Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo have responded to fan complaints about Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The MCU began in 2008 with Jon Favreau's Iron Man, and has since expanded to include 29 films and 16 television series, with even more on the way. The MCU is currently the biggest film franchise in the world, and the ninth largest media franchise.
With so much content having been released across nearly 15 years, the MCU is divided into several 'phases,' demarcated by different Marvel films. The first 3 phases encompassed the Infinity Saga and built up to the massive Avengers: Endgame. Since then, the MCU has settled into a vastly different era as it works out its path forward after Endgame. Phase 4 has been comprised of new genres, styles, and characters. It has also welcomed the arrival of some very divisive projects, with movies like Eternals and Thor: Love and Thunder sparking some of the lowest Rotten Tomatoes scores in the entire MCU. Some Marvel fans have heavily criticized Phase 4's content, saying that it doesn't live up to the high standards created by the first three phases.
In an interview with NBC, the Russo Brothers respond to the Phase 4 criticisms and come to the MCU's defense. Anthony Russo takes the lead and praises the MCU's ambition, suggesting that even as it tries out new things in Phase 4, it still retains its creative spirit. Read Russo's full comment below:
"Here’s the thing. The entire life of the MCU has seen ups and downs, there’s going to naturally be an ebb and flow to how people are feeling about it based on the latest offering. But I think — look, at the end of the day, they’re still being very ambitious in terms of how they approach the storytelling. They’re being experimental. They’re looking for new forms of expression to keep audiences excited and surprised. It still seems like they have a vital creative code and process that they’re pursuing, so I do believe there’s still a lot of hope for what’s possible in the MCU. We haven’t lost faith in it, that’s for sure."
In terms of its critical consensus, Phase 4 has been all over the place. For every fan favorite project like WandaVision and Spider-Man: No Way Home, there are others that get dinged for things like inconsistent tones and jumbled plots. If there is one thing that has truly defined the MCU's Phase 4, it is a desire to stretch the bounds of what a Marvel project can be. WandaVision brought classic sitcoms to the superhero world, while Eternals strove to tell a millennia-spanning epic. However, not everything has resonated with audiences.
As Russo admits, Phase 4 has been a time of experimentation for the MCU. Not only has Phase 4 taken Marvel in a darker direction with films like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and shows like Moon Knight, they are also taking more experimental risks with directing, writing, and stylizing. Considering that the MCU is the biggest film franchise in the world, Marvel can certainly afford to take some hits and misses as it finds its rhythm for this new slate of content. With at least 4 major film releases set to debut within the next year, only time will tell whether or not the Marvel Cinematic Universe will hit its stride in Phase 4, or fall short of fan expectations.
Source: NBC
