Editor’s note: This article contains spoilers for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Marvel is not as marvelous now as it once was.
As we approach the five-year anniversary of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) epic climatic blockbuster, “Avengers: Endgame,” I have been thinking about how much the MCU has changed since its incredibly entertaining and long-awaited grand finale.
I want to begin by explaining how much I loved Marvel movies growing up. The first Marvel movie I remember watching was “Captain America: The First Avenger.” I immediately fell in love with Marvel’s action, storytelling and character development.
From the first groundbreaking team-up that was Marvel’s 2012 film “The Avengers” to the action of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (2014), the comedic fun of “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014) and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” (2017) and the emotional storytelling of “Black Panther” (2018), Marvel consistently provided entertaining action, intriguing stories and compelling characters.
With the incredible culmination of the “Infinity Saga” in “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018) and “Avengers: Endgame” (2019), I can understand why Marvel is struggling to top their initial decade of success. The resolution of major character arcs — including those of Iron Man, Captain America and Black Widow — were major obstacles to moving beyond the Infinity Saga.
Even so, I looked forward to Marvel’s future. Many compelling characters such as Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and the Guardians of the Galaxy had exciting storylines to be explored in their upcoming projects. Additionally, alternative storylines were being explored through Disney+ TV shows such as “What If…?” and “Loki.” Marvel’s future seemed like a shining sea of opportunity. I was so excited to watch Marvel explore the Multiverse, Celestials, a Secret Invasion or the introduction of the X-Men over the next 10 years.
The current state of Marvel has fallen short of my hopes for the franchise following the Infinity Saga.
Marvel’s prioritization of quantity over quality has led to an oversaturation of content, incohesive storylines and uninteresting characters.
In years past, it was normal for Marvel to release two to three movies each year. In 2023 alone, Marvel released four movies and six TV shows. Marvel is producing so much content that both they and their audience are exhausted.
On the production side, creativity, quality and cohesiveness are being exchanged for meaningless action and increasing watch time. According to a Reddit user, the amount of content released by Marvel jumped from 7.2 hours in 2019 to 36 hours in 2021. Consequently, Marvel employees have less time to create quality stories, costumes and visual effects. Additionally, consumers don’t have the time or interest to watch so much content, especially content that is losing its quality. There is simply too much content.
That is not to say that Marvel shows are all harmful to the MCU. Early Disney+ shows such as “WandaVision” and “Loki” added depth to the main MCU timeline and provided an interesting alternative timeline perspective, respectively. More recent projects, however, have sacrificed quality and cohesiveness for runtime. As long as the quality of these shows are prioritized, their place in the ever-changing Marvel Cinematic Universe can be positive.
For years, I have considered myself a Marvel movie enthusiast. I used to look forward to new movies months and years in advance, and I loved going to the theaters to see the next great installment of the Infinity Saga. Excluding a handful of projects, such as “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” I haven’t been interested in Marvel’s recent content. With minor exceptions, I don’t trust Marvel to create characters and storylines that I’ll enjoy anymore.
I want to experience Marvel as I once did.
I want to get excited about their upcoming movies and not worry about whether I will enjoy them. I want to experience thrilling storylines and watch characters make realistic choices concerning unrealistic situations. I want to have a fun, enjoyable experience with my friends at the theaters this summer, laughing at Star Lord’s jokes and enjoying the amazing choreography of beautifully-scripted fight scenes.
Marvel, you can fix this downward spiral.
Focus on your stories and create characters that we can keep up with and care about. Dial back the amount of content and hone in on creating unique, entertaining storylines and conflicts. Quality over quantity.
Develop your existing characters and make them relatable, likable and imperfect. They should have flaws. They need to grow.
Give us a character who fails but doesn’t give up. Give us a character whose intellect is his strongest asset in his fight against injustice. Give us heroes we can root for, understand and care about and let us watch as they grow and change. Take your time while introducing new conflicts, characters and storylines. Just like in the Infinity Saga, a strongly developed storyline will lead to an incredible payoff down the road, for both you and your audience.
Make Marvel as marvelous as it once was.
Jacob Freshly is an opinion writer. Contact him at [email protected].
