WARNING! MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!
In 2008, nobody knew that Marvel’s Iron Man would be a success. They had an idea of where they wanted to go IF the movie was a financial success, but I don’t think anybody was ready for how successful Iron Man would be. Not only did the movie essentially relaunch Robert Downey, Jr.’s career, it re-energized people’s interest in the comic book movie genre. A post-credit scene in Iron Man revealed what the plan for the future was: Colonel Nick Fury wanted to talk to Tony Stark about his Avengers Initiative. That was perhaps the single most important post-credit scene in the entire MCU. So, over the next few years, we would see Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man 2. All of this led up to what could be considered the biggest comic book movie so far: The Avengers in 2012. The Avengers was a smash success that brought together some of the greatest superheroes in Marvel’s lineup, which also included Hawkeye, Black Widow, and the Hulk. Well, at the very end of the film, we got a glimpse of the Mad Titan, Thanos. Right then, we knew exactly where Marvel was going with the MCU: Infinity War, one of the biggest events in Marvel Comics’ history. The Avengers capped off the first Phase of the MCU. Over the next 6 years, we would see sequels to each main hero. Some were…not as good as the others, but they were still good. Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man would put the finishing touches on Phase 2. Phase 3 was where the big stuff goes down. Here, we got new heroes in Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel. Infinity War hit and it took film industry by storm. The story would finish with Endgame, which would essentially end the Phase on a very emotional level. While Spider-Man: Far From Home was technically the LAST entry in Phase 3, the real ending was Endgame. It was bitter-sweet because we end up losing two of the biggest heroes the MCU had seen: Iron Man/Tony Stark and Captain America/Steve Rogers. It was a great conclusion to 23 movies.
Unfortunately, Phase 4 is where things start going downhill. The first movie to be released in Phase 4, was unfortunately released during the pandemic three years ago: Black Widow. This was a questionable start because the character had died in Avengers: Endgame. Not only was the movie not that great, it was released on Disney+ and theaters at the same time. But this was also the phase that started expanding the MCU into the world of television with shows like WandaVision and Loki. One of the biggest strengths of the first 3 phases was that you didn’t need to be all caught up on them to figure out what was going on. They were connected, sure, but Kevin Feigi made the movies accessible to everyone. Well, that changed with Phase 4. Because unless you saw WandaVision, you wouldn’t understand why she was the main villain of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Some of the nuance was going to get lost on people who didn’t watch the show. Phase 4 was also where the quality of the movies was all over the place. You had some real standouts like Shang-Chi, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and maybe Eternals, but everything else during this Phase was a mixed bag. This was where I decided to step away from the MCU. Thor: Love and Thunder was one of the worst comic book movies I had seen in years, which was weird because Ragnarok was so damned good. Add on top of that, nobody knew where the MCU was going. Who was the Big Bad? What were the stakes? These movies were all over the place. One of the prevailing theories was that each movie was in its own contained universe. Well, now that we know where the MCU is going NOW with the Multiverse Saga, that theory kind of makes. Or, just hear me out, the answer’s much simpler: There was no plan. Like Lucasfilm did with Star Wars, Marvel had no real plan for Phase 4. It felt like they were making things up as they were going along. Honestly, the moment I heard they were going to go deep into the Multiverse, I started seeing red flags. It’s such a convoluted concept where it’s really easy to screw things up. It’s not looking great for Phase 5.
After the disaster that was Thor: Love and Thunder, I decided to check out of the MCU, as I said. But I wanted to see Black Panther: Wakanda Forever first. Thankfully, it was a fantastic movie and it ended Phase 4. I’ll be honest: I haven’t seen anything MCU-related since. I lost interest. Ant-Man 3 and Guardians of the Galaxy 3 haven’t done anything to change my mind. I haven’t seen them, and I don’t really plan on it, either. Nor have I watched any of the shows, but from what I’d been hearing, they’re not great. Look, I’m not going to sit here and tell you not to watch all this stuff. If you’re a die-hard fan of these movies and shows, knock yourself out. Enjoy it. I encourage you to enjoy it. But I do feel obligated to tell you that the MCU has truly lost its way. There have been articles about DC Arrowverse creator Marc Guggenheim saying that Kevin Feige should think about rebooting the MCU. I don’t think it’s a bad idea. Right now, there’s just way too much content to consume and not enough hours in the day to do it. The MCU, along with Feige, have been stretched too thin. To paraphrase Bilbo from The Lord of the Rings: The MCU feels thin, like butter spread over too much bread. I’m going to tell you why it’s needed, and it’s the same reason why the DC Universe is getting rebooted: The content isn’t good enough to sustain the momentum that the MCU needs. People are getting tired of mediocre movies, and Phase 4 was loaded with them. With the recent Secret Invasion mini-series on Disney+ falling flat on its face, the need for Disney and Marvel to pull back is becoming clearer with each passing day. As someone who has been on board with Marvel’s Cinematic Universe from day one, the stuff that’s been happening lately has been breaking my heart. I don’t want the MCU to fail. It’s the biggest movie franchise in the world, but decisions have been made over the past 4 years that I feel have dragged the MCU through the mud.
Meh is what I’m feeling about the MCU right now. So, how would I go about rebooting the franchise? Well, we know that Kevin Feige is planning on bringing in the Fantastic Four and the X-Men at some point, and I think that’s where it needs to happen. But would it have to be a complete reboot like what James Gunn is planning with the DCU? It may have to come to that. The brand is in danger of being permanently damaged because of mediocre story-telling and writing. They would need to do what the MCU started out doing: Something simple. Start with basic character-building movies like Iron Man. Phase 1 is the perfect example of how you kick off a cinematic universe, so Marvel could use Phase 1 as a blue-print to introduce new characters and stories. Start smaller, and then go big for a semi-finale. It worked for the first 3 phases, so I don’t see a reason why it wouldn’t work here. Instead of Iron Man and Captain America, you start with the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, two of the most well-known teams in comic book history. Ultimately, it’s going to come down to box office numbers to determine what happens. Right now, with the writers and actors on strike, it’s going to be a good long while before a reboot even happens. Marvel wants to finish off Phase 6 by 2027, so the earliest that we would see a reboot happen is about 2028 or 2029. Perhaps the question that I should be asking is this: Can I be convinced to come back to the MCU before a reboot happens? Honestly? I don’t know. Phase 4 was catastrophically disappointing for me. And so far, Phase 5 is not succeeding in making me want to come back. The MCU is not in a great place right now. I think Warner Bros. and DC have an opportunity to steal the thunder from Marvel in the next 2-3 years with Superman Legacy and Batman: Brave and the Bold if Disney and Marvel don’t get their acts together. Those are my current thoughts on where things stand with Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. I don’t know. If any of you are fans of the MCU, what do you think? Should there be a reboot, or are you okay with the way things are going?