Is the MCU imploding?

 Antman Quantumania opens today and things are not looking good for the MCU. The movie was certified rotten by the aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. Even the  so called Disney shills are declaring how lackluster the movie is, comparing to the likes of the Eternals. For a movie that is supposed to launch Marvel Phase 5, this certainly does not bode well for the future of the franchise. In a recent interview, Marvel's head honcho Kevin feige admitted that they are pushing out too much product and that they should pull back and focus on quality over quantity. Duh you think?

In my opinion that is just the tip of the iceberg! Marvel Phase  1, 2  and 3 were very well planned and laid out. We had fleshed out three dimensional heroes that had their time to shine in their own feature films. The supporting acts were also expertly interwoven into the stories. This was also pre WOKE Marvel where they would try to shoehorn in feminism and diversity into their characters. Don't get me wrong. I am all for empowerment and diversity when done the right organic way. A good example is the Eternals and Shang Chi. Both movies had diverse casting that fits with the narrative of the stories. The only reason I think the Eternals didn't do well at the box office was due to its stylistics. It was a marked departure from the usual bombastic style of the Marvel movies. Now juxtapose these with Captain Marvel. I regard this as the start of Marvel's decline. Captain Marvel felt like the typical over powered Mary Sue. This is shoehorning at its finest. They introduced her so she could show up and save everyone from Thanos. I am so glad that the Russo brothers didn't cave in and let Tony Stark's arc play out.

Then there is the issues with cohesiveness in storytelling and the overarching arcs. These feel missing from the phase 4 movies. Kevin Feige' s hiring of different directors, and apparent greater freedom of expression meant more directors going off on tangents, and not in a good way. Both She Hulk and Thor Love and Thunder were such travesties because of this. That coupled with the the fact that Marvel was putting quantity over quality just makes matters worse. So do I think the MCU is imploding? You betcha! The saying that you can capture lighting in a bottle only once rings true. We are never going to match the dizzy heights that Avengers Infinity War and Endgame achieved. That was the pinnacle of the MCU.