“We’re All Part Of One Big Family.”
With Stan Lee’s voice discussing how we are all one big family setting the tone, Marvel’s newest sizzle reel takes a look back at the films that have made the MCU so extremely popular, visits the defining “Avengers assemble” moment in Endgame in a crowded theater, and then goes into full promotional mode with a litany of upcoming films into May of 2023. Some of the films listed include the Black Widow solo film, long held prisoner by COVID-19, finally releasing in July, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. There’s also a teaser of what looks to be the Fantastic Four logo.
You can see the video for yourself here:
It will be interesting to see how Marvel’s film success holds up considering the fact that the more mainstream and popular characters such as Captain America (Steve Rogers), Hulk, and Iron Man are out of the picture and more lesser known characters are having to carry the load. Sure, Black Widow, Spider-Man, Thor, and the Guardians of the Galaxy are still around, but can they keep the MCU on a successful path? I’m fully aware that Iron Man was a gamble before and that the GOTG have become much more popular since they arrived on the big screen, but will mainstream audiences pile into theaters in order to see the Eternals, a Black Panther film without Chadwick Boseman, and Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi?
I’m absolutely glad that Marvel is digging deeper with their films as we finally get to see if the writers can build up these lesser known characters without the opportunity to throw an Iron Man or a Thor into the film to drive ticket sales. I want characters like Shang-Chi and Shuri to flourish and become mainstream, but I want them to do so in excellent films with fresh stories. I know that fans of these characters from the written page will show up to support them, but will general audiences turn out for them?
I am well aware of the fact that my opinion of Marvel’s films so far isn’t a popular one. I’ve always held the belief that most of the MCU flicks are cookie-cutter films meant to set up the big payoff in the Avengers movies. As the years have passed and the wonder has worn off, I’ve come to the realization that of the four Avengers movies, only Infinity War stands out as a solid film. Age of Ultron was abysmal, The Avengers was only as good as it was because of the performance of Tom Hiddleston as Loki, and Endgame, despite all of the “shocking” moments, was nothing more than a few high points laced together to tug at hyped up emotions.
As far as the other films in the MCU so far are concerned, some of the best ones in my opinion were Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Doctor Strange, Iron Man, and Ant-Man. Some of the weakest of the bunch were Thor: Ragnarok, Captain America: Civil War, Thor: The Dark World, Captain Marvel, and Spider-Man: Far From Home. Yep, I’m pretty sure that more than half of the folks reading this right now disagree with me and that’s okay. One day I hope to compile a list of all of the MCU films and rank them from best to worst. That’s going to take a bit of time because I plan on watching each and every one of them again.
In any case, the sizzle reel is available above and I really hope that Marvel does a good job with the upcoming films. Are you excited for the new movies? Which films are you looking forward to seeing? Let me know in the comments. Also let me know just how right or wrong my opinion of the MCU is in the comments. Oh, and “You’re a DC fanboy” is not a constructive argument.
Thanks for checking out my post. I’ll be posting again real soon!
Ken's Alternate Universe! 