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The MCU May Be Entering Its Empire Strikes Back Era | Game Rant

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has always told expansive stories. Stories that have been planned out within an inch of their lives, years before their creators or fans see the fruits of their labor. There has always been a reason for a Marvel film or piece of media: it’s a puzzle piece that leads to the next big plot point. 23 films make up what is known as The Infinity Saga, including the first 23 films in the MCU, starting with the first Iron Man and concluding after Avengers: Endgame with Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Over hours of film, an entire universe of superheroes is introduced. Its main players are given respective films and time to grow before teaming up to form the Avengers, who prove themselves in their first film together before being thrown in the deep end in later stories like Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Age of Ultron. The team faces trials and tribulations among a god-like force in the villain of Thanos, who brings the group and the world to its knees in Avengers: Infinity War, where all hope seems lost. Until one final push in Avengers: Endgame is enough to finally defeat evil and come out on top, as heroes do.

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The arc is similar to another massively successful story: the original Star Wars trilogy. If one looks at the Infinity Saga as a long story, it starts to feel like A New Hope, full of what people think is conventional for hero stories. But after wrapping up something as extensive as The Infinity Saga, where can the MCU go next? Does the formula start over? Or does Marvel tell something new?

If the recent shows on Disney+ are any indicator, the MCU may be heading into new, complex territory — an era like what comes after A New Hope and during The Empire Strikes Back, with heroes that are more fragile and deal with more consequences, and endings that may not seem like typical good guy endings.

Phase Four, while in its infancy, has already proved itself to be different than the films and shows that came before. After the fallout of Avengers: Endgame, different faces are now the first line of defense. There is no Iron Man or Steve Rogers’ iteration of Captain America to lead the charge against the next major villain. Instead, we have characters with a little more weight to carry on their backs.

There's Scarlet Witch coming into her power and a different version of Loki fighting through his own issues, Bucky Barnes going through his trauma, and Dr. Strange weaving together threads of time. That’s not even including the new faces that are planning on joining the MCU, like Chloe Zhao’s upcoming Eternals.

Another major shift for the MCU is the addition of the multiverse. After years of building and teasing to its appearance, recent events in Loki have finally made the threat real. With all timelines possible, Marvel’s heroes face their biggest villain yet: time itself. Loki also revealed what was rumored to be the main antagonistic force of Phase Four with He Who Remains. It’s almost impossible for the man (played by Jonathan Majors) to not be what fans have predicted him to be from the beginning — the mythic Kang the Conquerer.

While Kang seems pretty unassuming at first glance, especially with his calm demeanor in Loki, the multiverse means that there are endless versions of Kang, which he warns are even worse than the original. There was only one Thanos trying to rule the world, but infinite Kangs may be trickier to tackle. After his next role in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, it seems that Kang will be a regular in this new era of Marvel.

While it would be a departure from a long line of films before it, a potential change in stories could be good for the MCU. By being forced to use a new cast of characters (and hiring new, more diverse creators to helm those projects), Marvel could tell interesting stories, delve into topics not explored in The Infinity Saga.

Along with stepping away from the cookie-cutter narrative, the MCU could build room for its characters to fail or falter under the pressures and powers of their respective foes. It might be interesting to see a hero as mighty as Thor grappling with the enormous task of saving not only their world but the hundreds across the multiverse. After valiant attempts, it would be refreshing to see heroes truly earn their eventual happy endings, even if they’re not fast as fans are used to seeing.

With holes as big as Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow to fill, the MCU has a lot riding on the next saga of films and shows. Let’s hope they continue the trend laid out in the first few Disney+ shows and offer a new flavor of Marvel to fans.

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