The winds of change could be blowing through the Thor: Love and Thunder discourse, with folks other than Taika Waititi being singled out for the insanely polarizing reception to this summer’s Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel.
There’s been a lot of opinion-shifting going on in general, with several of the major recurring criticisms of Phase Four creating a feeling among many fans that they’ve been down this exact same road before. Probably because they have. It’s been another whirlwind period for the MCU, so brace yourself for a wide-ranging deep dive into the latest goings-on.
Perhaps we treated Taika Waititi too harshly over Thor: Love and Thunder
Yes, we’re paraphrasing Thanos to address the Waititi-shaped elephant that lurks in the background of every room where the filmmaker’s divisive cosmic adventure is discussed out loud, but some more reasonable and even-keeled fans have stepped in to point their fingers elsewhere.
In the most measured addition to the debate we may have heard yet, it’s posited that Love and Thunder is a good movie that was edited and whittled down into a mediocre one, which makes a lot of sense considering the rapid-fire nature of the story, as well as all the cameos and deleted scenes we know got left behind.
Phase Four comes under very familiar fire
Now that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has finally drawn a line under Phase Four, the relentless arguments over the pros and cons of the post-Infinity Saga slate have started to quieten down at long last – but there’s a niggling feeling among the generation to have been around since Iron Man that we’ve been here before.
As it turns out, Phase Two was being blasted back in 2015 for many of the exact same things, almost entirely word-for-word in some instances. Everything from Iron Man 3 to Age of Ultron isn’t really regarded as top-tier MCU content, and a lot of it proved divisive, so the deja vu is entirely well-warranted.
Eternals ending ignites the long game to set up X-Men via Thunderbolts?
You’ve got to love the connective tissue that threads the MCU together, especially if it could end up compensating for a sequel that’s beginning to look increasingly likely that we’re not going to get.
If Eternals 2 is indeed dead in the water as many are fearing, a new rumor could step in to finally give Tiamut something to do besides sticking out of the ocean. It isn’t confirmed or denied by anyone officially tied to Marvel, but the half-emerged Celestial being refitted into the island of Genosha – and a location where the Thunderbolts squad goes looking for adamantium – would drop a massive handful of breadcrumbs for the build towards the X-Men.
Charlie Cox, friend of Andrew Garfield, denies he’s got a secret cameo on the way
Charlie Cox hasn’t wasted any time making the most of his MCU return, with the actor racking up Spider-Man: No Way Home, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Echo, Daredevil: Born Again, and animated series Freshman Year in quick succession, but he has at least listed one project he won’t be a part of.
The actor couldn’t have made himself any clearer when categorically denying rumors he’d be in Deadpool 3, but it didn’t take folks long to remember that he’s a longtime close friend of notorious No Way Home denier and bare-faced liar Andrew Garfield, so we’ll only know for sure come November 2024.
It might be the festive season, but the Marvel merriment goes on 365 days a year, so be sure to check back for our latest roundup of all things MCU.