Until relatively recently, Marvel movies were associated with high quality standards, and everyone seemed to be discussing them. Marvel Studios has managed to turn comic book heroes from a somewhat niche hobby into a mass craze. Today, perhaps only people who have abstracted themselves as much as possible from popular culture and the Internet in general have never heard of Iron Man or Thor.
But over the past few years, you’ve been hearing more criticism of the Marvel Cinematic Universe than rave reviews. People criticize confusing plots, confusion within Marvel Studios itself, and some strange, even provocative decisions. What used to be a phenomenon has turned into a huge and clumsy conveyor belt, unable to evoke the same emotions in viewers.
How did it happen and what happened to the Marvel movie universe?
A moment of triumph
To begin with, let’s go back to the moment when the Marvel Cinematic Universe reached its peak of popularity and cultural influence, namely, the end of the third phase. Back in 2018, almost all viewers were shocked by the ending of Avengers: Infinity War, which not only gathered a huge number of famous actors in one story, but also maximized the stakes a few minutes before the credits. The world froze in anticipation of Avengers: Endgame, and “The Click” has become a popular trope at the level of a McGuffin(an object that is important to the development of the plot of a work and to explain the motivation of characters, but is insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself – ed.
In 2019, The Avengers: Endgame cemented its success by competently resolving all storylines without forgetting to play with the most diverse feelings of fans. The satisfaction of critics and audiences around the world resulted in exceptional financial performance: Avengers: Infinity War grossed $2 billion at the box office, “Avengers: Endgame” – almost $2.8 billion. And for some reason, there is no doubt that with repeated theatrical releases, Disney and Marvel Studios will easily be able to break the $5 billion mark for the two films in total. The culminating Avengers dilogy showed the world that the tactics of developing a joint cinematic universe from Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel Studios, were correct.
Back in 2008, when the first installment of Iron Man was released, comics were considered somewhat marginal, frivolous entertainment. Movie adaptations of comic books had the same stigma. And this is despite the fact that the audience had already been captivated by Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. But in the noughties, the memories of Daredevil with Ben Affleck and Catwoman with Halle Berry did not allow us to believe in the potential of movie comics as something of high quality and mass appeal. Therefore, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was born in spite of everything rather than because of anything good.
It was for this reason that Marvel Studios had to start producing films independently without the rights to Spider-Man, who was and still is one of the most popular superheroes in Marvel comics. Also, the studio could not afford expensive stars and directors. Almost all of the films in the first phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe were in many ways a huge risk, and the concept of connecting different film stories seemed too innovative at the time.
But the risk paid off. Almost all the actors and directors from the first phase of the cinematic universe took their popularity to a whole new level, and Robert Downey Jr. saved his career. Marvel Studios films have clearly demonstrated that superhero stories can appeal to a wide variety of audiences, and that they can be experimented with in different formats.
The studio introduced more and more new characters into the movie universe, and successfully intrigued with hints of a general plot and an incredible threat. The scale was constantly growing, as were the audience’s appetites. But as a result, the management of Marvel and Disney seemed to have trapped themselves. After all, “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame” were the end of a saga that lasted ten years. Marvel Studios essentially had to start all over again in many ways.
And it turned out to be more difficult than it seems at first glance.
The problem of recognition
Avengers: Endgame deprived the Marvel Cinematic Universe of two of its key characters that fans loved the most – Iron Man and Captain America. Around the conflict between the characters of Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans, a story was built that the world had been following for almost a decade. Even other A-list actors in the context of the confrontation between Iron Man and Captain America seemed to be only representatives of one of the opposing camps. This status was finally cemented by the movie Captain America: Civil War, the plot of which unfolds just around the peak point of the superheroes’ disagreements.
Avengers: Endgame closed this story arc, and Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans left the cinematic universe behind. But the MCU’s losses did not end there. More and more stars who had long been associated with the Marvel Cinematic Universe began to talk about their intention to leave the comic books for other projects. Here are some of them: Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Chris Pratt (Star-Lord), Dave Batista (Drax), Michael Douglas (Hank Pym), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts).
However, the Marvel management has not yet managed to grow bright “main characters” for the new phases. There are rumors that they wanted to focus on Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), and also wanted to separately promote Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who should be responsible for the “down-to-earth and street” part of the overall story while other superheroes deal with bigger problems.
