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Between Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Loki, Hulk, Wanda, and many more, it seems that Marvel has run into a Multiverse problem. Through the recent installments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, "breaking the multiverse" has almost become the new villain threaded throughout the stories.
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This universe is only one of an infinite number
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Worlds without end. The multiverse is the MCU's biggest project to date
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There was no way of knowing that when Iron Man dropped in 2008, the 2020s would see Kevin Feige and co
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attempting the most conceptually complex plot the on-screen superhero franchise has ever seen
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Yet, here we are. Across tens of movies and TV shows, the MCU's next few phases will be exploring the multiverse like never before
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But in the process of making cinematic history, the MCU is also accidentally breaking its own movies
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If you're watching this video, you're probably caught up on the MCU, but in this off chance that you're not, this is your spoiler warning
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When the multiverse was first explained to fans in 2016's Doctor Strange
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the concept was simple enough. The Marvel Cinematic Universe we've become familiar with
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through over decades of movies and TV shows, is one of many possible universes
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One we could later learn is called Earth-616. Oh, you guys sure must know a lot about the multiverse
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You got someone going around naming realities. But things have gotten a lot more complicated since 2016
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For years, we were only peripherally aware of the multiverse and what it might entail for the MCU
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Thankfully, later in 2021, the concept of the multiverse was greatly expanded on in the Loki TV series
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where we learned about variants, the TVA, and the sacred timeline. In the MCU, the Time Variance Authority, or TVA, have been operating across all of space and time
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ensuring that no variant of a person deviates from their predetermined role in the sacred timeline
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Of course, the sacred timeline ends up splintering anyway. this creates an endless amount of new timelines and leaves room for the all-powerful time-traveling
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kang the conqueror and as many variants to wreak havoc across the multiverse and possibly start
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another multiversal war but we'll learn more about his role in the mcu in 2023's ant-man and
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the wasp quantumania it doesn't even end there though the mcu is just getting started with their
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their multiversal plotlines How exciting We saw some tangible effects of the multiverse leaking into the main MCU timeline in Spider No Way Home Doctor Strange cast a spell to make the world forget Peter identity
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but the spell accidentally summoned several villains and Spider-Man variants to their
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timeline. Hijinks ensue, the very existence of the multiverse is threatened, and the damage is
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eventually repaired when everyone gets back to their home in their individual universes
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But a post-credits scene reveals that even though the multiverse is relatively stable
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there are still ripple effects, like Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock leaving part of the Venom symbiote in the main MCU timeline
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And then there's Doctor Strange in the multiverse of madness. We spend quite a bit of time on the alternate Earth 838
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and learn that, in their timeline, a strange variant caused an incursion
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an event where two timelines collide with catastrophic results. Once again, we see the existence of the multiverse being threatened
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and it ultimately being repaired by the end of the movie. But then, a post-credits scene teases some more ripple effects
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This time comic character, Clea, played by Charlize Theron, tells Strange that his messing about in the timelines has caused another incursion
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And we're gonna fix it. Now, we know that all of this breaking, unbreaking, and talk of incursions
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is leading into the MCU's version of Secret Wars in Phase 6
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But in the meantime, this multiverse plot point has turned into the MCU's new version of the Sky Beam in the worst way possible
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It's that bad. Yeah. Remember when essentially every movie featured a Sky Beam
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Sometimes it was the third act savior, and other times it was a world-destroying threat
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But it was always there. It was in Iron Man, Captain America The First Avenger, Thor Dark World, The Avengers, and just a ton of other movies
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It became a meme because of the sheer ridiculous repetition of it all
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and the more it got repeated, the lower the stakes became for every subsequent movie that used it
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Suddenly, what was once a thrilling and visually interesting part of the action
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became an overused quick fix that could be applied to any given situation the plot demanded
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At the moment, the multiverse is taking on a similar role in Phase 4
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Manipulating the multiverse has become visual shorthand for a given character level of power and it being used as a sort of interdimensional fast traveling system it works when it needs to breaks when it doesn and
