Phase 5 of the MCU is over

[Richards]

I've also heard that they forced Gunn to shoehorn in Adam, and if so it showed. Adam Warlock is Captain Marvel/Sentry levels of powerful... Played as a joke. That was.... A decision.

Agreed in full. Adam Warlock is one of my favorite Marvel "space" characters, and I absolutely hate what they did to him in the MCU. So much potential wasted.

Johnathan

 

[Mercurius]

Here are the percentage of the films I've seen:

Phase 1: 100% (6/6)
Phase 2: 100% (6/6)
Phase 3: 91% (10/11)
Phase 4: 29% (2/7)
Phase 5: 17% (1/6)

I'll see Thunderbolts when it is out streaming, so that will be close to Phase 4.

I guess I'm a bit "MCU-ed" out. I am curious about FF, Secret Wars, and especially what they do with the X-Men.

 

[Lidgar]

I enjoyed Guardians, Agatha, and Thunderbolts the best. There were some real stinkers in this batch too.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

However, I don't love that it is yet another multiverse crossover. Just drop the multiverse angle, already! It's bad for narrative tension - it turns every film into an episode of What If...? Give it to Spiderverse and leave it at that.

Certainly if I were Marvel, I'd concede that we're not going to do a better job with the multiverse than Spiderverse has done, and work on something else. Going up against one of the best sets of superhero movies of all time with a too-similar story idea just feels like a bad use of resources, when they could instead be doing something interesting elsewhere and avoid those comparisons.

 

[Gradine]

Yeah, looking at that list I can say that I only actually saw one of them: The Marvels, which I thought it was an absolutely blast. I do want to check out the Thunderbolts any eventually Guardians 3 but very little else in the MCU (including the TV shows) holds very little appeal anymore.

I am pretty hyped for Fantastic Four so let's see if they turn it around.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It definitely feels like, after the Avengers multiverse stuff wraps up, they need to convince Disney to let them do nothing for at least a year to cleanse the palate and get the writing down solid, with stuff that feels like it's going somewhere while also standing on its own.

The MCU does real damage to itself by having movies that don't seem to have much point other than "we need to drop a dead Celestial in the Indian Ocean to use later." Either make that movie compelling on its own, or drop that Celestial in the Indian Ocean in the cold open of the movie that actually does something important with it.

 

[overgeeked]

Only saw Ant-Man and Deadpool. I’ve always loved What If so that’s an easy one for me, though I haven’t seen it yet. Otherwise I have basically zero interest in any of these Marvel titles. I am looking forward to Fantastic Four. That’s about it.

 

[overgeeked]

It definitely feels like, after the Avengers multiverse stuff wraps up, they need to convince Disney to let them do nothing for at least a year to cleanse the palate and get the writing down solid, with stuff that feels like it's going somewhere while also standing on its own.

The MCU does real damage to itself by having movies that don't seem to have much point other than "we need to drop a dead Celestial in the Indian Ocean to use later." Either make that movie compelling on its own, or drop that Celestial in the Indian Ocean in the cold open of the movie that actually does something important with it.

Yep. The summer crossover problem combined with the summer blockbuster problem. Throw in a dash of the superhero escalation problem…and here we are.

I liked the first two Ant-Man movies because they were smaller scale (ha) and not world-ending threats. I liked the first two GotG movies because they were silly popcorn action-comedy movies. The third installment of each…ugh.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

What is really striking to me is the lack of a single great film (again, barring Thunderbolts; maybe it will save the day). Phases 1-3 didn't any films that I thought were outright bad and a number that were great. Hopefully Fantastic Four is the revitalization it needed.

However, I don't love that it is yet another multiverse crossover. Just drop the multiverse angle, already! It's bad for narrative tension - it turns every film into an episode of What If...? Give it to Spiderverse and leave it at that.

I would be really excited if FF represented a whole new start for the MCU, rather than being shoehorned into the teetering edifice that peaked with Endgame.

I really liked Thunderbolts, but I wouldn't say that it was great. Other than perhaps Florence Pugh - she continues to shine. Everyone else, and the film itself, was good. Not quite great.

Though I give it extra props for actually telling a decent story about mental health, without all the classic Hollywood, 'I don't need no help'- stuff. It's a step in the right direction when it comes to that. There's still a road ahead.

Good movie. Not quite good enough to be great, though.

 

[Piperken]

My watched list:

• Phase 1-3: I think I watched everything except for the 1st Captain America film
• Phase 4: Shang Chi, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, WandaVision, Loki (1st Season), Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, Guardians Holiday Special
• Phase 5: Loki (2nd Season), Daredevil: Born Again (1st Season)

I feel like it's a combination of superhero film burn out for me, as well as Phase 4 and 5 just being more uneven in its offerings.

(I do plan on seeing Superman.)