No superhero franchise has ever reached the cultural heights of the MCU at its peak, and last year’s Avengers: Endgame solidified that with a sweeping sendoff to ten years of the cinematic universe that shaped this current era of blockbuster films in general.

Though there have been real gems in the MCU, it is far from perfect, and a good bulk of the films are nothing more than passable popcorn flicks with no discernible identity that got by on leading up to Avengers event films.

Now that the time of the original Avengers franchise is over and we will no longer be graced with the lightning in a bottle that was RDJ, Chris Evans, and the rest of the original cast, the MCU cannot simply coast on its own brand in this new decade if they want the same cultural impact of their peak.

Things are changing, and if what DC is planning to do by giving talented filmmakers free reign to realize unique visions of their heroes, as per Matt Reeve’s upcoming The Batman or even last year’s Joker (not a perfect film but the point stands), Marvel would have real competition this time around (ideally, there’s no telling what WB is capable of ruining at this point so no promises).

Hopefully with the acquisition of the X-Men and Fantastic Four, Marvel can focus on making different types of films from their previous sci-fi action hero blockbusters, but rather films with a bit more genre exploration and nuanced philosophy. Most of all; films that reflect the complete vision of the filmmakers rather than the studio - the audience deserves more. And we want more.

@Fahim

Well said brother

I was going to add on to this but I would just sound like a broken record bringing that other company but it's not about them, this is about Marvel's necessity to keep their audience engaged.

First real test will be the next Avengers movie

The new mutants movie was under marvel wasn’t it?

no s*** was filmed in 2017
if it doesnt have kevin feiges influence its not marvel (studios) !

This is what I’m talking about. Need more of this

Marvel needs to just f*** off for good

i only know the comics not the movies (never watched except spider man) but if they take it to the space concepts they can do interesting stuff. there's a bunch of marvel s*** in space (thanos is one of them dudes). like floating planet monsters n shyt forgot the dudes name

why

I only see this based on aesthetics, hopefully we will learn more as it nears its release

tbh as a mcu stan i also want them to try more, and with this next phase it really does feel like theyre gonna try some new things

eternals
dr strange 2
wandavision

those 3 look super unique imo and could do some crazy things

x-men and fantastic four up next.

but at the same time, i completely understand if they dont actually give FULL creative freedom or have their own feedback, thats basically what feige does, and he knows how to make enjoyable movies

for example with the amazing spiderman 2, which sony made, they asked kevin feige for feedback after they showed him an early cut, the sony email leaks leaked his email with feedback too, and all the feedback he gave wouldve improved the movie alot

i feel like they want to try alot of new things, cause they know they got the fans, but also have their limits, bc at the end of the day these movies have to work together yk ?

if you let all directors have full creative freedom u may end up with something like the star wars sequel trilogy, which doesnt really work together

They have changed the standard of Hollywood cinema to be producer driven "shared universe" concepts that essentially overrides any true creativity in just about anything you see from studio projects anymore. You look at blockbusters from the 2000s like LOTR or Pirates of the Caribbean or the Matrix and its just laughable how artistically void all of today's big budget blockbusters are by comparison (shy of Nolan or Mad Max Fury Road or BR2049)

Furthermore, Disney's leeching of theaters to demand 70% of their movie cuts essentially blackmailing them into not showing indie films because that forces them to do more and more screenings of Disney movies is appalling and its a big reason why Hollywood has never been more stale than it is now.

Ain't happening chief. Eat your f***ing Big Mac and shut up.

in what world did the sequel trilogy have "full creative freedom" lmao

That was an entirely producer driven decision in getting the director they wanted, the person being JJ Abrams who is one of the most corporate producer thinking "filmmakers" in Hollywood right now

what im saying is, jj had different ideas for the characters / story, rian johnson had different ideas for the characters / story

and then u get that mess

maybe saying 'full creative freedom' was wrong choice of words, but thats basically what i meant, they didnt tell rian to follow what jj had setup, they just let him go with the story wherever he wanted

king of making 7/10 movies, they ain't changing the formula

sure but way I see from it, TFA was a dogshit Episode 4 ripoff that added nothing new of interest to Star Wars. Rian's creativity gave us easily the best movie of the 3 and while it is extremely flawed in how it handles its characters, it also makes the most bold artistic choices of the trilogy. Its the only movie from the Disney SW entities that is even worth anything.