But Peter Parker has only just gotten the ending of the story of his formation, which took three whole movies. Strange made a good appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but this movie turned out to be more about the Scarlet Witch. And Captain Marvel still hasn’t received a second full-fledged solo movie, instead shining brightest in The Marvels, where she had to work in a trio with Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) and Monica Rambo (Teyonah Perris), despite the fact that The Marvels itself now holds the dubious prize of the worst movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in terms of ratings and box office.
At the same time, The Multiverse Saga, which is the name of the current stage of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which started with the fourth phase, is actively trying to introduce new characters. This applies to both popular comic book superheroes that have not yet appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and more niche ones. The former include the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Blade. The latter include Shang-Chi, the Eternals, and Shuri, who took on the role of Black Panther.
And here’s the rub. None of the new characters have been able to attract the mass attention of Marvel fans. It would seem that Ms. Marvel or Hawkeye’s student Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfield) love to joke and make jokes just as much as Tony Stark. But Stark is still adored, used in memes, and remembered fondly. And if you tell a casual Marvel fan the name Kate Bishop, there’s a good chance that person won’t even know who you’re talking about.
It’s not just about the actors, because not every Hollywood star has the charisma of Robert Downey Jr. who, through improvisation and expression, is able to make almost everyone fall in love with him. The quality of character development is influenced by a sufficient number of people from the film crew. This includes scriptwriters, directors, the marketing team, and even people from other professions such as costumers and makeup artists. Together, they create the final image of the character, and if one of the elements falls short, it may well drag the rest down with it.
Marvel Studios proved unable to introduce new heroes in such a way that they would become firmly entrenched in the hearts and minds of the audience. Even generally interesting characters like the Moon Knight (Oscar Isaac) could not even come close to the level of Iron Man and Captain America. Disney and Marvel have lost key stars, and a worthy replacement is not even on the horizon.
However, the problem may be much more prosaic. After all, many of the rough edges of the Marvel Cinematic Universe began to become particularly evident at the moment when Marvel Studios and Disney decided to bet on TV series.
Lack of attention
This is not to say that Marvel has paid attention to series only recently. After all, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. started airing back in 2013, when it was produced by Marvel Television(an impressive 7 seasons and 136 episodes, which is still a record for Marvel Cinematic Universe series – ed.) And Netflix’s Marvel series, which include Daredevil and The Punisher, have been loved by fans and critics alike. Yes, not everything was perfect with them, and Iron Fist was criticized to the point of being completely destroyed. However, the general trend showed that there is a place for Marvel in the episodic format on TV.
However, until the fourth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the series seemed to have a life of their own. Yes, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter were based on the stories of the movies, and all Netflix series were interconnected. However, the shows served more as a development of some minor storylines from the movies, but never vice versa. That is, people who prefer to watch full-length movies could easily skip the series.
This changed with the launch of the Multiverse Saga. WandaVision not only continued the storylines of the characters mentioned in the title of the series, but also directly led the audience to the plot of “Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”. The show about the emergence of Scarlet Witch as a villain was clearly a big focus, which is worth the stylization of classic American sitcoms and hints at the return of Mercury (Evan Peters), who died in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
WandaVision is a good series, but there is a high probability that its success played a cruel joke on Marvel Studios. After all, the studio’s management saw that it was possible to develop the already quite complex storylines of a large-scale cinematic universe through television formats. However, not all viewers were ready for this turn of events.
Let’s be honest, there are a huge number of Marvel fans who haven’t watched all the movies in the cinematic universe. Even in the first three phases, this made it a little difficult to understand the plots, so before each movie, it was necessary to re-read its synopsis, other stories related to it, and especially to remember the post-credits scenes through which Marvel Studios develops a plot common to all movie comics and hints at further developments.
Series have complicated the formula several times over. At least because it’s much easier to spend an average of two hours watching a movie than eight hours watching a TV series. Besides, the further the cinematic universe develops, the more knowledge you need. The format alone can fill a series with a lot of details and nuances that can be referred to in the future. Marvel has successfully used this feature to create characters and situations in its series that would not have enough time in a movie.
An additional problem is that TV shows, no matter how thoughtful and colorful they are, are inferior to movies in terms of entertainment and elaboration. To some extent, it’s easier to make a high-budget comic book than a whole season of a show, because Marvel Studios has long established all the processes for the former. As for the series, the studio’s management seems to leave “second-rate” stories that turned out to be “not worthy” of getting into the feature-length format.
The emphasis on TV shows also reflects the cynicism typical of large corporations, combined with a desire to make more money. After all, the shift in focus to series roughly coincided with the launch of the Disney+ streaming service. It has become the main platform for all Marvel Studios series, and Disney wants to lure Netflix’s audience and establish a new source of large profits. It has been somewhat successful, as the media weight of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is tending to infinity.
