Part 8/10:
The broader issue, many argue, is the franchise’s move towards spectacle over substance. Instead of focusing on smaller, contained stories like the early Ant-Man films, recent productions have aimed for hyper-scale stakes—sometimes involving the end of the universe itself—leading to cluttered narratives with unwieldy casts of characters nobody cares about.
The End of an Era?
Kevin Feige’s early vision to prioritize diversity, including increasing female representation among heroes, is now believed by many to have contributed to the franchise’s structural problems. While diversity is a positive goal, critics argue that Marvel sacrificed narrative cohesion in an effort to include more female and minority characters, leading to a diluted story quality and disconnected films.