Deadpool and Wolverine are fun to watch, and At least The Fantastic Four seems to have a very concrete plan to wow us in 2025, but can Marvel Studios address the current lack of soap opera dynamics and high-stakes drama?
We’d be lying if we claimed to have Phase 4 and 5 titles like Spider-Man: No Way Home, Loki, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Guardians of the Galaxy and more . 3. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever doesn’t have much of an emotional impact, but since Tony Stark’s sacrifice and Thanos’ defeat, everything feels a little weightless and disjointed, doesn’t it?
The first thing I thought after reading Michael Douglas’ thoughts on Hank Pym not dying in the third Ant-Man movie is that, yes, the Marvel Cinematic Universe used to be a lot meaner. As the canvas became more crowded, I thought the large number of characters could be used to dramatic effect with some pruning.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum of Madness remains one of the greatest examples of how to fumble a mind-blowing pitch on paper. Much has been written and discussed about Kang’s failure to be convincing as the big bad in the multiverse saga, except for that very brief moment when Scott Lang almost didn’t make it out of the Quantum Realm (again) Furthermore, the trilogy also lacks emotional stakes. . Pym would not sacrifice himself to save his family, and neither would Lang. The immediate result is that overall victory against the (perceived dangerous) Kang variant appears cheaper.
Please note that when it comes to character deaths, I’m not talking about the Marvel Cinematic Universe turning into Game of Thrones, but rather the plethora of apocalyptic threats that ultimately serve little purpose, and the life-threatening events that barely even matter. Reaching out to older veterans has been slowly damaging audiences’ emotional investment in what was once the biggest, most expensive theatrical film franchise. Regardless of the genre or IP being adapted, people watch these movies because they want to follow the characters’ personal journeys. By the time we got to Infinity War and Endgame, any death or life-threatening scenes felt like hitting a brick wall.
Marvel Studios is rarely in the “shock value” death business (the awful Secret Invasion series being a notable exception), instead making a habit of doing it every time a major character (whether major or minor) dies Take full advantage of this. As mentioned, there are some great examples in recent movies like Spider-Man: No Way Home (where Aunt May dies) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (the entire story is defined by one broken families).Likewise, the final sequence of Rocky Season 2 is stunning, punchy, and makes us rethink the entire story multiverseand Secret Weapon makes us care enough about these characters to worry about losing them forever.
Ironically, the studio isn’t slowing down on its portrayal of most of the compelling female characters in The Infinity Saga. Whether intentional or not, senior women haven’t had a great time in the Marvel Universe lately, and things like the death of Jane Foster (who returned immediately anyway) or the (possibly temporary) sacrifice of Wanda could have been get better treatment. Meanwhile, the “one and done” villains continue to pour in and go through the meat grinder before they get about 15 minutes of total screen time. Marvel has definitely been into shooting guns lately, but does that really have an impact on the story as a whole?
Like the salad of semi-homogeneous content Disney and Marvel Studios have put out in three years, it all seems to come down to misplaced priorities rather than a lack of talent and/or ideas actually trying. It seems like guys like Jon Watts, Ryan Coogler, Sam Raimi, Michael Waldron, and especially James Gunn fought hard enough for their vision. I don’t expect Deadpool and Wolverine to change my mind on the matter, although they look really interesting, so here’s the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 2025 slate , which also includes the return of Daredevil and its street-level human drama, feels like Marvel Studios’ final “make or break” moment.
While I still love most of the MCU, it’s hard to deny that it just doesn’t fit together like it once did, now that we’re starting to appreciate standalone titles like X-Men ’97 more and more.It may seem like we’re tired of the construction of the universe, but in fact, we’re just tired of it half-baked The universe building lacks the right dramatic beats that used to tie everything together.
