Thoughts on Phase 4?

more like phase what 4! amirite?

Overall, I'm indifferent to it. Not every installment needed to be an Infinity War movie event, but I recognize they are laying the seeds for a wider Multiverse saga and they are passing the baton to a new generation.

Black Widow was an okay action-thriller, but it should have been released before Infinity War. There were no stakes when we know Natasha will survive at the end. Dreyhov was a forgettable villain. Florence Pugh, on the other hand, was great and did just as good in Hawkeye. Speaking of which, Hailee Steinfeld was really good in that series. Shang-Chi was a decent film that is elevated by Tony Leung's performance. The fight choreography was excellent, although the third act battle was typical Marvel.

Marvel Studios finally answered the critics, who complained that the films weren't director-driven enough. Kevin Feige gave Chloe Zhao and Sam Raimi a lot of creative leeway to imprint their signature style on the film. Both of their films had great style, although I found their stories to be too heavy-handed. Eternals has some of the best photography in a MCU film, but I think it should have been a Disney+ series. Introducing too many characters who have been around for centuries is a lot to contain in a two-and-a-half hour movie. Instead, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier should have been a movie. Raimi's signature flair was great in Doctor Strange, but the cameo inclusion of the Illuminati and all the VFX, as impressive as it is, left me feeling empty at the end.

Thor: Love and Thunder suffered the most from Taika Waititi's style. It had too many storylines to juggle around, and the runtime was not long enough to give each one the proper weight. There was too much comedy and I hate the way Waititi writes Thor. He makes Thor feel more of an imbecile than ever. There was not enough of Christian Bale's Gorr the God Butcher and no scenes of him slaughtering gods to raise the stakes. I've shared my thoughts already on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever already, but overall, it needed a re-edit and a less formulaic third act battle.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is far and away the best MCU film of Phase Four. The cast was great, the stakes were emotional, and the fan service was earned.

The Disney+ MCU series is a mixed bag. Some series were good and others were not. WandaVision was excellent with a stellar performance from Elizabeth Olsen. Kathryn Hahn was a delight as Agatha Harkness. I thought Hawkeye and Loki season 1 were decent. What If... had some fun episodes, especially the Doctor Strange and Ultron episodes. There was one episode with Peggy Carter as Captain America that was largely an unimaginative retelling of The First Avenger. The episode with Thor as an only child was the worst. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier had some really good action sequences. It was great seeing Helmut Zemo again, and Wyatt Russell killed it as John Walker. However, some storylines were rushed and the handling of the Flag Smashers was kinda weak.  

She-Hulk best sums Marvel's creativity throughout Phase Four. They cast really good actors, but the writing is subpar.

6/10

Should've been at least a 7 or 8.  After Endgame, I was expecting a fresh start of sorts, yet throwing juvenile humour & silly plot points is sorely not wanted.  Dr. Strange & Thor should've had true stretches of gravitas & significance to come... instead we got childish jokes & nothing much to plan for.

Are we allowed to criticise the MCU on this board now? Because I for one consider that to be trolling.

I don’t judge the quality of films I only judge them by their diversity.

It was alright, I guess. Most of the films were forgettable, MoM and Wakanda Forever were probably the best of the phase for me, but they're still not at the level of most of the previous phases. I wasn't excited about any of these movies the way I am for Guardians 3 or even Quantumania. Too much content, particularly with the Disney+ shows, is starting to make a mess of continuity.