After 29 films and eight TV series, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has established itself as one of the most successful shared universes ever. This franchise has been around for almost 15 years, but fans are still as excited as the first time whenever new projects drop in. However, there are also certain tropes that no longer wow audiences.
Tropes on their own aren't bad, but the MCU is quite fond of very repetitive and boring clichés that have become tiresome. From poor character development to constant misleading clues, the MCU needs to evolve past the need for certain lazy narrative ploys.
10 The MCU Trailers Always Lie To The Audience
At some point in its history, the MCU started relying on strong emotions to keep the public interested. In fact, this is one of the MCU's biggest problems, according to critics. It makes a point of hooking viewers, especially by using the trailers to sell a very different story than the film will feature.
For example, the Guardians of the Galaxy have a lot of screen time in the Thor: Love and Thunder teasers. However, they appear in the movie for less than 5 minutes, which many fans found outrageous. Every time an MCU trailer lies to the fans, it only sets them up for disappointment, which causes people to feel less and less inclined to see future projects.
9 Epic Superhero Landings Got Old Pretty Soon
In the beginning, one thing that fans loved the most about the MCU was the hero posturing. Especially as comic fans, being able to see Marvel’s most iconic heroes strike iconic poses just like in the books felt like a dream. Unfortunately, 15 years later, this isn’t as fun as it used to be.
The novelty of seeing Black Widow and Thor land safely after a feat of acrobatic prowess wore off soon enough, but Disney keeps abusing this trope. This is why many believe MCU films are more about the show and less about the story or characters.
8 Cameos Are Good But They Leave Audiences Wanting More
Unarguably, the MCU loves cameos. From Hawkeye appearing out of nowhere in Thor to John Krasinski as Reed Richards showing up in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Marvel Studios has gotten better at this with time.
While these moments are exciting, they're also quite frustrating, because they usually go nowhere. In the beginning, a cameo or a dropped name meant a new character was joining the MCU. Now it’s just about the fan service, which leaves viewers wanting more from those characters.
7 MCU Fans Want Truly Evil Villains, Not Redeemable Foes
Given that the MCU aims to be a PG-13 universe, Disney Studios has kept the franchise family-friendly. Unfortunately, this often leads to nerfing characters, especially villains. No matter how dangerous they may seem, the villains have relatively valid reasons for their actions. For example, any fan will admit Gorr's actions were kicked off by Tapu's arrogance.
Given the way Tapu treated him, fans feel a certain empathy toward Gorr. Additionally, fans still debate if Thanos was right or not on websites like Reddit. These two villains, whose actions in the comics can't be redeemed, won some of the viewers' sympathy thanks to the way the MCU changed them. This lowered the stakes for their storylines.
6 Many MCU Villains Copy The Heroes
Especially in earlier Phases, fans widely criticized the MCU due to its lack of creativity when it comes to villains. They almost always had parallel abilities to the heroes trying to stop them. For example, Abomination was pretty much a reptilian version of Hulk. Similarly, Whiplash uses an arc reactor just like Iron Man.
There have been some incredible villains since, but this is still a problem as the MCU approaches Phase Five. For instance, Taskmaster has the same abilities (and backstory) that Black Widow has. Additionally, Namja uses hard light like Ms. Marvel does. This lack of creativity was fine in comics from past decades, but now it’s simply boring.
5 Few MCU Romances Make It Without Life Getting In The Way
The MCU features incredible couples like Wanda and Vision, Peter and MJ, and Thor and Jane. Unfortunately, it also seems to thrive on breaking the fans’ hearts: Vision died, MJ forgot Peter, and Jane sacrificed herself for the greater good after she and Thor rekindled their love.
Like these, the MCU includes many other heart-wrenching love stories. Fans always root for the happy ending, but they rarely get it. Marvel should stop giving heroes broken hearts as their main motivation. It makes it difficult not to compare their backstories, which reduces them to stereotypes.
4 Daddy Issues Are One Of The Oldest Tropes In The Book
During She-Hulk: Attorney at Law' s finale, Jennifer Walters surprised the fans by breaking the fourth wall to discuss the MCU's future with K.E.V.I.N., the mastermind AI behind it all. Among the things they discussed, she asked him why so many heroes had daddy issues. This hilarious joke points to one of the MCU's most overused tropes.
Tony Stark, Thor and Loki, T'Challa, and even Kate Bishop all have something in common besides being superheroes: they have complicated relationships with their fathers that stunted their emotional growth. With so many relatable conflicts available, fans can't help but wonder why Disney keeps recycling this storyline.
3 MCU Villains Keep Shifting Moral Alignment
In an attempt to make its villains as emotionally complex as possible, the MCU has created some of the most beloved bad guys in cinema. Characters like Loki, Helmut Zemo, or Bucky have done some questionable things, but they have no trouble flipping the switch and converting into good guys.
There's nothing inherently wrong with this but it seriously stunts the MCU's rogues gallery. Between this and the fact that most of the MCU's villains have relatable motivations for their actions, the MCU barely has any characters who are "evil just for the sake of being evil,"
2 The MCU Loves To Ruin Serious Moments With Jokes
Most fans agree that the MCU's humor is often misplaced throughout the films and series. For example, Ultron's introductory joke in Avengers: Age of Ultron — where he chuckles at the word "children" — truly undermined his creepiness. More recently, Thor's comment on Gorr's dental hygiene in Thor: Love and Thunder made their encounter less solemn.
The MCU's invasive sense of humor is one of the most controversial things about the franchise, and it's brought a slew of cringeworthy moments to the MCU. Some fans love it and some hate it, but no one can deny that it's ruined many important scenes. It's time for Disney to deliver its jokes more surgically, especially during serious interactions.
1 The MCU Loves To Mislead Fans With Fake Clues
As a long-standing project with short-term and long-term plans, the MCU keeps fans interested by teasing them about the future. From easter eggs to official news to rumors, the Marvel fandom is always theorizing about what comes next and Marvel Studios loves a good red herring to distract its fans from the truth.
For instance, Jack "Swordsman" Duquesne turned out to be the naive fiancé of an actual villain in Hawkeye. Casting Ralph Bohner as the fake Pietro had nothing to do with Fox's Quicksilver in WandaVision. However, this strategy often backfires. This trope frustrates fans, who are bound to create their own unrealized theories when they take the bait.