With Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe now in full swing, let’s take a look back at Phase Four. Where did Phase 4 succeed and where did it struggle?
Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was, by far, franchise’s most mysterious yet. After the game-changing developments in Avengers: Endgame brought Phase Three to a close, the MCU as we know it could have floundered and died, but Kevin Fiege and the-powers-that-be at Marvel Studios took some time and figured out a way to move forward after the very story that tied this universe together had come to a close.
One of the ways they did that was through the introduction of television shows that directly impacted the continuity of the MCU. The well-timed launch of the Disney Plus streaming service allowed Marvel to bring its stories to the small screen too, complementing and impacting the ones that played out on the big screen going forward.
It’s wild to think that, after a delay in launching at the beginning of the pandemic, Phase Four of the MCU has now ended. And what a run it had, evolving the MCU in ways we never thought imaginable. It wasn’t always successful, but this trial and error period allowed it to try something different – and it really did.
Not all of its entries have been outstanding, but all played an important role in that evolution. As Phase Five has officially been kickstarted with the likes of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Secret Invasion, and Loki season 2, let’s take this opportunity to reflect on Phase Four and rank all of its offerings from worst to best.