credit: MCU
There have been studies and rumors that the fans of the MCU are growing tired of superhero movies or the MCU in general, but while it’s tough to debate this, the reality is that a lot of people are getting tired of having a woke agenda shoved down their throats when what they really want are great stories that don’t focus on politics in any way and also don’t focus so heavily on representation and diversity. Granted, these are important elements in any story, but as it’s been seen in other franchises, forced diversity is becoming far more divisive than allowing diversity to happen in a natural and more organic manner. The idea that heroes are getting tiring at this point has more to do with Disney’s idea of what representation and diversity really mean to people rather than the abundance of characters and new settings that are being introduced. Telling a story can be a narrow and specific endeavor, or it can encompass a grand scope that requires far more diversity than usual. But trying to force anything into a story is a bad idea, and what’s worse, fans can tell when it doesn’t feel natural since a few movies and shows have done this over the past couple of years in the MCU. To be honest, it feels as though Disney is paying more attention to the headlines than the fans, and it’s shown in a big way when it comes to what they’ve rolled out in the recent past.
credit: MCU
Trashing those who helped to build the franchise isn’t a great element of the current and future stories.
Seriously, putting people on blast has its time and place in a lot of stories, but using it to advance a character’s opinion and thereby make it clear what the current characters think of the past ones is kind of like a rookie dissing a veteran on a sports team, it’s not a good idea. In the MCU, much like on a team, one usually has to earn the right to disrespect anyone since otherwise, it’s likely that the fans are going to turn on the person offering said disrespect and try to remind them that they haven’t done anything worthy of note in the franchise they’ve just entered. Once that character has done something great and worth noting, then they might be able to throw shade here and there without the fans seeking to call them out for such blatant disrespect. The writers know better, in other words, but in some instances, it feels that they don’t care that this is a poor way to operate.
Instead of focusing on who’s superior, it might be best to just tell why various heroes should work together.
It’s true that I and many others try to pit various heroes together on the page to see who might be stronger, quicker, and smarter than another. But building on the disrespect that’s been mentioned, building up the powers of various characters so that they can actually do what the writers want them to, is another hint of bad storytelling since it not only diminishes the adversity that used to be so important in this franchise. Does anyone remember that Tony Stark had to find a way to not only survive but to escape in his first movie? These days, Shuri can take a spear to the gut, be impaled a foot or two off the ground, and somehow still fight her way free and eke out a win, all because she’s simply that intelligent and that tough. In short, heroes these days are being given some of the most OP origins that make no sense unless they’re anything but human. Seriously, writing out a story that shows the limitations of one being or another isn’t that tough.
credit: MCU
Fans want to celebrate female characters, not watch them take over.
As it’s already been stated, the supposed M-She-U is apparently going to be why the fifth phase is even possible, which is a grand and arrogant statement that makes it clear how those behind the MCU feel when it comes to the franchise. Unfortunately, making a lot of the men look and appear subservient to the women isn’t a great idea since putting men and women on equal ground would be far more satisfactory. If equality is really what the MCU wants to show, then they’ve already struck wide of the mark and are congratulating themselves on a job that’s not so well done.
There’s a reason why fans would be better at telling the stories.
There have been articles stating why the MCU doesn’t want to hire writers that are comic book fans, as they prefer those who haven’t been influenced for years by the stories that people actually want to see. But here’s the thing: the fans KNOW which stories work, and it’s entirely possible that they would be open to updating and changing things around to make things make sense. But making sense apparently doesn’t make dollars when the MCU is concerned. Oh well.
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