The MCU Is Barely a Shared Universe Anymore
What is the MCU even doing right now? In Phase 4 we’ve gone from an interconnected shared universe with a cool overarching story to… an unconnected, only slightly shared universe with only standalone stories?
Right now we’re in, by far, the most busy period the MCU has ever had, with six seasons of TV and six movies dropping in less than a year and a half. And it’s also the least interesting period that MCU has ever had, because barely any of those six movies and shows have referenced each other.
We’re coming off a week in which they dropped both a new movie (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) and the season finale of a show (Moon Knight) but didn’t make them have any relevance to each other whatsoever. No hints. No teases. Nothing. There is no evidence that these two things have anything to do with each other. Honestly I can’t really prove that Moon Knight is even in the MCU at all, because it actually doesn’t reference ANY other Marvel stuff.
It’s frankly bizarre. The MCU took over the pop culture landscape bynot doing it this way. They used to fill their movies with at minimum numerous vague references to current events, plus a healthy amount of foreshadowing. Not anymore. The 2022 version of Marvel doesn’t seem to be into “planning” or “being a shared universe” or “encouraging you to watch more of its stuff.”
Oddly, this is the same approach that DC has taken with its movieverse since the Justice League debacle. Why would Marvel, the biggest brand in all of pop culture, be taking cues from a franchise that imploded?
And why would Marvel deliver an alleged Phase 4 centerpiece in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness that barely ties to any other movie or show and doesn’t really advance any plots? It
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