HiTop Films Rocks 🔥 I've recently completed Naruto 🦊 and god dammit it's a fucking masterpiece, there're so many great stories, character arc & a charming bond which makes you feel care about the characters the humor is funny but unlike Marvel the humor or the comedic moments aren't random they used the humor to make us feel for the character and Alas! What should I say this Anime is beautiful ❤, experiencing it is an amazing dichotomy I hope that Marvel should understand the importance of there characters just like the makers of Naruto 🦊 has done.
I egregiously agree with this! Now a days Marvel has forgot how to make a basic ground level flick they're just making all there stuff as the next Avengers Level threat, that's the reason for why the years of hard work in Ant-Man Edgar Wright don't get the chance to fulfill his dream project because Marvel interfere at his take on that character and what did he get nothing just a credit as the writter and a chance to shoot the cameo appearance of Legendary Stan Lee 🌟 which was finally included in the final project, that's not the first time they've also interfere in Guillermo del Toro's Dr. Strange also, if they wants to make Marvel great again then they need to make there movies/series more grounded, try to understand the vision of there directors and no unnecessary interference in there vision.
See Marvel still have some eminent directors which have the capability to not only revive but also make the MCU astounding, and those are Robert Eggers, Wes Anderson, Edgar Wright, Coen Bros, Martin McDonagh, Mike Leigh, Spike Jonze, Paul Thomas Anderson, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Guillermo del Toro, Peter Jackson, Alex Garland, Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino & Christopher Nolan, but will they ever pitch them for any MCU project, the simple answer is NO! Because the there parent company Disney will not allow them to be faithful or even serious with there source material they'll also make those ambitious projects a F*** Mickey Mouse Club House 🤐
As someone who grew up watching the MCU I think it’s safe to safe to say on a creative spectrum Marvel peaked with endgame and infinity war. Phase four just seems quantity over quality and the Disney plus shows are really harming audiences investment with the MCU as now it seems more of a chore rather than a thrill. Now a days it’s all about the cameos and setting up for the next story rather than focusing on crafting a good story at hand. They are throwing so much so fast like who can even remember the name of Shang chi’s sister or name more than five characters from the Eternals? If we had more self contained stories like Logan rather than world ending stories like we get all the it time now it would be more interesting to watch.
I think something that they could do is cut out the forced jokes in almost every MCU project so the universe can be taken more seriously. The forced humor and quips is also making almost all the characters feel the same as well. It never used to be this bad when it came to the humor but it now feels more forced then ever and something like Black Widow really shouldn't have had the MCU humor in my opinion. I feel a real test for the MCU will be the new Daredevil series cause the OG was a masterpiece of a show and if they some how turn the new Daredevil into a generic quips superhero MCU show then that will show me that there's going to be a lot of problems with their universe in the future
I don’t like how the fans are starting to make allowances for the excessive humour.. like the amount of times I’ve seen “Daredevil was a comedic character it makes sense if he makes jokes in She Hulk” but nobody wants to see that.
@@firstlast9846 Yeah that comparison is like saying it's ok for Batman to be turned into a joke cause he had a period in the comics where he was campy and silly. Just because the character was comedic at one point that doesn't mean it's a good thing for the movies and TV shows to do. I hope Daredevil and Kingpin stay the serious great characters that they were in the Netflix versions of the characters.
If this is your only idea cause it’s the number 1 thing being said on the internet right now is sad as fuck. Every single marvel movie has had those jokes cause believe it or not the movies are not rated R
@@willlamoureux1690 Who said anything about it being rated r. I'm just asking for things to be taken a bit more seriously at times. I'm not saying it should go very dark but it doesn't need forced humor 24/7 in every Marvel project. The humor never used to be this forced but it is now more than ever before and it started in phase 3. Like X-Men Days of Future Past to me is a good example of being a serious movie without being a super dark movie
Some of the things I’d do to improve the current MCU is: 1. Release only one or two movies and shows a year to give more time for the filmmakers to iron out the screenplay and for the VFX artists to finish the effects 2. Give directors their own distinct style and feel to make the films more unique 3. Stop making everyone the comic relief, like not everyone needs to be Tony Stark 4. Quit trying to make every single thing connect together because you shouldn’t do homework to enjoy a movie 5. Forgot to add this hours ago but most of the shows need to be more than 6 episodes. This format completely fucks up the pacing because it makes the shows feel both extremely rushed and dragged out, and the shows that are 9 episodes need to be more than half an hour long
Facts. The cool thing about crossovers in comics is it doesn’t happen often and things aren’t reallt connected. For the most part Blade never links up with other heroes but when he linked with wolverine and spiderman it was really cool.
I agree with the director thing the most but I feel like they need to give the writers to more time to flesh out the characters im glad next year its less shows and more movies to the multiverse saga plot
We just need more self-contained stories that mean something. Moon Knight was almost perfect because it felt like it was part of a larger world yet chose to tell a personal story. It’s okay to fail or become hurt, that’s exactly what the MCU needs: heroes who can fail at the end of the film or show and still manage to carry on.
That was the main attraction of the series. The issue was that the writing fell off when they forced in the MCU style of humour and writing. Stuff in a random female protagonist(She is literally a brand new character invented for the sole purpose of this individual show), and have her do strong wahman things to fit into the MCU'S female/diversity agenda. Shove in silly humour that does not belong in a show about this type of character. Cram ALL of that into a strictly 6 episode series and you get this show. The show should of been ONLY about Moon Knight, and him alone. Like Hightopfilms says, they are always stuffing everything with other characters for the sake of reminding you for the 100 fucking time, that this is in a bigger world. So to have a show that grounds itself? A show that focus's SOLELY on the protagonist? And one as dark and twisted/insane as Moon Knight? It would be refreshing for so many reasons. Oscar Issacc proves how good he is, so why didn't they focus solely on him?
MK was great but even then they managed to kill so much of its potential. It felt extremely rushed just to fit their 8 episode agenda or whatever it was. Had that unnecessary humor. I think a better example is netflix’s daredevil. Feels like an actual TV show with good pacing and development. It’s own story. Serious. Im scared they’re gonna kill that when daredevil comes to the MCU
@@spider-man500 Are you going to whine anytime you see a woman who isn't a useless shrieking damsel? She's not a new character, they took Moon Knight's wife from the comics and combined her with an old Egyptian superhero from the comics.
Classic quantity over quality. MCU has deep pockets and can produce whatever they want, when they want. But it seems like they never asked themselves whether they should. As someone once said: “with great power comes great responsibility.”
I will say it’s always really nice you ask how we’re doing at the beginning of each video. I’m starting college this week and there’s a lot of anxiety right now going into film school as a freshman. It’s pretty overwhelming. But thank you for asking Alex. Your videos always do provide a nice break from things. Keep on, HiTop. And thanks. I hope you’re doing well, too.
Weird thing to fix but I 100% believe if the schedule turned into 2 movies and a show every year then the quality of the production would improve 10 fold
It doesn’t matter how much shows we get Even if we get less it might look better but it won’t be any better if they continue the everything is a joke route
The writing is the greatest issue not money. If these were well written shows made by competent writers that genuinely care about the comics with fresh ideas and zero agenda you could have 4 shows n 3 movies
@@videogamesworld01 Sure there is you can convey a message that contains nuance the viewers will take to heart over clumsily shoving it in w little regard to subtlety. Difference between good and bad writing, it’s not that the values are wrong it’s the way they portray them.
I definitely agree that the MCU needs to slow down. They took their time with the Infinity Saga and we only needed the films, now we need to take into account the television shows as well. On top of that, the Multiverse Saga will only last less than half the time of the IS. I was expecting the MS would last until around 2029. The combination of now having both films and shows and how short the saga is will become overwhelming for some people.
But if they slow down, that could allow competition to gain a foot hold. They got lucky when WB decided to skip steps and shoot themselves in the foot. Disney is going to make sure no one ever has a chance to compete with them again.
we’re getting so much content but none of it is interesting or works to build and enhance our connection to this universe imagine an mcu show based on life during and after the blip- but from the lives of random, working class, “non-supers” who lived through it all. what if we followed a different person every episode from completely different walks of life and how they had to make do? did the world come together? did nations with tension ease? did they see less of an emphasis on borders and nationality? did civilization turn away from a society based on profits and focus on supporting everyone’s needs? what if it went the opposite direction and countries or corporations tried to capitalize on it? why did we see nothing on how this incredibly unique event impacted the world? a good director and writers could’ve made an incredible piece of social commentary with depth and meaning that also enhances the universe. i’m rambling, but this is the kind of thing id love to see from MCU shows, because honestly, i don’t think we’re getting much from an Agatha or Hawkeye show.
I completely agree, each movie in the infinity saga actually felt special, meaningful. But now it's just like Marvel's shitting out 🗑️ every month 😞 I'm on the verge of becoming a DC fan ngl
Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 will always be the perfect blueprint to making a great superhero film, he made Peter Parker so relatable in that film and now that I’m an adult, I resonate with that movie so much and the MCU lacks that relatability. As much as I loved NWH on first viewing, when I look back now I realize it was mainly just the nostalgia of seeing the two Peter Parkers I related to and grew up with (Childhood: Tobey/ Teenage years: Andrew) back in the roles and while I loved how Tom’s Peter finally suffered consequences, it was a little too late for it to really resonate with me. As much hate the TASM series gets, it holds a special place in my heat because in TASM 2, Peter Graduates in 2014, same year as me so I felt like I was graduating with him and becoming a man with him. The MCU hardly has that human aspect of relatability anymore, even with the hero that’s supposed to be relatable to us all (Spider-Man)
I think #4 is the most important. I actually watched the first Avengers a couple days ago, and it’s wild seeing how different Tony and Steve are to themselves in later showings, so much so that they end up on opposite sides of the spectrum from where they started in Avengers by the time they get to Civil War. But it makes sense due to their experiences. I think that same growth exists in small doses in the current MCU, but it ends up getting overshadowed by spectacle or retconned by other media. Wanda learns to let go and move on from her grief just backtrack and be the villain in Dr. Strange. Dr. Strange himself learns in Spider-Man not to tamper with certain power bc it could go out of control, only to forget that lesson so his own movie can happen. Like is mentioned in this video, Spidey has to relearn the same lesson in his first and third movie. It doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy these shows and movies, but it makes the characters feel so static when measured against the character arcs of the OG Avengers.
Things to change 1. Stop being so scared to be mature once in a while 2. Have your own styles 3. Don't have movies and TV shows come out twice every year. 4. Take time. 5. Stop using CGI when it's not needed 6. Use practical effects more. 7. Let film makers be film makers. 8. Stop making everything a joke
I would add keep to the theme if you're going to introduce interesting themes keep to the theme. Looking at you falcon and the winter soldier and thor4.(mostly thor4) also when it comes to the action sequences from Shang chi do more of that. Shang chi had the best action sequences in the MCU since winter soldier and civil war.
@@tobiaslawrence8928 Agreed like Thor doesn’t need to be a comedy just make him have serious movies and stuff cuz that’s how the character is and don’t make him dumb either
The only things on this list I agree with are 1) 5) 6) 8). The rest of the list isn't well thought out. I disagree with the take time part. You don't know what its like to make a movie. The production could be normal for all you know. If less shows come out people will miss them and loose interest.
The Marvel Cinematic universe started as an idea. The idea was to bring together a group of of remarkable people to see if they could bring the superhero "genre" to cinema. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to write the stories we never could, to bring to life characters we never thought could be brought to life. The Marvel Cinematic Universe was an enigma once upon a time. One that we in all honesty took for granted. We took for granted scenes that were funny without trying too hard to be funny. We took for granted simple stories that left an impact, we took for granted new and interesting ideas. We took for granted incredible cinematography, and writing, we took for granted movies that felt individualized, yet felt part of a serialized story. We took for granted the fact, that Marvel had to prove a point once upon a time. We took the Marvel Cinematic Universe for granted. It's no wonder that people are comparing scenes from Phase 1 to Phase 4. It's no wonder people are looking at even some of the WORST Marvel films like _Age of Ultron_ or _Iron Man 2_ or _Thor: Dark World_ and going "well maybe they weren't as bad as all that." when you look at what Marvel has to offer now. It's no wonder, that people who aren't film buffs are starting to see the dip in quality of their films, when you see CGI from _Iron Man_ compared to CGI in _Thor: Love and Thunder._ It's honestly astonishing to see some of these things forgiven so easily. We used to hold Marvel Studios to a high standard. What happened?
Dark World still remains the worst MCU film. I'd watch eternals a trillion times before. Yeah, it's nostalgic but it's still trash. You can find good things about every other film.
@@eljhonny4009 We know this. But even with this knowledge, the standard of quality that's expected from Marvel is still just not there. WE KNOW that if the VFX crew were given more time the CGI would look great. But that's not the only thing that goes into the making of a movie. So many things work to make the machine function. I think what happened is that we just got too used to seeing what 5 6 movies a year? Now we say "12 projects a year? eh whatever I'm sure SOME will be good". SOME. But why not ALL? And why do so many people in RESPONSE to people wanting expectations met go "well maybe you should manage your expectations"?
@@mr.iiconic fr I’m tired of seeing people suddenly pretend most of phase 1 was good cuz the only good ones were iron man and avengers. Oh and that aswell but u get what I mean
In my opinion, what Marvel needs to do is let its heroes make mistakes more often. The reason I loved the fight between Spider-Man and Green Goblin in No Way Home wasn’t because I was seeing two great iterations of a character cross over. It was because it really felt like Peter’s morality was on the line and he was one mistake away from losing his soul. Sorry if that was a bit of an essay, but my point is: Marvel needs to do that kind of thing more often. We need to see the flaws in our heroes.
You’re only saying that because phase 4 right now is establishing new heroes and we need time to see them make more mistakes. We didn’t see Tony and Cap clash in personality until 4 years after his solo outing. It’s been 6 years since Doctor Strange’s first film and he has made arguably the biggest mistakes of the MCU. T’Challa made a big mistake in every movie he’s in. What really matters is the consequences that follow and how they deal with their mistakes. E.g. there’s no mention of the 5-year blip whatsoever as if nothing ever happened, Thanos snapping away half of the universe is turned to a joke in LT, etc.
