Marvel Cinematic Universe: A Potential Wasteland
With its vast and intricate network of interconnected films and television series, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has captured the attention of viewers all over the world. Its adored cast of well-known heroes and villains who have come to represent the franchise are essential to its success. But under the glossy exterior of this movie powerhouse comes a widespread issue: wasted potential. There have been many new characters, both good and bad, whose stories remain untold and whose promise remains unfulfilled.
MCU Villains: An Unrealized Prospect
The villain issue in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a recurrent subject, with numerous enemies reduced to one-dimensional dangers and eliminated with little fanfare in the same movie that introduces them. Their deaths frequently come across as underwhelming, denying viewers the chance to completely understand their complexity and motivations. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ultron personifies this problem. Although he appears threatening at first, his demise is predictable and unimpressive. The lost potential of James Spader, who has a frightening voice and a menacing vibranium body, leaves fans desiring a more fearsome and captivating adversary.
The Wasp: At best, a supporting role
The way that the MCU treats its female heroes frequently falls short of expectations. In the Ant-Man Movies, The Wasp, a founding member of the Avengers in the comics, is reduced to a supporting role. Hope van Dyne, despite having a dual role in Ant-Man and the Wasp, is unable to escape the shadow of her father, Hank Pym, and her own narrative is inadequate. She loses out to Cassie, Scott Lang's daughter, even in the most recent Ant-Man and the Wasp movie, and her potential to become a well-known hero is still unrealized.
Quicksilver: A Transient Emotion
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has a tendency to kill off its heroes too soon. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Wanda Maximoff's brother Quicksilver perishes horribly, hardly having the opportunity to demonstrate his remarkable speed. Aaron Taylor-Johnson does a great job portraying his cheeky demeanor, leaving the viewer wanting more. This further lessens the character's prominence. Later, an attempt to revive him in WandaVision by recasting Evan Peters from the Fox X-Men movie eventually fails.
Malekith: Thor: The Dark World's Missed Chance
Underutilization is a problem that even the MCU's more seasoned antagonists face. Thor: The Dark World, generally regarded as one of the MCU's worst films, features a mediocre cameo from Malekith, a major enemy in the Thor comics. While Christopher Eccleston does a good job playing the archetypal classic fantasy villain Malekith, the movie as a whole falls short of realizing what a great actor he is. His demise occurs before he has a chance to mature into the existential menace that he ought to be. Only the irony of his brief cameo in Avengers: Endgame serves to highlight his wasted potential.
Beyond the Motion Picture: Examining Possibilities in Other Media
Other media have looked into the potential of characters that the MCU films may not have had the chance to fully develop. The animated anthology series What If...? offered peeks into alternate universes in which characters such as Ultron and Bill Foster (Goliath) were given more substantial roles, emphasizing the richness and possibilities that were disregarded in the live-action Movies. Aaron Davis played the Prowler in a much more significant and fulfilling role in the animated multiverse film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, further highlighting the unrealized potential that still exists.
