Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has No Direction

On By Cem Kirgiz

It is no doubt that the MCU is one of the most ambitious projects created by a studio in modern day entertainment. The ground braking project that none thought would happen came together with the first Avengers movie in 2012 and never looked back. Throughout the 3 phases and 22 films of the infinity saga, what has differentiated this franchise has been the consistency in quality and even more importantly a strong foundation for the story that each phase is trying to tell the audience. The MCU is by no means a masterpiece in movie making, however it is a masterpiece in execution of a massive project with multiple moving parts. Let’s look at each phase and what it is trying to explain:

  • Phase 1: Introduction of core heroes and villains coming together to form a superhero group called Avengers.
    • Time Wasters: Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk
  • Phase 2: Expanding team of heroes face their demons and the consequences of their actions as uncontrolled vigilantes.
    • Time Wasters: Iron Man 3, Thor the Dark World
  • Phase 3: Emotionally and physically broken heroes come together for a final showdown and make the biggest sacrifice to save humanity.
    • Time Wasters: Captain Marvel

Every successful project can easily answer the questions of Why, How, Where, and When. The first 3 phases of the MCU for the most part has been able to answer these questions. Now let’s talk about the current phase of this franchise…

Phase 4 of the MCU so far has released 4 movies and 4 tv shows resulting in a cumulative 30 hours of screen time! These movies and tv shows not only fail to answer any sort of direction for the new phase of the project that is MCU, but they also fail in consistency as well. Let’s take a look at what each release has told us:

Black Widow: A character that has already concluded its run in the finale of the previous phase for some reason has an independent movie to introduce minor characters that has no impact in the story as a whole other than cameos in mediocre tv shows. Also, apparently this character’s super power is unbreakable bones (after multiple falls from 10 story buildings).

Shang Chi: New character geared towards including the Asian market to further increase the popularity of the franchise. Decent introduction of a new character although the world building is not to the level of previous introductions.

Eternals: Introduction of new characters that fails to convince the audience these characters have a place in the MCU we have seen in previous phases. Over complicated and exhausted plot that leaves the audience with more questions on where the overall story is heading. Additional note, Eternals feel like DC characters rather than Marvel.

Spider-Man No Way Home: This movie was the definition of fan service. It moved the needle marginally in terms of story. They were creative in tying the other 2 Spider-Man into the MCU. That was the enjoyable part of the movie but the end was anticlimactic. Peter starts all over again and all of the set up and technology from Tony seemingly goes to waste.

TV Shows: As a whole the Marvel shows in Disney’s streaming platform are all over the place. Falcon and Winter soldier and Hawkeye feel like mediocre hospital food without any taste for the franchise as a whole. Wandavision and Loki are ambitious and take risks but leave very little in their finales for a coherent story line.

The new phase of possibly the most ambitious movie franchise feels like a Jambalaya dish that has been mixed with all the wrong ingredients. When we look at over 30 hours of content, there is no guidance on where this story is going, who are the core characters, what is the purpose and story phase 4 is trying to tell us, how are these stories going to come together?

Most of the movies and tv shows that have been released feel like they have been put together to sell subscriptions and appeal to a politically correct audience rather than tell a story of Marvel characters. There are certainly fun moments in the recent releases. But if the studio is asking for commitment to spend all these hours watching their content, our expectation after 30 hours of screen time should be to understand the vision for their project.

Following up to a successful project is no easy task. However, a strong story foundation can not be replaced by mediocre fan service and political correctness to sell subscription services. Until I’m convinced that this new phase has an interesting story tell, I will spend no further time in their content. Time is precious and I ain’t got time for that!

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Terrible execution of a project, no clear direction, inconsistency with the previous universe, and fan service that doesn’t make sense reminds me of another franchise that has become a time waster in a galaxy far far away….