The Marvel Cinematic Universe's Phase 4 continues to expand in unique ways, but many fans are not on board with the direction it's heading in. Now, Avengers: Endgame directing duo, the Russo Brothers, have responded to the recent criticisms.
The Russo Brothers were first hired to direct 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier, a film that is now regarded as one of the MCU's best. They would continue the success by helming 2016's Captain America: Civil War, 2018's Avengers: Infinity War, and 2019's climactic Avengers: Endgame, all of which received rave reviews from critics and fans and would go on to become a few of the highest-grossing movies of all time.
However, Phase 4 has now been criticised for lacking any sense of direction or failing to establish a Thanos-level theat. "I'd rather go with everyone else and see it and be excited. I mean, 'No Way Home' was incredible. Like, I loved that movie ... It was one of the better experiences I've had in the theater in a long time. So, you know, I love how diverse Marvel's getting. I love the choices that they're making to ... swim in different genres, push movies towards horror or absurdist comedy," Joe Russo shared with Jake's Takes when talking about Phase 4. "[T]hey're taking risks, you know, and people are gonna appreciate those risks and other people are not gonna like those risks ... but the good news is they're not repeating themselves. They're not doing the same thing that they did for 10 years. They're going in a completely different direction," the director added.
Of course, perhaps The Infinity Saga played a role is setting a high bar for Phase 4 that was hard to reach. Anthony, believed the overwhelming success and high expectations of Avengers: Endgame may have led to undeserving criticisms. "The overwhelming success of those movies has caused them to represent something that has become 'other,' or maybe not attainable to some others for whatever reason. Not every movie has to be liked globally," he told The Hollywood Reporter.
When the Infinity Saga ended, fans were left wondering what possible direction the MCU could take. Even with the addition of a new MCU series format on Disney Plus that focuses on several side characters from the previous films and the exploration of many exciting new characters and storylines, Phase 4 seems to receive the most hate out of all of the phases released so far.
Most of that is largely due to how each project in this phase seems wildly disconnected from one another (particularly looking at projects like the Eternals). However, the Russo Brothers are looking at the many positives when it comes to what has been presented on the big and small screen in the past couple of years.
Avengers: Endgame is available to stream on Disney Plus.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter, Jake's Takes