Hype Culture and Nostalgia Are Hurting The MCU 

If ya wanna see a video where I talk about MCU Tik Tok, let me know which Tik Tokers specifically, cuz I rarely use Tik Tok lol 😩🤌

It feels weird hearing fans complaining when things aren’t connected or very little cameo. I rather see a story where our hero grow than a universe grow with underdeveloped characters

Loved the Morbius cameo in multiverse of madness

this is exactly how I felt, watching the batman. remembering that a movie really could make me gasp and sit on the edge of my seat just off of good filmmaking rather than with cameos

I didn't wanna bring in DC into the subject but whatever, I just wanna point out how Peacemaker utilized the JL cameo in its finale brilliantly. There's no hype bait and absolutely NOBODY saw it coming. They were more focused on making a solid story for the real stars of the show first and when those guys did show up they became nothing more than the butt of the joke, which might rile some fans up for sure but it worked in the context of Peacemaker's story where they had been setting up gags upon gags revolving the JL members (Aquaman fucks fish rumors etc.) and when they showed up for Peacemaker to deliver the punchline it was goddamn satisfying. The buildup was not to set up their appearence but rather the punchline itself, giving the joke a satisfying payoff, which I think James Gunn really excels at in his stuff whether it's the Guardians movies or his DC projects. Bottom line, solid story > cameos and senseless hype culture

That was always my problem. I felt like NWH could've gone so wrong so easily because of the load of cameos they have. I felt like maybe the focus wouldn't be on Tom's Peter. But thankfully it was a good like focus on Peter learning what it means being a superhero, that he will always risk those close to him to danger. And now everyone just wants cameos. Even Secret Wars, people just assume that it would be a cameo fuckfest. Like I've seen people say that it's like Endgame, but multiverse.

"Tobey Maguire already beat his ass" should be the end of every Marvel movie.

100% agree Marvel doesn't need cameos to make a good movie or story and it's sad to see people just expect cameo after cameo

You've got the point pretty well. The MCU has become an industry that needs to make as much profit as possible. They prefer quantity over quality, and they are abusing of cameos and hype to try to fake the lack of ideas and interesting plots

Dude the best parts in Multiverse of Madness is when it's trying new things, such as fighting with music, possessing your own dead body, all of the horror scenes from them escaping Wanda, it's so good and that's what saved the movie for me because the hype of it was only on the cameos

Yeah that’s why we need a Morbius trilogy to show everybody what a REAL comic book movie should be like!

I’m actually HAPPY that there weren’t more cameos in Doctor Strange, I appreciate that Raimi was able to keep the focus on Strange, America, & Wanda. I would’ve been mad if the Illuminati stuck around for much longer because it’s not their movie, and Raimi got to take them out in the coolest way!

To be fair about Jake Lockley, even in the comics he’s the most violent and brutal of the personalities because he was essentially created by Marc coping with the people he has killed over the years. I do actually like that his existence is kept as a mystery throughout the show, but I definitely agree having his grand reveal in the post credits scene was a little wonky. But I totally agree that Phase 4 has been sacrificing its own quality for the sake of build-up and hype.

I feel like Shang-Chi was the only movie where the hype wasn’t crazy, delivered its project well, & went about its way to the next thing without going crazy or relying heavily on cameos.

Another aspect of hype culture that I feel is damaging all films not just the MCU ones is the need for spoilers. People want to know the entire film now before they even go see it. I made a conscious choice to avoid spoilers with Dr. Strange 2 and I wqas so happy that I did. It was great going into a film knowing almost nothing about it. I think thats going to be my standard approach from now on. Even trailers are starting to spoil too much of the plot lines. I miss trailers that didn't give a lot of information but rather gave a feeling of that the film's tone and idea was going to be. (Force Awakens first trailer is still a master class in how to do this btw).

