MCU Phase 5: Will it be a Hit or Miss?
The Marvel Cinematic Universe… I don’t think I really need to introduce the franchise on its own, since nearly everyone is aware of the franchise or has seen at least one movie.
The series possesses such a universal appeal attracting a diverse range of audience members and often Hulk-Smashing through box office records.
After a rocky launch to Phase 4 and with only two days before Phase 5 kicks off with ‘Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’, will this phase be a hit or miss for audiences?
Let’s find out:
Quantity Over Quality Concerns:
One thing that can be agreed is that Marvel nailed the consistency in quality and tone with their abundance of films and TV shows.
Specifically throughout the ‘Infinity Saga’ with Phase 1–3 from ‘Iron Man’ (2008) to ‘Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019).
Each film not only got bigger in scale and possessed a unique identity amongst one another but were mostly pinpoint accurately connected to each other.
Well… aside from certain casting and story retcons along the way, but accurate more or less.
With the launch of Phase 4, Disney announced an abundance of new films and Disney + TV shows, with the opportunity to not only give familiar faces like Hawkeye and Loki their own story to tell but introduce fresh faces into the ‘Multiversal Saga’.
After ‘Avengers: Endgame’, fans were overwhelmingly excited to see where Marvel would begin their next journey and introduce our new heroes and villains for the MCU.
Now that Phase 4 is wrapped up with ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ (2022), the overall reception of the phase was quite mixed and created many criticisms.
Potentially being a red flag into what future movies leading up to ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ in 2026 could look like if Marvel does not address them soon enough.
One of the biggest issues from Phase 4 focused towards the tiring quantity of films feeling rushed and underdeveloped, leading to backlash divided by fans and critics.
Specifically with entries such as ‘Black Widow’ ‘Eternals’, ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ and ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’.
The biggest criticisms stem from poor CGI, ‘lazy’ storytelling choices and suffering from mediocrity.
Reports by CNET suggest that CGI animators had spoken out on Marvel’s “unrealistic deadlines” and “harsh conditions” as a result of high demand in releasing numerous films and TV shows.
One animator who wished to remain anonymous stated that “Working on Marvel projects ends up being incredibly stressful, and this is a widely known issue throughout the VFX industry, it’s not specific to any one VFX house”.
Another stated that “I have worked on several projects for Marvel and other tentpole films. For many years, I did work long hours, mostly unpaid. No longer. At no time do I work for free, nor will I work an all-nighter for a perceived emergency.”
After news broke out on Marvel’s harsh VFX conditions for animators, numerous reddit threads and tweets exploded as several more accusations were made against the studio. Neither Disney not Marvel has not responded for comment.
Here are some screenshots of Phase 4’s bad CGI:
Here are some video links showing how bad the CGI is throughout Phase 4:
-Article: Marvel’s VFX Artists Are Suffering — and Starting to Speak Out — CNET
-Clip from ‘Moon Knight’ (2022): Marvel’s CGI budget is $0 — YouTube
-Compilation of Phase 4’s terrible CGI: Marvel’s CGI Has Gotten Worse (A Lot Worse) — YouTube
Mixed Reviews of ‘Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ before release:
Currently, its only less than a day before the release of ‘Ant Man 3’ and already there are mixed reviews floating the net.
Starting with the positive reviews and according to Erik Davis from Fandango, he claims that:
“PHASE 5 HAS BEGUN! The new Ant-Man movie is like a psychedelic rollercoaster full of frightening & hilarious oddities, plus one VERY menacing Kang. Big STAR WARS vibes meet the MCU at its freakiest & most inventive. MODOK is a riot, but Jonathan Majors conquers. Loved the ride!”
He follows up in a separate tweet informing audiences to “definitely make sure you stay for the credits because there are significant things to. I really dug how ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania’ is both a Part 1 of Phase 5, but also a self-contained Ant-Man story that’s funny & sweet & features a kick-ass Michelle Pfeiffer. Good stuff.”
Dempsey Pilot from The DisInsider claims that he “had a blast with ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Paul Rudd has never been better & Jonathan Majors effortlessly conquers every second of screen-time he gets, BUT the real star of the film is Jeff Loveness’ script: a reminder of how beautifully strange & mysterious the MCU still is.”
Some of the mixed reviews claim the film has a rough act with Courtney Howard from LA Critics, stating:
“After a frustratingly rough act 1, ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania’ finally gets going, only to end where this story should’ve begun. While the external stakes are clear & weighty, emotional drive felt slight (and levity even lighter). That said, Jonathan Majors rules.”
CNET Senior Writer Sean Keane suggests that the movie “has way too much going on — it’s tough to connect emotionally to any of it. Jonathan Majors’ Kang is a charismatic, intense baddy and visually awesome, but the threat he represents is too abstract.”
But the clearest analysis of the film by far comes from Matt Ramos describes the film feeling more like a TV series than a movie, explaining that the movie “is truly EPISODE 1 of what is sure to be a crazy cinematic series. You have to enjoy this movie more as an episode of something greater rather than its own standalone film that concludes a trilogy.”
Sources:
-(https://twitter.com/therealsupes/status/1622865719129182208?s=20&t=04f5PkoeB2NgBbHPLI22AQ)
-https://twitter.com/ErikDavis/status/1622822494284529664?s=20&t=InoViR3_-tqUx5I1a1o6iw)
Conclusion:
What do you guys think of Phase 5? Do you think Marvel will rise again in being titans in the box office once more or do you think it's time for the MCU to hang up its hat?
Let me know in the comments below, I will be posting a full review of ‘Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ shortly after seeing it tomorrow on the 15th.
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Have a good one folks!
