The MCU's behind-the-scenes footage is more interesting than the movies

With so much behind-the-scenes drama ahead of Phase 5, is Marvel's dominance at the box office over?

It's hard to believe how much pop media culture has changed since The Avengers hit theaters a decade ago. Before Joss Whedon's comic book crossover event, comic book movies were sure to be popular, as the Spider-Man, X-Men, and Dark Knight franchises were all cultural events and box office hits. With the Avengers, however, Marvel Studios seems to have accomplished the impossible. The dream of seeing characters come together for a "splash cover" crossover event that works in its own way is like seeing everyone's childhood dreams come true. Marvel has somehow recruited great actors and filmmakers to treat Stan Lee material like a modern day myth.

The success of Phases 2 and 3 is once again built on seemingly impossible egos; Marvel Studios is building anticipation for their upcoming projects and planting the seeds for the final, defining event, but they Individual filmmakers are still allowed to bring their directorial personality to their films. Iron Man 3 is Sean Black's cop buddy black comedy, Guardians of the Galaxy is James Gunn's wonderfully weird family comedy, Spider-Man: Homecoming is Jon Watts' modern adult comedy, Thor: Ragnarok is Taika Waititi's campy space opera, Black Panther is Ryan Coogler's timely political thriller. While not every movie is of the same quality, the consistent output is pretty amazing; and as Fox's X-Men franchise and Warner Bros.' DCEU continue to produce mixed results, Marvel Studios appears to be ahead of their rivals.

With the success of Infinity War and Endgame (which briefly topped the list of highest-grossing films of all time before Avatar reclaimed the award), Marvel seems to have peaked, and unfortunately, the Assessment is outdated correct. The question heading into Stage 4 is obvious: where do you go next? As the franchise continues to double down on crossovers and produce more content than ever before, the results are messier, of varying quality, and the overall story becomes incomprehensible for the average audience. Amid these creative lows, the really interesting story of the MCU is how it treats filmmakers, and how the franchise changed Hollywood forever.

A Bit Too Big?

Phase 4 encountered a crisis that no one could have foreseen—movie theaters closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Not surprisingly, this has forced every studio in the industry to start questioning their future, which is It was a tough pill to swallow for Marvel. Kevin Feige has been praised by industry insiders and fans alike for his ability to plan years in advance, planning every step of the story. However, a less-reliable box office, the emergence of Disney+ as a streaming business, and a less enthusiastic audience seem to have forced him to make some awkward adjustments.

Marvel Studios started Phase 4 with some signs that they were taking stars and talent for granted. The prevailing attitude toward the Black Widow standalone movie is that it's a few years too late and feels like a half-hearted apology to Scarlett Johansson and fans for the constant mistreatment of Natasha Romanoff ( Especially her storyline in Age of Ultron) sparked controversy). The situation was further complicated by a pay dispute with Johnson due to the simultaneous release model of the films. Moreover, marketing techniques appear to paint Johnson as a villain, an especially troubling message in an industry where women are often underpaid. There was also a mistake that caught the attention of Shang Qi and Ten Rings legend star Simu Liu when Disney CEO Bob Chapek mentioned the film's release as an "experiment". Is this moment of truth for the Asian representatives just a way for the conglomerate to test out the release model?

It's also clear from the 2021 output that Marvel is no longer building a universe where casual fans can simply "opt in" to projects they're interested in. If you haven't seen WandaVision, you won't understand the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel, and the "big bad" of the "saga of the multiverse" isn't revealed until the end of the Loki series. It raises interesting questions about the studio's role with fans: Are they willing to watch movies and shows they're not interested in just to keep up? After mixed reviews for the Disney+ show and the Phase 4 movie, "The Eternals" earned the studio its first real critical bomb.

Sticking to the Formula

At the same time, it seemed that the universe was too big, had to make last-minute adjustments, and the studio couldn't handle all the changes. COVID-19 has forced The Falcon and The Winter Soldier to rework the storylines, and elements of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness seem to be at odds with Wanda's (Elizabeth Olsen) Character arcs in WandaVision. Without a doubt, the most acclaimed project in Phase 4 so far is Spider-Man: No Way Home, a movie that's just nostalgic and tells a standalone story.

More and more directors were replaced or disrespected for not following Marvel's marching orders as creative missteps raised questions about the studio's commitment to fans. There were hints of this briefly in Phase 2, but considering Edgar Wright was developing Ant-Man before the MCU took shape, and Patty Jenkins' idea for Thor: The Dark World needed some work, these "creative differences ” is somewhat understandable.

However, when James Gunn was briefly fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the idea that Marvel was nothing without its corporate overlord was underscored. 3 controversial comments that have been revived on social media by a right-wing conspirator. Plus, Marvel seems reluctant to let the directors take any bolder risks that would give away too much straying from the formula. After all, Scott Derrickson originally promised that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness would be the first "scary" MCU movie before leaving the mysterious "creative" project difference. The most shocking change came recently, when Yann Demange was brought in to helm "The Movie" after previous director Bassam Tariq mysteriously "left" shortly before filming was scheduled to begin Blade.

How the MCU Changed the Industry

No wonder Marvel Studios' cultural dominance has caught the attention of some of the greatest filmmakers in the industry's history. In the decade since The Avengers, every studio seems to have adopted The same "multimedia crossover" approach and trying to replicate its success. While Hollywood has been turning its sights to sequels, we've seen films like DC, Star Wars, Star Trek, Ghostbusters, Dark Universe, World of Monsters, Lord of the Rings, and Thrones Franchises such as 2019's and 2019's games are all trying to adopt the same formula with mixed results. At a time when everyone is chasing Marvel, the originators of these industry trends are experiencing more setbacks than ever before.

Keeping up with Marvel's output is getting better Difficult because of the sheer amount of content that will probably only be available to true die-hard fans, who will accept any glitches in the system to get the full experience. Uncovering the backstory, however, is a far more compelling story, one that may herald an entertaining The story of where is the industry Will go in the future.