Some spoilers to follow, mainly for post-credit scenes and Loki

“Welcome to the circus”

The films of Phase 4 have been mostly focused on introducing new heroes. Black Widow, although following Natasha’s adventures in the lead up to Avengers: Infinity War, showcased Florence Pugh’s Yelena, as well as Red Guardian. Yelena is set up for a confrontation with Hawkeye in the post-credits scene. Reaction to the character is very positive, so she could be the lead in any potential sequel.

Elsewhere, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings showcased the martial arts master going up against the Mandarin. Arguably one of the best solo outings in the MCU, the film showcased new characters, as well as expanding and improving upon the Ten Rings. The controversial twist in Iron Man 3 is woven in as part of the villain’s story. Although largely standalone, cameos from Wong, Abomination and Bruce Banner helped fold Shang-Chi into the wider universe.

Eternals, while being divisive, expanded on the cosmic side of the MCU. A sequel seems likely to be set in space, as the characters search for more Eternals. Which opens up many possibilities for the future – Eros meeting Star-Lord and Adam Warlock perhaps? It also introduced Dane Whitman, who claimed the Ebony Blade to become the Black Knight. Blade, the half-human vampire hunter, also has a brief voice cameo.

A Visionary New Age of Television

Phase 4 is unique in that it now features TV shows. While there have been several other TV projects set in the MCU, the links have been vague at best. The Disney+ series though, are as big as the films. Delving into the aftermath of Avenger: Endgame, they have followed familiar characters who were supporting players in previous films. WandaVision is a mysterious, decade hopping sitcom, featuring the Scarlet Witch and the seemingly resurrected Vision. The globe-trotting The Falcon and The Winter Soldier explores the legacy of the now-retired Captain America. Hawkeye introduces Kate Bishop to the universe, while also giving the original archer his time in the spotlight.

While many of these have been mostly standalone, there are hints of an arc. In Loki, the god of mischief works with the Time Variance Authority to preserve the timeline. However, the finale introduced He Who Remains, who keeps the various timelines in check. With his death, things instantly start to change, with Loki returning to a very different TVA. The multiverses are starting to collapse. What If…? explores various multiverses, with changes to the existing MCU timeline having ripple effects, although it is unclear if this will tie in, as the show is animated.

The Multiverse of Madness

Phase 4 seems to be heading in a multiverse direction. With What If…? offering a simple but effective starter course in what exactly the multiverse is. Loki encountered “Variants” of himself, Loki’s from other universes during his series. These included Sylvie, Kid Loki, the classic Loki and an alligator. This sets up the possibility for multiple versions of the same character to exist. Spider-Man is set to encounter various villains (and maybe other Spider-Men) from the multiverse in Spider-Man: No Way Home. From the trailer, it looks like Doctor Strange is partly responsible for the multiverse trouble, which is likely going to be explored in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.

Scarlet Witch has been confirmed to have a substantial role in the sequel, which will likely follow the events of WandaVision. Strange seems to be emerging as a potential leader for the new Avengers team, whatever that ends up looking like. It’s possible that the sequel could end up being like Captain America: Civil War, having a large impact despite being a solo film. Or Strange could end the multiverse plotline, perhaps leading the world open to a greater threat…

While the MCU might not have headed straight into another 10-year arc after Endgame, it isn’t resting either. Phase 4 isn’t even halfway through yet, so it’s almost impossible to tell where it’s going. Returning favourites like Ant-Man, Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy will likely have their own stories to continue, as well as introduce new characters. Kang the Conqueror, a variant of He Who Remains is set to debut in Ant-Man: Quantummania. The Guardians are set to face Adam Warlock. As well as all-new heroes like Blade, Moon Knight, She-Hulk, and the Fantastic Four making their debut in the MCU. Phase 4 is doing exactly what it should be.

Also Read: Has The Marvel Cinematic Universe Reached Its Peak?

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I fell in love with Hahn as an actor through her role as Rabbi Raquel Fein in Amazon Prime’s queer family comedy Transparent. The level of complexity she brought to the show as its moral centre was fascinating and, as Emily Brennan wrote in the New York Times, was as wonderful as “Mallomars and beech trees and Jesmyn Ward books.” Now, with the end of lockdown in sight, I’m entering a Hahn-induced halcyon to see me through, and I’m not the only one. 

