Throughout my childhood, I have been a die-hard Marvel fan.  Whether it was Avengers, Iron Man, or Guardians of the Galaxy, I have always adored their movies. However, I will be the first to admit that Marvel is losing its magic. Their movies are simply just not as interesting as they’re focused on witty jokes rather than an actual storyline. There has also been too much content put out; I feel like if I miss one scene of a movie I won’t be able to understand the next movie. All these problems have degraded my interest in Marvel movies and I’ve just stopped going to the movies altogether. 

The Marvel Cinematic Universe started to decline after 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. In Endgame, many important and loved characters were killed off. These deaths included Iron Man, Black Widow, and Captain America. However, Marvel has made efforts to replace them with lesser-known characters like Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, and Captain Marvel, but they just don’t have the same magic and nostalgia that the original cast had. “The new charters are decent but they don’t have the same nostalgic feel that Iron Man or Captain America had, and honestly I just don’t care as much about them”, Sophomore and casual Marvel fan, Nathan Moltyaner said. 

There has also been a sharp decline in special effects. Some of the CGI in recent Marvel movies look like they were made by a 2-year-old with CapCut. You would think that as Marvel grows into a bigger company, the CGI would be better but it has actually been the exact opposite. The sheer amount of content that Marvel is trying to make has given editors and people responsible for CGI in the movies a shortened deadline, leading to rushed and poor-quality visuals. Marvel must be more selective on what content they produce to ensure that quality is valued over quantity. “ It kinda feels disrespectful because we know that Marvel is a billion-dollar company, but somehow they can only afford to give us bad graphics that look like they were made by a five-year-old”, Junior and avid Marvel fan Joe Young said. 

While intended to be clever, Marvel’s focus on time travel and alternate realities only adds to the confusion of the stortyline. Endgame was a fun twist, with the Avengers having to travel back in time to find all six of the infinity stones to defeat Thanos. This kept me hooked initially, but the use of time travel spiraled into a complicated mess of storylines in the following Marvel movies. For me to understand any part of the plot of Marvel movies now I need to watch at least two YouTube videos explaining the events of the last few movies. It almost feels like you’re preparing for a test instead of going to the movies. Instead of helping the story, these complex plots take away from the narratives that once made the MCU great. Along with complex plots, Marvel focuses on setting up future films. Every movie I watch feels like a prequel for the next one and so on; therefore, each movie seems to be going down a never ending rabbit hole.

While Marvel’s movies have slowed down, the real problem is in Marvel’s Disney+ streaming shows. There are many mediocre shows, making it impossible to keep up. Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has promised a slowdown in content, which I do appreciate. He admitted it’s hard to stand out with so much content out there, and said Disney+ would release fewer shows to give each one more time to shine. Even Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger, has said they’re shifting focus away from streaming and putting more into their theme parks.

Marvel’s move to TV has been a success in some aspects and a failure in others. Shows like WandaVision and Loki were very unique and interesting due to their storytelling and character depth. But even the best shows end in such predictable ways. Almost all of them end with random, CGI-heavy battles that don’t really fit the story. 

If Marvel wants to win back fans like myself, they need to shift their focus to n better graphics, less content, and genuine characters. I still believe that Marvel can be saved, but it will be a long ride before they do so. However, there is hope. Marvel just recently released Deadpool & Wolverine which was a huge hit among Marvel fans. In the movie, they perfectly blended comedy and witty jokes with interesting charters and a storyline that could be followed. If Marvel uses Deadpool & Wolverine as a template for their future movies, I think that the MCU could return to its glory days.