Kaitlyn Murphy
Four years ago, Marvel was on top of the world.
The studio was hot off the two billion dollar success of Avengers: Infinity War, and had audiences blowing up every social media platform with predictions for the future. Characters we grew up idolizing just got reduced to dust in front of our eyes– how can you top that shock value?
By the time Endgame rolled around, Marvel fans lined the blocks of theaters big and small all around the world. We were desperate to see how the Russo Brothers could possibly end The Avengers, one of the biggest franchises of all time.
But since then, Marvel Studios seems to be trailing downwards after creating a movie spectacle as big as Endgame. It wasn’t just a movie…it was the end of an entire era. The cast and crew posted videos tagged #DontSpoilTheEndgame to ensure everyone experienced the film spoiler-free, moviegoers took multiple theater trips to fully absorb all three hours and two minutes, and even applauded for scenes like it was a live event.
How can you possibly top that? Short answer – you can’t. Here are 5 reasons why unfortunately, the downfall of Marvel might be upon us.
5. We Have No Leader (or solid team, for that matter)
After Endgame, we lost a lot of big players in the MCU. Iron Man, Black Widow, and even Captain America (pretty sure an old man can’t “do this all day”) were all wiped off the board permanently.
Those three were the lifeblood of the Avengers team, and with them gone, who’s left to lead? Is there even a team to lead in the first place?
Sure, Marvel could introduce the possibility of a new Avengers led by Sam Wilson– maybe add in Kate Bishop, Ironheart (who’s getting her own show very soon), Spider-Man…but so far we don’t have anything 100% confirmed.
A major draw of the original Avengers squad was the chemistry between the characters whose stories all intertwined at the perfect moment. That magic might be hard to recreate again– even with the help of Doctor Strange.
Perhaps the future will become clearer after The Marvels, Ironheart, and Captain America: New World Order, but for now it’s one big question mark.
4. The Emphasis Has Shifted From Big to Small Screen
When giving a quick glance to the slate of upcoming Marvel projects, it’s abundantly clear that Disney+ original shows outnumber the theatrical releases.
This can definitely be attributed to the rise of the streaming industry and the high viewing hours Marvel Disney+ shows crank up, but Marvel projects used to be true cinematic events meant for the big screen.
Going back to the Endgame hype, people would line up hours before the movie theater doors opened to see Marvel films opening night. It was undeniably an entire event. But now, with shows being cranked out one after the other, it’s almost impossible to have the same level of excitement to see a Marvel project in the theater when we have so much content to consume from the comfort of our own couch.
This isn’t saying that allowing stories to fully flesh out across 6-12 episodes is bad. It worked well for projects like Loki and Wandavision in the past, but if Marvel wants to hold onto its box office influence, they need to give more attention to theatrical releases.
3. Marvel is Losing Touch With its Characters
In recent projects, it’s seemed as though Marvel is falling victim to giving some of their most beloved characters arcs that just don’t fit them (mostly involving unnecessary and overused humor.)
For example, Thor: Love and Thunder saw a plunge in positive reviews after the success of its predecessor, Thor: Ragnarok. While both films utilize comedy, Ragnarok’s was an unexpected break away from the serious Thor audiences were used to. Taika Waititi’s script was innovative and felt like a natural shift for Thor and Loki after everything they’d gone through.
Love and Thunder followed Ragnarok like a cheap knock-off, not adding anything truly compelling to Thor’s arc. The bland storyline also watered down the impact of Jane Foster taking on the mantle of Thor (and then dying promptly after, a far stray from the comics.)
Similarly, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania seemed to send Scott Lang’s progress and growth as a character back to square one. After becoming an Avenger and savior of Earth, his ego massively inflated and his jokes about success were painfully unfunny.
Last but certainly not least, is the potential softening of Matt Murdock in the upcoming Disney+ series, Daredevil: Born Again, which could be a serious problem. Charlie Cox threw around the idea of appealing to a younger audience with the new series, but also said he thinks it will be “dark” without being “as gorey.”
There’s no use in reintroducing Daredevil, a major fan-favorite character, if Disney+ plans to take away the intensity that follows his journey. Only time will tell with this one.
2. The Visual Effects
Turmoil in the Marvel Studios visual effects department has been brewing for a while now, and it finally boiled over last month.
Executive Producer Victoria Alonso resigned from the company after being involved in almost every project since 2005, and many Marvel VFX employees spoke out against the “toxic work environment” she fostered.
Almost every recent Marvel project has been torn apart online for poor visual effects, whether it be She-Hulk’s appearance in the Disney+ series or that one scene of Yelena in the Black Widow explosion that went viral for how fake it looked.
Audiences simply don’t want to watch comic book projects where the action (the main draw of the movie) is visually unappealing.
Moving forward, Marvel clearly has to take better care of their visual effects artists. If Alonso was the true root of this problem, hopefully it clears up with the upcoming releases. But if the studio continues with the VFX-heavy projects, this issue needs to be addressed head-on if the culture is going to change.
1. Jonathan Majors’s Assault Scandal
The most recent negative MCU press comes after their newest big bad, Jonathan Majors, was charged with “several accounts” of assault and harassment against his girlfriend at the time.
Details have been mostly kept under wraps, but this week the New York Post reported that the victim was employed by Marvel Studios. Multiple other women also came forward with reports against Majors.
On April 17th, a Variety insider reported that Majors parted ways with his talent agency, Entertainment 360, leading many fans to start recasting him already on social media.
This situation of course puts Marvel in a tough spot, since they set up Majors to basically be the newest undefeatable villain and future of the MCU with Avengers: Kang Dynasty. The Quantumania end credits scene proved that Kang has thousands of variants the Avengers will have to face, but how does Marvel proceed after this huge legal debacle?
If they keep Majors in future projects, they risk major public backlash no matter what the outcome of the official trial turns out to be. If they fire him and recast the character, the Studio will have to tread carefully in the way they address it and have empathy for the victims involved.
All that being said, the main focus for Marvel moving forward should be staying true to the storytelling and worldbuilding that gave them their empire in the first place. If new characters are introduced, allow them to explore their own arcs without the pressure of having a humorous or forced plotline.
Quality outweighs quantity every time, and true fans would much rather have fewer well-developed projects than the mediocre content that we’ve recently seen pumped out.
