10 Movie Franchises That Need To Ditch ONE Thing

10. Making Fun Of Characters' Names - The Marvel Cinematic Universe

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has its fair share of issues, for sure, but there's one convention in particular that's massively outstayed its welcome - the fact that the MCU is so utterly embarrassed of its own characters' names.

It's been a trope since basically the beginning of the franchise that the silly-sounding monikers of heroes and villains alike get mocked by at least one character, as if to nudge the audience and assure them the writers know how ridiculous it all sounds.

The two most infamous examples are surely Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) asking Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) if it's "too late to change the name," and Spider-Man (Tom Holland) discussing "made-up names" with Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in Avengers: Infinity War.

The gag has been lazily regurgitated ad nauseum throughout the MCU, and even as recently as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the franchise seems abjectly incapable of just... letting characters have their comic book names without passing low-effort comment on it.

At this point it feels like more of a snarky s**tpost than a one-liner that belongs in an MCU movie, so groan-worthy is this corny need to mock the very thing that's putting butts in seats in the first place. It's not cute anymore - it's lame and irritating.