How does one of the most successful movie franchises fall so hard? Marvel has been a loved franchise since the comics. People tend to say the 2010s were the peak of the Marvel franchise, and it’s hard to disagree. During this era, the most iconic Marvel movies came out, such as the first “Avengers” movie and the first “Captain America” movie. Then “Endgame” came along in 2019, and Marvel seemed unstoppable. It had amazing CGI and plots that would hook the watcher in and not let go.
Unstoppable, that is, until “Eternals,” which earned a whopping 47% on Rotten Tomatoes. Since then, the movie quality has only gotten worse, with nauseating movies like “Madam Web” or total snoozefests like “The Marvels.” Critics think they are sacrificing the quality of the movies for how many they produce in the smallest amount of time.
“They are focused on making money over the quality of the movies,” said FCHS science teacher Craig Conner. I couldn’t agree more with this statement. The creators aren’t making smart decisions when it comes to the future of Marvel, causing the special effects and writing to become so much worse.
Something that made the Marvel universe so wonderful in the early days was that every storyline perfectly fell into each other to create one major storyline. The new Marvel movies don’t click like they used to, even with all the new groups being established. It feels like we are watching a bunch of strangers attempt to interact at a party, but they’re all introverts.
FCHS sophomore Ethan Gooch is one Marvel fan who thinks the franchise has lost its steam as it has focused on group ensembles rather than on single superheroes. “I would like to see more movies with more characters, not just focusing on a group,” he said.
Why? If you ask me, the individual movies make it easier to follow and connect the storylines, while the group movies don’t.
Another thing I miss is that Marvel’s movies used to be so visually stunning. Movies like “Doctor Strange” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” have some of the best CGI and are so immersive with the visuals (without sacrificing a compelling storyline). Instead, the newer movies and special effects are like soggy fireworks on New Year’s Eve. Considering the advancements in CGI, movies like “Thor: Love and Thunder” and “Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness” should have blown me away with their visuals, but they just couldn’t compare to older movies like “Thor: Ragnarok.”
The new writing has also become a major issue, and I have a few theories on why. First off, these writers are not getting paid enough. They are being pushed to use more AI, but a computer chip cannot replace a human mind. Another thing is that the writing has no direction. Marvel has been in a confusing spot for years since it seems like they want to do more and less at the same time.
At this point, the latest Marvel movies have had about as much creativity as a blank wall. Now, most of the superheroes are caricatures or teenagers trying their best, like “Ironheart,” whose entire personality is copy-pasted off TikTok. Tropes in “Spider-Man” or the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” were marvelous and hysterical, but now they tend to be so overplayed that every movie seems like a reheated version of the same tired plot.
I think Marvel can be as magical as it was a few years ago, but there will need to be a lot of changes. The writers need to take a lesson or two from past Marvel projects. I also believe they need to fix whatever is going on with the recent CGI, considering the old movies had less technology and better visuals. Or maybe we should keep bigger corporations out of our favorite superhero movies.
