To say that Marvel Studios is feeling the weight of the years would be an understatement. To say that the MCU‘s future is guaranteed would be an outright lie. Fortunately for everyone involved, it looks like even the producers understand the predicament they’re in all too well.
Don’t let the predictable success of Deadpool & Wolverine lull you into thinking that Marvel has already made the epic comeback we’ve been waiting for since after the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021. If anything, reeks of desperation. I mean, what does it say about Marvel when even bringing RDJ back doesn’t pan out the way they anticipate it?
Well, according to a new report circulating on social media, Marvel wants to “end the Multiverse Saga ASAP,” and that’s why they’re pushing around the line-up to wrap things up with Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars as quickly as possible. The first unfortunate victim of this new rejiggering is none other than Shang-Chi 2, which is being pushed aside until Phase Seven.
And to think that despite being a failure at the box office, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was actually one of the better movies in Phase Four. I’m almost positive that Simu Liu will have a part to play in the crossover event, but I don’t suppose it would be anything more than a ing role.
The entire Multiverse Saga has been a disaster from the get-go. Sure, there have been box office successes like Wakanda Forever and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. There have even been half-decent flicks like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and the aforementioned No Way Home. But it seems like for every successful outing, there are two disastrous ones to counter it. Eternals, Love and Thunder, Hawkeye, She-Hulk, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and The Marvels are just to name a few.
Marvel will need to do some fast juggling, and by that, I mean compelling storytelling set with a flawless pace, to counter the negative effects of some of the weaker projects in Phase Five and Six. Robert Downey Jr. needs a proper re-introduction, and that might be easier said than done. Thanos had a headstart as early as the first Avengers movie in 2012, but the producers are counting on RDJ’s endless charm and charisma to carry the next two films this time around. And if that goes well, there’s no telling if the plot itself will be worthy of the MCU mantle, especially since it’s expected to succeed Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
In fact, it might be that Marvel has got it backward. Maybe it’s not the Multiverse Sag, per se, that’s causing the problem. Perhaps it’s the fact that people continually hold everything up against the Infinity Saga, and that’s not a bar so easily overcome.
Then again, we’ve been surprised by Kevin Feige before.
Published: Oct 25, 2024 05:51 pm