Phase 4 of the Marvel movie universe was definitely a mixed bag. While the movie franchise is still thriving with massive box office returns, it seems that the franchise has lost some of its luster as reviews tended to weaken and the box office didn’t quite reach the heights of Stage 3 entries . While some of this can be explained by the COVID-19 pandemic, low box office, and mixed to negative reviews for the Phase 5 kickoff movie, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, have portrayed the franchise in a negative light.
After the huge success of Phase 3 and the entire Infinity Saga, the MCU had some high expectations for Phase 4. But with Phase 4, the beginning of the MCU’s Multiverse Saga, it has more in common with Phase 1 in many ways Marvel Studios has used this new phase to reset their franchise without a full reboot, in an effort to attract a new audience. The MCU follows a similar pattern to other popular long-running series. Here’s how the MCU resets itself with stage 4 and why it’s actually more like stage 1 than anything else.
The MCU is still doing well
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While many may want to say the MCU is in trouble, it’s a bit more complicated than that. Yes, the box office results are not as high as previous entries, but it’s worth noting that it wasn’t until 2022 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever that a Phase 4 MCU movie got a release in China, where the franchise had done very well before and even without China Doctor Strange in the multiverse of madness still grossed nearly $1 billion at the worldwide box office. No one could have imagined in 2015 that a Doctor Strange movie can make so much money.
Spider-Man: No Way Home, Black Panther 2And Doctor Strange 2 all rank in the top ten highest-grossing MCU films at the domestic box office. While Black Panther: Wakanda Forever wasn’t as dirty as the first movie, that movie was an anomaly and it was unrealistic for anyone to expect him to outperform him. That is also worth remembering Avengers: Age of Ultron came in downstairs The Avengers and the franchise remained strong.
Stage 4 is closer to stage 1 than stage 3
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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings And Eternals were not sequels to previous Marvel films and had no direct connections, but performed reasonably well at the box office, despite public skepticism about returning to theaters during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were held to a standard of solo films like Black Panther And Captain Marvel, each bringing in $1 billion, but those were the exceptions, not the rule. Shan Chi And Eternals performed about on par with a Phase 1 solo film The Incredible Hulk, Thoror Captain America: the first avenger, which makes sense as stage 4 is more about resetting everything.
A common early criticism of Stage 4 was that it didn’t seem clear where everything was going in terms of conclusion. The audience pointed to stage 1, where the audience knew it was up to them The Avengers. However, apart from Iron Man, any other MCU solo movie before that The Avengers often received mixed to positive reviews. Thanos’ idea was teased at the end The Avengers, but it wasn’t until 2014 that it became clear that it was ready Avengers: Infinite War.
In hindsight it now gives the impression that it has always worked towards it, but since the audience knows where it led, they immediately expected a similar roadmap in Phase 4. While the audience now knows it’s all part of the Multiverse Saga and is building Avengers: The Kang Dynasty And Avengers: Secret Warsthe franchise has just completed Act 1 of this new phase, which means there were many elements to introduce.
Long-running franchises have a history of soft reboots
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In 2023, the MCU will celebrate 15 years, an impressively long streak. Avengers: endgame was the culmination of 11 years of storytelling, and for many it was the great conclusion to the MCU. Some viewers saw that movie as a starting point, something Marvel Studios seems to have expected. Much of stage 4, like WandaVision, The falcon and the winter soldier, Hawkeye, Doctor Strange 2And Thor: love and thunder, exploring life afterwards Endgame. It was also about highlighting new heroes in the MCU such as Shang-Chi, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and more. This both creates a connection to the past that keeps audiences returning, but also provides a fresh starting point for a new audience.
Long-running franchises tend to have soft relaunches within their long continuity. While they hope to maintain the existing fan base, the goal is also to provide new members of the public with a new point of entry. This can be seen in series like doctor who, when the Doctor recovers, or when a new showrunner comes on board; the sequence is thus separated by eras. The same goes with pokemon, where the protagonist Ash Ketchum will eventually resume his journey with only Pikachu and gain a new set of companions. Legacy sequels like Halloween have done something similar, giving a new audience a point of entry. The MCU Phase 4 worked the same way, with Phase 4 being something of a fresh new start for the franchise.
The MCU fanbase is growing out and in
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The audience for the MCU is diverse in many ways. The franchise has been successful because it has always been an attractive four-quadrant mass market fare for any audience to enjoy. Young children have primarily been the target audience for superhero stories, and the MCU has excelled at capturing young audiences as well as attracting adult fans. There are fans of the MCU who were in high school at the time Iron Man came out and some who were born after Iron Man was released. To that audience, the MCU is something that has always been a part of their lives, and one wonders how they handle it.
After 15 years of running, it is normal for some audiences to lose interest. It’s not always easy to keep up. One never wants to lose audiences, but it will certainly happen. But the sustainability of a franchise lies in retaining old fans as well as welcoming new audiences. A potential new fan is born every day. Both Creed III And Scream VI have shown they can grow their franchises by embracing a new generation of fans and the MCU Phase 4 has taken a similar approach. They’ve used the MCU’s long-standing legacy to build a new foundation for a new generation.
While the emphasis on young heroes in the MCU is probably a leading up to The Young Avengers, it also reflects key demographics for the MCU. This is the future of the franchise. Phase 1 set up Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and Hulk, and now Phase 4 has set up a new roster of characters that will grow in the series before the massive team-up Avengers movie.