After a year devoid of the constant outflow of MCU superhero blockbusters audiences all over the world had grown accustomed to, Disney and Marvel Studios are back at it in 2021 with an entirely new hand of cards in the form of brand new miniseries which might just prove to be the kind of play to breath new life into the superhero film genre.

It all started in 2015 when the company started laying the ground for the streaming service that would end up becoming Disney Plus, however, at the forefront it needed to have its pop culture aces, Marvel and Star Wars. That process culminated in 2020 when Disney finally reclaimed the last pieces of the MCU still in Netflix’s hands (GTA VI is a different story), but the plan was laid out in 2017 when most of the current wave started development.

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Disney really can’t be blamed for this, at the time MCU films had blossomed to be the box office juggernauts they’re known to be today, yet they were also starting to grow in depth and complexity after most of the Avengers and their entourage were already fully introduced. Though wildly successful, Marvel movies also drew some criticism for the type of “rollercoaster cinema” they embodied and also found themselves clashing with the interests of comic book purists.

It must be said that Marvel Studios has put in some work to fix these perceived weak points in later MCU films, so in most cases, Phase One and Two Movies tend to be the biggest offenders. Although it largely depends on the source material, villains in the MCU don’t get nearly enough background story exposition that allows audiences to accept them as more believable and charismatic antagonists.

There’s a huge difference between the beliefs and origins of characters like Thanos and Killmonger vs. the Yon Roggs and Mysterios of the MCU, with the latter group usually just playing on the “good guy to bad guy” twist or the quest for godlike power and being evil for the sake of being evil. Added to that is the fact that these villains are often discarded or shunned aside after a single appearance, and it really makes perfect sense for writers and directors not to waste precious screen time on revealing complex personality layers on disposable characters.

While most won’t care if Laufey and Yellowjacket never come back, it’s a far more regrettable creative choice for the likes of Red Skull, the quintessential Captain America villain. Even on the good guys’ side, the role of supporting characters like Sif, a much more powerful and meaningful person in Thor’s comic book life, is reduced -admittedly- due to time constraints.

Tony Stark's and Steve Rogers’ exits mean a lot in the context of the MCU because of what they were built up to be throughout several films. They’re the perfect blueprint for characters that start off and say goodbye as very different men. In order to achieve a similar effect for former sidekicks like Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes, packing three films’ worth of exposure into The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s was a necessary task and it certainly does the pair justice.

In the case of WandaVision, the show serves as a nine-episode explainer on why Wanda Maximofff became so iconic and powerful in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. Again, a much-needed affair ahead of the Scarlet Witch’s involvement in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but it’s what both shows do for its supporting cast, not the heroes, what really makes them stand out.

Unlike most Marvel films tend to do, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier doesn’t finish off its antagonists. Instead, it leaves fans with a trio of mysterious characters with no set allegiances in Sharon Carter, U.S. Agent, and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, plus Baron Zemo; with the less complex Flag-Smashers getting the MCU disposables treatment. In WandaVision, again it turns into a case of the show being used to reveal a new hero in Monica Rambeau and a villain like Agatha Harkness, plus a rogue White Vision somewhere out there.

Even supporting characters are getting a bigger stage to shine on, as was the case for Isaiah Bradley whose story is the perfect blend of a comic book easter egg that drives Sam’s character arc, it’s a huge part of his quest to accept himself as Captain America, and it even introduces Eli Bradley who can eventually become a Young Avenger.

It’s hard to imagine how all these smaller stories would have been fledged out in a two-hour movie because the series format simply allows for more setups, meaningful scenes, and ultimately, better payoffs for non-protagonists.

Budget-wise Avengers: Endgame is the most expensive MCU film at $400m, and it recouped roughly six times that amount at the box office; meanwhile, Ant-Man barely went over $100m, yet it still managed to bring back almost five times more money. For all its grandeur, shooting a 3-hour special effects fest like Endgame that requires bringing together the entire MCU packs some seriously diminishing financial results.

Thanks to Disney Plus, Marvel Studios is now benefitting from the fantastic possibility of getting its content to over 100 million subscribers at no variable cost, meaning the MCU basically shares rent expenses with Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars, and all those other Disney classics to keep the servers running for people to watch their favorite shows, whenever they want to, as long as they have internet access and electricity.

At an $8 monthly fee, Disney is adding in $80 million in monthly revenue each time it adds 10 million subscribers and they’re not going anywhere if they want to continue enjoying their favorite Marvel and Star Wars productions. With a combined budget of $350m WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier can help Disney profit in a way movies simply can’t do, hence why there are plenty of Black Widow cosplays out there but no actual movie, since it’s very likely the film could end up losing money.

These insane numbers mean Disney will probably start putting an even bigger focus on MCU exclusive miniseries, fortunately for fans, they could also be better suited to superhero storytelling than over a decade’s worth of movies.

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