Hello,

Got sick, so today is going to be short (just wrote it, was not short).

I recently watched Thor: Love and Thunder and Dr. Strange: Multiverse of Madness. This inevitably got me going down YouTube rabbit holes and thinking about it. I haven’t watched everything, but as a nerd who has a little too much time on their hands I’ve watched A LOT.

The general consensus is Marvel doesn’t really know what they’re doing in phase 4. Of course, there is a plan, but after the peak of phase 3, it feels a little aimless. Phase 1 introduced the initial/main characters and brought them all together. Phase 2 expanded a bit, bringing in some new characters, giving existing characters chances to grow, and setting up something bigger. Phase 3 gave us Thanos and payoff for days.

Given phase 4 now has released as many movies as phase 2, introduced tv shows, and has double that planned, it’s hard to see where everything is leaning towards. The end credits have introduced storylines that don’t tease a big bad or a new hero. Instead, they hint at the next chapter of the hero that we don’t know when or how we’ll see. This makes it hard to see the “what is the point” of phase 4.

My guess is Marvel wants to experiment and re-lay groundwork.

From a character perspective, Marvel needs new characters. The big 2 are gone. Out of the original Avengers: 1 (Thor) has more movies coming, 1 (Black Widow) had her last movie, and 2 are side characters (Hawk Eye and Hulk). There are A LOT more characters now. That’s a lot of actors and storylines. At the same time, it feels a little empty. With the OG team mostly gone, ESPECIALLY cap and tony, I don’t have the same love and attachment. It feels like Marvel is trying to find that through more stories. And they realize they need to have young talent on the bench to be ready to go.

The biggest thing that I think Marvel wants to do is prime the audience for what is allowed to be a Marvel film. All the films in phases 1-3 felt and were shot the same. They were very controlled and had to prime the audience for the cinematic universe. For all the wackiness of the characters, it took until End Game to start playing with the multiverse. They’ve also rarely had to play with how to retcon a character or storyline before.

Multiverse of Madness was the first Marvel film that visually looked and felt different than all the other films. The way Love and Thunder was shot felt very different than Ragnarok.

The films are now casually playing with the idea of the multiverse and the existence of beings who have the ability to reshape existence. Is this the first time we’ve seen them, no? Is it the first time they’ve felt so central to the plot of a movie and impactful beyond a single scene? I think so.

Marvel has also had to add tv shows. What I think is most interesting is how they seem to prime people for bigger ideas that get explored later in movies. Loki does crazy multiverse things, then the new strange. Moonknight shows the existence of other classical gods living among us; Thor brings up Ra. It seems like a chance for them to experiment and expand on ideas or characters they haven’t been able to in movies. Does it always work out? No. Falcon and the Winter Solider is considered mid. Still, Marvel plays with what happened to the political landscape of the world after the blip and what it means to represent America while black, given its legacy with race. Comics tend to be a testing ground for new ideas to be played with that worked their way up to the movies. Now it seems like the tv shows are another layer.

My final point is that phase 4 feels like a long beach episode(s) so far. We need a way to calm down after the end of a decade-long arc. We need to add new characters and update people on relationships after a bit of a time skip. Towards the end, we’ll see hints of what the next big arc will be (I’d be shocked if nothing was shown in the upcoming Fantastic 4).

Does this all make this seem a little pointless and disorganized? Yes, clearly. If you were really into the multi-movie narratives and intricate world-building, like many people, this disorganization is a bummer. What brings me joy is despite all this, I know someone different who really enjoyed each movie. One friend loved Eternals, another Black Widow. Same for Strange and Thor. I also know people who hated each. Marvel’s ability to create movies, despite their flaws, that connect with different people while experimenting and resetting makes me feel positive about phase 4 so far.

Night,

Lucas

Hello,

Got sick, so today is going to be short (just wrote it, was not short).

I recently watched Thor: Love and Thunder and Dr. Strange: Multiverse of Madness. This inevitably got me going down YouTube rabbit holes and thinking about it. I haven’t watched everything, but as a nerd who has a little too much time on their hands I’ve watched A LOT.

The general consensus is Marvel doesn’t really know what they’re doing in phase 4. Of course, there is a plan, but after the peak of phase 3, it feels a little aimless. Phase 1 introduced the initial/main characters and brought them all together. Phase 2 expanded a bit, bringing in some new characters, giving existing characters chances to grow, and setting up something bigger. Phase 3 gave us Thanos and payoff for days.

Given phase 4 now has released as many movies as phase 2, introduced tv shows, and has double that planned, it’s hard to see where everything is leaning towards. The end credits have introduced storylines that don’t tease a big bad or a new hero. Instead, they hint at the next chapter of the hero that we don’t know when or how we’ll see. This makes it hard to see the “what is the point” of phase 4.

My guess is Marvel wants to experiment and re-lay groundwork.

From a character perspective, Marvel needs new characters. The big 2 are gone. Out of the original Avengers: 1 (Thor) has more movies coming, 1 (Black Widow) had her last movie, and 2 are side characters (Hawk Eye and Hulk). There are A LOT more characters now. That’s a lot of actors and storylines. At the same time, it feels a little empty. With the OG team mostly gone, ESPECIALLY cap and tony, I don’t have the same love and attachment. It feels like Marvel is trying to find that through more stories. And they realize they need to have young talent on the bench to be ready to go.

The biggest thing that I think Marvel wants to do is prime the audience for what is allowed to be a Marvel film. All the films in phases 1-3 felt and were shot the same. They were very controlled and had to prime the audience for the cinematic universe. For all the wackiness of the characters, it took until End Game to start playing with the multiverse. They’ve also rarely had to play with how to retcon a character or storyline before.

Multiverse of Madness was the first Marvel film that visually looked and felt different than all the other films. The way Love and Thunder was shot felt very different than Ragnarok.

The films are now casually playing with the idea of the multiverse and the existence of beings who have the ability to reshape existence. Is this the first time we’ve seen them, no? Is it the first time they’ve felt so central to the plot of a movie and impactful beyond a single scene? I think so.

Marvel has also had to add tv shows. What I think is most interesting is how they seem to prime people for bigger ideas that get explored later in movies. Loki does crazy multiverse things, then the new strange. Moonknight shows the existence of other classical gods living among us; Thor brings up Ra. It seems like a chance for them to experiment and expand on ideas or characters they haven’t been able to in movies. Does it always work out? No. Falcon and the Winter Solider is considered mid. Still, Marvel plays with what happened to the political landscape of the world after the blip and what it means to represent America while black, given its legacy with race. Comics tend to be a testing ground for new ideas to be played with that worked their way up to the movies. Now it seems like the tv shows are another layer.

My final point is that phase 4 feels like a long beach episode(s) so far. We need a way to calm down after the end of a decade-long arc. We need to add new characters and update people on relationships after a bit of a time skip. Towards the end, we’ll see hints of what the next big arc will be (I’d be shocked if nothing was shown in the upcoming Fantastic 4).

Does this all make this seem a little pointless and disorganized? Yes, clearly. If you were really into the multi-movie narratives and intricate world-building, like many people, this disorganization is a bummer. What brings me joy is despite all this, I know someone different who really enjoyed each movie. One friend loved Eternals, another Black Widow. Same for Strange and Thor. I also know people who hated each. Marvel’s ability to create movies, despite their flaws, that connect with different people while experimenting and resetting makes me feel positive about phase 4 so far.

Night,

Lucas