Morally perfect is not an issue. The issue is the uninteresting stories they’re telling with well established characters because they have to stick to a formula
This « How to save » series really feel like a call from the heart of a fan. A fan who is in pain due to the decisions of a big spiderweb conglomerate that seems to not care about him anymore. And when you contrast that with the fact that you are doing your own film at the moment really is telling. Characters studies will always be better than whatever we are getting at the moment. I hope I can go back to the cinema with a knot in the stomach and a smile on my face due to the expectation of witnessing a beautiful movie full of passion and sincerity. Anyway thanks a lot Alex, thank you for keeping that passion burning and alive ❤️🔥
There are still plenty of character studies, you just don't like the characters being studied thats all. The MCU is outgrowing you and you're struggling to keep up.
@@youngspecial64 the mcu just doesn't fit your limited and narrow minded taste anymore. It's fine to have a limited amount of things you enjoy, but your limitations don't change the facts.
@NichHustler Limitations, my ass! Their movies lack true cinematic vision and are just boring. The MCU is literally the definition of being limited by a forced factory based system for itself. You're just glazing... due to them just bringing dudes in capes upon the screens when they're more than that. James Gunn and DC look to be doing stuff that has the potential to become far greater than what the MCU has turned itself into... hell, even insomniac games seem to be making a better universe than the MCU in general. Movies are good when they are literally freaking GOOD! I mean, you have seen ATSV, right? I won't deny in the MCU having some dimonds in the ruff, but mostly, their stuff are just plain cash grabs. But, whatever you say, pal... Everyone has their preferences, but at least the majority are starting to realize how ridiculous and souless the MCU has become. Just lame.
I just want to see more character dramas and developments, its what makes guardians so good for me and actually watching people develop and grow is what keeps me. Most charters haven’t grown or changed much in phase 4 tbh, which I find funny with Thor and DS2 legit being about finding happiness.
Less forced jokes, more dynamic character development and archetypes, expand the range of stories being told, far less CGI, lower the budgets to make grounded films... I’d love to enjoy Marvel movies/shows again
These characters have just been introduced they wiil grow through several movies just like Iron Man , Cap and others . Iron man had a trilogy and 4 Avengers movies to complete grow as a character. The Iron man from Endgame and Iron man from IRON MAN is a completely different person 2008 Iron man would have never sacrificed himself.
Love this series of "HOW TO SAVE" videos, not because it appears these studios seem to be backing themselves into a corner, but, because there are SOLUTIONS. Your ideas are incredible and alot of fans feel this way. I imagine a future where there is no separation between fans and studios. I think finding a way to work together could lead to the best representation of these characters and create some of the best movies we have ever seen! This is something we're actively working on with our Fan-Made TV Series called Spider-Man: Alone. And something you've already started with JASON! Best wishes to you brother ❤💙
To me the number 1 thing they can do is SLOW DOWN. You don't need 4/5 movies a year. Especially when 4 of the 5 will probably be clones of each other. You don't need a show about Echo or Agatha. You don't need to ALWAYS have a product out just to fill space between movies. Give artists time and space to work and let them make something ONLY they could make.
@@JitendraSingh-qd7jk Massive misogynist here. Yep same with the male characters too believe it or not. Don't make a show without giving the artist time and freedom to create or just because you need to kill time between movies.
@@Darragh7 So meNtion them without specifically mentioning agatha as if she is not more important than Moon Knight and Daredevil. She literally is connected with the origins of fantastic four and needs character recognition equivalent to Loki just how she is in comics.
@@JitendraSingh-qd7jk If that's your hill to die on, OK so mate. Marvel needs to slow down the production of these movies and shows and give them more time.
Shang-Chi is still one of my favourite MCU movies of recent memory because it is the one I remember the most because it felt like it had character, emotion and story. Giving me hope for the future of the MCU
I think the biggest change the MCU must undergo is, quite simply, care again. You watch the bts footage of Phase 1 and even up to Phase 3 and you could tell every scene, every film, every character was created with a lot of passion and care for what they were doing. They were terrified of failing and in return gave it everything they got. Nowadays, I think the success of the MCU has gotten to their heads, because the brand has grown so strong you can bring the most obscure of characters to the big screen and as long as it has the Marvel logo people will go see it. And that should be good! Cause it’d mean that they could experiment away, give free reign to the most adventurous of filmmakers without that fear of failure looming in their heads, have more James Gunn situations where you take someone so passionate about their project and let them do their thing. But they don’t. They are sitting in their laurels, making the most accessible and digestible content possible and just putting it out there cause, indeed, the Marvel brand has grown too strong, but the wear is starting to show. And it’s not like they are unaware of their problems, the latest She-Hulk episode attests to that, making Kevin Feige a machine, creating narratives out of pure algorithms that will bring about success. But they don’t care, they are content with being self aware about it while not doing anything about those problems, which is a problem in and of itself because, again, it means they don’t care. And if they don’t care, why should we?
Any writer who’s trying to chase the “Whedon” style of writing ought to remember that in his projects- namely Buffy and Angel- the characters’ humor was just as much a coping mechanism. It was their way of making it through seemingly impossible situations. The humor in those shows usually was more of a morale boost than a mood-killer. Also, Whedon wrote both The Body and A Hole in the World- the most devastating episodes of Buffy and Angel respectively. Even he understood that sometimes, the characters just need to be sad for a while.
Yup. Whedon, for all his faults, never made Bruce Banner/Hulk quip in either _The Avengers_ or _Avengers: Age of Ultron_ because... Bruce isn't that type of guy. Yet from _Thor: Ragnarok_ onwards, despite the fact that Bruce has been unconscious for two years, he's suddenly a lot more humorous & more... "Mark Ruffalo-y."
@@loganbigmo I literally hope they put this new version of Hulk down like Lassy. Take him out back,and let him go out with some dignity. If you are a Hulk fan its been embarrassing since Ragnarok.
I have a controversial theory that all great artists are somewhat morally questionable, which means they are unacceptable in today's political climate. Just look back into history, I mean those like Mozart, Beethoven and Van Gough would have been cancelled into oblivion if they were born in todays agr. The Joss Whedons, the James Gunns, obviously are a-holes but their dark sides are exactly why their jokes worked. If all writers are unproblemtic, straight-edged activists who only care about seeming politically correct and advocating for some big moral message in the script, we get disasters like she hulk and captain marvel. They want "Whedon style" but don't want Whedon, but they can't replicate his humor, you can't expect the goody two shoes prefects to tell a joke like the class troublemakers do while still lecturing the class on what's appropriate
Look, I say this as maybe the biggest MCU shill on the planet. I’m the guy who is *still* the person you describe in the opening monologue- still theorizing, still dissecting every character arc in every movie with a fine-tooth comb, still dragging my family to the midnight showings, someone who still cares about the MCU probably more than is healthy. I would do exactly *one* thing that would fix so many of the franchises issues not just for me, but for many: *SLOW DOWN THE GODDAMN RELEASE SCHEDULE* I’m convinced that the push to make 5-6 projects a year is what’s impacting the artistry and production of these things, and that *releasing* so many a year is why so many are tired and can’t find the positives the way they used to. Just go back to two movies a year, maybe a show or two as well, and make that THE LINE. Anything that threatens to create more than 4 MCU projects within a 365 day period gets pushed back to be worked on further and more deliberately. I think it would fix, or at least relieve, almost everything.
While really flawed, I've honestly been more interested in the Disney+ shows because they feel like their own thing and far more character based. I loved loki and wandavision they're so much smaller in feel as well. I was even more invested in hawkeye than any films recently because I felt for Clint
At least MoM felt a bit unique, I didn’t like it first in theatres but the more I watch it, the more I start to like it A LOT than a lot of Phase 4 projects (besides NWH) and I also feel pretty curious about Disney’s new Daredevil show, cuz if they f’d it up then I’m pretty much done with Marvel at this point.
@@taoxist I'd argue that part was the only bit that had the Sam Raimi flourish. The rest of the movie was shot like typical Marvel fair, so much so I kinda feel like they borrowed the original directors work up until that point. But the whole think was lacking, the movie was much a mess structurally.
I feel like Charlie Cox cares too much about the character for it to be really terrible. It'll probably be like Moon Knight tier, if anything. It's definitely watchable and has its moments, but it ain't gonna be too crazy.
I think an issue with Marvel due to the Disney+ shows is that all the movies and shows are being filmed all at once and they all tie into each other. So there’s no time to learn and adapt what actually works or not in between shoots, because literally one week after WandaVision finishes filming, Lizzie Olsen is filming Doc Strange II
As a life long (and still very much to this day) MCU fan, I have to say I loved this! Perfectly encapsulated how to make something that is always going to do well be greater and bigger. A lot of MCU fans will probably get angry at the slightest hint of criticism you made but from me, you absolutely nailed it! Thanks
most comments are saying that "they should drop the continuity" but i think that one of phase 4s major problems is that now mcu feels really direction less. like do they want to do multiverse stuff or set up young avengers or focus on solo contained stories or build up to kang. there is so much going on and they're not planning on slowing down anytime soon, like bro we about to finish a whole saga in just 6 years!!
Thanks for continuing to be a legend man. You inspire so much more than you know, and you deserve to know that. Can't wait to see the Red Hood short film. Have a good day Alex
I really miss the simplicity of phase one. Not everything has to be an origin story, but at the same time even the origin stories we're getting feel like they're not focused on the character, they're focused on getting to the action or to things they think we'll care about. Like in She-Hulk it's all about cameos. Maybe it's funny to other people, but it just irritates me that she breaks the fourth wall and says something along the lines of "Hey, this is a show about me. Not the cameos, me. Even though we have a cameo every week..." It makes sense to have cameos in her show considering her job and how she gets her powers, but seriously, it'd be nice to let shows rely on the new characters without shoving already established characters into it. Kind of like how Boba Fett wasn't about Boba Fett at all essentially.
Right on, it's the reason why the Raimi trilogy worked. And while the third movie didn't got the same reception as 1 and 2, Raimi still tried after the studio forcing him to put story elements that he doesn't want. Hell, I could even say that Spider-Man 3 is more better than what we've got in Phase 4 so far.
It has writers sometimes but they’re absolutely constricted by the rigid storyboard they’re forced to work with. The writers aren’t actually the ones making the story, the corporate producers still are
@@somecallmejeremy Spider-Man 3 not being good makes yours and the OP's point even more. Raimi didn't care for Venom and that was the weakest part of the movie.
I had actually thought of a more tragic opening for End War. Starting with Hawkeye on the phone with his wife, who's driving home with two of their kids. When "The Snap" happens, the line goes quiet. Hawk thinks they just drove into a dead zone when his youngest cries out that mommy just vanished into dust. End the scene with Hawk desperately trying to calm his kids down over the phone as the driverless car careens off a bridge. This would give him more of a reason to want to sacrifice himself while getting the soul stone because he knows that even if they bring back everyone that was lost in the snap, there will be no way to bring back those who were lost due to the unforeseen casualties that the snap caused.
The most important thing to saving these movies (and you did mention this somewhat) is making them more serious. Yeah they have to cut back on the bad jokes it’s getting a little ridiculous, but also they need to put more of their characters in danger more. Since the multi verse was introduced, everyone now has an infinite amount of lives and anything that bad that happens in the story can just be undone by time travel as well. Why would I worry or care about anything that happens in these movies if there are zero stakes
This is why I much prefer X-Men: Days of Future Past's use of time travel. The stakes are set right at the beginning. And the effects of that are used later in the movie when Logan remembers a future event, causing him to freak out in the present and stab Kitty Pryde, almost losing the connection. And we know once that connection is lost, the entire future is changed. And whilst all this happens, Magneto tries to kill Mystique, Hank reveals himself as Beast publicly and Charles is knocked down on the floor. Endgame's "changing the past doesn't change the future" immediately reduces the stakes. If something doesn't work in one time period, you can just try it in another time as long as you put everything back to normal afterwards (which they completely glossed over how hard that would actually be for Steve to do).
Ditch the whole 10 year phase plans and massive story arcs and use the multiverse as a sort of platform to launch a space where new creatives have the freedom to do what they want with the characters they want, this way a studio can still mandate a certain marvel IP gets a movie while letting the crew they hire to have creative control and simultaneously creative teams can come to marvel with the movies they want to make and still maintain that creative control cause even though they're not following the MCU assembly line it still falls under the brand cause it's all in the same multiverse, essentially use the multiverse as an excuse to pitch and create comic book films they way they used to in the 2000s, no big overarching plots just unique stand alone films
1. Treat the cgi and vfx workers with more respect. 2. Have the balls to take creative risks 3. Take things more seriously. Humor is a great thing but not good when it is oversaturated. 4. Less is more( have more focused stories). 5. Be more willing to go out of the formula 6. More standalone stories would be nice for once. 7. Better writing in general 8. More consistent with characters’ character development( like Thor and Hulk for example) 9. Trust your director( but I don’t know about Taika since well, love and thunder). But Taika is a great director but it seems to me, when I watched the interviews about Thor 4, it seems like he just shits on his own creation. Like he made it bad on purpose. 10. Kinda like number 4. You give us shows but. Make them stand on their own. Like You can have characters like MoonKnight in the new Avenger’s movies but let the shows stand on their own two feet. Not everything has to be connected. Or just connect them later. Also less movies and shows per year. We don’t want to be bombarded with content. Marvel fatigue exists. You give us so much , that a lot of the content is things we don’t care about( but of course some people do care). 11. Let characters be unique. 12. Any point that HiTop made in this video
You forgot #1, genius, which would be to drop the WOKE AGENDA BS it has been pushing, just as Disney also pushed the clot shots... You haven't got a clue at how corrupt these mega corporations are. 😅 But Disney will keep pushing WOKENESS until the fans start to WAKE UP....
