I LIKE IRON MAN 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, it's finally out! This video took me forever to make so thank you all for your patience! I'm aware I have a couple hot takes in this video that I didn't get to explain. This got me to thinking about doing a series where I cover the highs and lows of all the MCU, but for now, I'm all MCU'd out. Until next time everyone, be sure to like and leave a comment to boost this in the algorithm!
I'm a fan of the thor trilogy, not sure why they hate thor2 so much but I can agree it is the weakest of the 3 (4 never counted for me) but avengers truly was the pinnacle for me
Not sure if "character assassination" is the right way to put it. What about character desecration (made me think of character defaecation momentarily)? Character degradation? Character destruction?
There was so much potential for Thor after Endgame, but they chose to ignore literally every interesting part of his situation/journey they could have explored, even when they chose the perfect nemesis (Gorr), they still ruined it. That genuinely made me sad.😔
I disagree with Gorr being a good fit. The franchise had moved away from the concept of them being God's. I think a solo movie of Natalie Portman being the Mighty Thor would have been great. The comic run was successful.It would have given us a hero trying to do their best while fighting cancer.
And there’s one thing that turns me off then the main character being a narcissist! I just can’t stand that personality trait and it’s one of the main reasons I stopped loving Marvel. The character became a** holes and were glorified because of it instead of being punished or shamed. Good became bad and bad became good.
I've watched a lot of "why the MCU sucks now" videos and this is one of the best. Very coherent, accurate points presented in a clear, calm manner. This isn't hate, it's grief over what has happened to this beloved franchise. As Harvey Dent said, "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to become the villain." I remember walking out of the theatre after Endgame (watching it twice in one day) that I considered it the last MCU movie. I felt is was a perfect wrap-up, especially for Stark, the man who started it all. It's only gotten worse since. I was done with the MCU after Thor Love and Thunder and She-Hulk. Nothing has resparked my love, even though I enjoyed Guardians 3. However, your video has inspired me to go back and watch the good stuff again.
It was never "hate". That's just what Marvel and its sycophants said to deflect criticism from bad shows and movies. Too many people didn't want to listen and it was easier to resort to name calling than face up to the fact that the MCU was being destroyed. Many of the people who have been sounding the alarm and being written off as racist misogynists knew of what they were speaking because they'd seen the same thing already happen with the same characters. Marvel's comic book division did what the MCU did years earlier and got the same result: garbage. Not to feel left out DC Comics, which was going from strength to strength as Marvel Comics flailed around, _also_ shot themselves in the foot in the same manner. I've watched Marvel and DC's superheroes, Star Trek, and Doctor Who, things that have brought me immense joy in life, be wrecked by awful, awful storytelling in pursuit of scoring political points. I guess I'm glad people like you are finally coming around.
The only good MCU content in recent years was the Hawkeye series, Moon Knight series (awesome), the Loki series (brilliant!) and Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Okay, Spiderman: No Way Home was watchable, but it still had Peter and Dr. Strange making stupid decisions for the sake of the plot. The rest? No. Falcon & Winter Soldier was tedious. Multiverse of Madness made every character involved unlikable & killed off a version of the Illuminati in passing. Antman vs Kang was a mess, it tried to be "funny" in scenes where it shouldn't. Thor 4 was painful embarrassing character assassination, a movie where the script writers just couldn't decide what storyline or tone they wanted to go for. She-Hulk was cringe-worthy Mary-Sue character _and_ boring. Secret Invasion ruined Nick Fury and the shows plot actually retconned previous plot points about the Skrulls from Captain Marvel. not that Captain Marvel was a good movie.... god, no, she's another unlikable Mary-Sue whose only expression seemed to be an arrogant smirk, and that character didn't improve in The Marvels.
It is indeed well done but I cannot agree that it is the only dispassionate analysis. She comes to it very late and did not try to stem the gathering storm while it could still be addressed. Those who did started out just as she does, rational, serene and confident that, if only the filmmakers were presented with the damage they were doing and if the corporations mutilating the IPs could be turned aside, then it could all be restored and more intelligent, loving, decent and uplifting legendarium could be presented to an amazed and happy audience. But no amount of decency made any difference. It has been years now since Nerdrotic, MauLer, Az, Critical Drinker, Melonie Mac, Disparu, etc. have been railing against the mindless MCU machine. Now, they are abandoning it, too, and yes, theirs are resentful, spiteful voices now. They went up against Goliath but no barrage of literate stones could fell the giant whose maw was fed by BlackRock, Vanguard and their allies in the WEF. I personally am happy to see them moving to approving the great content that is coming up from the margins (where the monsters who now occupy the center of our entertainment universe are supposed to be confined), such as the Rippaverse, One Piece, Godzilla Minus One, Oppenheimer, etc. This is the good stuff now. This is where great stories are being told with heart and soul. Turn your eyes there, friend. I gave up after 'Loki'. There's now no reason to go back. Stan Lee has passed into heaven and there's nobody left who even cares in that MSheU.
@@PaulSmall422 I've been watching those guys for years and have bought every comic Rippaverse has released. I stopped buying Marvel comics years ago and don't care about the MCU anymore. I told my wife upon leaving the theater after Endgame that the MCU has reached its peak and is done, but Disney is too greedy not to try to milk it for everything they can get. I was done after the killer combo of Thor Love and Thunder and She-Hulk. That's when I knew there was no hope. Guardians 3 was good but only because they let the original creator finish his trilogy, and he's gone now as well.
I re-watched the first ten years of MCU at the start of this year and it was so much fun .I had forgotten how much joy I got from them. The last four years of MCU content had created an apathy in me to the franchise. It's sad really. Though Guardians 3 did give me that feel of classic MCU.
I've been reading marvel comics far longer than most MCU fans have been alive. When I was in high school, my friends and I were "nerds" for liking comics, anime, and Tolkien. When I got a bit older, and everything started getting big budget adaptations, we were thrilled. Even the early xmen and raimi Spiderman movies were something we never imagined was possible. Once the MCU came around, it was literally a dream come true. I loved every single one, even some of the less beloved installments. They meant something to me that cant really be described. Fast forward to a post Endgame world, i can't get excited for any MCU projects. I want to, I just cant anymore. Everything they've put out lately just seems souless, with the exception of GoTG 3 and NWH. Hopefully it's not too late to turn it around.
Disney Marvel is dead. They have destroyed the continuity of the MCU. They have destroyed any of the likable characters that were still left. They have introduced characters that no one cares about. The only way this mess can be fixed is if Disney fires everyone who was involved in Phase 4 of the MCU, hires a new team of writers and producers that are led by someone who actually loves comic books, and starts over from scratch with a new cast of Xmen. But that will never happen.
Dude, I am up there in age as well. This was niche. Our teachers didn't know who the X-Men were. You never saw girls at the comic book stores. We were all nerds enjoying our thing. Now it's popular culture.
@@A_UA-cam_Commenter Women ruined our hobby. The only reason why most women pretend to be comic book fans is so they have an excuse to put on cute cosplay outfits. Most women couldn't care less about reading good comic book stories.
It's not too late, they just need to make good movies. If you've been reading comics that long, you have to be used to 'bad runs' of your favorite comics. Heck, Magneto was turned into a baby, restored to his natural age, and took revenge on the X-Men by trapping them in chairs that reduced their motor functions to babies, and that's GOOD stuff. Point is, if they just make good movies again, the bad ones will be forgiven.
I 100% agree that the Hulk should have gotten round two of retribution with Thanos. The theater would have exploded with cheers when Hulk put the smack down! The fact that never happened was a major disappointment. Keep up the good work!
Don't forget Strange fighting water with a tornado for 30 minutes, Captain Marvel existing in the film at all, fat Thor, and Thanos being completely reconned as a villain. End Game could have been unbelievably good. Instead it was... Ok.
Idk… Thanos put the kind of beating on the Hulk that nobody can recover from. Unless they showed The hulk learning MMA there was no way he would ever beat thanos one on one. Lol
@@Tysheeno Naw. The only reason he was able to do that was because of the gauntlet with the infinity stones. How cool would it have been when they got it off Thanos that Hulk steps up like “Yeah, now we’ll see”? Everyone woulda lost their 💩! Even if we never got to see a decisive win.
One of the dumbest things the MCU did(or didn't do) was not having THE HULK in INFINITY WAR. Just ridiculous to have Bruce banner running around in a iron Man type suit. Those of us who have been comic book Lovers for many many years were so PISSED
I think part of the problem with the MCU is a loss in the belief of hero's and heroism. I remember listening to NPR back when The Lord of the Rings trilogy was ending and of 2 commentators just did not understand how anyone could be invested in Hobbits, wizards, and "darklord characters". It seemed that the main problem they had was that it showed these characters as heroes. They didn't see how these stories are a reflection of human desire to overcome evil in themselves and ultimately in the world around us (of course there has to be an understanding of what is evil). I find the same resonance in the "super hero" movies. And the ones calling the shots became cynical and narcissitic of their talent and their ideology.
What you just wrote would be a great current MCU movie, about how a hero changes the minds of people who have gotten lost in the darkness of the world, while also living in that darkness. That’s something people would connect to, but I feel like MCUs story team are lost, if you as a fan can think of this, they should have thought of it five years ago.
Those NPR commenters are a great example of how deconstructionism has poisoned western culture. LotR was written in a time period where such intellectual pretenses would have been considered too self-indulgent for a story centered on heroism.
The MCU has always been self deprecating toward superheroics in a way that honestly kind of irks me. There's a want to be dismissive of iconography and names as stupid or for kids that manifest itself in a bunch of jokes. So no, I don't think this is the issue. Superheroes fail without complex themes or personal stories supplementing heroics. The 60's proved that. People don't just wanna see the hero save the day, they want it to mean something. The Winter Soldier is the best example of that. Steve saves the day but the enemy he faces poses a personal journey that makes him reconcile with the new world around him and what he left behind.
I don't even like Marvel but I feel your pain. A beautiful and succinct eulogy to something you loved. The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.
Agreed. NOt a huge Marvel fan, but I used to be a huge Star Wars fan so I feel her pain, since Disney is doing the EXACT.SAME.THING to Star Wars as well.
Um no... (I know this wasn't the point of your comment but I see this misinformation sometimes, so I just want to correct it): The opposite of love IS hate. The connection is PASSION. Whether you love or hate something, you have a PASSION for it. Think of it as a line with love on one end and hate on the other, indifference would be in the middle. Basically, it's a passion scale. If you're passionate about something, are you on one extreme end of loving it, or the other extreme end of hating it? Or are you NEUTRAL/ in the MIDDLE/ INDIFFERENT? (Capitalized to point out that these words are synonyms.) So indifferent means you have no opinion on something, AKA you are "in the middle" on that situation. I really don't get where people are coming up with that idea that indifference is somehow the opposite of love... If that were true wtf is hate?! You can also think of it as if you are saying that instead of the UA-cam dislike button being the opposite of the like button, the "true" opposite would be to not press either (indifference)... Which doesn't make sense.
Very well put; I could not have explained it any better. The hero is heroic not because he or she has powers, but because they overcome the darkness within themselves for the sake of a greater good.
You have put into words EXACTLY what l have been feeling about this whole mess. It wasn't a true disaster until people who DID NOT care or understand about these characters were given the keys to the kingdom and made it into something unrecognizable. I LOVED the OG characters but they purposely destroyed them out of malice and hubris it shows in the films. I would also like to add that I feel the same about Starwars too :(
You can really tell when the people who bullied comic book lovers at school were suddenly allowed to start making the films about them. The fact we were denied a good she hulk film who is one of my favorite characters still depresses me
And then they complain that that people hate female characters when all they do is constantly write horrible and destroy female characters. Why is it so hard to write a good female super hero nowadays?
I actually liked She-Hulk *except for the last episode which was just cr&p*. It was funny enough to watch which is all I wanted. I liked Ms Marvel for the same reason. The Marvels film is just trash.
She Hulk is nothing but a way to virtue signal. Hand off a little project to the womenfolk. Marvel has an issue with casting directors and crew nowadays, and not hiring them, if you know what I mean.
Just a note : you mentioned that She-Hulk didn't have the budget for a 10-ft tall female. It had a budget of over $225 MILLION, (and she was 6' 7"). That should have been PLENTY of money to put good CGI up onscreen. It's not THAT expensive or difficult anymore.
Thank you so much. You reminded me why I loved MCU Phases 1-3, despite their flaws. I'm now more convinced than ever that most of what marvels now is utter crap.
The Captain America Trilogy is great. I honestly don't understand how the Superman movies like couldn't take a character that has been around for decades and reinvent him while staying true to the roots of what make the character great.
Captain America Civil War is my favorite. Scenes from that movie were like pages lifted from a comic. The depth of reasoning for their conflict in that movie made all the intense scenes so meaningful.
you can't reinvent masculinity, and superman is basically pure masculinity... there is no such thing as toxic or positive masculinity. it's equally both, you can't have one without the other, so you can't reinvent superman.
That end Montage made me, a 40 years old guy, actually cry. The MCU gave me so much... all those memories, all those emotions! And now complete apathy. Its like watching a good friend you spent over a decade of your life with, dying of cancer and finally taking him to rest. The MCU didnt have to die, but it was murdered by political activists and wannabe creatives without any talent. Its so sad... what a shame!
That’s why I move on with the MonsterVerse, anything directed by Christopher Nolan, the animated Spider-Man films, historical battle, and video game adaptations. Although I still love and enjoy all the Marvel films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Eternals are so far my least favorites. Not only the Marvel Cinematic Universe has lost their steam but the DC Extended Universe is pretty much dead like a dinosaur.
@@dylanwong6065Do you think Aquaman 2 will repeat the failure of this year's superhero movies (apart, from Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 which was pretty successful).?
@@jimmyboydonald6578 Yes. I think Aquaman 2 was stuck so long in development hell, it has little chance to succeed. Then there's the whole Amber Heard thing and the fact they _didn't_ remake the movie without her. How much screen presence she has will be a huge factor for the movie.
@@jimmyboydonald6578I’d say yes. Due to Amber Heard in it. Although I still love the first Aquaman movie, I don’t feel excited for the sequel and I probably won’t watch.
