The MCU’s Phase 4 was a messy but necessary experiment

Wakanda for Ever: Black Panther Holiday Special by Guardians of the Galaxy have closed out Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe — the shortest, longest, weirdest phase yet in Marvel Studios’ ongoing experiment in building a cinematic dynasty. It’s the shortest, because pandemic delays meant it lasted less than two full years, but the longest because it encompassed seven movies, eight TV series, and two one-off specials.

And it’s the weirdest, because in addition to introducing a mind-bending multiverse, it came the closest to responding to a longtime MCU critique: the ways the studio runs roughshod over distinctive filmmaking voices. Phase 4 was retroactively branded as the first act of the Multiverse Saga, but really, Phase 4 was the Filmmaker Phase — and Marvel may have been unprepared for the demands of the project at hand.

On the movie side, at least, this was the MCU’s most eclectic director lineup ever. Their new additions included the franchise’s first solo female director, Cate Shortland (Black Widow); Chloé Zhao (EternalsFresh from an Oscar win, Sam Raimi is an experienced stylist in the studio.Doctor Strange, in the Multiverse of Madness); and Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-ChiHe comes from a history of dramatizing human-scale events like 12 for the Short Term. Taika Waititi, one of three returning directors for the sequels to its original film, was among them.Thor: Love and ThunderRyan Coogler and ).Wakanda Forever() These are the clearest, most instantly recognizable voices of Phase 3.

Photo: Jasin Boland/Marvel Studios

By contrast, nearly half of Phase 3’s movies were directed by either the Russo Brothers, or Jon Watts, who also helmed Phase 4’s Spider-Man has no way home. (In the interim, the Russos also conducted an anti-experiment of their own in their post-experiment.AvengersThe abysmal filmmaking process led to the creation of this terrible movie. CherryAnd the dumbfounding Gray Man.)

This was Phase 4, the ideal time to try out more director voices that are strong, distinctive, and original. Marvel, now freed of its lengthy march to the Infinity Saga’s conclusion, could take a break and relax with all of its familiar characters and introduce key new ones. A steady stream of television shows would allow them to do both. Sure, Finale It had a series finale vibe but also made the vast universe of interconnected characters feel more open to interpretation than in the past decade. This was the time when the original installments were released. Iron Man, ThorPlease see the following: Captain AmericaAll felt completely different before Marvel House Style was formed. Just as Joe Johnston doesn’t share much common ground with Kenneth Branagh, few attentive viewers could easily mistake mordant Sam Raimi slapstick for Ryan Coogler’s emotional grandeur.

Why did fans and critics take so long to analyze what happened in Phase 4?

Doubtless some Marvel faithfuls would accuse the studio of not exerting enough control at this early stage of the Multiverse Saga — of letting the master story ramble around the multiverse, rather than immediately gathering velocity and gravitas. Maybe the concept of spotlighting individual filmmakers can be incompatible when making long-running, interconnected movies about superheroes.

Image: Marvel Studios

Look at what DC movies were released during any similar period of two years. Some of them seem truly creative and filmmaker-driven. Sometimes they appear to be moving in several directions simultaneously, often with the same actor playing different characters in very different movies just years later. A multiverse seems to invite that kind of chaos; shouldn’t Marvel therefore be reining it in, at least enough to give it some sense of focus and coherence?

Movies like Eternals, Thor: Love and ThunderPlease see the following:Wakanda for Ever: Black PantherIt is clear that the filmmakers and studios need to work together more effectively. Chloé Zhao’s Eternals keeps trying to drift away from superhero origin routines as it attempts to bring Zhao’s reflective poetry to Egyptian Gods-style historical-fantasy soap. Zhao doesn’t have much facility with the CG-haze climaxes, or the listless punch-up laughs that are supposed to lighten the mood.

Love and Thunder has more faith in its punchlines — Taika Waititi is one of the few MCU filmmakers who actually seems invested in comedy, rather than programming it in at required intervals. However, with Love and ThunderHe pursues his gags so confidently that it undermines both the storyline and the characters. It’s a prime example of a place where letting a filmmaker’s voice dominate over basic storytelling, resulting in a film that doesn’t serve the MCU’s overall arc, or the film’s characters as they’ve been established.

On the other side of the equation, the need to fit into a giant narrative doesn’t particularly serve the needs of artists whose voices are their primary assets. Wakanda Forever may qualify as the MCU’s biggest recent disappointment from an artistic perspective. Coogler was a true artist, with such graceful images and depth of feeling. Black Panther, but the sequel’s need to preserve and establish an ongoing narrative means it’s overstuffed with exposition, canned conflicts over the futility of revenge, and characters who don’t get to do anything, because their arcs are being saved for future installments.

