Marvel’s Phase 4 was everything but a smooth joyride of success. Several movies and TV shows jam-packed together couldn’t provide an exciting journey like the previous phase. It was already a precedent after watching Avengers: Endgame that the expectations would be very higher for the future of the MCU. But somewhere, it became too much for the audience who are highly disappointed about how the Kevin Feige studio prioritized quantity far more than quality.
Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe kicked off The Multiverse Saga after all the drama with the Infinity Stones. Starting with Disney+’s WandaVision, this phase concluded with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Although it can be said that the studio experimented a lot with this phase by releasing a variety of shows and movies but things didn’t turn out as expected.
Is Marvel’s Phase 4 not worth remembering?
When it was announced at first that the MCU is going to dwell more into the concepts of Multiverse with the upcoming projects, the fans were excited like nothing else. Quite contrary to what everyone anticipated, only a few projects could live up to the height of Marvel projects while the rest of them crash-landed with mixed to negative reception.
Phase 3 of the MCU consisted of a total of 11 releases in 3 years whereas the latest phase saw a massive amount of 17 releases within a span of 2 years. Not only did the writing of many projects face intense backlash, but the VFX was also compromised. Even the VFX artists came forward to criticize the studio for its overburdening attitude. According to Comicbook’s Brandon Davis, Marvel should have considered Spider-Man: No Way Home as the official concluding project of this phase.
Spider-Man: No Way Home would've been the most fitting film to end Phase 4. Really pushing the Multiverse story and sending so much momentum into Phase 5.
— BD (@BrandonDavisBD) December 30, 2022
Spider-Man: No Way Home proved to be one of the best projects among the lot in the latest phase. Though some fans might argue on the factor of nostalgia plays a more major role than the story in the movie, it showed the multiverse in a far better way. Even Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness failed to show any true madness on the multiversal level.
Additionally, with projects like Thor: Love and Thunder and She-Hulk, Marvel caught the intense wrath of the fans like never before. With all factors combined, it is evident that the studio has made a lot of projects that seemed unnecessary or rushed among the fans.
The fans are highly disappointed by Marvel
Brandon Davis’ tweet garnered wide attention and several fans joined the conversation to give their views. Take a look at some of the tweets here:
Agreed. It also feels weird not ending a phase with some kind of team up movie so this would have made so much sense.
— Tommy Newton (@Tommy_Newton) December 30, 2022
It does feel like a film that was meant to end a franchise/Phase
— Duck (@PrettyCoolDuck) December 30, 2022
This is just me, but No Way Home is lowkey me end for the MCU since nothing sounds really hype other that Spider-Man 4 and Daredevil
— Persona Hearts: KINGDOM HEARTS IV / Versus XIII (@PersonaHearts5R) December 30, 2022
Still feels to me like a better multiverse story than Multiverse of Madness.
— Small Entertainment (@SmallEntertain) December 30, 2022
Agreed
— boo bear tat (@hughbootat) December 31, 2022
Looking at the reception received by the fans, it can’t be denied that Marvel stands on a risky stage right now. Some reports also stated that Disney is re-evaluating the projects in phases 5 and 6 after the massive backlash received. It can be hoped that Ant-Man 3 proves to be a good start to the upcoming phase and is succeeded by an exciting line of projects in the future.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will hit theaters on February 17, 2023, while Spider-Man: No Way Home can be streamed on STARZ.
Source: Twitter
