The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has been one of the most influential film franchises of the 21st century. The finale of the original Avengers saga, Endgame, holds the record of the highest global opening weekend and fastest cumulative box-office grosses. Many believed Endgame would mark the end of the MCU (SPOILER!), since it featured the deaths of Black Widow and Iron Man, as well as the retirements of Captain America, Thor, and Hawkeye—five of the six original Avengers. However, Marvel continued releasing films despite mounting criticism from fans.
Fans preferred the pre-Endgame movies for their connection to the audience, relatability, depth, and rich character development. For instance, Steve Rogers’ journey from a frail boy in Brooklyn to the noble super soldier Captain America conveyed meaningful growth. Likewise, Iron Man realized his wealth was meaningless when it came at the expense of others, leading him to dedicate his life to serving the greater good. In addition, most central characters had multiple solo films before joining the Avengers, giving audiences time to familiarize themselves with the heroes and empathize with them. Lastly, all of these films were meticulously thought out and often took years to write and produce, with only one new movie released every year or so. These in-depth character developments helped Marvel achieve its past greatness. However, after Endgame, the studio seemed to lose its focus on storytelling.
In contrast, the post-Endgame productions often felt poorly timed, rushed, and lacking in originality. In a survey conducted for this article, fans said the new movies are trying to recreate the original Avengers, what with Falcon becoming the new Captain America and Yelena replacing Black Widow. These copy-and-paste replacements left many fans feeling a loss of uniqueness in the “new” characters. As a result, viewers struggled to bond with the many new characters being thrown at them. For example, Eternals featured several new characters that the audience struggled to connect with.
Additionally, many characters are being excessively transported through the multiverse, to the frustration of many long-time fans. However, despite the critics, audiences have at times enjoyed a restrained use of the multiverse. For instance, Spider-Man: No Way Home succeeded because of its balanced use of the multiverse, bringing back beloved characters instead of introducing new ones. Another great success was the show Loki, which expanded on the mystery of what happened after Loki escaped with the Tesseract. The discrepancy among fans is clear: Spider-Man: No Way Home has a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while Eternals has just 48%. One survey respondent stated that if Marvel wants continued success, they should build on what they’ve already established instead of relying on the multiverse to create an endless number of plots, which is the current issue today. They suggested a show about Steve Rogers returning the Infinity Stones after Endgame, since all we know is that he went back in time to live with the love of his life, Peggy Carter. Such a storyline would address a key mystery and likely entice audiences to watch it.
As previously mentioned, the multiverse concept has angered many fans who argue that Marvel appears to favor ticket sales over quality entertainment. The multiverse creates so many similar characters, which allows Marvel to recreate their success with different characters in multiple universes. However, fans want Marvel to either build off of their previous success or create something new without the multiverse through more unique plots.
To both the joy and dismay of followers, the actor who helped define Marvel’s success, Robert Downey Jr, is returning to Marvel after 6 years. However, he will reportedly return not as Iron Man, but as the villain Doctor Doom. Many fans are excited to see the return of their former hero, while others suspect his appearance is not meant solely for entertainment. Critics suggest that RDJ’s return is an attempt to revamp the MCU. However, others argue that if RDJ truly wanted to help, he might’ve influenced the plots of newer movies to reflect the writing quality that made him an icon, rather than joining more “money-makers” for both Marvel and himself.
It’s hard to accept the fact that the era of Marvel epics might be coming to an end. While Marvel producers may be trying to delay the inevitable change through their desperate multiverse franchise, a new wave of Marvel masterpieces could soon emerge if they reconstruct their past foundation that once made it its own best example.