I just rewatched the first two Pirates of the Caribbean movies (spoilers by the way), and something that really stuck with me was the ending of Dead Man's Chest. That film ends with the heroes losing everything. William witnesses a kiss between the woman he loves and the scoundrel that sold him to Davey Jones, Jack Sparrow is killed by the Kraken, Davey Jones heart beats on the desk of the man who will use it to rule the sea. The most important to me, was the Black Pearl. Seeing the Black Pearl sink beneath the sea brought a genuine tear to my eye. Jack says it best himself. "It's just a ship." But it's not just a ship. The Black Pearl is as much a character as any other. She's a gorgeous vessel with a catchy name and most importantly our heroes worked so hard to get her. So seeing our heroes lose the battle and everything they worked for is heartbreaking. That's what the MCU is missing I think. It's lacking it's own Black Pearl, and by that I mean it doesn't have anything personal to take away from us. It's always something big and vague like "the world" or "the multiverse." I don't care about the mutliverse, I can't care, I physically cannot even fathom the vastness of one universe let alone all of them. So yeah it's a lot of destruction but what does that destruction mean? (Spoilers for NWH if you haven't seen it) The only time the MCU has made me cry genuine tears as of late was in No Way Home. Aunt May was a character we never knew well. But one that had been there from the beginning. She was more than just "Aunt May" she was "Peter's Aunt May." And to SEE Peter truly, actually, really lose something with genuine value was heartbreaking. The best part is the film lets it stew. It doesn't dip a finger in and then yank it out because it's too hot, it soaks it down to the bone. You feel every inch of that burning stew and it's amazing. The reason I watch movies is to FEEL. If a movie doesn't make me feel, or worse teases me with feelings and then rips them away, I have no reason to watch it. I think the best way to fix the MCU is to let that pot boil a little longer. I mean this in every regard. Push your projects back a little, reject a few ideas that aren't the best or that can't fit into the schedule. Spend some of your fucking mountains of money to let you animators see their god damn kids every once in a while. Most importantly, let your employees have fun. Let your writers do crazy ass shit, let your actors improv from time to time, let your directors DIRECT THE FUCKING MOVIE. This is getting ranty, so I'm just gonna say I really miss Iron Man 3 and I wish we could go back to before Age of Ultron.
Tell me what Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars are about and how phase 4 matters toward it. If Kevin Fuckpie hadn’t revealed the names of the movies in the next phases, you’d have no clue what it’s heading towards.
@@emblemblade9245 in Loki they broke the multiverse and now kangs from different universes are able to come through , which is how kang dynasty will happen lol
I'd argue Trevor Slattery was Essential in shang chi due to him cosplaying the Mandarin..and kingpin being in Hawkeye is essential since it was set in new York and we know how powerful he is there
Hammerhead and Silvermane are also crime bosses who live in New York in the marvel universe. Would it be essential to have them cameo In Hawkeye for that reason alone?
People may not always agree with Alex but the man has a heart for these icons and he wears it in his sleeve. I love your videos because they feel like each one come from your soul. I too have been noticing my disappointment with each entry, I can't help but keep watching in hopes to see that magic that once stained every film of the franchise. But it's harder and harder. I used to sit down with a grin in my face, anxious to see what the next movie or series had in for this wonderfull world I loved losing myself into. But now I'm doubtfull and just watching to see if somehow things snap back to how they were before, even for a scene or a chapter, and to not miss anything in the continuity that the franchise builds.
Shang-Chi and Ms Marvel are the main things that give me remaining hope for future of MCU, they were flawed by the Disney machine yet but there was still a passion, actual human stories, and creative visual edge emanating from it. Here's hoping the future of those characters is bright, but sadly they'l probably be thrust into a CGI bloated army fight lost in the crowd before too long. Another great video, interested where this How To Save series may potentially go next
@@StivsLair I can totally accept it fell apart as it went on I’m not going to ignore the flaws, the dimension family and damage control villian subplots were poorly smushed together, the stuff with great grandmother took away from Kamala’s own story, the time travel element was pointless confusing add on and having a good chunk of finale be just home alone in a school made me frustrated, like I said previously it became victim of the Marvel machine severely limited by six episode structure when it should have been split into two season arcs. But man, I just adored the first two episodes, that’s what gave me such hope. They were the fairly grounded yet fantastical charming character focused stuff superhero stories should be, Kamala (perfectly casted by Iman) was a real fun personality, I was content to just watching her, her family and Muslim community life before superhero stuff kicked in. There were actual creative liberties taken with visuals with Kamalas imagination and the camera actually dared to move around instead of usual static MCU closeup shots. When I think of show, it’s those promising elements my mind goes to, but that’s just me as said there are flaws so I can understand not everyone will feel same way. I just hope this lays groundwork for a brighter future for character and other projects.
Spiderman Nwh, Loki, and Falcon and Winter soldier were the best of this phase. Moon knight was great as a origin, though no world building. Shang chi had good world building as well. Everything else were mediocre and pathetic.
This got me emotional and nostalgic man..I watched Ironman when I was 12 years old and I told myself that was the best movie i've ever seen and it stuck with me for days. But now I walk out of Thor love and thunder and other past mcu movies feeling empty.
About MCU Daredevil...I think it's the next step for Matt Murdock. When we left him, he was an emotional wreck trying to rebuild his life - isn't it great to now see him so happy and in his element? He's so secure in himself, he isn't threatened by Jen - he's intrigued and we see a tonal shift to fit his new perspective on life. More colourful, more joyful. I know it's unclear if the Netflix show is still canon but if you consider it as canon, it adds so much weight behind his new attitude and I think it's great to see this tragic character finally happy in himself and his identity. He's not Marvel's Batman, which I see tossed around a lot, and he doesn't need to continually suffer - he's not Spider-Man either. He's Daredevil. I'd really love to hear what you think about this - wierd video to post it on I know, but when you mentioned him in passing, I remembered I wanted to get your opinion on this because I love your previous video essay on DD.
To me they just need to try harder…. From Phase 1 to Endgame it felt like a lot of love and energy was poured into the MCU. Since then it’s felt very paint by numbers. I don’t consider much of it to be bad, it just lacks the sparkle that the earlier products had.
This was amazing, this is what I’ve been feeling for the last 4 or so years. I want the MCU to return to it’s exciting, heartwarming, meaningful self from Phase 1.
Tbh watching The Boys is what stopped me caring for the MCU. They satired the MCU so much and with every movie, The Boys is being proven more and more right. Also, there is not one bad charecter or actor the jokes are fewer but a lot more funny and you really really feel the stakes and the charecter development. Im just gonna stick with that universe and leave the MCU for a while hopefully they get there shit together and even if not, The Boys has more then made up that hole for me
It's ironic how a superhero satire series is a good show with genuine message, while the actual superhero movies became bleak made from factory full of artificial fun.
neither did I! But to me, it seems that there’s too little superpowered egomaniacs in the MCU. At some point there’d surely be at least 1 superhero only doing it for the fame, not caring about actually saving people?
My suggestion would be to cut back on the amount of new characters introduced in every property. Because these movies are so focused on setting up future plotlines, they include several characters in reference to those. As a consequence, these new faces get less time to stand out. Natasha from Iron Man 2 got much more focus and time to be established than Monica Rambo did in WandaVision. Take the time to slowly incorperate these character into the world, let fans grow to love them, THEN give them solo movies/series.
Comedy is fine, but it depends on the character. You can make deadpool funny, but it showed that Deadpool is filled with pain and he must laugh through the pain. If everything is a "comedy" then nothing can we taken seriously.
We need to see more love for these characters. There seems to be no passion for these characters and stories and I miss when there was love for the stories they were telling.
Im always like,” how doesnt a single Disney CEO see all these videos that come from with such a familiar and hopeful place” like you put your heart on the line with every single piece of content u put out
I’d love for the MCU to go back to focusing on taking the time to develop their characters. In recent years it feels like there just throwing more and more new characters at us without taking the time, or putting in the effort to make those characters interesting, or compelling. And this makes me not care about the characters and as result not care so much about the MCU. If marvel cared more about telling stories and less about making “products” that’d be nice.
Something that did make me sad was Moon Knight. I actullay really liked the beginning. But when they were in Egypt... it all went down. The villain was bad even though he could have been amazing. The relation between Marc and Steven was my favorite part. But the problem was EGYPT. Or rather yet. TRYING TO BE A [BIG SHOT] WITH A CONTENT WITHOUT [Hyperlink Blocked]
Directors who should work on MCU films: • Darren Aronofsky • Matthew Vaughn • Quentin Tarantino • Brad Bird • Martin Campbell • Tim Burton • Rob Zombie • Matt Reeves
Seeing videos from HiTop honestly gives me a smile because I like hearing from him. But also makes me sad, because I get just how much things like the early mcu projects meant. I myself am a couple years older than him. He's the same age as my brother. And it's so depressing seeing them rip away the good about the early movies just to be "safe". It sucks man. I used to go with my brother to all of these opening night. But the more they drag on, the more I just feel sad that it doesn't give me the same joy as it once did. Sorry Alex. You were right.
One suggestion, they should make smaller budget films. Maybe with that we can get more director driven, experimental movies, they can take risks. If one of their movies flop, who cares? They won't lose money. The marvel train will keep rolling. They need to use the momentum to their advantage
Your comparison of a good movie as being like a good friend or experience that got you through a hard time definitely hits home. I still remember Guardians Vol 2 fondly because I was at the time still grappling with the sudden death of a distant family member, and the movie's themes of reconciling messy relationships, of cutting out toxic people and deciding who is worth keeping in, it was all tremendously cathartic. I wish I could have said that Eternals affected me similarly in more recent years, that a better version of the general idea could help me deal with anxieties of mortality, about how maintaining connections and savoring the little moments are what matters in life, no matter how long any given life might last. But alas, it was just way too messy to really land, and its actual efforts in emotional storytelling completely fell flat. Even if I were to stop watching Marvel movies, I would wish that one would come out that would help someone the way Vol 2 did for me
Here’s an idea: Instead of having everything be an origin story to an un-killable god amongst humans just for the sake of setting up the new Avengers movies, have an arc centered around a villain who over time becomes more powerful and picks of already established characters easily like a slasher film. It’s not like a lot people really care for the new MCU characters anyway. Also have them collaborate with other villains to take over the multiverse (if you still want to go that route) and have that be the reason for the avengers to exist again.
There are a lot of things that could be done to the MCU to fix it. But I think the overarching thing that needs to be fixed is that the MCU needs to give itself more time. Time to let it’s VFX artists finish a scene and not have to crunch a week before the premiere. Time for the writer’s to dive into these stories and bring out the humanity that these heroes are supposed to represent. Time for the director’s to visualize a film that plays to the character’s journey, and not the cut/paste formula that we have seen for the past 10 years. I love the Marvel movies, they hold a place in my heart. But I am tired of feeling we are speeding through a universe instead of enjoying it.
I think they really need to bring some personality back to these movies and focus more on smaller scale, character-focused stories. They can(and should) still have bombastic, over-the-top multiversal shenanigans but don’t make it end of the world/universe events that are just tools to set up the next five movies. Have them be contained stories that only focus on the characters and the struggles they’re going through and shows what makes them heroes, but more importantly, what makes them human. We love heroes not because they can crack jokes in situations where they really shouldn’t be, but because of the pain they go through, and how they rise above that pain, it makes them relatable, and it makes them heroes.
And this is why I am only genuinely hype/looking forward to Secret Invasion and Werewolf By Night. The former, because they are finally bringing back some seriousness and real stakes (hopefully), the latter because it looks so new and different, yet so intriguing at the same time. That's what the MCU should aim and strive for. Save the big popcorn events where it truly matters.
I would keep each installment in it's own lane, no real references to the other heroes or villains (unless it actually deeply impacts the story told). Moonknight did this and was very well received compared to other shows. They also need to tap into supernatural marvel aspects more. Werewolf by Night gives me so much hope for this
I’d put all my cards in for the Fantastic Four. They’ve saved Marvel Comics twice, and they can save the movies. I would start with finding a director passionate enough that focuses on the importance of Family and has a passion for Marvel’s 1st family. You don’t need to be connect it with Easter eggs, just show this amazing family and make them relatable to us. Help us as the audience see ourselves and our own family in the F4 and we’ll start to care. Another option would be to make a Dr. Doom series. Make it a dark fantasy series that shows the origins of Victor Von Doom, the biggest Marvel Villain, and again do a character study of him. If Marvel could switch things up, and make us care for a Villain, in a serious way, then when they face off against the heroes we all know, we actually care for the conflict.
Phase 1 had it all dude. It had the man on top of the world, a man that had everything but in just one fraction of a second, lost all of it. The mighty, the self-absorbed genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist that for the sake of his few remaining loved ones, did not want to but *HAD* to develop a heart of iron. We had a man that due to severe abuse and scientific experimentation became something... other. Something loud and mightier than a mountain, a thing that can shake city's and break worlds all in the body of a man who just wants to be human again. We had a literal legend made flesh, a war-prince ready to accept the throne of his people and champion his nation of combat without a shred of decency or humility and had to be cast out of his own luxurious position to learn to fight for a reason, outside of himself. And lastly we had a man who no one looked up to, hardly anyone cared for, and scrutinized for his lack of power, but due to this, he'd learn to keep fighting when the cards were down, to never give up and that he would take these ideals of perseverance into a new age that's forgotten him. To a world that's so vastly, TOO vastly different from his own. The man that unlike the others, had to learn *NOT* to change in the face of adversary and apathy. A saint with a soldier's duty. And ever since then its been a steady decline. It peaked for me at Infinity War, Endgame, and No Way Home but those are the exceptions now, not the norm
Unrelated note, but this idea came into my head recently and I would like to hear your opinion on it if yiu ever see this: imagine a Justice League animated movie, where each of the members of the league are drawn in a seperate art style, with seperate character designers, that don't match any of the civilians. A way of saying that these individuals don't fit in with society and shouldn't fit in with eachother but despite all the differences in their background and their ideas they come together for one purpose: The purpose of helping people.
I think with Thor Love and Thunder and some other movies in phase 4 Marvel has been letting go of control being more experimental and letting some director's do as they please or with less interference, and with how divisive and critiqued some of those movies have been I expect they are going to start interfering more with how the characters are portrayed and the direction a movie takes. so thanks for that everyone.
On the contrary, they are just following their formulas that came from wrong reasons. There's nothing experimental to their new movies and series. All of their new movies/series follow the same pattern from previous works like this one... The Disney plus formula: Episode 1: Flashy intro with little or no information about the story Episode 2: Exposition dump but not really answering all the questions Episode 3 & 4: Fillers that are either enjoyable or not Episode 5: The good episode. All of our questions and character reflection are in this episode. Episode 6: Rush ending. They have to cram everything since they only have one progress before ending. They are not being experimental, they're becoming a factory of artificial fun and processed junk shows.
