It’s no secret that Marvel Studios, which was gobbled up by The Walt Disney Company back in 2009, is contending with fatigued fans. Although entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) continue to top the box office and persuade viewers to keep their Disney Plus subscriptions, the post-Avengers: Endgame (2019) landscape has been a mixed bag, with Emmy-nominated standouts like WandaVision (2021), but also underperforming sequels, like Thor: Love and Thunder (2022).

For many, so-called “superhero movie fatigue” has set in. For others, keeping up with the MCU has become like a chore, especially given the onslaught of Disney Plus shows. In 2023, Marvel Studios looks to be prioritizing quality over quantity in an attempt to keep the brand strong. And MCU architect and studio president Kevin Feige says he has an antidote for the fatigued fandom. Still, there’s a growing sense of “been there, done that” when it comes to Marvel movies — even if you don’t want that to be the case, even if you’re a diehard fan.

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There’s a reason the superhero archetype, and the tropes of the genre, stick around. Marvel Comics boasts 80 years worth of stories, after all. So, why do Marvel movies and shows feel so paint-by-numbers these days? It might just be that our heroes’ greatest foe is a mouse. While Disney’s resources and reach have undoubtedly contributed to the history-making success of the MCU, the “Disneyfication” of Marvel movies might also be an Adamantium anchor dragging future films’ creative potential down.

Sanitized Feel

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In looking at some of the properties that have made a successful jump from video games and comics to TV, a few stand out. There’s the grounded-in-reality, “prestige television” entries, like HBO’s The Last of Us (2023–) and Watchmen (2019), but there’s also hits like DC Comics’ Harley Quinn, a self-referential adult animated comedy about the titular villain-turned-antihero. In all of these cases, the series’ showrunners had very distinct visions, and told stories that the existing characters and narrative were built to tell. All of these shows play to TV’s strengths, as a medium, and prize creativity. They also aren’t afraid to get a little gritty, a little messy, in order to tell those stories.

Unfortunately, Marvel movies made under Disney’s watchful eye don’t have that same flexibility. Instead, everything post-Iron Man (2008) has the equivalent of a Disney filter over it. What helped Iron Man stand out and become a cinematic universe-launching success was that combination of grounded realism and comic book fun. Tony had the outlandish tech and a ton of snark, but he also experienced something brutal. At the time, it came as something of a surprise, but very much aligned with the more grounded approach of previous Marvel movies, like X-Men (2000).

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Given the more sanitized approach Disney takes — the box office comes first, after all — it’s even hard to imagine 2008’s Iron Man getting made by the mouse post-acquisition of Marvel. While Marvel Studios has brought in some of cinema’s greatest filmmakers, very few directors have made a film that feels uniquely theirs; Black Panther (2018) and Thor: Ragnarok (2017), directed by Ryan Coogler and Taika Waititi respectively, feel like the exceptions.

But just look at Eternals (2021): directed by Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao (Nomadland, 2020), Eternals should feel like a Zhao film — and be better for it. But it fails to carry the director’s signature style, and fails to be a solid entry in the MCU, too. Instead, it feels like Zhao was given a mandatory shot list, tonal directives to adhere to, and more, thus stifling any creative freedom in favor of creating that sanitized Disney feel.

2. Heroes Who Are Objectified But Sexless

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Speaking of Eternals, the film got a lot of pre-release buzz over something dubbed a first for an MCU film: the inclusion of a sex scene. Featuring Richard Madden’s Ikaris and Gemma Chan’s Sersi, the scene is incredibly chaste. It’s not that the MCU needs HBO-level sex and violence, it’s that a lack of sex — or even mentions of it — makes the characters feel a bit flat. Something is missing from these consenting adults’ relationships, and skirting around the topic makes it all the more glaring.

In an episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Jen Walters (Tatiana Maslany) goes on about the high likelihood of Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America (Chris Evans), being a virgin. It’s a funny bit, but it’s also touching on something deeper. Fanfiction aside, it’s difficult to imagine an on-screen depiction of Steve and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) that has a physically intimate dimension to it. And that’s kind of jarring given just how much Steve’s post-super soldier serum abs are objectified in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).

