This is an IGN opinion piece from Jacob Kienlen, who has been covering movies and TV for years with a focus on big franchises. He has more streaming services than he actually needs and spends way too much of his time reading books.
I've been a fan of the MCU since Iron Man kicked it off, but in recent years I just haven't been able to get excited about any of Marvel's upcoming projects. Avengers: Doomsday is only a few months away and Secret Wars hits next year, after which we're looking at a reboot of the X-Men franchise, but I'm feeling rather apathetic about the whole thing.
My growing disinterest in whatever Kevin Feige is brewing was only further exacerbated by the recent cancellation of Wonder Man. Wonder Man was the first Marvel TV series I've thoroughly enjoyed since the first season of Loki came out all those years ago. It was unique, interesting, and was carried by some incredible performances from Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley. I was actually feeling excited about the prospect of a Season 2 (which was even confirmed!), and then Disney just canceled it out of nowhere.
What We Said in Our Wonder Man Review
IGN's Jesse Schedeen gave Wonder Man an 8 out of 10. Here's a summary of what he thought about the series:
"Anyone who judges their MCU content by how much it drives the overarching narrative of this shared universe may not find much to like in Wonder Man. This smaller-scale series couldn’t care less about multiverses or Avengers, and the only gratuitous cameos are of the real-world celebrity variety. But that’s not the point. Wonder Man is about exploring the lives of two struggling actors as they become deeply intertwined, and there it truly succeeds. The series is funny and heartfelt in equal measure, and it thrives on the strength of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley’s performances. Regardless of your thoughts on the current state of the MCU, this one is worth a look."
I'm not exactly surprised that it was canceled, but I'm definitely disappointed. Wonder Man, to me, represented an effort to reconnect with audiences that aren't just hardcore MCU fans. It's been years since my wife has cared about a Marvel movie or TV show, but she sat down and watched all of the episodes with me and thoroughly enjoyed them. It wasn't just a good Marvel TV show, it was a good TV show in general. I'm afraid we're not going to get that sort of thing out of Marvel ever again.
It just feels like Marvel is giving up on making good content everyone can enjoy.
I definitely get the decision from a business perspective. It's obviously more lucrative to put all of your efforts towards box-office spectacles like Spider-Man and Avengers than it is to create TV shows for a streaming service. But as a fan, it just feels like Marvel is giving up on making good content everyone can enjoy. If you need to watch 15 movies and TV shows just to actually understand what's going on in Avengers: Doomsday, for example, it's not going to be very accessible to anyone who isn't fully caught up.
Even with my disappointment in the direction the MCU seems to be going, I'm not going to completely give up on it. I'll probably watch VisionQuest when it comes out in October and stream Avengers: Doomsday when it eventually comes to Disney+, but that sense of excitement I used to feel about each new MCU entry has completely faded. I would love nothing more for other upcoming MCU projects to reignite my optimism about the franchise. I just don't have hope that they ever will.
I'm Ready for New Cinematic Universes
Thoughts on the MCU aside, there are some upcoming cinematic universes I am excited for. No, I don't mean James Gunn's DCU, seeing as the studio has already canceled a number of TV shows following the Supergirl box office flop. I'm talking about franchises that still seem to be intent on creating quality stories that are independent of each other. Right now, I'm most looking forward to more Game of Thrones as well as Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere universe, which is coming to Apple TV. I'd also love to continue to see more from Dune and the Alien franchises.
While it's not exactly new, Game of Thrones has had two very good spin-off shows and there's a movie currently in the works. Despite having a final season that almost completely soured me on the franchise, House of the Dragon turned that around and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms solidified it as an IP I'm genuinely excited about. Each of these shows has ties to the original Game of Thrones story, but since they take place in entirely different points in history, they also exist as their own thing. The Aegon's Conquest movie will be the series' first foray into true cinema, but I think it has an incredibly stable foundation to build off of thanks to all of the source material from George R.R. Martin.
As for brand new universes, Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere adaptations at Apple TV are what I have the highest hopes for. Sanderson is writing the first Mistborn movie screenplay himself and is retaining creative control of all future adaptations. These are some of my favorite fantasy books of all time and I'm excited for the first movie and the Stormlight Archive series that is set to follow. The Cosmere books are known for having multiple entry points, so while they do exist in a shared universe, each story is uniquely its own and isn't really weighed down by a larger unfolding plot. The first movie is likely still a long way off, but Sanderson has a history of creating high-quality and polished content in a timely manner.
Jacob Kienlen is a Senior Audience Development Strategist and Writer for IGN. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he has considered the Northwest his home for his entire life. With a bachelor's degree in communication and 10 years of professional writing experience, his expertise is spread across a variety of different pop culture topics -- from TV series to books and the latest LEGO sets..
Continue reading...
