When the Marvel Cinematic Universe delivered its inaugural film, Iron Man, it appeared to be the saving grace of Marvel films. Following failed productions like X-Men: The Last Stand and Spider-Man 3, these new, shiny films gave fans a glimmer of hope. And they did for a while, producing, arguably, some of the best comic book films to date. But in recent times, the MCU has had its lowest engagement in years and people are starting to move on. For me, it comes down to oversaturation and quality.
MCU films were genuinely great cinema. From masterclass special effects to superb acting, they weren’t just comic book movies—they had heart and soul. They understood the source materials and incorporated all the right elements. For example, the Iron Man films portrayed Tony Stark’s PTSD not only in a way true to his character but realistically.
However, as the franchise has grown, this has lessened. Thor’s films have come under fire for being reduced to primarily comedic and action-based, losing the impactful emotion seen initially. Thor has gone from being a brooding, serious character traumatised by death to becoming goofy and using his experiences for humour, such as his commemorative tattoos for Loki. The handling of America Chavez’s character in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness disappointed and infuriated many fans as she was a vehicle and exposition for the unfolding events, losing the significance built within the comics. Simply, Kevin Feige and others seem to no longer take care of the films they are producing, focusing on pumping out content.
This comes into oversaturation. With thirty-one films over the course of fifteen years, it doesn’t seem all too many. And initially, it wasn’t. But as popularity and demand increased, and they established themselves as a cinematic universe, they began to quicken the releases.
Since 2017, we’ve seen three film releases per year. For a single franchise, that’s a lot. Not to mention that twenty Marvel TV shows have been created over the last ten years, with eight of them being a part of the Disney+ era since 2021. And I do not limit oversaturation to just the amount of content—this is also a reflection of the content itself.
The films used to be relatively independent character and plot-wise, with an acceptable intertwining of storylines. The overlapping grew leading up to Infinity War and Endgame, which should’ve been the peak before reverting back to independent stories. Ultimately, the Marvel universe itself is one big colourful tapestry, with hundreds of characters, stories and settings interacting with each other. But it’s all too much to contain within movies and TV shows—they should’ve severed it at an appropriate point. Instead, they pushed onward to feed into the hype and hunger of audiences.
