It is news to no one that the past few years of Marvel content have been overwhelming in quantity but underwhelming in quality. But I can surely say that “Captain America: A Brave New World” has confirmed that the slump is finally over.
After the “Infinity War” saga, Marvel promised a slew of impressive-sounding projects that had a lot of hype surrounding them because of the box-office success that “Infinity War” and “Endgame” had. These movies also marked the end of an era since a significant number of the original Avengers would not be returning for future movies.
The first two projects proceeding “Endgame” were promising, with “Spider Man: Far From Home” continuing the widely loved trilogy starring Tom Holland. Then, during the pandemic, many Marvel movies were pushed back and they switched to releasing shows on Disney+. This started the decline.
While one of the first series they released on Disney+, “WandaVision” had me tuned in weekly, a lot of their other series felt lackluster. With many of their bigger projects delayed, it felt like Marvel was pushing shows just to have content to give. For example, the show “What If…” has the premise of changing some of their popular movies with how things could have ended. There are currently three seasons of the show, and I have yet to finish the first one with how disappointing it was. If anything, the series proves why their most popular movies ended in the ways they did, and alternative endings did not need to be addressed.
Following this era of shows, the “sacred timeline” saga continued. Projects like “Loki” and “Spider Man: No Way Home” ventured into alternative universes where there are multiple versions of the same person. At first, this was exciting to see, but the majority of Phase 5 movies and shows solely focused on this, and it started to feel overdone. Every time I opened Disney+, I would see a new series related to the multiverse. Even highly anticipated movies like “Ant Man: Quantamania” fell short because of their reliance on the sacred timeline storyline.
I quickly grew tired of this overplayed conflict, and the multiple versions of people started to get confusing. It was a lazy way to introduce new variants that could fight each other or make a fan-favorite character immortal. This oversaturation is often called “superhero fatigue,” and people lost hope that Marvel would return back to its former quality. Projects outside of this have reaffirmed my trust in the fact that Marvel is slowly but surely making a comeback.
While the first season of “Loki” was dependent on the sacred timeline, it was the second season that made a real impact. It became less confusing with fewer versions of Loki and was more focused on the characters. It was back to what Marvel is known for—thrilling action. Then, in 2024, after a significant decline in the number of projects released in the previous year, “Deadpool & Wolverine” was released.
The “Deadpool” series is one of the most beloved of the franchise. As a new watcher of the series, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed “Deadpool & Wolverine.” The movie made over one billion dollars worldwide, which was the first movie to surpass this milestone since “Spider Man: No Way Home” in 2021. The movie appealed to both comic book fans and average moviegoers because of its action and Deadpool’s iconic fourth wall breaks. It may even enter my top 5 favorite Marvel movies.
Following that movie, “Agatha All Along”—a spinoff of “WandaVision”—attracted many Marvel fans again. I have been increasingly skeptical of the Disney+ series; however, this was an exception. Once again, it focused on emotion and the development of characters, rather than just connecting to the sacred timeline. The back and forth between Kathryn Hahn and Aubrey Plaza’s characters built tension that kept me entertained. It also explored a new idea of a witch hunt which was original.
The quality of content continued with “Captain America: A Brave New World.” After watching the movie, I found that the storyline was easy to follow yet complex and layered. It had surprises that stuck with old Marvel fans and will mark a new era of Marvel with the Falcon, Sam Wilson, as the new Captain America. It was good in the context of a Marvel movie and also included problems that are very relevant to the current world including international relations. I can say I am excited to see future projects, starting with “Thunderbolts,” which will use familiar characters in new ways that are reminiscent of the quality that Marvel has been known for. I, for one, am ready for Marvel’s long overdue comeback.