The trailers have been rather deceiving+the fake scoop accounts have been tainting peoples expectations

I saw Multiverse of Madness in theaters with my friend. It had been a LONG day and he was so tired that he fell asleep in his chair right about the moment where Dr. Strange and America are knocked unconscious by the tea. He woke back up in the middle of the fight scene between Wanda and the Illuminati. I quickly explained to him that they were some alt. universe Avengers and that's all it took for him to get back into the loop. He quite literally lost nothing and understood everything from there on. That entire cameo quarter of the movie could have been removed and the story pretty much stayed the same.

When I went into MoM, I didn’t care about the cameos and bullshit rumors circulating around the internet. I just came into it wanting a campy fun Sam Raimi superhero horror film and that is exactly what I got.

Oof that is too real a criticism and I agree, even if the writing outside of it has still been pretty great for like No Way Home of Multiverse of Madness

evan peters' quicksilver standing in wanda's doorway is definitely one of the moments in the mcu

I remember when Marvel said that you wouldn't need to watch the shows in order to be able to follow what's going on in the movies but that very quickly went out the window with WandaVision... THEIR FIRST SHOW. If I hadn't seen a single episode of WandaVision, I would have been so lost and confused by Wanda's story in Multiverse of Madness. I'm to the point now where I don't even really care about watching every show they put out or even every movie. I really hope Thor Love and Thunder doesn't rely too heavily on the Guardians being there because that trailer actually got me excited.

Yes. I agree 100%. Maybe it's a new strategy or something but they are loosing their originality and that hurts as a fan

I’m just tired of it. I want a film that I’m going to look back on as one of the greatest superhero movies and have nostalgia for that. I don’t want a movie that copies and pastes those moments for fan service. I want a movie that creates new moments or if we’re going down the nostalgia road, at least make new moments with it. P.S. 8:45 my source is that I made it the fuck up

Your are probably the most reasonable MCU critic man. Very unbiased and fair opinions which is very rare these days.

I was thinking the same thing about Dr. Strange. I thought it was excellent and I think Sam Raimi gave it 100 percent but it felt like people were shitting on it simply because their fan theories didn’t come true and it was so disheartening. I like cameos as much as the next guy but when you judge a movie based on how much of a cameo fest it is, that’s when you’ve done something wrong. I even feel that the Illuminati thing would have been more effective if they hadn’t centered so much of the marketing around it and just let it be a surprise.

I definitely relate to this. As a die hard MCU fan who's watched every film, all the Netflix shows (fuck me, even Iron Fist), Agents of Shield, Runaways, most of the Disney+ shows and shit even Inhumans, I always look forward to new releases. However, recently I can't help but feel somewhat fatigued by MCU films. As you pointed out, their overreliance on cameos and hype is getting rather frustrating. On top of that, I feel that both issues are symptoms of the MCU's major issue (in my opinion), their overreliance on interconnectivity. I honestly think that the MCU is becoming so obsessed with references and call backs and cameos from existing characters that it's taking away from the individual stories. It would be cool to have the X-men in the MCU. It would feel cheap and kinda corny to have their origins tied to something like the snap. These stories should be able to exist on their own. Audiences should be invested in the characters and stories first before their used for crossovers and introduced to other big name characters. It also just cheapens and lessens the impact of those crossovers when they happen nearly every 5 minutes. Anyway, that's just my two cents.

I personally disagree about the Moon Knight criticism. I understand it, but I found the conclusion to Marc and Steven’s story to be the most important thing and for that to be satisfying in itself. The Jake Lockley reveal for me worked as a sad kind of coda where it’s more of a comment like ‘oh, they don’t even realise that they’re still enslaved to Khonshu…’. Just my opinion!

I seem to be the opposite of most people in that I actually appreciate that Sam Raimi didn’t primarily use the multiverse as a way to shoehorn in cameos, but rather on alternate versions of Strange, Christine, & Wanda that reflect their journeys

The reason I loved Eternals is that it’s different from the rest of the MCU and it told a story with a beginning, middle, end and character arcs. Which I realize shouldn’t be too much to ask for but it somehow is now. And I’m not even sure if it’s a good movie. But it is a whole movie.

Quality over quantity. I’ve rewatched Peacemaker more than I’ve seen Moon Knight, Hawkeye, Loki, Falcon & Winter Soldier and WandaVision combined.

