Question: What will be the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Answer:Not anytime soon, but the end is definitely on the horizon.
The honest answer is that the franchise will continue as long as it is profitable. The MCU has been an unprecedented success in that they have somehow managed to put out 20 films in a row all of which have hit the holy grail of:
- Being well received by both critics and audiences
- Making a huge profit
- Not becoming stale
People underestimate how huge this is, yes the movies vary in quality and if you squint you could accuse Disney of playing it too safe with some properties, but can you name one other franchise which has had the same success on a global scale? Only James Bond is comparable and it took him 60 years to do what the MCU has done in 10.
The party can’t go on forever though and the MCU now faces two existential crises:
- The talent leaving
The smart money is on Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans hanging up their suits after Infinity War ends, with a big question mark over Chris Hemsworth and the other big players.
It is impossible to underestimate how huge these guys have been to the MCU’s success. Iron Man in particular has been the lynchpin for the whole universe from the start, and to lose RDJ would be a blow.
Marvel has been trying to shift focus to their newer characters such as T’challa and Strange with some success, but will audiences lose interest knowing they won’t see Iron Man, Cap or Thor turn up in their latest movie? Time will tell.
- Bloated universe/narrative implausibility
Hey here’s a question, where the hell were Tony, War Machine, Hulk and Thor during the events of Winter Soldier??
I’m this film, Hydra were seconds away from murdering a third of the planets population. Cap had to destroy the helicarriers and had plenty time to prepare, but he decides to take them on himself with just his fists and his flying sidekick as backup. What the hell? Wouldn’t it have been worth giving Tony or Thor a call to come help out? You know who’s great when you need to destroy things? I’ll give you a hint - he’s big, green and goes through 18 pairs of jeans a month.
For that matter, where the hell was Wakanda during the events of the Avengers?
Advisor- “My King, do you think maybe we should send some of our super advanced technological weapons or warriors to help stop that massive army from space which is clearly bent on world domination?”
King -“Nahhh”
You get the point - the bigger the universe becomes the harder it gets to justify why the solo movies make any sense. When faced with a serious threat they have 70-ish heroes they could call up to help (if you include the TV shows) but they always go it alone.
This is going to become very hard to write around as the universe grows further, audiences will eventually start to call bullshit on this and lose interest.
Can the MCU survive these challenges? I wouldn’t bet against it as they have confounded all expectations thus far, but I’ll be surprised if it’s still going in it’s current form ten years from now.
