I am Morgan of “The Daily Aztec”, and I am burdened with copious Marvel content.
I know, I didn’t think I’d be saying this either.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has played a massive role in my life for over a decade now; I can and I will look for an excuse to geek out over it — just ask my co-writers.
For starters,“The Avengers” is one of the reasons why I’m sitting here today! It inspired me to take a crack at high school theatre and when I realized I couldn’t hack it, I started writing film reviews. The “Guardians of the Galaxy” soundtracks brought me back to classic rock, the music of my childhood. “Avengers: Endgame” was the first film that made me cry in a theater and we all know why (side note: when Steve grabbed Thor’s hammer, I think my soul left my body).
Most recently, I met some of my first new friends in a long time through bonding over the miniseries during lockdown. Reader, you should have seen the way our group chat lit up during “WandaVision”‘s run! When we all finally met in person, it was at the theaters for “Black Widow.”
Make no mistake, my adoration for the MCU knows no bounds, so know that I say this purely out of love — I’m getting a little sick of it. Lately, it’s been nothing but a constant stream of content, which sounds like an ideal situation…until you get it. The first three miniseries were a hell of a ride, but by the time I got to the “What If?” series (which was pretty damn good) I found myself procrastinating the episodes. Me, procrastinating watching MCU content? The irony is richer than Tony Stark’s estate.
Really though, how does Marvel expect us all to catch up? Contrary to what pop culture would have you believe, massive friggin’ nerds like me do have lives. Marvel’s content (and fandom) is so mentally/emotionally engaging that I need time to process everything/one, especially now with the opening of the Multiverse and whatever the hell “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is gonna do.
After “Endgame,” I took a year-long break from Marvel after years of non-stop devotion. When I returned for “WandaVision,” the absence made my heart grow fonder and I was ready for anything. Now, it feels like every time I turn around, there’s a new project in the wings whether I like it or not. Here’s an actual text I sent, “Oh sh*t, we’re gonna have to start caring about Hawkeye soon.”
I mean, I’ll still probably watch it and contradict everything I say here, but this is while we’re still processing “Eternals,” which is a massive cinematic/narrative step forward for the MCU.
Maybe it’s best that we let this moment steep for a bit. How about we let the writers rooms catch up and take constructive criticism from fans? Looking at you, “Loki” season one.
Marvel probably isn’t afraid of competition because as far as I’m concerned, they’ve got the extended universe thing on lock and other franchises are still playing catch up.
Fan loyalty shouldn’t be a problem either because we’re not going anywhere, and it definitely isn’t finances because Disney probably makes $1 million every time Kevin Feige blinks. What I do know is that if Marvel gives us fans too much, they’ll spread themselves too thin and we might lose interest, some for good. I mean, that new Batman film looks real badass…
Perhaps the mass delay of the rest of Phase Four was a blessing in disguise. It’ll give us more time to catch our breaths and build meaningful, well-deserved anticipation for these films. I mean, Sam Raimi’s return to Marvel? Taika Waititi’s second Thor film? A new Blade film? Which one of y’all sacrificed your soul on Vormir for these?
I want to fully appreciate the MCU and I want the same for my fellow fans, but how can we enjoy the main feast if we’re constantly being force fed appetizers?
Sometimes it’s better to have enough rather than “ANOTHA!”
Morgan Ray is a junior studying journalism and media studies.
