Marvel Comics, along with DC and every other independent universe out there, provided the framework on which theMCUgrew. While the founding of Marvel Comics might have been slightly more complicated than what Disney did with their Cinematic Universe, Marvel’s fame began, like DC’s, with a few star superheroes in the Golden Age of Comic Books. Those superheroes were brought together in an issue in which they teamed up to create one big fighting force where fans of a single superhero could be introduced to other heroes they might not have read. The comics pretty much did all the work for them when it came to giving the production company a direction to go in.
But now that theInfinity Sagais over, arguably Marvel’s biggest cross-franchise event, the MCU needs a new direction, and it’s tough to find a narrative as massive or compelling as the last one. There are plenty of stories to tell, and the seeds are being planted all over the place. But it’s going to be tough, if not impossible, to top the game-changing cinematic event that theMCU pulled off withEndgame. Nevertheless, Disney continues to raise the stakes.
InLoki, the Infinity Stones are referred to as “paperweights.” InThe Falcon and The Winter Soldier, retired enemies are brought back only to be dwarfed by newer threats. And sure, escalating a threat is an excellent way to keep everyone interested, but what will happen…after?
The MCU Is in Limbo
It’s only been three years sinceAvengers: Endgame, and we’re reaching an end to a state of limbo everyone might have experienced after Phase 3. It’s fair to say we all needed a moment to exhale after coming up from thedeep plunge that was theInfinity Saga, and Marvel needed time to make changes to its universe. Just about all of its founding members, specifically those in the originalAvengersmovie, are being phased out to make room for new heroes and a new set of storylines. And they’ll be going up against villains that could have easily defeated Thanos, even if he had one or two Infinity Stones.
But to some viewers, the emotional impact is somehow lessened. Sure, objectively, the challenges are greater, the scope wider, and the powers more…powerful, but to some people, it can seem like the same old house with a new coat of paint.
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Of course, as we put more distance between ourselves and Thanos, excitement returns for new stories.Spider-Man: No Way Homeproved this by making itself number six on thelist of highest-grossing movies of all time, and Marvel seems to be doing fine without Robert Downey Jr. though we all might miss him. But comic books, after their long-running popularity in their Gold and Silver ages, eventually had to come up with new places to go. New storylines either worked off the success of past events, reviving big villains or building on their consequences (Doom the Annihilating Conqueror), or paying tribute to previous universe-defining heroes (Young Avengers). But eventually, it became impossible to connect all events on one canonical continuity, so you begin to define universes (Earth-616) as opposed to others.
Where Does It All Fit In?
As the MCU orbits the sun that is theInfinity Saga, future events will become defined by things like “the blip,” and all new movies will have to justify where they stand in relation to these first events. Fans have already begun retconning things like theX-Menmovies in order to make Fox’s movies fit before they were absorbed by the ever-growing monster of the entertainment industry that is Disney. And we’ll see just wherePatrick Stewart’s Professor X fits intoMultiverse of Madness.
But as the size of the universe increases and villains expand across timelines and realities, there will eventually come a time when even those worlds become too crowded for new plot lines. DC Comics' answer was to create new production lines or have alternate realities. They completely rebooted their entire universe with theNew 52relaunch event. And more recently,Flashpoint Beyondcreated an utterly different canon based on a limited series that altered the universe in the first place.
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The MCU’s invincible popularity will eventually lead it to a place where there will have been hundreds of movies and extended universe runs. And just like the comics, they will have to decide how to generate new content in a world packed to the gills with heroes with too many stories. The difference between the MCU and the comics is, of course, the people that play these heroes are actually alive.
While Tony Stark in the comic book world can remain the same age for decades, actors grow and change and have lives outside their movies. And so, instead of havinga new person play Batmanevery few years, it’s possible the MCU could define itself through generations of actors playing generations of superheroes, effectively making the characters on screen mortal. The number of plots they could write for a character would be limited by the years an actor could play that role. And eventually, producers would steer the narrative into a plot event (much likeEndgame) that would bring about a new generation of heroes and actors. In that way, Marvel’s Cinematic Universe is less malleable than the world of their comics. And the stakes are much, much higher.
