Marvel Studios changed the movie landscape forever in 2008 with the start of their Marvel Cinematic Universe that has spanned 14 years and 36 projects. Following COVID-19 and the lack of projects Marvel was able to release, the streaming service, Disney +, acted as a means to allow Marvel to now create TV series for the universe. This pivotal step is where Marvel may have made their largest flaw and began the gradual decline of this Marvel renaissance, we have been living in.
On Jan. 15, 2021, Marvel’s Phase four began with the inaugural TV series, “WandaVision,” which has since been succeeded by eight TV shows and six films in the span of a year. In the past it has taken on average two to three years to make it through an entire phase for Marvel with the longest having about 25 hours of content over the span of three years. Phase four already eclipsed the 36-hour mark in one year due to the addition of these Disney+ series according to The Direct. This drastic increase in the amount of content brings up the question: is it getting old?
As someone who has adored the MCU as I have grown up and consider myself to be invested in the franchise, I have failed to force myself to watch the previous two series “Ms. Marvel” and “She-Hulk” due to how tedious it is becoming. One of the charms of the MCU has always been the continuity and connectivity between all the projects, yet now that is becoming an issue because if you miss one of the numerous shows, you will likely be behind in some facet with future projects. I do not think that it is a reach to state that the quality of the franchise has been slowly declining as the focus seems to be more on cranking out as many projects as possible.
JJ Sartain, a mechanical engineering student at OSU, shared similar views on the subject.
“They are certainly focused on quantity. Some of the quality is not the best, but I think it is more of the topics they are choosing such as ‘Ms. Marvel,” he said.
Due to the more recent introduction of “Ms. Marvel”” as a comic character, it is reasonable to not be as interested in a project about her, but that seems to be the route Marvel prefers to take recently.
“Marvel is Marvel,” Sartain said. “It is like “Star Wars” to me. I do not really care what it is about because of what it is.”
The name of Marvel alone seems to do the trick for some lately, but the real question is just how long that will continue to be the case.
With the growing concern of quantity over quality becoming increasingly prominent, it is becoming evident that too much of a good thing can be bad. The future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be an interesting set of events to watch unfold as we will see if Marvel will continue to stand the test of time or dwindle from the spotlight.