Damn, your collage at the end brought a tear to my eye. The gap between the potential for what they can give us vs what we’ve been getting lately is so vast. Excellent video! This is my first watch of your channel and I’ll definitely be back! Hope you’re well and having a good day!
I agree. WandaVision was some of the best Phase Four we got, until the end. Even going back and rewatching several times I have to say, the downfall of the show started before the last episode. Hayward was a big miss, almost as much as a more complex dealing of Wanda in the end.
Good video and something else to mention is that marvel and disney really decided to spear into really charged political ideas with the people they hired and would attack fans for criticism. Almost any male character had a female replacement and it seemed like somehow the main paying demographic was the ones they wanted to cut in favour of a new fan base, that didn’t exactly go well for them.
Midnight's Edge just did a great 2 part video on this due to the new MCU book. Their thesis is that everything went to hell when Kevin Feige got Bob Iger to reassign Ike Pearlmutter and dissolve the Quality Control Board (because Feige didn't like having to prove that his ideas worked). So Feige had no oversight, and the first thing he did was make Captain Marvel. And after Endgame, he just kept pumping out movies and shows (and yes, Iger asked him to do way too much) with no one telling him his ideas didn't appeal to the fan base.
I mean they touched on politics in Captain America but they didn’t let it mess their characters up, that’s the big difference. Also weaponising fans against each other for a studio’s benefit is disgusting behaviour.
I don't think wanting to cut off your toxic original fanbase is an issue. props to them for weeding out the snowflakes. I'm glad y'all have left. I hope we weren't supposed to mourn the loss of you pathetic old fans.
@@kaskaskas😂 🤡 you must be in charge of Disney Studios. You hate the fans just as much as they do. Sorry all the SJW replacement fans are not watching all the PC motivated movies these days from marvel.
You would not believe how much I wanted Dr. Strange in MoM to be good. The first one was my most favorite out of the entire MCU. You wouldnt believe how disappointed I was and how much I laughed at the stupid bits of it. I was truly done after that.
Same here, multiverse of madness was suppose to be an EVENT film like NWH but it ended up being the event that caused me to no longer care about marvel. The multiverse plot had so much potential but they squandered it.
Same here esp since i was a dr strange fan way before his first movie and i was so hyped n i made everyone i knew about it because i was so excited for my fave character to have more screentime and for more ppl to realise how interesting the magic side of marvel was with dimensions the villains like nightmare or one thing i was super interested in BARON MORDO THEY BUILT THAT UP BUT HAD NO MENTION i was severely disappointed
This is probably the best essay video I've ever seen, the whole half hour literally flew by and that final part made me shed tears...you put into words what I think me and many others feel about the state of marvel right now; I knew about the fusrt Iron man movie and Hulk but it was when Avengers hit the theaters that I was hooked up with all the characters and stories. It used to be so awesome to go check the new movie out every year and discussing them with friends, but now all that magic seems to have gone forever; the new movies feel like they have no heart in them and they seem disconnected, and the series all go their separate ways or even get ignored (like what happens in Wandavision on Doctor strange 2)...It's almost been 2 years since I last went to the cinema to see a marvel movie because of this and it sucks because that used to be one of my favorite things to do :(
Great effort and great video - agree on pretty much every front. Dr Strange 2 was the real turning point for me. First time we left the movie theater after an MCU flick bitterly disappointed (for the record didn't see Eternals, Black Widow or Shang-Chi at the cinema). Decided to stick to D+ for MCU content. Then Thor 4 came along, only validating our decision. Then Quantumania - another swing and a miss. MCU just faded from being "must watch". Couldn't finish the first episode of She-Hulk, and so on. So yeah, when it came time to renew our D+ sub it was an easy decision. As they say, the opposite of love isn't hate, but indifference.
The MCU went way off the rails. They had a formula that both men and women enjoyed for a decade. Then around the time of end game they decided to completely ridicule and alienate over half of their core fanbase.
What's scary is that there are still MCU die-hards out there who go to the latest release of the new movie, lap it up and speculate what the post credits scenes are all about and salivate over what the next release will be.
@eljay5009 *"and then think "you know what..........we didn't capture all of the audience we could have"."* Because that's not what happened. They went to _alienate_ their old fanbase, you don't do that when your goal is to get a wider audience.
I honestly think that it’s because ever since the legend who made these movies as he was supervising the production of the movies based on the characters he created, I think it started to go downhill once Stan Lee died, he was the one keeping a leash on the people who wanted to be cynical about his creations and only wanted people who loved his stories or his characters. I’m just glad he’s now immortalized in Insomniac Spider-Man games because that is how you honor someone.
Ditto. I remember wanting to be first in line to see a sci fi fantasy comic based movie. Now I couldn't care less. It's not the genre itself it's the people who make them now. They're fiends.
The Marvel characters were superhuman, yet all too human at the same time. Your montage at the end reminded me of how much I loved the old movies. Cap catching Thor's hammer was beyond epic. I only wish my son hadn't spoiled that scene for me before I watched it. Of course, I DID ask him to tell me a bit about the movie... 😅
What really sucks is X-Men fans like me were hoping and patiently waiting for the X-Men to have their own MCU reboot and now that its finally happening, after more than a decade, the MCU is unravelling...typical
I can't believe they ruined the quicksilver reveal in Wandavision with a pointless bohner joke. I mean WHY?????? I saw a rewrite of the wandavision ending and it would have created so much hype going forward. Why would they ruin such potential like that????
Actually go watch The Marvels and come to this conclusion. It wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible. The movies are going to get better again relax pretty sure Feige who has been this same thing since 1999. They’ve fired many people and listening to the fans. 2025 will be the year marvel makes a huge comeback I’m calling it rn
You really really NAILED it! My first moment of losing the love was Endgame. I am a MASSIVE Thor fan. So I wore a cool Thor hat and shirt. Had Mjolnir and Stormbreaker as key chains. Seating in the theater excited to see the cool stuff he would do in Endgame on that opening Thursday. As soon as I saw him in the five year time jump, I slouched in my seat and began covering my face. I never felt like a loser being an adult seeing these movies until that night. I took that personally. So I am eagerly waiting to look into Disney’s/Marvel’s eyes when the light fades from their eyes as they die!
God I was so excited to see the new Dr Strange, I personally loved WandaVision and couldn't wait to see how it meshed with Strange's story 💔 my kid and I both left at the end in awkward silence
This is it. This video really encapsulated my feelings of Marvel and where it has been and where it is now. I always had hoped that they would turn it around but after the Marvel's which I haven't seen I don't think they will ever return to their former glory. It's sad, but it's true "a thing isn't beautiful because it lasts" and we still have the older Marvel movies to look back on.
You said it perfectly when you stated why would you watch anymore of this crap when its just going to taint what you enjoyed in the past. Thats sums up how I feel about this and a few other franchises like Star Wars and Star Trek. The thing the studios just refuse to understand is legacy matters. If you taint or tarnish characters or films that these franchises were built upon, you destroy the foundation of the franchise, and decrease its value and interest from the fans.
It sure seems like Paramount considers Star Trek's legacy to be Kirk, Spock, Enterprise, Klingons, Tribbles and Khan. That's it. It's maddening that a franchise I've loved since I was a child 30 years ago has been so reduced.
Excellent video .. very well said !!!.. I think you’ve pretty much spoken for all former MCU fans !!!.. and as a former comicbook collector, I’m just happy that we got what we got and that people got a taste of that love that I got as a kid reading Marvel Comics !!!.. R.I.P. Marvel and Stan Lee !!!
This was a great video. It brought me back to so many memories. I just recently started a random marvel marathon. I did spider man and moved to captain America. These movies were just so much fun. Winter soldier is one of my favorites in the franchise. It’s wonderful that we had ten years of movies that were culturally a huge juggernaut. It’s so sad that it’s ended but nothing last forever.
@@BigPoppaPumpthc it’s true and at least we can always go back. I think 10 years of a phenomenon is a good amount of time. One day we will get something else
There are still fantastically written films and shows with strong female characters that will appeal to both sexes. Unfortunately, Disney is only looking for crap stories, execrably written to wrap around female characters no one cares about. But after watching The Marvels and suffering through the IBS caused by it, I watched 1883 and it restored my faith that there ARE good stories with fantastic writing for strong female characters that both sexes can relate to. I dare anyone to watch the first 4 minutes of Episode 1 of 1883 and not want to find out more about Elsa Dutton's story. Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Sam Elliot give outstanding performances with cameos by Tom Hanks and Billy Bob Thornton. But it is Isabel May as 17 year old Elsa that steals the show. She's not a Mary Sue and you watch her character arc and journey as she takes guidance and grows. She is at the heart of not just 1883, but also all the seasons of the shows 1923 and Yellowstone with Harrison Ford and Kevin Costner.
👏 Bravo! Done with honesty and a lot of care. Showing what the MCU meant to you and how it broke your heart. I understand more now why these movies were so adored. I'm a cynical jaded 46yr old so these are really not for me. I am still bitter about their part in the demise of varied cinema and films with soul. But like a parasite, silly modern agenda's forced into entertainment has ruined a fun escape. So much so even loyal fans have had enough. Movies can be all manor of genres. It doesn't matter they must however be entertaining so you can lose yourself. Let's hope this is a phase and we will come come out of it. But I fear it may be broken never to be fixed. Now that breaks my heart.
Hi there! Enjoying the video so far! I'm sorry, I just have to step in with a few points of note in defense of Endgame (although I do agree that Infinity War is still the superior of the two): -Hulks reconciliation was in Snap'ing everyone back into existence. It absolutely would have been great to see him get a rematch with Thanos... but I think... this one is more accurate to his character. Banner, a man who feared and disliked Hulk for his violence and destruction... was not only able to make peace with that side of him and this allowed him to use Hulk to save lives rather than to destroy them. -Fat Thor was very off-putting to me, at first. But what started out as a joke... quickly became an incredibly poignant message on trauma. You could even see the seeds of it sprinkled in Infinity War. Remember that conversation with Rocket? "What more can I lose?" Turns out... a lot. He wasn't just a fat joke (although admittedly, I wish they held back on a few of the jokes they did make. Some of them were in poor taste)... he was an examination of depression and how to overcome it. Okay, sorry, just needed to put that out there. lol
Ooh good point about Hulk 👍 And yes, Fat Thor was fine for me too for exactly the same reasons you mentioned but what pissed me off was at the end of Endgame, Thor goes back to the man he was at the start of the MCU saga - instead of ruling his people and finding them a new home, he gives up the throne to Valkyrie of all people and goes off gallivanting across the Universe with his new friends to "find himself" Man's planet is destroyed, his people are refugees and he's off on an interstellar journey 😑
I’ve been angry about what they’re doing to these storylines and characters, but really I’m just sad. I’m upset about what they’ve done with the potential they had. Some of these characters could’ve been so much more. At this point I think I’m just going to pretend that Endgame was the last MCU movie.
I liked no way home a lot; I know it's become more criticized now but honestly after rewatches it still feels like there's soul in it - like they cared about the character and the story and actually made it entertaining
@@edwardhill7297 agreed, NWH had my hype lvl through the roof and i couldn't wait for Multiverse of Madness. Unfortunately Multiverse of Madness turned out to be a Multiverse of MIDness which turned into the biggest dissapointment i had with Marvel. It completely killed the potential for the Multiverse story arc.
@@vice2versa literally and it continued the trend of introducing a new character who I cannot remember the name of only to be forgotten like 8 movies later. I mean, why not just give them their own movie? I think the worst offender was ironheart - she felt completely out of place of Black Panther 2, there was literally no reason for her being there 😂
There are still fantastically written films and shows with strong female characters that will appeal to both sexes. Unfortunately, Disney is only looking for crap stories, execrably written to wrap around female characters no one cares about. But after watching The Marvels and suffering through the IBS caused by it, I watched 1883 and it restored my faith that there ARE good stories with fantastic writing for strong female characters that both sexes can relate to. I dare anyone to watch the first 4 minutes of Episode 1 of 1883 and not want to find out more about Elsa Dutton's story. Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Sam Elliot give outstanding performances with cameos by Tom Hanks and Billy Bob Thornton. But it is Isabel May as 17 year old Elsa that steals the show. She's not a Mary Sue and you watch her character arc and journey as she takes guidance and grows. She is at the heart of not just 1883, but also all the seasons of the shows 1923 and Yellowstone with Harrison Ford and Kevin Costner.
I watch a lot of similar content but this has been the first time I've seen your channel. A brilliant presentation that echoes many of my own feelings. On the whole, phases, 1-3 were strong movies with characters who were enjoyable because they were flawed individuals. I've watched a couple of Phase 4 movies and tried to watch some of the shows but they were just so convoluted and filled with 'the message.' I still enjoy the original saga and don't want it tainted. Another similar example is The Fast and Furious movies. The first one is still one of my favourite movies, it was grounded in reality. But they continually got more outrageous.
Ever since the launch of Disney+ streaming service, their focus changed in the wrong way DrStrange 2 MoM was the LAST MCU movie I watched at the theater and I haven't gone back
Same, except for wakanda forever because black panther was my families favorite mcu movie so they dragged me. I originally planned on seeing Thor4 in theaters first day but Dr Strange MoM was such a huge dissapointment that i didn't even care anymore. Thor4 word of mouth would have to be one of the best MCU movies ever to get me to go see thor4 in theaters after MoM. When word of mouth said Thor4 was trash i was like well, it looks like marvel has entered their dark age where all their projects end up being mediocre.
Do not ever apologize for taking too long with your videos. This was your best one yet. I almost cried when you were on the good parts. What have we lost?
Well said. Especially the how you retorted the criticism of the "high artists" and showing the early films did indeed have merit. Times change and the way media can connect to audiences change. Early marvel managed to evoke something in so many people because they were aware of what people wanted and needed. Though the MCU may have fell from relevance, I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next for us.
Agree with almost everything you said but Loki is the only thing that seems to work for me and the conclusion to Season 2 was great. Loki truly feels redeemed and that character is probably my favorite out of the entire MCU.