Hit the nail on the head. What a freakin disappointment for the first appearance of Reed Richards and Charles Xavier in the MCU

Great video. The memefacation of cinema is tricky. At LOTR screenings there’s now big laughs and giggles at “one does not simply walk into Mordor”, “they’re taking the hobbits to Isengard”, and “Po-ta-toes”. Obviously not intentional by the film makers, but it’s a weird meta experience.

I liked the way they ended moon knight, I'd much rather they use the battle to hype up jake then have another typical mcu battle, and I think it's done well in that the first half of the episode it makes it seem like Marc has got it figured all out, but this moment shows that his struggles are far from over

People should be hyped accordingly

I remember telling myself Tobey and Andrew wouldn’t be in No Way Home just so I wouldn’t be upset if it happened. I was worried because everyone thought they were in that the movie would be hated for not having cameos. Thankfully they were in the movie but as actual characters for the story.

This is probably why Shang-Chi is my favorite movie out of Phase 4, doesn’t really care about hyping up cameos and making audiences go wild, it just wants to be a good, fun movie with sick fight scenes and good character development.

Not hearing any hype or anything on moon knight means i appreciate the show for what it was, story wise it was great, having a bunch of gore would have hindered the story

It's always a good day whenever Browntable uploads a video about the problems of the MCU and how they can fix their mistakes.

I’ve been saying this about MCU stans for a while now. Even before we knew they’d bring back old Spideys and their villains in NWH, people treated it as gospel truth despite there being ZERO indication of it. I remember fan art for the three always put Tobey front and center and Tom was off to the side with Andrew. They didn’t care about Toms story, they just wanted more of what they’ve already seen. Then not only did people complain that they didn’t get all the cameos they were “promised” in MoM, they claim that the Illuminati was wasted even though it’s a different universe that we’ll probably never see again and they have every ability to bring them back in some capacity. This trend is getting out of control. Now I’m looking at Star Wars and I’m seeing some parallels that I really don’t like. Fans not being content with seeing how the actual story plays out and just endlessly speculating about whether or not Glup Shitto is gonna make an appearance. Also PLEASE do a video on TikTok, they’ve dodged criticism for too long…

This is so fucking true. First time i watched Multiverse of Madness the unrealistic hype killed the movie for me. On a second viewing i was able to appreciate the movie for what it is instead of for what some unrealistic rumors made it to be

Speaking of Moon Knight, one thing I didn't like about the series, even though I liked it a lot, was that they could've dedicated an episode of Harrow being Moon Knight, his brief history of sorts.

I actually find myself agreeing with you on a lot of points here. Looking back at No Way Home, the beginning really didn't feel very entertaining and I thought the whole idea of turning the villains back into normal people felt a goofy and I was wondering why they just went along with him as Doctor Strange isn't there. Of course the rest of the movie was really good, but it did get me questioning if the movie would've been great on its own merits had Tobey and Andrew not been in the movie. I'm not saying I hate No Way Home, but the beginning really had a rough start that wasn't the most engaging.

Honestly, this video completely sums up why I have lost most interest in the MCU. I used to be a super fan, but after a while I realized this franchise was more interested in setting up future installments and building hype to fuel excitement and ticket sales. This is personally why I felt The Batman was so refreshing, it was a comic book movie that slowed down and explored a layered complex story with layered and complex characters. Batman made me nostalgic for the right reasons, it reminded me of a simpler time for super hero movies. Back when these types of films weren't guaranteed successes, and had to have well written scripts and sometimes phenomenal performances (there's a reason people still talk about the Dark Knight and Heath Ledger's Joker). Marvel these days just waves cameos and hype in your face. Honestly, the sad thing is that it's working, and we will probably see less and less story and character driven movies in the future for the sake of fan service.

Literally MCU has received a drop in quality for the shows, but to some folks who either don't have Disney+ or haven't seen those Marvel Miniseries on the service they would feel confused and get lost on what's happening whenever they watch the latest MCU film. Not to mention it seems that only WandaVision, Loki, What If?..., Falcon & the Winter Soldier, and Ms. Marvel are so far the only Disney+ series that tie to future MCU films the former three ties to _Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness,_ and the latter two ties to the next Captain America (starring Falcon) and The Marvels. Plus, it seems that Marvel Studios seems to be focusing more on Quantity of films and shows, than on Quality.

