There were plenty of reasons why 2008’s Iron Man was successful. Near the top of the list was the post-credits scene with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, uttering his iconic line: “I’m here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative.” Nearly two decades later, a fresh superhero team has debuted in the MCU in The New Avengers (fka Thunderbolts*), alongside a thrilling post-credits tease of the next Thanos-level threat. In many ways, the latest MCU entry seems to remember why the MCU works. But is it enough to save the Multiverse Saga?
As we enter the final phase of this saga and race toward the explosive conclusion of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, I’m increasingly concerned that Marvel didn’t put in the work necessary to earn a crossover of this size and scale.
*SPOILERS for Thunderbolts*/The New Avengers follow below.*
By this point in the Infinity Saga, the stakes were clear. A giant intergalactic warlord was lurking behind the scenes of the standalone adventures, waiting to cause havoc for every character we had been introduced to up to that point.
The same simply can’t be said of the messy, confusing Multiverse Saga.
The “classic” Avengers no longer exist, and as of Captain America: Brave New World, very little progress has been made on reforming the super-team. Let’s do a quick check-in on the heroes that saved the universe the last time around, shall we?
The last time we saw Doctor Strange, he was sprouting a new eye and screaming into the void. We can assume Thor is out there fighting evil with his adopted daughter in the cosmos. Spider-Man has been wiped from everyone’s memory, Shang-Chi and the Eternals have been ignored, Captain Marvel headlined the MCU’s biggest box office bomb to date, and Ant-Man beat the big villain that was supposed to be the focal point of the next two Avengers movies.
Meanwhile, even though it’s a result of issues out of Marvel’s control, we still don’t really know what the New Avengers, the old Avengers, or any future superhero team is actually up against. That’s despite the fact that Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters in 360 days.
That’s why The New Avengers was such a breath of fresh air. Not only does it bring together a group of heroes (well, antiheroes) I actually care about, but it also directly sets up the next film with a post-credits scene — one that the Russo brothers directed. Now we know the Fantastic Four are coming to the main reality of the MCU, presumably after something happens in their universe to force them out (which I’m guessing is an incursion).
When and how did Marvel forget how to do this? Polygon has a great article rounding up all the stingers and teasers that the MCU has yet to pay off, and it is a dizzyingly long list. Why are we getting hints about Black Knight, Starfox, and Clea when none of these characters will show up in or have any impact on another movie for years? If ever?
I’m glad that Marvel finally remembered why a teaser is usually best served setting up the next project on the schedule, but I’m also bummed it took this long. Even if The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a success on its own merits, the work it needs to do to set up Doomsday is incredibly daunting. And it didn’t need to be.
As a fan of Marvel comics, I do have a pretty good idea of where the story is going. If you want to know as well, I would recommend reading Jonathan Hickman’s Secret Wars series, plus the Avengers and New Avengers comics leading up to the cataclysmic event.
