The Marvel Cinematic Universe has had some bumps in the road in recent years. The once infallible MCU has seen box office flops and more negative fan reactions than positive ones. Much of this has been owed to the recent Multiverse Saga, with fans feeling disconnected from the franchise and the story that it is trying to build. As the DCU begins its journey on the big screen and small screen, it needs to avoid the biggest mistake of the MCU and even the tail end of the original DCEU. Avoiding the errors of the franchises that have come before can help the DCU find new success in a genre that some fans feel is wearing out its welcome in the cinematic landscape.
The Multiverse Saga has been a messy entry in the MCU’s history. On the heels of the stunning Infinity Saga, fans had high hopes for the next steps of the MCU. Yet, between the feeling that the MCU was starting over and the inconsistencies with the multiverse, fans were left feeling confused. One of the biggest issues was the multiverse itself. The theory of multiple realities and multiple versions of people and events has existed in fiction and real life for a long time, but the MCU had a chance to be at the forefront of the recent trend in Hollywood. Yet, through meandering projects and a sense of disconnect, the MCU fell behind other movies, like Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, which did the concept a lot better. Now the concept of a multiverse feels stale and the interest in that plot is dwindling.
How the Multiverse is the MCUs Biggest Mistake
One of the things that made the MCU so successful in the beginning was how connected everything was. Almost every entry in Phase 1-3 felt deliberate and like it was building towards a common goal, whether just an Avengers movie or the final battle against Thanos. This was part of the magic that made the MCU an international sensation. Seeing Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame felt like a must-see event and it was truly the culmination of a decade of work and dedication. That same feeling doesn’t seem to exist for the Multiverse Saga. Most projects like Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Moon Knight, Thor: Love & Thunder, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 have all felt they were in their own world. Most projects in these Phases of the MCU don’t even have anything to do with the multiverse.
The projects that do tackle the concept of the multiverse like Loki, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Ant-Man: Quantumania, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and even The Marvels all seem to take a different approach to the multiverse, with each one feel disjointed from the others. What If… has done a solid job of looking at the multiverse, but even that feels mostly contained to animation, outside of Captain Carter appearing in Multiverse of Madness. Yet, now with rumors that Deadpool & Wolverine will change how the multiverse works in the MCU, it makes those early projects that explored the multiverse feel even less necessary. The inconsistency and lack of direction have made it almost impossible for fans to achieve that same sense of satisfaction from the current Phases of the MCU.
The feeling that the MCU is lost isn’t only felt by the fans. Kevin Feige himself has stated in an interview with Empire that the MCU is an underdog currently and that speaks volumes to the fans. Marvel recognizing its position with fans will hopefully lead to changes that will only help the MCU. Yet, another huge struggle with Marvel’s multiverse concept is that it feels like it is only around for nostalgia. There have been countless rumors that a huge amount of previous Marvel characters that existed before the MCU will be coming back for the next Avengers movie. This makes it hard for the multiverse concept to feel fresh and new when it is solely relying on old characters and actors to drive it forward.
The idea of a multiverse has flooded modern cinema, even outside of the MCU. While the MCU has struggled with the concept, other movies like Into the Spider-Verse or Everything, Everywhere, All at Once have explored the idea to its fullest. Even The LEGO movie looked at the multiverse to some degree. The DCU needs to steer clear of the multiverse because it’s a tired concept. The MCU has failed to capitalize on it and it has more than a decade of films and TV shows under its belt. The DCEU failed to use the idea successfully with The Flash and adapting the Flashpoint storyline, one of the most famous multiverse stories in comics. The DCU is competing in a tough market as people being invested in superhero projects isn’t the guarantee it used to be. They need to find a way to stand out and be different and the multiverse is not the answer. If the DCU decided to dive into the multiverse it would only show that there is a lack of vision and inability to learn from the failures of others.
The idea of a multiverse of superheroes is fun but seems difficult to nail down. The MCU was an unbreakable juggernaut at the box office until the Multiverse Saga came into play. The DCU needs to start out on a strong note and not fall into the trap of multiverse nostalgia that the MCU fell into and the DCEU used in The Flash. The DCU needs to stand on its own feet and establish a vibrant world of characters, without the use of other realities.
