Consistency is a key, but not when it becomes
monotonous. That’s the case with Marvel’s Extended Universe. There’s nothing outrageously
bad about them, but there’s also nothing truly marvellous. Just like a baking a
cake, they follow a formula.
While the plot of
a hero saving the world from an alien invasion sounds like it’s huge deal, it
starts to lose its meaning when we see it happening repeatedly. Not just in the
team up Avengers movies, but in their solo ones too. It’s like they’re aware of how
painfully cringeworthy it became that they further added the “Revengers” team
in Thor Ragnarok as a parody.
The good character
turning bad plot twist that happened in Iron Man is used too many times that
you start to anticipate it instead of being shocked. It was shocking with Obadiah
Stane, a little different with The All Father turning out to be Loki in Thor 2,
and downright ridiculous with the entity of SHIELD turning out to be Hydra. Perhaps
the best application of the plot twist was in Captain America: The Winter
Soldier with the reveal of Bucky Barnes as the brainwashed assassin. But even
the most unique and well-crafted MCU movie wasn’t enough to save the franchise from
the dullness setting in.
Avengers 3 disguised
as the third Captain America movie looked like it’s presenting the biggest
conflict in the MCU, but that outlook didn’t last long. What the characters
fought so hard about and believed in was simply resolved in a note that Steve
wrote for Tony. As if everything that happened so far was meaningless, a theme
that is always accruing in the universe.
The consistency
grows stronger when it comes to dealing with their characters. There’s too much
heroes in the MCU, but there’s also more than enough movies to make room for
all of them, like Black Widow and Hawkeye’s characters that always get side-lined.
Losing a female character, in particular, is undoubtedly the most predicable thing
in the universe. From Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis, to Betty Ross and Maya
Hansen. Even Pepper Potts and Black Widow lack of storyline makes them as good
as dead.
Heroes need
ordinary people, and not just to save them, but to interact with them and feel
grounded. Every friendship that started with a hero and a normal friend needed
up in said friend joining the squad like War Machine and Falcon. Having normal
people who are not heroes or agents humanizes the franchise, and makes collateral
damaged much more meaningful.
I enjoy Marvel movies, or at least I used to.
What keeps me watching them is the anticipation of the characters I loved
actually doing something exceptional to set themselves apart. I’m not expecting
a movie so thought provoking that it will span a yearlong debate like Batman v
Superman did. Or a movie without fun and humour than sets Marvel apart. I want
to see change finally happen. Casualties in the main characters. A villain that
knows what they want, and why they want it. I want to see the heroes lose and
come back stronger than ever because they learned from their mistakes.
Everything I want looks like it will be happening in the upcoming Infinity War,
but as I’ve already seen from Marvel, looks can be deceiving.
