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Writer's pictureAustin Price-Staff Writer

The Marvel Craze----by Connor Sutherland and Austin Price

Updated: Oct 11, 2021



Marvel spin off TV series are available through Disney+.


The "Marvel Craze": you’ve seen it everywhere. The MCU has taken over the world in its popularity, but which show should you watch first? Where should you start? This guide will help you figure out what all this excitement is about and also what we recommend for newer viewers.


The MCU was inspired by the comics of the late ’90s but is full of modern pop culture references and has fans goggling over the exciting battle scenes and the surprisingly funny quips from the likes of Spiderman or Iron man.


This year has been a different one for Marvel fans, with very few theatrical releases. Marvel tried something new and released 6 different full-length series on their streaming service “Disney Plus”. The series have often followed “sidekick” characters such as Loki or “The Falcon”.


While being almost fully independent, each show ties into the larger Marvel universe. If you're looking for an action-packed series and are a fan of Captain America, Falcon and the Winter Soldier is a show for you. Answering long awaited questions such as “Who will be next Captain America” this is a must watch for those Cap fans.


Viewers looking for a more comedic show will really enjoy Loki. Loki, the evil brother of Thor finds himself in yet another wild situation.


One of Marvel’s goals with releasing these series is to flesh out characters that the fans believe were left with incomplete stories. For instance, the character Wanda Maximoff A.K.A “The Scarlet Witch” is left distraught after the events of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. After those movies end, fans never get to see her next move and where she will go from everything being taken from her. When fans asked to see what happened to Wanda’s story, Marvel supplied fans with the 9 episode series WandaVision, a story of grief and despair stylized in the form of a romantic comedy.


Marvel’s What If is the latest show released by Marvel Studios. What If capitalizes on the “Multiverse” Idea, popularized by the Loki finale in which we see vast thousands of universes coining the name “Multiverse”.


In each universe, there is something different that happens which leads to a completely altered story from what most Marvel fans would recognize. Every episode of What If is about a different universe. For instance, in the timeline we all know in Avengers: Age of Ultron The Avengers defeat Ultron after creating the superhero Vision with artificial intelligence and a body that carry that AI. However, in this alternate universe, Ultron takes Vision’s body before he is born. This leads to Ultron’s takeover of the universe.


What If is narrated by a character named “The Watcher” (Jeffery Wright). The Watcher has the ability to witness all of the different timelines that are transposing in each universe. There is a catch to his power though. Although he must witness all of the horrible acts committed over each universe, he must never interfere. He states that he has sworn an oath and must never break it. He is shown in this show as a large transparent figure who always seems to be gazing over the shot.


In the beginning episodes, The Watcher is just there to inform the audience of what is really happening to avoid confusion. But as the story progresses he becomes more and more involved with each universe, inching ever so close to breaking his oath. Marvel’s What If plays on many different themes and becomes more in-depth with each episode. There is currently one episode remaining to be released in the first season of What If and fans are very excited to see how this season could end.


The MCU is moving in an interesting direction, releasing movies like Black Widow or Spiderman: No Way Home to finish character arcs, while also beginning new stories like Shang Chi or Eternals.


If Marvel follows the same format as previous phases they will introduce one big villain to have all of their characters team up to defeat. But as to any information about who this villain might be, we as fans have no clue. Everything is up in the air and hopefully with releases like Spiderman: No Way Home Or Eternals they will give us some headway into the action of this phase.


Marvel fans are getting very excited for this new phase of the MCU, grabbing up any kind of Marvel content they can get their hands on. To summarize, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is not dying anytime soon.


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