@@jankyyard5610 The rush ending arguably all the other stuff definitely isn't the same for a lot of shows, and you're only describing the shows not the movies.
This is why I thought eternals was refreshing, it wasn’t a perfect movie because it really should have been a series to give more time to develop each character better, but love it or hate it eternals was the least interconnected storyline in phase 4 it was mostly it’s own thing. It was visually beautiful and it told a complete story with no cameos
I thought that movie was shit but I appreciated that they at least TRIED to be different. But sadly it will probably be punished for it, and will be forced into the mcu mold.
Eternals actually suffered because it was too restrained. By plot and structure, it's still going by the generic MCU blockbuster when the ambition needs a far better format.
@@ThePrinceofHisOwnKingdom that's fine I'll respectfully disagree I think fans have become overly critical to a point that it's a little ridiculous imo, we go into a movie ready to pick it apart before were ready to enjoy it. Are some movies not great? Sure but to say eternals is shit is an extreme exaggeration. Great visuals, great cast, good acting, with a slightly rushed story is hardly shit. Fan toxicity is out of control, people want their stories to be exactly what they expect or they hate it and people just need to let go of their ego.
Most of us (I'm guessing) were between 5 and 15 when Tony Stark became Iron Man. Now we are 25-30 and instead the MCU of maturing with us, it's dumbing down to appeal to everyone...
Less jokes that don’t fit, more creative freedom with a couple people too say if something isn’t the best, delay everything and give more time to the vfx people, do not rely on cg for everything
I think the first step is just to take a break. They’re releasing too many films and none of them are thought out enough. Then, like you said, lower the stakes and focus on the characters. Most of the original marvel movies are still amazing and the stakes were not world ending. The reason the avengers worked so well and was so exciting to see is because it was a new threat we’ve never seen before and we needed all the avengers to fix it. Along those lines, we don’t need a team up or cameo in every movie. I’d much rather see a movie with a well thought out very distinct character than 5 that all feel the same. I think marvel should stop with the shows as well (the ones that are a “required viewing” at least.) Shows are fun for sure, and gives us more time to spend with the characters, but when it’s a “required” viewing and you need to watch it to understand 90% of the next movie in theatre, it’s annoying and frustrating - especially when the show doesn’t have enough to make you want to watch the whole thing.
This is a perfect timing video because I just re-watched the whole MCU last week!! I don’t have a problem with Iron Man 2 or age of Ultron. Yes every film has criticisms and some nitpicking…. But after Thor love and thunder, there’s nothing to complain about hardly in Iron Man 2 or age of Ultron lol. Or even Thor the dark world! At least they had a direction and a story a real story to tell. Tony Stark and Steve Rogers truly did built the MCU up and down. It started with Tony and it ended with Tony! Every character arc was beautifully well told in their first movies. Character writing done right!! I’m truly glad these movies existed when they were good. A lot of people loved no way home. But for me personally the plot is just not as rememberable compared to other amazing movies like Civil war! I also hated the disrespect on Dock Ock! They wasted him to make tentacle jokes and threw him out the window…. NOOOOO THANK YOU!!
Bruh you cant say it doesnt need saving. Its god awful rn. By all means explain to.me how she hulk twerking and demeaning the fuck out of bruce isnt terrible.
As someone who grew up with early marvel eg x-men 2000,spider-man 2002, hulk 2003 etc as a kid wishing for the characters to interact with one another so as soon as iron man 2008 came up seeing the tease us of the avengers made me excited and had a abit of doubt about it but it worked marvel studios nowadays decides to rush their projects which is ashame its why I'm not worried about daredevil born again mainly because I believe that they can be better, Shang Chi, nwh, multiverse of madness was amazing in my opinion, WandaVision, fatws, Loki, Hawkeye and moon knight are my favourite shows they done while daredevil, Jessica Jones are my favourite marvel shows I believe that marvel studios should take their time with projects not rush them to get hit a deadline Fegie should know that what he stood for was to make fans everywhere excited for what's new in the world
What gets me about the current state of the MCU is that I really do care and I’m saddened by the bastardization of this thing that I very much grew up loving. I invested a lot into this franchise, and to its credit, there was a time it used to reward my investment. And yet now that there’s a clear dropoff in quality, it feels like the franchise is turning on me, a fan. There’s so, so many people out there that would take a bullet for this multibillion dollar corporation who call me a “hater” or come out with so many bullshit defenses for this garbage, mass-tested corporate sludge. A lot of these people have no standards and would accept whatever the MCU shits out. They’d shit on anything and everything(including other MCU movies and characters that are actually good) to justify why the newest product is the best thing ever only to forget about it two weeks later. Wasn’t always this way. When the MCU was actually good(you know when), there was very little division between the fanbase. Nobody was calling anyone “toxic” or “incel” or whatever. This used to be one of the few franchises with a more generally unified fanbase. I guess I mistook a lot of MCU fans for having actual standards all those years, because now that the quality has dropped and they’re still defending it, it’s being revealed to me that a lot of these fans are people who just weren’t in it for the same reasons as I was. They just wanna consume product and get excited for next product without ever asking questions or criticizing anything. To them it’s a disposable experience. How many times have you been told stuff like “just turn off your brain” or “it’s a comedy” or whatever over the last few years? How many times have we seen people use box office returns as an indicator of quality like that’s supposed to mean anything? It’s making me look down upon the whole thing, even the things I fell in love with. For whatever naive reason, I thought this franchise would be above making the same mistakes Star Wars, GOT, DCEU, ROP, Ghostbusters, etc made. Fuck off MCU. You broke my heart.
"Nobody was calling anyone “toxic” or “incel” or whatever" Because there were no leading women or nonwhites. Now there are and that brings out the scummy "fans".
I think people forget that solo comics were simply stories that enhanced the characters and their respective little universes, which is why I’m enjoying Ms Marvel and She-Hulk so much. They truly feel like a 6-comic run about characters we haven’t seen yet, and now they won’t feel out of place or wedged in to the next big team up movie. The movies somehow think they all need to be box office smashes that redefine the MCU or set up the next Thanos. The future looks bright with DD, Secret Invasion, and Captain America 4 following more what Phase 1 did so well. Ones like Ant Man 3 and Loki season 2 should be the reinforcement of the bigger, universe level ideas.
Yeah I feel like the DD and secret invasion shows are gonna be great I just hope that they keep it respective to their stories. No characters from other shows or movies just fresh and focused on what they’re trying to do on their own. I hope secret invasion will be a cool mystery thriller that fleshes out nick furys character
I have faith in the future of the MCU. It’ll never be perfect but I doubt phases 5 and 6 will be any worse than where we’re at now. We’ll see what things look like post Secret Invasion
Just like the Video Game industry. Once the "risk" is proven to make money on a constant basis, that becomes the focus and the creatives get put on the back burner.
There was NO FOCUS or continuity in phase 1 other than seeing them team up. Not even a common big bad or infinity stones until later. Phase 4 is like phase 1. You plant seeds and it takes time for things to grow into a bigger picture just like how the infinity stones were placed
Difference is that the films in lhase 1 was actually good (for the most part). Everything release in phase 4 ranges from mediocre to terrible - none have been good. Plant the seeds, sure, but make it actually entertaining
@@iliketigers7820 actually alot of people didn't like Incredible Hulk, Iron man 2, or even Thor was just a fun movie at best. Thats half of phase 1. Theres more than twice the movies and series in phase so theres going to be more dislikes. However, I still think phase 4 is still better and entertaining than incredible hulk. And despite being phase 2, better than darkworld
@@antfr1993 thats why i said "for the most part", and not "all of phase 1". But even still, hot take incoming: the worse of phase 1 is better than the best of phase 4. This is my opinion, but still
There are specific points here that I can get behind, even though I have enjoyed Phase 4. I appreciate Alex's constructiveness and his eagerness for something he loves to do better, to be better. It's an admirable trait. Still, I can't wrap my head around generalizing the movies as cameo-filled joke fests when he's using Moon Knight and Eternals as clips for reference. Not every film is like this and often times it just feels disingenuous to me to hear things like this about a film franchise that is so varied in style and tone, even to this day. At least that's just how I feel. Video's great, but I personally think some points feel like they're more surface level than anything.
This is blatantly wrong. Disney is the reason we have Endgame. 90 percent of the MCU is Disney. Almost all of which is better than the first few Phase 1 movies. Out of the 3 non Disney MCU films, only one of them is considered a good movie.
@@jeremyorth5138 Woah, slow down there! You don't want to choke on that boot would you? Endgame wasnt a good movie, you just like seeing all your favorite characters on the big screen all together. The writing was bad, placing was all over the place, and only had a few good scenes. If you wanted to make an argument you couldve said "Infinity War," that was a much better movie. Disney isn't incapable of producing something good, but its not the norm for them. They like to pump out whatever they can as quickly as they can with little to no regard of quality control. Not even mentioning how terribly they mistreat the vfx artists.
@@splatjam64 Endgame and Infinity War are both great movies. You are definitely in the minority thinking that Endgame isn't. And regarding Disney making good films, I'd say like 90 percent of what they put out is pretty good to great. Even moving away from superhero movies, their animated films are top tier. Definitely the most consistently good films of any studio.
@@jeremyorth5138 Oh you mean like that soulless Pinnochio remake? Or how about that Chip & Dale movie with painfully unfunny meta commentary that made fun of the tragic life of the original peter pan voice actor. Or are you talking about those poorly disguised Disney+ ads that they call Simpsons Shorts?
@@splatjam64 I haven't even seen most of the things you listed, so I can't speak for the quality other than the Chip and Dale movie which was fine. Even so, that is a very small ratio for what they produce. In recent memory movies like Encanto, Raya, frankly anything produced by Pixar are all fantastic. Their track record speaks for itself, and putting out 1 stinker for every 10 bangers is still pretty good. I love the MCU and think that everything they have released is pretty solid. I'm happy with what they've done and am excited for what is coming next. Disney and Kevin Feige in particular have more than earned my trust for the future of this franchise.
This hit so hard for me man. This franchise gave me a personality, something to love, and now its been turned into a factory where everything feels like the same formula.
I think if it weren't for the pandemic which shut production of everything down in 2020, I think people would hate the MCU even more. I think if the MCU took maybe a 5 year break following Endgame, or Far From Home, then it would have made the MCU's return feel much more grander and more special, similar to The Avengers (2012).
Problem is, if you take a break that long, you allow your competitors to get a foot in the door. If the MCU really took a 5 year break, WB could have capitalised on this opportunity to launch their universe and characters. Plus, people are always hungry for content. Also, not all people in the fanbase would return after that long.
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I've recently completed Naruto 🦊 and god dammit it's a fucking masterpiece, there're so many great stories, character arc & a charming bond which makes you feel care about the characters the humor is funny but unlike Marvel the humor or the comedic moments aren't random they used the humor to make us feel for the character and Alas! What should I say this Anime is beautiful ❤, experiencing it is an amazing dichotomy
I hope that Marvel should understand the importance of there characters just like the makers of Naruto 🦊 has done.
I egregiously agree with this! Now a days Marvel has forgot how to make a basic ground level flick they're just making all there stuff as the next Avengers Level threat, that's the reason for why the years of hard work in Ant-Man Edgar Wright don't get the chance to fulfill his dream project because Marvel interfere at his take on that character and what did he get nothing just a credit as the writter and a chance to shoot the cameo appearance of Legendary Stan Lee 🌟 which was finally included in the final project, that's not the first time they've also interfere in Guillermo del Toro's Dr. Strange also, if they wants to make Marvel great again then they need to make there movies/series more grounded, try to understand the vision of there directors and no unnecessary interference in there vision.
@Wrath of Fenrir True, by the way you missed 'Into The SpiderVerse 💞'
See Marvel still have some eminent directors which have the capability to not only revive but also make the MCU astounding, and those are Robert Eggers, Wes Anderson, Edgar Wright, Coen Bros, Martin McDonagh, Mike Leigh, Spike Jonze, Paul Thomas Anderson, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Guillermo del Toro, Peter Jackson, Alex Garland, Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino & Christopher Nolan, but will they ever pitch them for any MCU project, the simple answer is NO! Because the there parent company Disney will not allow them to be faithful or even serious with there source material they'll also make those ambitious projects a F*** Mickey Mouse Club House 🤐
MCU needs to stop putting propaganda as well as too much comedy. Take it more seriously and make better antagonist in my opinion.
As someone who grew up watching the MCU I think it’s safe to safe to say on a creative spectrum Marvel peaked with endgame and infinity war. Phase four just seems quantity over quality and the Disney plus shows are really harming audiences investment with the MCU as now it seems more of a chore rather than a thrill. Now a days it’s all about the cameos and setting up for the next story rather than focusing on crafting a good story at hand. They are throwing so much so fast like who can even remember the name of Shang chi’s sister or name more than five characters from the Eternals? If we had more self contained stories like Logan rather than world ending stories like we get all the it time now it would be more interesting to watch.
@Oddwolf 799 ???
@Oddwolf 799 I wasn’t even talking about Hi Top in my comment but okay.
@Oddwolf 799 as a hater im so gutted to miss out on total bangers like Echo and ironheart
couldn't agree more and now I'm starting to really hate the end credit scene
@Oddwolf 799 its shit.
I think something that they could do is cut out the forced jokes in almost every MCU project so the universe can be taken more seriously. The forced humor and quips is also making almost all the characters feel the same as well. It never used to be this bad when it came to the humor but it now feels more forced then ever and something like Black Widow really shouldn't have had the MCU humor in my opinion. I feel a real test for the MCU will be the new Daredevil series cause the OG was a masterpiece of a show and if they some how turn the new Daredevil into a generic quips superhero MCU show then that will show me that there's going to be a lot of problems with their universe in the future
I don’t like how the fans are starting to make allowances for the excessive humour.. like the amount of times I’ve seen “Daredevil was a comedic character it makes sense if he makes jokes in She Hulk” but nobody wants to see that.
@@firstlast9846 Yeah that comparison is like saying it's ok for Batman to be turned into a joke cause he had a period in the comics where he was campy and silly. Just because the character was comedic at one point that doesn't mean it's a good thing for the movies and TV shows to do. I hope Daredevil and Kingpin stay the serious great characters that they were in the Netflix versions of the characters.