I have to agree! I haven't had the time to finish Loki s2 just yet, but I enjoy the direction his character is taking. I disagree with her opinion that Loki has been reduced to a bumbling crybaby- Loki is on a redemption arc. His character growth happens gradually over the show, and his motivation for change makes **sense** given the context. The show isn't perfect by any means, but I think it's worth praising out of the recent MCU sludge.
@@crovvebar been hearing positive things in last couple of weeks about Loki s2 , but Wanted to wait until it end , So is Loki season 2 actually that good? I stoped watching any marvel related content when Loki s1 ended , that was the last straw for me and canceled my Disney subscription. Is it worth the watch ?
@@nathanolson3135Loki S2 is better than the first season imo. The narrative is exciting and stimulating and it has some great payoffs. Definitely reinvigorated my love for Marvel a bit
Nicely said. I wasn't even an MCU fan and I know nothing about hero comics. Guardians of the Galaxy was more of my thing and when I saw Infinity War for the first time, my mind was blown and I went back and watched all the other movies as I waited for Endgame... after that, nothing has drawn me back. But from Iron Man to Endgame - that's a great cinematic achievement and legacy... True MCU fans must be gutted!
Apathy is what describes with 100% accuracy what I, and I would dare to say, most fans feel about Marvel right now. Worse than giving negative reviews and rejecting the content, is not caring about it at all to even consume it in the first place.
I was so late to the party that I was able to see the beginning of Phase 4, and the downfall of the MCU. I watched all the movies, was super hyped just like everyone else, to the point where my coworkers and I were discussing entire plots and the universe itself. Then around No Way Home, everyone stopped. I don't know anyone personally who watched the original movies who didn't rush to the theaters to see it, but it was like we all knew no film was going to top that one. We talked about it for months and planned a group trip to see it. We came out of the theater excitedly discussing it. The last time was when Multiverse of Madness was announced. People were hyping up that movie just as much as No Way Home, but once the actual movie was released, I was the only one in my friend group who saw it. Guardians of the Galaxy 3 was the last MCU film I watched and loved, but there were a lot of people I knew who didn't see it and there are a lot of gaps in my DVD collection. Everytime someone announced a new Marvel film or show now, I just say "okay," and move on with my life as if I didn't hear them.
You are saying none of your friends watched multiverse of madness??? That was the last marvel film I was hyped to watch first day but the movie was so garbage and such a huge character assassination that it completely killed my interest in the MCU going forward. Multiverse of Madness was suppose to be like an EVENT but it ended up being the event that caused interest to die. I was surprised it didnt get the same hate that thor 4 got.
@vice2versa My friend group isn't that large, but every one of them were HUGE Marvel fans. You could show a meme or mention a movie in passing, and they would go off on that. It was because of them that I started watching the movies, and their excitement rubbed off on me, and since I was in the same boat with them, I remember losing interest around the same time they did. After No Way Home, we just stopped talking about Marvel in general, and it was like we didn't need an explanation. We all knew why. We still have our original merchandise, wallpaper, and movies, but some, including me, canceled our Disney+ subscription, and the ones who didn't only bring up the show they watched if it was REALLY bad. I don't even remember the plot to Multiverse of Madness. I only remember being highly disappointed at times throughout the film, but I don't remember why. It's like my brain blocked out the memory of any Marvel movie that's not in the original 22, with a few exceptions of TV shows and movies I actually enjoyed, which aren't many. Someone I know tried to watch Ms. Marvel and She Hulk, but had to stop after the first couple of episodes due to boredom.
There are still fantastically written films and shows with strong female characters that will appeal to both sexes. Unfortunately, Disney is only looking for crap stories, execrably written to wrap around female characters no one cares about. But after watching The Marvels and suffering through the IBS caused by it, I watched 1883 and it restored my faith that there ARE good stories with fantastic writing for strong female characters that both sexes can relate to. I dare anyone to watch the first 4 minutes of Episode 1 of 1883 and not want to find out more about Elsa Dutton's story. Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Sam Elliot give outstanding performances with cameos by Tom Hanks and Billy Bob Thornton. But it is Isabel May as 17 year old Elsa that steals the show. She's not a Mary Sue and you watch her character arc and journey as she takes guidance and grows. She is at the heart of not just 1883, but also all the seasons of the shows 1923 and Yellowstone with Harrison Ford and Kevin Costner.
@willarth9186 Yeah, people say movies aren't good anymore. That's not the case. There are good movies, they just aren't promoted the same way the bad ones are, so we have to dig for them. 1883 kind of proves that because I've never heard of it before. I thought horror movies as a whole were bad because I saw It, which was filled with predictable jump scares, bad cgi and a goofy clown who barely looked intimidating, and The Shining, which came across as silly and boring, but my mind was changed after I saw Insidious, which had minimal jump scares, an actual storyline and believable acting. Insidious is considered one of those old horror movies that isn't up to the standards of today, but people look back on it because it was actually excellent. The original Hunger Games was good because the female lead went through real problems, experienced real emotions, and developed real, meaningful friendships. The acting was on point, and shaky camera aside, the franchise was great.
@willarth9186 Making female leads overpowered and immune to character development is annoying and overdone. Exactly why Black Widow in phases 1, 2, and 3 and pre WandaVision Wanda worked so well. They had weaknesses, character development, and relatable backstories, which made them come across as human to the viewers. Captain Marvel was a stupid choice in my opinion, because they rushed her backstory, gave her (or rather made her steal) a motorcycle, made her break free from whatever mind control she was under, and then she's just this invincible goddess who didn't grow as a person and has an infinite amount of power for no reason other than "Yay! Female empowerment!" which is already tired, old and boring already, because now she's too strong to be an Avenger, so we have to write a lame excuse so she doesn't get in the way of the other characters. I'm not against female leads, but for some reason, the movies with male leads are much more interesting because men don't have the same over obsession with power that women seem to have.
Something I noticed is that the MCU’s downward spiral began precisely when Stan Lee passed away. I wonder how much creative influence this titan of storytelling had over Marvel Studios.
You hit the nail on the head. Apathy. I only even watched this video because I’ve been looking for opinions from different people than the ones I usually watch. As the quality of the movies began to decline I sought out catharsis in videos about why they were so bad. Now I hardly care. Except that all of entertainment seems to be suffering from the same illness.
I think getting so absorbed in them in the first place definitely contributes to getting worn out. I didnt start at the beginning, i didnt care about Iron Man or Thor or Cap or Avengers. It was just not my thing. Somewhere in between Age of Ultron and Civil War, i hopped on board and became a big fan. Started seeing them on release day when i could, and just generally enjoying the whole universe. I consider myself a nerd about it(enough that i watch video essays about it), but idk, it never consumed my life except for like the weekend of Endgame maybe. When something comes out that i like, i appreciate it. When i see something that doesnt look great, ill skip it.
@@vice2versa if one isn't absorbed to the point of fanaticism, then a drop in quality is just a minor inconvenience and can moved on from quickly. When you're obsessed with something, and it doesn't come out as good as you wanted...well then we're more offended and get critical. I'm not saying either way is right or wrong, but personally my life is the same regardless of how good the latest Marvel movie is.
I also wish I could just keep my enjoyment of the old MCU, but it tends to be more like StarWars. I still love the original movies, but I am not the enthusiastic fan I used to be. Seeing your favorite heroes just isn’t the same anymore when you know that they will end up as embarrassing failures.
They game of thrones'd star wars and marvel. It's now basically impossible to go back and watch any of the previous content because now we know it's been completely destroyed.
Once again, worth the wait! Excellent conclusion. Thanks for sharing how much the MCU meant to you with such grace and eloquence. I admire it, and you'll probably see why as I ramble. It's always great hearing the love you put into your informative work. I'm a lousy student, but you're a terrific teacher! And you used my favorite MCU quote, "There are the hands that made us, and then there are the hands that guide the hands." And as to your pinned comment, I also liked Iron Man 3, because I liked the relationship between Tony and the kid. The Justice League Unlimited Batman Ace scene pretty much encapsulates what fiction has meant to me growing up, and it was cool to see something similar in that film with a hero helping inspire a kid, especially with Tony Thanos snapping him out of self-pity. I didn't really like the first Guardians of the Galaxy either when first seeing it, but instantly liked Vol. 2 with it being my favorite MCU movie since the first Iron Man which I thought was really good thanks to RDJ's charisma; chemistry between RDJ and Gwenth Paltrow; natural humor; and redemption theme. Vol.2 stood out for me because of the intimacy and creative expansion to the universe, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the first Disney thing I saw this decade, and I thought it was at least in the top 3 Marvel movies along with Spider-man 2 and X-Men Days of Future Past. I actually thought it was the best superhero movie since the Dark Knight. For me, it was refreshing and surprising to see a massive release have a great message defending the sanctity of life relative to a science fiction, fantasy, looney tunes-eque action adventure movie. Unfortunately, I liked Batman and Robin and X-Men the Last Stand more than all the Avengers movies combined (I liked moments from the movies and while I preferred Iron Man because of RDJ, I was Team Cap and wore a Captain America shirt to the theater to show my support for the metaphorical side), and I despised Spider-man No Way Home, which was the second and possibly the last Disney thing I'll see this decade...I'm saying that for drama. I hope things change for me. I thought NWH was a nihilistic clown show. And I liked all 3 Raimi Spider-man movies; thought the first Amazing Spider-man had spectacular casting with the car thief scene being the closest to the spirit of the Steve Ditko Spider-man charaterization from the comics (which I still consider the greatest superhero, though from what I read the Wally West Flash appeared to be the most consistent across mediums); Amazing Spider-man 2 was the closest to the spirit of the Spider-man the comics I liked (I read almost all of Spider-man from 1962 to 2007 One More Day...and I read a lot after trying to like it but, nope) and I even prefer Emma Stone's Gwen Stacey to the comics...but anyways, No Way Home's Insufferable no responsibility Spider-man looked like it took inspiration from the nihilistic time traveling Christopher Reeve Superman (what happened to the second missile when he changed all of time for one woman....no one has super kissed my memory away from remembering that!) and it didn't give me closure...it made characters I liked into a pathetic joke. I know I'm at odds with a lot of fans, but, I thought Zendaya's performance and MJ character was good and liked seeing Eddie at the end! I liked the Venom movie, especially because it went against the trope where it made Anne's doctor boyfriend a decent guy and didn't give into glorifying pity parties with Eddie and actually had fun with it with how they developed the symbiote making it clear he was in the wrong and not someone to emulate (I didn't like the 2019 Joker movie because I thought that was glorification of pity partying). Best regards for your films! You're almost at 7k! Hope you and yours have a delightful day! Keep up the wonderful work! =)
hey there, you said "No Way Home's Insufferable no responsibility Spider-man looked like it took inspiration from the nihilistic time traveling Christopher Reeve Superman" and i was wondering what you meant by that ?
@@DOGOO44 Hi! Thanks for asking. In the first and second Christopher Reeve Superman movies, I thought Superman was a nihilistic irresponsible hero similar to how Peter wants to turn back time after his identity being revealed, and then wants people's memories to be wiped out, instead of just accepting his heartbreaking situation like, imo, a hero would, and I hold Spider-man and Superman to higher standards since I think our culture does view them as more moral beacons and aspirational standards, especially with the "Truth, Justice, and the American way." Being that Superman made the choice to go after the villain Lex Luthor's first destructive missile, he was unable to save Lois Lane, a woman who he barely knew having more of a crush/infatuation, from a second missile, and because of that he decides to change back time to save her, even when his biological father Jor-El speaks to him before doing it telling him "it is forbidden for you to interfere with human history" and he had the memory of not being able to save his adopted father Jonathan earlier from a health reason where imo that was the set up for the theme of the character to learn the lessen of humility where he's not God so he can't do everything but, apparently, he doesn't and just plays God and then flies smiling carrying the American Flag like he's an aspirational hero and I was similarly unsettled by NWH symbolically indicating with the comic book accurate costume that MCU Spider-man was now becoming the noble aspirational hero fans loved making his self-sacrificial choice at the end of the movie where I don't see the trajectory for that characterization. Then in the next movie, Superman, still barely knowing Lois, he chooses to permanently give up his powers so he can fornicate with her, and then as a result of his choice, he doesn't have the ability to defend people against the villainous Kryptonians, so he gets his powers back and then also gets a super memory kiss power so Lois doesn't know his identity. And also beats up a regular human at a bar. With that and how No Way Home brought back Dr. Octopus and Green Goblin from the Raimi movies which had emotional dramatic importance to them in those movies, it's nihilistic to me where nothing matters. And with how jokey the Spider-man were during fighting where, imo, it's not like in the comics where Peter was a kid deflecting from his insecurities and using it as a distraction tactic. And how they used imo patronizing nostalgic references as if the universes didn't progress with their Spider-man not meeting new heroes or building up a greater rogues gallery...they were pretty static. That stinks on ice to me. Culturally, I think Superman, Captain America, and Spider-man are thought of as being held to a higher standard, and personally, I do consider Spider-man the greatest superhero...even though my favorite might be Nightwing or the Wally West Flash. My favorite comic book characters were Son Goku and the 1997 Joe Kelly comic interpretation of Deadpool where neither are the most virtuous characters, but no one pretends they are. In his universe, Goku is viewed as a selfish prideful character and Deadpool is a villain and is reprimanded for giving into self-pity to justify his evil choices and in the final issue of the comic run, he eventually changes into an anti-hero and we're given a tease that he'll eventually become a hero. And Han Solo (Star Wars) is an example of a film character who starts of as an anti-hero but he eventually becomes a noble aspirational character Examples of more noble characters on film for me are: Samwise Gamgee, Frodo Baggins, Aragorn, Gandalf, Eowyn (Lord of the Rings); Mary Hatch Bailey (It's a Wonderful Life); Mulan; Maximus (Gladiator); Cliff Booth (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood); Linus (Merry Christmas Charlie Brown); Maria Van Trapp (Sound of Music); Mel Miller (A Face in the Crowd), Jefferson Smith (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), Mark Thackery (To Sir, With Love) the fictionalized version of William Wallace (Braveheart)... And I thought the original Sam Raimi Spider-man trilogy did a good job reflecting a flawed coming of age becoming the moral beacon character. That Spider-man, imo, similar to the comics would have been concerned about others and his responsibilities, especially his aunt if he was about to die like he did in Infinity War, where the MCU one thought about himself. I didn't keep up with all the MCU movies but I didn't like him in that movie or this one. Hope that helped clarify and you and yours have a great week!
