Information Overload: An Investigative Look Into The Rise and Fall of the Marvel CinematicUniverse

by Caroline Cords

If you were alive and on the internet anytime in the past 15 years, you almost certainly have either seen or engaged with content surrounding the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). I know for myself, there was about a decade where my family and I were first in line at every movie premiere. I mean, I loved those movies! Even now there are times when I’ll go back and rewatch some of my favorites and honestly, they hold up. I’ve noticed, however, that although these movies used to be something that I cherished, my excitement for the next installments has dwindled. Drastically. Like this kinda sucks. The funko pops I spent weeks looking for are now collecting dust in my closet. The graphic tee’s given to me for Christmas, now used as rags for my dogs. I will say I do take some comfort in this sentiment being shared amongst many in the MCU-sphere, but I want to take a closer look at why this might be. Similarly to the way the MCU breaks up their films, I’m going to break up this investigation into phases, because frankly, trying to look at these films in any larger grouping is absolutely overwhelming.

I think this goes without saying, but I will say it anyway. This blog will probably contain spoilers. Please read with caution.

Phase 1: Humble Beginnings

On May 2nd 2008, Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. brought Iron Man to the big screen for the first time. In doing so, they started work on Marvel producer Kevin Feige’s vision for a ‘shared universe’ of movies, similar to the original comics. It was followed closely by The Incredible Hulk about a month later. The next film was the direct sequel to Iron Man aptly named Iron Man 2, and then came Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger. All of these films included post-credit scenes (an extra scene that acted as an ‘easter egg’ after the credits ran) that intertwined the characters in each other's stories. This gave the audience a nice introduction to their dynamics before their formal introductions, which came in the 2012 film The Avengers. It was a huge success, with a budget of 225 million dollars, it made over one and a half BILLION dollars and it has a 91% tomatometer and audience rating on rotten tomatoes. During this era, Disney purchased Marvel Entertainment and The Avengers was the first film distributed by them.

Phase 2: If It’s Not Broke, Keep Going

If there’s one thing Marvel used to be good at, it was keeping the momentum going,

when they found success. All six of the phase 2 films at least quadrupled their budgets in the

box office, including what I consider to be the most boring MCU film, Thor: The Dark World.

Besides that, phase 2 did a really good job of expanding on all of the characters that we have gotten attached to thus far, and introducing new characters interspersed between those stories. Some of the new characters included the Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man both featuring in their own stand alone self-titled movies. We are also given a new ensemble movie, Avengers: Age of Ultron, that introduced a new villain, Ultron, and new allies to the Avengers, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Vision. In the post-credit scene of the final phase one film, they introduced what could be considered the ultimate nemesis to mankind, Thanos. Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Age of Ultron helped develop the world surrounding Thanos and continued to raise the stakes.

Phase 3: The Golden Age

In just three years, phase 3 nearly doubled the number of films in the MCU, bringing the

total to 23 films. If you had been keeping up, as I had, with every release this was one of the

most exciting times in pop culture. However, it was kind of the beginning of the end for the

casual viewer. There was now a few days of content needed before you could watch the next

movie. However, for those like me, it was exhilarating. There were four new title characters

introduced, Doctor Strange, Spider-man, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel. There were also

two ensemble movies, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, which acted as the two part conclusion to what was dubbed ‘The Infinity Saga’, which enveloped the three phases up to this point. In these movies, they made some… interesting choices. I specifically remember during the spring pep rally in my sophomore year of highschool, someone taking the microphone and announcing to the whole 1100 student school, “Spider-Man and Black Panther die in Infinity War”. The absolute chaos that ensued was insane to 16 year old Caroline who had already watched the film but was sworn to secrecy through the societal norm of ‘no spoilers’. Although they were later revived in Endgame, Marvel did decide to kill off (or retire) four other extremely memorable and crucial characters, Iron Man, Steve Rodgers, Black Widow, and Gamora. This cemented their theme of this phase as moving on. Phase 3 was very clearly a success with both of the Avengers movies claiming spots in the top 10 highest grossing films of all time.

Phase 4: Enter the Multiverse

Phase 4 is frankly insane. In Avengers: Endgame, they formally introduced the

‘multiverse’ to the MCU. In doing so, they were able to tell way more stories than before, but it also spread their audience’s attention too thin. In two years, Marvel introduced seventeen(!?) more projects, including movies and now tv shows. It’s no surprise that with Disney’s hands on it, they have diluted their properties so heavily with spin-offs and alternate universes hidden behind a nice little paywall on their exclusive streaming app, Disney+. I only watched four of these projects and while I enjoyed them, there were parts that I didn’t necessarily understand because I physically couldn’t do all of the homework required for them. In this phase, unfortunately that's what it ended up being, homework. A chore. It was unenjoyable and not engaging. They split up all of their characters into their own little series and we lost a lot of the dynamics between them that drew us in. And with the multiverse, Marvel also introduced large plot holes that made the story make less sense and the stakes convoluted. For example, they introduce these extremely powerful immortal characters in Eternals that have lived through millennia, but then you are left to wonder, ‘Where were they during the events of Infinity War and Endgame? Ya know, when the world was ending?’.

Phase 5: Oversaturating the Market

I don’t honestly have much to say about phase 5, because it just got too hard to follow. I

only watched the third Guardians of the Galaxy film as it is really the only franchise left that can be fairly stand alone, and I have no plans to watch anything else. I’m burnt out. I just don’t care anymore. The one shining light is that Marvel seems to have recognized that they’re going too fast because they only have 12 projects scheduled for Phase 5. Could this potentially be because they are still recovering from the effects of covid impacting the entertainment industry? Probably. But I would like to think that they are re-evaluating their position on how to tell these stories. It’s a better thought for me.