Chapter Text
I'm an engineer. So as much as I enjoy the MCU, I find its forays beyond the limits of my suspension of disbelief terribly irksome. It is my firm belief that a world of superheroes can exist within a universe governed by natural laws and that this world can be full of compelling, character-driven stories. Therefore, I am attempting to put the Sci back into Sci-Fi. There will still be elements of fiction to the science, but I'm really, really trying to keep it plausible. This started out as a few minor tweaks to MCU canon, but quickly got away from me. Seriously. One original character started out as pre-Hulk Bruce Banner's jogging buddy and has since evolved into someone else entirely. I'm putting my thoughts on Earth Zero out here to get them out of my head, where they are taking up far too much space.
The central theme of Earth Zero is navigating the line between a person and a weapon that becomes blurred by the creation of so-called superheroes. The conflict between personification and objectification will be a recurring motif throughout multiple story arcs. This will likely include parallels between weapon (asset) objectification and sexual objectification.
Earth Zero is mostly based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but draws from the Marvel comics a bit, along with some changes of my own that are necessary to make the planned overall story work. Some of these changes are small, and others are massive; however, no change is arbitrary. If I am deviating from canon, it is for a reason, even if that reason is not immediately obvious. There is a plan! It is evolving, but the main plot points have been nailed down. I have also drawn from a number of other fictional sources including various TV shows and movies, mostly for supporting narrative functions.
Earth Zero is also firmly rooted in our own universe, so this means no magic, no aliens, no omni-disciplinary scientists beyond reasonable complimentary skills, and plenty of real or mostly real science and history. It is an alternate history, so obviously some events happened differently than they did in our world, but most of Earth Zero's history matches real life history.
There are already copious amounts of fantastic meta and analysis of every aspect of the MCU online. I have read some but obviously not all of it. My own musings on Earth Zero would not be possible without this existing meta and analysis. I will do my best to cite all of the sources from which I've drawn material, but it is possible that I will miss a source or that I will duplicate a line of thought unintentionally. Please let me know when something I'm saying sounds familiar and link back to the source, and I will update the post as appropriate. Be warned: among my sources is tvtropes.com. Follow links at your own peril.
Earth Zero is definitely a science fiction universe, though my inner engineer wants to keep it as close to science fact as possible while staying true to the source material and providing the foundation for good stories. There is so much very real and very awesome science that has happened over the last century, some of which at first glance sounds like science fiction, that the really fictional science fiction almost seems superfluous if not outright boring and unimaginative.
I've already been surprised a few times by some of the real science and technology I've learned about in the course of exploring Earth Zero. I thought I knew a thing or two about the history of computer science and artificial intelligence, so I was floored to learn that a less sophisticated version of the AI-Zola shown in Captain America: The Winter Soldier would have been possible using the real computer science and computer hardware available in 1972. Think about that. A rudimentary AI-Zola could have actually been created in the early 1970's. There is a great story there. Who was involved? Why was the computer hardware kept in a bunker? Who knew about it? Was the system connected to the Internet? Was it upgraded as the technology improved? What would happen if, say, 13-year-old Tony Stark was messing around on his own computer a decade or so later and encountered AI-Zola?
This is what the Earth Zero universe is all about: creating a world very much like our own, while using the already familiar characters of the Marvel universe that we have all grown to know and love to tell interesting, complex, compelling stories.
As I have said before and will likely say again, I'm not really sure where I'm going with this. I just need to get it out of my head.