It’s not been a great couple of years for Marvel, from a critical perspective at least. Despite MCU Phase Four films continuing to flood the studio’s coffers with cash, countless viewers have been complaining about this section of the franchise — bad writing, confused plots, and overly long movies being just three of the most popular criticisms. However, there are some fans who are still looking on the bright side, giving studio execs something to smile about.
With seven films and eight television shows, Phase Four certainly had the space to do something interesting, especially with the outpouring of goodwill that all the Avengers films managed to give the franchise. In many ways, it was the perfect time for projects like WandaVision and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law to come out, as the pressure was off. And, there were some definite successes, too: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Eternals were all box-office hits.
However, the Infinity Stones being replaced by the Multiverse as the centerpiece of the overarching narrative seems to have been one of the main reasons for the drop in audience and critical engagement. Multiverses are not easy concepts to write about, especially when your source material (like Marvel’s) is often contradictory.
The lack of crossovers is also something many have commented on. We haven’t, for example, seen Nick Fury popping up all over the place like he has in previous phases, or a star-studded gathering like with the Avengers films.
However, as mentioned above, the main issue many audiences have with Phase Four is a simple lack of quality. WandaVision could have been something truly unique, but it fell into a safe, generic, somewhat unsatisfying resolution with an overreliance on CGI. And then there were complete flops like Thor: Love and Thunder, which seemed to prioritize corny jokes above utilizing the brilliant abilities of its lead actors. When you add in the fact that this was one of the largest phases crammed into the smallest amount of time, it makes sense that fans are suffering a kind of Marvel fatigue.
With that said, there have been many positives for fans. Aesthetically speaking, there have been plenty of high points in recent films thanks to advances in CGI technology, and even bigger budgets.
A desire to connect with issues like mental health, trauma, and grief — even as the plots and technologies in films became more fantastical — is also definitely a positive direction for the franchise to be heading in, and something Phase Four really delved into. There are other reasons to be hopeful. With last year’s news that phases four to six are all part of the Multiverse saga, we might have a renewed appreciation for this phase once all the content is out.
For now, there’s no doubt Marvel still has the goodwill from fans it needs to turn all of this around, and it will for a while yet.