When Phase 2 kicked off the question everyone had was how are they going to do the standalone adventures without having to forcibly explain why the Avengers just couldn't turn up to help. While the films did a fair job of sort of explaining this all away (Tony can't get mobile signal, Thor doesn't have time, Captain America's on the run), it was in a manner primarily so super-fans could explain it to themselves. This works fine for a few films, but with the MCU expected to run for another decade or so it'll get tired when a hero has to fight alone because of contrivances for the fifth, sixth or twelfth time. The obvious solution would be to mess with the current direction. Instead of having the Phases feature a handful of stand-alone movies topped off with an Avengers movie, begin mixing things up; a Tony Stark/Bruce Banner buddy movie, or Thor teaming up with Guardians Of The Galaxy. Wouldn't that be great? Well it'll never happen. Due to the way contracts have been made (Robert Downey Jr. will now star exclusively in Avengers movies, Chris Evans is locked down for only Avengers 2 and Cap 3) to have more than one hero in a film is Marvel blowing a massive load of star potential; stand-alone adventures are the only financial way to go. It's a sad truth and helps propagate the other elements of the formula we've raised. Fingers crossed something shifts before fatigue sets in. What do you make of the MCU? What elements of the formula need to be axed? Discuss all things Marvel in the comments below.
