Rebecca Barton
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the most discussed and watched franchises in the world, littered with both films and television series that intricately connect to one another. Like much that it has paused, COVID-19 has seen a postponement of cinema releases, starving the Marvel-mad among us of a whole year of film.
With prospects looking brighter in 2021, Disney is not hesitant to make up for lost time, providing us with four Marvel films and potentially six television series to take in this year alone. For fans that are eager for answers, this is great news. However, should we be calling endgame on the releases for now?
Will this become overkill over the upcoming months?
Wandavision has kicked off 2021 for Marvel, and has been met with positive reception from critics. With one episode released each week, its clever storyline and constant cliff hangers leave watchers wanting more. As a streaming service, it is perhaps unusual that Disney+ have not released all the episodes at once, although there is no doubt that this leads to the suspense and hype around the show on social media. Week after week the series’ characters or plot will often be trending on channels such as Twitter, with fans trying to crack the code and predict what will happen next. This is just the beginning of the Marvel craze for this year and already it is being talked about rather a lot – will this become overkill over the upcoming months?
The sheer amount of content being delivered might be rushed or lacking the high standards of its predecessors
For many, the answer is of course not. Robert Downey Jr. kick-started these films back in 2008 with the release of Iron Man, and every year since then (with 2009 and 2020 as the exceptions) we have been able to build together the pieces of the puzzle in order to understand the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Usually producing around two or three films a year, the franchise has fed fans periodically but consistently. It is therefore a substantial jump to be releasing ten different films and series this year, and there is a lurking sense of worry that the sheer amount of content being delivered might be rushed or lacking the high standards of its predecessors as a result. With 2019’s Avengers: Endgame being the highest grossing film of all time, there is an extremely high expectation for anything that follows.
Thankfully, Marvel never misses the mark, and provides fans with the content they look forward to year on year. Although it is a valid concern, it is highly unlikely that there will be a remote quality slip in any of the content that we will be watching this year. Although there is a lot to consume, sometimes it is inconvenient and annoying to have to wait months or even years for a follow up to one of the films, so having lots to watch at once might not be as overkill as it potentially first appears. The exciting discourse surrounding the current and upcoming releases is welcomed after the period of quiet from the franchise in 2020, and it will be interesting to see what our favourite characters are up to in the aftermath of the Endgame saga.
Rebecca Barton
Featured image courtesy of Hermes Rivera via Unsplash. Image use license found here. No changes made to this image.
In article images courtesy of marvel via Instagram. No changes made to these images.
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