The Marvel Cinematic Universe has transformed into something better for Phase 4. It's easy to forget that, when Marvel Studios launched the MCU back in 2008, it was a gamble. Nobody had ever attempted to build a shared universe on this kind of scale before, and there was a risk any missteps would have an outsized impact on the entire project. The moment of greatest danger was, of course, 2012's The Avengers; if that film had failed, the MCU would have collapsed like a house of cards.

But Marvel's gamble paid off, The Avengers broke $1.5 billion in the global box office, and the MCU has become the hottest property in Hollywood. Marvel struggled to get writers on board for 2008's Iron Man, but nowadays they have the pick of the crop. The studio has proved even Z-list superheroes can make their mark on popular culture, with audiences even falling in love with a talking raccoon and a walking tree in Guardians of the Galaxy. And yet, for all that's the case, for Phase 4 the MCU has become something even better.

Related: Loki: Every MCU Easter Egg In Episode 6

The MCU has changed form in both form and narrative, so much so that "Marvel Cinematic Universe" - a powerful brand that will no doubt never be retired by Marvel - is no longer an accurate name for it. In terms of form, the MCU is now a transmedia initiative, with storytelling transcending any one form of media. The ongoing narrative of the MCU is now told both in films and Disney+ TV shows, and - unlike previous TV series like Agents of SHIELD - the connectivity works both ways. Take the example of Loki, which serves as the launchpad for a Multiversal arc that is expected to dominate Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania. This is true transmedia, true connectivity.

Loki Is The Beginning and End Of An MCU Multiverse Time Loop

But the MCU's transformation is even better than that because no longer is Marvel dealing with one shared universe - it's now exploring an entire Multiverse. The wealth of storytelling opportunities created by the Multiverse was made clear in Loki, which featured everything from a female version of the trickster god (the delightful Sylvie, played by Sophia Di Martino) to an alligator who fans have taken to calling Croki. Marvel's What If..? is an upcoming animated series that explores this Multiverse, with riffs on the traditional MCU stories, with a timeline in which T'Challa became Star-Lord instead of Peter Quill, and another in which Peggy Carter took the super-soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers. It's even confirmed to feature a Marvel Zombies plot, a timeline in which the Winter Soldier goes up against a zombie Captain America.

All this means the MCU has evolved completely. No longer can it accurately be described as a shared cinematic universe: now it is a shared transmedia Multiverse. Marvel is unlikely to retire the MCU brand, simply because it's too valuable, but this should really now be called the Marvel Transmedia Multiverse.

More: All 13 Marvel TV Shows Releasing After Loki (& When)

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