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He may have been a compelling villain , but Thanos broke theMCU ’s power levels - and Marvel will shinny to fix the problem . The Marvel Cinematic Universe is undoubtedly one of the peachy success tale in the history of Hollywood . It ’s easy to forget , though , that it was primitively seen as something of a gamble . Marvel had long since sold the film rights to their A - stage heroes , Spider - Man and the XTC - human being , entail they were stuck with the second - tier Heron who were left . According to film historian Ben Fritz , Marvel convened nidus groups of child to retrieve out which superhero ’s toy would occupy them . The tiddler overpoweringly chose Iron Man as the most interesting hero - and soIron Manbecame the foundation of the MCU .
Marvel ’s shared universe fashion model was a risky one , especially as the fly high dealership build up to the waiver ofThe Avengersin 2012 . IfThe Avengershad failed , the MCU would have fall in like a house of scorecard ; but the picture show gross over $ 1.5 billion worldwide , and the MCU ’s time to come was secured . The scale of the action increase over the next few years , culminate in the spectacle ofAvengers : Infinity WarandAvengers : Endgame- two movies that , combined , grossed almost $ 5 billion worldwide . And yet , as tremendous as those two blockbusters were , they changed the conformation of the MCU in a insidious way - one that proceed on into the current wave of films and Disney+ TV shows , and may yet prove fatal to the whole share universe of discourse .
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The MCU Began By Balancing Immersion With Spectacle
The Marvel Cinematic Universe began with a careful correspondence of dousing and spectacle . Iron Man ’s MCU storybegins with a version of his origin story that was carefully rewrite to fit with life in 2008 ; it ’s no co-occurrence Tony Stark was kidnapped in Afghanistan , and the Ten Rings terrorist chemical group was initially patterned after al - Qaeda . Events escalated , of path , becoming ever more spectacular ; but they remained grounded in genuine life , ensuring the story were immersive . When Marvel introduce Thor , they did so in a story in which he was banished to Earth . When Steve Rogers awake in the present day , he explode out of a SHIELD hospital and emerged in Times Square , a conversant sight from modern New York . Marvel Comics had always localise their stories in " the existence outside your window , " and Marvel Studios fall out courtship with the MCU .
The calculated balance of immersion and spectacle is perfectly demonstrated byThe Avengers- because theAvengers foregather to repel a Chitauri invasionin New York . A portal open up over the New York skyline ; insectine aliens crawl over skyscraper , and monstrous creatures soared through the nirvana before being bring down on the city ’s streets . The stake were higher than ever before , but it remained grounded in the intimate , with the Avengers spending as much clock time protecting sinless bystanders as they did defend Chitauri . This was the secret ofThe Avengers ' success ; the alien invasion was a salient result , but it was grounded in the familiar and the everyday .
Thanos Has Set The MCU On A Pattern Of Power Creep
The problem , though , is that Thanos changed everything . Spectacle ruff absorption inAvengers : Infinity WarandAvengers : Endgame ; viewers are not engulf because of the recognisable humankind the legal action takes blank space in , but merely because these motion picture were the culmination of a 10 ’s worth of build - up . The Avengers first battledThanos on his homeworld Titan , and there ’s no actual sense of weighing machine to the fight ; Thanos ' effort are impressive , as he literally tosses a moon at the Avengers , but there ’s nothing to ground them . The action moves to the Wakandan jungle ; it ’s true looker had come to care a smashing flock about Wakanda thanks to the winner ofBlack Panther , but it ’s deserving note Marvel seemed surprised at the extent of that emotional connection .
ButAvengers : Endgamewent farthest , with a academic degree of spectacle that ’s presently unsurpassed in the MCU . The climax of a decade of storytelling , the net fight have almost every superhero introduced into the MCU to day of the month . But the intact area was charge into a devoid wasteland before the battle set about , meaning there ’s perfectly nothing to give a genuine sense of scale . How tall has Giant - Man grown duringAvengers : Endgame ’s final conflict ? Tall enough to perforate a Leviathan ; but how big is a Leviathan ? To suffice that dubiousness , looker would demand to go back toThe Avengers , and liken the fly creatures to New York ’s skyscraper .
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The Avengers ' battle against Thanos committed the MCU to a model of power creep , one where spectacle would become more important than immersion . Viewers naturally usurp the only way the MCU could proceed was to one - up Thanos , and it was n’t long before Marvel Studios prexy Kevin Feige was announcing the Multiverse Saga . Kang the Conqueror is have a bun in the oven to be the Multiverse Saga ’s main villain , and the main public debate in the fanbase is whether or not he can go past Thanos . What ’s more , the Multiverse Sagais already confirmed to be building up toAvengers : Secret Wars- a pic inspired by comic strip where variant of heroes from across the multiverse teamed up . The title alone promise a third - act battle that is bigger , more spectacular , than evenAvengers : Endgame . This is what power creep see like ; every story needs to be bigger than the last , every villain more grievous , but the spectacle comes at the cost of immersion .
Can The MCU Escape The Power Creep Trap?
Marvel has understandably already fallen into the might creep yap . Making thing worse , it ’s already clear spectator not look power creep in the MCU , and wo n’t be slaked with anything less ; complaint about the lack of narrative impulse belike explicate why Marvel select to announce the Multiverse Saga and reveal theirAvengers : Secret Warsplansin the first space . The MCU has committed to this approach for the next few years , and it wo n’t really be possible for a pin until 2026 . When the dust settles from the Multiverse Saga , Marvel would be sassy to take a different approach ; to challenge audiences to take on a grading - down in superpower and spectacle , so the stories can become more grounded again . Such an glide slope would surely be controversial , but it would make for better storytelling , and it would give theMCUa unused boost in terms of concentration . It remain to be seen whether Marvel can overstretch this off .
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