MCU Phase 4 Breakdown: The Desserts

Now that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has hit theaters by storm, the MCU's Phase 4 has finally concluded. A phase that gave marvel fans more content than all three previous phases combined. Now that it's all said and done, I think it's a good time for us to go over all of the highlights that came out of the first phase of the Multiverse Saga. Don't get me wrong.., there has been plenty of key moments, plotlines, character reveals, etc. that the overall fandom would consider misfires. Not to mention things that the community would call downright ugly mistakes. However, for this article, we're only going to focus on what I would call: The Phase 4 Desserts. Meaning all of the good stuff to come out of the phase, the stuff that made us fans look forward to the future of the MCU. I'm going to have to give you guys a spoiler warning; since we're going over the entire phase you might want to go and watch it all before reading this article. While Phase 4 is highly regarded among fans to be extremely convoluted, there has still been plenty of gems within this phase as well, so let's get into it, shall we?

Marvel Zombies/ What If?

One of the first Marvel shows that came to Disney+ was the experimental animated series, What If? After the show was announced, rumors of a Marvel Zombies episode, like the popular comic book run, quickly began to spread. I have to admit, at first, I was skeptical. "No way would Disney put their name on something so violent," I thought. Turns out I was wrong... Not only was the fourth episode of What If about zombies in the MCU, but the episode was also so good that it warranted a spin-off series on top of that. They didn't hold back on any of the zombie gore either, if they keep that up in the show, I think we'll have another MCU diamond in the rough.

There haven't been too many details released to the public regarding the plot of the spin-off series. At the moment, I believe that the story is going to pick up where the zombie episode in "What If?" left off. With Peter Parker, Scott Lang's head, and King T'challa, heading to Wakanda. Although they weren't aware of the fact that the Vibranium kingdom was being overtaken by a zombie Thanos. Aside from speculation on how those events might play out, there really isn't much known about where the series will go, and that makes me extremely excited!

Makkari The Speedster/ The Eternals

Since phase 4 ended, I have watched a ton of "movie ranking list" videos on youtube, in order to get a consensus on where the fandom stood as a whole. I was surprised to discover that The Eternals was usually ranked towards the bottom. Personally, I enjoyed this entry into the MCU. While I won't get into all of the reasons why I thought it was a good film, one thing I do want to stress is how much I enjoyed the execution of Makkari's speedster powers on screen. It was a tremendous improvement from Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Quicksilver in Avengers: Age Of Ultron. Not to mention, the fact that the character was deaf and communicated through sign language added a layer of depth to the character that most people don't seem to realize. I really enjoyed The Eternals and I'm looking forward to where the marvel studios will take this speedster in the future.

Who Is Peter Parker?/ Spider-Man: No Way Home

Say you were to put a gun to my head and demanded me to shout out my favorite MCU film from phase 4.., I'd have to say No Way Home. While it may be true that portions of the film largely relied on "fan service", the third entry also moved Peter Parker's story forward in a lot of ways too. Forward all the way to a cliffhanger as nerve wrenching as the snap, with everyone in the MCU forgetting the identity of Peter Parker entirely, due to a last-minute spell from Dr. Strange.

One thing I really enjoyed about this depiction of the character was that he was introduced through Tony Stark, completely changing things up from his previous two introductions. On the plus side, this immediately gave him a way to be included in the Avengers movies that followed. However, a consequence that came of this was the fact that we never got to see our "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man". The Peter Parker who had to grind at the pizza restaurants and for the Daily Bugle just to make rent. Now that everyone has forgotten who he is, he's lost all of his connections. While the world may remember that there is a Spider-man, the identity of who that is remains, yet again, a mystery. This gives the character a chance to go back to his roots and opens up the potential for even more fantastic storytelling.

Variants/ Loki, No Way Home, & Multiverse Of Madness

Since phase 4 in the MCU kicked off, one of the strongest themes throughout was all of the different variants of characters within the multiverse. With the introduction of said variants came some of the best storytelling in the MCU to date. Loki fell in love with himself, and Dr. Strange possessed the corpse of one of his dead variants to save the day. Not to mention one of the greatest final acts in an MCU film to date, with Spider-man: No Way Home. Watching all three of the Peter Parker's that I grew up with, teaming up against a handful of their old villains, was too satisfying to put into words.

With the inclusion of variants within the MCU, the range of potential storylines the studio can come up with has multiplied ten times over. In addition, they also have an excuse to bring in older characters from before the MCU was established, just like they did in Spider-man No Way Home. We already know that Deadpool 3 is going to bring Ryan Renold's Deadpool and Hugh Jackman's Wolverine into the MCU and that's going to be through the multiverse. However, in She Hulk, there was an online news article regarding a man with claws in a bar fight... So was that Hugh Jackman or another variant of Wolverine who already exists in the 616 MCU? Moral to the story is that variants open up so many more possibilities for Marvel Studios and how they create compelling narratives..

Special Presentations/ Warewolf By Night & Gaurdians: Holiday Special

One of the coolest concepts that came out of phase 4 was Marvel Studio's Special Presentations. Instead of an entire movie or series dedicated to a character, the writers offer an entertaining plot that unfolds in under an hour. Both Warewolf By Night and the Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special were well recieved across the fandom. Director Michael Giacchino, along with screenplay writer Heather Quinn, introduced us to Elsa Bloodstone and they did it in such an efficient manner, giving us just enough to leave us wanting more. Personally, I was happy to see that, it was like one of my favorite female characters was quietlly slid into the MCU under everyone's knoses. Her inclusion puts us one step closer to a potential Midnight Sons project down the road and I'm here for all of that!

These "Special Presentations" offer another means for the MCU to keep up with the constantly growing roster of characters they have in play. In fact, there are a few upcoming Marvel shows in the pipeline, that I personally feel would do a lot better if they were to be released as special presentations instead. Both Okoye and Echo are supposed to recieve their own series but I dont think that they are strong enough characters to carry their own show. It wouldn't be all that bad of an idea if Kevin Fiege decided to test the waters with a special presentation before committing to an entire series.