By Keona Munowenyu

“Marvel turned us into zombies,” commented director Denis Villeneuve. Villeneuve’s harsh criticism of the superhero genre is shared by another accredited director Martin Scorsese. The director of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull shares the same idea that Marvel movies “[aren’t] cinema,” and compared them to “theme parks.”

These criticisms may be an explanation for Marvel’s rebranding and release of characters like Captain America and Black Widow. Madeline Lapreziosa from Screen Rant says Marvel Studios’ Phase 4 movie release has been a difficult transition for the company suffering from “not having a long-term release strategy for the COVID-19 era.”

However, Marvel’s films have been successful despite the initial chaos stemming from Scarlet Johansson’s lawsuit against Marvel Studios for unfair compensation and the chances they took on the heavily acclaimed Shang Chi release strategy.

International Reporter for Deadline news, Nancy Tartaglione, reports, “the worldwide figure makes Shang-Chi the No. 4 biggest Hollywood title of 2021,” which is an impressive turnout for Marvel’s first Asian-led superhero film.

More than its box office success NBC news cultural critic, Ani Bundel, reports, “the film’s focus on family and tradition also makes it unlike any Marvel offering so far—at first blush, Shang-Chi seems to fall into this tradition with the “evil father,” but even this trope has layers.” A refreshing change from the usual “theme park” Marvel films.

Furthermore, even the way Marvel studios went about the shows WandaVison and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier reveals the change of direction Marvel is taking with its production release. The Ringer remarks that Marvel using a tv medium is “more extended and flexible than a feature film,” since “MCU movies don’t stop to smell the roses.” This commentary concludes that “releasing so many CGI bonanzas in a row has [also] taken a toll,” and might be a reason for Marvel’s change of direction.

While Shang-Chi, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and WandaVison have great feedback and have paid off despite Marvel studios lack strategy for their 2021 movie/tv show releases Senior Contributor for Forbes states, “Black Widow is a fine MCU film—perfectly average in every way—and I’m not sure that’s enough to justify its existence.” This criticism is not an off the handle remark considering accredited director Martin Scorsese stated that Marvel movies “[aren’t] cinema,” and Black Widow does little to disprove this statement.

Marvel movies may just be “theme parks” to a certain extent but as long as revenue from Theaters and Disney+ comes pouring in viewers of these films may find solace that the Marvel theme park will now include a more diverse cast of superheroes and characters with a genuine storyline.