Jake locke was a cool twist for me as is was more of a sad twist, as marc and steven are still trapped by khonshu and is the perfect set up for a season 2, since we've already explored marc and steven's relationship, so the next logical point is to see their relationship with jake.

Another big marvel/Disney problem is the overwhelming amount of “meh” to “ok” content relentlessly being pumped out

I've been saying this for a full 2 years now, I'm SO glad someone's bringing the issue up. It ain't just Marvel, it's all of Disney's big IP content (Star Wars etc.). Luke Skywalker's appearance in the Mandalorian opened Pandora's box, and WandaVision sealed the deal.

"Will I watch every show?" _(shows Agatha: House of Harkness)_ *"No."* Same. 😂

Yoo, was waiting for someone to cover this! Great Video!

Since I had to wait multiple weeks to see Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, I got exposed to a lot of the discourse and was able to appropriately prepare myself for what the movie was actually like. I knew things like: Raimi’s direction is VERY overt and your enjoyment of the movie can live or die on whether you like his style; the tone was more in-line with “Evil Dead 2” than “Spider-Man”; the movie was fast-paced with a simple plot; Strange was a more passive character that allowed for other characters to develop; and the Illuminati cameos were VERY brief (but pretty substantial). Knowing all of this going in, my expectations were humbled and enjoyment of the movie was exponentially increased. I also honestly appreciate that this movie didn’t get bogged down with shoving endless multiversal cameos down our throats, which they very easily could have done. Instead, Sam Raimi was able to use the multiverse in a more meaningful way by showcasing other versions of Stephen Strange & Wanda Maximoff to better fit the thematic arcs that they’re going through and enrich the story.

You touched on so many things I've been thinking of for a while now, glad to know I'm not crazy.

You use humor so well in your content! The part where you called Kevin Fiege had me crying😂

I like to think we’ll get more No Way Home/DS2-type movies where the hype of these cool characters doesn’t get too much in the way of a still well-told story, but with how Phase 4 is shaping up, I don’t wanna hold my breath Edit: as a former RWBY fan, I appreciate the comparison because I think it highlights my grievance a little more

You're the best man!!

"Watch product and be excited for more product"-Red Letter Media.

You articulated every complaint I had but just couldn't put my finger on. Bravo!

I decided to stop watching ads or engaging with fan theories and leaks before age of ultron came out and I really do think it’s helped me prolong my enjoyment of the MCU

I agree with the general sentiment of the video, however I think the climactic scene in Moon Knight works super well in context. Yes we miss out on yet another cgi battle but we get a stronger sense of confusion and being lost, kinda like a horror movie.

I hace noticed this trend even on myself. Now, when I go to see a new Marvel movie, I have expectations about cameos, connections and post-credits scenes, more than with the movie argument itself! It's pretty crazy if you think about it, you are buying a product expecting what future products are coming, instead of 100% enjoying the one you just paid for. Excellent video 🙌🏻

Great vid, I think you make a great point about each cameo being there for the sake of nostalgia, not to mention how wasted and ingenuine the last est ones have been.

not going to lie I've recently become addicted to your channel, love the way you document your thoughts on subjects, keep it up

I now feel guilty for being enticed to watch Multiverse of Madness because my brother told me “you wouldn’t believe who shows up” which convinced me to watch it, but I still really enjoyed the story, cinematography, the horror elements, and especially how the characters where treated over the neat cameos!

I was so baffled people wanted MORE cameos in MoM. Cameos that years later no one will care about. Like doesn't being a good story matter?

This is hands-down *the* best video I've seen on what the MCU's been doing recently. I'm in very much the same camp, I enjoy these movies and and shows for the surface-level entertainment value they provide. But while I'm watching, I can't escape the feeling that all the nostalgia-baiting and cameos feel very much like they were conceived in some Marvel Studios boardroom by committee and only included to meet some mandate the filmmakers are given to appease the more hype-orientated portion of the fanbase. That being said, thanks for the great vid!

definitely agree. I'm glad that someone finally said it. thank you so much. also. the same thing can be said about star wars these days.

