Why I Won't Watch the MCU After 'Avengers: Endgame' and the Problem with Marvel

This little piece may come a little late. Avengers: Endgame is close to the end of its box office run, the fans have cried, the hype has run its course, and we're finally saying goodbye to the 11 year run of the first magnificent chapter of the MCU. It will roar on in our hearts for the rest of our lives, and I will forever be grateful for something I didn't deserve.

The MCU has grabbed hold of my nerdy soul, and it has built it even stronger (I hope, maybe it was weak and it has been made a little less weak, whatever) but after this beautiful, magnificent journey has finally ended, I feel satisfied. I feel like with the characters, my journey with Marvel has ended and right now, at least, I am finally done seeing the path the MCU has taken, and will take in the future. Let me tell you why.

The first MCU film I ever watched was 2012's The Avengers. From that moment forward, it became a part of my life. It grew and expanded its horizons as I did, and seeing it evolve brought me closer to all of these characters, even as non-existent parts of non fiction. It really felt as though the MCU was part of my own family, people I felt closely related to and not just literary pieces of the mind. With Endgame it was like letting go of a part of me. This may seem like an obsessive fanboy essay or whatever, but I really did feel all of what I just said.

Starting over on a journey, with a whole bunch of new characters, that will have new character traits and an entirely different chemistry with each other, isn't something that I feel I'm fully ready for. As I will inadvertently see new characters grow the same way that the old ones did will keep me, and I'm sure most MCU fans, in a constant state of reminder of what was and what is. New films will always be compared to the old ones, and regardless of the quality of the new films that will eventually come out, whether they're good or bad, I wouldn't want to spoil their individuality and what they bring to the superhero genre by constantly reminding everybody that the old films were better. I may try to accept them as different from the other ones, but still, I wouldn't want to drag them down with memories of what was better. I'd want the Marvel Cinematic Universe's new chapter to create its own legacy, instead of trying to live in the shadows of its predecessors.

I've also come to not fully believe in Marvel and the state it is in right now. To all Marvel fans, It may be an unpopular opinion, but don't take it the wrong way I still love Marvel, I really do, but with the end of phase two, and the completion of phase three, I saw an increasingly amount of good, but ultimately passable films (in my terrible opinion, passable films are worse than bad films), that don't have the same spark as the phase one and early phase two movies did, even with its mistakes. The latter half of the Infinity Saga saw Marvel trying to replicate its own formula from the beginnings, which wasn't a failure, but wasn't a whole success either. Films like the first two Ant Man movies, Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange etc were good, but ultimately if you ask me what the villains name in Ant Man was I wouldn't remember. Again, let me repeat, I still love Marvel, but they've ripped some characters out of their roots like Thor, and produced more passable films than they had before. And finally, I won't watch the MCU because of the Marvel Formula. All MCU films no matter how bad or good have a pretty standard plot structure mixed in with a few good set pieces. The plot goes like this:

1. Introduction to main characters, and what role they will be playing in the forthcoming minutes, and establishment of a villain.
2. Build up to third act, where the characters recognize the villain and attempt to stop him from something that'll destroy somebody's life or the world.
3. The hero finally meets the villain and a big battle ensues where the hero emerges victorious goes back to his girlfriend and sips champagne. This plot structure is there in most MCU movies.

Some movies try to steer clear of this, but ultimately when you boil it down, this is what the story comes to. I am tired of this, it's sad to say, but I am. I have watched 22 films where the same basic thing happens with a few exceptions that overcome it with good character moments and good character development but still, I am tired of it. If Marvel really really wants to succeed in its future films they should be willing to steer clear of this, and actually take a risk and see if it works out. That's what the MCU was after all, one giant risk starting with Iron Man and The Avengers.

I really love Marvel, I do. Their films are the ones I actually remember watching as a smaller child, not some weird teenage rom-com flick. Finally, when it comes down to it I don't think I can move forward with it after Endgame. When Marvel produces something new from their side, something that they haven't experimented with before. That is the time I will return to them. All fans should look out for this moment. I hope Marvel does too.