Marvel's MCU is power-scaling like Dragon Ball now (and that could be a problem)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe was great back in 2008 when Tony Stark first revealed himself as Iron Man, and the villains he faced felt both natural and on par with his abilities. The same can be said for Captain Steve Rogers; his super serum didn't really feel unnaturally super and the foes he faced felt appropriate for his stories. It was consistent until some more powerful beings began showing up in more recent installments, creating something of an issue for the franchise.

Something similar has happened before, tough in an entirely different series. We are, of course, talking about Dragon Ball. Many of you might have come across the comparison between the series' protagonist Goku and another powerful being from DC, Superman. The time isn't far when superheroes like Thor will be regular in this tale of the tape.

Why did power-scaling become a problem in Dragon Ball?

Back in the day when Goku was still a kid, the rivalries he took part in appeared and felt more rational, as in there were beings we can actually call powerful. General Tao was someone we all feared would actually beat the series' protagonist to the pulp. Of course he did that, but Kid Goku came back stronger and turned the tables.

It was also okay on Dragon Ball Z through the Majin Buu Saga, where we first saw Goku turning into Super Saiyan 3. It still seemed natural (despite a pink genie-like blob turned evil, Buu, being the villain). But let's extend that further and take Dragon Ball GT in too. But Super is where things really started to go left. Let's not talk about the poor frames in it. Dragon Ball has entered the god mode now.

Training in other worlds is a norm in the series. Goku first went to King Kai during the Saiyan Saga and later Gohan visits the Sacred World of Kais during the Majin Buu Saga. If we are to talk about the present, Goku, Broly, and Vegeta are there on Beerus' Planet; last we checked, Vegeta was finally able to beat Goku.

The problem with all of this is that now every new character appearing in the series is possessed with such a superpower, which makes fighting against transformations like Super Saiyan Gods feel like it's actually child's play. It wouldn't be surprising if developers put Yamcha into the game, saying that "he was holding back all this time".

Superpowers aren't supposed to look like a child's play. The Tournament of Power was a great example of it. Sure, Ultra Instinct was cool, but honestly, it is just too much. Even if a new character is introduced to the anime, we somehow know Goku and Vegeta are in trouble. Strangely enough, Tournament of Power looked just fine in the manga, but it does have its differences with the anime.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is seemingly taking on that route too

Yes, it seems that the MCU has begun to go down this route, too now. For me, it all began with Eternals. Sure, there were Norse gods flying around the Marvel Cinematic Universe before, but the Eternals were a different kind of breed. Maybe that doesn't even look like a Marvel product. But it opened up so many ways for cosmic entities to enter. And now we have more super-powered heroes more powerful than anyone who came before them, seemingly.

After Sony's Venom: The Last Dance arrived in theaters, there have been fan theories about how the all-powerful Knull may enter the MCU. I'ts possible, but we don't yet know if it will happen. The truth is that Eternals opened up those gates in its post-credits scene, where Kit Harrington's Dane Whitman examines the Ebony Sword. And that was something of a turning point for the MCU franchise, as so much in the movies that came after that gave us the signs that we are headed in a cosmic direction.

From Arisham in Eternals to the Living Tribunal in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the MCU is about to be changed with such entities. There won't be a showcase of armored suits capable of mass destruction or a skeletal-face Nazi trying to harness the power of an Infinity Stone, but conflicts against those cosmic-level threats threatening entire universes.

If the Battleworld is shown, then it would be somewhat equal to the Tournament of Power. With Robert Downey Jr. revealed to be playing Dr. Doom, this appears imminent now. That is also something that makes me think of the Beyonders. We don't know if the Beyonders will make it to the Secret Wars, but the correct portrayal is the way to audiences' hearts.

It's not exactly the power levels that bugs me; it's how the developers choose to portray it. It's a big responsibility, especially when its previous focus on quantity has been emphasized in recent years. And with power levels continuing to get bigger, and bigger, and bigger, can the MCU realisitically sustain this level of power-scaling when it's supposed to be in an era where its focus is on quality over quantity?