A Review Of The Marvel Cinematic Universe
The cinematic powerhouse of Marvel Studios has been one of the most influential forces in my childhood and teenage years. Since I saw “Captain America: The First Avenger” in theaters, I’ve been hooked into a fandom that has provided some of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in recent years. Marvel Studios, which during the COVID-19 pandemic expanded to encapsulate both superhero films and shows, is nearing the end of its fifth phase, and with this being the last issue of the year it’s an opportune time to reflect on the studio and its recent creations.
Before I review the last year of Marvel, there’s a stage that needs to be set. To put it kindly, 2023 was a strange year for Marvel. I don’t have enough space in this piece to explain the few acceptable cinematic pieces that Marvel put out in 2023, and not nearly enough space to explain the complete misery that I felt as flop after flop hit my retinas. Instead, I’m going to focus on one character and how his mishandling torpedoed an entire year’s work of productions.
That character is Kang. In the comics, Kang the Conqueror is a multi-dimensional and timehopping dictator with his heart set on multiversal domination. Marvel’s plan was to introduce Kang in “Loki” seasons one and two, and fully introduce the character as the studio’s new “big bad villain” after Thanos was defeated.
To oversimplify, that didn’t happen. “Loki” season one was a masterpiece and introduced Kang as “He Who Remains,” a timelord that was holding back an infinite amount of other Kangs from attacking the known multiverse. When “He Who Remains” died at the end of the season, fans were led to believe that said infinite number of Kangs were on their way to fight the heroes we love.
To build on the end of Loki’s first season, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” introduced a variant of Kang who tried to defeat Scott Lang and his family. Instead, that Kang died at the bottom of a pile of oversized insects, and the ant-family safely escaped. Marvel attempted to make fans fear an antagonist who died to a bunch of ants, but that was before they cut ties with Kang’s actor, Jonathan Majors for legal reasons.
So, Kang, the hopeful successor of the Mad Titan, failed miserably, and with him so did the through-line connecting the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Coming into this year, fans, critics and even the studio all publicly agreed that Marvel needed to find a way to bounce back from a disappointing last two years and the loss of its next villain. They made good strides with successful back-to-back releases in “Deadpool and Wolverine” and “Agatha All Along,” neither of which will I dive deep into to keep this family friendly.
More than just giving Marvel genuinely good content, those two projects did two critical things for the MCU: the introduction of Deadpool and Billy Maximoff/Kaplan/Wiccan to the MCU. The “Merc with the Mouth” is one of most popular comic book characters out there right now, and his introduction to the MCU is sure to bring back some gratuitous violence and wise-cracking into Marvel’s filmography. Wiccan isn’t the same public figure as Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool, but he comes with an interesting promise: the promise of the Young Avengers
2024 wasn’t a perfect year for Marvel and its content, but it was a solid B after back-to-back C years for the MCU. That B might grow into a B+ or even an A- if the studio hits on “What If?” season three, which will release about a month after you read this.
Marvel seems to have figured out how to release appeasing movies and shows again, and the tease and promise of the Young Avengers is a promising one, but were they able to replace Kang the Conqueror? Kind of?
In July, Marvel announced its new super-duper-villain, the Latverian overlord, Doctor Doom. And who did they bring back to play the masked menace? The MCU’s prince that was promised, Robert Downey Jr. I have yet to fully explore my feelings on the casting choice, but it’s certainly a decision. I guess we’ll have to see if Marvel can stick the landing by pairing the studio’s most beloved actor with one of history’s best villains.
Upcoming 2025 Marvel projects and my excitement for them:
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (6.5/10)
Captain America: Brave New World (8.5/10)
Daredevil: Born Again (9.5/10)
Thunderbolts (8/10)
Ironheart (5/10)
Palsgrove is the leaving sports editor for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on X.
