MCU Phase 4: 8 Reasons Why It Must Look To The Past

2. Homages To Classic Genres Have Worked Before

While comic book films tend to get labelled for being a genre of film in and of themselves, the reality is that most adaptations tend to borrow heavily from classic cinema staples. 2014's Winter Soldier, for instance, is very much a film of the seventies conspiracy thriller mould; a homage to the works of Alan J. Pakula and Francis Ford Coppola as much as it is a typical comic book feature.

The aforementioned Guardians and Thor have found an audience in taking cues from classic eighties space operas, and there's no reason to say that Marvel can't look to the past for future genre-specific cues. Why not make a superhero-oriented war film? Or, much like next year's The New Mutants, one with a horror edge? There's massive potential in looking to genres like these when planning ahead, particularly when the MCU is getting so good at diversifying its story-telling.

We're yet to see a Marvel film with a Noir-esque edge going for it, or even one that derives from nineties low-budget indie cinema in its approach. Both could work on the silver screen in any case, and while finding heroes to fit that bill might make for a semi-arduous task, there are plenty of characters in Marvel's library that could make it work.

Sure, two of them might already be on Netflix, but they should give it a bash nonetheless, especially if there's a chance the MCU could delve into 'R'-Rated territory when the occasion suits it.