AVENGERS: ENDGAME Directors Respond To Fans Complaining About MCU Phase 4's Decline In Quality

AVENGERS: ENDGAME Directors Respond To Fans Complaining About MCU Phase 4's Decline In Quality

Many fans feel that there's been a decline in the MCU's quality since Avengers: Endgame was released in 2019, and filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo have now shared their thoughts on the response to Phase 4.

News
By JoshWilding - Jul 20, 2022 06:07 AM EST
Filed Under: Avengers: Endgame
Source: NBC News

Does Marvel Studios have a quantity over quality problem?

That's a question many fans are currently asking, and while it seems mad to complain about the sheer number of MCU projects we're getting in theaters and on Disney+, the studio's consistent streak has faltered somewhat. While they could once do no wrong, reviews have been tepid for several projects and an apparent lack of direction in Phase 4 has frustrated many. 

The mixed respose can probably be blamed on all these movies and TV shows being made around the same time, and we're hoping that Kang the Conqueror's role in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania will clear future plans up a little. 

Either way, Phase 4's stories don't seem to be linking up the way the Infinity Saga did, but what do Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo make of this negative reaction from fans? Talking to NBC News, the latter defended Marvel Studios and its current approach to storytelling. 

"Here’s the thing. The entire life of the MCU has seen ups and downs, there’s going to naturally be an ebb and flow to how people are feeling about it based on the latest offering," the filmmaker explains. "But I think - look, at the end of the day, they’re still being very ambitious in terms of how they approach the storytelling. They’re being experimental."

"They’re looking for new forms of expression to keep audiences excited and surprised. It still seems like they have a vital creative code and process that they’re pursuing, so I do believe there’s still a lot of hope for what’s possible in the MCU. We haven’t lost faith in it, that’s for sure."

We haven't lost hope, though we'd like to think Marvel Studios is taking these criticisms on board. Making the likes of Moon Knight and Thor: Love and Thunder more standalone in nature isn't what fans want, and it would be welcomed for any of the upcoming movies and TV shows to shed some light on where we're headed rather than just introducing tonnes of new characters. 

We'll see what happens, but the MCU isn't in trouble yet. Some patience may be required for what looks set to be a different approach to this shared world following the Infinity Saga, though! 

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McMurdo
McMurdo - 7/20/2022, 6:50 AM
"They’re being experimental"








Nope
Radders
Radders - 7/20/2022, 6:54 AM
@McMurdo - they are, they're experimenting by making bad films and TV shows :-D
Blahsketcase94
Blahsketcase94 - 7/20/2022, 7:12 AM
@McMurdo - as the resident anti-MCU troll, nobody expected any other response from you.
VictorAlonzo
VictorAlonzo - 7/20/2022, 7:39 AM
@McMurdo - 🎯Sooo, Russos- Would you two be interested in working any phase 4 films before Secret Wars?
RageDriver2401
RageDriver2401 - 7/20/2022, 7:58 AM
@McMurdo - yep, it feels quite the opposite, the MCU "formula" seems more and more apparent. They're trying to make films that appeal to the widest possible audience and in that pursuit they end up making movies that feel the same. It's far from "experimenting".
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 7/20/2022, 9:34 AM
@RageDriver2401 - For me, it's pretty simple. When you look at Phase 1, even the mediocre movies like Thor and Iron Man 2 were still so cool to see because they were building to something and we all knew it. (It's also funny how a lot of complaints about IM2 were all the stuff leading to Avengers in his own solo movie, yet now people want more of that kind of stuff and are complaining that we aren't getting it)

But then when you get into the really good stuff, in my opinion the best the MCU has ever been, with Phase 2 and 3, and you look at movies like Winter Soldier, Civil War, Infinity War, Guardians of the Galaxy....I can't even name all of them.....but when you compare all these awesome movies to everything we've gotten in Phase 4? None of it even comes close as far as I'm concerned.

JackRussoff3
JackRussoff3 - 7/20/2022, 9:37 AM
@Blahsketcase94 - that's irrelevant. Because he's not wrong
Tonic24k
Tonic24k - 7/20/2022, 9:41 AM
@McMurdo - Pretty sure the Russos know better than you.
LongMayHeReign
LongMayHeReign - 7/20/2022, 9:45 AM
@RageDriver2401 - You honestly believe movies like Eternals and MoM were more formula based than what has come before? Did you even watch those movies? The fact that they were so unlike normal MCU films is what got people upset about them.


I think the problem is actually that they have loosened the reigns and gone away from the "formula" too much. Let's not forget that their best movies are very much adherent to said formula, it's just that they are executed the best with the most interesting characters (Iron Man, Cap, BP, Thanos, etc).
Scarilian
Scarilian - 7/20/2022, 10:18 AM
The simple problem with the Russo's remarks here is that it does not work that way in a connected universe. If you keep having sh*t films, people won't turn up for the next one.

The strength of the franchise allows you to maybe make a mistake once or twice, but in Phase 4 they had three film that were box-office bombs and two films that disrespect former Avengers and damages the overall connective fabric of the story.

The most profitable and well received Phase 4 movie did so almost entirely because of Sony characters and almost all benefits of that went to Sony emphasizing how Sony don't need the MCU, they only need Spider-man.

Other than that Phase 4 has been garbage so far and I doubt we'll get more than perhaps one good movie from the remaining four films (BP2, Ant3, GotG3, CapMar2)

This is why the SDCC reveals are so important because they need to be announcing things as soon as possible to convince people that the cr*p they have watched will mean something and be important later - but that strategy as mentioned won't work for long because you can't keep promising the audience the next one will be better as long as they consume sh*t.
RageDriver2401
RageDriver2401 - 7/20/2022, 11:02 AM
@LongMayHeReign - Eternals and MoM were the exceptions. While Eternals was boring I at least appreciated for standing out, and I enjoyed MoM.

But stuff like BW, Thor L&T, FFH, NWH, Hawkeye, they all seem .. mass produced for the lack of a better word. They don't stand out on their own.
supermanrex
supermanrex - 7/20/2022, 11:39 AM
@RageDriver2401 - that's an impressive list of offerings you don't like that you seem to keep coming to the well to watch the bland mass produced superheros. i hope your ready for more. cause superheros fight bad guys, bad guys sometime get the upper hand but in the end good triumphs over evil. this formula will not go away because its the superhero genre. every genre has their mass produced formula. despite their bitching Scorsese and copolla have a formula. its mass produced cause they and other "scholarly" cinema aficionados use it
Origame
Origame - 7/20/2022, 12:09 PM
@RageDriver2401 - exactly. Only real experimenting I've been seeing was on the TV side, but almost all of those didn't extend farther than basic premise. They tend to devolve back to the comfort zone.
Spike101
Spike101 - 7/20/2022, 2:01 PM
@CorndogBurglar - I couldn’t agree more. Absolutely shockingly bad in some cases. I’m sure that they fulfill all the Disney checklists but as a Marvel movie like the earlier ones just terrible. The cinematography is great in most cases it’s the core subject matter, the story, and the tone of these later movies that stinks. I enjoyed WandaVision, MWH but only because of Raimi’s old castings revisited and I enjoyed most of MoM but that’s it. With the other offerings they just get going to then fall flat did to some stupid gag or they wander off aimlessly.
CompanyMan
CompanyMan - 7/20/2022, 6:51 AM
I don't know guys personally I'm pretty happy with phase four so far. Marvel is continuously experimenting and trying new things and I like that they haven't become complacent. It's no surprise that fans of a franchise are upset when it changes because duh. But that's life get over it and find something you enjoy.
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