I Blame The MCU"s Very First Phase 4 Movie For The Franchise"s Biggest Post-Endgame Problem

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Summary

Black Widow's timing after Endgame disrupted the main timeline of the MCU for The Multiverse Saga.
The Multiverse Saga lacks clear central characters, hindering audience connection.
Phase 5 & 6 movies aim to bring focus back by highlighting core MCU characters in upcoming releases.

9 MCU movie releases and 3 years later, I blame the timing of Black Widow for the franchise's current biggest post-Endgame problem. The Multiverse Saga is arguably one of the most exciting concepts Marvel could have based its next overarching story on, opening up the franchise to an almost limitless range of possibilities just waiting to be explored on the big screen - which upcoming MCU releases like Deadpool & Wolverine look set to capitalize on. However, things haven't been as easy as this may suggest, and this only becomes more apparent when we look back at the timeline now.
MCU's Multiverse Saga storyline has seen some considerable criticisms from the offset, and while some of this can be put down to Avengers: Endgame simply being that good that audiences struggled with the reset to a new beginning, suggesting this is the only reason criticisms arose would be insincere. Indeed, the complications this era of the franchise has dealt with were arguably set in stone from the point the Infinity Saga passed the torch over to the Multiverse Saga, based on the way this section of the MCU timeline played out.

Related All Marvel Movies Releasing In 2024 The Marvel movies releasing in 2024 offer a range of film experiences - and some confusion, due to the changed dates of several incoming installments.
Black Widow Began The MCU's Post-Endgame Focus Issue Close Black Widow was a movie I'd been hoping for ever since the MCU's Natasha Romanoff first appeared, being aware of her haunting but compelling comic backstory and its significance in her arc. However, its appearance in 2021 was inherently jarring, leading me and many others to question how the story could work after her death in 2019's Avengers: Endgame. The plot did work as a retrospective testament to the legacy of Scarlet Johansson's MCU hero, but not without casting off the main timeline of the franchise almost entirely, in a move that left the new Saga feeling adrift.
While Black Widow did serve to set up Florence Pugh's exciting future with the hero mantle, the character has held a background role since then, set to appear focally next 4 years later in Phase 5's Thunderbolts*. As such, The Multiverse Saga's movie lineup began in a confusing fashion that would only be exacerbated by other releases and their own varied focuses, avoiding the chance to provide audiences a concrete early foothold that could be built upon while covering all new untrod territory in terms of Marvel adaptations.
The Multiverse Saga Has Suffered From Having No Clear Central Characters Close Spider-Man: No Way Home proved one of the most successful MCU movies in the franchise's history thanks to its sprawling crossover story, suggesting the iconic Marvel hero could lead the Multiverse Saga handily. However, this appearance from Holland's Spider-Man alone isn't enough to cement the webslinger as the definitive central figure of the new Saga - especially since the plot sees him share the spotlight with Garfield and Maguire's own Peter Parkers - and it doesn't seem like further appearances are impending anytime before Avengers 5 short of a potential Daredevil: Born Again cameo.
Past this - and potentially Doctor Strange's appearance in No Way Home, which is bolstered by his own sequel in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness - the focus has been on replacing heroes whose stories ended in The Infinity Saga. Allowing a new selection of Marvel's finest to begin their own stories isn't a bad thing, but it does appear to have come at the cost of providing clear central figures for the franchise to focus on short of Kang, which is now harder to capitalize on following the MCU cutting ties with Jonathan Majors.
Having The Multiverse Saga carry out its own full trilogies immediately would be outright ludicrous, and the MCU is in many ways suffering from its own success, as following up on a never-before-seen level of success for an expanded superhero franchise is almost impossible territory to navigate smoothly. That said, it's clear the highlights for fans has always been giving core heroes their focus in the billion-dollar spotlight, and ensuring The Multiverse Saga does this seems a natural cure to many of the MCU's current ailments.
How Upcoming MCU Phase 5 & 6 Movies Can Try To Fix The Franchise's Problem Close The MCU has been laying down the tracks for bringing central characters to the forefront slowly but surely over the course of The Multiverse Saga, even officially setting up for the long-awaited Young Avengers with The Marvels' ending. Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts* are confirmed to feature a range of MCU characters who've been in the franchise for some time, allowing it to return a sense of focus by reminding audiences that some key figures have been around for the long haul, and are intended to remain as the proverbial glue that holds the world together.
Failing this, Avengers 5 itself is the MCU's best chance to course correct from Black Widow and show audiences who The Multiverse Saga's central characters really are, thus recontextualizing their journey with this context. In the same way that Thor's Infinity Saga journey looked a lot different after he'd decapitated Thanos and found himself again, many heroes whose overall arcs currently seem murky can be clarified at this point in the timeline, giving the space between Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars the ability to ensure audiences that some core franchise strengths will remain the same.

Black Widow Where to Watch *Availability in US
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Black Widow is a film about Natasha Romanoff in her quests between the films Civil War and Infinity War. This is the 24th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the first solo film for Black Widow, one of the original six Avengers. The character previously appeared in seven MCU films, including all four Avengers movies. Black Widow was originally scheduled for May 2020 but was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Director Cate Shortland Release Date July 9, 2021 Upcoming Marvel Movies
Release Date
Deadpool & Wolverine
July 26, 2024
Captain America: Brave New World
February 14, 2025
Thunderbolts
May 2, 2025
Fantastic Four
July 25, 2025
Blade
November 7, 2025
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty
May 1, 2026
Avengers: Secret Wars
May 7, 2027

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