Marvel Cinematic Migraine
If you're a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, then you probably remember your excitement back in spring 2019. "Avengers: Endgame" was about to be released! “Endgame” was the epic conclusion of the Infinity Saga, an intricately built universe of interconnected movies. “Endgame” is one of my favorite movies of all time. In retrospect, the MCU should have ended there. However, in the name of money, it has continued, and not necessarily for the better.
It's not hard to tell that the quality of post-Endgame content isn't as good as before. For example, the CGI in "She-Hulk'' sometimes looks like the graphics from a PlayStation 2. The stories in "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" and "Ms. Marvel" often dragged on a bit much and would have done much better as films rather than shows.
You have the new, hectic release schedules to thank for that. Pre-”Endgame”, Marvel Studios put out two, maybe three, projects a year at the most. In the year 2023 alone, NINE projects are scheduled to be released. That's three to four years' worth of pre-”Endgame” content in one! Mind you, making these movies isn't cheap. They cost hundreds of millions of dollars to create. Movie studios typically have a set budget for how much they can spend on creating content a year without bankrupting the studio. When that budget is stretched so thin, the quality of the projects begins to suffer, as each doesn't get as much dedicated funds. This is a huge factor as to why new MCU projects are suffering from such poor quality, whether it be the writing or the visual effects.
Another problem 2022’s MCU is facing is the loss of actors. In 2019, a sequel to 2018’s “Black Panther” was announced. In 2020 Chadwick Boseman, the film’s star, tragically and unexpectedly passed away after a secret battle with colon cancer. This left the sequel in a tough spot. Marvel chose not to recast Boseman out of respect for the late actor, and it seems the sequel will be a send-off to both Boseman and his character, King T’Challa.
Do I think the MCU is 100 percent garbage now? Of course not. As much as I think “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” dragged on, it led to a fantastic storyline about Sam Wilson’s struggles as a black man carrying Captain America’s shield in the wake of racial unrest. “Spiderman: No Way Home” was a classic, despite being totally fan service, but that was totally fine. "No Way Home," along with "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," opened up so many more possibilities for new stories. It would be so much better if Marvel would just pace itself so that fans don't become so overwhelmed.
By: Evan Majors