Not necessarily saying the MCU is bad, the world’ biggest and most profitable franchise does have its flaws. With each installment of popular Marvel comic book superheroes hitting the theaters it becomes more and more difficult for the show-runners to cultivate a compromise. Criticism is bound to happen. The movies are a feast for the soul and ravage the box office every time they come yet the faults are becoming too prevalent and cannot be ignored now.
The Original Line-Up
The original Avengers were – Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp. What The Avengers gave us was – Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, Black Widow and Hawkeye. The viewers were happy with the movie line up and enjoyed them working together to stop Loki on Screen. But comic fans were devastated to know that Ant-Man and The Wasp never made it to the team. Rumors about an Ant-Man movie being planned much earlier than The Avengers but not making it due to several constraints didn’t help soothe the fanboys.
The Creation of Ultron
The movie Age of Ultron showed us Ultron was an Artificial Intelligence whose matrix was birthed from that of Loki’s infinity stone studded staff from The Avengers. The comic books origin story was utterly ignored. In the comics, Ultron was an A.I Hank Pym created out of grief. There was no infinity stone involved. Hank imbued the A.I with a part of his own mind and then the A.I went rogue to become the greatest villain The Avengers have ever faced. The movie promised a similar portrayal of the character but Ultron failed to make the impact it so greatly did in the comics.
Emphasis on Future Projects
It’s one thing to make a movie. It’s another thing to make it look like a commercial for the next. The MCU has made great Stand Alone movies like Iron Man and The Winter Soldier. But the emphasis on setting up the movies as a tagging ground for the big picture is starting to crack up the MCU. Case in point Avengers: Age of Ultron among several others. Marvel and Disney are trying to keep the audiences glued into their seats for their future projects. While it is no doubt a noble effort, it hasn’t quite hit the mark.
Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch
Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch have two things in common: they are siblings and they are mutants. The former was portrayed quite well in the MCU but the latter??…. Not so much. Marvel sold the rights of the Mutants and the X-Men to 20th century Fox. So mutantkind, the thing that makes Wanda and Pietro’s character so relatable, is exempted from the comics. Killing off Pietro Maximoff in the same movie he made his debut in didn’t help either.
Scarlet Witch later makes it to the Avengers but the MCU needs to shine the light on her mutant heritage.
Lack of Storytelling depth
Marvel’ biggest comic book achievements are no doubt Civil War and The Infinity Gauntlet Saga. Planet Hulk and World War Hulk get honorable mentions. All these stories were a hit amongst fan because they provided so much ingrained depth to the general plotline. The Stakes were too high, the sacrifices made by our heroes so brave that the story arc hit a home run. But the moment these stories were adapted to the big screen, the plot was somewhat watered down. The Superhuman Registration Act was replaced with the Sokovia Accords. Planet Hulk’s plotline was mixed into Thor: Ragnarok instead of having its own standalone MCU production. In the race of sticking to the trends, Marvel did a grave mistake of ignoring the hardcore fan-base and their worries.
The Love Story of Black Widow and The Hulk
It’s good to be a master of one art than to be a jack of all trades. Ignoring this simple fact is the very reason Age of Ultron failed to create the magic its predecessor did. Too many subplots watered down the story. One of them included the Black Widow and the Hulk being shown as love interests. While the movie did portray a budding romance, it didn’t show much of it. The romance was neither given enough spotlight nor did it ever happen in the comics. The Black Widow-Hulk equation was something Age of Ultron didn’t most certainly need.
The Hulk and Iron Man equation
In the movies, Bruce Banner and Tony Stark are the leading men of science in the Avengers. Their knack for knowledge and their genius pulls them together into the ‘Science Bro’ duo. The dynamic between the two got a lot of praise and felt good to watch. The scene in the comics though is much, much different. Comic readers realize the Hulk and Iron Man as polar opposites. Each views life differently and have even fought each other to prove his point to the other. The MCU bought them together and while it’s satisfying to see them in action, their rivalry would have been even more engaging.
Hawkeye has a family…
This point depends completely on one’s perspective. In the comics, it was Hawkeye and Black Widow who are a couple. While that ship has sailed, giving Hawkeye a family of his own was a bold move, to say the least. The MCU gave Hawkeye a home, a wife and children of his own in a secret hideout off the S.H.E.I.L.D database. Many would claim this made the bland character a little more realistic. The perspective of a family man would be something the Avenger’s need but completely changing the character arc of a fan favorite didn’t bode well with many avid readers.
Spider-Man is Tony Stark Jr.
Spiderman: Homecoming smashed the box office to smithereens. The last few movies didn’t do Spiderman justice but Homecoming successfully managed to portray Peter Parker as the friendly neighborhood superhero everyone loved and adored. But the way he was turned into Iron man’s lackey was, for lack of a better word, preposterous. Iron Man gave him a suit with an A.I that did most of the job from him. The suit looks amazing but The MCU portrayed it was heavily criticized by fans. Peter Parker is one of the brightest minds of Earth. Homecoming made him look like a doofus. Not cool MCU. Not Cool.
Where is the Avengers Tower?
The second most defining trait of the Avengers, after the superheroes themselves, is the Avengers Tower. It’s an iconic place in the Marvel Universe where Earth’s most powerful heroes gather together to plan and strategize against threats to the planet. What’s more interesting is the MCU doesn’t have it. It was briefly shown in the MCU and the just completely forgotten. Instead, we see a repulsive looking building with equally ugly architecture as the new Avengers base. And even though said building made appearances in Ant-Man and Homecoming, nothing beats the Real thing. When will we see an Avengers Tower MCU ?!?!?!?!
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