The End of Marvel Studios
“Thanos will return.”
“Noooo!” My friend stands up at the end of Infinity War, enraged that Marvel Studios killed off some of his favorite superheroes, disappointed that Infinity War ended so abruptly, but completely aware that he would return to the same seat, in the same movie theater, with the same friends to watch Avengers Endgame the following year.
Remember back when Marvel movies felt like events? My friends and I would make arrangements to go to the movie theater after school so that we could watch the newest movie together. Every time a new Marvel movie dropped, be it Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange, or even Ant-Man, everyone around me would know about it. Unfortunately, this sense of excitement has been slowly but surely trailing away with the exponential increase of Marvel movie installments every year.
With Phase 5’s announcement in the past weeks, an influx of new movies and Disney+ shows have been announced, exciting, unfortunately, only some fans. I am not one of those fans. For those who don’t know, Marvel is currently split into four “phases” with the fourth phase reaching its end just recently, and the fifth phase, beginning with Ant-Man Quantumania, coming next February. Although Ant-Man Quantumania may have sparked my interest (ever so slightly), the other titles don’t fill me with the sense of excitement like any of the previous Marvel titles. I feel that the root of this issue lies within this core issue of Marvel Studios: oversaturation.
Four Marvel movies and four Marvel shows, all within the span of a year, something that we once could only dream of, has now been a source of suffocation for me and many others. Contrary to popular belief, more Marvel does not equate to more fun. As Patrick Marlborough from Vice puts it, Marvel is nothing more than “content.” Just like hoping for consistent uploads from my favorite YouTubers, Marvel is doing the same thing by pushing out more content than they could handle in a year. We would previously have around two movies a year, both occasions being something we always looked forward to, contributing greatly to Marvel feeling like an “event.” Unfortunately, every time I watch the newest Marvel movie, I am simply checking a new thing off of my to-do list that gradually piles up with Marvel movies and shows I have no interest in watching.
Additionally, Disney+’s arrival has not made consuming Marvel entertainment any easier for newcomers. It was far easier to understand the movies and series because all of the content would be contained within movies and movies only. However, Marvel almost making it necessary to pay an expensive, monthly subscription to Disney+ to be introduced to new characters makes it difficult for many to keep track of what is going on within Marvel. Furthermore, it’s hard to justify paying for this monthly subscription when all of the content provided in Disney+ is exclusively Disney. Other streaming services like Netflix and HBO Max with larger varieties of shows prove to be far more attractive to the general consumer. For this reason, many people, including myself, miss out on important plot points that start in the Disney+ shows and eventually end up in one of the movies.
Phase 5 has also begun a new era for Marvel. With farewells to world-renowned characters like Iron Man and Captain America in Endgame, we are now introduced to a whole plethora of new characters like Ms. Marvel, Moonknight, and Blade. Unfortunately, these characters lie on the more nuanced side of Marvel comics, characters that are not as recognizable to the general public. It makes it daunting for people to approach these new movies, having no personal connection to the characters. What made Iron Man and Captain America so loved was that everyone knew who they were. They became a cultural symbol worldwide, and being forced to say goodbye to them is no easy task.
With all of the changes Marvel Studios has brought, I can’t help but be pessimistic about it. In my eyes, it is the end of Marvel Studios. The peak of Infinity War and Endgame will not be reached again, and I feel that Marvel will be met with a general decline in popularity. It doesn’t help that the most recent Marvel content has been mediocre at best. With Eternals being the lowest rated MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) movie at 47% Rotten Tomatoes and Thor: Love and Thunder being 68%, it shows a stark contrast to ratings like Avengers: Endgame’s 94% and Captain America: Civil War’s 90%. I can only hope that one day I can feel the attachment I did to Marvel four years ago, actively trying to watch the movies on opening night, discussing it with friends, and looking forward to the next movies, but at its state right now, I cannot see myself getting interested anytime soon. Perhaps it is finally time for Marvel’s impressive regime to come to an end, bringing light to a new company and series of movies.