Netflix daredevil had its lighthearted funny moments but those were genuine character interaction...not MCU type...
If this is your only idea cause it’s the number 1 thing being said on the internet right now is sad as fuck. Every single marvel movie has had those jokes cause believe it or not the movies are not rated R
@@willlamoureux1690 Who said anything about it being rated r. I'm just asking for things to be taken a bit more seriously at times. I'm not saying it should go very dark but it doesn't need forced humor 24/7 in every Marvel project. The humor never used to be this forced but it is now more than ever before and it started in phase 3. Like X-Men Days of Future Past to me is a good example of being a serious movie without being a super dark movie
Some of the things I’d do to improve the current MCU is:
1. Release only one or two movies and shows a year to give more time for the filmmakers to iron out the screenplay and for the VFX artists to finish the effects
2. Give directors their own distinct style and feel to make the films more unique
3. Stop making everyone the comic relief, like not everyone needs to be Tony Stark
4. Quit trying to make every single thing connect together because you shouldn’t do homework to enjoy a movie
5. Forgot to add this hours ago but most of the shows need to be more than 6 episodes. This format completely fucks up the pacing because it makes the shows feel both extremely rushed and dragged out, and the shows that are 9 episodes need to be more than half an hour long
That’s so true. Werewolf by night seems like it could fix this.
@@thegoldenmask2051 I’m super excited for Werewolf by night
Facts. The cool thing about crossovers in comics is it doesn’t happen often and things aren’t reallt connected. For the most part Blade never links up with other heroes but when he linked with wolverine and spiderman it was really cool.
I would like to add take more risks with steaks/violence, lighten up on pop culture references, and fix the vfx
I agree with the director thing the most but I feel like they need to give the writers to more time to flesh out the characters im glad next year its less shows and more movies to the multiverse saga plot
We just need more self-contained stories that mean something. Moon Knight was almost perfect because it felt like it was part of a larger world yet chose to tell a personal story. It’s okay to fail or become hurt, that’s exactly what the MCU needs: heroes who can fail at the end of the film or show and still manage to carry on.
That was the main attraction of the series.
The issue was that the writing fell off when they forced in the MCU style of humour and writing.
Stuff in a random female protagonist(She is literally a brand new character invented for the sole purpose of this individual show), and have her do strong wahman things to fit into the MCU'S female/diversity agenda.
Shove in silly humour that does not belong in a show about this type of character. Cram ALL of that into a strictly 6 episode series and you get this show.
The show should of been ONLY about Moon Knight, and him alone. Like Hightopfilms says, they are always stuffing everything with other characters for the sake of reminding you for the 100 fucking time, that this is in a bigger world.
So to have a show that grounds itself? A show that focus's SOLELY on the protagonist? And one as dark and twisted/insane as Moon Knight? It would be refreshing for so many reasons.
Oscar Issacc proves how good he is, so why didn't they focus solely on him?
MK was great but even then they managed to kill so much of its potential. It felt extremely rushed just to fit their 8 episode agenda or whatever it was. Had that unnecessary humor. I think a better example is netflix’s daredevil. Feels like an actual TV show with good pacing and development. It’s own story. Serious. Im scared they’re gonna kill that when daredevil comes to the MCU
Werewolf by Night looks interesting
@@spider-man500 Are you going to whine anytime you see a woman who isn't a useless shrieking damsel?
She's not a new character, they took Moon Knight's wife from the comics and combined her with an old Egyptian superhero from the comics.
@@lucasniles2767 The Netflix shows had the opposite problem, they had too many episodes and thus too much padding.
Classic quantity over quality. MCU has deep pockets and can produce whatever they want, when they want. But it seems like they never asked themselves whether they should. As someone once said: “with great power comes great responsibility.”
Yoooo
I will say it’s always really nice you ask how we’re doing at the beginning of each video. I’m starting college this week and there’s a lot of anxiety right now going into film school as a freshman. It’s pretty overwhelming. But thank you for asking Alex. Your videos always do provide a nice break from things. Keep on, HiTop. And thanks. I hope you’re doing well, too.
Good luck my friend! You got this!
@@HiTopFilms thanks dude! Means a lot!
Wholesome
Have a great time at college! I'm sure you're gonna kill it!
Yikes, now i feel like a jerk for starting to hate that intro
Weird thing to fix but I 100% believe if the schedule turned into 2 movies and a show every year then the quality of the production would improve 10 fold
It doesn’t matter how much shows we get
Even if we get less it might look better but it won’t be any better if they continue the everything is a joke route
The writing is the greatest issue not money. If these were well written shows made by competent writers that genuinely care about the comics with fresh ideas and zero agenda you could have 4 shows n 3 movies
@@Riqo2Suave There is literally no writer with 0 agendas
@@videogamesworld01 Sure there is you can convey a message that contains nuance the viewers will take to heart over clumsily shoving it in w little regard to subtlety. Difference between good and bad writing, it’s not that the values are wrong it’s the way they portray them.
@@Riqo2Suave lol "zero agenda"
I definitely agree that the MCU needs to slow down.
They took their time with the Infinity Saga and we only needed the films, now we need to take into account the television shows as well. On top of that, the Multiverse Saga will only last less than half the time of the IS. I was expecting the MS would last until around 2029. The combination of now having both films and shows and how short the saga is will become overwhelming for some people.
But if they slow down, that could allow competition to gain a foot hold. They got lucky when WB decided to skip steps and shoot themselves in the foot. Disney is going to make sure no one ever has a chance to compete with them again.
we’re getting so much content but none of it is interesting or works to build and enhance our connection to this universe
imagine an mcu show based on life during and after the blip- but from the lives of random, working class, “non-supers” who lived through it all.
what if we followed a different person every episode from completely different walks of life and how they had to make do? did the world come together? did nations with tension ease? did they see less of an emphasis on borders and nationality? did civilization turn away from a society based on profits and focus on supporting everyone’s needs? what if it went the opposite direction and countries or corporations tried to capitalize on it?
why did we see nothing on how this incredibly unique event impacted the world? a good director and writers could’ve made an incredible piece of social commentary with depth and meaning that also enhances the universe.
i’m rambling, but this is the kind of thing id love to see from MCU shows, because honestly, i don’t think we’re getting much from an Agatha or Hawkeye show.
I completely agree, each movie in the infinity saga actually felt special, meaningful. But now it's just like Marvel's shitting out 🗑️ every month 😞 I'm on the verge of becoming a DC fan ngl
Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 will always be the perfect blueprint to making a great superhero film, he made Peter Parker so relatable in that film and now that I’m an adult, I resonate with that movie so much and the MCU lacks that relatability. As much as I loved NWH on first viewing, when I look back now I realize it was mainly just the nostalgia of seeing the two Peter Parkers I related to and grew up with (Childhood: Tobey/ Teenage years: Andrew) back in the roles and while I loved how Tom’s Peter finally suffered consequences, it was a little too late for it to really resonate with me. As much hate the TASM series gets, it holds a special place in my heat because in TASM 2, Peter Graduates in 2014, same year as me so I felt like I was graduating with him and becoming a man with him. The MCU hardly has that human aspect of relatability anymore, even with the hero that’s supposed to be relatable to us all (Spider-Man)
Spider-Man 2 has serious plot problems, though. Padding, bad characterization
@@ShadowSonic2 don’t all super hero movies tho? Especially Marvels current MCU movies
@@lucidmind9676 Not like SM2. SM2 had the old problem of making the villain the real star of the movie.
I think #4 is the most important. I actually watched the first Avengers a couple days ago, and it’s wild seeing how different Tony and Steve are to themselves in later showings, so much so that they end up on opposite sides of the spectrum from where they started in Avengers by the time they get to Civil War. But it makes sense due to their experiences. I think that same growth exists in small doses in the current MCU, but it ends up getting overshadowed by spectacle or retconned by other media. Wanda learns to let go and move on from her grief just backtrack and be the villain in Dr. Strange. Dr. Strange himself learns in Spider-Man not to tamper with certain power bc it could go out of control, only to forget that lesson so his own movie can happen. Like is mentioned in this video, Spidey has to relearn the same lesson in his first and third movie. It doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy these shows and movies, but it makes the characters feel so static when measured against the character arcs of the OG Avengers.
Things to change
1. Stop being so scared to be mature once in a while
2. Have your own styles
3. Don't have movies and TV shows come out twice every year.
4. Take time.
5. Stop using CGI when it's not needed
6. Use practical effects more.
7. Let film makers be film makers.
8. Stop making everything a joke
I would add keep to the theme if you're going to introduce interesting themes keep to the theme.
Looking at you falcon and the winter soldier and thor4.(mostly thor4) also when it comes to the action sequences from Shang chi do more of that. Shang chi had the best action sequences in the MCU since winter soldier and civil war.
I completely agree with everything listed here...
I agree with this list. I have what I would change on top of the comments...
@@tobiaslawrence8928 Agreed like Thor doesn’t need to be a comedy just make him have serious movies and stuff cuz that’s how the character is and don’t make him dumb either
The only things on this list I agree with are 1) 5) 6) 8). The rest of the list isn't well thought out. I disagree with the take time part. You don't know what its like to make a movie. The production could be normal for all you know. If less shows come out people will miss them and loose interest.
The Marvel Cinematic universe started as an idea. The idea was to bring together a group of of remarkable people to see if they could bring the superhero "genre" to cinema. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to write the stories we never could, to bring to life characters we never thought could be brought to life. The Marvel Cinematic Universe was an enigma once upon a time. One that we in all honesty took for granted. We took for granted scenes that were funny without trying too hard to be funny. We took for granted simple stories that left an impact, we took for granted new and interesting ideas. We took for granted incredible cinematography, and writing, we took for granted movies that felt individualized, yet felt part of a serialized story. We took for granted the fact, that Marvel had to prove a point once upon a time. We took the Marvel Cinematic Universe for granted.
It's no wonder that people are comparing scenes from Phase 1 to Phase 4. It's no wonder people are looking at even some of the WORST Marvel films like _Age of Ultron_ or _Iron Man 2_ or _Thor: Dark World_ and going "well maybe they weren't as bad as all that." when you look at what Marvel has to offer now. It's no wonder, that people who aren't film buffs are starting to see the dip in quality of their films, when you see CGI from _Iron Man_ compared to CGI in _Thor: Love and Thunder._ It's honestly astonishing to see some of these things forgiven so easily. We used to hold Marvel Studios to a high standard. What happened?
Three words: Quantity over quality.
They don’t give the vfx team enough time. There
Dark World still remains the worst MCU film. I'd watch eternals a trillion times before. Yeah, it's nostalgic but it's still trash. You can find good things about every other film.
@@eljhonny4009 We know this. But even with this knowledge, the standard of quality that's expected from Marvel is still just not there. WE KNOW that if the VFX crew were given more time the CGI would look great. But that's not the only thing that goes into the making of a movie. So many things work to make the machine function. I think what happened is that we just got too used to seeing what 5 6 movies a year? Now we say "12 projects a year? eh whatever I'm sure SOME will be good". SOME. But why not ALL? And why do so many people in RESPONSE to people wanting expectations met go "well maybe you should manage your expectations"?
@@mr.iiconic fr I’m tired of seeing people suddenly pretend most of phase 1 was good cuz the only good ones were iron man and avengers. Oh and that aswell but u get what I mean
In my opinion, what Marvel needs to do is let its heroes make mistakes more often. The reason I loved the fight between Spider-Man and Green Goblin in No Way Home wasn’t because I was seeing two great iterations of a character cross over. It was because it really felt like Peter’s morality was on the line and he was one mistake away from losing his soul. Sorry if that was a bit of an essay, but my point is: Marvel needs to do that kind of thing more often. We need to see the flaws in our heroes.
Oddwolf 799 What are your values?
after watching The Boys, I’ve been noticing more than ever that the MCU superpowered heroes are too morally perfect
You’re only saying that because phase 4 right now is establishing new heroes and we need time to see them make more mistakes. We didn’t see Tony and Cap clash in personality until 4 years after his solo outing. It’s been 6 years since Doctor Strange’s first film and he has made arguably the biggest mistakes of the MCU. T’Challa made a big mistake in every movie he’s in. What really matters is the consequences that follow and how they deal with their mistakes. E.g. there’s no mention of the 5-year blip whatsoever as if nothing ever happened, Thanos snapping away half of the universe is turned to a joke in LT, etc.
Morally perfect is not an issue. The issue is the uninteresting stories they’re telling with well established characters because they have to stick to a formula
Three sentences is an essay...??
This « How to save » series really feel like a call from the heart of a fan. A fan who is in pain due to the decisions of a big spiderweb conglomerate that seems to not care about him anymore. And when you contrast that with the fact that you are doing your own film at the moment really is telling. Characters studies will always be better than whatever we are getting at the moment. I hope I can go back to the cinema with a knot in the stomach and a smile on my face due to the expectation of witnessing a beautiful movie full of passion and sincerity. Anyway thanks a lot Alex, thank you for keeping that passion burning and alive ❤️🔥
There are still plenty of character studies, you just don't like the characters being studied thats all. The MCU is outgrowing you and you're struggling to keep up.
@@RamblyBear more than 3000 languages and you chose to speak facts 😂
@@RamblyBearNo, the MCU has just begun to become tastless and souless.
They are not CINEMA.
@@youngspecial64 the mcu just doesn't fit your limited and narrow minded taste anymore. It's fine to have a limited amount of things you enjoy, but your limitations don't change the facts.
@NichHustler Limitations, my ass! Their movies lack true cinematic vision and are just boring.
The MCU is literally the definition of being limited by a forced factory based system for itself.
You're just glazing... due to them just bringing dudes in capes upon the screens when they're more than that.
James Gunn and DC look to be doing stuff that has the potential to become far greater than what the MCU has turned itself into... hell, even insomniac games seem to be making a better universe than the MCU in general.
Movies are good when they are literally freaking GOOD! I mean, you have seen ATSV, right? I won't deny in the MCU having some dimonds in the ruff, but mostly, their stuff are just plain cash grabs.
But, whatever you say, pal...
Everyone has their preferences, but at least the majority are starting to realize how ridiculous and souless the MCU has become.
Just lame.
