Fans are somewhat critical of Marvel Cinematic Universe's Phase 4 and the way it's being handled so far, but it is actually setting up more of a universe than Phases 1 through 3 ever did. During Phase 1 (which includes everything up to the first Avengers movie) Nick Fury was the glue of the Marvel universe. At the end of the first Iron Man, Nick Fury breaks into Tony Stark's home after he announces that he is Iron Man at a press conference. He is waiting for Tony and asks him about something called the "Avengers initiative," which inspired every fan who saw that moment to wonder, excitedly, what's coming next. Phase 1 was focused on building up the Avengers and also setting up Thanos as the universe's main villain.
Taking place after the Battle of New York, Phase 2 introduced the Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man and The Wasp, Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Vision, and a short-lived Quicksilver. This Phase of the Marvel universe was colored by more ground-level action when it wasn't focusing on an infinity stone, but the infinity stones still permeated through the Phase 2 films. Thor: The Dark World featured a plot revolving around the Aether, or the "reality" stone, and Guardians of the Galaxy had a story featuring the power stone. The world-building was done mainly in those two movies, with the rest of the Phase being more self-contained when it came to infinity stones. Phase 3, which includes Captain America: Civil War through Spider-Man: Far From Home, has a lot more world-building through infinity stones than its prior Phases. Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel used the stones as a center point for their plots, culminating in Infinity War and Endgame.
The intense scrutiny that every Marvel movie is now subject to isn't allowing what Marvel does best to shine through. The fans complaining about Phase 4 being disjointed are likely the same people who would have let some of the franchise's top and most beloved movies go by the wayside for not allowing them the space to breathe creatively. The most world-building that was done in the first three Phases of the MCU was the inclusion of Thanos teases throughout the series. Although thought of by many fans as all over the place, Phase 4 is actually setting up a bigger universe than any Phase before it.
Phase 4 Is Building The MCU's Biggest Universe Yet
Phase 4 of the MCU is, so far, connected by three major plot points: gods and/or cosmic entities, other planes, and the multiverse. Given Thor: Love and Thunder's events, the world now knows how the MCU handles gods and other cosmic entities like Celestials. There are two lower-level Celestials present at Omnipotence City when Thor and crew visit it to get help from the other gods in defeating Gorr. The beings that many humans believe to be their gods have been personified as entitled, bratty, and powerful. Opening up the universe to include gods widens the scope of what people can expect from the MCU.
Now that gods are in play, there are many, many ways that the story can go. Phase 4's shows and movies also address other planes of existence, like the hidden one in Shang-Chi, and will continue its playing with other planes as it started to in Black Panther and will undoubtedly continue to do in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In Spider-Man: No Way Home, different Spider-Men came through portals into the MCU's Earth-616. This opened up the possibility of a multiverse, which set up Doctor Strange 2 and whatever other problems will occur now that the multiverse is in play in the MCU. Anything is possible.
So far, the Marvel universe's status quo has been changed more by its Phase 4 movies than previous MCU Phases. Introducing such wild concepts as gods, other planes, and the multiverse not only make this Phase of the MCU the most exciting one but they make it the broadest and most possibility-filled Phase yet. Naysayers of the MCU's Phase 4 are missing the big picture because it has given audiences its most dramatic introductions of new plot concepts yet, even with the Phase barely halfway over.