Loki Season Two was pretty amazing!!!! But probably mainly due to it being different from both the MCU and it’s first season lol. It’s a beautiful story in its own right but it’s quite contained. But I can geniunely recommend it
You are 100% right in your assessment. I grew up with these characters. In 1967, I was 9 and picked up my first Marvel. With the first Avengers movie in 2012, I was transported back. Seeing the characters that I grew up with portrayed mostly true made up for all the years when reading comics was looked down upon. Seeing them trashed has soured me on the whole thing. The MCU ended in the aptly titled, "Endgame ". Again, excellent work.
You summed up my feelings well A hero is someone who has to battle with ones personal issues before dealing with enemies of life Now they are just super powered people stepping on the rest of us Films need to be made by people who love the characters not corporate board rooms
Yeah... Like that one show that had the protagonists call themselves heroes because they are fighting to stop a place with poor living conditions be rebuilt to have better facilities, homes and even more jobs Might actually be more interesting if the protagonist was the antagonist tbh
When she brought up that they intentionally hired people who one aren't marvel comic fans and they didn't watch shows that tied into other shows I thought "Why would they do that and not expect lots of issues??"
This is it!!!... you put it together so well with what I also believe what most fans think. It feels souless, like if the writers hate the fans of the comic version characters.
I stopped caring when the creatives started using new projects as a median to project their gender, identity, and diversity politics on to and began prioritizing that over old fashioned good story telling. Endgame was the end of peak MCU.
@@TheDiamondSlayer1 i wpuld recomment you go watch nerdrotic and criticale drinker to get more info on that One is example is chamging the mcu into m she u Making all the characthers from male to female to doing a female avengers and pushing that men aint shitte while women can do it better Falcone and winter solider was BLM and hatred for cops ( cops do deserve hate but not fpr the reason they say)and alsp hiring activists who hate captalisam and men and who kbow nothing of the dranchise for which they are making movies In the writters room in most of the new films they talk more about lgbt rights ( i am bi nothing wrong with normale lgbt people) and feminisam then they do about righting good stories and lets not forget attacking fans left right and center before the movie even airs and when it flops they attack the fans even more
Most of the MCU is cringe, bad, and has all the problems that are on display in the new product. Loki turning into a goodie two shoes third wheel in Ragnarok is as bad as Loki being a goodie two shoes third wheel in his terrible TV Show. He was an insufferable sociopath and a murderer in the first Thor and The Avengers. Thor 2 set him up as something big and evil at the end. He can't just suddenly become a good boy because some terrible director thought it would be ''fun'' to see Thor and Loki act like brothers in an overlong SNL sketch. He should've been the main villain of Ragnarok and should've died fighting Thor, not have his horrendous crimes forgotten about because ''Good Loki is cute. Bad Loki is still cute, but I prefer the Good Loki.'' Again, that's the MCU in a nutshell: wasting a good story potential.
@@antona.1327 I agree. While I did enjoy a few of the MCU movies, I never really understood all of the hype for their movies. The movies seemed formulaic and predictable. Predictably dull villains, predictably stupid and unnecessary humor, predictable and useless end credit scenes, etc. But even the worst movies from the earlier phases seem like masterpieces compared to the garbage that has been produced for phase 4 of the MCU. It's like the writers and producers don't even care about these characters. They just want to find new ways to "subvert" expectations, or to destroy the legacy characters in orders to prop up unlikable female characters. (I don't understand why Samual Jackson is still participating in this trash). Out of curiosity, I actually watched The Marvels. And now I can finally say with full conviction that Marvel is dead. They have milked the franchise to death, destroyed any of the likable characters, lost most of their core audience, and placed themselves in a position where they cannot fix the continuity anymore. They could bring back the Xmen and Fantastic 4, and they would still manage to screw it up.
@@nerychristianvery true marvel and dc are trash, so is anime but the good stuff from them is enough.... Not everyone can watch scorcese level films.Some people watch bad movies for fun(ones that are so bad that they are good).
I liked Loki S1 and 2 as well as Multiverse of Madness and ive been a fan of the MCU since 2008 when i was 8 years old but seeing the current state of the MCU makes me sad i cant explain how much those movies have meant to me through the years and to see them missing the mark so badly these days breaks my heart but Echo looks good and there are apparently big changes going on internally maybe im being foolishly optimistic but i really want the MCU to be good again i want to see characters i love and characters if written well i could fall in love with. Idk i hope that there can be a turn around
There was a time when I thought a multiverse story would be such a cool concept where posibilities are endless, but little did I know that by applying such an idea, writing became a nightmare, continuity is now but a hellscape, nothing makes any bloody sense and that's the reacuring problem MCU has been facing since Infinity War, but this issue isn't isolated to just Marvel, the same can be said about Star Wars and DCU. I'm just tired seeing how little effort is made to develop characters or plotlines, even worldbuilding suffers. If the creators don't care anymore, why the hell should I?
God, I don’t think anyone has ever been able to put the thoughts that I had about the MCU so clearly, I think just the same as you! I am so so thankful that this video exists! ❤❤❤
Here’s that comment for the algorithm, first video i watch of yours, amazing quality, i hadn’t found anyone on UA-cam who shared my same point of view, subscribed, and looking forward to your highs and lows of the MCU series.
I 100% agree with everything you said, It's so nice to hear someone speaking the same language. I first noticed the decline of the MCU in Loki season 1.. I was actually quite surprised with how popular the show was, and how no one else seemed to be noticing the messy implications of the multiverse/timeline direction they were going in.. I don't know whether it was just the popularity of the character that had people invested, but I'm not sure about the writing 😬
Loki s1 still had hints of quality sprinkled in but i agree that some of the rules of timetravel and the multiverse were getting to out there to write. I thought Loki season 2 redeemed it though. The writing was better imo
I will say, despite the problems, I enjoyed Wakanda Forever. The movie brought me to tears and Shuri's development as she came to terms with the death of her entire family was really good. It still isn't as good as the first BP movie, or the majority of the MCU leading up to Endgame, but it was definitely better than a majority of the newest phase of the MCU.
if you put a gun to my head and asked me to explain the plot of Wakanda Forever I wouldn't even be able to. Very forgettable story that did not land at all which is unfortunate.
Yeah, it had a lot of real emotion to it that at least made it worth watching, even if it had issues and the final battle was a bit of an eyesore with the drastically clashing visuals
As always, hitting that nail on the head. That nail being the final nail of the MCU coffin. Great video. Keep it up. You're going to hit that 10k subs in no time.
I took a really long break from making content. I used to write commentary/critique videos on movies and TV shows. I had to step away because I felt like the entire genre had been consumed by hate. I really appreciate all the points you made here and that it was said with grief instead of hatred. This video sums up all of my feelings in a clear and succinct way. You've inspired me to start making content again. Thank you ❤
I started watching when Thor first came out. I didn’t know anything about super heros but I liked the movie. I still don’t really give a shit about super heros, but I liked the characters portrayed in the MCU. It wasn’t because they were heroes. It was because of the great acting and writing/directing. I LOVE phase 1-3 of the MCU. They are nowhere near the greatest movies ever, but I grew up with the MCU so I am connected to it. I’ve watched Infinity War over 50 times for sure. I’ve seen most of the phase 1-3 movies over 5 times. One of my favorite memories was me being on a cruise, and they played Winter Soldier on a giant projector screen pool side. I had never seen a captain America movie before but I had read that it was supposedly really good. I was watching the coolest movie ever on a beautiful cruise ship in the middle of the dark ocean. It was so fucking cool.
Winter Soldier was (and still remains) excellent! (I must admit I'm {somewhat} envious of you, experiencing the film, poolside.) But, more to the point, I congratulate you, Mr. Kirk! 🥂
New subscriber here: Damn, watching this video was more entertaining than almost all of the movies and shows since End Game! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 When the trailer for Season 1 of Loki came out and I saw him getting beat up and kicked in the regions, I was like, well, guess we won’t get the Loki from the movies to that point. It pretty much went down hill from there! And to see my favorite character, Dr. Strange, take a backseat in his own movie and getting lectured by a teenager was the worst! Thor has been trying to find himself again since figuring it out already by the end of the first Thor Movie. I see why so many people called it quits as a whole after watching End Game! Talking about stakes and caring about what happens to characters. The last two fully Marvel produced films where I witnessed it first hand in the theater was 1) At the end of Infinity War, there were people literally crying in the theater when the characters started to turn to dust-especially Spider-Man. 2) There was a lot and I do mean a lot of cheering in Endgame when the characters started to emerge through those portals. I haven’t seen that type of reaction since! Sony had a hand in No Way Home and we got some great moments in that one, but as far as fully Marvel produced-it ended with Endgame!
A lesson that can be learned in this is that once you reach the peak of the first mountain, you need to plan for the next. Sure you have story threads of other characters to use, but if not made for a specific goal… you have chaos.
The problem is that the characters are not written well anymore, the formula is now stale and predictable, the shows movies/shows are safe with low stakes, and there's too much being put out now with too many characters that have been introduced at once. Characters who aren't particularly popular. Think about it like a video game open world. At one point, it felt hand crafted. Now it feels procedurally generated.
There are still fantastically written films and shows with strong female characters that will appeal to both sexes. Unfortunately, Disney is only looking for crap stories, execrably written to wrap around female characters no one cares about. But after watching The Marvels and suffering through the IBS caused by it, I watched 1883 and it restored my faith that there ARE good stories with fantastic writing for strong female characters that both sexes can relate to. I dare anyone to watch the first 4 minutes of Episode 1 of 1883 and not want to find out more about Elsa Dutton's story. Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Sam Elliot give outstanding performances with cameos by Tom Hanks and Billy Bob Thornton. But it is Isabel May as 17 year old Elsa that steals the show. She's not a Mary Sue and you watch her character arc and journey as she takes guidance and grows. She is at the heart of not just 1883, but also all the seasons of the shows 1923 and Yellowstone with Harrison Ford and Kevin Costner. Just invest a few minutes to watch the first scene of Ep One of 1883 to restore your faith that not everything is the same-ol'-same-ol'.
I LIKE IRON MAN 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, it's finally out! This video took me forever to make so thank you all for your patience! I'm aware I have a couple hot takes in this video that I didn't get to explain. This got me to thinking about doing a series where I cover the highs and lows of all the MCU, but for now, I'm all MCU'd out. Until next time everyone, be sure to like and leave a comment to boost this in the algorithm!
Iron Man 3 works for anyone who enjoys character development
@@batmanvsuperman_ it's ok
I agree, Iron Man 3 was so entertaining for me. Definitely a rewatchable movie unlike the new stuff lol
I'm a fan of the thor trilogy, not sure why they hate thor2 so much but I can agree it is the weakest of the 3 (4 never counted for me) but avengers truly was the pinnacle for me
It was worth the time you spent on it. Good video
23:51 "There is no longer character progression, only character assasination"
Perfectly stated
They are not even really dead, multiverse.
Not sure if "character assassination" is the right way to put it. What about character desecration (made me think of character defaecation momentarily)? Character degradation? Character destruction?
There was so much potential for Thor after Endgame, but they chose to ignore literally every interesting part of his situation/journey they could have explored, even when they chose the perfect nemesis (Gorr), they still ruined it. That genuinely made me sad.😔
Best Thor is the Ragnarok Thor and Avengers 1 and Infinity War Thor
The talk with his mom was great, but I needed more
I disagree with Gorr being a good fit. The franchise had moved away from the concept of them being God's. I think a solo movie of Natalie Portman being the Mighty Thor would have been great. The comic run was successful.It would have given us a hero trying to do their best while fighting cancer.
They turned thor into a joke in Endgame they made his depression a joke and then love and thunder was awful
Gorr was so good in comics, also I believe it was the first big arc after that failure of female Thor. It really felt like they went back to 70's Thor
"The heroes aren't heroes; they're narcissists, idiots, and psychopaths." You hit the nail on the head.
Very impressive takes for a kid. Gives one hope
If the execs hear nothing else, I hope it’s this
And there’s one thing that turns me off then the main character being a narcissist! I just can’t stand that personality trait and it’s one of the main reasons I stopped loving Marvel. The character became a** holes and were glorified because of it instead of being punished or shamed. Good became bad and bad became good.
I mean, even with that premise, stories can succeed. See The Boys.
But the MCU isn't that.
Very true, sums up Captain Marvel perfectly... or at-least the actress playing her...
I've watched a lot of "why the MCU sucks now" videos and this is one of the best. Very coherent, accurate points presented in a clear, calm manner. This isn't hate, it's grief over what has happened to this beloved franchise. As Harvey Dent said, "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to become the villain." I remember walking out of the theatre after Endgame (watching it twice in one day) that I considered it the last MCU movie. I felt is was a perfect wrap-up, especially for Stark, the man who started it all. It's only gotten worse since. I was done with the MCU after Thor Love and Thunder and She-Hulk. Nothing has resparked my love, even though I enjoyed Guardians 3. However, your video has inspired me to go back and watch the good stuff again.
It was never "hate". That's just what Marvel and its sycophants said to deflect criticism from bad shows and movies. Too many people didn't want to listen and it was easier to resort to name calling than face up to the fact that the MCU was being destroyed. Many of the people who have been sounding the alarm and being written off as racist misogynists knew of what they were speaking because they'd seen the same thing already happen with the same characters. Marvel's comic book division did what the MCU did years earlier and got the same result: garbage. Not to feel left out DC Comics, which was going from strength to strength as Marvel Comics flailed around, _also_ shot themselves in the foot in the same manner. I've watched Marvel and DC's superheroes, Star Trek, and Doctor Who, things that have brought me immense joy in life, be wrecked by awful, awful storytelling in pursuit of scoring political points. I guess I'm glad people like you are finally coming around.
