Random Thoughts: Marvel Edition
Random Thoughts: Marvel Edition
With The Multiverse Saga, has the MCU entered a sophomore slump?
(Writer’s note: There are spoilers within, but not for “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”)
Now that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is playing in cinemas, Marvel Studios has officially kicked off Phase 5 of its ambitious multiphase plan. This current phase is the middle installment of The Multiverse Saga, which covers phases four through six.
Having seen the new Ant-Man movie, I have to wonder: If Quantumania is the level of quality to expect in this latest phase, it may be time for Marvel to stop focusing on the big picture and start paying attention to the films themselves. Because the latest Ant-Man movie magnifies all of Marvel's worst tendencies in a way that I had hoped had been left behind after the ignominy of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
In short, I was underwhelmed and annoyed that Quantumania in no way delivered on the promise of its cool title and its phenomenal trailer. With the exception of Kathryn Newton’s debut as the adult Cassie Lang, daughter of Scott, and Jonathan Majors as Kang, the film is a dull wasteland that has turned the Ant-Man franchise into something it has never been: a painfully self-aware exercise where everyone takes themselves far too seriously and everything is high stakes with the fate of the universe in the balance. The result is a strained effort that is shockingly unfunny and horribly imbalanced.
I've been a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) from the very beginning. The ride has been fairly smooth, though it's definitely had its share of bumps.
You may be thinking this sounds like I’m ramping up to do a deep dive into the MCU at large. Trust me, I not. I don't have the time for that. Instead, let's just stick with Phase 4 and Quantumania. That's enough for now.
The two main problems with the films and TV projects that comprise Phase 4 are character development and a seeming unwillingness to present a coherent story that does not directly connect to the overarching plot of this new saga.
To be fair, these issues mostly pertain to films in the second half of Phase 4, though at least two shows are guilty, as well.
During Phase 4, Marvel Studios brought the MCU to television via Disney+. We got a lot more Marvel to get us through COVID lockdown, which was great — even if not every series/limited series was worth the effort (or lack thereof, in one case).
These are the eight shows/limited series that arrived during Phase 4: WandaVision; The Falcon and the Winter Soldier; Loki season one; What If...? season one; Hawkeye; Moon Knight; Ms. Marvel; and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. There also are two specials: Werewolf by Night and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, as well as the I Am Groot short films.
The only flat out misfire is The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which didn’t know what it wanted to be and nearly negated the talents of Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan in the process. Moon Knight has its charms, but they mostly begin and end with Oscar Isaac; though I need to give a big shout out to Tawaret, a fertility goddess in the form of a hippo.
Seven films were released during Phase 4: Black Widow; Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings; Eternals; Spider-Man: No Way Home; Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness; Thor: Love and Thunder; and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Five out of seven are legit good and very entertaining. The other two — I’m looking at you Multiverse of Madness and Love and Thunder — are of varying quality, to put it kindly, with neither the crowd pleaser they believe themselves to be. Though the Thor sequel comes closest.
It kills me that the latest Doctor Strange movie is a hot mess. The physician-turned-sorcerer's debut feature is absolutely fantastic, thanks in part to director/co-writer Scott Derrickson. Multiverse of Madness can't even be labeled craptastic; it's simply utter crap with Derrickson’s absence is felt in every frame. Strange is essentially a supporting player in his own film due to Marvel’s sudden obsession with Scarlet Witch on the heels of WandaVision’s success. (I’ll get to America Chavez later.) Elizabeth Olsen is the movie's MVP as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, but even she falls victim to the MCU's penchant of late for building up their antagonists and villains with no clue how to give their arc a satisfying conclusion.
Love and Thunder’s Gorr the God Butcher, well played by an underused Christian Bale, also is stuck in the antagonist quicksand. In truth, the movie handcuffs what should be a terrifying Big Bad, never allowing Gorr to truly show us why he’s earned his title. He snuffs his first god onscreen with the rest being consigned to mythos and legend. How about replacing the pointless death of a relationship montage set to Abba’s “Our Last Summer” featuring Thor and Jane Foster, and replacing it with one featuring a Gorr’s greatest hits package instead? (Pun intended.) Then, there’s the weak sauce ending for Gorr that is reminiscent of DC’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’s Martha of it all. Instead of going out with a roar, the so-called god butcher goes out with a yawn.
And as much I like Eternals, Arishem is ephemeral and doesn’t have the same impact as when Ikaris’ betrayal is revealed. You understand that Arishem is who you should fear, yet because you’ve spent most of the movie with Ikaris, he’s the one who tends to be remembered as the bad guy. That said, his sacrifice at the end doesn’t ring true. Much like the sex scene he shares earlier with Sersi, both come out of nowhere and make no sense.
(Another MCU issue is its penchant for forced romantic entanglements featuring couples with no real chemistry. In fairness, DC’s movies are just as guilty, as are their CW shows. Just because something is comics canon doesn’t mean it has to be film canon. Duh. But that’s a topic for another post.)
