Three ways the MCU can be saved

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been absolutely floundering as of late and superhero fatigue is real. So how can Marvel right its course without jumping ship? There are ways and we're going to get into them.

(L-R): Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Ke Huy Quan as O.B., and Owen Wilson as Mobius in Marvel Studios' LOKI, Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Gareth Gatrell. © 2023 MARVEL.
(L-R): Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Ke Huy Quan as O.B., and Owen Wilson as Mobius in Marvel Studios' LOKI, Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Gareth Gatrell. © 2023 MARVEL.
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3. Slow the heck down, Marvel

Real talk. Even when my comic book nerdiness was at its biggest I would not have cared for half the things Marvel is producing right now. If these were titles of comics back in the day and I saw these on the shelf I would have probably left them there. Like, I love Echo and got really hyped when she showed up in New Avengers, but I can't imagine wanting a solo book.

But right now Marvel has got all these projects coming out that people don't really care that much about.

There's a show coming out for Agatha Harkness who was an old woman who mostly existed in the comics to watch the children of the Fantastic Four until it was revealed that the Scarlet Witch killed her and the most recent version of Agatha was a vision created by Wanda.

But right now that's what the Marvel timeline is like and it makes zero sense to me.

If we look back at the MCU's start, we'll see that every movie was a big name. Thor, Captain America, Iron Man. These were characters that everyone recognized. Household names, icons, practically Marvel mascots. But the movies Marvel throws out would be like if Disney spent millions on a Mickey Mouse universe-based movie starring Claribel Cow.

It isn't just the amount of films that Marvel needs to slow down on though. It's the plots. They're exhausting. When Marvel films in the MCU came out they were barely tied to anything. Sure, there were Infinity Stones tucked here and there, but the most mention you'd get of the other films were end credits teasers where Nick Fury would be a creep and show up in people's houses and say the word "Avengers" and everyone would get excited.

But by the time we got to Endgame things had changed dramatically. Everything had to be tied together. You couldn't watch a single Marvel film without not having context to every other Marvel film you might have missed. In fact, one of the most exciting things in Endgame was the famous "on your left" scene in which everyone shows up to help Captain America fight Thanos' army and I mean everyone. But imagine if you just went into Endgame or this scene itself without having seen most of the other Marvel films.

You might be confused as to who that woman is that grows into being, or the one in the blue Iron Man armor, or the big heavy Hulkbuster armor. You might wonder who the raccoon is riding the Hulkbuster armor, or who the woman is on the pegasus, or, I don't know, who that duck is with the giant gun 2:35 (yes, Howard the Duck appears in this scene, you're welcome).

So what I think needs to be done here is to go back to a time when one, maybe two Marvel projects drop every year. Sure, Disney+ shows can come and go as they please, but the movies need to chill in production numbers, not everyone needs to have a solo movie.

If they can't figure out a good way to cut back on the amount of films then maybe go on to the next thing.