TheMarvel Cinematic Universehas had a stop-start, up and down few years after the release of its epic and climatic filmAvengers: Endgame. This is now a new era for the franchise, with many of the original heroes, like Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow all handing the baton over to a new collection of characters.
The approach to theMCUfrom Marvel Studios in the years sinceAvengers: Endgamehas come under great scrutiny and criticism in recent months. Fans and critics have cited the Disney Plus content, for example, as too anti-climatic and throwaway in nature. There have also been labels of laziness thrown at the Disney Plus shows, as well as the fact that many fans have stated that too many series are releasing on the streaming service too quickly. The MCU has always been known for its high output of new projects, but the vast amount of new movies and shows coming out all at once has seemed to overwhelm audiences, and perhaps even the creators, as well as the quality control, doesn’t seem to be as tight as it once was.
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Because of these issues, audiences have been discussing how the MCU could best solve its problems, especially in the wake of changes to its primary competitor, the DC Universe. The MCU could potentially be heading for a soft reboot of sorts, resetting the universe and allowing audiences who may have tuned out after the events of the Infinity Saga to come back and catch up easily. This would also allow for the focus to return to a core group of heroes, just as it was during the first ten years of the franchise, with Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, Shang-Chi, and Sam Wilson’s Captain America as some of the potential main faces.
The MCU needs a hard refresh
As stated, the problems and issues have begun to mount for the MCU in the wake of its new era. After what began with a promising start with the release of the viral and popularWandaVisionin early 2021, the MCU has failed to find its footing in the years since.There have been some incredibly popularand successful entries, such asSpider-Man: No Way Home, but even that was surrounded by a series of disappointing and dull stories around it. Fans have been underwhelmed by some of the most crucial and important stories of this new chapter in the franchise, mainlyDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of MadnessandAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Because of that, interest in the new main plot line, which is the imminent threat of Kang and his multiverse variants, isn’t that high at this moment in time.
There are still some promising elements to the MCU, such as some of the heroes and the potential for animmense amount of world buildinglike they had during the Infinity Saga. However, right now, things appear to be too scattered, and it seems highly unlikely that all of the movies/shows can interconnect to create a satisfying culmination story like they did during the Infinity Saga withAvengers: Infinity WarandAvengers: Endgame. In many ways, things have gotten too big, too complex, and this has led to audiences picking and choosing what they want to watch rather than watching every new MCU story, thus creating the disparity in box office numbers (the disappointing final total forAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniacompared toSpider-Man: No Way Home, for example).
The MCU could benefit from a DCU-style reboot
Just as this is happening to the MCU, the DC franchise is currently in the midst of its own reboot. The details of the new DCU and the reboot of the franchise aren’t 100% clear, but it will be a mostly changed universe with new versions of Batman, Superman, The Flash, and potentially even Wonder Woman. Some of the only characters remaining in this new world will include a few of the anti-heroes fromSuicide Squad(2016) and James Gunn’s follow-up from 2021. This sort of reboot would certainly suit the MCU. It would allow the creators to keepthe most popular and beloved heroesin the franchise, such as Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, while also streamlining the proceedings and resetting the overarching storyline to something that feels more appealing to audiences.
Same MCU but new heroes?
A reboot like this would mean a collection of new heroes alongside a few familiar faces. This would give the franchise the opportunity to have a roster of characters that looks more like the group of classic Marvel Comics heroes that have existed in publishing for years. This could include the X-Men and Fantastic Four, making their long-awaited debuts in the franchise, as well as someless-known superheroesas well. The MCU has thrived on bringing some lesser-known characters into the franchise and turning them into fan favorites, such as the Guardians of the Galaxy, for example, so it would be wise for them to continue that pattern.
