That’s right.

I have something to say about Marvel movies.

The cinematic experience I’ve come to love over the last 10 years has one flaw that I’ve noticed.

While on the whole, the format of serialized comics adapted well to screen, there is something they fundamentally lack. It’s nothing against the films. Almost all of them are made with care and serious dedication to the source material, some more than most. Captain America: Winter Soldier, The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Infinity War, and most recently Endgame, are all prime examples of what comic book films can do with the source material.

But, and here’s the thing, they miss the one truth behind all comics.

“Nothing can ever really change.”

They say you can give the impression of change in serialized comic books, but you can’t really alter the playing field too much. You need to take the genie out of the bottle, so to speak, but need to be able to put the genie back in the bottle once your time writing or drawing or coloring the book is done.

Meanwhile most Marvel movies are all about not only taking the genie out of the bottle, but smashing the bottle it was in.

Captain America: Winter Soldier destroyed S.H.I.E.L.D., the unifying organization established across all films.

Avengers: Age of Ultron disbanded the original team of six (Cap, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Wido, Hawkeye) after their second full outing.

Thor: Ragnarok completely destroyed Asgard. Like, all of it.

And the list goes on and on.

We want our characters in film to change. If they can’t, in the case of Marvel characters being long-standing properties, then their environment has to change. Outside of the first Thor film, was there ever a movie where the hero fought the villain, won, then returned home to a stationary environment?

Thanks for reading,

Follow me:

Twitter: @robacosta

Instagram: @robacosta

Contact: robertmichaelacosta@gmail.com