We all talk about it. How it feels as if the shine has worn off Marvel to a degree. From Iron Man through to Avengers: Endgame was a great run. Cinematically untouchable. Then things happened.
Some Disney+ TV shows dropped and, while highly anticipated, they didn’t feel quite as special. Meanwhile, on the big screen, seemingly unstoppable Marvel started to suffer. Eternals, The Marvels, Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania. A stutter? Or a deeper malaise setting in?
It has been internally acknowledged, and such is the pipeline that a few things need to be squeezed out of it (looking at you, Agatha All Along) before we can judge if their course correction can work. Deadpool & Wolverine achieved what it set out to achieve with laughs and flair.
One man who has been involved in the MCU for a while is Sebastian Stan. From Captain America: The First Avenger through to Falcon & The Winter Soldier, he is still a resident of the Marvel universe with a role in the upcoming Thunderbolts movie.
While out promoting the release of the young Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice, he spoke to Variety about Marvel and the MCU and said that while it is fashionable to criticize Marvel now, they are not behind the bigger woes of the industry. In fact, he says they contribute so much that they keep it going:
“It’s become really convenient to pick on [Marvel films]. And that’s fine. Everyone’s got an opinion. But they’re a big part of what contributes to this business and allows us to have smaller movies as well.
This is an artery traveling through the system of this entire machinery that’s Hollywood. It feeds in so many more ways than people acknowledge. Sometimes I get protective of it because the intention is really f—— good. It’s just f—– hard to make a good movie over and over again.”
He has got a point. It is fashionable to take shots at them these days. It is human nature to laugh when the previously undefeated champion becomes the victim of their own hubris.
After the sheer cinematic fun they delivered up to, and including, the conclusion of the Infinity Saga, I do really hope they manage to turn it around.