It's hard to say if there's ever been a franchise as successful as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With such a deep pool of history to draw from with Marvel Comics, the MCU is guaranteed to provide rich, entertaining stories. And yet, after Avengers: Endgame, many fans have been drifting from the franchise.

The success of the MCU -- and by extension, the failure of every other studio's attempts to make a similar cinematic universe -- can be attributed to the time taken to set up the universe in which the films take place. While the MCU references earlier Marvel movies, the established beginning of the franchise is agreed to be the first Iron Man movie. From there, a line can be traced through every film, connecting them to the next Avengers movie and eventually climaxing with Infinity War and Endgame. Not every film was required to understand the Avengers movies, but each one on its own was a tent pole blockbuster, guaranteed to draw people to the theaters.

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Now, however, fans are feeling the fatigue. With Phase Five of the MCU coming up, Phase Six announced, and how saturated and directionless Phase Four has been, trying to keep abreast of the happenings of the MCU has become a chore -- even more so with the fact that everything now ties into everything else. Fans can't risk missing a movie or show out of fear of missing a crucial plot point, and with half of the new entries coming out on Disney+, that's an extra time and money sink for the average fan. What was a fun franchise to get invested in is now an entire side-job to keep track of, especially when fans are still digesting the ramifications of Endgame. Fans need a break -- and in all honesty, so does Marvel Studios.

What made the earlier phases of the MCU work was the quality writing and the time taken to tell the stories. There was a general understanding of where the franchise was going and how every entry fit in, and the movies and shows were spaced out enough that it gave the fans time to digest them and get excited about the next entry. Sequels heavily referenced the original movies but could still stand on their own. Each entry connected to the others in some way but was self-contained enough that a fan didn't need to watch all the other entries to understand what was going on. This became increasingly important as the MCU progressed and more entries were added to the franchise. By the time Endgame was released, it was the cumulation of over a decade's worth of film and media and basically tied up the main cast's storylines.

With this in mind, the franchise would have benefited from taking a year off and allowing fans to bask as they worked on the next phase. Endgame was the final station of the hype train, and there was plenty to discuss and dissect. Meantime, the writers and showrunners could have started planning where they were going to go with the franchises, figuring out what new superheroes they hadn't touched on yet, and forming a concrete plan going forward. Even without the great pause of 2020, fans would have forgiven Marvel for taking a break to better plot out Phase Four.

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Instead, Phase Four feels rushed, emphasizing quantity over quality. Phase One of the MCU lasted from Iron Man to the first Avengers film, from 2008 to 2012 -- about four years. Phase Four, meanwhile, has been from 2021 to 2022 -- roughly two years, and with a glut of releases in that time that were mostly exclusive to Disney+. This acceleration in production means that the writers and CGI artists can't give the media the polish they need, and it's enough for fans to notice the drop in quality. This also affects the writing, particularly any mention of politics in the franchise. While it's often safer to steer clear of political discussions in entertainment, it can be done if handled well. Viewers are open to a thought-provoking discussion, but they'll leave if they sense they're being lectured to. And yet, with the rushed writing, there's no time to polish the rough edges of the dialogue.

There's also the question of if some of these new entries need to be made. While it's fun to see these characters again, there's also been constant criticism against shows like Loki and She-Hulk for discrediting legacy characters at worst and contributing little to their characterization at best. Thor: Love and Thunder was heavily criticized for negating Thor's character arc, and the second Doctor Strange film was critiqued for putting the titular hero in the backseat of his own movie. It's just too much, too fast, and everyone -- from the fans to Marvel to the franchise itself -- would benefit from taking a step back and giving everything more time in the oven.