
“After ending phase three with AVengers endgame, which Shortly held the title of biggest movie of all time, whats next for the MCU?”—pHineas hildreth, 7tth grade
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (or MCU) started the first phase of what would become one of the largest franchises of all time with Iron Man in 2008 and ended it in 2012 with The Avengers. Phases are a way of dividing the large number of movies, and now Disney plus shows in the MCU. Phase one mainly focuses on setting up the avengers, phase two (Iron Man 3 to Ant-Man) is focused on dealing with the aftermath of the avengers, and phase three the Sokovia accords and Thanos arriving. After phase three ended with Avengers: Endgame, which briefly held the title of the largest movie of all time, it left many fans wondering, what’s next?
In 2019 Marvel held their panel for San Diego Comic-Con, announcing what we could expect in Marvel phase four, and even teasing some further out projects like Blade, Fantastic Four, and the X-Men. Kevin Feige, the chief creative officer of Marvel, has made it clear that the MCU is all about connectedness in their movies, with many phase four projects being about storylines that were referenced or teased in things as far back as phase one. “What you see now is still the culmination of five or six years, or in the case of Shang-Chi, ten or fifteen years in the past,” Feige said in an interview with rotten tomatoes.
The lineup they announced wasn’t quite what we got though, due to things like James Gun’s firing and the pandemic. After another event in December 2020 in which they showed trailers for the upcoming shows Wandavision, Falcon And The Winter Soldier, Loki, and What if..?, the MCU returned with Wandavision on January 15th, 2021. Let's take a look at phase four!
Starting with Wandavison, the series is currently the fourth highest-rated phase four property on the website rotten tomatoes, with a 91% critic score, and an 86% audience score. Although the reception of the show was largely positive and fans were buzzing each week with the new episode and the show trending multiple times, many fans were still disappointed in the ending (myself included). The theory train was non-stop for this show and by far the most popular was that what is basically Marvel's version of Satan, Mephisto, would be the big bad behind it all.
The hype was boosted when actor Paul Bettney, who plays Vision, said this in an appearance on the Lights, Camera, Barstool podcast. “I work with this actor that I’ve always wanted to work with and we have fireworks together, the scenes are great and I think people are going to be really excited. I’ve always wanted to work with this guy and the scenes are pretty intense.” In the finale, it turns out the actor he’s always wanted to work with, was himself. An alternate version of the vision appears and fights him, and it turns out the person who was behind it all along was Agatha, not Mephisto.
The hype was boosted when actor Paul Bettney, who plays Vision, said this in an appearance on the Lights, Camera, Barstool podcast. “I work with this actor that I’ve always wanted to work with and we have fireworks together, the scenes are great and I think people are going to be really excited. I’ve always wanted to work with this guy and the scenes are pretty intense.” In the finale, it turns out the actor he’s always wanted to work with, was himself. An alternate version of the vision appears and fights him, and it turns out the person who was behind it all along was Agatha, not Mephisto.

As for my thoughts on Wandavision, I would say it’s my second favorite of the shows so far. It really made me care about well, Wanda and Vision, in a way I didn’t before, and I did tear up a little bit at the finale. The payoff definitely left a bit to be desired, but I can't deny that what it set up was so fun and the way it did it was so unique, it makes up for it. Plus the show has phenomenal design and style, with each episode really feeling like the sitcoms its parodying.
The show was the start of what is an integral part of phase four, the Disney Plus shows. When talking about the shows to rotten tomatoes, Kevin Feige said, “When Bob Iger told us about Disney Plus and about his desire for us to produce shows for Disney Plus, it gave us a new avenue, frankly to do something we hadn’t been considering before, which was to do a deep dive on characters who really needed a deep dive.”
The show was the start of what is an integral part of phase four, the Disney Plus shows. When talking about the shows to rotten tomatoes, Kevin Feige said, “When Bob Iger told us about Disney Plus and about his desire for us to produce shows for Disney Plus, it gave us a new avenue, frankly to do something we hadn’t been considering before, which was to do a deep dive on characters who really needed a deep dive.”
The second part of phase four was Falcon And The Winter Soldier, a show focusing on Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes trying to deal with the aftermath of the blip, and a new Captain America, John Walker. The show is the third lowest-rated piece of phase four, with an 89% critic score and an 81% audience score. The finale of the show was actually the first rotten MCU project for a brief period. There were rumors of a cut plotline having to do with a vaccine and virus being cut due to covid, but marvel has since debunked these.
In my opinion, this show is the weakest of phase four so far. It’s really disappointing to me because I felt like the show has an incredible amount of potential, and episode four is one of the best episodes of any of the shows so far, but the villains just fell really flat. The motivation is already hard to get behind due to their main goal being to get things back to how they were during the snap, but all we’ve seen of that time is despair and darkness. The show tries to make them sympathetic and even goes so far as to have Sam be on their side, but they do so many horrible things and never see them do anything to redeem themselves, which ends up with Sam looking like he’s defending what they’ve done.

