I kept hoping, even after Endgame, that the MCU would find its footing again. I figured every massive franchise has its awkward phases, right? Like, maybe Thor: Love and Thunder was just a weird fluke, and they’d bounce back. Maybe they’d figure out a new direction, a new set of heroes that felt as compelling as the old ones. Maybe they’d recapture some of that magic.
But if the past few years have taught me anything, it’s that hope can only take you so far.
Because everything since Endgame has just… felt off. Not terrible, exactly (okay, sometimes, Quantumania, I’m definitely looking at you), but mostly hollow. Like they’re trying to replicate the success of the old movies without really understanding why those movies worked in the first place. Like they’re just churning out content because that’s what’s expected, not because anyone involved is still telling a story worth telling.
And looking ahead? I’m not feeling optimistic. There’s no momentum. No sense of build-up to anything bigger or more meaningful. The characters don’t feel connected to each other anymore, and the stakes feel almost laughably low after you’ve watched a purple alien snap half the universe out of existence.
And here’s the thing: I think I know what could have fixed this. What might have actually saved the MCU from this content black hole. It’s simple, but it’s the hardest thing for a giant media machine to do: they should have stopped. Just… stopped.
After Endgame, Marvel should have gone quiet. Let the universe breathe. Let the fans marinate. Let them speculate and theorize and make their viral videos about the MCU being dead forever. Because here’s the truth: Endgame was the end. We all knew it. Iron Man, gone. Captain America, gone. Black Widow, gone. Thanos, snapped out of existence. That was the end of the story. And instead of trying to recapture that, they should have let it end.
Then, a year later - maybe two - come back with something small. Something intimate. Imagine: a low-key movie about Logan. Yeah, Wolverine, just him. No Avengers, no cosmic threats, no multiverse shenanigans. Just Logan living on his own in Canada, feeling like he’s the only of his kind. And then, slowly, he starts to find hints of others like him. Maybe a kid with glowing eyes in a diner. Maybe someone with telepathy in a crowded subway. Build it small. Let it feel grounded and real again.
From there? Slowly build out the world of the X-Men. Introduce Xavier’s School for the Gifted. Introduce the villains, the allies, the heartbreaks and triumphs. There’s enough story there to build a whole new Marvel Cinematic Universe - one that doesn’t have to rely on nostalgia for the old one.
Because here’s the mistake Marvel made: they tried to go bigger. After Endgame, they thought the only way forward was to top themselves. Bigger explosions, bigger stakes, more timelines, more universes. But the thing about Endgame is that it was never about bigger. It was about closure. It was about bringing the arcs of characters we loved to an end. After that? You can’t go bigger. You have to go smaller. You have to rebuild.
But that’s not what they did. Instead, we got a conveyor belt of projects, each one feeling more disconnected and less essential than the last. We got multiverse this, secret wars that, and endless cameos that felt more like stunts than stories. And I’m just… tired. Tired of trying to keep up with content that doesn’t feel like it’s leading anywhere. Tired of pretending that another half-baked series about a third-string hero is going to fill the Tony Stark-shaped hole in my heart.
It’s not that I don’t care about superheroes anymore. I still love these characters. I still love the idea of them. But the MCU has become a content machine - pumping out shows and movies and special presentations like a factory line of capes and quips. It’s exhausting. And for the first time in over a decade, I’m realizing I don’t have to keep up. I don’t have to watch everything just because it’s part of some grand interconnected puzzle.
So yeah, I think this is it for me. Goodbye Marvel Cinematic Universe. I loved you 3000, but I think we’re done here.
And honestly? It doesn’t have to be a bad thing. I’m still glad I got to be there for the ride. I’m still grateful for the feeling of sitting in a packed theater when Cap finally said “Avengers Assemble,” or when Spider-Man swung back into the frame in Endgame. Those moments were special because they were earned - because we’d been on that journey with those characters for years.
Maybe someday Marvel will figure it out again. Maybe they’ll find a way to make these stories feel fresh and meaningful once more. But until then, I’m content to let it go. I’m content to remember the MCU as it was, not as it is now.
Because at the end of the day, I don’t need the next big crossover event or the next multiverse twist. I just need a good story - one that starts small, grows naturally, and remembers that bigger isn’t always better. And right now? That’s not what the MCU is offering.
So goodbye, Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thanks for the memories. I’ll always love you 3000.
