Marvel is struggling a bit right now. Granted, the studio is still popping out hits, as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 made $843.6 million worldwide. However, only one film in Phases Four and Five has made it into the billion-dollar club, with Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania being the first true flop of the MCU by only garnering $476. 1 million worldwide.
Add to the fact that the huge amounts of content on Disney Plus and the MCU have officially oversaturated the market. Bob Iger is doing the right thing by slowing down on the shows and movies being released for the MCU. However, some fans feel that the MCU needs to take more drastic measures. Arrowverse co-creator Marc Guggenheim feels that it would be better if the MCU hit the reset button on the entire universe.
The Pros Of Rebooting The MCU
Guggenheim spoke very highly of the Marvel Cinematic Universe but sees the issues currently going on with the brand. The Arrowverse co-creator made a bold statement by suggesting on The Aarthi and Sriram Show that the MCU should reboot:
“Each of these movies in Phases 1 through 3, they all stood on their own. Look I get it. I think honestly what the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going through right now is the same discovery that the Marvel print universe and the DC print universe also went through. Which is – I think of these universes like ships, and the longer a ship sails, the more barnacles get attached to its hull, and the more that weigh down the ship and the more it effects how fast the ship can move through the water. And every now and again, you need to do some sort of reboot that scrapes off the barnacles, like ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths.'”
In theory, it’s understandable what Guggenheim is trying to say. And there are some pros to Marvel rebooting their universe. For one, it allows the returns of Tony Stark and Captain America. The current iteration of the MCU feels off because there isn’t a defined leader. Sam Rodgers and Tony Stark were the defacto leaders of the Avengers and the story wisely centered around these characters.
The MCU Is A Chaotic Mess Without True Leaders
It allowed for the structure to be simple, and more importantly, the story told between Phases one through four had a centered purpose and meaning. Since so many new characters have been introduced, the MCU no longer feels simple. Everything is chaotic and confusing because there are so many directions that any sort of structure has been lost.
Rebooting the entire MCU means that the brand can get its house back in order. Trim down on the unnecessary heroes and focus on the characters and stories that will pull us through the next few phases. Captain America and Iron Man don’t have to return, but there needs to be a simplistic structure that made the first four phases such a success.
Marvel Can Tell Bold New Stories
Marvel’s bread and butter has been their light and comedic tone. Sure, there’s been darker content like Captain America: Winter Solider and Secret Invasion, but the light and comedic style has dominated the scope of the entire brand. Marvel hitting the reset button allows them to strongly deviate from that formula and tell new stories from the comics.
This doesn’t mean that Marvel has to start doing dark and serious content. They can completely change the main characters; perhaps Ghost Rider is the leading man this time around. Or someone like Captain Universe or Magik could get the spotlight too. The best solution to the reboot is if Marvel focuses on entirely new characters.
That way, the stories in the previous universe can remain intact. Yet, the scope of the world can change through the eyes of bold new characters. It’s not just enough to have a darker tone, or simply reboot the entire phase to fix their issues. The stories have to be compelling, and more importantly, fresh. Revisiting the same old characters in a different direction would make the reboot pointless overall.
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