Marvel Studios experiences recent fall from grace Is Marvel Studios’ execellence a thing of the past?

By Liam McDonough Opinion Editor

In May of 2012, Marvel Studios released the biggest superhero movie to date with “The Avengers,” which was ultimately the first of its kind, having a lineup of iconic superheroes in one film. As soon as it hit theaters, “The Avengers” became an instant hit that had audiences raving about all things surrounding the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). In April of 2019, the highly speculated “Avengers: Endgame” was released, featuring a record 36 superheroes from the MCU. The film earned 2.79 billion dollars at the box office, giving the production the accolade of the second highest grossing film of all time, per Box Office Mojo. The future was looking extremely bright for the MCU as fans predicted that “Avengers: Endgame” would signal the start of a new golden era for the franchise; however, the loss of several prominent actors coupled with the release of low-quality projects has led the MCU to uncharted levels of mediocrity.

While the movie itself was deemed nothing short of a masterpiece, it also served as a send off for a few notable char- acters such as Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and Chris Evans’ Captain America. At some point down the line, characters who have had an extensive run in a film series should face an inevitable death, but it seems as if the MCU has handled this scenario ever so poorly. First off, when cutting off ultra-famous superheroes like Iron Man, it would be logical to introduce or expand on other stars within the franchise. Unfortunately, Marvel Studios has failed to adhere to this idea and focused on unknown superheroes like “Moon Knight” and “She-Hulk.”

Secondly, they are putting out a large portion of their content on the streaming service, Disney+, which subscribers have to pay at least eight dollars per month for. It would be understandable if Marvel Studios decided to release most of their new projects in theaters, where consumers are more willing to view them. Instead, the franchise is limiting their avid fan base to those who are subscribed to Disney+, and preventing many fans from keeping up-to-date on the MCU.

As a result of these two factors, people who walk into theaters to check out the newest Marvel movie will most likely have a lack of understanding of what is going on because they have missed other productions in the universe. This dilemma is more real than ever because so many new characters have been implemented into the MCU. Aside from a smaller audience, the MCU has just become too complicated. For example, the plot of “Avengers: Engame” revolves around the superheroes traveling through time in order to defeat Thanos. While time travel proved fitting for that film, Marvel Studios has fallen in love with this unfathomable concept all too much. Recently released film “Antman and Wasp: Quanti- mania” deals extensively with the concept of time, and critics and audience members alike responded quite negatively about the movie, which has become a common theme with the latest MCU projects. Marvel Studios has even contemplated bringing back the deceased Iron Man through time travel in hopes to regain some of the lost Marvel fanatics. While it still retains a lot of power in the film industry, Marvel Studios has made fans question the direction of the MCU, which is ultimately due to self-inflicted wounds that have lost Marvel Studios a sizable portion of their fanbase.