I just want to see more character dramas and developments, its what makes guardians so good for me and actually watching people develop and grow is what keeps me. Most charters haven’t grown or changed much in phase 4 tbh, which I find funny with Thor and DS2 legit being about finding happiness.
Less forced jokes, more dynamic character development and archetypes, expand the range of stories being told, far less CGI, lower the budgets to make grounded films... I’d love to enjoy Marvel movies/shows again
These characters have just been introduced they wiil grow through several movies just like Iron Man , Cap and others . Iron man had a trilogy and 4 Avengers movies to complete grow as a character. The Iron man from Endgame and Iron man from IRON MAN is a completely different person 2008 Iron man would have never sacrificed himself.
Yeah but 2012 Iron Man tried to
All those things were part of the MCU in it's prime.
Iron Man was one of the early films in the MCU that use practical effects
@@davidamoahmarklin But people still loved the Iron Man from 2008
Love this series of "HOW TO SAVE" videos, not because it appears these studios seem to be backing themselves into a corner, but, because there are SOLUTIONS. Your ideas are incredible and alot of fans feel this way. I imagine a future where there is no separation between fans and studios. I think finding a way to work together could lead to the best representation of these characters and create some of the best movies we have ever seen! This is something we're actively working on with our Fan-Made TV Series called Spider-Man: Alone. And something you've already started with JASON! Best wishes to you brother ❤💙
@Oddwolf 799 oh yeah where your videos
@Oddwolf 799 fucking hilarious mcu fanboy
To me the number 1 thing they can do is SLOW DOWN. You don't need 4/5 movies a year. Especially when 4 of the 5 will probably be clones of each other. You don't need a show about Echo or Agatha. You don't need to ALWAYS have a product out just to fill space between movies. Give artists time and space to work and let them make something ONLY they could make.
You don't need a show about daredevil, moonknight, and rhodey too, misogynist enough to cancel males in mcu ?
@@JitendraSingh-qd7jk Massive misogynist here. Yep same with the male characters too believe it or not. Don't make a show without giving the artist time and freedom to create or just because you need to kill time between movies.
@@Darragh7 So meNtion them without specifically mentioning agatha as if she is not more important than Moon Knight and Daredevil. She literally is connected with the origins of fantastic four and needs character recognition equivalent to Loki just how she is in comics.
@@JitendraSingh-qd7jk If that's your hill to die on, OK so mate. Marvel needs to slow down the production of these movies and shows and give them more time.
But mate how else they gonna kerp us paying for Disney Plus every month?
Shang-Chi is still one of my favourite MCU movies of recent memory because it is the one I remember the most because it felt like it had character, emotion and story. Giving me hope for the future of the MCU
Too bad about that terrible third act :(
I think the biggest change the MCU must undergo is, quite simply, care again. You watch the bts footage of Phase 1 and even up to Phase 3 and you could tell every scene, every film, every character was created with a lot of passion and care for what they were doing. They were terrified of failing and in return gave it everything they got.
Nowadays, I think the success of the MCU has gotten to their heads, because the brand has grown so strong you can bring the most obscure of characters to the big screen and as long as it has the Marvel logo people will go see it. And that should be good! Cause it’d mean that they could experiment away, give free reign to the most adventurous of filmmakers without that fear of failure looming in their heads, have more James Gunn situations where you take someone so passionate about their project and let them do their thing. But they don’t. They are sitting in their laurels, making the most accessible and digestible content possible and just putting it out there cause, indeed, the Marvel brand has grown too strong, but the wear is starting to show. And it’s not like they are unaware of their problems, the latest She-Hulk episode attests to that, making Kevin Feige a machine, creating narratives out of pure algorithms that will bring about success. But they don’t care, they are content with being self aware about it while not doing anything about those problems, which is a problem in and of itself because, again, it means they don’t care.
And if they don’t care, why should we?
Any writer who’s trying to chase the “Whedon” style of writing ought to remember that in his projects- namely Buffy and Angel- the characters’ humor was just as much a coping mechanism. It was their way of making it through seemingly impossible situations. The humor in those shows usually was more of a morale boost than a mood-killer.
Also, Whedon wrote both The Body and A Hole in the World- the most devastating episodes of Buffy and Angel respectively. Even he understood that sometimes, the characters just need to be sad for a while.
Yup. Whedon, for all his faults, never made Bruce Banner/Hulk quip in either _The Avengers_ or _Avengers: Age of Ultron_ because... Bruce isn't that type of guy. Yet from _Thor: Ragnarok_ onwards, despite the fact that Bruce has been unconscious for two years, he's suddenly a lot more humorous & more... "Mark Ruffalo-y."
@@loganbigmo they are trying to hard to make the characters be more like the actor the only one that truly worked was RDJ
@@loganbigmo I literally hope they put this new version of Hulk down like Lassy. Take him out back,and let him go out with some dignity. If you are a Hulk fan its been embarrassing since Ragnarok.
Don’t forget Firefly.
I have a controversial theory that all great artists are somewhat morally questionable, which means they are unacceptable in today's political climate. Just look back into history, I mean those like Mozart, Beethoven and Van Gough would have been cancelled into oblivion if they were born in todays agr. The Joss Whedons, the James Gunns, obviously are a-holes but their dark sides are exactly why their jokes worked. If all writers are unproblemtic, straight-edged activists who only care about seeming politically correct and advocating for some big moral message in the script, we get disasters like she hulk and captain marvel. They want "Whedon style" but don't want Whedon, but they can't replicate his humor, you can't expect the goody two shoes prefects to tell a joke like the class troublemakers do while still lecturing the class on what's appropriate
watching Guardians 1 to detox after blasting the Phase 4 movies into my eyeballs for the past five days. thank you for the suffering, king.
That’s me except I’m watching smallville for the first time
@@yash_kapoor the worst episodes of Smallville are still light years ahead of any of the Disney produced episodes
Me but by watching Man of Steel
Me watching Incredible Hulk after seeing She-hulk 😞
@@Servantofthearts w
Look, I say this as maybe the biggest MCU shill on the planet. I’m the guy who is *still* the person you describe in the opening monologue- still theorizing, still dissecting every character arc in every movie with a fine-tooth comb, still dragging my family to the midnight showings, someone who still cares about the MCU probably more than is healthy.
I would do exactly *one* thing that would fix so many of the franchises issues not just for me, but for many:
*SLOW DOWN THE GODDAMN RELEASE SCHEDULE*
I’m convinced that the push to make 5-6 projects a year is what’s impacting the artistry and production of these things, and that *releasing* so many a year is why so many are tired and can’t find the positives the way they used to.
Just go back to two movies a year, maybe a show or two as well, and make that THE LINE. Anything that threatens to create more than 4 MCU projects within a 365 day period gets pushed back to be worked on further and more deliberately. I think it would fix, or at least relieve, almost everything.
This!
I love how every scene in this essay is metaphorically in tune with what's being said at that point of time.
That is The power of visual storytelling 😎👏
While really flawed, I've honestly been more interested in the Disney+ shows because they feel like their own thing and far more character based. I loved loki and wandavision they're so much smaller in feel as well. I was even more invested in hawkeye than any films recently because I felt for Clint
After what they did to HULK and THOR
I'm not looking forward to see what they'll do with the rest of the X-Men
@Oddwolf 799 hello
They will probably take them seriously for a while and after the big ending those who survive will become a joke.
In my limited knowledge of comic book lore I imagine Rogue could be like the best character ever if done properly, with respect and care and all that
I'm with you Kyle. It's not looking good at all.
@Oddwolf 799 dude you need to step the fuck back for real
At least MoM felt a bit unique, I didn’t like it first in theatres but the more I watch it, the more I start to like it A LOT than a lot of Phase 4 projects (besides NWH) and I also feel pretty curious about Disney’s new Daredevil show, cuz if they f’d it up then I’m pretty much done with Marvel at this point.
MoM felt so great the first 1 hour, after wanda reached the darkhold castle, meh
@@taoxist I'd argue that part was the only bit that had the Sam Raimi flourish. The rest of the movie was shot like typical Marvel fair, so much so I kinda feel like they borrowed the original directors work up until that point.
But the whole think was lacking, the movie was much a mess structurally.
I feel like Charlie Cox cares too much about the character for it to be really terrible. It'll probably be like Moon Knight tier, if anything. It's definitely watchable and has its moments, but it ain't gonna be too crazy.
Agreed most definitely.
@@Canadish the whole Wanda vs illuminati scene was definitely not typical marvel flair at all lmao.
I think an issue with Marvel due to the Disney+ shows is that all the movies and shows are being filmed all at once and they all tie into each other.
So there’s no time to learn and adapt what actually works or not in between shoots, because literally one week after WandaVision finishes filming, Lizzie Olsen is filming Doc Strange II
As a life long (and still very much to this day) MCU fan, I have to say I loved this! Perfectly encapsulated how to make something that is always going to do well be greater and bigger. A lot of MCU fans will probably get angry at the slightest hint of criticism you made but from me, you absolutely nailed it! Thanks
most comments are saying that "they should drop the continuity" but i think that one of phase 4s major problems is that now mcu feels really direction less. like do they want to do multiverse stuff or set up young avengers or focus on solo contained stories or build up to kang. there is so much going on and they're not planning on slowing down anytime soon, like bro we about to finish a whole saga in just 6 years!!
Thanks for continuing to be a legend man. You inspire so much more than you know, and you deserve to know that. Can't wait to see the Red Hood short film. Have a good day Alex
I really miss the simplicity of phase one. Not everything has to be an origin story, but at the same time even the origin stories we're getting feel like they're not focused on the character, they're focused on getting to the action or to things they think we'll care about. Like in She-Hulk it's all about cameos. Maybe it's funny to other people, but it just irritates me that she breaks the fourth wall and says something along the lines of "Hey, this is a show about me. Not the cameos, me. Even though we have a cameo every week..." It makes sense to have cameos in her show considering her job and how she gets her powers, but seriously, it'd be nice to let shows rely on the new characters without shoving already established characters into it. Kind of like how Boba Fett wasn't about Boba Fett at all essentially.
First and foremost the MCU needs writers who care. It all starts there.
Right on, it's the reason why the Raimi trilogy worked. And while the third movie didn't got the same reception as 1 and 2, Raimi still tried after the studio forcing him to put story elements that he doesn't want.
Hell, I could even say that Spider-Man 3 is more better than what we've got in Phase 4 so far.
@@somecallmejeremy Man I WISH nowadays "bad movies" were at the level of Spider-Man 3. That's the kind of bad movies I could moore than live with.
It has writers sometimes but they’re absolutely constricted by the rigid storyboard they’re forced to work with. The writers aren’t actually the ones making the story, the corporate producers still are
@@somecallmejeremy Spider-Man 3 not being good makes yours and the OP's point even more. Raimi didn't care for Venom and that was the weakest part of the movie.
It's not the writers fault? Did you not watch the video?
I had actually thought of a more tragic opening for End War. Starting with Hawkeye on the phone with his wife, who's driving home with two of their kids. When "The Snap" happens, the line goes quiet. Hawk thinks they just drove into a dead zone when his youngest cries out that mommy just vanished into dust. End the scene with Hawk desperately trying to calm his kids down over the phone as the driverless car careens off a bridge. This would give him more of a reason to want to sacrifice himself while getting the soul stone because he knows that even if they bring back everyone that was lost in the snap, there will be no way to bring back those who were lost due to the unforeseen casualties that the snap caused.
The most important thing to saving these movies (and you did mention this somewhat) is making them more serious. Yeah they have to cut back on the bad jokes it’s getting a little ridiculous, but also they need to put more of their characters in danger more. Since the multi verse was introduced, everyone now has an infinite amount of lives and anything that bad that happens in the story can just be undone by time travel as well. Why would I worry or care about anything that happens in these movies if there are zero stakes
This is why I much prefer X-Men: Days of Future Past's use of time travel. The stakes are set right at the beginning. And the effects of that are used later in the movie when Logan remembers a future event, causing him to freak out in the present and stab Kitty Pryde, almost losing the connection. And we know once that connection is lost, the entire future is changed. And whilst all this happens, Magneto tries to kill Mystique, Hank reveals himself as Beast publicly and Charles is knocked down on the floor.
Endgame's "changing the past doesn't change the future" immediately reduces the stakes. If something doesn't work in one time period, you can just try it in another time as long as you put everything back to normal afterwards (which they completely glossed over how hard that would actually be for Steve to do).
You're bringing up a lot of good points here I haven't really though of.
Ditch the whole 10 year phase plans and massive story arcs and use the multiverse as a sort of platform to launch a space where new creatives have the freedom to do what they want with the characters they want, this way a studio can still mandate a certain marvel IP gets a movie while letting the crew they hire to have creative control and simultaneously creative teams can come to marvel with the movies they want to make and still maintain that creative control cause even though they're not following the MCU assembly line it still falls under the brand cause it's all in the same multiverse, essentially use the multiverse as an excuse to pitch and create comic book films they way they used to in the 2000s, no big overarching plots just unique stand alone films
1. Treat the cgi and vfx workers with more respect.
2. Have the balls to take creative risks
3. Take things more seriously. Humor is a great thing but not good when it is oversaturated.
4. Less is more( have more focused stories).
5. Be more willing to go out of the formula
6. More standalone stories would be nice for once.
7. Better writing in general
8. More consistent with characters’ character development( like Thor and Hulk for example)
9. Trust your director( but I don’t know about Taika since well, love and thunder). But Taika is a great director but it seems to me, when I watched the interviews about Thor 4, it seems like he just shits on his own creation. Like he made it bad on purpose.
10. Kinda like number 4. You give us shows but. Make them stand on their own. Like You can have characters like MoonKnight in the new Avenger’s movies but let the shows stand on their own two feet. Not everything has to be connected. Or just connect them later. Also less movies and shows per year. We don’t want to be bombarded with content. Marvel fatigue exists. You give us so much , that a lot of the content is things we don’t care about( but of course some people do care).
11. Let characters be unique.
12. Any point that HiTop made in this video
You forgot #1, genius, which would be to drop the WOKE AGENDA BS it has been pushing, just as Disney also pushed the clot shots... You haven't got a clue at how corrupt these mega corporations are. 😅 But Disney will keep pushing WOKENESS until the fans start to WAKE UP....