The only good MCU content in recent years was the Hawkeye series, Moon Knight series (awesome), the Loki series (brilliant!) and Guardians of the Galaxy 3.
Okay, Spiderman: No Way Home was watchable, but it still had Peter and Dr. Strange making stupid decisions for the sake of the plot. The rest? No. Falcon & Winter Soldier was tedious. Multiverse of Madness made every character involved unlikable & killed off a version of the Illuminati in passing. Antman vs Kang was a mess, it tried to be "funny" in scenes where it shouldn't. Thor 4 was painful embarrassing character assassination, a movie where the script writers just couldn't decide what storyline or tone they wanted to go for. She-Hulk was cringe-worthy Mary-Sue character _and_ boring. Secret Invasion ruined Nick Fury and the shows plot actually retconned previous plot points about the Skrulls from Captain Marvel. not that Captain Marvel was a good movie.... god, no, she's another unlikable Mary-Sue whose only expression seemed to be an arrogant smirk, and that character didn't improve in The Marvels.
It is indeed well done but I cannot agree that it is the only dispassionate analysis. She comes to it very late and did not try to stem the gathering storm while it could still be addressed. Those who did started out just as she does, rational, serene and confident that, if only the filmmakers were presented with the damage they were doing and if the corporations mutilating the IPs could be turned aside, then it could all be restored and more intelligent, loving, decent and uplifting legendarium could be presented to an amazed and happy audience. But no amount of decency made any difference. It has been years now since Nerdrotic, MauLer, Az, Critical Drinker, Melonie Mac, Disparu, etc. have been railing against the mindless MCU machine. Now, they are abandoning it, too, and yes, theirs are resentful, spiteful voices now. They went up against Goliath but no barrage of literate stones could fell the giant whose maw was fed by BlackRock, Vanguard and their allies in the WEF. I personally am happy to see them moving to approving the great content that is coming up from the margins (where the monsters who now occupy the center of our entertainment universe are supposed to be confined), such as the Rippaverse, One Piece, Godzilla Minus One, Oppenheimer, etc. This is the good stuff now. This is where great stories are being told with heart and soul. Turn your eyes there, friend. I gave up after 'Loki'. There's now no reason to go back. Stan Lee has passed into heaven and there's nobody left who even cares in that MSheU.
@@PaulSmall422 I've been watching those guys for years and have bought every comic Rippaverse has released. I stopped buying Marvel comics years ago and don't care about the MCU anymore. I told my wife upon leaving the theater after Endgame that the MCU has reached its peak and is done, but Disney is too greedy not to try to milk it for everything they can get. I was done after the killer combo of Thor Love and Thunder and She-Hulk. That's when I knew there was no hope. Guardians 3 was good but only because they let the original creator finish his trilogy, and he's gone now as well.
@@boyer2106 Preach, brother
I re-watched the first ten years of MCU at the start of this year and it was so much fun .I had forgotten how much joy I got from them. The last four years of MCU content had created an apathy in me to the franchise. It's sad really. Though Guardians 3 did give me that feel of classic MCU.
Your apathy is nonsensical.
In my opinion gaurdians 3 is an honest to God top 3 marvel movie. It’s so fantastic!
Same. Creatively bankrupt sludge is the MCU these days
@@achaudhari101🤓
Probably because Guardians3 was written 5 years before it was made. It was a great origin story like the others in phase 1 2 and 3.
I've been reading marvel comics far longer than most MCU fans have been alive. When I was in high school, my friends and I were "nerds" for liking comics, anime, and Tolkien. When I got a bit older, and everything started getting big budget adaptations, we were thrilled. Even the early xmen and raimi Spiderman movies were something we never imagined was possible. Once the MCU came around, it was literally a dream come true. I loved every single one, even some of the less beloved installments. They meant something to me that cant really be described. Fast forward to a post Endgame world, i can't get excited for any MCU projects. I want to, I just cant anymore. Everything they've put out lately just seems souless, with the exception of GoTG 3 and NWH. Hopefully it's not too late to turn it around.
Disney Marvel is dead. They have destroyed the continuity of the MCU. They have destroyed any of the likable characters that were still left. They have introduced characters that no one cares about. The only way this mess can be fixed is if Disney fires everyone who was involved in Phase 4 of the MCU, hires a new team of writers and producers that are led by someone who actually loves comic books, and starts over from scratch with a new cast of Xmen. But that will never happen.
Dude, I am up there in age as well. This was niche. Our teachers didn't know who the X-Men were. You never saw girls at the comic book stores. We were all nerds enjoying our thing. Now it's popular culture.
@@A_UA-cam_Commenter Women ruined our hobby. The only reason why most women pretend to be comic book fans is so they have an excuse to put on cute cosplay outfits. Most women couldn't care less about reading good comic book stories.
It's not too late, they just need to make good movies. If you've been reading comics that long, you have to be used to 'bad runs' of your favorite comics. Heck, Magneto was turned into a baby, restored to his natural age, and took revenge on the X-Men by trapping them in chairs that reduced their motor functions to babies, and that's GOOD stuff. Point is, if they just make good movies again, the bad ones will be forgiven.
Same. The movies only exist because marvel almost went bankrupt in 1996
I 100% agree that the Hulk should have gotten round two of retribution with Thanos. The theater would have exploded with cheers when Hulk put the smack down! The fact that never happened was a major disappointment. Keep up the good work!
Don't forget Strange fighting water with a tornado for 30 minutes, Captain Marvel existing in the film at all, fat Thor, and Thanos being completely reconned as a villain. End Game could have been unbelievably good. Instead it was... Ok.
Idk… Thanos put the kind of beating on the Hulk that nobody can recover from. Unless they showed The hulk learning MMA there was no way he would ever beat thanos one on one. Lol
@@Tysheeno Naw. The only reason he was able to do that was because of the gauntlet with the infinity stones. How cool would it have been when they got it off Thanos that Hulk steps up like “Yeah, now we’ll see”? Everyone woulda lost their 💩! Even if we never got to see a decisive win.
One of the dumbest things the MCU did(or didn't do) was not having THE HULK in INFINITY WAR.
Just ridiculous to have Bruce banner running around in a iron Man type suit.
Those of us who have been comic book Lovers for many many years were so PISSED
You know it's serious when the Marvel Shills start turning on it
This felt like a great eulogy for the Infinity Saga of the MCU R.I.P. 🕊️
I think part of the problem with the MCU is a loss in the belief of hero's and heroism. I remember listening to NPR back when The Lord of the Rings trilogy was ending and of 2 commentators just did not understand how anyone could be invested in Hobbits, wizards, and "darklord characters". It seemed that the main problem they had was that it showed these characters as heroes. They didn't see how these stories are a reflection of human desire to overcome evil in themselves and ultimately in the world around us (of course there has to be an understanding of what is evil). I find the same resonance in the "super hero" movies. And the ones calling the shots became cynical and narcissitic of their talent and their ideology.
Good point.
What you just wrote would be a great current MCU movie, about how a hero changes the minds of people who have gotten lost in the darkness of the world, while also living in that darkness. That’s something people would connect to, but I feel like MCUs story team are lost, if you as a fan can think of this, they should have thought of it five years ago.
Those NPR commenters are a great example of how deconstructionism has poisoned western culture. LotR was written in a time period where such intellectual pretenses would have been considered too self-indulgent for a story centered on heroism.
Or maybe it's boring?
The MCU has always been self deprecating toward superheroics in a way that honestly kind of irks me. There's a want to be dismissive of iconography and names as stupid or for kids that manifest itself in a bunch of jokes.
So no, I don't think this is the issue. Superheroes fail without complex themes or personal stories supplementing heroics. The 60's proved that. People don't just wanna see the hero save the day, they want it to mean something. The Winter Soldier is the best example of that. Steve saves the day but the enemy he faces poses a personal journey that makes him reconcile with the new world around him and what he left behind.
I don't even like Marvel but I feel your pain. A beautiful and succinct eulogy to something you loved.
The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.
Agreed. NOt a huge Marvel fan, but I used to be a huge Star Wars fan so I feel her pain, since Disney is doing the EXACT.SAME.THING to Star Wars as well.
Um no... (I know this wasn't the point of your comment but I see this misinformation sometimes, so I just want to correct it): The opposite of love IS hate. The connection is PASSION. Whether you love or hate something, you have a PASSION for it. Think of it as a line with love on one end and hate on the other, indifference would be in the middle.
Basically, it's a passion scale. If you're passionate about something, are you on one extreme end of loving it, or the other extreme end of hating it? Or are you NEUTRAL/ in the MIDDLE/ INDIFFERENT? (Capitalized to point out that these words are synonyms.) So indifferent means you have no opinion on something, AKA you are "in the middle" on that situation. I really don't get where people are coming up with that idea that indifference is somehow the opposite of love... If that were true wtf is hate?!
You can also think of it as if you are saying that instead of the UA-cam dislike button being the opposite of the like button, the "true" opposite would be to not press either (indifference)... Which doesn't make sense.
Very well put; I could not have explained it any better. The hero is heroic not because he or she has powers, but because they overcome the darkness within themselves for the sake of a greater good.
You have put into words EXACTLY what l have been feeling about this whole mess. It wasn't a true disaster until people who DID NOT care or understand about these characters were given the keys to the kingdom and made it into something unrecognizable. I LOVED the OG characters but they purposely destroyed them out of malice and hubris it shows in the films. I would also like to add that I feel the same about Starwars too :(
Omg so true about Star Wars. As a Luke Skywalker fan I personally choose to forget the sequel trilogy exists lol 😅
@@aziura Meeeeeee tooooooo!!!
This video is so perfect.
Literally speaking for millions of MCU fans. ⭐
20 yrs we will be like "Bro I was
one of her original subs"
Definitely not millions.
Learn what "literally" means and you do not speak for anyone except yourself.
Youre a narcisist..were you aware?
Seriously its sad that they dropped the ball so hard.
You can really tell when the people who bullied comic book lovers at school were suddenly allowed to start making the films about them. The fact we were denied a good she hulk film who is one of my favorite characters still depresses me
And then they complain that that people hate female characters when all they do is constantly write horrible and destroy female characters. Why is it so hard to write a good female super hero nowadays?
I actually liked She-Hulk *except for the last episode which was just cr&p*. It was funny enough to watch which is all I wanted. I liked Ms Marvel for the same reason. The Marvels film is just trash.
She Hulk is nothing but a way to virtue signal. Hand off a little project to the womenfolk. Marvel has an issue with casting directors and crew nowadays, and not hiring them, if you know what I mean.
@@willarth9186Ms Marvel looks good but She Hulk on the other hand, I can't defend that
Just a note : you mentioned that She-Hulk didn't have the budget for a 10-ft tall female.
It had a budget of over $225 MILLION, (and she was 6' 7").
That should have been PLENTY of money to put good CGI up onscreen. It's not THAT expensive or difficult anymore.
Thank you so much. You reminded me why I loved MCU Phases 1-3, despite their flaws. I'm now more convinced than ever that most of what marvels now is utter crap.
The Captain America Trilogy is great. I honestly don't understand how the Superman movies like couldn't take a character that has been around for decades and reinvent him while staying true to the roots of what make the character great.
Captain America's arc in Winter Soldier is identical to Superman's struggle in BvS. Heroes with a golden heart dealing with a jadded world
@batmanvsuperman_ no the difference is execution
Captain America Civil War is my favorite. Scenes from that movie were like pages lifted from a comic. The depth of reasoning for their conflict in that movie made all the intense scenes so meaningful.
you can't reinvent masculinity, and superman is basically pure masculinity... there is no such thing as toxic or positive masculinity. it's equally both, you can't have one without the other, so you can't reinvent superman.
In 2025 it will become a quadrilogy.
That end Montage made me, a 40 years old guy, actually cry.
The MCU gave me so much... all those memories, all those emotions! And now complete apathy. Its like watching a good friend you spent over a decade of your life with, dying of cancer and finally taking him to rest. The MCU didnt have to die, but it was murdered by political activists and wannabe creatives without any talent. Its so sad... what a shame!
People lost interest in the MCU because the MCU lost interest in the MCU.
That’s why I move on with the MonsterVerse, anything directed by Christopher Nolan, the animated Spider-Man films, historical battle, and video game adaptations. Although I still love and enjoy all the Marvel films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Eternals are so far my least favorites. Not only the Marvel Cinematic Universe has lost their steam but the DC Extended Universe is pretty much dead like a dinosaur.
I call that a bullshit excuse.
@@dylanwong6065Do you think Aquaman 2 will repeat the failure of this year's superhero movies (apart, from Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 which was pretty successful).?
@@jimmyboydonald6578 Yes. I think Aquaman 2 was stuck so long in development hell, it has little chance to succeed. Then there's the whole Amber Heard thing and the fact they _didn't_ remake the movie without her. How much screen presence she has will be a huge factor for the movie.
@@jimmyboydonald6578I’d say yes. Due to Amber Heard in it. Although I still love the first Aquaman movie, I don’t feel excited for the sequel and I probably won’t watch.
Damn, your collage at the end brought a tear to my eye. The gap between the potential for what they can give us vs what we’ve been getting lately is so vast. Excellent video! This is my first watch of your channel and I’ll definitely be back! Hope you’re well and having a good day!
I agree. WandaVision was some of the best Phase Four we got, until the end. Even going back and rewatching several times I have to say, the downfall of the show started before the last episode. Hayward was a big miss, almost as much as a more complex dealing of Wanda in the end.
And they squandered the quicksilver reveal with that terrible bohner joke and did nothing with it.
I've seen a lot of video essays, and their MCU variants, in my day. And this one is absolutely top tier. Deep, non-surface level, non-cliche.
Good video and something else to mention is that marvel and disney really decided to spear into really charged political ideas with the people they hired and would attack fans for criticism. Almost any male character had a female replacement and it seemed like somehow the main paying demographic was the ones they wanted to cut in favour of a new fan base, that didn’t exactly go well for them.
