I enjoyed three of the past four Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films—Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), and Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023). I also really liked what I’ve seen of She-Hulk and heard Ms. Marvel was really good, too. To my surprise, though, a lot of people didn’t like these movies and shows as Phase 4 is, for some reason, I can’t figure out, considered the worst phase yet of the MCU.
But don’t think that I’m some Marvel fanboy. Prior to Wakanda Forever, I think the previous Marvel movie I watched in a theater was Ant-Man (2015). (I had hoped to see Black Panther (2018), but opted for Alex Garland’s Annihilation (2018) that week instead). Not only that but there are a lot of Marvel movies that I still haven’t seen, even though I can access them anytime on Disney+. I haven’t seen Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 (2017), or many other titles. This is because I got tired of Marvel about 7 years ago, right when everybody else says it was at its best.
In order to understand my resurgent enjoyment of Marvel, I need to give a little background. I was 14 when Iron Man (2008) came out making me exactly in the sweet spot for the target audience. I was more-or-less invested in the first few years but was starting to fall off around Iron Man 3 (2013). After that I just watched the movies that looked interesting, like the first Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Ant-Man. But by Civil War things had gotten big enough that I had lost interest. At that point it had been a lot of the same characters for almost a decade and I, not having any real attachment to Robert Downey Jr. or Iron Man, Chris Evans or Captain America, was kind of over it. I had no interest in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) or Avengers: Endgame (2019), watching them well after the fact.
In short, what is usually considered Phase 3 didn’t pique my interest pretty much at all. But then, strangely enough, Marvel started to win me back with Phase 4. New strange characters started popping up at every turn, and they put out some movies—like Multiverse of Madness and Wakanda Forever—that I liked a lot.
So now I want to share a few tips I have for enjoying the MCU as it currently is.
1. Free yourself of the burden that you must see everything!
The importance of this is massively overstated. This is easily my number one tip. I watched Multiverse of Madness without having seen the first Dr. Strange (2016). I just watched Quantumania without having seen Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) at all and without having seen Ant-Man since it came out. I’ve read many people that think this is fool’s errand, that you are doomed to be unable to follow it without the context. And I say this is rubbish. Because the story of Marvel movies is pretty simple, and you pick up on things quickly. I watched Quantumania without any idea about the “quantum realm” in the MCU or how Ant-Man had factored into reversing the Endgame snap. And it didn’t matter! I could follow about 90% of the movie and all the important things. I caught up quickly.
The MCU likes to act like you need every piece in order to enjoy any of it. This makes sense as a way to get you to consume their media, but it’s not true! Free yourself of the idea that you have “homework” in order to watch these movies, and just go with it! These movies aren’t Tarkovsky films. You’ll be able to catch up.
2. Set the bar low.
If you expect these movies to be masterpieces, they will usually disappoint you. I don’t think I would have very many Marvel movies in my top 10 superhero movies even (that list would be dominated by Raimi’s Spider-Man films, X-Men movies, and Batman fare). Most of them are simple popcorn blockbuster fare that, in my experience, rarely hold up to rewatches even. But so what? Usually, you can have fun with it for a couple of hours, and that’s alright. I set my expectations very low and then anything that is even a bit good can be a positive surprise.
3. If possible, watch with “house money” and in the best format.
I am a die-hard fan of the AMC Theatres A-List where for a monthly subscription you can see anything you want. I really love this because I love going to the movies, good, bad, or otherwise. With a movie membership like this, it doesn’t matter if a movie is bad because you’ll see other good movies to offset it. Such a membership also lets you see things big and/or in 3D without worrying if you are or aren’t getting your money’s worth. On my local AMC’s biggest screen and in 3D, Wakanda Forever would have cost about $15. I really liked that movie but without the membership, I would have settled for the smaller screen and lack of 3D. It would have been good, but these Marvel movies really are best seen in premium formats. If you see only 2 movies a month, you pay for the A-List or Regal’s similar membership quickly. I don’t mean this to sound like an ad, but it really has made my movie-going exponentially better and I have no doubt that seeing Marvel films this way, and not on my smaller TV months later when the hype has died down and I’m easily distracted, has significantly improved my experience.
4. Focus on the actors.
The stories of a lot of Marvel movies are similar, and the end of a lot of these movies feels similar too. To help break up the sameness of it, focus on the acting and performances. Marvel casts are stacked with A-list actors, so much so that often they don’t get as much time to shine as I might like. Latching on to their acting talent helps the similar CGI landscapes and stories go down a bit better. In Quantumania, Jonathan Majors and Michelle Pfeiffer were so excellent in their performances that I was really confused by such negative reviews. Kathryn Newton and William Jackson Harper (used briefly) were also welcome additions. These big superhero movies—DC’s also—often have their finger on the pulse of great emerging talent if you want to look for it. Quintessa Swindell was so great in limited screen time in Black Adam (2022) that I didn’t care how the rest of the movie was. Rachel Zegler and Grace Caroline Currey should make the new Shazam! watchable based on their involvement in it alone.
5. Embrace the weird.
Phase 5 looks to be spending less time on Earth and more time doing funky things with space and multiverses and what have you. Great! Comics are weird a lot of the time and that’s part of what makes them great. Don’t worry about understanding everything or if everything makes sense. It won’t. But the ride is usually a fun one all the same.
Following Quantumania, I’m genuinely excited about where the MCU is headed, and it’s very strange that I, who’s never been an MCU fan by any stretch, is finally coming back to the franchise right when all the die-hards are bailing on it. But these tips have really helped me enjoy these movies again, and I hope they can enhance your superhero movie experience too.
