The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the most successful film franchise in the world, having grossed $28 billion at the worldwide box office. The movies and television series of the MCU have helped reshape Hollywood with various studios trying to chase the franchise success. Yet despite the franchise’s continued success, there have been fears of franchise fatigue, particularly following Phase 4 with various films seeing more front-loaded box offices and mixed responses from fans and critics on various story developments.

Fans are excited for the start of Phase 5 with the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and the eventual road to the conclusion of the Multiverse Saga with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars.

Nonetheless, there is still a fear of how long the MCU can keep this level of output going. For as beloved as the franchise ends, and it could theoretically go on forever, an argument could be made the franchise should eventually end before audiences turn on the series.

Too Much of a Good Thing Is Bad

     Marvel Comics

The MCU has been good about easing audiences into more material. What started out as two films per year evolved into three, and in 2021, the studio experimented with four films and television series on top of that. Yet recent reports suggest that so much material has just become too much for mainstream audiences, even those who enjoy the various projects.

Rumors have already circulated that Marvel Studios will be reducing the number of installments per year in an effort to maintain a level of quality control, but just like the comics, after so many years of continuity at what point does it become too much for general audiences? The franchise has been running for 15 years now and kids watching the MCU now were likely born after the first Avengers opened in theaters.

There are franchises that have obviously run longer than the MCU; both Mission: Impossible and The Fast and Furious series have been running for over 20 years with the same continuity. Yet there aren’t as many entries in those franchises, with more time spaced out, and carefully understanding the events of each preceding film isn’t as necessary. The MCU might be getting to the point of overwhelming its audience, and despite maintaining generally favorable reviews among critics and audiences, it will get to a point where it becomes too much.

Ending On Their Own Terms

     Marvel StudiosDisney

While not an official MCU movie (although thanks to Spider-Man: No Way Home, it’s part of the multiverse), in 2002’s Spider-Man, Green Goblin tells Spider-Man, “the one thing they love more than a hero is to see a hero fail, fall, die trying. In spite of everything you’ve done for them, eventually, they will hate you.” There are plenty of audiences who loved the MCU when it first started that still do, but there is also a subset of fans who have become disillusioned with the series for a variety of reasons. Either they aren’t happy with creative decisions, are frustrated with the overwhelming nature of the franchise, or just got burned out. The franchise is still the top multimedia franchise around but it got there while making a lot of enemies.

It is for that reason, that maybe the franchise should bow out on its own terms. Instead of letting audience reactions abruptly kill the franchise like it did with the original Batman series after Batman and Robin, or the Amazing Spider-Man franchise, or even with what the DCU did wrong, the MCU should make an ending where it goes out on its own terms. It can give a proper ending to its massive franchise which is rare in Hollywood.

The End Does Not Mean the End

Even if the MCU were to come to a conclusion, that does not mean it would be the end of Marvel movies or even a shared connected universe. Disney will clearly make more Marvel films, and Marvel Studios can still tell other films. The studio could either make stand-alone reimaginings of their classic heroes, similar to how DC has with Joker and The Batman. The other option could be the reboot the entire MCU and start over again, now with all the pieces in place.

Just like how the Secret Wars comics relaunched the Marvel Universe, Avengers: Secret Wars as a film could restart the movies and a cinematic universe that could even be closer to the comics. A new MCU where The Fantastic Four are part of the early formation of the franchise, one where they have the X-Men from the beginning and can easily lay the groundwork for them, and bring back characters like Captain America and Iron Man with new actors. Just because the MCU ends, that does not mean the characters have to. Everything ends, but that means it can begin again too.