Image: Marvel Studios

Nevertheless, almost everything is still interesting. Wakanda Forever feels like Coogler, almost all of Phase 4’s standout elements can be credited to the specific filmmakers hired for this experiment, rather than to the usual Marvel Studios elements. However, Doctor Strange, in the Multiverse of Madness Some of the things that went wrong during this period had to be retconed or repaired. WandaVision, it also carried a the thrilling sense that we might actually be watching Sam Raimi’s interpretations of Stephen Strange and Scarlet Witch, even when Raimi himself downplayed his say over the film, and described himself as an enthusiastic hired hand. Strange, the MCU’s version of Strange can sometimes be seen as an indifferent stiff. You can visualize this better than forcing him to live in a decaying body. A scene in which Wanda dispatches big-character appearances is a great way to end endless cross-over teases. Another MCU director might well have agreed to do these scenes, but it’s hard to picture others putting them across with the same verve Raimi brings to the table.

The stylistic departures of Cate Shortland’s Black Widow These are less obvious. The movie was largely dismissed as a postscript to Natasha Romanoff’s story, though it also set up some characters designed to be used in future shows or movies. But Shortland lends the movie a surprising amount of visual texture, with evocative close-ups, environments that don’t feel as washed-out as some MCU movies, and a fitting ruefulness to the human interactions. As much as the story fits neatly into a particular point in the MCU’s timeline, Black Widow doesn’t feel especially beholden to its larger connections. It’s a story about a character fans already like, but a story that wouldn’t make sense to tell in the context of an Avengers movie. It’s just a shame that Marvel Studios apparently didn’t realize it even could Tell this story about Natasha till the character is dead.

The MCU looks more like an independent spy thriller Black WidowThe tilted, yet sincere humor of Multiverse of MadnessThe most grievous parts Wakanda Forever would not necessarily be more fan-pleasing or financially successful than the programmatic blockbusters that made the MCU’s reputation. Even though a movie is considered to be a failure if it earns only $300 million in domestic box office, the issue is not with the film but with its financial structure. However, these elements are what make Phase 4 more cinematic than the franchise tendrils.

Phase 4’s biggest hit, Spider-Man has no way homeThe nostalgic thrill of three Spider-Man versions sharing the same screen space is offered by. But its title is correct: This kind of magic trick can only really be pulled off once before audiences demand something bigger, better, and flashier — but also comfortingly familiar, because fans’ imaginations tend to conjure up hopes and dreams based on what they’ve already seen and loved, especially when contemporary franchises encourage them to think purely in terms of their longtime faves.

Photo: Marvel Studios/Columbia Pictures

The tension between serialized familiarity, and individual variations is a hallmark of the MCU from the very beginning. In the early days of the MCU, this tension existed. Iron Man movies. The Marvel Cinematic Universe part of long-term moviemaking planning was brand new. And the Robert Downey Jr. at its core provided the feeling of audience familiarity.

The self-reflexive status of Phase 4 is not available for this event. AvengersMovies or the freshness and instant appeal of something similar to the original Iron ManOr Black PantherThis has made the conflict more explicit than ever. The TV series have also experimented without a large cast of prominent filmmakers.WandaVision, Loki, What If…?Komfort (The Falcon and Winter Soldier Hawkeye). Some times they find a delicate balance. Ms. Marvel, a show that’s part of the MCU without being subsumed by it. (Like Black PantherThere are many characters in the story that don’t seem to be interested in crossing over to the main storyline and trading quips. At other times, they land awkwardly in the middle — She-HulkIt seemed that the intent was to defy MCU conventions by using the language of sitcoms or old legal dramas. However, the production team didn’t pay much attention to those forms.

With the sheer volume of Marvel stuff available, it shouldn’t count as a grave disappointment when some movies or TV shows don’t quite work for every fan. That’s part of why the Filmmaker Phase was necessary. If anything, Phase 4 didn’t go far enough in acclimating viewers to the idea that with this many Marvel properties hitting screens, it’s fine for some of them to traffic in unexpected elements, beyond the kinds of twists and turns that require spoiler warnings. (Werewolf By Night possibly went furthest in establishing that even an MCU canon-compliant project can have a unique flavor and approach that won’t land for every viewer. More of those kinds of far-out projects will likely expand fans’ expectations, particularly with the sheer volume of new material coming to screens.)

The MCU is becoming more elegant in the integration of multiple characters and franchises or dimensions. (Remember the awkwardly placed Hawkeye tease? in the first). Thor?These movies appear more restricted technically. That’s how you get washed-out white skies in a Sam Raimi thrill ride, or a murky CG-choked climax to Shang-ChiA movie by cinematographer. Scott Pilgrim The World vs. You Alita: Battle Angel. The Marvel guidelines could not be surpassed by this diverse group of filmmakers. It’s possible that the studio just doesn’t want anyone to go further. (It’s certainly arguable that no one inclined to do so would bother taking the job.) But every game can’t be an endgame. Marvel must at least attempt to extend its borders or lose trying. The results show that giving unique filmmakers a voice in the MCU is always going to be a struggle — but even if some battles are destined to be lost, the fight is still worth waging.