MINALI BROSNAN
It’s no secret that the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is known for its superheroes and their storylines; action-packed and fun, but also deep and rich with backstory and character development. Lately, though, the MCU hasn’t been living up to its potential, especially in recent projects from Phase 4.
Phase 4 of the MCU is the stage directly following the beloved and nostalgic Infinity Saga It has been met with debate, annoyance, and outright hatred, and maybe for good reason. The entire point of Phase 4 is to introduce the new saga for Marvel, the Multiverse Saga. In that case, all of the projects should be strong, so they can serve as amazing introductions to this new face of Marvel. This means strong characters and strong plots. Some shows and movies really did well, like Moon Knight, Shang-Chi, and Wakanda Forever. But other projects were really disappointing, like Eternals, Multiverse of Madness, and She-Hulk. This is in part because of the plot and characters.
Now the main problem with the MCU right now is that it’s repetitive: no matter what happens, you know that there will always be a big fight at the end with the good guys coming out on top. Movies like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness don’t help that. This entire movie’s purpose was to explore the idea of a multiverse, and they did it horribly. There was so much room for amazing character development with Wanda Maximoff and opportunities to include even better cameos than what was already in the movie. For example: why is Captain Carter there when Sam Wilson finally got the title of Captain America in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier?! It makes no sense!
Of course, viewers will always be able to predict events to a certain degree, but this is ridiculous. There is no room to theorize and make guesses as to what will happen next. There is barely any excitement like there was in the Infinity Saga. Because of this, the MCU really needs to step up their game when it comes to plot and character development. Thankfully, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever went above and beyond and was a total 10/10. Hopefully, future projects will hold the same luster and satisfaction.
Phase 4 of the MCU is the stage directly following the beloved and nostalgic Infinity Saga It has been met with debate, annoyance, and outright hatred, and maybe for good reason. The entire point of Phase 4 is to introduce the new saga for Marvel, the Multiverse Saga. In that case, all of the projects should be strong, so they can serve as amazing introductions to this new face of Marvel. This means strong characters and strong plots. Some shows and movies really did well, like Moon Knight, Shang-Chi, and Wakanda Forever. But other projects were really disappointing, like Eternals, Multiverse of Madness, and She-Hulk. This is in part because of the plot and characters.
Now the main problem with the MCU right now is that it’s repetitive: no matter what happens, you know that there will always be a big fight at the end with the good guys coming out on top. Movies like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness don’t help that. This entire movie’s purpose was to explore the idea of a multiverse, and they did it horribly. There was so much room for amazing character development with Wanda Maximoff and opportunities to include even better cameos than what was already in the movie. For example: why is Captain Carter there when Sam Wilson finally got the title of Captain America in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier?! It makes no sense!
Of course, viewers will always be able to predict events to a certain degree, but this is ridiculous. There is no room to theorize and make guesses as to what will happen next. There is barely any excitement like there was in the Infinity Saga. Because of this, the MCU really needs to step up their game when it comes to plot and character development. Thankfully, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever went above and beyond and was a total 10/10. Hopefully, future projects will hold the same luster and satisfaction.
ISAIAH PINZINO
One of the biggest problems with Marvel, however, has nothing to do with characters, storylines or media, but their real life business practices. As of June 2022, Marvel is the single largest and most successful movie franchise in the world, with a worldwide box office revenue of over 26 and a half billion dollars (and with Avengers: Endgame alone making up almost $3 billion of that). It’s safe to say that Marvel is the biggest and highest selling name in the modern entertainment industry. So how do they stay at the top so easily? Simple: they put out one to two movies a YEAR, a number that is an absolutely ridiculous feat for any name in the entertainment industry.
However, this level of production comes at a cost—a cost that is largely carried on the shoulders of production workers. Marvel is widely known for its spectacular visual and post-production effects, a proficiency that does not come easily with only a few months between production and release. Because of this, Marvel’s VFX team is chronically underpaid, overworked, and mistreated. Artists are often asked to create tons of different variations of a single shot or scene until one is given the green light. Many Marvel VFX workers have reported working 60 to 80 hours per week, and doing so multiple months in a row. "I've had to comfort people crying at their desks late at night from the sheer pressure involved, and routinely had colleagues call me having anxiety attacks,” reported one source. And yet, most Marvel VFX artists still make only about $80K per year.
