Goodbye MCU
Iron Man and his MCU friends have been entertaining us since he first came to the screen in 2008—just don't mention either of Hulk's solo outings. For better or worse, some of those films have helped define the summer blockbuster. But, while Disney Marvel plans many more instalments of the franchise, I don't think I'll be following along.
The franchise up to now has been…patchy. For every Guardians of the Galaxy, there's a Black Panther; for every Captain America: The Winter Soldier, a Captain America: Civil War. I have sat through most of the franchise's instalments as it comes to its ultimate conclusion. Hell's teeth, I even watched Captain Marvel because the character was to appear in the finale. Now I have finally got around to watching Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, and I'm done—as well as feeling cheated for having unnecessarily bothered with Captain Marvel.
Aside from the perilous state of the cinema industry, and questions as to how big-budget films can be sustainable in a splintered streaming market, three developments have come together to make the future of the MCU a lot less compelling than it ever was at its past best.
Burnout
The MCU has been going for over ten years. Inevitably, there have been lows as well as the highs. But even the highs were laden with CGI and ever-greater perils to the people of Earth and the universe as a whole. There comes a point where one becomes jaded, almost fatigued, by it all. Been there, done that, and not only worn the bloody T-shirt, but it's beginning to look a little threadbare.
I think that many people, myself included, saw Avengers: Endgame as just that. It appears that we might be quitting, if not on a high note, at least on a less low one.
Wokeness
Characters are now defined first and foremost by their gender; race; and sexual orientation, rather than their motivations; allegiances; strengths and weaknesses; actions; and powers. Forget solid characterisation and plot, just tick the signalling boxes. The rest is an afterthought.
What's worse, the changes aren't organic. Rather than developing new, compelling characters, or bringing to screen already developed, diverse ones, Kevin Feige's brilliant plan is to simply clone previously successful white male characters, and bitch slap them up with identity politics. This is nothing more than lazy and shallow virtue signalling. Diversity works when it's incorporated naturally, but when it comes as a result of quotas and forced representation it misses the point. It had never occurred to me that the fact that past superheroes were generally white males was important, they were what had made them popular all along—from my vague memories of buying comics as a young lad—come to life and doing superhero deeds based on the powers bequeathed to them by their creators. Making them black or female is just lazy tokenism, and that insults your audience and the underrepresented. But I'm a white male, and thus part of the problem
, I guess. Or am I?
Marvel can do whatever they want with their intellectual property, audiences will either accept it or not. But Thor is not just a Marvel IP, he's based in Norse mythology, so making him a woman is just plain wrong. This is a centuries-old culture that's much deeper and more important than Marvel's trivial superheroes. Certainly, this is not Feige's own original thinking; female Thor was introduced in the comics years ago, but most people will be blissfully unaware because comics are a niche market. Comics, out of necessity, have to have had many story arcs over the decades, and quality is bound to fluctuate, but that doesn't compel the MCU to follow suit.
Or is the Ancient One finally going to return as an aged Tibetan monk? Disney's friends in the CCP will be thrilled!
Disney
This, for me, is probably the biggest issue, since it overrides the other two.
Despite the future of the MCU looking a little lacking in creativity, mired in virtue signalling and tokenism, and despite the overall same-old same-old, there are some upcoming instalments that appeared genuinely interesting, bordering on exciting even. I was looking forward to Black Widow; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3; and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
But that was before Disney got mired in Mulan. The company's cooperation with the CCP is tantamount to complicity in human right's abuses, including genocide, and it's disgusting. Disney can go to hell. I won't give them any more of my money, simply for them to subsidise China's human rights violations.