Will the Marvel Feeling Ever Come Back?

For more than a decade, I (this is Tim writing, not Elbenwald) eagerly awaited every new Marvel movie. Sure, The Dark Knight was probably the best superhero film of 2008. But Iron Man, also from 2008, left the bigger footprint. And when The Avengers blew up the box office four years later, it felt like a dream come true.

That could have been the peak — and I would’ve been perfectly happy. But it was only the beginning. Somehow, it just kept going: more films, more heroes, more hype. Even when the fear crept in years later that it might all be getting too much, every release still felt like an event. Because everything, in some way, was building toward Endgame.

A Moment for Eternity

After such an incredible run, I didn’t expect Endgame to live up to the hype. But Marvel somehow pulled it off — hell, they even exceeded my expectations. And that’s despite the time-travel plot, which usually turns me off.

After Endgame, though, came the crash. Not because of Covid — but because … of everything. Endgame was the natural endpoint; the title said it all. The journey was over. It was one of those rare pop culture moments that feel bigger than yourself. Like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. You just can’t top that kind of finale.

The Multiverse Is Madness

But Marvel tried anyway. Another movie. Another series. Then another. At first, I kept watching out of habit — and there were still highlights, like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings or Spider-Man: Far From Home. But soon the disappointments began to stack up — especially Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (which I’d been so hyped for!) and Thor: Love and Thunder.

By that point, the magic was gone. My better half and I decided to stop. We’d seen enough Marvel movies, and we’d lost track of the TV shows long ago. Okay, we did eventually watch Deadpool & Wolverine — not in the cinema, but at home. I’m sure I would’ve loved it on the big screen, but watching it in a quiet living room… it just felt flat. Or maybe the better word is: indifferent.

Is Thunderbolts Better Than Iron Man?

Lately, though, I’ve felt a strange kind of nostalgia — for that old excitement. I miss the certainty that the next Marvel release would be something to look forward to, something to share with friends. That feeling sent me down a rabbit hole, not rewatching the movies themselves, but digging into the numbers behind them. And I found some surprising things.

Did you know fans rate Thunderbolts higher than Iron Man? That Iron Man doesn’t even crack the top ten of Rotten Tomatoes user rankings? Or that Shang-Chi and Thunderbolts rank among Marvel’s best-reviewed films — yet both sit in the MCU’s box-office bottom ten? And if we go by ticket sales alone, maybe Tom Holland should be considered the face of the MCU instead of Robert Downey Jr. The Spider-Man trilogy made $1.5 billion more than the three Iron Man films. Oh, and for all the talk of “superhero fatigue”? Thirty out of thirty-seven Marvel films still hold a Rotten Tomatoes score of 70 or higher.

The Return of Anticipation

All of that fascinated me, so I put together a few charts — which you can see here. And weirdly enough, it reignited something. I’ve decided to finally watch Thunderbolts and Fantastic Four, even though I didn’t care about either before. I’m even a little excited to see Robert Downey Jr. return in Avengers: Doomsday.

Even if Marvel never reaches Endgame heights again, I’m glad the MCU’s still around — still fighting, still trying. Maybe it’s got a few good punches left in it after all.