“So why don’t they just leave if the work is so terrible?” you may ask. The truth is, if they were to leave, there wouldn’t exactly be another job waiting for them. The decade of 2010-20 saw several top-dog VFX houses and companies declare bankruptcy, including Rhythm & Hues, the famously high-output VFX company that helped produce Life of Pi. Marvel is one of the only entertainment companies that isn’t subject to the same dangers as a VFX-only company, as they can afford to employ their own workers full-time. Therefore, Marvel is able to provide a steady stream of jobs for the VFX working community and prevent loss of workers or unionization through their strict business practices. The result is an abused, overworked team, where the average worker only makes around $46 thousand a year. While that sounds like a lot, Marvel’s VFX team is criminally underpaid when the actual stress of the job and number of working hours are taken into consideration.
So why would Marvel do such a thing? Well, as I said before, Marvel pumps out 1-2 movies a year, and has created several TV shows as of late, following the stories of beloved characters such as Loki, The Scarlet Witch, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The Marvel Cinematic Universe seems to increase in size every other month, a level of serialization that is produced by no other name in the entire entertainment industry. The effect of this? Marvel has developed the uncanny ability to stay relevant, no matter how many years ago the series began, as there is always new content to be consumed. This business practice is difficult to uphold, and not necessarily good for quality, but is very, very profitable. As such, many film studios and producers have seen their original creations undergo a sort of “Sequelitis”, a. k. a., the needless change from a standalone work of art to a series.
For example, let’s take a look at writer and producer Vince Gilligan, the television mastermind behind the series Breaking Bad and its prequel Better Call Saul. The Breaking Bad series of shows remains one of the single most watched and most influential series in all of television, following the moral descent of chemistry genius Walter White into a megalomaniac drug lord. Breaking Bad contains powerful messages about power, wealth, the war on drugs, and the failure of the American healthcare system, as does its prequel, which follows the story of Saul Goodman, Walter’s twisted lawyer. The series concludes with a particularly bittersweet but satisfying ending, one which I will choose not to spoil here. However, seeing the success (and money) produced from the Breaking Bad universe, Gilligan elected to produce a sequel to the series that would follow the story of beloved character Jesse Pinkman and take place after Breaking Bad. In 2019, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie hit theaters, and then Netflix, drawing the attention of a significant number of Breaking Bad and BCS fans, including myself. However, the movie was not as well received as the producers had hoped, with many fans seeing it as a bit of a letdown. El Camino added almost nothing to the story of the Breaking Bad universe, and tried to expand upon an already perfect ending to the series.
Breaking Bad was heavily criticized for this development of “Sequelitis”, a trend we see in a lot of other series—but none more than in Marvel. It’s clear that for the sake of profit, Marvel uses “Sequelitis” to keep itself relevant, which creates a harmful side effect of other works needing to serialize themselves in order to stay relevant as well. Aiming for quantity over quality for profit is hurting the whole of the entertainment industry, and it seems that at this point in time, Marvel is one of the main forces perpetuating that practice.
However, this level of production comes at a cost—a cost that is largely carried on the shoulders of production workers. Marvel is widely known for its spectacular visual and post-production effects, a proficiency that does not come easily with only a few months between production and release. Because of this, Marvel’s VFX team is chronically underpaid, overworked, and mistreated. Artists are often asked to create tons of different variations of a single shot or scene until one is given the green light. Many Marvel VFX workers have reported working 60 to 80 hours per week, and doing so multiple months in a row. "I've had to comfort people crying at their desks late at night from the sheer pressure involved, and routinely had colleagues call me having anxiety attacks,” reported one source. And yet, most Marvel VFX artists still make only about $80K per year.
“So why don’t they just leave if the work is so terrible?” you may ask. The truth is, if they were to leave, there wouldn’t exactly be another job waiting for them. The decade of 2010-20 saw several top-dog VFX houses and companies declare bankruptcy, including Rhythm & Hues, the famously high-output VFX company that helped produce Life of Pi. Marvel is one of the only entertainment companies that isn’t subject to the same dangers as a VFX-only company, as they can afford to employ their own workers full-time. Therefore, Marvel is able to provide a steady stream of jobs for the VFX working community and prevent loss of workers or unionization through their strict business practices. The result is an abused, overworked team, where the average worker only makes around $46 thousand a year. While that sounds like a lot, Marvel’s VFX team is criminally underpaid when the actual stress of the job and number of working hours are taken into consideration.
