Latest Marvel News: ‘The Marvels’ being forbidden from flirting with an $845 million MCU hit but forced to sequelize 2 of its most controversial projects speaks volumes

Its interconnectivity has always been Marvel‘s calling card, its USP that soon inspired a swell of inferior imitators, but as the franchise faces bad PR like perhaps never before, is the MCU just getting too big for its boots? That’s certainly a question we’re wondering going into The Marvels.

Not only is the Brie Larson movie a sequel to about half a dozen different projects, complicated canon matters prevented it from dropping alternate crossovers we’d love to have seen. Meanwhile, Marvel’s attempt to cut back on your homework is only causing more academic stress.

The Marvels director admits it’s a “sort of sequel to five different things”

Exhibit A in why the MCU might’ve gotten too big: The Marvels is officially a sequel to at least five different projects. Director Nia DaCosta has admitted it was “trial and error” in working out how much info she had to put into her movie to catch people up to speed on everything that feeds into the film. Presumably, DaCosta is referring to controversy magnet Captain Marvel, WandaVision, Ms. Marvel, Secret Invasion, and Avengers: Endgame, although you could even throw Guardians of the Galaxy in there too, thanks to the inclusion of the Kree. And maybe Thor: Love and Thunder and Fox’s X-Men movies, but let’s not get into that right now…

Nia DaCosta reveals she wanted crossovers with Guardians 3 and Loki before Marvel vetoed it

Exhibit B: Although The Marvels was saddled with following up on Secret Invasion, DaCosta’s original pitch to feature a character crossover with Guardians 3 and a thematic crossover with Loki was nixed. The filmmaker has revealed her initial idea for the sequel contained “Adam Warlock and time travel,” a five-word promise that would no doubt have amped up the hype for the film among hardcore Marvel heads exponentially. Unfortunately, the studio said no, thereby denying the chance for The Marvels to have ties to Phase Five’s most popular entries bar none. But at least we’re gonna find out what happens after Secret Invasion! Yay?

The MCU’s latest rebrand is supposed to decrease headaches, but it’s only causing more migraines

And, finally, Exhibit C: the Marvel Spotlight (aka Marvel-Lite) brand is only a few days old but it’s already leaving fans with a bigger headache than Kingpin after Maya shot him in the face. Echo is set to be the first project released under the shiny, new Marvel Spotlight banner, carrying those MCU entries that don’t require previous knowledge. That’s all well and good, but Echo itself is a direct sequel to Hawkeye, a precursor to Daredevil: Born Again, and part of the restitution of Netflix’s Defenders Saga that began with Spider-Man: No Way Home and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. That’s hours and hours of entertainment you’d ideally need to see to fully appreciate everything the show’s doing. Maybe what Marvel Spotlight really means is “We promise you don’t need to watch Secret Invasion to enjoy this.”

And that’s not even mentioning how The Marvels was deliberately intended to be “jarring,” a bold swing if there ever was one. Expect more Marvel madness as the movie’s release rolls in.