Marvel Cinematic Universe Reboot EXPLAINED (ft. HEAVY SPOILERS!) | ScreenCrush Rewind

Marvel's Phase 4 is longer than every other phase of the MCU combined, with even more stories left to tell before the Multiverse Saga is complete. So how will Marvel Studios deal with the increasingly complex MCU post-Kang? Should they reboot and start again? Our own Colton Ogburn and special guest @heavyspoilers help us answer that question.

Edited by Ethan Lavinsky, Harriet Lengel-Enright, Randolf Nombrado, and Brianna McLarty

Featuring:

#Marvel #MCU #Reboot

The MCU likes to say it’s all connected, but is it becoming too connected? Is the behemoth of Marvel studios releasing so much content that it’s going to collapse under its own weight, and soon it’s going to require a total reboot? I’ll explain why this could happen, how it would work, and how it connects to secret wars–and later I’ll be joined by two of the best, Paul Spoilerman from heavy Spoilers and our own Colton Ogburn. But first, here’s my take.

A few weeks ago, I saw a meme going around the internet, that was what the lord of the rings franchise was started today, and it included ridiculous prequels like thorin, the grey wizard, bard king of Laketown, the Gollum movie, etc. Most movie studios try to milk their IP for all its worth–like Sony floating the idea of an Aunt May movie.

Doug: No, it's that real?

Yes, they were actually thinking of doing that. Now Marvel studios are very different from most studios. They love their characters, are devoted to the comics, and you never feel like they’re being too unfaithful to the source material. But. The MCU has become very complex. Phase one contained about 13 hours of movies. And if you walked into the Avengers, you could follow the story, even if you hadn't seen all the movies. If you had seen them, then you were rewarded.

But by the time Endgame rolled around, if you hadn’t seen the other 21 films in the franchise, you were gonna be lost. Why were you supposed to care about Tony meeting his adult father if you hadn't seen his daddy issues in Iron Man 2 [clip]. Or care why thor was depressed? [crying about jane, aether].

Obviously, I loved Endgame…because I'm a huge Marvel fan, and it’s awesome. But marvel’s phase 4 has created about 50 hours of content–more than phases 1 through 3 combined. That is a lot for the average viewer to stay caught up on. Imagine phase 9 when it’s going to take a year of rewatching to understand why multiversal Thanos, Kang, Loki, Magento, and dr doom are teaming up in the Acts of Vengeance.

Doug: but that sounds awesome!

Yes, yes it does. But it might also collapse under its own weight. People shouldn’t have to do homework to understand a movie. Even if every other movie and show in the MCU is standalone, you’re still gonna want to know some of these characters for the team-up movie. Everything becomes a must-watch, and that will wear fans out.

So going back to basics and simpifying everything would seem like a good idea.

Doug: Well what do you mean by rebooting? Like, do it all over?

No, no, not that.

[trevorreniger]

I'm one of the growing minority who *loves* all the content. I know a lot of people are getting Marvel Fatigue or don't want to follow so many secondary story lines. However, I am thrilled. Give me the shows! It's like my cartoons of childhood are all grown up. 😍

[shinjial]

I wish they would keep the real world implications of aging actors and death as part of what these stories can explore. How about a story on aging heroes out of touch with current times, or waning powers, passing down the torch (we're doing that to some extent now, but I want more heavy implications of this), adapting, hanging up the mantle... so many opportunities to have mature stories for a maturing audience that is aging -with- the stories.

[alecb]

"It's all connected" until a massive celestial peaks out from earth and no one talks about it or even references it again after that. Love the connectedness 😍

[kanghahnlee]

I'm a history professor, and your discussion amazes me. It's like talking about historical events, from an observatory position with a 360 degree view, which ordinary historians would just die to acquire. Being an MCU fan myself, it never gets old to watch all these discussions.

[stephensuniverse]

The Normies, Screencrush, Blind Wave, Heavy Spoilers and Reel Rejects feel like they all have an MCU of their own when they mention each other in videos and I’m so here for it

[Ryecrash]

The only issue I have with a reboot is my fear that they might tell basically the same stories they've already told. Retelling Batman's origin with every reboot has become a meme at this point. I'd hate to have that happen with all of Marvel.

