Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania It is a blockbuster, but far from what is expected of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It may seem like a contradiction, until its importance as the start of phase five is analyzed. The movie of Peyton Reed It had the objective of clarifying fundamental concepts about space-time. As well as introducing—again—a particularly tricky villain. But, above all, telling an original and fresh story that would demonstrate Marvel’s ability to reinvent itself.
Unfortunately, he didn’t make it. Critics insisted on repeating a predictable formula. In addition to a tired argument, where again the hero, in the end, is the one who defeats the villain on duty. There are no new elements, much less surprising. Marvel seems to have exhausted his own scheme.
What becomes a problem that must be solved urgently. With major projects still to be released in 2023, Marvel needs to take action to bring back everything that made its cinematic universe so exciting. Also, decisions at various levels that allow it to return to being a coherent and attractive journey of interconnected stories. What should the study do next?
The Marvel Cinematic Universe Should Abandon Generic Blockbuster
Marvel can be much more than a superficial storytelling vehicle, as some of its most iconic films have demonstrated. the sober Black Panther: Wakanda Forever raises concepts such as historical heritage and pain thanks to Ryan Coogler. Taika Waititi brought lighthearted humor to the latest installments of Thoralso renewing its premise, especially with Thor: Ragnarok. Both proposals abandon common places to explore less common territories in this type of film.
The triumph of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, thus far, has been related to being lighthearted entertainment with abundant technical resources. But gradually, especially as it became more ambitious, the generic blockbuster became insufficient. The repeated version of the hero who saves the day ended up being tedious. Not so much because it lacks appeal, but because each feature film in the franchise is essentially the same with a different face.
Marvel must take steps like creating deeper scripts, with stories that are more than an announcement of things that will happen months or years down the road. At the same time, having directors with their own point of view and a message to give to the audience. Not just creative teams just taking orders and adding information to the central timeline.
Define the formula that identifies the franchise
After 31 movies, Marvel needs to take steps to find the hallmarks of its cinematic universe, beyond its sense of humor or upbeat tone. Are they just a handful of adaptations? Will you try to cover various topics through your well-known arcs? As funny as it sounds, Marvel is still a set of origin stories. Which makes it essential to experiment. The scheme of the character who discovers his powers, who later goes through an existential crisis and finally faces —and defeats— a villain, has run out.
This is one of the consequences of a messy evolution, something Marvel should take action against. His cinematic universe got bigger and bigger, but without a real central plan. Kevin Feige himself has explained, on more than one occasion, that the adaptations live action of the editorial are made from trial and error.
Gradually, an effective formula was achieved: tapes based on the context of the great heroes of the house, which ended up being interconnected in a single setting. The study scrapped experiments in favor of an expanded world. In phase one and two, the method worked well thanks to the ability of the films to tell stories that are very close to each other. But, as he had a greater number of characters and situations, he needed a clearer and more efficient central plan.
Marvel must take steps to abandon the same pattern and find an ingenious way to play with the elements that it handles from its editorial version.
Retrieve the interconnected lines of an expanded universe
Something that made Marvel famous was its ability to intertwine plots in its already famous phases. The fourth broke that continuity and replaced it with large doses of context in the form of series and movies. This Marvel measure implies that productions expand the cinematographic universe in several different directions without evolution. Even, that the data provided by the new content, sometimes, contradict each other. happened with Scarlet Witch and Vision and the movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Wanda Maximoff she became the villain of the Sam Raimi film, despite her story arc in the Disney+ series. A mistake that was never made in phases two and three, which managed to unify stories and circumstances until reaching a satisfactory conclusion in Avengers: Endgame. A feat that was only possible because each line of information closed most of the loose ends that were in the different films released.
Marvel lost, at times, that common thread of events. The consequences of blip — a particular time element of crucial importance — vary, are ignored, or are no longer relevant. Plots do not drive action toward a specific theme or plot. Instead, they delve into figures that will be discarded, and most of the time, they are self-contained. The saga needs to take measures to rediscover its way of weaving together a set of productions that, sooner or later, will coincide with each other.
Improve the content in streaming
The news that Marvel will take action and reduce the series released per year within its cinematographic universe to two seems to be the company’s response to accusations of content saturation. In 2023 we will only have the second season of Loki and secret invasion on Disney+.
This is a measure by Marvel that seeks to amend the errors of the fourth phase, but it does not seem to be enough. There are still at least three future productions whose only objective is to delve into unknown figures. Which leads to the other big problem of the phase that has just ended: the excess of material that leads nowhere and ends up being discarded.
Beyond a curiosity and a tribute to a classic hero of the publishing house, moon knight it is not more relevant. The same could be said of hawkeyea vehicle to show off the figure of Kate Bishopbut from whom we have no news throughout 2023. Neither ironheartwhich will have its own series in 2024. Do these Marvel measures add value to its most relevant productions in the next five years?
The company must prioritize the order and structure of its contents. Also, return to the formula that provided solidity to its evolution. An element that, for now, lost.
Paying more attention to its sprawling mythology should be another measure to fix the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In the first chapter of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, sam wilson (Anthony Mackie) was visiting the museum dedicated to the memory of Captain America. On one of the walls, an enlargement of a photograph could be seen in which Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) was fighting in the middle of the street. For the most observant fans, the image was surprising. In Captain America the First Avenger, from 2011, a sequence showed a photographer who captured the hero with his camera. The image he obtained —judging by the angle and the situation— is the same one that can be seen in the series.
Such details have made the Marvel Cinematic Universe famous for its attention to all elements of its diverse and ever-expanding franchise. Something that he regrettably neglected during the fourth phase, and that he must take steps to improve in the next one.
From contradictions in central stories to details – increasingly exaggerated – that were ignored between films. The studio needs to recapture its scrupulous vision of a world based on references. One that gave sequences like the unforgettable funeral of Tony Stark or its amazing post-credit scenes. An essential value for one of the most lucrative and beloved sagas in cinema.