What the Marvel Cinematic Universe had going for it in its early days was that it never lost momentum. There were only a handful of characters with solo movies, so when it came time for them to return for a team-up project, the audience didn’t feel like they missed out on much. Things got a little more complicated in Phases 2 and 3, with the MCU having to juggle a lot more storylines. Fortunately, Marvel Studios brought its A game for Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, giving every character a moment to shine before it was time to wrap things up. However, times have changed, and the build-up to Avengers: Doomsday doesn’t feel the same.
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WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Thunderbolts*
Seemingly out of nowhere, though, Thunderbolts* does a bunch of the heavy lifting, pushing a new team to the forefront just in time for them to face off against Doctor Doom. But in reality, the MCU is just making up for lost time, and when push comes to shove, some of the characters it’s going to lean on in the next major Marvel event movie are going to feel underbaked.
Keeping Up With Characters Is No Longer the MCU’s Strong Suit
It didn’t take long for Phase 4 of the MCU to show its cards. Using well-placed teases, it became clear that Kang was stepping into the role of the Big Bad, and heroes like Spider-Man and Captain America would be there to stop them. Of course, for reasons beyond their control, the powers that be at Marvel Studios had to pivot, swapping Kang out for Doctor Doom after going back to the drawing board. It pushed things back quite a bit, which unfortunately had unintended but inevitable consequences.
The character who suffered the most because of the reshuffle was Shang-Chi. After a successful solo movie in 2021, it felt like Simu Liu’s hero was well on his way to becoming one of the faces of the MCU. Director of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Daniel Destin Cretton, getting the Avengers: Kang Dynasty job added fuel to the fire, but he made the jump to Spider-Man 4 after the Russo brothers returned to helm Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. It left Shang-Chi’s status up in the air, and while he was confirmed for the Doomsday cast, it will come out nearly five years after his first appearance. The old MCU would’ve never let that happen; after all, Doctor Strange, who had to wait nearly six years between solo movies, made his fair share of cameos in between. It speaks to the new MCU, a franchise that’s all about what a character’s done for it lately.
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The MCU Can’t Afford to Have the New Avengers and Fantastic Four Take a Back Seat
The post-credits scene of Thunderbolts* makes it abundantly clear who really matters going into Avengers: Doomsday. The New Avengers have been active for a little over a year, and they’re about to come face to face with the Fantastic Four, who made the jump from their universe to the Sacred Timeline. Marvel Studios is betting on these two groups because their movies release right before Doomsday, and if they’re both successful, that’s all anyone will remember. The logic is sound, even if it’s not all that fair.
What the MCU will have to do if Doomsday and Secret Wars go off without a hitch is do right by the heroes that have been patient, such as Shang-Chi and even Ant-Man, whose third movie was hijacked by a Kang storyline that ultimately amounted to nothing. They have been paying their dues, and while the new direction of the franchise may not prioritize them, they deserve another shot at glory. It may take the MCU committing to having multiple overarching storylines running at the same time to get the job done, but that’s better than the franchise getting a reputation for ignoring success stories because of its own screw-ups.
Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on May 1, 2026.
Are you disappointed that some MCU heroes have fallen to the wayside ahead of Avengers: Doomsday? How do you think Marvel Studios can make things right? Let us know in the comments below!
