The State of the MCU: Dodging the Misses

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS AND THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER

Despite the fear that ‘superhero fatigue’ would set in and suck the hype out of Disney’s plans to continue the Marvel Cinematic Universe, three films released since the end of 2021 have reclaimed the ground that cinemas lost during the pandemic. Spiderman: No Way Home made its way to number six on the list of the highest-grossing movies of all time, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness opened up the possibility of crossovers with the X-Men, and with the What If? stories. The worry for me has been that since Endgame, Marvel has to deliver on huge expectations for every new film. Disney+ exclusive shows like WandaVision and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier have been fleshing out the universe that we know and giving characters that have often been sidelined a chance to shine, but after Multiverse of Madness it became clear that for the ‘cinematic’ part of the MCU to stay fresh and exciting every movie would have to have huge stakes and give so much more to an audience who have seen superheroes punching each other for decades.

 Blade (1998) was the first movie produced by Marvel Studios that was well received and made good profits and was the movie that really signalled to Marvel that film adaptations of their properties could be lucrative. Then Iron Man teased the existence of a larger universe. But Marvel movies have become something more since then. Avengers Infinity War and Endgame felt more like a huge season finale for the MCU than a theatrical conclusion or films that are independent of each other. A full season of one of the Marvel shows feels like one long episode in the ongoing story. The amount of required watching to be completely up to date is ballooning at an alarming rate - to watch Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and feel like you aren’t missing anything you should have watched Doctor Strange, WandaVision, Spiderman: No Way Home and potentially even Endgame, Captain America, Captain Marvel and Loki. It can be intimidating. And certainly, the episodic nature of the whole thing doesn’t help with the feeling that there is just too much content. Multiverse of Madness was good though! The tone sat somewhere comfortably between Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead campiness and the real horror of a classic slasher, with over-the-top kills and an unstoppable and iconic killer. In this way, it stood out from the rest of the MCU in a way that it really needed to. Stakes are something that the older MCU movies lack in a very irritating way, but Multiverse of Madness brings in fan favourite characters (it is amazing to see Mister Fantastic on screen again) and then kills them in some of the most violent deaths so far in the whole selection of movies. It surprised me and impressed me that these films could catch my interest again, although how much of that was Raimi’s direction is hard to tell.

I went into Thor Love and Thunder incredibly apprehensive. Multiverse of Madness set itself apart from the Disney+ shows by being huge, weird and unapologetic. Having to recreate that step away from what has come before is a lot of pressure to put on a character who has three movies under his belt where only one and a half are thought of favourably. The effects and themes in shows like Loki have shown a movie-going audience that something well-written and visually stunning can be streamed to their home in a bloated season of otherwise decent TV. The need to step up increases with every film and every show. So when I watched Love and Thunder I was pleasantly surprised. A little relieved even. Taika Waititi has proven himself as a director who can take a passable premise and turn it into something so much more. The God-Butcher perfectly rode that Raimi line of campy and legitimately intimidating. The humour proved that the film doesn’t take itself seriously at all, but it works perfectly when paired with the serious subject matter of Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and her cancer diagnosis. This lets the tone go from insane over-the-top humour and slow-motion action sequences to really well-written (and well-performed for that matter) scenes of tense conversation between ex-lovers who still care for each other and reconnect at a time when both have decided to start living again. We see New Asgard fall to Gorr’s shadow creatures, we see a collection of bizarre gods in paradise. The scope is impressive and the stakes are high - if Jane Foster had survived as I thought she would the movie might have fallen a little flat for me. Mjolnir and Stormbreaker are developed as essentially weapon-pets that interact with the characters in interesting ways and bring more emotion to the film.

For now, after Multiverse of Madness, Love and Thunder and the promise of more unique films headed by talented directors, I am a little more confident in the state of the MCU. Although, maybe that will change when I catch up with Ms Marvel… And if the hit-and-miss approach fails to dodge some of the inevitable ‘superhero fatigue’ then maybe the newly announced Blade project will sink the MCU - if only to bookend the era of Marvel films with the vampire slayer!