So why would Marvel do such a thing? Well, as I said before, Marvel pumps out 1-2 movies a year, and has created several TV shows as of late, following the stories of beloved characters such as Loki, The Scarlet Witch, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The Marvel Cinematic Universe seems to increase in size every other month, a level of serialization that is produced by no other name in the entire entertainment industry. The effect of this? Marvel has developed the uncanny ability to stay relevant, no matter how many years ago the series began, as there is always new content to be consumed. This business practice is difficult to uphold, and not necessarily good for quality, but is very, very profitable. As such, many film studios and producers have seen their original creations undergo a sort of “Sequelitis”, a. k. a., the needless change from a standalone work of art to a series.
For example, let’s take a look at writer and producer Vince Gilligan, the television mastermind behind the series Breaking Bad and its prequel Better Call Saul. The Breaking Bad series of shows remains one of the single most watched and most influential series in all of television, following the moral descent of chemistry genius Walter White into a megalomaniac drug lord. Breaking Bad contains powerful messages about power, wealth, the war on drugs, and the failure of the American healthcare system, as does its prequel, which follows the story of Saul Goodman, Walter’s twisted lawyer. The series concludes with a particularly bittersweet but satisfying ending, one which I will choose not to spoil here. However, seeing the success (and money) produced from the Breaking Bad universe, Gilligan elected to produce a sequel to the series that would follow the story of beloved character Jesse Pinkman and take place after Breaking Bad. In 2019, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie hit theaters, and then Netflix, drawing the attention of a significant number of Breaking Bad and BCS fans, including myself. However, the movie was not as well received as the producers had hoped, with many fans seeing it as a bit of a letdown. El Camino added almost nothing to the story of the Breaking Bad universe, and tried to expand upon an already perfect ending to the series.
Breaking Bad was heavily criticized for this development of “Sequelitis”, a trend we see in a lot of other series—but none more than in Marvel. It’s clear that for the sake of profit, Marvel uses “Sequelitis” to keep itself relevant, which creates a harmful side effect of other works needing to serialize themselves in order to stay relevant as well. Aiming for quantity over quality for profit is hurting the whole of the entertainment industry, and it seems that at this point in time, Marvel is one of the main forces perpetuating that practice.
ARIADNE ROSAS
I won’t deny that some Marvel movies are great in their own way. I also won’t deny that I haven’t watched most of them at least once. But there come some problems with Marvel that need to be talked about.
Director Martin Scorsese once said that Marvel films were “theme parks.” Comparing Marvel movies this way means that, like theme parks, Marvel is just there for fun. There’s no real depth to these movies beside that. I would agree to some degree. Most Marvel movies are just made year after year just for entertainment and to make more money. There isn’t anything wrong with entertainment, but there are better movies that have more depth to be considered cinema.
Another point to make is how much content Marvel spits out each year. It only grows each time to the point where it can be tiresome. In order to understand the later movies, you need to watch the movies that happened before it to understand the characters and plot. The plot grows overly complicated. In most of the Marvel movies, they have a similar formula that they follow: a superhero is introduced, there is some trouble with the superhero, a new antagonist is introduced, and the superhero comes out on top. Watching something with the same formula each and every time is boring. Of course, many people still watch this because the name “Marvel” is stamped onto the title. But I had to stop watching Marvel content because the humor and plot were always the same.
It’s okay to enjoy Marvel movies and watch one each time they come out. If you are someone who wishes to do so, go right ahead. Marvel is considered cinema, but to label it as the best cinema? I would have to disagree with that wholeheartedly.
Director Martin Scorsese once said that Marvel films were “theme parks.” Comparing Marvel movies this way means that, like theme parks, Marvel is just there for fun. There’s no real depth to these movies beside that. I would agree to some degree. Most Marvel movies are just made year after year just for entertainment and to make more money. There isn’t anything wrong with entertainment, but there are better movies that have more depth to be considered cinema.
Another point to make is how much content Marvel spits out each year. It only grows each time to the point where it can be tiresome. In order to understand the later movies, you need to watch the movies that happened before it to understand the characters and plot. The plot grows overly complicated. In most of the Marvel movies, they have a similar formula that they follow: a superhero is introduced, there is some trouble with the superhero, a new antagonist is introduced, and the superhero comes out on top. Watching something with the same formula each and every time is boring. Of course, many people still watch this because the name “Marvel” is stamped onto the title. But I had to stop watching Marvel content because the humor and plot were always the same.
It’s okay to enjoy Marvel movies and watch one each time they come out. If you are someone who wishes to do so, go right ahead. Marvel is considered cinema, but to label it as the best cinema? I would have to disagree with that wholeheartedly.
MINALI BROSNAN
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ISAIAH PINZINO
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ARIADNE ROSAS
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