MCU is not my home anymore
Ever since I saw the Iron Man movie, Marvel Cinematic Universe(MCU) has become like a family. I have always loved superhero movies. As a kid, my exposure to superhero stuff was limited. I saw several Superman and Batman cartoons. I also watched the Christopher Reeves Superman movies growing up and fell in love with the characters.
Then around 2000, the superhero genre just took off with the X-men and Spider-man movies. Then in 2008, we were introduced to Iron Man. To be honest, I never saw Iron Man until the second part came out. There was a lot of talk about it on social media. I went back and saw Iron Man and loved it. But I never saw Iron Man 2 in the theatre. Part of the problem was that theatres in India lacked the option of closed captions back then.
The first proper Superhero movie from the MCU that I saw on the big screen was Captain America: Winter Soldier. It was then I jumped into the MCU with full conviction. Barring Guardians of the Galaxy movies, I pretty much saw all of them on the big screen. I saw Infinity War, Endgame, and Spider-man No Way Home twice. I was an MCU fanboy. Okay. The post might be a little misleading. I am not leaving MCU. I am still an MCU fanboy.
MCU provided me with the perfect escape from my shitty life into a world where I experience pure joy. I have seen these movies multiple times. And I will continue doing so in the future.
But recently, MCU has been letting me down big time. It all started with the show Moon Knight. I have no idea why people like it, but it was a huge letdown. It felt like a very cheap show with barely any plot. How can you say that one of his personalities was a former special forces soldier, and yet, he cannot throw a decent punch? The other personality was annoying and stupid. I can understand doing it to bring some laughter, but it felt very cheesy after a certain point. The villain wasnât menacing or threatening enough. So were the gods. It was like Marvel didnât want to spend any money. Total wastage of a stellar cast.
My main problem isnât that the show is bad. I mean, you canât be perfect every time. There will be some bad apples in the bunch. The problem was that after delivering such a cheap show with lame characters, they ended it on a cliffhanger showcasing the protagonistâs third personality that might be less annoying and can fight better. I havenât read any of the comics, and maybe they are showing it exactly as it happened in them. But if you ask me, it could have been a lot better.
Anyway, this didnât stop at just one show. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness also felt like a betrayal. Whatâs the point of setting the story of Wanda through WandaVision when you will undo it in a 2-hour movie? And the worst part is that Marvel expects you to watch countless shows and movies to keep yourself apprised of all the developments while the makers donât even watch them while working on a project. Sam Raimi and the screenwriter admitted that they didnât see WandaVision and instead only caught a few scenes. Then why should we go through all of it?
Letâs talk about Thor: Love and Thunder. Again, I had high hopes for the movie. And again, all I got was a disappointment. You can fill only so many jokes in the script before it becomes annoying. Again, this movie had barely any plot. The annoying one-liners keep you from feeling for any character. There were no high stakes. The MCUâs habit of killing interesting villains continued here as well.
Kevin Feige needs to introspect. Sure, the movies and shows will keep making a profit. But not for long. Itâs showing up in the reviews by both critics and the audience. Personally, I wonât be going to any Marvel movies in theatres moving forward. I will continue watching them. But I wonât spend my money to watch them on the big screen because they are not worth it.
Movies â Jul 15, 2022