The End of the MCU

Earlier I saw a clickbait article on "Why the MCU Needs To End Now" or something like that, complaining that the quality is about to go down now that the best heroes are out of the way. It reminded me of something a friend of mine recently said: "Do we really need a movie for every single minor Marvel character?"

Both of y'all are missing the point. Now that the big heroes are out of the way, the fun can begin.

You know what my favorite comic book was when I was a kid? Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew by DC Comics. It was a comic about a superhero team, on a world full of animal people. It's like if Zootopia had a Justice League.

Do you know how many movies DC would have to put out before they decided to make a Zoo Crew movie? They release a new Batman cartoon every couple of years, but do you think we'll ever see a Captain Carrot animated series?

The fact is, not everything is for you. When it comes to reviewing movies, the best mindset you can learn is that you're not every movie's target audience. When you walk out of a romantic comedy complaining that it didn't have enough action, or whine that the Pixar movie you just saw was too juvenile, remember that some people in the audience probably loved it. Learn the difference between "This movie is bad" and "This movie isn't for me."

So here's the thing:  Every comic book hero, no matter how obscure, is somebody's favorite. Right now, somebody is waiting patiently for a Squirrel Girl movie, and it might even be me. But if they were to end the MCU, then it would just get rebooted in a few years, starting with brand new versions of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and Hulk. And the clock counting down to a Squirrel Girl movie would reset.

The longer they keep this continuity going, the greater the chance that some of the lesser known heroes will get a chance to shine. Plus, we'll eventually get to see some of the generational heroes, like the Young Avengers. You're reading this and probably thinking, "But they could do that anyway, separate from the MCU. Even if they reboot, there's nothing stopping them from making a Squirrel Girl movie or a series about Tony Stark's daughter." And you're right. But the current continuity makes it so much easier.

Already having an established series where the audience is in love with the universe, where big name heroes have already made their mark on the world, where the relationships are already in place to set up a new generation of teen heroes... I mean, you don't just want to throw that away.

Plus, how do you know you're not going to love the next obscure hero?  I barely knew anything about Guardians of the Galaxy before the movie came out, and those ended up being two of my favorite MCU films.  So if the MCU is still going strong ten years from now, and you see the first trailers for a "Night Nurse" movie, keep an open mind. You never know.

Granted, none of our opinions matter here. Realistically, the MCU will persist as long as it continues to be profitable. One bad movie won't kill the series; it's too strong. It would probably take three consecutive bad movies for them to consider a reboot, and maybe not even then. I mean, look at Star Wars - at this point there's more bad Star Wars movies than good ones (at least according to most fans; personally I love almost all of them), and it hasn't been rebooted.

I'm not saying the MCU should go on forever, I'm just saying that ending a continuity isn't something to be taken lightly.  So bring on Ka-Zar.  Bring on Wonder Man.  Bring on Spider-Woman.  No idea is too silly, no character is too obscure. I'd much rather see a Hellcow movie than an Iron Man reboot, wouldn't you?