However, Disney+ has not been officially launched in many countries, and Ukraine is one of them. This means that Ukrainians do not have a legal way to watch Marvel series, and it becomes much more difficult to find out important plot details necessary to understand the next premiere.
Marvel Studios has only recently recognized that the situation with the series has gotten out of hand and started to do more harm than good to viewers. Therefore, the company returned the Marvel Television brand, under which all series will be released on Disney+. The company also created the Marvel Animation department, which is responsible for all animation work. At the same time, Marvel Studios itself will continue to produce feature films, as it has been from the very beginning.
However, Kevin Feige has already explained that Marvel Television series will still be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the brand change is intended to remove the semantic load and obligation to watch all new series. There is no particular effect of the decision yet, and we will be able to see it only after the release of the next few Marvel movies and TV series.
But even if Marvel Studios gets things right structurally, it won’t negate the fact that right now the cinematic universe is having big problems with meanings and ideas. Internal reshuffling alone will not help.
Multi-settlement bustle
The first three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are important in the context of contemporary culture, in part because they managed to combine very disparate stories into a coherent narrative. Each phase had a clear structure, and new concepts and phenomena important to the cinematic universe appeared gradually. Yes, it didn’t always work out well, with some films like Thor: The Dark World slipping in quality, but the overall picture was still pleasant.
In addition, the Infinity Saga, as the core of the story, offered the most accessible concept – the Infinity Stones. These are powerful artifacts, each with a unique use, one of which is enough to try to destroy a planet or even a star system. The unique features of each Stone diversified the story and paved the way for many creative solutions. Moreover, while one Stone can cause many problems, all of them together definitely pose a threat on a universal scale. The audience was hinted at this almost from the very first phase, constantly fueling the sense of inevitable tragedy that Thanos and his “Click” became.
The first three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe were bright, exciting, diverse, and, most importantly, easy to understand. They could be easily watched by both children and adults without going into too much detail and reflection. After all, everything made sense and was clearly defined. The Multiverse Saga has lost these advantages.
Introducing the concept of a multiverse into Marvel movie comics seems like the most logical decision. After all, in printed comics from a wide variety of publishers, it has long been almost the basis of everything and allows you to show stories for every taste without causing much damage to the integrity of the canon. Besides, all Marvel comics fans are familiar with both the Infinity Stones and the multiverse. The latter was popularized by the cartoon Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, after the success of which almost every popular franchise wants to introduce its own version of multiple worlds.
Marvel Studios has been most active in the multiverse in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Dr. Strange in the Inhumans Multiverse, as the title of the movie suggests, and the first season of Loki. And the first season of the animated series What If…?, which is also part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was intended to show how the multiverse allows you to realize the craziest creative ideas.
But it turned out that the authors of films and TV series don’t seem to have much to do with the multiverse. In this context, only Loki stands out, creatively showing different versions of the same characters and events, and making the multiverse not just a setting, but a central theme of the plot that can be studied and considered from different angles.
The rest of the films seem not to know why their plots need a multiverse in the first place. Sometimes it is used only as an excuse to demonstrate unusual locations and clashes between characters who have never met before. But Marvel movies have not suffered from a lack of colorful landscapes and unusual places before, especially with the “cosmic” level of storytelling thanks to Captain Marvel and Guardians of the Galaxy. And constant crossovers allow almost all superheroes to get to know each other.
A little further was Spider-Man: No Way Home. In it, the multiverse made it possible for three Peter Parkers to meet in one movie at once, as well as to bring back villains from different films. It turned out to be a great example of working with fanservice, thanks to which almost everyone liked the comic book. But fanservice is to some extent a “cheap” way of attracting viewers, which puts pressure on nostalgia and attachment to certain moments and characters.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe doesn’t use the concept of a multiverse even a quarter as much as comic books do. In them, the authors are able to realize the craziest scenarios and present the most diverse versions of characters. For example, there is a story in which a spider was bitten by a radioactive man, a kind of look at the history of Spider-Man’s formation. Or a comic about Tony Stark taking on the role of Dr. Doom. Such descriptions seem far-fetched, but they allow the author to turn on the imagination to the maximum.
The cinematic universe cannot allow something like this. At least because movies and TV series are limited by actors, film crews, and production schedules. Marvel Studios lacks the creative freedom that Marvel Comics has. This makes the multiverse around which all the events of the current Saga unfold seem faded and even unnecessary.