[amyduke]

I think the lane thing is a good direction. For example, The X-Men essentially became its own franchise in the 90’s. They could tell those stories while developing the “Street Level” storyline. As those projects come out work on the “Mystic Level” Storyline. Focusing on 5 characters in each level. That’s how you deal with the overcrowding. Stream shows can be good, but should be different from the storyline of the movies; origins and team ups that would just complicate the movies.

[alexanderdumas-]

I’m sure after Secret Wars when the multiverse is destroyed and collapses into a single Ultimate Universe that’s when the reset will happen. We could get a new version of every character we have seen so far with new origin stories. The X-men have probably always existed in other universes like Charles Xavier the collapse will bring them into the main MCU

[indicool]

Disney and Marvel had to pump out 3 years worth of work in 2. The OG schedule was Black Widow, Falcon and WS, Eternals, and WandaVision. All that got pushed into 2021 so had 4 movies and 5 TV shows. The log jam really caused an overload at once

[FireFlyMaxx]

Ryan, please trust that the audience, hard-core or casual is smart enough to understand what's going on. Any movie or TV show that treats their viewers as intelligent, will be respected by said audience.

[husseinsingu]

The collaboration no-one asked for - but everyone needed! ScreenCrush and Heavy Spoilers!

[MattPerk]

There is real weight to the idea that fans who have been around since Phase 1 are eventually going to grow out of the MCU and even experience fatigue from all of the projects coming in and then the younger audience is not going to be willing to go back and watch 15 years or so of content just to know what's going on. They are definitely going to have to do some kind of reboot or else hang the Hat up after Phase 6. For the most die-hard fans who are sad by that idea, we need to take a dose of wisdom from the Vision at the end of Age of Ultron when he explained that a thing is not beautiful because it lasts.

[omarfernandez]

I have ZERO Marvel fatigue. But I see what you guys are saying about potentially not giving people a good enough way to on-ramp if they haven’t been following the MCU or comics for years. And I agree that some of the Disney plus shows (especially She Hulk, though I loved it) could have just been a “special”. Great thoughts!

[buckman]

I love the thought of how the Infinity Saga was more "intimate" with a smaller number of characters that we had to follow. I think that keeps the viewers easily on the same page. As much as i love that we got Eternals, i dont see how it's fitting into the larger picture.

[jynrogueone]

I love the mug!!! You and Heavy Spoilers are my fav so it’s a real treat to see you guys team up!

[Variant]

This was great! I hope to have Paul and Colton on again sometime!
I know the MCU is a lot right now and I understand what Paul said about kids born today not wanting to watch ALL the content to enjoy the movies in the future.
I think it is too soon to reboot and recast Steve Rogers and Tony Stark. There are so many stories to tell and opportunities for new heroes to have their day in the sun. Sam’s arc is so interesting so far and he’s only been Cap for 20 minutes. I think they need to downsize, YES. (SheHulk is honestly a sensitive subject). Go back to being grounded and telling interesting character stories with the new characters and let us fall in love with who they are the battles that are personal to them. Ms Marvel, Sam Wilson, Kate Bishop could all have something special if we give them time and strong stories to develop. Let’s let Marvel settle into what they want to tell and not cry Reboot at the first sign of the unfamiliar. I miss Steve too but the original 6 aren’t the only heroes that matter.
The shows were the answer to COVID to keep us going. I loved it. Now, we are back in theaters and ready to get back to basics with these new heroes.

[renatodelatorre]

My opinion is that there are a lot of Marvel, and DC characters that they haven't done anything with. They don't need a reboot, they need new content and new worlds to explore.

[kevinstephens]

I think the Covid year made Phase 4 seem more packed. With that extra year things are more spread out and the order of things don’t change.

[MadHatter]

Practically, I think the MCU has designated slots to fill and they don't really have the flexibility to cut down on the quantity. So an ideal situation would be developing the canon through movies and special presentations ALONE, then using a 'WHAT IF' type of logic on all the other series titles, so they can have fun with them and they don't have to fit them into the canon and require casual fans to watch them to understand the films.

[culchiefilms]

Ryan and Paul in one video? This is gonna be Heavy. I almost Crushed my Screen to avoid the Spoilers