After 21 movies of build-up, the MCU's Infinity Saga finally came to a head in the massive battle between a Thanos from 2014 and his forces vs all of earth's mightiest heroes. While many fans are looking forward to the next massive crossover movie, other fans are excited about exploring the history and futures of individual characters.
In addition to lesser heroes, there are the loveable sidekicks and non-powered individuals that ground the heroes and provide depth. While not every character is worth developing, a vast majority of them are. Perhaps once the backups have had a chance to spread their wings, the fans will be ready for the next Endgame-type of conflict.
10 Build To A Finale: Make That Paper
It's no secret that Avengers: Endgame is (kind of) the highest-grossing movie of all time, at least for now. With such a positive response at the box office, it only makes sense for Marvel to milk this cash cow once more. However, it is worth noting that the individual films are no slouches in the profit department.
With so many new and young heroes being introduced in such a short period of time, it feels almost inevitable that the next batch of heroes will come together at some point. Perhaps the next ultimate team-up will see the likes of the Young Avengers, A-Force, and the West Coast Avengers coming together.
9 Don't Build: Explore Individual Characters More
While ensemble films are fun and usually have awesome fight scenes, a lot of dialogue and character development tend to get scrapped to make sure everyone has a role. A lot of the more popular characters have had great opportunities to tell grand personal stories over the course of three or more films.
However, many of the second-string heroes only develop when the main plot calls for it. Though with the wildly successful MCU properties on the Disney+ platform, many fans have claimed Wanda, Vision, Sam, and Bucky as new favorites after having seen a full season worth of character development and world-building around these characters.
8 Build To A Finale: Get Everyone Involved For A Unifying Cause
While many of the individual movies have been great and wildly successful, fans always raise the question of "where is everybody else?" which can sometimes be a difficult question to answer. When no one else needs to help the titular hero, was the threat really all that significant to begin with?
When multiple heroes come together it shows people that there is a serious threat and that these superpowered beings have put aside their differences to save the entire universe. Having one righteous cause to unite everyone can be powerful if done correctly, and Marvel doesn't seem to have missed a step on the big ones so far.
7 Don't Build: Introduce Other Villains
While Thanos was an incredible villain that many fans even viewed as the protagonist during Avengers: Infinity War, some fans got bored with seeing him pop up so frequently. Having more individual or small group films allows Marvel to introduce and explore new villains from all different areas of the comics.
While the comics make it pretty clear which villains are the biggest threats, testing them out on audiences before doubling down on making them the next Big Bad could be beneficial for all involved. Additionally, some of the lesser villains have stuck in fans' minds because of how well they were portrayed.
6 Build To A Finale: Provide Overlap For Multiple Character Arcs & Future Properties
When a franchise is as large as the MCU, fans are always begging for interactions among their favorite characters. Many of the scenes between Tony and Dr. Strange were hilarious and incredible to watch. With so many heroes operating in so many different parts of the planet (and universe) it can be difficult for some heroes to share screen time, even when fans are begging for it.
Allowing multiple teams to come together and interact during a massive team-up is certainly something that MCU fans have enjoyed thus far. Now with so many more characters being added to the mix, comic fans are desperate to know how these new characters will interact with one another as well as with the established heroes.
5 Don't Build: Let The Plot Develop & Breathe
When making a huge cross-over epic like Endgame, it's sometimes difficult to let the plot develop in a realistic manner with respect to timing and proper motivation. With only about a three-hour window, a lot of the reasoning and motivation get pushed to the side to make room for fight scenes or time heists.
Individual films typically follow the opposite approach, they will provide lots of backstory, tension, and build-up only to conclude with a rather brief fight, at least when compared to the Avengers movies. While the fights are important, it's more important to understand who is fighting for what and why they should be supported. Imagine the fight scene in Leipzig between Team Iron Man and Team Cap without any build-up or context. It probably would have still been cool, but very confusing.
4 Build To A Finale: Taking Down A Big Bad Is Great Fan Service
While it is important to not focus so much on villains, the MCU did an excellent job of introducing new and exciting villains for each individual hero while always teasing the inevitable arrival of Thanos. When Thanos finally arrived in Infinity War, fans went wild after having to wait for so long.
Thanos is one of the more powerful villains in the comics, but there are plenty of others that Marvel can start to tease now for the big payoff in 2030. It seems like they are already building to the next saga with the casting of Kang The Conqueror who is a significant Big Bad in the comics.
3 Don't Build: Create Opportunity For Lesser Characters
After watching WandaVision and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, fans have come to love the side characters in a new capacity. When creating a massive finale with over 60 heroes involved, some of the beloved lesser characters typically fall by the wayside. Even in solo hero films, the background characters typically just stay in the background.
While Dary Lewis, Jimmy Woo, and (a younger) Monica Rambeau were enjoyed by fans in the past, their roles in the Disney+ series have made them new fan-favorite characters. Spreading stories out and making them more independent from the main conflicts allows the small characters their time to shine and gives fans new characters to love.
2 Build To A Finale: The Fight Scenes Are Epic
Considering superpowered heroes and superpowered villains are such huge parts of the MCU, fighting among them is bound to happen. Some individual movies have some good fight scenes, most notably in Cap's trilogy, but they don't compare to the sheer magnitude of war-level fighting scenes in each of the four Avengers films.
Whether it's a team of six taking on an army of aliens, a team of ten taking on an army of robots, or a team of hundreds taking on a different army of aliens, the fights in the Avengers films have been nothing short of epic. Not only are they filled with action, but most characters get a chance to beat up a couple of bad guys and showcase their individual abilities.
1 Don't Build: Expand The MCU Farther & Faster
With the looming introduction of the multiverse, fans cannot wait to see the direction that the MCU takes them in. Marvel could show fans the Hydra's Captain America universe, the Old Man Logan universe, or they could even try their hand at the current craze of zombies with the Zombie Hero universe.
With a multiverse to explore, being bogged down by huge team-ups can potentially delay proper exploration of other universes as well as other parts of the vast main universe. While an Avengers 5 has already been confirmed by the top brass at Marvel Studios, they've also suggested that they are going to give the universe a chance to build before jumping into another Avengers movie. With proper pacing, fans may get the best of both worlds.
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