thought and said, "You just outline a rough story arc, leave the rest to the screenwriter. As long as the pay is enough, a satisfactory script can always be produced."

Stark nodded thoughtfully, but soon said: "However, I recall it wasn't them who killed you, but rather you killed Baron Zemo, which then led to our fight."

"What are you saying to this rebel organization?" Shiler waved his hand, "Anyway, they're the ones who got me killed; you're fighting Hydra to avenge me, and ultimately won."

"Wait a minute," Stark said again, "but you're still alive now—how can that convince the audience?"

"Then replace me with someone else," Shiler said, "Wouldn't Doctor Ethan work? He really almost died for you. Finding an actor to play me is more troublesome, but finding one to play him would do."

"Also," Stark nodded, "but the big showdown with Hydra only suits the climax; what about the earlier plot?"

"Start with filming your childhood," Shiler thought and said, "Hampton's plot can just connect with 'Ifa Magni.' The later climax, Captain America is also present, can also connect with his personal film. This would give viewers more realism."

"You mean finding two actors to play our childhoods? I can find one for me, but for you..."

"You're not thinking of letting my childhood self play you, are you? I remember you saw my childhood self..."

"No no no, don't mention him." Stark began to headache again, "Then let's start from youth."

"That might work," Shiler said, "but best if you personally revert to youth, then act with my youthful self. Otherwise I'm not sure what actors would encounter."

"If you personally take the stage, then I definitely must too." Stark said, "Just so decided, I'll go find the screenwriter."

"Wait. My youth definitely has Strange appearing, wouldn't that cause chaos?"

Shiler counted on his fingers: "In 'Ifa Magni,' I'm the school doctor, he's the principal. In Iron Man, we're both university classmates... oh, seems no problem."

"Only later, when the true face of Sapphire is revealed, things get interesting." Shiler shook his head, "A supreme sorcerer, a dark mage. A surgeon, a psychiatrist. Maybe this is fate's rivalry."

"Come on, that's my personal movie." Stark emphasized dissatisfied, "I'll give him at most 30 seconds of screen time, he dare not steal the show."

After Stark left, Shiler began to think. If they filmed it that way, a cinematic universe similar to the MCU would soon be formed.

Captain America is so popular that a sequel is inevitable; Red Skull has already been defeated, so the second film will definitely be set in modern times, which will inevitably bring him into contact with Stark and Strange.

Stark wants to film his own autobiographical movie and cannot avoid the Sorcerer Supreme and Captain America. They will certainly appear in his film as well.

The Sorcerer Supreme in *Ephermani* is played by Strange himself, so he will definitely appear in the other two films too. This way, everything will be connected.

However, Shiler's role in the cinematic universe is rather subtle. The roles of Sapphire and the school doctor are fictional. But the audience won't care about such details; they will only associate Sapphire with Shiler. Now it seems I am once again suffering from unjustified criticism.

Just after seeing Stark off, the two Asgardian brothers arrived. Obviously, they have also put their film plans on the agenda and are preparing to research how to shoot them.

"Please have a seat." Shiler moved chairs for them, then said, "Your TV series are actually quite simple—most of it can be copied directly from reality, with only a few details needing adjustment. But I want to remind you: TV series and films are not the same."

"Films must convey sufficient content within extremely limited time, and the greatest taboo is bloated content. But TV series must fill ample content over an extremely long runtime, and the greatest taboo is empty content. Therefore, simply filming the original event is not enough."

Thor and Loki exchanged a glance. Shiler continued: "You can adapt your daily lives with some earthly changes, insert them into the content. Incorporating a touch of light comedy style would likely make it more popular."