Take yourself back to the spring/summer of 2019. 10 years of the MCU concluded with a long, but mostly satisfying conclusion with Avengers: Endgame. We all screamed and shouted when Cap picked up Mjolnir and we all got misty eyed when Tony/Iron Man snapped Thanos out of existence and died on the battlefield surrounded by his teammates and loved ones. It was a conclusion 10 years in the making and, for the most part, gave fan service to hardcore fans and newbies alike to close the chapter on this version of the MCU.
Of course, Spider-Man Far From
Home came after that as a little cherry on top; but for the most part, the
chapter was closed and on the horizon was new movies from the House of Mouse
and, let us be honest, those new offerings were not as tantalizing as what we
had just witnessed. A Black Widow movie that seemed about 7 years too
late. The Eternals(name one, I double dog dare you). These movies
were not exactly lighting up the blogosphere; especially when most comic fans were
hoping for news and movies about the Fantastic Four and X-Men.
As we entered 2020, so did
COVID 19 and it had no love loss for movies and movie theaters. As the pandemic
seemed to worsen day after day and month after month, gatherings for nerds and
geeks began to disappear or get altered dramatically. Comic bookstores
went to drive up services- if they survived the pandemic at all. Comic
book conventions were cancelled. And the upcoming slate of superhero
movies were delayed or sent to VOD.
And while Disney DID announce a
slate of new movies (still no mutants tho) with Blade, Thor, Fantastic Four, Dr
Strange, and others, the biggest news was the slate of tv shows headed to
Disney Plus- their new streaming service that was set to bridge the gaps
between the movies. But COVID delayed the production of everything and by
the time we got our first MCU show on Disney Plus (WandaVision), it had been
close to 18 months from Spider-Man and the debut of WandaVision. That
is/was a huge gap in time for nerds and geeks and I think it was greatly
needed.
While I do not believe Comic
Book Movie fans were suffering from movie fatigue; I do think that we all
needed a break from the previous 10 years. Think about what Endgame gave
us and what it concluded. We saw this culmination of 18 plus movies wrap
up in a 3.5 hour bow and I think we were all tired- fans, filmmakers, critics, and creators
combined. Following up Endgame with an out of continuity Black Widow
movie and an Eternal movie would have felt like a letdown- no matter how good
those movies are. The COVID break acted like a big reset button for the
MCU and fans alike. The saying is "absence makes the heart grow
fonder" and this is a clear example. We, as fans, had been spoiled a
little bit having a movie come out like clockwork every few months. It
became routine, boring, predicatble. Now, with the pandemic and having our ability to talk, discuss, blog, podcast, etc about those movies taken away, we have become more appreciative
of what we had because it can be snapped away just like...
And I think that is why the
hype for WandaVision has been so overwhelming; on top of the fact that is so
well done. We had time to heal from the conclusion of Endgame and learned
to miss and appreciate those characters again. Its why people are so over
the top about Falcon and Winter Soldier and even the malaise that surrounded
Black Widow and The Eternals have lifted a bit. The world seems fresh and new again. Nothing seems predictable and the world is now open to fresh and surprising things. (we still want our
mutants, tho)
So as WandaVision comes to its
conclusion in 2 weeks and Falcon and Winter Soldier leads us into summer 2021
and into Black Widow, Eternals, Shang -Chi, and Spider-Man, let us not forget
those dry 18 months without the MCU. Enjoy the new content- you never
know when it might go away again.