HiTop hates the MCU though, leave it to him the MCU wouldn't exist
I hope the dceu takes notes and learns from marvels mistakes.
dceu trash like mcu
I just rewatched the first two Pirates of the Caribbean movies (spoilers by the way), and something that really stuck with me was the ending of Dead Man's Chest. That film ends with the heroes losing everything. William witnesses a kiss between the woman he loves and the scoundrel that sold him to Davey Jones, Jack Sparrow is killed by the Kraken, Davey Jones heart beats on the desk of the man who will use it to rule the sea. The most important to me, was the Black Pearl. Seeing the Black Pearl sink beneath the sea brought a genuine tear to my eye. Jack says it best himself. "It's just a ship." But it's not just a ship. The Black Pearl is as much a character as any other. She's a gorgeous vessel with a catchy name and most importantly our heroes worked so hard to get her. So seeing our heroes lose the battle and everything they worked for is heartbreaking. That's what the MCU is missing I think. It's lacking it's own Black Pearl, and by that I mean it doesn't have anything personal to take away from us. It's always something big and vague like "the world" or "the multiverse." I don't care about the mutliverse, I can't care, I physically cannot even fathom the vastness of one universe let alone all of them. So yeah it's a lot of destruction but what does that destruction mean? (Spoilers for NWH if you haven't seen it) The only time the MCU has made me cry genuine tears as of late was in No Way Home. Aunt May was a character we never knew well. But one that had been there from the beginning. She was more than just "Aunt May" she was "Peter's Aunt May." And to SEE Peter truly, actually, really lose something with genuine value was heartbreaking. The best part is the film lets it stew. It doesn't dip a finger in and then yank it out because it's too hot, it soaks it down to the bone. You feel every inch of that burning stew and it's amazing. The reason I watch movies is to FEEL. If a movie doesn't make me feel, or worse teases me with feelings and then rips them away, I have no reason to watch it. I think the best way to fix the MCU is to let that pot boil a little longer. I mean this in every regard. Push your projects back a little, reject a few ideas that aren't the best or that can't fit into the schedule. Spend some of your fucking mountains of money to let you animators see their god damn kids every once in a while. Most importantly, let your employees have fun. Let your writers do crazy ass shit, let your actors improv from time to time, let your directors DIRECT THE FUCKING MOVIE. This is getting ranty, so I'm just gonna say I really miss Iron Man 3 and I wish we could go back to before Age of Ultron.
I don't always agree with everything you say, but your enthusiasm and sheer passion are impossible to ignore and deserve respect.
Everything was heading towards INFINITY WAR and ENDGAME
Now the MCU became one big bubble, ready to burst
Tell me what Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars are about and how phase 4 matters toward it.
If Kevin Fuckpie hadn’t revealed the names of the movies in the next phases, you’d have no clue what it’s heading towards.
@@emblemblade9245 in Loki they broke the multiverse and now kangs from different universes are able to come through , which is how kang dynasty will happen lol
Cant wait to here you break down The Batman moive wth this type of passion and depth. That film is a masterpiece
I'd argue Trevor Slattery was Essential in shang chi due to him cosplaying the Mandarin..and kingpin being in Hawkeye is essential since it was set in new York and we know how powerful he is there
Hammerhead and Silvermane are also crime bosses who live in New York in the marvel universe. Would it be essential to have them cameo In Hawkeye for that reason alone?
@@galactic85 it would however the writers of the show chose not to..
Great video. And you cant tell me Matt Murdock twerking with She-Hulk wouldn't be iconic.
People may not always agree with Alex but the man has a heart for these icons and he wears it in his sleeve. I love your videos because they feel like each one come from your soul. I too have been noticing my disappointment with each entry, I can't help but keep watching in hopes to see that magic that once stained every film of the franchise. But it's harder and harder. I used to sit down with a grin in my face, anxious to see what the next movie or series had in for this wonderfull world I loved losing myself into. But now I'm doubtfull and just watching to see if somehow things snap back to how they were before, even for a scene or a chapter, and to not miss anything in the continuity that the franchise builds.
I knew this was the next video in the How To Save series. Fantastic Points HiTop!
Shang-Chi and Ms Marvel are the main things that give me remaining hope for future of MCU, they were flawed by the Disney machine yet but there was still a passion, actual human stories, and creative visual edge emanating from it. Here's hoping the future of those characters is bright, but sadly they'l probably be thrust into a CGI bloated army fight lost in the crowd before too long. Another great video, interested where this How To Save series may potentially go next
Why did you liked Ms Marvel? Genuine question
Ms. Marvel? L.
@@StivsLair I can totally accept it fell apart as it went on I’m not going to ignore the flaws, the dimension family and damage control villian subplots were poorly smushed together, the stuff with great grandmother took away from Kamala’s own story, the time travel element was pointless confusing add on and having a good chunk of finale be just home alone in a school made me frustrated, like I said previously it became victim of the Marvel machine severely limited by six episode structure when it should have been split into two season arcs. But man, I just adored the first two episodes, that’s what gave me such hope. They were the fairly grounded yet fantastical charming character focused stuff superhero stories should be, Kamala (perfectly casted by Iman) was a real fun personality, I was content to just watching her, her family and Muslim community life before superhero stuff kicked in. There were actual creative liberties taken with visuals with Kamalas imagination and the camera actually dared to move around instead of usual static MCU closeup shots. When I think of show, it’s those promising elements my mind goes to, but that’s just me as said there are flaws so I can understand not everyone will feel same way. I just hope this lays groundwork for a brighter future for character and other projects.
Spiderman Nwh, Loki, and Falcon and Winter soldier were the best of this phase. Moon knight was great as a origin, though no world building. Shang chi had good world building as well. Everything else were mediocre and pathetic.
This got me emotional and nostalgic man..I watched Ironman when I was 12 years old and I told myself that was the best movie i've ever seen and it stuck with me for days. But now I walk out of Thor love and thunder and other past mcu movies feeling empty.
About MCU Daredevil...I think it's the next step for Matt Murdock.
When we left him, he was an emotional wreck trying to rebuild his life - isn't it great to now see him so happy and in his element? He's so secure in himself, he isn't threatened by Jen - he's intrigued and we see a tonal shift to fit his new perspective on life. More colourful, more joyful.
I know it's unclear if the Netflix show is still canon but if you consider it as canon, it adds so much weight behind his new attitude and I think it's great to see this tragic character finally happy in himself and his identity. He's not Marvel's Batman, which I see tossed around a lot, and he doesn't need to continually suffer - he's not Spider-Man either. He's Daredevil.
I'd really love to hear what you think about this - wierd video to post it on I know, but when you mentioned him in passing, I remembered I wanted to get your opinion on this because I love your previous video essay on DD.
I wished more people got that.
The Netflix show is canon
To me they just need to try harder….
From Phase 1 to Endgame it felt like a lot of love and energy was poured into the MCU.
Since then it’s felt very paint by numbers. I don’t consider much of it to be bad, it just lacks the sparkle that the earlier products had.
This was amazing, this is what I’ve been feeling for the last 4 or so years. I want the MCU to return to it’s exciting, heartwarming, meaningful self from Phase 1.
Tbh watching The Boys is what stopped me caring for the MCU. They satired the MCU so much and with every movie, The Boys is being proven more and more right. Also, there is not one bad charecter or actor the jokes are fewer but a lot more funny and you really really feel the stakes and the charecter development. Im just gonna stick with that universe and leave the MCU for a while hopefully they get there shit together and even if not, The Boys has more then made up that hole for me
It's ironic how a superhero satire series is a good show with genuine message, while the actual superhero movies became bleak made from factory full of artificial fun.
after watching The Boys, I’ve been noticing more than ever that the MCU superpowered heroes are too morally perfect
@@FlyLikeAirplaneKnows
Eh never had a problem with heroes being good people
neither did I! But to me, it seems that there’s too little superpowered egomaniacs in the MCU. At some point there’d surely be at least 1 superhero only doing it for the fame, not caring about actually saving people?
For me the boys and invincible are the only superhero stuff I am looking g forward to
My suggestion would be to cut back on the amount of new characters introduced in every property. Because these movies are so focused on setting up future plotlines, they include several characters in reference to those. As a consequence, these new faces get less time to stand out. Natasha from Iron Man 2 got much more focus and time to be established than Monica Rambo did in WandaVision. Take the time to slowly incorperate these character into the world, let fans grow to love them, THEN give them solo movies/series.
Comedy is fine, but it depends on the character. You can make deadpool funny, but it showed that Deadpool is filled with pain and he must laugh through the pain. If everything is a "comedy" then nothing can we taken seriously.
We need to see more love for these characters. There seems to be no passion for these characters and stories and I miss when there was love for the stories they were telling.
They need to focus on more quality stuff rather than quantity, I’d rather 4 really great projects than 8 mediocre projects
As would I, but that's half the ticket money, and that's what matters to the people making the choice.
I wish some big shot from the marvel film industry sees this with an open mind.
They need to take it easy with the comedy, just now I saw werewolf by night was labeled a comedy not a horror comedy but just comedy
Im always like,” how doesnt a single Disney CEO see all these videos that come from with such a familiar and hopeful place” like you put your heart on the line with every single piece of content u put out
“Part of the journey is the end.”
I’d love for the MCU to go back to focusing on taking the time to develop their characters. In recent years it feels like there just throwing more and more new characters at us without taking the time, or putting in the effort to make those characters interesting, or compelling. And this makes me not care about the characters and as result not care so much about the MCU.
If marvel cared more about telling stories and less about making “products” that’d be nice.
Something that did make me sad was Moon Knight. I actullay really liked the beginning. But when they were in Egypt... it all went down. The villain was bad even though he could have been amazing. The relation between Marc and Steven was my favorite part. But the problem was EGYPT. Or rather yet.
TRYING TO BE A [BIG SHOT] WITH A CONTENT WITHOUT [Hyperlink Blocked]
"When everything is gigantic, there isn't enough time to sit with things as tender as a feeling"
Damn
Directors who should work on MCU films:
• Darren Aronofsky
• Matthew Vaughn
• Quentin Tarantino
• Brad Bird
• Martin Campbell
• Tim Burton
• Rob Zombie
• Matt Reeves
Seeing videos from HiTop honestly gives me a smile because I like hearing from him. But also makes me sad, because I get just how much things like the early mcu projects meant. I myself am a couple years older than him. He's the same age as my brother. And it's so depressing seeing them rip away the good about the early movies just to be "safe". It sucks man. I used to go with my brother to all of these opening night. But the more they drag on, the more I just feel sad that it doesn't give me the same joy as it once did.
Sorry Alex. You were right.
One suggestion, they should make smaller budget films.
Maybe with that we can get more director driven, experimental movies, they can take risks.
If one of their movies flop, who cares? They won't lose money. The marvel train will keep rolling. They need to use the momentum to their advantage
Werewolf by night is my only hope. Please don’t suck, it has so much potential!
Your comparison of a good movie as being like a good friend or experience that got you through a hard time definitely hits home. I still remember Guardians Vol 2 fondly because I was at the time still grappling with the sudden death of a distant family member, and the movie's themes of reconciling messy relationships, of cutting out toxic people and deciding who is worth keeping in, it was all tremendously cathartic. I wish I could have said that Eternals affected me similarly in more recent years, that a better version of the general idea could help me deal with anxieties of mortality, about how maintaining connections and savoring the little moments are what matters in life, no matter how long any given life might last. But alas, it was just way too messy to really land, and its actual efforts in emotional storytelling completely fell flat. Even if I were to stop watching Marvel movies, I would wish that one would come out that would help someone the way Vol 2 did for me
13:27 my man's asking the right question🤔
Here’s an idea: Instead of having everything be an origin story to an un-killable god amongst humans just for the sake of setting up the new Avengers movies, have an arc centered around a villain who over time becomes more powerful and picks of already established characters easily like a slasher film. It’s not like a lot people really care for the new MCU characters anyway. Also have them collaborate with other villains to take over the multiverse (if you still want to go that route) and have that be the reason for the avengers to exist again.
@Oddwolf 799 why?
@@musket_mcgee just ignore that person, they're just going around trolling.
@@cthulhucrews6602 I always thought about Doctor Doom being a good candidate
There are a lot of things that could be done to the MCU to fix it. But I think the overarching thing that needs to be fixed is that the MCU needs to give itself more time. Time to let it’s VFX artists finish a scene and not have to crunch a week before the premiere. Time for the writer’s to dive into these stories and bring out the humanity that these heroes are supposed to represent. Time for the director’s to visualize a film that plays to the character’s journey, and not the cut/paste formula that we have seen for the past 10 years. I love the Marvel movies, they hold a place in my heart. But I am tired of feeling we are speeding through a universe instead of enjoying it.
I think they really need to bring some personality back to these movies and focus more on smaller scale, character-focused stories.
They can(and should) still have bombastic, over-the-top multiversal shenanigans but don’t make it end of the world/universe events that are just tools to set up the next five movies. Have them be contained stories that only focus on the characters and the struggles they’re going through and shows what makes them heroes, but more importantly, what makes them human.
We love heroes not because they can crack jokes in situations where they really shouldn’t be, but because of the pain they go through, and how they rise above that pain, it makes them relatable, and it makes them heroes.
And this is why I am only genuinely hype/looking forward to Secret Invasion and Werewolf By Night. The former, because they are finally bringing back some seriousness and real stakes (hopefully), the latter because it looks so new and different, yet so intriguing at the same time. That's what the MCU should aim and strive for. Save the big popcorn events where it truly matters.
How’d that turn out for you?
It’s not that hard to make good content marvel, listen to this advice!
I would keep each installment in it's own lane, no real references to the other heroes or villains (unless it actually deeply impacts the story told). Moonknight did this and was very well received compared to other shows. They also need to tap into supernatural marvel aspects more. Werewolf by Night gives me so much hope for this
I’d put all my cards in for the Fantastic Four. They’ve saved Marvel Comics twice, and they can save the movies. I would start with finding a director passionate enough that focuses on the importance of Family and has a passion for Marvel’s 1st family. You don’t need to be connect it with Easter eggs, just show this amazing family and make them relatable to us. Help us as the audience see ourselves and our own family in the F4 and we’ll start to care.
Another option would be to make a Dr. Doom series. Make it a dark fantasy series that shows the origins of Victor Von Doom, the biggest Marvel Villain, and again do a character study of him. If Marvel could switch things up, and make us care for a Villain, in a serious way, then when they face off against the heroes we all know, we actually care for the conflict.
