With 23 films and a box office gross of $22.5 billion, the MCU is widely recognized as one of the most successful media franchises in history. And now, the Avengers: Endgame writers have weighed in on the successful 10-year plus run.
The franchise cemented its influence this year with the releases of Endgame, Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Far From Home, the first of which is now officially the highest-grossing movie of all time. While some might be under the impression that the MCU has had its run, the Mouse House believes the franchise will be forever popular among audiences and fans.
But what fuels this ever-growing success and popularity? Well, the Endgame writers might have an answer to that question. In an interview with Deadline, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely revealed what they believe to be sentiments that fans can relate to.
“You can think of genre as an amplifier for a small human story,” Markus said. “We want to tell these little stories about people. You can tell a tiny story about a dad and a daughter, and it has a certain amount of mileage. The dad puts on an iron suit and the range of not only eyes and ears you can reach goes up exponentially, but the stresses you can put those stories under.”
The decision to avoid going down the secret identities rabbit hole is also a contributing factor to Marvel’s success, which has allowed writers to tell their stories with fewer limitations.
“Think about the storytelling that allowed them,” McFeely added. “If they had decided to keep the idea that we had to keep that secret, now you’re telling certain types of stories.”
The writers think that certain character flaws can also be a source of strength. And that’s the essence of what makes them real and relatable.
“We often think that the character’s flaw is their strength,” McFeely continued. “Steve Rogers, for example — he’s the guy that can do this all day. He is absolutely fixed in his opinion. He’s Gary Cooper in many ways, but that gets him in trouble. He won’t bend. He will sacrifice himself.”
Of course, the lineup for the future of the MCU looks brighter than ever, including movies such as Black Widow, The Eternals, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther 2 and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. There are also many television series under development for Disney+, including WandaVision, Loki, Hawkeye and What if? that promise to bring back fan-favorite characters from the first three phases. As such, it looks like the franchise will keep on chugging along for a while and the best may still be yet to come.
