At the San Diego Comic-Con a few weeks ago, Marvel broke the news about their phase 4 movies and TV shows, which are scheduled to be released in the next two years. Ten productions, ranging from a Black Widow movie, a Loki TV series, Thor 4, and more will come out from May 2020 to November 2021.
As an avid fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this obviously excites me. I'm way too invested to pretend like I don't care about these characters or what's happening in their world(s), and I've been watching since "Iron Man" came out in 2008 — that's 11 years of MCU movies.
But another part of me is annoyed. Look at the top 25 grossing movies of all time, and you'll see that 8 of them are in the MCU. You might notice that the only other superhero movie on that list is "Aquaman." That's because, as Chris Evans put it, "[Marvel's] got a monopoly on [superhero films]." DC fans, I'm genuinely sorry, but I also can't do anything about it.
Also, "Shazam" was really good and is vastly underappreciated.
Additionally, almost all of the movies on the list are made by companies owned by Disney ("Avatar", "Star Wars", "Frozen", etc). So I'm not completely wrong when I say that not only the superhero category but the general film industry are taken over by Disney, right?
Unfortunately, my love for the MCU makes it hard for me to try and boycott their monopoly. It's not like I can avoid it when they release several movies a year and take over all media attention for weeks on end. And the fear of spoilers makes it so that you almost feel obligated to watch the movie as soon as possible, giving the MCU and Disney even more money and support.
I'm conflicted, and you might be too, but it's not really our fault. The least we can do is show our support to indie film productions and talk about those smaller movies that we find and love. Stop caring so much about spoilers — or at least don't get irrationally angry if you get spoiled. Watch a movie with a plot that actually makes sense, or one that doesn't rely on shock value to stir up the audience — and save your money by going to matinees or dollar theaters.
Who can know what the future of superhero films will be like? I could be watching a fifth reboot of the Spiderman movies in ten years, or the MCU could be obsolete. No matter what happens, I think it's safe to say that Marvel has made a bit of a permanent mark on popular culture worldwide.