Midnight's Edge just did a great 2 part video on this due to the new MCU book. Their thesis is that everything went to hell when Kevin Feige got Bob Iger to reassign Ike Pearlmutter and dissolve the Quality Control Board (because Feige didn't like having to prove that his ideas worked). So Feige had no oversight, and the first thing he did was make Captain Marvel. And after Endgame, he just kept pumping out movies and shows (and yes, Iger asked him to do way too much) with no one telling him his ideas didn't appeal to the fan base.
I mean they touched on politics in Captain America but they didn’t let it mess their characters up, that’s the big difference. Also weaponising fans against each other for a studio’s benefit is disgusting behaviour.
I don't think wanting to cut off your toxic original fanbase is an issue. props to them for weeding out the snowflakes. I'm glad y'all have left. I hope we weren't supposed to mourn the loss of you pathetic old fans.
@@kaskaskasyou do know what happened after their core fanbase left, right?
@@kaskaskas😂 🤡 you must be in charge of Disney Studios. You hate the fans just as much as they do. Sorry all the SJW replacement fans are not watching all the PC motivated movies these days from marvel.
You would not believe how much I wanted Dr. Strange in MoM to be good. The first one was my most favorite out of the entire MCU.
You wouldnt believe how disappointed I was and how much I laughed at the stupid bits of it. I was truly done after that.
Same here, multiverse of madness was suppose to be an EVENT film like NWH but it ended up being the event that caused me to no longer care about marvel. The multiverse plot had so much potential but they squandered it.
Same here esp since i was a dr strange fan way before his first movie and i was so hyped n i made everyone i knew about it because i was so excited for my fave character to have more screentime and for more ppl to realise how interesting the magic side of marvel was with dimensions the villains like nightmare or one thing i was super interested in
BARON MORDO
THEY BUILT THAT UP BUT HAD NO MENTION
i was severely disappointed
This is probably the best essay video I've ever seen, the whole half hour literally flew by and that final part made me shed tears...you put into words what I think me and many others feel about the state of marvel right now; I knew about the fusrt Iron man movie and Hulk but it was when Avengers hit the theaters that I was hooked up with all the characters and stories. It used to be so awesome to go check the new movie out every year and discussing them with friends, but now all that magic seems to have gone forever; the new movies feel like they have no heart in them and they seem disconnected, and the series all go their separate ways or even get ignored (like what happens in Wandavision on Doctor strange 2)...It's almost been 2 years since I last went to the cinema to see a marvel movie because of this and it sucks because that used to be one of my favorite things to do :(
Great effort and great video - agree on pretty much every front. Dr Strange 2 was the real turning point for me. First time we left the movie theater after an MCU flick bitterly disappointed (for the record didn't see Eternals, Black Widow or Shang-Chi at the cinema). Decided to stick to D+ for MCU content. Then Thor 4 came along, only validating our decision. Then Quantumania - another swing and a miss. MCU just faded from being "must watch". Couldn't finish the first episode of She-Hulk, and so on. So yeah, when it came time to renew our D+ sub it was an easy decision. As they say, the opposite of love isn't hate, but indifference.
The MCU went way off the rails. They had a formula that both men and women enjoyed for a decade. Then around the time of end game they decided to completely ridicule and alienate over half of their core fanbase.
What's scary is that there are still MCU die-hards out there who go to the latest release of the new movie, lap it up and speculate what the post credits scenes are all about and salivate over what the next release will be.
@eljay5009 *"and then think "you know what..........we didn't capture all of the audience we could have"."*
Because that's not what happened. They went to _alienate_ their old fanbase, you don't do that when your goal is to get a wider audience.
I honestly think that it’s because ever since the legend who made these movies as he was supervising the production of the movies based on the characters he created, I think it started to go downhill once Stan Lee died, he was the one keeping a leash on the people who wanted to be cynical about his creations and only wanted people who loved his stories or his characters. I’m just glad he’s now immortalized in Insomniac Spider-Man games because that is how you honor someone.
A whole lot more than half
The MCU chose to go lite. So MCU lite with Bud lite consequences.
Ditto. I remember wanting to be first in line to see a sci fi fantasy comic based movie. Now I couldn't care less. It's not the genre itself it's the people who make them now. They're fiends.
A fiend would also be you.
The Marvel characters were superhuman, yet all too human at the same time. Your montage at the end reminded me of how much I loved the old movies. Cap catching Thor's hammer was beyond epic. I only wish my son hadn't spoiled that scene for me before I watched it. Of course, I DID ask him to tell me a bit about the movie... 😅
What really sucks is X-Men fans like me were hoping and patiently waiting for the X-Men to have their own MCU reboot and now that its finally happening, after more than a decade, the MCU is unravelling...typical
I can't believe they ruined the quicksilver reveal in Wandavision with a pointless bohner joke. I mean WHY?????? I saw a rewrite of the wandavision ending and it would have created so much hype going forward. Why would they ruin such potential like that????
I feel your pain! The MCU is going down the 🚽 and they won't 🛑 making these failures... 😢Wake up Disney!!!!!😬
Are you unable to write actual words?
Actually go watch The Marvels and come to this conclusion. It wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible. The movies are going to get better again relax pretty sure Feige who has been this same thing since 1999. They’ve fired many people and listening to the fans. 2025 will be the year marvel makes a huge comeback I’m calling it rn
The Marvels validated and confirms every single fear people had of Disney taking over Marvel
@@20thCenturyFav did you see it? Can you explain why you feel that way cause The Marvels is far from being the MCUs worst project.
You really really NAILED it!
My first moment of losing the love was Endgame. I am a MASSIVE Thor fan. So I wore a cool Thor hat and shirt. Had Mjolnir and Stormbreaker as key chains. Seating in the theater excited to see the cool stuff he would do in Endgame on that opening Thursday. As soon as I saw him in the five year time jump, I slouched in my seat and began covering my face. I never felt like a loser being an adult seeing these movies until that night.
I took that personally. So I am eagerly waiting to look into Disney’s/Marvel’s eyes when the light fades from their eyes as they die!
Yeah, my guess I am not the only Nerdrotic, Drinker fan the YT algorithm said "Oh, I know you like"
...this channel gonna blow up
@@bottlethrower1544 Yeah, I feel called out with that one lol
@XghostXfaceX2 Bro, just stop with the anime villain retardation. Wanting Disney dead with that garbage you wrote is not going to fix anything.
God I was so excited to see the new Dr Strange, I personally loved WandaVision and couldn't wait to see how it meshed with Strange's story 💔 my kid and I both left at the end in awkward silence
Same! I even bought all the Wandavision funko pop be cause I really liked the show, and that’s the last thing I’ve enjoyed since guardians3
This is it. This video really encapsulated my feelings of Marvel and where it has been and where it is now. I always had hoped that they would turn it around but after the Marvel's which I haven't seen I don't think they will ever return to their former glory. It's sad, but it's true "a thing isn't beautiful because it lasts" and we still have the older Marvel movies to look back on.
That montage you made at the end of this video hit so hard! Thanks for putting it together!!
You said it perfectly when you stated why would you watch anymore of this crap when its just going to taint what you enjoyed in the past. Thats sums up how I feel about this and a few other franchises like Star Wars and Star Trek. The thing the studios just refuse to understand is legacy matters. If you taint or tarnish characters or films that these franchises were built upon, you destroy the foundation of the franchise, and decrease its value and interest from the fans.
It sure seems like Paramount considers Star Trek's legacy to be Kirk, Spock, Enterprise, Klingons, Tribbles and Khan. That's it.
It's maddening that a franchise I've loved since I was a child 30 years ago has been so reduced.
Excellent video .. very well said !!!.. I think you’ve pretty much spoken for all former MCU fans !!!.. and as a former comicbook collector, I’m just happy that we got what we got and that people got a taste of that love that I got as a kid reading Marvel Comics !!!.. R.I.P. Marvel and Stan Lee !!!
This was a great video. It brought me back to so many memories. I just recently started a random marvel marathon. I did spider man and moved to captain America. These movies were just so much fun. Winter soldier is one of my favorites in the franchise. It’s wonderful that we had ten years of movies that were culturally a huge juggernaut. It’s so sad that it’s ended but nothing last forever.
as cliche as this sounds unfortunately all good things must come to an end.
@@BigPoppaPumpthc it’s true and at least we can always go back. I think 10 years of a phenomenon is a good amount of time. One day we will get something else
There are still fantastically written films and shows with strong female characters that will appeal to both sexes. Unfortunately, Disney is only looking for crap stories, execrably written to wrap around female characters no one cares about.
But after watching The Marvels and suffering through the IBS caused by it, I watched 1883 and it restored my faith that there ARE good stories with fantastic writing for strong female characters that both sexes can relate to. I dare anyone to watch the first 4 minutes of Episode 1 of 1883 and not want to find out more about Elsa Dutton's story.
Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Sam Elliot give outstanding performances with cameos by Tom Hanks and Billy Bob Thornton. But it is Isabel May as 17 year old Elsa that steals the show. She's not a Mary Sue and you watch her character arc and journey as she takes guidance and grows. She is at the heart of not just 1883, but also all the seasons of the shows 1923 and Yellowstone with Harrison Ford and Kevin Costner.
👏 Bravo! Done with honesty and a lot of care. Showing what the MCU meant to you and how it broke your heart.
I understand more now why these movies were so adored. I'm a cynical jaded 46yr old so these are really not for me.
I am still bitter about their part in the demise of varied cinema and films with soul.
But like a parasite, silly modern agenda's forced into entertainment has ruined a fun escape. So much so even loyal fans have had enough. Movies can be all manor of genres. It doesn't matter they must however be entertaining so you can lose yourself.
Let's hope this is a phase and we will come come out of it. But I fear it may be broken never to be fixed. Now that breaks my heart.
This is an excellent, excellent video! Thank you for the time and effort that you put into it! This was well worth the wait.
Hi there! Enjoying the video so far!
I'm sorry, I just have to step in with a few points of note in defense of Endgame (although I do agree that Infinity War is still the superior of the two):
-Hulks reconciliation was in Snap'ing everyone back into existence. It absolutely would have been great to see him get a rematch with Thanos... but I think... this one is more accurate to his character. Banner, a man who feared and disliked Hulk for his violence and destruction... was not only able to make peace with that side of him and this allowed him to use Hulk to save lives rather than to destroy them.
-Fat Thor was very off-putting to me, at first. But what started out as a joke... quickly became an incredibly poignant message on trauma. You could even see the seeds of it sprinkled in Infinity War. Remember that conversation with Rocket? "What more can I lose?" Turns out... a lot. He wasn't just a fat joke (although admittedly, I wish they held back on a few of the jokes they did make. Some of them were in poor taste)... he was an examination of depression and how to overcome it.
Okay, sorry, just needed to put that out there. lol
Ooh good point about Hulk 👍
And yes, Fat Thor was fine for me too for exactly the same reasons you mentioned but what pissed me off was at the end of Endgame, Thor goes back to the man he was at the start of the MCU saga - instead of ruling his people and finding them a new home, he gives up the throne to Valkyrie of all people and goes off gallivanting across the Universe with his new friends to "find himself"
Man's planet is destroyed, his people are refugees and he's off on an interstellar journey 😑
I’ve been angry about what they’re doing to these storylines and characters, but really I’m just sad. I’m upset about what they’ve done with the potential they had. Some of these characters could’ve been so much more. At this point I think I’m just going to pretend that Endgame was the last MCU movie.
I liked no way home a lot; I know it's become more criticized now but honestly after rewatches it still feels like there's soul in it - like they cared about the character and the story and actually made it entertaining
@@edwardhill7297 agreed, NWH had my hype lvl through the roof and i couldn't wait for Multiverse of Madness. Unfortunately Multiverse of Madness turned out to be a Multiverse of MIDness which turned into the biggest dissapointment i had with Marvel. It completely killed the potential for the Multiverse story arc.
@@vice2versa literally and it continued the trend of introducing a new character who I cannot remember the name of only to be forgotten like 8 movies later. I mean, why not just give them their own movie? I think the worst offender was ironheart - she felt completely out of place of Black Panther 2, there was literally no reason for her being there 😂
There are still fantastically written films and shows with strong female characters that will appeal to both sexes. Unfortunately, Disney is only looking for crap stories, execrably written to wrap around female characters no one cares about.
But after watching The Marvels and suffering through the IBS caused by it, I watched 1883 and it restored my faith that there ARE good stories with fantastic writing for strong female characters that both sexes can relate to. I dare anyone to watch the first 4 minutes of Episode 1 of 1883 and not want to find out more about Elsa Dutton's story.
Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Sam Elliot give outstanding performances with cameos by Tom Hanks and Billy Bob Thornton. But it is Isabel May as 17 year old Elsa that steals the show. She's not a Mary Sue and you watch her character arc and journey as she takes guidance and grows. She is at the heart of not just 1883, but also all the seasons of the shows 1923 and Yellowstone with Harrison Ford and Kevin Costner.
That was a lovely and well thought out expose. Well done.
Spider-Man No Way Home and Guardians Vol 3 are excellent films. Tragic they became a surprise instead of common
I watch a lot of similar content but this has been the first time I've seen your channel. A brilliant presentation that echoes many of my own feelings. On the whole, phases, 1-3 were strong movies with characters who were enjoyable because they were flawed individuals. I've watched a couple of Phase 4 movies and tried to watch some of the shows but they were just so convoluted and filled with 'the message.' I still enjoy the original saga and don't want it tainted. Another similar example is The Fast and Furious movies. The first one is still one of my favourite movies, it was grounded in reality. But they continually got more outrageous.
Thank you for this… sharing your feelings helped me accept what happened to the MCU
Ever since the launch of Disney+ streaming service, their focus changed in the wrong way
DrStrange 2 MoM was the LAST MCU movie I watched at the theater and I haven't gone back
Same, except for wakanda forever because black panther was my families favorite mcu movie so they dragged me. I originally planned on seeing Thor4 in theaters first day but Dr Strange MoM was such a huge dissapointment that i didn't even care anymore. Thor4 word of mouth would have to be one of the best MCU movies ever to get me to go see thor4 in theaters after MoM. When word of mouth said Thor4 was trash i was like well, it looks like marvel has entered their dark age where all their projects end up being mediocre.
Do not ever apologize for taking too long with your videos. This was your best one yet. I almost cried when you were on the good parts. What have we lost?