Two days ago, Marvel’s WandaVison came to an end. The show, which was supposed to be the studio’s grand experiment, became more generic and risk-averse with each passing episode. But its opening three – which featured near-perfect recreations of The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bewitched, and The Brady Bunch – was something that excited even me, a Marvel-sceptic. As the “nosy neighbour” Agnes, Hahn’s role in these episodes only extended the range of her talents. Alongside Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, Hahn fit perfectly into each recreation. Her mannerisms and tone of voice, right down to the style of her delivery, were eerily accurate. Even as the show broadened its scope and moved into typical superhero fare, Hahn still managed to bewitch and captivate – even up until the non-reveal of her character’s actual identity. 

After the show’s first three episodes premiered on Disney+ in mid-January, Hahn began trending on Twitter. One user noted that people seemed to be “rediscovering” Hahn, whilst another described Hahn as the only actor working today who “tonally gets the frequency and the vibe of every movie/show she’s in.” It seemed that, like those other actresses of her ilk (Laura Dern, Nicole Kidman, Marisa Tomei etc.), Hahn was due a twitter-induced “renaissance”. 

These Twitter comebacks usually are that in name only; the actor in question has typically been doing good work for years, but the mainstream is finally catching up. In Hahn’s case, her work on shows such as Transparent and I Love Dick was exceptional. Her performance in 2019’s Mrs Fletcher was similarly transcendent. As a middle-aged woman exploring her sexual desire through pornography, Hahn created pathos and urgency for an idea that is too often ignored. Now, poised to retain her role in the MCU, Hahn appears to be unstoppable.

As someone who loves Hahn, this is good to see. Yet it also seems to point to the cultural perception of middle-aged women and how we assess their value. In a recent Tinder conversation, a man told me that he was “here for every second” of Laura Dern’s “renaissance”. How can you have a renaissance – defined as “cultural revival” and “renewed interest” in something – if you’ve always been doing avant-garde and risky work? To whom does it appear as though interest as waned? In Hahn’s case, it seems to have only been building. 

I can’t help but feel that this idea of a career renaissance is a gendered one that ultimately puts a particular person’s attention at its centre. I can only think of a single male actor who has been talked about in this way: Matthew McConaughey. In the eyes of the mainstream, he went from doing romantic comedies – a genre typically maligned for its connection to female-centred storytelling – and into serious, often masculine, projects like True Detective and Interstellar. That his career is back on track now because he is appealing to a certain kind of viewer speaks to where our assessment of value comes from. 

The fact that Hahn, who has spent the past few years telling stories that centre around female desire, lust, and complexity, is only now considered “revived” because the Marvel Fan Boys have given her a seal of approval feels reductive. Of course, this has always been the case for those that choose to tell stories outside of the hegemony. For example, an adaption of Chris Kraus’ complicated feminist novel (even if it was, bizarrely, for Amazon) was never going to bring in Spider-Man level numbers. Still, it rubs me the wrong way when people now say that because Hahn has worked within the superhero machine she’s made it. 

It’s hard to make this sound like it isn’t just some variation of the “I liked them before they were cool” argument. Maybe now I understand those coked-up indie boys at house parties who told me the Arctic Monkeys have sold out or that the Kings of Leon were so much better before ‘Use Somebody’ came out. So maybe, when this pandemic is over, you’ll find me in the corner of a bar or a club, explaining to an unwilling audience that Hahn was always a star and that Marvel didn’t make her one. 

Also Read: How Film Changed Me: On Rewatching

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But what about films that fall in the middle? After all, not every director can get hundreds of millions to make their film. When studios have to decide between one small film or a whole season of television, the series seems like much better value for that money. So could this be the end of mid-budget films?

The Mid-Budget Movie

A mid-budget film can often be hard to define. As things like inflation and marketing costs can make them hard to determine. While there is no hard rule for what counts as mid-budget, it’s usually something around $5 million to $50 million. The lower range of these tends to be debut indies, films like American Psycho, 28 Days Later, The Blair Witch Project and Christopher Nolan’s Memento all had budgets of under $10 million.

At the upper end of this scale, can be a whole range of things. Many low-brow comedies and rom-coms are often hugely profitable. With most of the budget being spent on the cast and a few set pieces, such as The Hangover, Bridesmaids, Zombieland and 21 Jump Street.

Other films that made in this range are often thrillers, often with a big name attached or a simple hook, a lot of mid-budget sci-fi tends to do well at the box office, with films like Seven, Looper, District 9 and Limitless being good examples. There are also occasional adaptations of books, however, these tend not to be franchises. Some Oscar contenders and winners have been produced with less than $50 million, including The Help, Straight Outta Compton, American Hustle and Bridge of Spies.

The Rise of High-End TV

It’s a common complaint that most of the big films that come out are franchise films. Whether a sequel, prequel, spin-off, or a reboot, it seems rare that a totally original film makes an impact. Because audiences are familiar with the Avengers or Fast and Furious franchises (Understandably so, they’re great), they are a safer bet for a studio. If they have the option of investing $30 million into a one-off thriller, like Seven, and making $80 million, or investing $200 million in the next Bond and making a billion, the latter usually wins.

