What was Phase Four . . . about?

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Phase Four has ended, not with a bang but with a whimper. So let's sort through some of theme symbols, themes, and plot points to see what Phase Four was all about.

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Music by Epidemic Sound

00:00 Wait? It's over?
01:39 The Action Figure Phase
09:34 The Metaphysical Crisis Phase
14:35 The Wristlet Phase
17:37 The Good Dad Phase
25:20 The Cop Phase
31:31 The Retcon Phase

[BeamSplashX]

i like to imagine that every universe's mysterio lies about knowing there's a multiverse, but each universe's mysterio happens to choose the correct number for the earth they're on

[darrylldoucette]

You just did the marvel writers and producers a huge favour here. They’re all like, “Oh, yeah, that’s totally what we were going for. Ahem”

[patrickderdul]

Somebody FINALLY talked about how weird it is to make the Salem witch trials about actual mischievous witches!

[Max_The_Flower]

can't believe you didn't even mention eating food at a table as one of phase four's main themes.

[bluesdjben]

Sharon Carter is the one person I can think of who I really want to be a Skrull because I think her Power Broker villain turn just did not make sense. If she was replaced by a Skrull during the Snap, it suddenly totally makes sense.

[smoovenorris]

The action figure portion reminds me of Logan not liking the comics that Laura had and loved, saying that “maybe a quarter of it happened and not like this” signifying that someone wrote and drew fabricated stories to make themselves feel better about the disappearance of mutants (also him saying some of it happened while looking at him save a friend from falling in the comic he’s wearing the accurate suit, maybe he wore the suit before he retired)

[bravovince]

Two months ago Jonathan Majors said he just had a chat with Kang Dynasty director Destin Cretton. When asked what can he say about it, he responded with "We are dealing with myths. What is a Kang? What is a movie? What is a MCU movie? What does that mean, what does that look like? Those are the questions we are asking."


The fact that he said Kang Dynasty will explore "what is a MCU" movie really makes me think you are onto something here.

[comicalcosmonaut]

The retcon phase you’ve discussed made think how the MCU really does work like comics; kingdoms, deities, organizations randomly pop outta nowhere and we’re expected to believe they’ve existed for a loooong time

[redgiant]

Phase 4 was about legacy, for sure. Shang chi and his father’s rings, the Hawkeyes, black widow’s family being introduced, Falcon becoming Captain America, the thors, Spider-Man meeting two versions of himself and fighting their villains, she hulk ignoring her cousin’s advice and learning from it to be a hero like him and a lawyer like her

[samwill]

The more we go on the more the MCU is gonna become like the comics. You don't need to watch or be "caught up" on everything because it'll become less and less feasible to binge all of them at once
Just roll with what's interesting to you, if the movies are well made than anything you missed that's important will be explained just like any other backstory in a movie.

[slartimus]

Something I find myself continually coming back to as far as the retcons, is specifically that Eternals tells us that life-bearing planets are created by Celestials as eggs for incubating new Celestials...

But cut back to GotGv2, where Ego calls himself a Celestial, says he believed himself alone, and embarks on his whole Expansion plan by which he seeded a bit of himself on a bunch of life-bearing planets with the intent of turning them all into extensions of himself. He even gets to start doing some of it, with a big glowing blob of Ego-ness erupting out from behind the Dairy Queen and also on Xandar! What would've happened if he'd fully succeeded, as far as Arishem and the Eternals and all that? That seems like something they should've maybe gotten a bit involved with, if they'd always existed all that time.

[ThePonderer]

I’ve always argued that Phase 4’s big shared theme was “Self-Identity”

Almost every story is about someone grappling with what it is that makes them *themselves, * and how that’s informed by their background, their biology, their “destiny, ” or perspective/philosophy.

[LotkaVolterra]

53:36 was an absolutely perfect analogy for phase 4. After three-peating with its first few phases, this dynasty is rebuilding and developing its draft picks. And just like in sports, some of the lifelong fans are looking at these new faces and wondering if they can reach the same heights.

[WesMontrose]

I saw Druig's stopping but not stopping the conquistadors as his dereliction of duty from the role of being an Eternal. He decided mankind was too destructive and no amount of intervening would stop their atrocities against one another so he carved out a mini civilization that he could manage and basically retired there with it. He was done with worldly matters and decided to spend all his time and energy on the people he knew he could save. He didn't save a civilization, but he saved a town and grew that

[Aguni]

The "rebuild season " idea is exactly what I thought this phase would be the whole time. I love the way you explained it.

[caseybeats]

Phase 4 felt like a "consequence/reality" phase. A lot of the shows specifically show a new side of the MCU where you see how "the real world" is handling heroes and stuff.

[sexybunnyxox]

A musical about the attack on NY is beyond weird, it’s like making a musical about 9/11

[CyrusMajin]

I always thought the underlying theme of phase 4 was Legacies. It feels like almost every major character is worrying about their legacy, trying to live up to a legacy they've been given, dealing with how the legacy (or lack there of) left in the world by another effects them, or making a legacy they are now a part of, either by happenstance or design, their own.

[PillarofGarbage]

Great minds think alike :D
Kidding aside, fantastic video as always, and huge thanks for that shoutout! I probably wouldn't be making videos at all if it weren't for your channel - I had my first successful video blow up thanks to the One Villainous Scene playlist - so I was beaming from ear to ear at 55:05!

[jinxie]

The theme was Legacy. Everything was about passing the torch.

[edit]32:27 heh, then we get to him talking about this…