Peggy carter saying the “I can do this all day” line was definitely the final straw

it’s crazy how we agree so much, like our opinions are always the same when i watch your gudeos

i have no idea how I’ve never came across your channel before. great vid you definitely gained a sub man

Ok When you do all those hype and nostalgic correctly and precisely You get Spider-Man no way home Everything about the hype and nostalgic was point on Nothing felt rushed or anything And it was not just fan service It had implications to all 3 Spider-Man And they were in the plot Man Spider-man 2 was my first Spidey film and i was Crazy From that time I was so satisfied with everything they did And that how you balance out the hype from the noise

I call this shit "Clap Culture" with friends. You don't wanna watch the movie, you just wanna wait until the big cameo appears and you clap at the screen.

I have felt so iffy about most of the new marvel stuff and I think this describes a lot of my issues that I couldn’t describe before, great video

Your hair always looks great!

also i think this is why the reaction to Batman was the way it was, either complete love to how its own thing it was like we haven't seen in a superhero film for a long time now, or just complaining that it doesn't have "cheer" moments. this feels a lot like when sitcoms were so reliant on the laugh track that the one without didn't perform well, i mean the office was almost booted and arrested development did get booted. it's sad

He shouldn't have said "I'm something of a scientist myself" in the first place, it was an unfitting cheap insert that didn't add anything of importance

Jeremy Slater himself said that Jake Lockley won't have an Evil alter trope and also he said making like that would be least interesting part of the character.

This video was well thought out! It was awesome to hear your thoughts about the mcu as of now! It’s good to see a different angle and perspective of the hype culture and cameos in the mcu!

Kevin Feige sounds so chill

Agree with a lot of your points except Moon Knight. Second best Disney+ series for me behind Loki. I love that the brutality of Jake was hidden in that final battle because we had already gotten a kickass fight sequence pushing on like 10 minutes already so it’s not like we didn’t get good action leading up to the climax (the phasing between Marc and Steven was hella cool). Idk I felt like it was a cool storytelling device that surprised me. I understand why it didn’t work for others, but it just made me more excited to learn about Jake

Man you are saying everything I've been saying, I'm glad that I'm not the only one who's noticing this!

*>the queen's blade ad in the recommended videos column at **1:50* lmao it's everywhere

I kinda regret hyping for John Krasinski for Mister Fantastic anyways.

I said my thoughts about this on your Hawkeye video but really does suck how much Marvel's been pushing into cameos and hype recently. It can be done well if they weren't more worried about the short moments instead of lasting memories.

Man I’m trying to eat up all your content! It’s so good and I can’t wait for the next Interstellar Ranger Commence episode! The episodes are super long

I'm surprised you don't have more views, this video was great. I totally found myself agreeing with everything you were saying. I've been noticing that the MCU isn't quite as engaging as it once was but I couldn't really figure out way. This definitely explains what's going on.

I feel like one of the biggest issues with the MCU right now is it is getting too mixed together and convoluted to the point where it can feel like a chore to watch all these movies/shows just to understand another movie/show. That’s why, despite its flaws, Moon Knight is my favorite show thus far. I’ve been able to recommend it to friends who haven’t watched a single MCU movie and they’ve loved it and been able to follow along perfectly. That said, the fact they originally advertised the show as a limited series (whether or not that remains true) makes the decision to delay Jake Lockley SO confusing. I think I’d be a lot more satisfied with the final episode if there was some sort of confirmation that there would be a second season to pay off everything they set up during the first season. Otherwise, like you said, it feels like building up hype for the sole purpose of building up hype. Those complaints aside, Oscar Isaac is 10/10 and episode 5 is the best episode to come out of any Disney+ show imo. Edit: Also, god I hope if they roll with another season they don’t follow through with making Jake Lockley an evil alter. Like I said, love the show, but the thought of evil Jake just leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