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serves every possible plot convenience it can think about it if you travel to the past that
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past becomes your future and your former present becomes the past which can't now be changed by
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But most damningly, including the multiverse in the MCU sometimes comes at the detriment of character and plot development
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In an effort to introduce the multiverse in No Way Home, the filmmakers disparaged the character of Doctor Strange so badly that the internet was theorizing that he was actually Mephisto
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Be careful what you wish for. And then, in an attempt to use the multiverse as an action set piece in Multiverse of Madness, the movie ended up being pretty disappointing
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Multiverse of Madness should have been an easy win, but it fails on a lot of levels
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Not every level, but a lot of them. As the title suggests, it's all about the multiverse
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The concept of which deserves a lot more time and dedication than it's gotten in the movies so far
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However, Multiverse of Madness is pretty unhelpful when it comes to explaining the multiverse
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how it works, and why traveling between worlds might end up being bad for everyone
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Plus, they waste a lot of the potential of what a multiversal movie could have been
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When tasked with the job of coming up with otherworldly ideas, the best the MCU could come up with was green stoplights and pizza balls
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And while we do spend a lot of time in another universe, it's extremely similar to Earth-616
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The more interesting universes are shown in what essentially amounts to a drive-by viewing in a single scene
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Of course, Multiverse of Madness did see extensive rewrites. It was, after all, supposed to come out before WandaVision and No Way Home
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But that's kind of its own problem. paradoxically while the multiverse often hurts the characters and plot it also is the plot it's
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a key story element of most if not all of phase four but given how it was treated in multiverse
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of madness it isn't clear whether this key story element is really being prioritized that's a pretty
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major problem because phases four through six are literally being dubbed the multiverse saga but the
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traits the mcu multiverse shares with the sky beam mean that it can never be allowed to actually collapse in on itself at least until the culmination of this plot thread in Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars It exists until
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the plot requires it to stop existing. This makes the stakes for current and upcoming MCU projects
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pretty much non-existent, at least as far as the general well-being of the timeline is concerned
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And when the general well-being of the timeline is the main issue facing our heroes
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well, that means our main plot is pretty dull. Maybe, I don't know. Honestly, I hope not
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Much like the infamous Sky Beam, the MCU's multiverse is only as thrilling and interesting
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as its last appearance. And the more it's being used, the less it becomes of both
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Luckily, the MCU is also full to the brim with wonderful, awful, lovable characters
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that we as fans have grown to care about. And the multiverse is only creating more opportunity
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to bring back beloved characters, adapt favorites from comics, and create entirely new ones. Kang is obviously going to bring a lot of freshness to the franchise
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His limited appearance in Loki as He Who Remains was excellent, and if we're going to see any of
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his other variants from the comics, then fans are in for a wild ride. Ramatat, the time-traveling
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historian turned ancient Egyptian conqueror, and Immortus, the self-proclaimed master of time
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are both Kang variants with the potential to be just as interesting and threatening as Thanos
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You expect too much from him. With Kang and the multiverse being such a focus of the next few MCU phases
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we'll likely be seeing a lot of inspiration or entire story beats pulled from Avengers Forever
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The 12-issue series sees a variant version of the Avengers team up with Kang to fight against his multiversal counterparts
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and the timekeepers under the constant threat of, you guessed it, corrupting the multiverse
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Alternatively, we could see elements pulled from Kurt Busiek's other beloved Kang story titled
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Kang Dynasty. The possibility of seeing it all put to screen is exciting to say the least
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Not only that, but we've already seen a number of dimensions and worlds on the periphery of Earth
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616. All of these dimensions have significance, be that in a future role they play in the franchise
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or just as iconic and emotionally impactful places to fans. We've seen what Disney and Marvel are
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capable of without the creative leeway the multiverse provides. Now, the possibilities
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are truly limitless
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