The fantastic 4 is hilariously cursed in movies but I hope they don’t botch Dr Doom
@@emblemblade9245 they’ve just never been done Justice before in movies. They have so much potential
Phase 1 had it all dude.
It had the man on top of the world, a man that had everything but in just one fraction of a second, lost all of it. The mighty, the self-absorbed genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist that for the sake of his few remaining loved ones, did not want to but *HAD* to develop a heart of iron.
We had a man that due to severe abuse and scientific experimentation became something... other. Something loud and mightier than a mountain, a thing that can shake city's and break worlds all in the body of a man who just wants to be human again.
We had a literal legend made flesh, a war-prince ready to accept the throne of his people and champion his nation of combat without a shred of decency or humility and had to be cast out of his own luxurious position to learn to fight for a reason, outside of himself.
And lastly we had a man who no one looked up to, hardly anyone cared for, and scrutinized for his lack of power, but due to this, he'd learn to keep fighting when the cards were down, to never give up and that he would take these ideals of perseverance into a new age that's forgotten him. To a world that's so vastly, TOO vastly different from his own. The man that unlike the others, had to learn *NOT* to change in the face of adversary and apathy. A saint with a soldier's duty.
And ever since then its been a steady decline. It peaked for me at Infinity War, Endgame, and No Way Home but those are the exceptions now, not the norm
Unrelated note, but this idea came into my head recently and I would like to hear your opinion on it if yiu ever see this: imagine a Justice League animated movie, where each of the members of the league are drawn in a seperate art style, with seperate character designers, that don't match any of the civilians. A way of saying that these individuals don't fit in with society and shouldn't fit in with eachother but despite all the differences in their background and their ideas they come together for one purpose: The purpose of helping people.
This is why we really need a Christopher Nolan Daredevil trilogy
Nolan can't do real comic book stuff.
@@ShadowSonic2atleast he knows how to bring in quality for the movie in general.
Being CINEMA...
I think with Thor Love and Thunder and some other movies in phase 4 Marvel has been letting go of control being more experimental and letting some director's do as they please or with less interference, and with how divisive and critiqued some of those movies have been I expect they are going to start interfering more with how the characters are portrayed and the direction a movie takes.
so thanks for that everyone.
On the contrary, they are just following their formulas that came from wrong reasons. There's nothing experimental to their new movies and series. All of their new movies/series follow the same pattern from previous works like this one...
The Disney plus formula:
Episode 1: Flashy intro with little or no information about the story
Episode 2: Exposition dump but not really answering all the questions
Episode 3 & 4: Fillers that are either enjoyable or not
Episode 5: The good episode. All of our questions and character reflection are in this episode.
Episode 6: Rush ending. They have to cram everything since they only have one progress before ending.
They are not being experimental, they're becoming a factory of artificial fun and processed junk shows.
@@jankyyard5610
The rush ending arguably all the other stuff definitely isn't the same for a lot of shows, and you're only describing the shows not the movies.
@@jankyyard5610 I was referring to the movies, I do agree the series have been more standardized and it has impacted some more than others.
This is why I thought eternals was refreshing, it wasn’t a perfect movie because it really should have been a series to give more time to develop each character better, but love it or hate it eternals was the least interconnected storyline in phase 4 it was mostly it’s own thing. It was visually beautiful and it told a complete story with no cameos
I thought that movie was shit but I appreciated that they at least TRIED to be different. But sadly it will probably be punished for it, and will be forced into the mcu mold.
Eternals actually suffered because it was too restrained. By plot and structure, it's still going by the generic MCU blockbuster when the ambition needs a far better format.
@@ThePrinceofHisOwnKingdom that's fine I'll respectfully disagree I think fans have become overly critical to a point that it's a little ridiculous imo, we go into a movie ready to pick it apart before were ready to enjoy it. Are some movies not great? Sure but to say eternals is shit is an extreme exaggeration. Great visuals, great cast, good acting, with a slightly rushed story is hardly shit. Fan toxicity is out of control, people want their stories to be exactly what they expect or they hate it and people just need to let go of their ego.
Yep most definitely agreed.
@@luumanmusic4993 I didn't say it was shit, the other guy did.
Most of us (I'm guessing) were between 5 and 15 when Tony Stark became Iron Man.
Now we are 25-30 and instead the MCU of maturing with us, it's dumbing down to appeal to everyone...
Less jokes that don’t fit, more creative freedom with a couple people too say if something isn’t the best, delay everything and give more time to the vfx people, do not rely on cg for everything
I think the first step is just to take a break. They’re releasing too many films and none of them are thought out enough.
Then, like you said, lower the stakes and focus on the characters. Most of the original marvel movies are still amazing and the stakes were not world ending. The reason the avengers worked so well and was so exciting to see is because it was a new threat we’ve never seen before and we needed all the avengers to fix it.
Along those lines, we don’t need a team up or cameo in every movie. I’d much rather see a movie with a well thought out very distinct character than 5 that all feel the same.
I think marvel should stop with the shows as well (the ones that are a “required viewing” at least.) Shows are fun for sure, and gives us more time to spend with the characters, but when it’s a “required” viewing and you need to watch it to understand 90% of the next movie in theatre, it’s annoying and frustrating - especially when the show doesn’t have enough to make you want to watch the whole thing.
This is a perfect timing video because I just re-watched the whole MCU last week!!
I don’t have a problem with Iron Man 2 or age of Ultron. Yes every film has criticisms and some nitpicking…. But after Thor love and thunder, there’s nothing to complain about hardly in Iron Man 2 or age of Ultron lol. Or even Thor the dark world! At least they had a direction and a story a real story to tell.
Tony Stark and Steve Rogers truly did built the MCU up and down. It started with Tony and it ended with Tony! Every character arc was beautifully well told in their first movies. Character writing done right!! I’m truly glad these movies existed when they were good.
A lot of people loved no way home. But for me personally the plot is just not as rememberable compared to other amazing movies like Civil war! I also hated the disrespect on Dock Ock! They wasted him to make tentacle jokes and threw him out the window…. NOOOOO THANK YOU!!
Doesnt need "saving" but could use a bit more focus. Loved Eternals and Shang Chi and phase 4 hasn't been as bad as others think.
Bruh you cant say it doesnt need saving. Its god awful rn. By all means explain to.me how she hulk twerking and demeaning the fuck out of bruce isnt terrible.
Agreed their we're some gems
As someone who grew up with early marvel eg x-men 2000,spider-man 2002, hulk 2003 etc as a kid wishing for the characters to interact with one another so as soon as iron man 2008 came up seeing the tease us of the avengers made me excited and had a abit of doubt about it but it worked marvel studios nowadays decides to rush their projects which is ashame its why I'm not worried about daredevil born again mainly because I believe that they can be better, Shang Chi, nwh, multiverse of madness was amazing in my opinion, WandaVision, fatws, Loki, Hawkeye and moon knight are my favourite shows they done while daredevil, Jessica Jones are my favourite marvel shows I believe that marvel studios should take their time with projects not rush them to get hit a deadline Fegie should know that what he stood for was to make fans everywhere excited for what's new in the world
There's no greater barometer of how Marvel treats its characters before and after Endgame than Thor.
What gets me about the current state of the MCU is that I really do care and I’m saddened by the bastardization of this thing that I very much grew up loving. I invested a lot into this franchise, and to its credit, there was a time it used to reward my investment.
And yet now that there’s a clear dropoff in quality, it feels like the franchise is turning on me, a fan. There’s so, so many people out there that would take a bullet for this multibillion dollar corporation who call me a “hater” or come out with so many bullshit defenses for this garbage, mass-tested corporate sludge. A lot of these people have no standards and would accept whatever the MCU shits out. They’d shit on anything and everything(including other MCU movies and characters that are actually good) to justify why the newest product is the best thing ever only to forget about it two weeks later.
Wasn’t always this way. When the MCU was actually good(you know when), there was very little division between the fanbase. Nobody was calling anyone “toxic” or “incel” or whatever. This used to be one of the few franchises with a more generally unified fanbase. I guess I mistook a lot of MCU fans for having actual standards all those years, because now that the quality has dropped and they’re still defending it, it’s being revealed to me that a lot of these fans are people who just weren’t in it for the same reasons as I was. They just wanna consume product and get excited for next product without ever asking questions or criticizing anything. To them it’s a disposable experience. How many times have you been told stuff like “just turn off your brain” or “it’s a comedy” or whatever over the last few years? How many times have we seen people use box office returns as an indicator of quality like that’s supposed to mean anything?
It’s making me look down upon the whole thing, even the things I fell in love with. For whatever naive reason, I thought this franchise would be above making the same mistakes Star Wars, GOT, DCEU, ROP, Ghostbusters, etc made.
Fuck off MCU. You broke my heart.
👏
"Nobody was calling anyone “toxic” or “incel” or whatever"
Because there were no leading women or nonwhites. Now there are and that brings out the scummy "fans".
I think people forget that solo comics were simply stories that enhanced the characters and their respective little universes, which is why I’m enjoying Ms Marvel and She-Hulk so much. They truly feel like a 6-comic run about characters we haven’t seen yet, and now they won’t feel out of place or wedged in to the next big team up movie. The movies somehow think they all need to be box office smashes that redefine the MCU or set up the next Thanos. The future looks bright with DD, Secret Invasion, and Captain America 4 following more what Phase 1 did so well. Ones like Ant Man 3 and Loki season 2 should be the reinforcement of the bigger, universe level ideas.
Yeah I feel like the DD and secret invasion shows are gonna be great I just hope that they keep it respective to their stories. No characters from other shows or movies just fresh and focused on what they’re trying to do on their own. I hope secret invasion will be a cool mystery thriller that fleshes out nick furys character
I have faith in the future of the MCU. It’ll never be perfect but I doubt phases 5 and 6 will be any worse than where we’re at now. We’ll see what things look like post Secret Invasion
Just like the Video Game industry. Once the "risk" is proven to make money on a constant basis, that becomes the focus and the creatives get put on the back burner.
There was NO FOCUS or continuity in phase 1 other than seeing them team up. Not even a common big bad or infinity stones until later. Phase 4 is like phase 1. You plant seeds and it takes time for things to grow into a bigger picture just like how the infinity stones were placed
Facts, I wonder if he was making vids about phase 1, which was heavily criticized at the time
Difference is that the films in lhase 1 was actually good (for the most part). Everything release in phase 4 ranges from mediocre to terrible - none have been good. Plant the seeds, sure, but make it actually entertaining
@@iliketigers7820 actually alot of people didn't like Incredible Hulk, Iron man 2, or even Thor was just a fun movie at best. Thats half of phase 1. Theres more than twice the movies and series in phase so theres going to be more dislikes. However, I still think phase 4 is still better and entertaining than incredible hulk. And despite being phase 2, better than darkworld
@@antfr1993 thats why i said "for the most part", and not "all of phase 1". But even still, hot take incoming: the worse of phase 1 is better than the best of phase 4. This is my opinion, but still
There are specific points here that I can get behind, even though I have enjoyed Phase 4. I appreciate Alex's constructiveness and his eagerness for something he loves to do better, to be better. It's an admirable trait. Still, I can't wrap my head around generalizing the movies as cameo-filled joke fests when he's using Moon Knight and Eternals as clips for reference. Not every film is like this and often times it just feels disingenuous to me to hear things like this about a film franchise that is so varied in style and tone, even to this day. At least that's just how I feel. Video's great, but I personally think some points feel like they're more surface level than anything.
Unfortunately, as long as Disney has control over Marvel, literally nothing is going to change unless its for the worse.
This is blatantly wrong. Disney is the reason we have Endgame. 90 percent of the MCU is Disney. Almost all of which is better than the first few Phase 1 movies. Out of the 3 non Disney MCU films, only one of them is considered a good movie.
@@jeremyorth5138 Woah, slow down there! You don't want to choke on that boot would you? Endgame wasnt a good movie, you just like seeing all your favorite characters on the big screen all together. The writing was bad, placing was all over the place, and only had a few good scenes. If you wanted to make an argument you couldve said "Infinity War," that was a much better movie. Disney isn't incapable of producing something good, but its not the norm for them. They like to pump out whatever they can as quickly as they can with little to no regard of quality control. Not even mentioning how terribly they mistreat the vfx artists.
@@splatjam64 Endgame and Infinity War are both great movies. You are definitely in the minority thinking that Endgame isn't. And regarding Disney making good films, I'd say like 90 percent of what they put out is pretty good to great. Even moving away from superhero movies, their animated films are top tier. Definitely the most consistently good films of any studio.
@@jeremyorth5138 Oh you mean like that soulless Pinnochio remake? Or how about that Chip & Dale movie with painfully unfunny meta commentary that made fun of the tragic life of the original peter pan voice actor. Or are you talking about those poorly disguised Disney+ ads that they call Simpsons Shorts?
@@splatjam64 I haven't even seen most of the things you listed, so I can't speak for the quality other than the Chip and Dale movie which was fine. Even so, that is a very small ratio for what they produce. In recent memory movies like Encanto, Raya, frankly anything produced by Pixar are all fantastic. Their track record speaks for itself, and putting out 1 stinker for every 10 bangers is still pretty good. I love the MCU and think that everything they have released is pretty solid. I'm happy with what they've done and am excited for what is coming next. Disney and Kevin Feige in particular have more than earned my trust for the future of this franchise.
This hit so hard for me man. This franchise gave me a personality, something to love, and now its been turned into a factory where everything feels like the same formula.
The only MCU content that I enjoyed in phase 4 was Loki, Moon Knight, and Spiderman NWH
Sincere is the perfect way to describe an attribute of that movie (part from the beginning). This is amazing
I think if it weren't for the pandemic which shut production of everything down in 2020, I think people would hate the MCU even more. I think if the MCU took maybe a 5 year break following Endgame, or Far From Home, then it would have made the MCU's return feel much more grander and more special, similar to The Avengers (2012).
Problem is, if you take a break that long, you allow your competitors to get a foot in the door. If the MCU really took a 5 year break, WB could have capitalised on this opportunity to launch their universe and characters. Plus, people are always hungry for content. Also, not all people in the fanbase would return after that long.