No one believed that the first phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe were, real, but they did connect to the real-time feel of the films. Now, not so much.
Marvel, to put it simply, became confusing and disconnected. I could buy into the creation of Ultron and the hidden world of Wakanda. I could buy into some out of this world nefarious villain known as Thanos. I could even buy into a talking raccoon.
Marvel was fun. The MCU was bound together like a thread from Fate's web. The films were easy to follow and one film set up another after building off the previous.
Marvel then shifted gears. They began diving into the quantum realm and that led to alternate timelines and universes. Suddenly, Doctor Strange was jumping from one realm to another and along the way, the movies started to become convoluted. They became stagnant, disjointed, and harder for the casual fan to follow. Dare I say it, they became, boring.
Disney had a great thing on their hands that fans couldn't get enough so they took to the small screen and brought us WandaVision, Hawkeye, Loki, and more. The Marvels died an ugly death at the box office despite a great showing of Captain Marvel during its first run as a non-ensemble film that was building off Ms. Marvel on Disney+.
Now, new films are coming to the MCU. Deadpool already has broken the 4th wall with its teaser when Ryan Reynolds mentions Disney. He later mentions that he is the Marvel Jesus and mentions the MCU as a whole. It looks fun enough but with the news that The Fantastic Four will now take place in the 1960s and will also take place in an alternate Earth, I'm suddenly less interested in seeing it, at least at the theater.
Yes, I used to run to the theater opening night dragging my son with me. We haven't seen a Marvel movie since GOTG 3. I'm suddenly less interested in Four.
It was interesting enough to try and connect the dots from Asgard to Knowhere and back to Xandar. Now, I have to figure out Earth 616 and all the other Earths. I get that the comics dove headfirst into the whole alternate universe arenas but it feels as though they ran out of stories in the MCU and are now building something that only hardcore fans are likely to get. The casual fan? Not so much.
I don't have any invested interest in Earth - 1,9999 or whatever it's called. Nor do I really care about what this Earth is referred to. I do like more cerebral films but I shouldn't have to pull out a pad of paper and play connect the dots as much as I have now.
Some might say, "How else can you put the Fantastic Four into the current world?" well, that's actually pretty easy. Give them their powers now, post Avengers, and build them from there. Not in the mid-60s in an alternate world.
I might be in the minority but at the same time, I can't help but look at the last few MCU films and wonder if I'm not the only one. The last big success for the MCU came with Spider-Man: No Way Home. In 2021, the film made $804,793,477 million during its run.
The Black Panther sequel managed just over $450 million in 2022 but the film was met with mixed reviews. Doctor Strange made $411 but was also considered to do less than expected.
The Marvels, released in 2023 didn't make it to $100 million becoming one of the worst-performing films in the MCU.
Over-saturation can also take a big toll on the moviegoer. Prices continue to rise for basic needs and the MCU is trying to not only hold a generation that is now 16 years removed from the first Iron Man but also find new fans who weren't born when the first films hit the big screen.
Maybe the alternate universe stuff will play out just fine but for many of us, the confusion is enough to stay away. I'm a pretty big fan of the films but the last MCU film I watched was Wakanda Forever. Sitting in my digital library is Ant-Man: Quantumania and The Marvels and on Disney+ I have yet to watch anything since WandaVision. It simply is too much to keep track of and that is not what Marvel should be striving for.
Just skip the multiverse and make it at least a little more entertaining. At the very least, use it bring back Black Widow.