Maybe it’s because we were spoiled by the intricacies of the Infinity Saga, which spent the better part of a decade neatly laying the foundations for what would become the epic Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame conclusion, but fans are nonetheless beginning to question the apparent lack of direction that’s characterized Phase Four so far.
It was always going to be a much more difficult balancing act to pull off than ever before given the advent of the Disney Plus era, but genuine connective tissue has been few and far between. Sure, you can draw a straight line through WandaVision, Loki, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings part of the equation thanks to Wong’s cameo, but the rest of the slate has been surprisingly (if refreshingly) standalone.
We’ve already seen the social media sphere debate where this is all supposed to be heading in the end, but Reddit’s MCU fandom has been offering up a more thoughtful and measured take on the situation, as you can see below.
Moon Knight is arguably the most standalone MCU effort we’ve ever seen, while Eternals didn’t feature a single surprise guest star or unexpected cameo that audiences were already familiar with, although there were plenty of references to Thanos and the Avengers made throughout.
Of course, we should know better than to doubt Kevin Feige at this stage looking at what he’s accomplished over the last 14 years, so the long-term plan may reveal itself sooner rather than later.
