How Marvel can get their mojo back

Simplify, entertain, take some chances and stop worrying about endless sequels. Seems easy, right?

Back in 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe commenced with the Robert Downey Jr./Jon Favreau love child, Iron Man. A few sequels, team-up adventures, new character launches, and more team-ups turned an originally juicy idea into an insufferable blah parade of recyclable entertainment. Marvel stopped entertaining, worrying more about establishing intellectual property and teasing big things that turned out to be hollow exhibits.

Avengers Endgame may have been electrifying, but Eternals stunk like left-out-to-die takeout food. Modest experiences like Shang-Chi and The Marvels pleased viewers in the moment but dropped from the memory years later, while risky endeavors like Doctor Strange and the Multitude of Madness alienated some traditionalist fans who weren’t ready to see Elizabeth Olsen turn John Krasinski into cheese whiz and slice poor Hayley Atwell in two. That was like the Bed, Bath, and way Beyond the corridor of Marvel going for it yet maybe a little too much.

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Instead of being an event picture, Marvel movies are middling reminders of how comic book movies are overcooked and past their prime again. When Downey Jr. ironed up 17 years ago, superhero movies based on comic books didn’t know how to be funny or make audiences laugh along with being thrilled. They were serious or family family or both, but they weren’t that funny until Kevin Feige unleashed a different kind of creator team-up in Favreau and Downey.

What was once fresh is now stale, so getting back to those thrilling beginnings will require some risk-taking and out of the box choices--as long as it doesn’t become too overzealous too quickly. Hiring a highly talented actor who spent more time in jail than on screen in Downey Jr. was a bold risk that paid off big time. Maybe taking a second chance flier on Jonathan Majors would be a primal urge to scratch for Feige and company, but they have to be careful with their audience.