2 browntable videos only 5 days apart! This is a blessing!

great video! agree on so many levels. ive got friends who got into the MCU relatively late (part of the "everybody is talking about this infinty war thing" wave), and since then they discovered childhood characters like maguire's spiderman or charles xvier are in these movies, and they've started expecting those cameos and fan service moments as if that's the sole purpose of the MCU, to give them nostalgia. the whole beauty of the MCU was how totally standalone stories made character developments that connected after those have already happened, as it meant that only now our heros are ready. i do kinda disagree on one thing- the daredevil & kingpin issue. as a person who watched daredevil (and all other marvel netflix shows) when it first aired, i loved it so much that it became one of my all time favorite shows, and it did so to probably all of its originial viewers. because of that, it was very hard when the netflix shows started getting lower ratings that risked the possibility of a third season. when it finally came, although it was made as a proper ending, lots of people felt that the third season could have been even more conclusive, as it might have felt a little rushed (im pretty sure there was a lot of pressure from the netlix-marvel studios contract and all of that), and fans were left wanting more. after the final nail in the marvel-netflix universe coffin which was jessica jones third season, we finally heard confirmed news that the shows are moving to disney+, daredevil will show up in spiderman, and that Feige is being intrested in continuing the characters run, without rebooting or changing the series' plots for the sake of the broad MCU. with the hopes in mind that the gritty R rated kingpin and daredevil are coming back we got so damn disappointed with kingpin's treatment in hawkeye (which for me ruined the whole series as well as the character arc of hawkeye and kate). i allow myself for once to get excited to see them again in Echo since they deserve a propper revisiting and resolution, and compared to characters like Garfield's spiderman in NWH, daredevil and kingpin ARE marvel studios' responsability to take care of, since they're the once who broke our hearts and decided to tricked us once again into believing they'd be returning Edit: well that one got a little bit out of control, so excuse me😅

Omg 07:22 thank you for addressing this , while watching the movie back at home by myself, i totally noticed that

Yeah,like you said on ur hawkeye video,hype culture really screwed the show just for the reveal of kingpin.

You hit the nail on the head here. In particular, some of the numerous new shows I have zero excitement for. Like Echo and Agatha Harkness shows? Yawn!

Thank you for making solid analysis videos highlighting the glaring and obvious. Because it feels as if they purposely over look how intelligent their audience is. And how much it appreciates good stories and character build ups. And not just the dangling carrot on the stick. It's getting outta hand at this point, and Marvel doesn't even care.

This is the first time i watch this channel and fuccc i love the humor of this guyy lolll

Jake Lockley isn’t your average “evil alter” trope, he’s just on the opposite end of the spectrum as Steven and fiercely loyal to Khonshu. In fact, the Jake reveal was generally well received among fans, since he’s a really cool character from the comics.

Couldn't agree more with this video. It's exactly the reason why I stopped consuming fan thoeries on RU-vid. Just gives me an expectation coming in to the movies and when expectations aren't met, it clouds your judgement of the movie itself. I don't even watch MCU trailers these days. Even those can be misleading. One teaser trailer is enough. I know I'm still gonna watch the movie anyway. LOL. And don't even get me started with the hype-ing they're doing in the middle of the movies. They used to be subtle with it like you're gonna have to watch the movie for the 3rd time to notice something. You had to pay attention to understand references and call backs. But now it's just too blatant. I just hope they don't stay this course and go back what they were good at. Good story telling with little crumbs of references.

The Call between Mauricio and Kevin was absolutely Comedy Platinum. I'd love to see that on his Shorts Channel.

Banger vid! You are absolutely dead-on.

Now I wonder if No Way Home should've happened. Long term, it's impact on cinema will be detrimental.

I actually kind of like the cut away in moon knight as it's a unique subversion to other superhero shows, and we still got a good emotional scene when Marc tells Konshu to kill Harrow himself

This video is what we have all been thinking in the back of our minds

funny thing is spiderverse is full of little cameos and references but you can totally watch both movies without knowing a single one of them and still thoroughly enjoy yourself. atp mcu is a series of cameos masquerading as movies and tv