Marvel Admits They Messed Up The MCU & I’m Concerned They’re Trying To Return To Pre-Endgame Glory

Summary

• Robert Downey J. and the Russos’ return feels like a step backward in MCU plans.
• The MCU’s reliance on legacy rather than innovation may not yield success.
• Marvel’s course correction with Avengers: Doomsday raises concerns for the future.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has experienced a number of significant difficulties in recent years. While Deadpool & Wolverine‘s box office gross is already breaking records, the studio has been having difficulty with consistently creating movies that succeed and resonate with audiences. For every Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 generating investment in the universe, the studio has had The Marvels losing them money and Secret Invasion losing them goodwill. With cast details coming out for Avengers: Doomsday confirming a return to the MCU by Robert Downey Jr., there are reasons to be worried that the studio is learning the wrong lessons from its failures.

Following several years of buildup, the MCU has revealed their Kang replacement, shifting the entire trajectory of their universe. Avengers: Doomsday was originally supposed to be Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, and would have featured new teams of the Avengers fighting off that multiversal threat. This was built up in Loki as well as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Unfortunately, after the actor was convicted of assault, Jonathan Majors was fired from the MCU, and the studio began looking to replace him. It is unclear if, following these new announcements, Kang will still be recast to ever appear again.

RDJ And The Russos’ Returns Feel Like A Step Backward

Marvel’s New Plan For The MCU Doesn’t Seem All That New

With the return of Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, and Robert Downey Jr., the Marvel Cinematic Universe seems to be backtracking on all of its plans. Granted, the MCU has faced a number of setbacks since Avengers: Endgame: T’Challa was supposed to be an important member of the Avengers before Chadwick Boseman tragically passed away; Jonathan Majors was supposed to be a significant villain before his conviction; Marvel’s biggest hero, Spider-Man, is not even owned by their studio. However, this sudden pivot backward feels less like a course correction than it does an act of giving up.

All of this feels less like creative innovation and more like a desperate, superficial assemblage of the data points that have worked in the past.

There are certainly ways to explain how Robert Downey Jr. can play Doom that make sense. The Oppenheimer star certainly has the range and presence to handle the role. The question is how the role will be handled differently. The MCU knows they are missing something without Downey’s charm and charisma, so it seems the reason to bring him back is to do the same thing over again. All of this feels less like creative innovation and more like a desperate, superficial assemblage of the data points that have worked in the past.

I’m Concerned Marvel Is Learning The Wrong Lessons From Phases 4 & 5

The MCU Is Choosing To Look Backward Rather Than Forward

Marvel has clearly struggled through Phases 4 and 5 with The Marvels being the MCU’s biggest bomb ever, and Secret Invasion its worst-reviewed project to date. Many of the studio’s Disney+ series haven’t connected with audiences, and their overall box office has trended downward since Avengers: Endgame, though outside factors have contributed to its decline. There are clearly things that need to be fixed, but pinpointing those exactly is difficult. Truly, Marvel needs to make better content that engages audiences, and those need to both stand-alone and better contribute to an overall story. How to get there is a complex solution that requires new, engaging additions of characters and stories to expand the universe.

Instead, Marvel has turned only to legacy. With Spider-Man: No Way Home uniting the disparate Spider-Man franchises to great financial success, Deadpool & Wolverine shattering box office records, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 providing a loving sendoff to beloved characters, it seems Marvel is only seeing what came before as a path to success now. Instead of trying to build on the success of characters like Shang-Chi and Kate Bishop, they are turning to an exact equation that profited them in the past, hoping it will do so again. This is a limited and short-sighted approach.

I’m Not Convinced Marvel’s Course Correction Will Work

Some Avengers: Doomsday Details Are Concerning

Rumors of Marvel’s direction have circulated in the past year, with Shawn Levy reported to direct Avengers 5 less than two months before this announcement. If these considerations were still being made so recently, it doesn’t speak well to the state of Marvel and makes the addition of the Russos feel more like a last-minute last resort. In addition to this, they are now about to start filming Phase 6 with The Fantastic Four: First Steps, so if this was so recently decided, it means that Phases 4 and 5 will not contribute to this new culminating story.

Notably, Joe and Anthony Russo have also not been successful in their post-Avengers:Endgame era, generating content with poor to middling responses like The Gray Man and Citadel. The directors have clearly worked well with Marvel, and one of their screenwriters, Stephen McFeely, is also returning. This is a recipe that has found success for the studio, but returning to this formula and bringing back celebrated actors feels less like creative innovation and more like a hollow, shallow cash-grab. Certainly, this could end up working out splendidly. However, there are too many issues to ignore.

It is important that Marvel finds a way to build their brand larger and more lasting. The MCU is not going anywhere anytime soon, but the studio needs to find a way to resonate with audiences more consistently. Bringing back some of the pieces that worked in the past is a short-term solution to the larger issue. Whether or not Avengers: Doomsday connects with audiences remains to be seen. However, either way, with the end of that story’s arc in Avengers: Secret Wars, the Marvel Cinematic Universe will return to the same ill-defined place that it is in now.