Let's Talk About My MCU Burnout

Hey! In case you don't know me, I'm a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I've been following it, but I've been growing very tired of it. I'm not as excited about it. Let's talk about it because I needed a post for today.

DISCLAIMER: This post will include spoilers so if you are not caught up by Wakanda Forever, go catch up and come back.

ALSO this is all my opinion. You are more than welcome to disagree, but I don't really care if you disagree.

I've been a Marvel fan for as long as I can remember, I grew up with X-Men: The Animated Series and the early 2000s films with Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier. I always preferred X-Men over The Avengers.

But this isn't about X-Men though I will most likely write several posts about the X-Men movieverse. I don't want to talk about the X-Men being introduced to the MCU.

I also grew up watching the original The Incredible Hulk TV show with Lou Ferrigno as Hulk. I watched the 2003 Hulk movie with Eric Bana.

So I've always been a Marvel fan.

My long and exhausting relationship with the MCU started when I watched Iron Man (2008) for the first time. I can tell you exactly how I felt. I remember my first viewing so clearly. The excitement and 11 year old me falling head over heels in love with Robert Downey Jr. and his portrayal of Tony Stark. I started writing my first Marvel fanfiction which still exists in an old Google Document. It was the first of MANY. I've posted 33 MCU fics on AO3.

Full disclaimer, I haven't seen The Incredible Hulk movie from 2008 with Edward Norton. I will never watch it UNLESS Disney+ puts it on. I did not vibe with the Thor movies until my second viewing of Thor: Ragnarok. In Taika Waititi we trust. I still have not seen Thor: Love and Thunder but that's because I got myself so HYPED and I don't want to be disappointed so I'm still trying to calm down.

I saw Black Panther in theaters TWICE. To this day it is the only movie I've paid twice to see and I would go see it in theaters again if I could. And I absolutely loved Wakanda Forever even though it made me cry for half an hour afterward. I wrote about our beloved Chadwick Boseman in 2020. I love this part of the franchise. Might write an entire post about why the Black Panther franchise is infinitely better than the entire MCU.

The Captain America trilogy has a special place in my heart for many reasons. Mainly because I've been in love with Sebastian Stan since I was 9. Also because Bucky Barnes very quickly became my favorite character in the franchise and one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. The first one grabbed me because I'm a history nut and love period pieces. The other two grabbed me because I would die for Steve Rogers. However, he is a TRAITOR for his Endgame decision. He will never be forgiven.

I am so happy that Sam Wilson is the new Cap and I am half excited for his movie, but also not looking forward to any inclusion of Captain Britain or Union Jack. Whatever AU Peggy's called. Don't get me wrong, I love Peggy Carter in the original timeline. Agent Carter is my second favorite of the Marvel shows. I'm just not crazy about bringing her back.

I feel like my biggest apprehension with the future of the MCU is I'm not crazy about the multiverse. I have not watched Multiverse of Madness and despite my love for Benedict Cumberbatch, Wanda Maximoff, and Patrick Stewart I don't plan to unless I am desperate for something new to watch. I refuse.

Now that you know about my love for this franchise, let me tell you about my worries and apprehension about the future and why I am planning to stop following it.

The beginning of my apprehension was with Endgame. I KNEW that they were going to kill Tony off, but it still hurt and I've been mourning a fictional character for THREE YEARS. I've mourned Tony Stark more than any other person in my life including people I know personally. I don't know why. But it's a thing.

But the real tragedy of Endgame was Steve abandoning Bucky. I have an entire post planned where I'm going to rant and talk about why that was such a dumb decision. I understand Chris Evans wanted out and I respect that. But that's why recasting exists especially if they were going to open the Multiverse anyway.

It doesn't make sense for Steve to abandon the man he fought for in THREE movies.

I was broken about losing Natasha. but she was underutilized so I'm glad Scarlett Johansson got out of there.

I left Endgame very angry with Marvel and just exhausted. I am behind on the Spiderman movies. I've only seen Homecoming.

I watched WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, and Hawkeye. I haven't watched What If... Moon Knight is when I completely lost momentum and excitement.

Which I don't know why because I'm in love with Oscar Isaac, Ethan Hawke, and May Calamawy. I did watch the show, but it felt like pulling teeth to get through. I liked it, but I didn't love it.

I haven't watched any of the Disney + shows after Moon Knight. I am planning to watch the second season of Loki.

But I'm just tired.

I'm not even looking forward to the Thunderbolts which is going to have Sebastian Stan return as Bucky, and even have Harrison Ford replacing the late William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross. I've heard some rumors about what may happen with Bucky involving his love life and I'm not a fan of it. Of course the rumors could just be rumors, which I hope is true.

I'm just so tired of this franchise. I think they need to take a year off. Make people miss the franchise for a bit and come back. The movies are super CGI heavy. I'm not a fan of the stories from behind the scenes. They are so paranoid about plots getting out that they go through ridiculous measures.

I'm not a fan of the writing for The Avengers movies which is why I prefer most of the standalone franchises.

It's not fun anymore. I feel like I HAVE to watch all the movies in order to understand a fraction of what is happening. And as someone who has strongly disliked Guardians of the Galaxy since the first one and has refused to watch any new one that's gonna be a no-go for me.

I am waiting for them to kill Bucky Barnes off at this point. Please release Sebastian Stan from your grasp oh Marvel gods.

I'll keep up with Sam Wilson as Captain America. I'll keep supporting as many Black Panther movies they keep making. MAYBE I'll continue supporting Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres if they give him a bigger role that he so rightfully deserves.

Whether I keep supporting the Thor franchise depends on how I feel whenever I finally get to watch Love and Thunder.

But other than that I am turning in my stan car. I'm done with the MCU as a whole.

I don't see myself following the MCU's version of any X-Men characters because I have a feeling that I'm not going to like what the writers do with them.

I fully agree with Martin Scorcese when he said that the MCU wasn't real cinema. He was right. Parts of it can be considered real cinema, but as a whole, it's just become noise. People trying to speak over each other. There's no harmony.

And THAT is why I am facing severe MCU burnout and why I am ready to drop it as soon as possible.