Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” has been out for over two weeks now and has become a phenomenon in and of itself. The film has been breaking box office records and giving fans the conclusion of the 22 chapter saga they have been hoping for. But is it just a conclusion? Or is there hope for the Marvel Cinematic Universe moving forward?
For the past 11 years the MCU has been running, plenty have admitted to feeling worn-out by the vast number of superhero films released year after year, and its hard to not see where they’re coming from. After “The Avengers” became the smash hit we all know it to be today, it feels like the market has become overpopulated with superhero movie after superhero movie coming out within months of one another. To top this, many of the films coming out during this time had a very repetitive feel to them. The plot structure, tone, characters, production values and direction to them began to feel incredibly monotonous.
With the release of many of the entries in phase three, including “Captain America: Civil War,” “Black Panther,” “Infinity War” and “Endgame,” even those who weren’t fans of the franchise had a new found respect for the dramatic weight these films could carry. However, they may have done too well. With so many of these stories having come to such satisfying ends, it’s hard to imagine how Marvel will top themselves from here on out. If film history has taught us anything, genres and movements in the industry always come and go.
For some, there is a concern that the MCU will never quite reach the level of freshness and excitement moving forward. Third year animation major Charlotte Pang has her doubts, saying, “I think that Marvel will be okay after ‘Endgame,’ but just okay. They won’t ever get to the hype that they have for this phase. A lot of the more iconic characters might have more popular viewings like Spider-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy, but I don’t think the audience will be too interested in anything else. “
Others look at things with a more optimistic viewpoint, with hopes that the MCU will continue to introduce new characters to this universe and expand on their world-building. Fourth year animation major Amario Andre said, “I think Marvel will be just fine, they know how to plan ahead. If anything, ‘Endgame’ sets up some stories for the future of the newer generation of heroes. I think people forget that Iron Man wasn’t that big of a character before the MCU movies — neither were the Guardians of the Galaxy. I’m excited to see which hero takes the helm of the new phases.”
And with the recent Disney acquisition of 21st Century Fox, there are certainly plenty of new heroes the MCU has to choose from. The iconic X-Men and Fantastic Four are now up for grabs to join this ever growing collection of characters and our students feel excited to see the possibilities of their inclusion in this universe.
Pang continued, “I do wonder what they’re going to do with X-Men, Deadpool and Venom since they’ve got their hands on them. I hope they can bring some better storytelling to these teams that really deserve it.”
Andre also stated, “There’s still characters like the X-Men which are now in the same universe as the Avengers. I’m guessing in terms of the villains, Galactus will be the next big baddie, but they’ll probably focus on smaller villains for the time being seeing as we just got Thanos.”
Regardless of what happens with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we’ll be there every step of the way to see what exciting new directions they go down and are ready to support them — whatever it takes.