At the same time, shows like Breaking Bad and The Sopranos have proven that viewers enjoy those types of stories. Not only is a season of a tv show cheaper (Breaking Bad cost around $3 million per episode at its peak), but it also builds a larger audience the longer it goes. When a show is released weekly, like Game of Thrones or The Mandalorian it becomes a talking point every week.

For creators, writers often have much more say in TV, rather than film. Matthew Weiner had total freedom on Mad Men, and that story could not have been told in the span of one film. The Streaming Wars seem to be focused on series rather than films, with Netflix investing in shows such as The Crown, Stranger Things and The Witcher, for its biggest numbers. This in turn has left other studios trying to catch up. Disney recently announced that two of its biggest franchises, The MCU and Star Wars, were both going to be focused on TV for the foreseeable future.

Are Mid Budget Movies Dead?

While it certainly seems that a lot of things are heading towards TV, it doesn’t seem like it’s over yet. Spielberg has relaunched Amblin Entertainment, which almost exclusively focuses on these types of films, and has found success. Recent films from established, indie directors that have found success often occupy this space, such as Taika Waiti with JoJo Rabbit.

Some of the genres mentioned previously simply don’t need a huge budget to be profitable, such as comedies, and films like the upcoming The Little Things are telling stories like True Detective on the big screen. Crime films especially seem to do exceptionally well in this range, with the recent Knives Out and Murder On The Orient Express proving surprise hits. Likewise, many Oscar contenders are often made for a more modest budget, so while the future might be changing, it doesn’t look like these mid-budget successes are going anywhere just quite yet.

Also Read: Fast & Furious: The Making of a Billion Dollar Franchise

Read More: The Mandalorian – A New Hope For Star Wars

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Mild Spoilers for the first episode to follow

“This is gonna be a gas!”

In case you were worried about “Superhero fatigue“, WandaVision is closer to a classic sitcom, than a superhero show. Although their powers are used, they aren’t fighting evil aliens or homicidal robots. Instead, Wanda is using her powers in the kitchen, to quickly cook a meal for Vision’s new boss. She also may or not be responsible for their new life, but more on that later.

The show captures the sitcom feel perfectly, with a musical title sequence explaining the “premise” of the show: he’s a robot, they’re an odd couple. Vision has an office job, even though he isn’t quite sure what he does, using his powers to look like a normal human. While Wanda is trying to be the perfect housewife with the help of their neighbour. The look and feel of the show is perfect for the era it’s going for. The formal accents, clothes and even the way characters walk really sell the era. Perhaps most importantly, it’s actually funny, and not in the typical Marvel self-aware way. Even without the franchise connections, this is a solid premise for a sitcom.

It’s not all audience laugh tracks though, it’s implied that there is something “strange” (pun intended?) going on. Wanda and Vision can’t seem to remember how they arrived in the neighbourhood, or anything outside it. The trailer seems to hint that this will become a mystery throughout the season, but with no second season offically announced, who knows how it will end?

“What’s your story?”

Wanda is set to return in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness, so it’s safe to assume that whatever happens here will lead into the upcoming film. The MCU is in a transition phase, as new heroes step up to fill the gaps left in the wake of Avengers: Endgame. With no Avengers 5 to build towards, it’s unclear where she’ll show up after that. Likewise, it’s unclear if Vision will appear after the series ends.

Marvel’s current slate includes a mix of old and new characters, over films and series. With most of these focusing on new heroes or ones that haven’t been a focus (like WandaVision or Falcon and Winter Soldier), the universe is clearly moving forward. Most of these seem much smaller scale than recent entries, more akin to Phase 1. It could be that the franchise is going for a “soft reboot”. With over 20 films, there are a lot of plot threads and characters to keep up with, so some smaller stories which could see new heroes replace older ones (Hawkeye, Falcon and Winter Solider) would be welcome. Additionally some multiverse, time travel stories could fix some continuity errors or close some plot threads.

Rating (4 / 5)

Marvel has clearly gone as big on its Disney+ offerings as Star Wars has. Unique and refreshing, it’s a real treat after the superhero drought. Olsen and Bettany have great chemistry, and it captures the sitcom feeling perfectly. With dozens of theories already out there, the wait for answers seems like it’s going to be worth the wait.

While they may have been gone longer than intended, the next stage of the MCU is finally here. And if this is anything to go by, it’s going to be like nothing we’ve seen before…

Also Read: MCU Storylines That Are Still Unresolved

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