Did you also expect more from Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
There are projects in the film and series area that stand out from the rest of the works like a shining beacon because they tell stories that many fans have long considered unfilmable with a quality that is still unparalleled even after years. For me, the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy by Peter Jackson is clearly one of these beacons, as is Game of Thrones in the series area or the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The lighthouses themselves impressively show how difficult it is to deliver this enormously high quality again and again. The Hobbit films a few years later couldn’t even come close to the quality of the first trilogy, although again Jackson directed, produced and wrote the script. The fantasy series by David Benioff and DB Weiss will always suffer from the fact that those responsible for the finale of the story(s) didn’t take as much time at the end as they did in the first six seasons.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe
In the case of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, however, the signs were very different from those of GoT. When Iron Man started in 2008, nobody was talking about an entire universe made up of countless films and series. Instead, I watched each film individually: the Iron Man films were super entertaining thanks to Robert Downey Jr. The Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, on the other hand, I found “just” okay. The MCU really got off to a good start with Marvel’s The Avengers. An exclamation point that was incredibly fun and should pave the way for the next two phases.
These phases then consisted of a total of 17 films (!) that Marvel would bring to cinemas in just six years and two months. In terms of tonality, there were always productions that provided a breath of fresh air. If the Avengers films were responsible for the superlative blockbuster action (and for connecting the many different storylines), the Guardians of the Galaxy made for a good mood, Ant-Man for small but fine action moments and Black Panther for African exoticism.
Thanos was a fantastic villain. This greatly enhanced the third phase of the MCU.
Source: Marvel
At the end of phase 3, Kevin Feige and the Russo brothers with Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame then managed the feat of bringing these many individual films together into a furious ending that at least exceeded my (high) expectations (even if the films certainly weren’t perfect). How did I write back then? in my review of Endgame?
“There has never been such an ambitious project with so many interwoven films and characters. One can only give them respect for the fact that the average quality of the films was good to very good across the board and at the same time they managed to juggling all the different storylines and letting them culminate in those 182 minutes. Huge cinema, Marvel!”
Huge footprints for phase 4
The fourth phase of the MCU has been running since 2021, with which a new story arc is being built around the multiverse. Despite the corona pandemic, there have already been six films and nine series in just under 20 months (although not all episodes of She-Hulk: The Lawyer have been released yet). All that’s missing is Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which is slated to hit theaters on November 11, 2022. After that, we’ll continue with phase 5 (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania) in February 2023.
So far I’m not really enthusiastic about phase 4. Let’s go through the various films and series:
- WandaVision: A whimsical start to Phase 4 that was delightfully different from the rest of the MCU with its black-and-white sitcom charm. Thanks to the short duration of the episodes, it was wonderful to look away.
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Basically, I found FAWS to be a successful continuation of Endgame or the Captain America story arc. The action didn’t have to hide behind the films, Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan harmonized well and it never got boring. However, Karli Morgenthau didn’t work for me as an antagonist.
- Loki: Great cast, visually stunning set design and loving details meet crude moments, pseudo-intellectual dialogues and shorter lengths. The series oscillates between great and poor.
- Black Widow: I’m a fan of Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff. Florence Pugh is convincing as her sister. The chemistry between the two and their physique in the fights is right (even if the action scenes were very cut up at times). That’s why I enjoyed the film. Nevertheless, looking back, I have to say that the film’s tonality was rather out of round (a dark-cynical-brutal starting point that is repeatedly torpedoed by slapstick scenes, plus: generic villain).
- What If…?: An anthology of different “what if” scenarios, some fantastic, some moderately exciting.
- Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: Let’s face it, this film was made to position the MCU more strongly in the important Asian market. As an old martial arts and wuxia fan, I was even able to get a lot out of the strip. However, the thunderstorm of CGI effects at the end left me pretty cold, and within the MCU the film seems like a foreign body.
- Eternals: In my opinion the worst movie in the MCU so far. As an emotional anchor, the Eternals work null. Figures with character? There is not any. Instead, care has been taken to ensure that the Eternals are as “diverse” as possible, which makes no sense at all in the context of these God-made super warriors. The film is too long and too overloaded at the same time. Despite all the “epic” moments just plain boring.
- Hawk Eye: Here we have the complete opposite of Eternals. Hawkeye is grounded, human, personable. With fine action moments, crisp dialogues and a good portion of self-mockery. Wonderful!
- Spider-Man: No Way Home: While there’s no Avengers in the title, with No Way Home we have what I think is the only Phase 4 film to date that offers the kind of MCU blockbuster theatrical experience that the Avengers films have primarily been responsible for so far were. I particularly liked the many guest appearances. So I’m in the mood for the multiverse!
- Moon Knight: Here I am still abstaining. We haven’t gotten past the first episode yet. Since it was only “okay”, we preferred other series.
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: I’m a fan of Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Strange and I like Sam Raimi’s handwriting as well, and at times the two go together beautifully in the Multiverse of Madness. What I don’t like though: How Wanda Maximoff’s story continues here after WandaVision. Also, I found the Illuminati’s performance (and the manner in which they were dealt with) quite disappointing.
- Ms Marvel: This Bollywood coming-of-age interpretation of the MCU wasn’t mine, but I guess I’m not the target audience either. I actually liked Kamala Khan from Marvel’s Avengers more, even if the game was pretty meager apart from the story staging.
- Thor: Love and Thunder: Just caught up, the impressions of Love and Thunder are still fresh. What a slapstick festival by Taika Waititi. The film was really funny at times. As part of the MCU, however, the film was also incredibly bad at the same time. Thor is just a clown. The dramatic fate of Jane Foster is completely lost in gag fireworks. Christian Bale as a vengeful godslayer? given away! Russell Crowe as Zeus? A parody. After all, the multiverse doesn’t play a role here. That way Waititi couldn’t damage anything.
- I am Groot: Short, crisp episodes that my kids love.
- She-Hulk: The Lawyer: We’ve seen three episodes so far. I liked the first episode best because the chemistry between the two Hulks is right and many of the gags are spot on. But I rate episodes 2 and 3 only benevolently as “okay”. What I find particularly difficult is the undertone with which the series is told. In principle, all the men in the series are pigs, criminals or stupid (and many of the women aren’t very likeable either). She-Hulk, on the other hand, is more capable than her brother in every respect from the start, morally superior to everyone else and at the same time a victim of old white men who want to fire her or take advantage of her. There are also many illogical, meaningless situations. The incomprehensible handling of subscription. Let’s see where this will lead…
Let’s be clear: I found the current phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to be quite mixed. For every highlight comes a disappointment, although in the end I had more fun with some series than with most films. The red thread of the multiverse has actually been taken up and followed up by a surprisingly small number of productions. The Avengers are missing from every corner, as they have always been the glue that holds the MCU together.
My hope now is that Kevin Feige and Co. can get the MCU back on track with the upcoming films about Black Panther, Ant-Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy, so that we can hopefully focus on a phase 6 another fantastic finale to the multiverse story. But I’m not really optimistic at the moment. How do you rate the present and future of the franchise? Are you looking forward to the upcoming films?
Reference-www.buffed.de
