Endgame to the End Times: How Did the Marvel Universe Decline so Greatly?
For the past 17 years, no movie franchise has done what the Marvel Cinematic Universe has done The movies have broken records left and right and fans have never gotten tired of them, until now Why has the franchise decreased within the past few years, and how do the days of mediocre movies come to an end to get back to the glory it once was?
The Marvel Cinematic Universe, or the MCU as it is more commonly known, began in 2008 with Robert Downey Jr.’s Ironman1 . Since then, over 30 movies have been released between 5 phases2 . Of course, the most popular were released in 2018 and 2019, being Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Both are ranked in the top 10 highest-grossing movies in history, placing number 2 and 6 respectively3 . After these releases, one more movie was put out, ending the third phase of the franchise with a new type of media being introduced in TV shows set to release the following year. This did not end up happening, and instead, for the first time since its beginnings, no new media was released due to COVID-19 2021 brought around the first wave of TV shows, which is considered the beginning of the end
There are a few reasons as to why this may be The first is the pace at which both TV shows and movies were coming out Because of a one-episode-a-week release schedule, almost every week in 2021 had some sort of Marvel content released with a total of 6 shows and 4 movies Before, the highest number of releases each year were in 2017, 2018, and 2019 with 3 each Another problem with releasing this much stuff is that with each phase, the number of movies was less than what was produced in a whole year in 2021 Phase 3 contained 9 over 4 years, and Phases 1 and 2 each had 6 movies over 4 years This number may have overwhelmed viewers or made general audiences annoyed by the number and constant talk in the media
1 https://wwwspace com/marvel-movies-in-order
2 https://wwwimdb com/list/ls003096970/
3 https://wwwboxofficemojo com/chart/top lifetime gross/?area=XWW
Besides the pacing, the movies and shows faced criticism due to their quality Many people have pointed out that since there have been more movies being produced at a quicker rate, the care and attention in each one seems to become less and less Take the 2022 movie Thor: Love and Thunder for example This movie was set up for success from the start: a stacked and amazing cast, a returning director acclaimed for the previous Thor movie, and lifelong fans who are excited and willing to watch However, when the movie was released, many flamed it for its bad writing4 As the previous movie, Thor: Ragnorok, was known for its witty jokes and intense action sequences, Love and Thunder paled in comparison as much of the writing was seen as “cringe ” It also became controversial as the main plot was about the kidnapping and threat of murdering children, while the rest of the movie is meant to be funny and colorful, a strange combination. Finally, the movie gained much traction due to its awful CGI5 .
Aside from these problems, the newer movies give the sense of caring less and less about the fans. For the past 5 years of these issues and complaints, Marvel has made no effort to change their formula. One major complaint by fans is the over-introducing of new characters.
In 2021, 2 of the 4 movies released were about new characters in the franchise. One of these was Eternals, a movie in which there were over 10 never-before-seen characters each with their own story This makes the movie overbearing and almost unwatchable Stemming off of this, old and well-loved characters are appearing less and less to make room for these new stories
Longtime fans don’t want to learn about the hundred-something new heroes when their favorites are being ignored Also because of this, the number of appearances for new and old characters is less and less In Avengers: Endgame, the most popular movie with the most interconnected characters in the franchise, the character of Tony Stark had the most movie appearances with 9 Before the next highly anticipated Avengers movie, Doomsday, releases, Yelena Belova (and if
4 https://filmcolossus com/thor-love-and-thunder-bad-writing/
5 https://screenrant com/why-thor-love-thunder-cgi-is-bad/
you don’t know who she is, you will understand why) will have only 3 appearances in 36 movies and TV show seasons
Marvel has seemingly begun listening to fans as in 20246 they announced that moving forward, only a total of 5 projects would be released each year, but they have obviously dropped this policy, as 9 projects are set to be released this year7 They have also tried to win back fans through nostalgia value In 2024, they announced the return of RDJ, but not as Ironman and instead as the lead villain of Doomsday8 This has been met with mixed reviews, especially after rumors came out about the return of Chris Evans as a version of his old character, Captain America9 The reason they can do this is because of their multiverse situation within the movies
As long as there are infinite universes, there are infinite opportunities for these characters to come back, making their stories less meaningful. It is also way too complicated to keep up with, especially since how the multiverse works has been changed over and over. If there is more confusion, there are going to be fewer viewers because who wants to watch a repeating mess?
If the franchise sticks to its origins and goes back to producing movies with the same vibe and charm as the originals, the franchise will surely flourish. Iman Vellani, a newer actress who has been introduced to the films as the hero Ms. Marvel, and even more importantly, a longtime fan agrees10 . She told Forbes magazine in 2023 that she doesn’t know if it's about getting “bigger and bigger and bigger” In her words, “Because then, like, what’s left? You know, I think it’s about making the audience care about their characters ” She hits the nail right on the head Marvel needs to work for the fans and not for themselves By trying to make big
6 https://wwwign com/articles/marvel-will-limit-itself-to-two-or-three-movies-and-two-tv-shows-per-year-disn ey-ceo-says
7 https://varietycom/lists/marvel-studios-release-schedule/
8 https://thewaltdisneycompanycom/marvel-studios-announces-robert-downey-jr-and-the-russo-brothers-to -return-for-avengers-doomsday/
9 https://wwwnewsweek com/chris-evans-returns-captain-america-avengers-doomsday-1998591
10 https://wwwforbes com/sites/paultassi/2023/11/28/the-marvels-iman-vellani-nails-the-problem-with-the-m cu/
blockbuster movies that sell rather than giving the fans what they hope to see, they are losing the money that stems from the fans As the saying goes, the client is right, and this will be the case for Marvel too Only time will tell if they will learn to take the advice given to them and if we will see Marvel return to its former glory