NFL
By: Rick O’Donnell
It was not too long ago that the MCU was the talk of the town. Everyone was on board with the biggest franchise leading up to Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. However, now it seems like a collective set of mixed results with their more recent titles. So why is the MCU not the titan it once was?
The online community will have you believing any one of the long list of things in their toxic rolodex. I’ve personally read way too many “woke” posts or “MsheU” hating posts. The more realistic ones are pointing to “superhero fatigue,” but even that isn’t totally accurate. The problem with Marvel and the MCU these days isn’t just that they’re not telling good stories; they’re just writing themselves into a dead end creatively.
Think about the current state of the MCU. How many of the previous films felt like they were leading up to something? We all know the Infinity Saga now, and it was well documented that they were going to create this massive universe that tied together from the start. Yet now, none of the movies seem to tie together, none of the characters seem to be set up for a prequel, and almost all of their shows have been a one-and-done.
Marvel is failing to make us connect with these characters and invest in the long term. Post-Endgame, which movie has obtained a sequel? The Marvels was the closest thing to one, but the original movie, Captain Marvel, was shoehorned into the Infinity Saga, and the sequel came after. None of the movies after Endgame seemed like they set up the future. Thunderbolts* was the closest to calling themselves the “new Avengers” by the end of the movie, but even then, it drew more confusion.
If the Thunderbolts are the “new Avengers”, what was the point of bringing up the current Avenger replacements? Why make Sam Captain America? What was the point of bringing in She-Hulk? Why have characters that made the audience believe they were bringing in the Young Avengers? Every single story had a dead end. Now they’ll go into Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars and try to circle back to all of them, but they already seemed to have their natural endpoint.
They did the same thing with their shows. Loki was the only one to get a season 2. The rest of them were left in limbo. Didn’t Marvel learn from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. that when you write a show to be a stall point until the next movie releases, it loses audiences along the way? WandaVision, great premise, cut short to fit into Multiverse of Madness. Moon Knight was done well enough, but probably won’t get a season 2. Agatha All Along just seemed like filler to the backstory in WandaVision and did not set up her own long-term story.
The reason Marvel and the MCU are currently failing to fans isn’t just superhero fatigue. The stories they’re writing just aren’t giving the vibes of a long-term character investment. Why should we continue to care about characters who feel as if they’re just distractions until the next MCU movie drops? Superman was a hit for DC and the new DCU, despite the online toxicity, too. Not because they had to one-up Marvel with their cinematic universe, but because the movie made you want more of Mr. Terrific, the Daily Planet crew, and Superman and Lois. That movie set up fan interest in other projects. Marvel needs to go back to the drawing board and create better long-term stories.
