After an unprecedented run of successes, Marvel has been stuck in one long stumble.
Yet, this is where we are.
So what’s going on?
It’s more complicated than that, though.
People didn’tactuallylike comic book movies
I love superhero movies.
You might love superhero movies.
But for many people, the MCU ended with Avengers Endgame–the movie that literally hadEndgamein its title.
For them, it wasn’t about liking superhero movies or even Marvel movies specifically.
Even Hulk was more or less a part-time sidekick in She-Hulk.
Then the forward momentum just stopped.
It really can’t be understated how many wrenches COVID threw into the spinning gears of Marvel’s machine.
We had just a few characters with their own series in Cap, Iron Man, and Thor.
Every two years or so, we’d get a team-up movie.
We also had Eternals in there.
Director Chloe Zhao presented us with some startling, exciting visuals, and the movie had its own merits.
However, it largely didn’t feel like a Marvel movie compared to previous outings.
Then there’s The Marvels, which is by all accounts a pretty good MCU film.
Yet, still, it has the distinction of being the lowest-grossing Marvel tale yet.
Before, we had The Avengers, a team of specific heroes.
So instead of having a clear team to cheer for, what we have is a bunch of guys.
Little guys, big guys, flying guys, multidimensional guys.
Being a superhero is hard.
Watching superhero movies shouldn’t be.
This is the same problem that began to drag on the CW’s Arrowverse shows.
The Marvel TV machine has spun up, and the Marvel movie machine is back up to speed.
Some of these series, like WandaVision and Ms. Marvel, have dovetailed into movies in some way.
Others, like Moon Knight and Secret Invasion, happen entirely in the periphery.
And Secret Invasion, which was released before The Marvels, certainly seems to be set after it.
Otherwise, how was it not brought up even once?
Kit Harrington’s Black Knight could’ve popped up in London at the same time as Moon Knight.
It’s hard to tell which Marvel shows are ‘required reading,’ and there are alotof Marvel shows.
Marvel could absolutely recast Kang, and it could even make sense for the character.
By his very nature, Kang isn’t just one character–he’s inherentlylots and lotsof characters.
While they’re all played by the same actor, though, they’ve been different characters.
Marvel Studios has failed thus far to make them feel connected to the greater audience.
At the same time, Studios has a mixed history when it comes to recasting characters.
It’s difficult at this point to say whether Marvel will actually move ahead with recasting the character.
All of these disparate movies and characters have broken down the once straightforward continuity of the MCU.
It was easy to tell who was who, when, and where.
So we’ve had an explosion in casting, and a scattering in time and space.
It’s a long way from all the Super Friends living at the Avengers campus.
In the process, though, it chipped away at the “event” status of Marvel Studios movies.
Also affecting overall sentiment is the state of VFX in Hollywood.
All of these things have devalued Marvel movies in the eyes of fans.
The Marvels
Let’s talk about Captain Marvel and The Marvels specifically for a moment.
Say what you will about the quality of the movie, which we enjoyed.
Only the most committed fans of Marvel movies can remember and track all of these characters and timelines.
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