The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been an unstoppable empire of superhero movies, constantly succeeding where others many times failed. Unfortunately, it seems that said empire might be crumbling, with the reception for recent movies being noticeably less flattering than previous productions. It also appears that Marvel movies and TV shows have come full circle to the early 2000s, and in the worst kind of way.
Spider-Man and the X-Men are the two properties that fans and audiences seem to really care about in the MCU going forward, with other franchises simply lacking the hype. That mirrors not only the Marvel comic books in the 1990s but also pre-MCU Marvel superhero movies in the 2000s. While it could lead to a renaissance for Peter Parker and the merry mutants, the result may also be a total collapse in interest for Marvel’s other properties on the big screen.
Spider-Man and the X-Men Are Holding Together Interest In the MCU
Spider-Man has been Marvel’s premiere character ever since he first showed up in the Silver Age, and that’s definitely the case in films, as well. Long before the MCU, audiences were wowed by a cinematic Wall-Crawler through the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movie trilogy. Even without an entire universe of other heroes to bounce off of, audiences and fans alike were heavily invested in Spidey’s world, a sentiment that continues to this day. Spider-Man: No Way Home was the only mega-hit of the MCU’s Phase Four, getting both huge critical and financial success. This movie had not one but three Spider-Men, uniting three generations of movies in a film that arguably rivaled even Avengers: Endgame.
Likewise, fans are desperate to see how mutants and the X-Men are finally introduced in the MCU. Their inclusion could happen following Disney’s acquisition of Fox, and many believed they would begin showing up directly after Endgame. This was definitely part of what drove the anticipation for the Disney+ TV show WandaVision, with multiple theories being floated as to how the series would possibly establish Wanda’s mutant heritage from the comics.
The same hype drove Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness, a veritable sequel to WandaVision that even featured an alternate universe Professor X. Sadly, mutants are still far from a readily established force, with their presence only now being slightly set up in the final episode of Ms. Marvel. Said revelation has finally made the otherwise overlooked series the talk of the town, which speaks to both the strength of the X-Men and the weakness of other properties.
Casual Fans Are Losing Interest in the MCU Outside of Crossovers
Ever since Endgame, the hype usually surrounding the MCU has been absent. After WandaVision, many of the Disney+ shows came and went, with very few still being spoken of after their release. As mentioned, the main interest in Multiverse of Madness and the finale of Ms. Marvel had to do with their potential or unexpected ties to other, more popular properties like the X-Men. The automatic interest in any new Marvel property seems to be gone, with even older characters like Doctor Strange and Thor faltering due to the lack of a big crossover on the horizon. Now, those who are losing interest in the MCU are mainly hoping that the next Spider-Man movie or plans for the X-Men will be announced in order to have something to look forward to. This has also seen many be far more critical of recent Marvel Studios movies than previous films, as disinterest seems to be setting in.
It makes one wonder whether some of the MCU’s heroes were only ever “popular” in regard to being breadcrumbs leading to the next big Avengers. Nothing of the sort is on the horizon, and without that sense of urgency, audiences have failed to get expectedly hyped for comparatively mundane adventures with characters that they seemingly otherwise cared little about. That reflects the 2000s, wherein the Spider-Man and X-Men movies were the only Marvel films really gathering much discussion or interest. It seems that the expense of crossovers like the Avengers movies came at the expense of the individual films’ characters having the same popularity. Once again, Spidey and the X-Men rule the hearts and minds of Marvel’s diehards, showing that the MCU brand might not be as strong as once believed.