Well said. Especially the how you retorted the criticism of the "high artists" and showing the early films did indeed have merit. Times change and the way media can connect to audiences change. Early marvel managed to evoke something in so many people because they were aware of what people wanted and needed.
Though the MCU may have fell from relevance, I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next for us.
Agree with almost everything you said but Loki is the only thing that seems to work for me and the conclusion to Season 2 was great. Loki truly feels redeemed and that character is probably my favorite out of the entire MCU.
I have to agree! I haven't had the time to finish Loki s2 just yet, but I enjoy the direction his character is taking. I disagree with her opinion that Loki has been reduced to a bumbling crybaby- Loki is on a redemption arc. His character growth happens gradually over the show, and his motivation for change makes **sense** given the context. The show isn't perfect by any means, but I think it's worth praising out of the recent MCU sludge.
@@crovvebar been hearing positive things in last couple of weeks about Loki s2 , but Wanted to wait until it end , So is Loki season 2 actually that good? I stoped watching any marvel related content when Loki s1 ended , that was the last straw for me and canceled my Disney subscription. Is it worth the watch ?
@@nathanolson3135Loki S2 is better than the first season imo. The narrative is exciting and stimulating and it has some great payoffs. Definitely reinvigorated my love for Marvel a bit
@@nathanolson3135I really liked season 2
@@crovvebarLoki *WAS* a crying fool in S1 and a soulless husk in S2!
Nicely said. I wasn't even an MCU fan and I know nothing about hero comics. Guardians of the Galaxy was more of my thing and when I saw Infinity War for the first time, my mind was blown and I went back and watched all the other movies as I waited for Endgame... after that, nothing has drawn me back. But from Iron Man to Endgame - that's a great cinematic achievement and legacy... True MCU fans must be gutted!
The best most concise assessment of what happened to the mcu I’ve seen, thank you
At the core of it all there is the issue heroes aint heroes no more... You just earned a sub
Hats off. No one has said it better. You nailed it.
Apathy is what describes with 100% accuracy what I, and I would dare to say, most fans feel about Marvel right now. Worse than giving negative reviews and rejecting the content, is not caring about it at all to even consume it in the first place.
I love your journey. It's such a great video! Kick butt with your films.
R.I.P. Marvel Cinematic Universe
2008 - 2019
You have completely explained every perception ive had about the MCU. I truly appreciate this essay. Thank you.
I was so late to the party that I was able to see the beginning of Phase 4, and the downfall of the MCU.
I watched all the movies, was super hyped just like everyone else, to the point where my coworkers and I were discussing entire plots and the universe itself.
Then around No Way Home, everyone stopped. I don't know anyone personally who watched the original movies who didn't rush to the theaters to see it, but it was like we all knew no film was going to top that one. We talked about it for months and planned a group trip to see it. We came out of the theater excitedly discussing it.
The last time was when Multiverse of Madness was announced. People were hyping up that movie just as much as No Way Home, but once the actual movie was released, I was the only one in my friend group who saw it.
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 was the last MCU film I watched and loved, but there were a lot of people I knew who didn't see it and there are a lot of gaps in my DVD collection. Everytime someone announced a new Marvel film or show now, I just say "okay," and move on with my life as if I didn't hear them.
You are saying none of your friends watched multiverse of madness??? That was the last marvel film I was hyped to watch first day but the movie was so garbage and such a huge character assassination that it completely killed my interest in the MCU going forward. Multiverse of Madness was suppose to be like an EVENT but it ended up being the event that caused interest to die. I was surprised it didnt get the same hate that thor 4 got.
@vice2versa My friend group isn't that large, but every one of them were HUGE Marvel fans. You could show a meme or mention a movie in passing, and they would go off on that. It was because of them that I started watching the movies, and their excitement rubbed off on me, and since I was in the same boat with them, I remember losing interest around the same time they did. After No Way Home, we just stopped talking about Marvel in general, and it was like we didn't need an explanation. We all knew why. We still have our original merchandise, wallpaper, and movies, but some, including me, canceled our Disney+ subscription, and the ones who didn't only bring up the show they watched if it was REALLY bad.
I don't even remember the plot to Multiverse of Madness. I only remember being highly disappointed at times throughout the film, but I don't remember why.
It's like my brain blocked out the memory of any Marvel movie that's not in the original 22, with a few exceptions of TV shows and movies I actually enjoyed, which aren't many.
Someone I know tried to watch Ms. Marvel and She Hulk, but had to stop after the first couple of episodes due to boredom.
There are still fantastically written films and shows with strong female characters that will appeal to both sexes. Unfortunately, Disney is only looking for crap stories, execrably written to wrap around female characters no one cares about.
But after watching The Marvels and suffering through the IBS caused by it, I watched 1883 and it restored my faith that there ARE good stories with fantastic writing for strong female characters that both sexes can relate to. I dare anyone to watch the first 4 minutes of Episode 1 of 1883 and not want to find out more about Elsa Dutton's story.
Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Sam Elliot give outstanding performances with cameos by Tom Hanks and Billy Bob Thornton. But it is Isabel May as 17 year old Elsa that steals the show. She's not a Mary Sue and you watch her character arc and journey as she takes guidance and grows. She is at the heart of not just 1883, but also all the seasons of the shows 1923 and Yellowstone with Harrison Ford and Kevin Costner.
@willarth9186 Yeah, people say movies aren't good anymore.
That's not the case. There are good movies, they just aren't promoted the same way the bad ones are, so we have to dig for them.
1883 kind of proves that because I've never heard of it before.
I thought horror movies as a whole were bad because I saw It, which was filled with predictable jump scares, bad cgi and a goofy clown who barely looked intimidating, and The Shining, which came across as silly and boring, but my mind was changed after I saw Insidious, which had minimal jump scares, an actual storyline and believable acting. Insidious is considered one of those old horror movies that isn't up to the standards of today, but people look back on it because it was actually excellent.
The original Hunger Games was good because the female lead went through real problems, experienced real emotions, and developed real, meaningful friendships. The acting was on point, and shaky camera aside, the franchise was great.
@willarth9186 Making female leads overpowered and immune to character development is annoying and overdone.
Exactly why Black Widow in phases 1, 2, and 3 and pre WandaVision Wanda worked so well.
They had weaknesses, character development, and relatable backstories, which made them come across as human to the viewers.
Captain Marvel was a stupid choice in my opinion, because they rushed her backstory, gave her (or rather made her steal) a motorcycle, made her break free from whatever mind control she was under, and then she's just this invincible goddess who didn't grow as a person and has an infinite amount of power for no reason other than "Yay! Female empowerment!" which is already tired, old and boring already, because now she's too strong to be an Avenger, so we have to write a lame excuse so she doesn't get in the way of the other characters.
I'm not against female leads, but for some reason, the movies with male leads are much more interesting because men don't have the same over obsession with power that women seem to have.
Just found this channel...so glad i did! I cant wait to see you grow!
Something I noticed is that the MCU’s downward spiral began precisely when Stan Lee passed away. I wonder how much creative influence this titan of storytelling had over Marvel Studios.
You hit the nail on the head. Apathy. I only even watched this video because I’ve been looking for opinions from different people than the ones I usually watch.
As the quality of the movies began to decline I sought out catharsis in videos about why they were so bad. Now I hardly care. Except that all of entertainment seems to be suffering from the same illness.
I think getting so absorbed in them in the first place definitely contributes to getting worn out. I didnt start at the beginning, i didnt care about Iron Man or Thor or Cap or Avengers. It was just not my thing. Somewhere in between Age of Ultron and Civil War, i hopped on board and became a big fan. Started seeing them on release day when i could, and just generally enjoying the whole universe. I consider myself a nerd about it(enough that i watch video essays about it), but idk, it never consumed my life except for like the weekend of Endgame maybe. When something comes out that i like, i appreciate it. When i see something that doesnt look great, ill skip it.
No dude, fan absorption has nothing to do with getting worn out. It has everything to do with drops in quality.
@@vice2versa if one isn't absorbed to the point of fanaticism, then a drop in quality is just a minor inconvenience and can moved on from quickly. When you're obsessed with something, and it doesn't come out as good as you wanted...well then we're more offended and get critical. I'm not saying either way is right or wrong, but personally my life is the same regardless of how good the latest Marvel movie is.
I also wish I could just keep my enjoyment of the old MCU, but it tends to be more like StarWars. I still love the original movies, but I am not the enthusiastic fan I used to be. Seeing your favorite heroes just isn’t the same anymore when you know that they will end up as embarrassing failures.
They game of thrones'd star wars and marvel. It's now basically impossible to go back and watch any of the previous content because now we know it's been completely destroyed.
@@drjjlovemanThere's always Knight Rider and Wheel of Fortune. 😅
Shhh!
🤫
( *Please* don't give them any 💡💡 ideas!)
Once again, worth the wait! Excellent conclusion. Thanks for sharing how much the MCU meant to you with such grace and eloquence. I admire it, and you'll probably see why as I ramble. It's always great hearing the love you put into your informative work. I'm a lousy student, but you're a terrific teacher! And you used my favorite MCU quote, "There are the hands that made us, and then there are the hands that guide the hands." And as to your pinned comment, I also liked Iron Man 3, because I liked the relationship between Tony and the kid. The Justice League Unlimited Batman Ace scene pretty much encapsulates what fiction has meant to me growing up, and it was cool to see something similar in that film with a hero helping inspire a kid, especially with Tony Thanos snapping him out of self-pity.
I didn't really like the first Guardians of the Galaxy either when first seeing it, but instantly liked Vol. 2 with it being my favorite MCU movie since the first Iron Man which I thought was really good thanks to RDJ's charisma; chemistry between RDJ and Gwenth Paltrow; natural humor; and redemption theme. Vol.2 stood out for me because of the intimacy and creative expansion to the universe, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the first Disney thing I saw this decade, and I thought it was at least in the top 3 Marvel movies along with Spider-man 2 and X-Men Days of Future Past. I actually thought it was the best superhero movie since the Dark Knight. For me, it was refreshing and surprising to see a massive release have a great message defending the sanctity of life relative to a science fiction, fantasy, looney tunes-eque action adventure movie.
Unfortunately, I liked Batman and Robin and X-Men the Last Stand more than all the Avengers movies combined (I liked moments from the movies and while I preferred Iron Man because of RDJ, I was Team Cap and wore a Captain America shirt to the theater to show my support for the metaphorical side), and I despised Spider-man No Way Home, which was the second and possibly the last Disney thing I'll see this decade...I'm saying that for drama. I hope things change for me.
I thought NWH was a nihilistic clown show. And I liked all 3 Raimi Spider-man movies; thought the first Amazing Spider-man had spectacular casting with the car thief scene being the closest to the spirit of the Steve Ditko Spider-man charaterization from the comics (which I still consider the greatest superhero, though from what I read the Wally West Flash appeared to be the most consistent across mediums); Amazing Spider-man 2 was the closest to the spirit of the Spider-man the comics I liked (I read almost all of Spider-man from 1962 to 2007 One More Day...and I read a lot after trying to like it but, nope) and I even prefer Emma Stone's Gwen Stacey to the comics...but anyways, No Way Home's Insufferable no responsibility Spider-man looked like it took inspiration from the nihilistic time traveling Christopher Reeve Superman (what happened to the second missile when he changed all of time for one woman....no one has super kissed my memory away from remembering that!) and it didn't give me closure...it made characters I liked into a pathetic joke. I know I'm at odds with a lot of fans, but, I thought Zendaya's performance and MJ character was good and liked seeing Eddie at the end! I liked the Venom movie, especially because it went against the trope where it made Anne's doctor boyfriend a decent guy and didn't give into glorifying pity parties with Eddie and actually had fun with it with how they developed the symbiote making it clear he was in the wrong and not someone to emulate (I didn't like the 2019 Joker movie because I thought that was glorification of pity partying).
Best regards for your films! You're almost at 7k! Hope you and yours have a delightful day! Keep up the wonderful work! =)
Nihilistic clown show? You were drunk.
hey there, you said "No Way Home's Insufferable no responsibility Spider-man looked like it took inspiration from the nihilistic time traveling Christopher Reeve Superman" and i was wondering what you meant by that ?
@@DOGOO44 Hi! Thanks for asking. In the first and second Christopher Reeve Superman movies, I thought Superman was a nihilistic irresponsible hero similar to how Peter wants to turn back time after his identity being revealed, and then wants people's memories to be wiped out, instead of just accepting his heartbreaking situation like, imo, a hero would, and I hold Spider-man and Superman to higher standards since I think our culture does view them as more moral beacons and aspirational standards, especially with the "Truth, Justice, and the American way." Being that Superman made the choice to go after the villain Lex Luthor's first destructive missile, he was unable to save Lois Lane, a woman who he barely knew having more of a crush/infatuation, from a second missile, and because of that he decides to change back time to save her, even when his biological father Jor-El speaks to him before doing it telling him "it is forbidden for you to interfere with human history" and he had the memory of not being able to save his adopted father Jonathan earlier from a health reason where imo that was the set up for the theme of the character to learn the lessen of humility where he's not God so he can't do everything but, apparently, he doesn't and just plays God and then flies smiling carrying the American Flag like he's an aspirational hero and I was similarly unsettled by NWH symbolically indicating with the comic book accurate costume that MCU Spider-man was now becoming the noble aspirational hero fans loved making his self-sacrificial choice at the end of the movie where I don't see the trajectory for that characterization.
Then in the next movie, Superman, still barely knowing Lois, he chooses to permanently give up his powers so he can fornicate with her, and then as a result of his choice, he doesn't have the ability to defend people against the villainous Kryptonians, so he gets his powers back and then also gets a super memory kiss power so Lois doesn't know his identity. And also beats up a regular human at a bar.
With that and how No Way Home brought back Dr. Octopus and Green Goblin from the Raimi movies which had emotional dramatic importance to them in those movies, it's nihilistic to me where nothing matters. And with how jokey the Spider-man were during fighting where, imo, it's not like in the comics where Peter was a kid deflecting from his insecurities and using it as a distraction tactic. And how they used imo patronizing nostalgic references as if the universes didn't progress with their Spider-man not meeting new heroes or building up a greater rogues gallery...they were pretty static. That stinks on ice to me.