However, the multiverse in the movies could have had a different task. The concept of infinite worlds would have allowed superheroes to face a villain much more dangerous than Thanos because of his presence in all worlds at once and his ability to influence them. This was the original intention of Marvel Studios, but internal and external factors intervened.
Problems with production
The main villain of the Multiverse Saga was supposed to be Kang the Conqueror. We were shown one of his versions in Loki, and then new films and TV series gradually began to build his image as a multiverse villain who is present everywhere at once.
Kang was played by Jonathan Majors in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It would seem that there was no need to worry about the actor’s career, as he was given a central role in several films for three phases ahead. But in 2023, Majors found himself at the center of a scandal. He was accused of domestic violence and harassment. The accusations and trials were quite serious, especially in the context of modern American culture. The institution of reputation is unforgiving.
As a result, Marvel Studios cut off all ties with the actor. His last appearance in the cinematic universe was in the movie Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum of Solomon, whose post-credits scene hinted that there would be more of Kang. But instead, the cinematic universe found itself without a central villain right in the middle of the plot.
The new Avengers movie was supposed to tell the story of the superheroes’ clash with Kang the Conqueror in all his power. And the release of The Avengers is always an event that Marvel Studios approaches with full responsibility. It is these crossover films that attract the most attention and garner the highest box office.
The absence of a terrifying villain makes it impossible to make new Avengers movies. It also destroys the integrity of the already shaky narrative, which was negatively affected by the introduction of the multiverse concept. Kang was supposed to be the connecting link for everything, but now Marvel Studios management must urgently come up with a replacement.
It could potentially be Dr. Doom, Galactus, or one of the mutants. However, the Multiverse Saga has yet to show the audience the X-Men, Fantastic Four and other iconic characters, although hints have already begun to appear. However, too many things still need to be done and explained. And this is just one of the problems that viewers and even people involved in the creation of films complain about.
The other is related to the quality of visual effects and graphics in general. But the first films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe were praised for their computer graphics.
But with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, when many people switched to remote work, Marvel Studios failed to quickly establish work processes. This is despite the fact that Marvel comic book movies have long been overly dependent on computer graphics.
American journalist Ryan Broderick has noticed that in the last few years, actors in Marvel movies almost never interact with real physical objects. Almost everything is done with CGI, and the examples of real objects are ridiculous. For example, in The Avengers: The Final Destination, it turned out to be an ordinary taco.
Thor: Love and Thunder, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum Mania”, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and many other movies and TV series have received a flurry of criticism for poor graphics. The situation has recently begun to improve, but some general questionable points still remain. For example, the faded color palette of films and the desire for “naturalistic” lighting, which does not always make the visual part of films more pleasant.
Sometimes, Marvel’s plans are interfered with by factors that the company cannot influence. One of them was the death of actor Chadwick Boseman, who played Black Panther in the cinematic universe. He suffered from colon cancer for several years, which eventually took his life. Because of this, the cinematic universe lost the original Black Panther, and Marvel Studios decided not to look for a new actor, but to direct the plot of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” in a new direction. The result is a touching epitaph film that still suffers from a somewhat shaky script.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown to such a size that it seems to be breaking down due to its own weight. Truly fresh and unconventional ideas are cut off in order not to harm the “Marvel formula” with its endless jokes, not all of which are appropriate, and references to everything.
In this regard, the situation with the second Dr. Strange looks interesting. It was originally supposed to be directed by Scott Derrickson, known for horror films like Sinister and Black Phone. He also wanted to make the continuation of Dr. Strange’s story a horror. But Derickson was replaced by Sam Raimi. There are rumors that the former’s vision did not fit into the overall plans of Marvel Studios, so he was fired.
Some directors leave on their own because they get better offers. This happened to James Gunn. He directed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and went on to manage the development of DC comics, which is quite ironic, because it is a direct competitor of Marvel Studios. It’s doubly ironic that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 turned out to be perhaps the best movie of the Multiverse Saga, but it has nothing to do with the Multiverse itself, and instead tells an independent and touching story.
The list of production problems can go on and on. Here are a few more to give you an idea of the scale of the situation:
- for the series Secret Invasion, the titles were created using artificial intelligence, which significantly affected the quality and caused a lot of criticism;
- the accusation of imposing DEI values, which the fan community perceives very ambiguously;
- Too much emphasis on comedy, which particularly affected Thor: Love and Thunder;
- for Blade (this is already the Sixth Phase), they can’t write a proper script and find a film crew;
- dependence on fans and no attempts to do anything to attract new viewers.
