We’ve all been fans of Marvel movies since the release of Iron Man in 2008 who was our first superhero.
Marvel has been a part of our childhood and our lives since then and has impacted society in many ways. Marvel releases a bunch of movies in groups which are referred to as Phases. Marvel is ending its phase 4 this December with a tribute movie to Chadwick Boseman with a Black Panther sequel, “Wakanda Forever”. We can analyse marvel by its Phase 4 as we see a huge change in marvel and how they project its superheroes by opting for the OTT web series Marvel has stepped into a whole new era where it is brewing its new superheroes.
But is it all worth it? are the new superheroes good enough? Are the new storylines liked by the core Marvel fans?
Was a merger with Disney plus a good decision?
Marvel set its standard, a benchmark that all their fans were so passionate about from the time they released their very first film, “Iron Man”, till its, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” sequel. They did make a smart move by playing around with the horror genre with “Doctor Strange: The Multiverse of Madness”, yet it didn’t stand to everyone’s liking as it started veering out of its staple, standard protagonist-centred films. It felt like the movie was made for Wanda and Ms America, a child who does not know how to use her powers.
With all these changes you can see the fanbase dividing into two groups. One is the older core fans who have grown up watching Marvel films and the other is the young audience who have recently started and following up the Marvel universe.
People do say that they started noticing this style shift since the release of Eternals, a slightly disappointing movie for me. The craze of marvel is there, and the movies are not overhyped, but with more content released on OTT it feels like there is a lot of content to catch up with and all of them are not the usual normal Marvel Standard.
It feels more like the older superheroes are retiring and handing over the ‘light’ to the new heroes while Marvel retains its core audience it is making its younger audience happy and excited about the content that is coming up in Phase 5 and Phase 6. People went bonkers when Marvel announced its future plans. Even though the older Marvel was amazing, instead of questioning the new superheroes we should start watching them as a whole new phase.
Loki and Moon knight was loved by the audience even with the release of Ms Marvel the future looks pretty cool. Of course, you can’t find the same feel and experience in the movies as they are evolving and experimenting with new genres.
In my opinion, the content that is put up on the OTT platform feels more Marvel than the last two theatre releases. Thor: Love and Thunder as well as Dr Strange: The Multiverse of Madness, felt more like pass down of powers and did not satisfy the expectations that we fans had, but ‘I am Groot’ short 4-episode series, The Daredevil gives me a hope that Marvel will come with a bang on.
Personally, I am excited for the Multiverse Saga, with the announcement of Thunderbolts, Blade, Echo, and Ironheart, it all feels like a platter of new stories and experiences.
The most exciting of them all is, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume3, Captain America: The New World Order and The Fantastic 4. There are different theories about the upcoming movies which also means that people are expecting certain something and with the multiverse being so amazingly crazy you cannot spoil or expect less from Marvel.
This can either be a great boost or the beginning of the downfall of Marvel. It is very important that fans understand that its movies are evolving and if they don’t the content will become very redundant. I love how representation has become an important part of the movies, Black Panther, Shang Chi, and Ms Marvel are some of the great examples. There are theories that say that the next Black Panther will be a woman which is really cool. The superheroes are always ‘Men’ and Male Centric with the new evolving Marvel you can see women as superheroes who are inspiring and important.
Wanda was the only strong woman shown in the last 4 phases, some may say why I mention just Wanda and why not Black Widow, Gamora, Nebula and Okoye. Well, that is because these characters were not focused on and were more like ‘just there' and did not have much of an impact. Wanda had a great story she was in focus and was given importance in the movies. Now we can all see that Marvel has started to focus on the Women superheroes, with the release of She-Hulk, Hawkeye, Ms Marvel, Captain Marvel and possibly the new Black Panther you can clearly see that it is trying to improve representation and balance.
So, will Marvel come back with big hits or will it all be the downfall of Marvel?
Will Marvel retain its fans?
Will Marvel give the same experience, or it be better and unexpected?
I guess we will find answers to all these questions in next two years, till then Marvel will remain one of the biggest fandoms.