Since its inception in 2008, some fourteen years ago, we’ve had the pleasure of watching many different entries in the MCU. Some of them were mediocre, some good, and some downright Oscar-worthy, but I think we’re now at a point where we have to admit that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is too big to fail.
A difficult start
If you had told me when I was watching Iron Man in 2008 where we would be today, I would never have believed it. I don’t think anyone would have. Whether it’s reclaiming the rights to Spider-Man or literally buying a company to make sure we’re as close to the full roster of characters as possible, it just didn’t seem possible. Not to mention that at the time, the idea of a multi-franchise universe was unimaginable, let alone with so many properties spanning this long and yet for years to come.
That said, we can’t ignore that the MCU hasn’t gotten off to the best start, and while Iron Man, Captain America: The First Avenger: and Thor went well to great, iron man 2 and The Incredible Hulk were poor to terrible. Fortunately, The Avengers came along and brought all the heroes together for what was the best superhero movie at the time, and that was no small feat. Having so many individual heroes on screen at once and giving them their own story arcs, motivations, and big moments could have ended up being a waste; see Justice League. Fortunately, Kevin Feige, Joss Whedon, and Marvel Studios knocked it out of the park.
Highs and lows
The MCU’s ups and downs continued well into what became Phase Two, with some standing out being the excellent reception Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the potential financial risk Guardians of the Galaxy. At the other end of the spectrum, we also had Thor: The Dark World and Iron man 3.
The MCU really got into its stride during Phase Three, where nearly every movie was a success, whether critically or financially, it’s hard to say there’s a bad movie. There are bad parts of stories, effects, characters, etc., but no film is inherently bad like the entries in the first two phases. Phase Three ends with two of the best films in the entire MCU with Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, which took the lessons of the team from the first Avengers movie and multiplied it all by a hundred. And that’s another clue to why the Marvel Cinematic Universe is too big to fail.
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Come to the theater or television near you
We’re now in phase four, and honestly, it looks like the Marvel Cinematic Universe is getting even bigger. As much a movie institution these days as the regular releases of James Bond, Star Wars, or any number of horror movie franchises, it seems like a distant memory to think of a time when an MCU movie wasn’t. not on the horizon at the cinema. .
More than that now we have the regular releases on Disney+ MCU TV shows, which seem to have direct and massive in-universe ramifications that the movies feel. Recent examples include Wanda’s villainous turn started in Wanda vision and resulted massively in Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness or the biggest overhaul of the MCU to date with the introduction of the multiverse, which was featured in the Loki TV show.
The current saga called The Multiverse Saga shows how seriously TV shows are taken and how important they are. After all, it wouldn’t have been surprising if Marvel Studios released those shows, keeping them as a separate or barely related part of the MCU, which in turn would have made it easier to keep the story cohesive, but less immersed in a certain level for us the public.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is too big to fail
At this point, the MCU is churning out so many different properties aimed at so many different audiences, it’s hard to see it end, or at least hard to see it end due to a lack of consumer engagement. The MCU accounts for four of the ten highest-grossing films of all time, and with some highly anticipated films slated for release soon, that number is only going to increase, almost because it’s almost certain at this point that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is too big to fail.
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On top of that, we’re now treated to older versions of characters we grew up with sharing the screen with current iterations. Some examples are the two additional Spider-Men in Spider-Man: No Coming Home, and the cameos of a certain Professor X in the recent Doctor Strange film. This will only increase as we get to Avengers: Secret Wars.
So yeah, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is too big to fail, and as long as the quality stays consistent overall and they don’t rest on their laurels, I’m glad that’s the case.
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