With today marking the fifth anniversary of Avengers: Infinity War and with news on Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania's streaming debut also hitting today, I think it's worth taking stock of where the MCU has been and where it's going. Four years ago, all of the narrative dominos that had been placed over the course of Phases 1 through 3 were starting to fall as Earth's Mightiest Heroes were finally throwing down against Thanos and excitement for the climax of the Infinity Saga was off the charts. Today, news of Quantumania's home release is accompanied by an assessment of its status as a box office disappointment. Quantumania's unsteady kick off to Phase 5 has only fed into the arguments that arose throughout Phase 4 that, post IW/EG, that the MCU's best days were over and that the public appetite for Marvel movies has waned. To that I say "feh."
While it's inevitable that after eleven years of sustained cinematic storytelling that some would want to get off the ride after a climatic chapter, what a lot of people who aren't comic readers don't understand is the ebb and low of comic narratives. After a major line wide event in comics, it isn't immediately followed by another big event. You can't keep going from one massive high to another. You have to have peaks and valleys. You can have an event like Secret Wars but then you have to go back to smaller stakes (by comic book standards, at least) and regroup, introduce new characters, new elements, slowly start putting the pieces in place for what the next big event will be.
That's where the MCU is at now. They spent years getting to Infinity War/Endgame, building to it film by film. They couldn't go right from the conclusion of that right into something on the same level. The MCU has always been about playing the long game and that's the strategy they're still pursuing. There's some audiences who don't get that or don't have the patience for it. They just want that bigger and bigger high, every time out. They also want to know what the plan is and where everything is heading and rather than enjoy the journey they get frustrated if the big picture isn't immediately clear to them. But that's not how storytelling works in comics. The big moments take time to ramp up to. To arrive at the kind of pay offs that matter, you have to put the time into building towards them.
Some complain that too many movies in Phase 4 were "mid" and that's why they weren't Endgame level hits but I say that's bullshit. Movies like Infinity War and Endgame are never going to be commonplace. That can't be the goal every time out. That's not how the MCU got there. They got there by patiently putting out one solid performer after another and never jumping the gun. Some entries did better than others but most were not massive hits. They just did well enough to keep the MCU viable and to pave the way for more. And the fact is, a lot of the movies throughout Phases 1 through 3 were every bit as "mid" as anything found in Phase 4 MCU. They were fun but not exceptional. Just a good time at the movies, not a reinvention of cinema. Some were on a higher level but the majority were not. And that's fine. Most movies in general, across all studios, across all genres, are "mid." Most movies in the history of movies are just ok. Most action movies, most comedies, most dramas. To believe that every MCU movie must be an exceptional example of filmmaking in order to justify their existence or earn the audience's continued interest is just silly.
Some of what was in Phase 4 ranked among the best that the MCU has delivered to date. Some of it was mid to lower tier. But you could say the same all through the MCU's history. The key to the MCU's longevity isn't about hitting home runs every time, it's about scoring base hits and staying in the game. Just as you can't get to Infinity War and Endgame without a Thor: Dark World or Ant-Man, the road to Avengers: Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars doesn't happen without Quantumania.
Five years ago, the MCU was at a popular peak. Five years from now, they well could be at another one but the takeaway of Infinity War shouldn't be to look to that as what every MCU movie should be but to realize that those crescendos only work when you take the time to build up to them.
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