Speaking of TV series…
WandaVision is a sterling entry in the MCU and for the most part nails the assignment. Unfortunately, the show stumbles in the final episode with an uninspired origin story for stealth baddie Agatha Harkness; a frankly boring CGI fight scene between Wanda and Agatha; and with Wanda’s transition into Scarlet Witch, turning the once-reformed baddie into a heartless bitch who can’t be bothered to do a walk of shame as she puts West View in her rearview. When it comes to the latter, neither the show nor Multiverse of Madness is interested in repercussions. Better to toss her under the bus and let it run her over than explore any real aftermath. Mordo once said the bill comes due; it’s beginning to look like Marvel would rather dine and dash than pay up.
The worst example of introducing antagonists with no clear direction in mind from start to finish goes to the nadir of the MCU television projects, the aforementioned The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Honestly, this pretty much extends to every character on this limited series. Marvel is so damn intent on setting up its future plans for Sam Wilson (formerly Falcon, now Captain America), Bucky Barnes (always and forever the Winter Soldier), and John Walker (formerly Captain America, now U.S. Agent) that they never bothered to write the characters as real people. Who are these guys? What are their motivations? The answer to both ultimately seems to be who cares?
Which brings me to Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who continues to be saddled with a pointless sketch of a character. In case you’ve forgotten, she’s popped up with little to no impact in Black Widow, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. As Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, her name is more dynamic than anything we’ve seen the actress do onscreen. How dare you treat a national treasure like Louis-Dreyfus in this manner, Marvel? SHAME.
Since we’re here, let’s expand this to talk about the MCU’s seeming disdain for general character development in their more recent films. Avengers: Endgame, Multiverse of Madness, Love and Thunder, and Quantumania are astonishing in the ways the characters are used as tools to push the story forward. I will admit there are exceptions in Endgame and Love and Thunder. Though the Scott Lang of Endgame is a far cry from the Scott Lang of Quantumania. That is not a compliment.
I know Endgame serves as the finale for both the Infinity Saga and Phase 3, but it’s also the jumping off point for most of the projects in Phase 4 and is when this troubling development first became glaringly obvious.
The main offenders from Endgame:
Steve Rogers shaved his beard and apparently had a lobotomy in the process; the character assassination and shocking amount of retconning that was rampant in Endgame all to give him a problematic happy ending — one that Steve told Tony Stark point blank in Avengers: Age of Ultron he no longer wanted — is soul crushing.
Bruce Banner fared no better thanks to the insipid, juvenile melding of his character with the Hulk that has been dubbed (in my mind ironically) Smart Hulk.
And don’t get me started on Natasha Romanoff sacrificing herself for her bestie Clint Barton after he straight up murdered a bunch of people because he lost his family in the Snap.
Then, there is Thor. A great character from the off, he’s shone in most of his MCU appearances. He's the only one to have four solo films, yet the quality is wildly uneven. Sequels The Dark World and Love and Thunder don't know what to do with him, making him more caricature than character. His emotional breakdown in Endgame following the deaths of his father, mother, brother, best friend, and a large percentage of Asgard’s population became an insensitive joke instead of a delicate balance of drama and dark comedy. Thor can be a multifaceted character in the right hands. Can someone worthy of this assignment please step up?
The mix of poor character growth and weak plots that exist only to fuel the arc of the saga continues to give rise to subpar films that ultimately will diminish fans' love for the MCU as a whole.
If Marvel doesn't know what to do with their legacy characters, what does that mean for the next generation?
America Chavez and Riri Williams would have been better served with their own series on Disney+ instead of being shoehorned into Multiverse of Madness and Wakanda Forever, respectively. Riri does have her own series, Ironheart, in the wings, which should give her character the proper launch she deserves. I'm a big fan of America Chavez in the comics, so fingers crossed she one day gets a real chance to shine onscreen and with a (back)story that is worthy of her and her history. Neither character added much to the movies they appeared in, but that doesn’t mean they should be forgotten either.
These young women, as with most of the younger characters coming into the MCU starting with Phase 4, are treated with little consideration now simply because they will potentially become integral to the story down the line. An overabundance of characters who are nothing more than place markers in a movie or series is not good storytelling. Why? Because most of your audience won't remember who they are and why they should care by the time they are properly put into action.
One of the reasons the best of the Marvel Disney+ shows work is because we get to know the character at the fore and spend time in his or her world. This is why we like Kate Bishop in Hawkeye, Kamala Khan in Ms. Marvel, Jennifer Walters in She-Hulk, Steven Grant and Marc Spector in Moon Knight. We want to spend more time with them. Even Cassie Lang in Quantumania is an effective character in part because we knew her as a kid, but also because she is the one character outside of Kang that the movie gives a damn about. Therefore, we get a sense of who she is as a grown woman.
Bottom line: I understand that the big picture is important in each saga Marvel envisions. So these are the key takeaways Kevin Feige and company need to keep in mind.
Characters are important. Without them, no matter how good your story is, your film and/or series will fail. Let the characters tell your story, Marvel. If it's one worth telling, then they will help it rise.
Individuality builds a universe. Each film needs to be able to stand alone while contributing when necessary to the overall arc of the current saga. If you can’t make solid movies for the casual fan and the diehard alike, you’re screwed.
There is still time for the MCU to course correct. I hope that they do for it would be a shame if it loses itself in the echo chamber of its own ego.