1. The Sheer Lack Of Clarification On Everything - All The Movies
The biggest lie that the MCU purports to its fanbase on a frequent basis is that it's super dense and detailed and seriously tight on the continuity front. How else could it have all those interconnecting moments and shared characters spread between so many films? And yet that couldn't be further from the truth, because approximately 30% percent of what makes up the Marvel Cinematic Universe is totally ambiguous, vague and unclear. Important things happen off-screen all the time, to the point where it's actually frustrating to sit through an MCU instalment as a viewer - not to mention totally and utterly unfair. The studio presumably thinks that it doesn't matter whether or not they explain how Thor managed to get back to Earth in time for The Avengers, or how characters happen to know stuff about objects that are from completely different planets, or how Bruce Banner manages to stay in control when he transforms into the Hulk for some reason? Then we have questions like: How powerful are Thor and Loki? What hurts them? Can they "die?" So many major events happen in the dark without ever being expanded on properly that Marvel's official approach to explanations seems to be: "just hope everyone forgets when we distract them with this cool fight scene." And whilst that works to a degree, there are just too many narrative lapses scattered across the canon. When you stack them all up against one another, it feels - quite frankly - like Marvel are kind of taking the p*ss. If there's any reason to hate the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it's this one; their frustrating and lackluster approach to explaining and expanding on things that really need to be explained and expanded on. Ignoring stuff just results in fans asking more questions!
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
