10 Movie Franchise Staples Nobody Actually Cares About
3. Vision & Scarlet Witch's Romance - The Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe doesn't have a great track record when it comes to superhero romances, as despite a few exceptions they almost always come off forced and wildly unnecessary.
Yet most of these perfunctory love-ins are at least easily ignored and have little bearing on the overarching narrative of the MCU, though the same sadly can't quite be said for Vision (Paul Bettany) and Scarlet Witch's (Elizabeth Olsen) romance.
The feelings started to kindle in Captain America: Civil War before they became a fully-fledged couple in Avengers: Infinity War, defined by the third-act dramatic crux of Wanda agonising over destroying Vision to save the universe.
Except, all the heavy lifting was done off screen and so it didn't really have the desired impact. Anyone killing their lover for the greater good is brutal, but the series' sterile depiction of their relationship made it fall mostly flat.
Endgame of course continued to sell Wanda's heartbreak following her revival, and it's already been confirmed that the two characters are set to star in the Disney+ TV series WandaVision (somehow).
Doesn't this all feel a bit much for a fairly mediocre love story that never really earned the audience's investment in the first place?