An MCU Retrospective #1: Introduction
During a 95-minute drive to Indianapolis, I passed the time with a podcast. It was about two women, inexperienced with Marvel Studios’ Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), diving into the franchise. It was their first episode, so naturally 2008’s Iron Man was the focus. Hearing two people who don’t know the ins-and-outs of the movies (and what is coming) was refreshing. Traditionally, comic book or MCU experts tend to be heavy-handed and overload podcasts with too much information.
This podcast seemed loosely-edited, so the structure, pacing and flow of the conversation needed more refining. It was fascinating to hear newcomers thoughts, but I did yearn for an anchor voice to navigate the conversation.
I’ve imagined having an MCU podcast before: I’d send a spreadsheet out to family, friends and colleagues to have them sign-up to be guests. Each week, I’d watch a film, one-shot or episode and take notes. I’d then host the episode. Likewise to the two women, my guests would be the inexperienced voice navigating through the movie, but I’d be the anchor voice. My English and Journalism backgrounds could be enough to sustain a good pace.
I could excel at an MCU podcast, but I’m not delusional. People are busy, MCU fatigue is mounting, and I couldn’t advertise enough to break through a crowded market. I’d be doomed to a small audience.
This doesn’t diminish my desire to talk about and share my passion for the MCU. When I arrived in Indianapolis, I went to (my second viewing of) Thor: Love and Thunder. In the car, I spoke to myself about my opinions on the movie, as if I were a podcast host. It was a ton of fun, and I ended up discovering a more nuanced opinion of my perception of the film.
It hit me: what if I wrote about these movies instead? Writing has always been a (non-verbal) way to explore my thoughts, and it leads to those same nuanced discoveries. I already had a “Marvel Cinematic Universe Episode Order” created for a theoretical podcast, but what if I translated that into a series of long-form essays?
Hello! If you’re reading this, then welcome to my very ambitious plan. Each week, I will watch, take notes and write about a Marvel Studios’ project. At the time of writing (July 15, 2022), I have 96 total pieces planned out: the films, the one-shot series, a “phase summary”, episode-by-episode pieces on the shows, and a wrap-up piece for each show.
I will only explore canon projects produced by Marvel Studios. I won’t write about Marvel Studios: Legends or Marvel Studios: Assembled, which are documentary-styled pieces, nor will I talk about the “expanded multiverse”, such as The Amazing Spider-Man. This will include their animated shows (seeing that What If…? is canon), but if the animated shows don’t yield importance to the greater universe, this could be dropped.
The MCU is rapidly-expanding, so the project becomes fun because it won’t end after 96 weeks. 60 of the pieces will stem from content made just in 2021 and 2022; in 96 weeks, there might already be 60 more weeks of content to cover. Remember how I mentioned MCU fatigue? I’ll be interested to track that.
My pieces will blend summary, analysis and opinion; like a podcast transcript. Since the projects are years-old (and the impact of them has been felt), I’ll retrospectively write about they hold up in today’s standards. However, I’d like to offer a few disclaimers: I don’t read comic books. I’m not an encyclopedic expert, so my knowledge base stems from the content given to us. I have no intention of being “spoiler free” or self-containing each piece; my Iron Man piece may divulge a spoiler from Ms. Marvel, if my thoughts take me there.
Throughout the process, I’ll end pieces with an up-to-date ranking of the projects. For reference, Avengers: Infinity War is my current #1 Marvel Studios project. Will that change when time comes?
I have a fascination with pop culture and the MCU; this project is a combination of the two. I am excited to see where this journey takes me, see if I can grow an audience and potentially share my thoughts with students.
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