10 Ways The Marvel Cinematic Universe Proves That Dreams Do Come True

by Ewan Paterson

1. The MCU Unashamedly Embraces Its Source-Material

Guardians of the Galaxy
Marvel Studios

Marvel have never been known to shy away from the zany or ostentatious, and anyone who's at least vaguely familiar with the MCU will be aware of this by now. I mean, who else could've made Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy work? Let alone attempted to in the first place? The studio simply refuses to compromise when it comes to its quintessential comic book nature, and for the company's most dedicated fans, that spells certain joy.

When there are changes to the source-material they're very rarely antithetical to the founding tenets of the characters featured, because most of the time they're totally cosmetic. Rather than merely shying away from its source-material, the MCU has embraced it, laughing in the face of its competitors who have felt the need to discard what they ostensibly see as the more undesirable elements of their mythos. We are literally living in an age where even Howard the Duck can make a comeback. Just let that sink in.

The MCU is just as colourful, charismatic, dark, complex, thematic, fun, fantastical and enthralling as Marvel Comics have been for the past five decades. Undeniably speaking, it is by far the most accurate depiction of the medium ever created on film. It's a living coming book, and it's got the whole world coming back for every issue.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.