Culturally, I think Superman, Captain America, and Spider-man are thought of as being held to a higher standard, and personally, I do consider Spider-man the greatest superhero...even though my favorite might be Nightwing or the Wally West Flash.
My favorite comic book characters were Son Goku and the 1997 Joe Kelly comic interpretation of Deadpool where neither are the most virtuous characters, but no one pretends they are. In his universe, Goku is viewed as a selfish prideful character and Deadpool is a villain and is reprimanded for giving into self-pity to justify his evil choices and in the final issue of the comic run, he eventually changes into an anti-hero and we're given a tease that he'll eventually become a hero.
And Han Solo (Star Wars) is an example of a film character who starts of as an anti-hero but he eventually becomes a noble aspirational character
Examples of more noble characters on film for me are: Samwise Gamgee, Frodo Baggins, Aragorn, Gandalf, Eowyn (Lord of the Rings); Mary Hatch Bailey (It's a Wonderful Life); Mulan; Maximus (Gladiator); Cliff Booth (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood); Linus (Merry Christmas Charlie Brown); Maria Van Trapp (Sound of Music); Mel Miller (A Face in the Crowd), Jefferson Smith (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), Mark Thackery (To Sir, With Love) the fictionalized version of William Wallace (Braveheart)...
And I thought the original Sam Raimi Spider-man trilogy did a good job reflecting a flawed coming of age becoming the moral beacon character.
That Spider-man, imo, similar to the comics would have been concerned about others and his responsibilities, especially his aunt if he was about to die like he did in Infinity War, where the MCU one thought about himself.
I didn't keep up with all the MCU movies but I didn't like him in that movie or this one. Hope that helped clarify and you and yours have a great week!
@@JohnHenrysaysHi
Mr. Henry, I don't *entirely* agree with you, but I think that you stated your points well.
Well written, sir.
@@YesTHATJohnSmith Thank you, John! That means a lot! Hope you and yours are have a wonderful Wednesday!
Loki Season Two was pretty amazing!!!! But probably mainly due to it being different from both the MCU and it’s first season lol. It’s a beautiful story in its own right but it’s quite contained. But I can geniunely recommend it
It’s too slow and made Loki into a soulless *HUSK!*
I remember the trailer for Eternals pissing me off. The line “Eternals assemble” just angered me.
I think in hindsight it was a joke that fell flat, based on the fact that Eternals _are_ literally assembled.
The words of the Ancient One at the ending was a nice touch!
With all the bad stuff coming out lately I forgot how great Marvel use to be. Thanks for taking me back to the good old days once more.
You are 100% right in your assessment. I grew up with these characters. In 1967, I was 9 and picked up my first Marvel. With the first Avengers movie in 2012, I was transported back. Seeing the characters that I grew up with portrayed mostly true made up for all the years when reading comics was looked down upon. Seeing them trashed has soured me on the whole thing. The MCU ended in the aptly titled, "Endgame ". Again, excellent work.
You summed up my feelings well A hero is someone who has to battle with ones personal issues before dealing with enemies of life Now they are just super powered people stepping on the rest of us
Films need to be made by people who love the characters not corporate board rooms
Yeah...
Like that one show that had the protagonists call themselves heroes because they are fighting to stop a place with poor living conditions be rebuilt to have better facilities, homes and even more jobs
Might actually be more interesting if the protagonist was the antagonist tbh
When she brought up that they intentionally hired people who one aren't marvel comic fans and they didn't watch shows that tied into other shows I thought "Why would they do that and not expect lots of issues??"
This is it!!!... you put it together so well with what I also believe what most fans think. It feels souless, like if the writers hate the fans of the comic version characters.
I stopped caring when the creatives started using new projects as a median to project their gender, identity, and diversity politics on to and began prioritizing that over old fashioned good story telling. Endgame was the end of peak MCU.
I don't really see how they did that lmao
Just say you hate women and minorities and move on.
@@TheDiamondSlayer1 i wpuld recomment you go watch nerdrotic and criticale drinker to get more info on that
One is example is chamging the mcu into m she u
Making all the characthers from male to female to doing a female avengers and pushing that men aint shitte while women can do it better
Falcone and winter solider was BLM and hatred for cops ( cops do deserve hate but not fpr the reason they say)and alsp hiring activists who hate captalisam and men and who kbow nothing of the dranchise for which they are making movies
In the writters room in most of the new films they talk more about lgbt rights ( i am bi nothing wrong with normale lgbt people) and feminisam then they do about righting good stories and lets not forget attacking fans left right and center before the movie even airs and when it flops they attack the fans even more
@TheDiamondSlayer1 you can always tell someone is confident in their opinion if they finish with "lol" or "lmao" lol
SP distilled the quintessence: P A C I I & M I L & G!
I only except NWH and GOTG 3 as post Endgame canon
Loki says otherwise.
Personally I loved most of the MCU Movies up to Endgame but I agree even the lesser films were still good
Same and all good things came to end into new era and old school movie
Most of the MCU is cringe, bad, and has all the problems that are on display in the new product. Loki turning into a goodie two shoes third wheel in Ragnarok is as bad as Loki being a goodie two shoes third wheel in his terrible TV Show. He was an insufferable sociopath and a murderer in the first Thor and The Avengers. Thor 2 set him up as something big and evil at the end. He can't just suddenly become a good boy because some terrible director thought it would be ''fun'' to see Thor and Loki act like brothers in an overlong SNL sketch. He should've been the main villain of Ragnarok and should've died fighting Thor, not have his horrendous crimes forgotten about because ''Good Loki is cute. Bad Loki is still cute, but I prefer the Good Loki.'' Again, that's the MCU in a nutshell: wasting a good story potential.
@@antona.1327 I agree. While I did enjoy a few of the MCU movies, I never really understood all of the hype for their movies. The movies seemed formulaic and predictable. Predictably dull villains, predictably stupid and unnecessary humor, predictable and useless end credit scenes, etc. But even the worst movies from the earlier phases seem like masterpieces compared to the garbage that has been produced for phase 4 of the MCU. It's like the writers and producers don't even care about these characters. They just want to find new ways to "subvert" expectations, or to destroy the legacy characters in orders to prop up unlikable female characters. (I don't understand why Samual Jackson is still participating in this trash). Out of curiosity, I actually watched The Marvels. And now I can finally say with full conviction that Marvel is dead. They have milked the franchise to death, destroyed any of the likable characters, lost most of their core audience, and placed themselves in a position where they cannot fix the continuity anymore. They could bring back the Xmen and Fantastic 4, and they would still manage to screw it up.
A lot of garbage in this thread.
@@nerychristianvery true marvel and dc are trash, so is anime but the good stuff from them is enough.... Not everyone can watch scorcese level films.Some people watch bad movies for fun(ones that are so bad that they are good).
Excellently written essay, incredible work!
I liked Loki S1 and 2 as well as Multiverse of Madness and ive been a fan of the MCU since 2008 when i was 8 years old but seeing the current state of the MCU makes me sad i cant explain how much those movies have meant to me through the years and to see them missing the mark so badly these days breaks my heart but Echo looks good and there are apparently big changes going on internally maybe im being foolishly optimistic but i really want the MCU to be good again i want to see characters i love and characters if written well i could fall in love with. Idk i hope that there can be a turn around
it used to be something you'd watch all of, now it's something that you just pick some to watch
thank you for this take! great video :)
There was a time when I thought a multiverse story would be such a cool concept where posibilities are endless, but little did I know that by applying such an idea, writing became a nightmare, continuity is now but a hellscape, nothing makes any bloody sense and that's the reacuring problem MCU has been facing since Infinity War, but this issue isn't isolated to just Marvel, the same can be said about Star Wars and DCU. I'm just tired seeing how little effort is made to develop characters or plotlines, even worldbuilding suffers. If the creators don't care anymore, why the hell should I?
God, I don’t think anyone has ever been able to put the thoughts that I had about the MCU so clearly, I think just the same as you! I am so so thankful that this video exists! ❤❤❤
Here’s that comment for the algorithm, first video i watch of yours, amazing quality, i hadn’t found anyone on UA-cam who shared my same point of view, subscribed, and looking forward to your highs and lows of the MCU series.
The best expression of Marvel fans' relationship over the years.........Nice Job JesterBell.....you nailed it.....👍
I used to watch Thor and the Avengers on repeat as a teen but now. I only care about select few characters
The only MCU movies post phase 3 worth watching (IMO) are NWH and GOTG3. The Netflix original MCU shows are better than anything Disney+ had to offer.
I 100% agree with everything you said, It's so nice to hear someone speaking the same language. I first noticed the decline of the MCU in Loki season 1.. I was actually quite surprised with how popular the show was, and how no one else seemed to be noticing the messy implications of the multiverse/timeline direction they were going in.. I don't know whether it was just the popularity of the character that had people invested, but I'm not sure about the writing 😬
Loki s1 still had hints of quality sprinkled in but i agree that some of the rules of timetravel and the multiverse were getting to out there to write. I thought Loki season 2 redeemed it though. The writing was better imo
Loving this channel 🔥🔥🔥
Agreed! Multiverse of badness killed it for me too, I used to love Wanda and Strange. Haven’t watched a content since.
I will say, despite the problems, I enjoyed Wakanda Forever. The movie brought me to tears and Shuri's development as she came to terms with the death of her entire family was really good. It still isn't as good as the first BP movie, or the majority of the MCU leading up to Endgame, but it was definitely better than a majority of the newest phase of the MCU.
if you put a gun to my head and asked me to explain the plot of Wakanda Forever I wouldn't even be able to. Very forgettable story that did not land at all which is unfortunate.
Yeah, it had a lot of real emotion to it that at least made it worth watching, even if it had issues and the final battle was a bit of an eyesore with the drastically clashing visuals
Me and my family used to watch these movies over and OVER and OVER. From Iron Man to Endgame. Such a tragic downfall 😭
As always, hitting that nail on the head. That nail being the final nail of the MCU coffin. Great video. Keep it up. You're going to hit that 10k subs in no time.
I took a really long break from making content. I used to write commentary/critique videos on movies and TV shows.
I had to step away because I felt like the entire genre had been consumed by hate. I really appreciate all the points you made here and that it was said with grief instead of hatred.
This video sums up all of my feelings in a clear and succinct way. You've inspired me to start making content again. Thank you ❤
I started watching when Thor first came out. I didn’t know anything about super heros but I liked the movie. I still don’t really give a shit about super heros, but I liked the characters portrayed in the MCU. It wasn’t because they were heroes. It was because of the great acting and writing/directing. I LOVE phase 1-3 of the MCU. They are nowhere near the greatest movies ever, but I grew up with the MCU so I am connected to it. I’ve watched Infinity War over 50 times for sure. I’ve seen most of the phase 1-3 movies over 5 times. One of my favorite memories was me being on a cruise, and they played Winter Soldier on a giant projector screen pool side. I had never seen a captain America movie before but I had read that it was supposedly really good. I was watching the coolest movie ever on a beautiful cruise ship in the middle of the dark ocean. It was so fucking cool.
Winter Soldier was (and still remains) excellent!
(I must admit I'm {somewhat} envious of you, experiencing the film, poolside.)
But, more to the point, I congratulate you, Mr. Kirk!
🥂
New subscriber here: Damn, watching this video was more entertaining than almost all of the movies and shows since End Game! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 When the trailer for Season 1 of Loki came out and I saw him getting beat up and kicked in the regions, I was like, well, guess we won’t get the Loki from the movies to that point. It pretty much went down hill from there! And to see my favorite character, Dr. Strange, take a backseat in his own movie and getting lectured by a teenager was the worst! Thor has been trying to find himself again since figuring it out already by the end of the first Thor Movie. I see why so many people called it quits as a whole after watching End Game!
Talking about stakes and caring about what happens to characters. The last two fully Marvel produced films where I witnessed it first hand in the theater was 1) At the end of Infinity War, there were people literally crying in the theater when the characters started to turn to dust-especially Spider-Man. 2) There was a lot and I do mean a lot of cheering in Endgame when the characters started to emerge through those portals. I haven’t seen that type of reaction since! Sony had a hand in No Way Home and we got some great moments in that one, but as far as fully Marvel produced-it ended with Endgame!
A lesson that can be learned in this is that once you reach the peak of the first mountain, you need to plan for the next. Sure you have story threads of other characters to use, but if not made for a specific goal… you have chaos.
One of the only times I've subbed after watching only 1 vid. Really captured my feelings with the mcu
The problem is that the characters are not written well anymore, the formula is now stale and predictable, the shows movies/shows are safe with low stakes, and there's too much being put out now with too many characters that have been introduced at once. Characters who aren't particularly popular. Think about it like a video game open world. At one point, it felt hand crafted. Now it feels procedurally generated.
There are still fantastically written films and shows with strong female characters that will appeal to both sexes. Unfortunately, Disney is only looking for crap stories, execrably written to wrap around female characters no one cares about.
But after watching The Marvels and suffering through the IBS caused by it, I watched 1883 and it restored my faith that there ARE good stories with fantastic writing for strong female characters that both sexes can relate to. I dare anyone to watch the first 4 minutes of Episode 1 of 1883 and not want to find out more about Elsa Dutton's story.
Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Sam Elliot give outstanding performances with cameos by Tom Hanks and Billy Bob Thornton. But it is Isabel May as 17 year old Elsa that steals the show. She's not a Mary Sue and you watch her character arc and journey as she takes guidance and grows. She is at the heart of not just 1883, but also all the seasons of the shows 1923 and Yellowstone with Harrison Ford and Kevin Costner.
Just invest a few minutes to watch the first scene of Ep One of 1883 to restore your faith that not everything is the same-ol'-same-ol'.
Dude, you encapsulated exactly what I experienced with marvel. I need to rewatch all of the infinity saga again. I always treasure these movies.
When the Hulk got his ass handed to him by Thanos and was never able to redeem himself, is exactly the moment when I started losing faith in Marvel.
My only regret with Thor love and thunder was not walking out of the theatre