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A couple of years ago, I wrote an editorial titled “The Problem with Superhero Sagas: Why Treating Movies Like Television Is a Bad Idea.” In it, I voiced my displeasure at the growing trend of approaching an interconnected feature film franchise like a TV series. This was mostly aimed at Marvel’s model—president Kevin Feige is the showrunner, setting the creative tone and overseeing all aspects of the overarching story while the directors served like TV directors, infusing each “episode” with a bit of their own sensibility, but never deviating too far “off-brand.” Each film (i.e. episode) was its own contained story, but also had to fit within the overall MCU narrative visually, tonally, and story-wise.

This, I argued, was a deflating way of approaching film that robbed these movies of their individuality, as evidenced by the creative woes voiced by directors like Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World) and Joss Whedon (Avengers: Age of Ultron) relating to their collaboration with Marvel Studios. I also wrote this editorial in the wake of Edgar Wright’s departure from Ant-Man, noting that Wright’s unique filmmaking voice was apparently a bad fit for the Marvel model, and surmising that we’ll never see a movie that singular within the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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Image via Marvel

Ultimately, the promise that MCU movies would never be incredibly filmmaker-driven, and that we’d never see anything as singular as say The Dark Knight, had me frustrated with the MCU as a whole despite the fact that I quite enjoy a number of their films. Now, four movies later, I’m singing a bit of a different tune.

As we approached Doctor Strange, I’ll admit I wasn’t particularly excited for it. It seemed like the same-old, same-old and I felt like I already knew what I was getting. And in a sense, I did. The film doesn’t break the mold from a story standpoint, and while the set pieces are conceived in unique ways, the visual palette of the film is once again very similar to the rest of the MCU. But you know what? I enjoyed it. I had fun with Doctor Strange. It was smartly plotted, compelling, and even a little funny. It made me smile. And I think, at this point, that’s what I’ll get out of these MCU movies—enjoyment. I may not love another MCU movie like I do Iron Man 3, and I may not get Dark Knight-level thematic heft, but I’d be a fool to ignore the fact that Marvel knows exactly what it’s doing, and it does it really, really well.

The truth of the matter is Marvel is approaching its movies like TV, but A) No one else is doing this and B) Their track record is undeniable. They have had 14 consecutive #1 debuts, and in terms of quality, 10 consecutive movies to earn an A CinemaScore from audiences. They consistently make large-scale, blockbuster films that a vast majority of audiences (and a fair amount of critics) find pleasing, and they’re running like clockwork. That’s pretty spectacular.

You can say approaching film like TV derives the films of their singularity (and I did), and maybe prevents the prospect of an auteur like Edgar Wright or David Fincher ever signing on to direct one. And that’s probably true. But regardless, it works, and I’ve decided I’m OK with that.

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Image via Marvel Studios

While “singular” films may never arise from the MCU, there is some distinction between movies. The MCU is like a bag of jelly beans, and each film has its own flavor. The nuts and bolts are the same movie-to-movie—Ben Davis was the cinematographer on Guardians of the Galaxy, Age of Ultron, and Doctor Strange and Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely will have written six Marvel movies in total after Infinity War and Avengers 4—but the flavor changes. Guardians of the Galaxy is a space opera romp, The Winter Soldier is a gritty thriller, and Ant-Man is a heist movie. This allows for a diversity in tone, but not one that’s shockingly different from what’s come before. Doctor Strange travels to separate dimensions, but the way the film is executed, we also buy the fact that this all takes place in the same world that houses Tony Stark and Scott Lang.

The sticking point, for me at least, is that while I may not always love what Marvel is doing, it’s something no one else is doing. Their TV-like approach to the MCU is unique—heck, before The Avengers there was no such thing as an “inter-connected cinematic universe.” Plenty of other studios are now trying to launch their own franchise worlds to varying degrees of success, and we may indeed reach a saturation point between the MCU, the DC Films, even the Universal Monsters Universe. But for now, knowing that there exists the possibility of making auteur-driven blockbuster cinema elsewhere makes me OK with Marvel’s brand of filmmaking.

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Image via Marvel

Bottom line, most of the Marvel movies are fun, and they are consistently better than many of the other blockbuster/superhero films put out every year. When I sit down for Thor: Ragnarok next year, I am reasonably certain I’m not in for a hot mess of narrative/character/basic structure like Gods of Egypt. On the other hand, I’ve decided to stop pining for some grand, singular piece of filmmaking from the MCU. I know Thor: Ragnarok will not be as radically different as director Taika Waititi’s vampire mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows, but there’s also reason to believe enough of Waititi’s sensibilities will shine through to make Ragnarok both an enjoyable and “different” flavor from the MCU library.

Despite them not being my favorite thing, interconnected universes clearly aren’t going anywhere—Warner Bros. and DC have only just begun theirs. But I can at least reconcile the fact that Marvel knows how to do them right. 14 films in, they’re a well-oiled machine churning out consistently solid (and popular) popcorn filmmaking. That, to me at least, is worth embracing.

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Image via Marvel Studios
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Image via Marvel
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Image via Marvel