If you try to put all of the above together, you can see that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is trying very hard to be Marvel comics, but it is physically impossible. Comic book fans get several fresh issues every week, with large-scale confrontations, more personal stories, and completely unusual situations like Venom vs. the Vikings. This is just in seven days, and it can get even bigger and crazier from here.
Marvel Studios can produce only two or three movies and TV series a year. But now the studio still strives to experiment, which comics can afford precisely because of the frequency of publication. The production team at Marvel Studios doesn’t have that luxury, and each of their works has to hit the mark. Which hasn’t always been the case lately.
What’s next?
But don’t assume that it’s time to give up on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Some fans forget that the Infinity Saga also received a significant dose of criticism, but managed to save the day thanks to its climax and conclusion.
The saga of the Multiverse is just in full swing, and the climax is not even on the horizon. Instead, we are going to meet the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Deadpool, Blade, and many other superheroes who are not only adored by fans, but who are also capable of shaking up the entire cinematic universe.
Marvel’s animation division has grown significantly. Each episode of X-Men ‘ 97 generated a huge amount of discussion and received high critical acclaim. More shows like this are in store for us. Previously, DC dominated this field, but Marvel Studios wants to redress the balance of power.
And some of the company’s bold experiments are successful. These include Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K., an animated series for adults that tells about the personal problems of the supervillain of the same name, and the black-and-white special edition of Werewolf by Night.
The most interesting thing is that there are already rumors about the return of Robert Downey Jr. to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There are no specifics yet, but the concept of the multiverse will make it easy to pull off such a move. Marvel Studios management also wants to invite the Russo brothers, who directed Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, to direct the fifth installment of The Avengers. The directors’ credibility is enormous, so the decision is quite logical, even if it looks like a departure from experimentation and a return to somewhat boring methods.
However, right now, all the attention of the comic book fan community is focused on the premiere of Deadpool & Wolverine. There is little doubt that the comic book movie will gross a huge amount of money and receive a lot of positive reviews. And there are several reasons for this.
The first, and for many the most important, is Deadpool’s personality. This is a non-standard comic book superhero who does what he wants and pays no attention to anyone. The fact that Deadpool is fully aware of his position as the main character in comics and movies adds to the piquancy of the situation. Therefore, he regularly addresses readers and viewers accordingly, turning even dramatic scenes into a comedy of the absurd.
Even the first part of Deadpool was rated R, which meant that it was allowed to show violence in all its glory on the screen, and did not shy away from swear words and obscene jokes. This approach seemed like a breath of fresh air against the backdrop of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, which looked almost sterile due to the PG-13 rating. But don’t forget that Deadpool had nothing to do with the MCU before, his story unfolded separately.
However, this did not prevent the two parts of Deadpool from raking in big bucks at the box office. The actor Ryan Reynolds, for whom the role of the canonical Deadpool has been a longtime dream, was particularly pleased with this. After all, Deadpool was also in “X-Men: Wolverine and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but there his image was distorted and his talkativeness and sense of humor were taken away from the character. You can easily see how Reynolds literally gets high from every scene where he plays Deadpool.
And Reynolds is also a longtime friend of Hugh Jackman, whom millions of viewers love for his role as Wolverine. It seemed that the actor had abandoned this image after Logan, which ended the stories of Marvel’s most famous mutant in a dramatic manner. But it was probably his friendship with Reynolds that allowed him to return to his familiar role, but in a much crazier story.
Deadpool and Wolverine was also rated R and became the first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with such age restrictions. Previously, Disney shied away from this kind of thing, so the new movie will be an experiment for the film company to some extent. Its success will determine whether Marvel Studios will continue to actively tell more “adult” stories in a single cinematic universe.
However, the first ticket sales are already encouraging, as they are breaking records. Some analysts have even suggested that Deadpool and Wolverine could gross more than $200 million in its first weekend. This would make it the first R-rated movie to reach such figures.
But there is also a certain irony in this moment, because Deadpool and the X-Men used to be Fox’s intellectual property. Marvel was able to get access to them only after the merger of Disney and Fox in 2019, and now “other people’s” licenses have become the main hope of Marvel Studios. The same applies to Spider-Man, which Marvel is developing jointly with Sony.
In any case, Marvel Studios now has all the cards in hand to bring back the previous excitement and enthusiastic feedback from viewers. The key events of the Multiverse Saga remain to be seen. We will learn more about the plans of Marvel and Disney on July 25, 2024, when San Diego Comic-Con starts.
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