Will MCU Phase 6 Be the Epic Comeback Marvel Studios Needs?

There’s a clear reason why there are so many memes on the Internet about the Marvel Cinematic Universe being “back” after the positive reception to Thunderbolts*: the franchise hasn’t been the same since Avengers: Endgame. What started as a bold and innovative undertaking by Marvel Studios turned into an overstuffed homework assignment that took watching over 30 movies and a bunch of TV shows to fully appreciate. The MCU didn’t feel accessible anymore, and for a while, it felt like all hope was lost, with more and more projects on the way and no obvious throughline. Fortunately, the tides may be turning.

Phase 6 of the MCU appears to have its fair share of promise. The two Avengers movies are the headliners, of course, but there are other projects in the pipeline that have all the makings of huge hits, such as The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. While everything still has to go Marvel Studios’ way, the rally caps are on for what looks like a comeback of the ages.

Phases 4 and 5 Saw the MCU Bite Off More Than It Could Chew

Despite acting as a swan song for the first three phases of the MCU, Endgame opened more doors than it closed. So many heroes still had room to grow, so Marvel Studios decided to capitalize on that by giving a bunch of them TV shows on Disney+. It made sense at the time, and the first ones out of the gate in Phase 4 (WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki) showed enough promise to make the TV experiment seem worth it. Meanwhile, the MCU was still pumping out movies and running into some trouble. While Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was a surprise hit, Eternals failed to secure its titular characters’ seat at the table by turning in a lackluster box office performance.

By the middle of Phase 4, the MCU gained a reputation for being hit-or-miss, and that didn’t change in Phase 5. The first big project was Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which was marketed as a can’t-miss movie because of its villain, Kang the Conqueror. After having a variant torment Loki in his Disney+ series, Jonathan Majors’s villain made the jump to the big screen and failed to fill Thanos’s shoes after losing to an army of ants. Quantumania promised Kang and his variants weren’t done, but after a significant role in Loki Season 2, issues in Majors’ personal life forced Marvel to cut ties with him and his character, leaving the Multiverse Saga without a Big Bad.

Losing a villain as big as Kang forced the powers that be back to the drawing board. While there wasn’t much they could do about upcoming releases, there was enough goodwill from Phase 5 releases like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Deadpool & Wolverine to stay on course. The MCU then bided some time while it put the pieces in place for its final major Phase 5 project, Thunderbolts*. Using nothing but a shocking finale and post-credits scene, the MCU gave its next several projects the potential to right the ship for good.

[RELATED: Thunderbolts* Shock Ending Changed the MCU in 3 Major Ways]

Phase 6 Can Get the MCU Back on Track

When the Russo Brothers came out at San Diego Comic-Con and announced that Robert Downey Jr. was returning to the franchise as Doctor Doom, it reeked of desperation. A franchise that was struggling to remain consistent went back to the well and grabbed a combination it thought would make money. However, after Thunderbolts*, the plan is much clearer. First Steps will bring Doom’s arch-enemy, Reed Richards, into the fold, and he won’t be alone. As Marvel’s First Family tries to warn the multiverse about the impending threat, the two Avengers teams won’t be paying attention because they’ll be at each other’s throats. Spider-Man will then have his own adventure before all the stories bleed into Avengers: Secret Wars.

But that’s just the movie side. Marvel Studios still has a presence on Disney+, which looks to be heading in the right direction. Daredevil: Born Again will return for a second season in Phase 6, and this time, there won’t be a creative overhaul that leaves the outing feeling uneven. Wonder Man and Vision Quest are two other shows that follow major Marvel heroes, but, based on recent reports, they won’t be required viewing, which can’t be said for some of the shows that came out in Phases 4 and 5. The change to the TV formula proves that Marvel Studios is well aware of its mistakes and is working to correct them ahead of what could be its biggest stretch of projects to date.

Do you believe that Marvel Studios will fix things in Phase 6? Which project are you looking forward to the most? Let us know in the comments below!