That’s not the only time superheroes’ bodies are objectified, either. No Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 1 trailer was complete without that shot of a shirtless Star-Lord/Peter Quill (Chris Pratt). And Chris Hemsworth is constantly showing off Thor’s muscles — and much, much more — in his character’s third and fourth movies. Despite all of this insistence on objectification, these characters feel utterly sexless. Again, not every movie needs a sex scene to capture all the dimensions and complexities of its adult characters, but the complete lack of so much as even discussing sex or physical intimacy — well, She-Hulk aside — draws attention, and undercuts some of the MCU’s believability.

Everything Is Becoming Canon

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The MCU is firmly in its Multiverse Phase. That’s not surprising from a creative standpoint. After all, Avengers (2012) was the greatest crossover of all time — and it spawned subsequent crossovers that got more and more impressive — think Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) showing up in Captain America: Civil War (2016), and the culmination of nearly everyone in Avengers: Endgame (2019). How do you top these incredible team-ups? How do you top Thanos and the Infinity Stones? The Multiverse, of course.

The exploration of the multiverse has led to a few awesome on-screen teams, like the band of Loki characters in the Disney Plus series Loki, or the inclusion of Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man in Holland’s third outing as the web-slinger, Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). This great upside is also a huge downside. Not everything should be canon, and yet… that’s how it’s shaping up. With everything from Sony’s pocket Spider-Man universe to the X-Men being pulled into the MCU’s orbit, that leaves very little room for deviation and creativity.

In films like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), characters fans have been itching to see on screen, like Captain Carter (Atwell) and America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), appear — but mostly in service of the plot. That is, it feels like America Chavez is shoehorned into the film because of her powers and how they relate to the plot, not because the creators were excited to write a nuanced, fleshed-out depiction of her. This is a huge disservice to America Chavez and her fans. But Disney isn't worried about disappointing fans: everything must be in service of this singular, epic plot.

Everything Looks the Same — With Few Exceptions

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Undoubtedly, one of the best superhero films in years was 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Sony’s inventive animated feature centered on Miles Morales (voice of Shameik Moore), eschewing all that Peter Parker origin story stuff we’re collectively tired of and giving us a compelling cast of characters who were generally new to the screen. Best of all, Miles’ story — by turns comedic and incredibly poignant — was brought to life with such an artistic flair that paid homage to comics and felt fresh to viewers.

Except for Marvel’s What If…? — the name says it all, though — and select episodes of WandaVision, there’s little aesthetic innovation in the MCU. Earlier films, like the first Guardians of the Galaxy, felt fresh because of the unique look and feel. With very few exceptions — the costuming, world-building, and realization of Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) feel thoughtful and distinct — everything looks the same in the MCU. Yes, having a consistent visual style is important, brand-wise, but it’s also incredibly limiting. And it might also be lending to the fan fatigue.

For example, is the CGI in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) bad, or have audiences just seen these very-MCU stylings far too much? This lack of visual interest can contribute to the films’ blandness. The repeated aesthetic and the sheer quantity of films does take something away, though it's hard to name it. It seems like a Disney problem in general, given some of Pixar’s more recent and less effective films.

The Overt Commodification of Nostalgia

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At the end of the day, all movies are products being pushed by studios. However, there’s an art to selling these products. Disney quickly learned the value of nostalgia; for years, it locked away its own animated features in a metaphorical vault to drive demand and sales. It then scooped up other studios that trade in nostalgia, like Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Marvel.

Under Disney, numerous beloved properties have started to feel so blatantly like products, and the studios of talented folks that make them — now at a higher rate than ever — have been reduced to movie-making machines. Star Wars is a perfect example of this phenomenon. Aside from Andor (2022–) and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), the Disney-Lucasfilm brand of Star Wars is about fan service — in the worst way. Even top-notch original programming, like The Mandalorian (2019–), is subject to shoehorned cameos and used as a launchpad for spinoffs. Quantity has superseded quality to the detriment of the franchise. And the Disneyfication of a thing certainly isn’t above mining every vein of nostalgia to churn out more content.

Although the MCU versions of these Marvel characters haven’t been around too long, recent entries in the cinematic universe certainly milk self-referentialism for what it’s worth, and cram in more cameos and nods to minor characters or little-known comic-book arcs. That can all be really fun and entertaining, but when it’s done so frequently, it just feels like an empty gesture.

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