On the exact opposite side of the spectrum, we have our next show, Loki. The show is tied for the second-highest-rated property, with a 92% critic score and a 90% audience rating. The show deals with an alternate timeline, or variant, Loki as he learns about the TVA, an organization that specializes in maintaining one sacred timeline and getting rid of all other branches. A minuteman named Mobius recruits Loki to take care of a variant of himself. The show is almost like a reverse Wandavision, in that the character everyone theorized would appear in the end, actually did. The prevailing theory was that Kang The Conqueror would be the big bad of the show, and even though it isn't explicitly stated, it’s pretty clear he who remains is an alternate Kang considering he’s played by the same actor and is setting up Kang for the future. The show is by far the most important to the overarching story of anything else in phase four, not only setting up Kang as the next big bad but opening up the multiverse.
Loki is not only my favorite phase four property but my favorite MCU property, period. It’s just so well crafted and Tom Hiddleston delivers one of the best performances I have ever seen. The show just has this feel to it, it’s so unique, and this is partially due to the stellar production design and directing. It also delves into the more cosmic side of the MCU, which I find fascinating.
Loki is not only my favorite phase four property but my favorite MCU property, period. It’s just so well crafted and Tom Hiddleston delivers one of the best performances I have ever seen. The show just has this feel to it, it’s so unique, and this is partially due to the stellar production design and directing. It also delves into the more cosmic side of the MCU, which I find fascinating.
This next one is a big one, Black Widow. After over two years, the MCU finally returned to theaters. “Every time we make a film it is with the expectation of delivering on a promise, a promise of an experience to be experienced together in a theater and seeing where people laugh or where people get very quiet and still, or where people cheer,” Feige said about the film. Boy did it deliver, the movie grossed 181 million dollars domestically making it the highest domestic gross of 2021. The movie is a prequel about Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, and her quest to stop the red room, an evil organization that brainwashed her and her sister as well as thousands of other women.
I thought the movie was a bit disappointing, it’s a good enough movie, but it feels a bit bland to be Marvel's grand return to theaters, I don’t really have anything in particular to critique, it just feels a bit too exactly what you expect from a Marvel movie for me.
I thought the movie was a bit disappointing, it’s a good enough movie, but it feels a bit bland to be Marvel's grand return to theaters, I don’t really have anything in particular to critique, it just feels a bit too exactly what you expect from a Marvel movie for me.

Going back to shows, the next project is What If…? Marvel's first foray into animation. The show is an anthology consisting of different what if scenarios for marvel movies, like what if Peggy received the super-soldier serum, or what if Ta Challa was star lord. It’s currently the highest-rated phase four property with a 93% critic rating and 93% audience score.
I really like the show, but it’s missing consistency. Some episodes are really interesting concepts and others are kind of bland, but the execution is always stellar. My favorite episode was episode 4, “What If Dr. Strange lost his heart instead of his hands?” It's just so well crafted and everything is set up perfectly for it's devastating conclusion
I really like the show, but it’s missing consistency. Some episodes are really interesting concepts and others are kind of bland, but the execution is always stellar. My favorite episode was episode 4, “What If Dr. Strange lost his heart instead of his hands?” It's just so well crafted and everything is set up perfectly for it's devastating conclusion
Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings is Marvel's second movie of phase four, and it was another massive hit, bringing in 71.4 million dollars in its opening weekend at the box office. The movie continues a story that has been teased since the beginning of the MCU, the ten rings. About the movie, Feige said, “Shang-Chi as I’d said I think first ended up on a wouldn’t it be great list, wouldn’t it be great if we could do this as a movie, probably twenty years ago.” It is tied for the second-highest rated with a 92% critic score and a 98% audience score.
This movie just feels so fresh, you can tell it’s an MCU movie, but it’s so unique. The fight scenes are just breathtaking and the long shots really let you sit with the action more than other Marvel movies. The way it uses exposition to tell its story is really well done and you connect to the characters a lot.
The future of the MCU seems to be very bright, with the next film, no way home, predicted to beat avengers endgame at the box office. Even after that in 2022, they have sequels to some of their most popular properties like Captain Marvel and Black Panther, and exciting new things like Fantastic Four and a reboot of the 90’s X-men cartoon. When talking about the future, Feige said `”it has always been our hope at Marvel studios to be able to pull off even a little bit of what publishing had been able to do in the comics for 70+ years”.