The Marvel Cinematic Universe hit an interesting milestone recently.
With the release of “Thor: Love and Thunder” and the conclusion of “Ms. Marvel” on Disney+, the MCU has produced more than 100 hours of content to watch.
That’s a lot of super hero antics.
100 hours over 14 years is a lot, but it’s worth noting that nearly half of that amount has been produced in just Marvel’s Phase 4. With the introduction of Disney+ shows coming with three movies worth of runtime each, Phase 4 has already created as much content as the first three phases combined. It’s wild to think that half of runtime of the total MCU has been made in just the last few years.
Technically, this isn’t the first time the MCU has reached this milestone. If you count the various TV spin-offs of questionable continuity, the MCU made the 100 hour mark several years ago. Heck, “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” alone made 136 episodes across seven seasons, to say nothing about the half-dozen Netflix shows or all the other assorted TV projects over the years.
But those projects, produced by Marvel Entertainment, all had a one-way relationship to the movies. They may have referenced the events of the movies and maybe even brought in a movie character to cameo, but it never worked the other way around.
These more recent shows on Disney+ though are different. They’re directly made by Marvel Studios and, more often than not, directly impact the ongoing narrative of the MCU. This was most recently demonstrated with “WandaVision” leading into “Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.”
It won’t end there either. “The Falcon and Winter Soldier” exists to set-up the next Captain America movie and Ms. Marvel will return next year in “The Marvels.”
For those keeping up with the MCU, the TV shows are no longer optional media. This means, for a full rewatch, there is now 100 hours of content to binge through.
I know I go over this every few years or so, but it’s still astounding what Marvel Studios has accomplished.
Last May was the 10th Anniversary of the release of “The Avengers,” which at the time was one of the most ambitious films ever produced. Remember when making five individual movies to culminate in a major crossover event was an unheard of?
A mere decade ago it was a huge deal. Today it seems rather quaint.
Now we’re well into Phase 4, which has really changed the tone since the conclusion of the Infinity War saga.
A lot of Phase 4 thus far seems to be dedicated to setting up the pieces for the new status quo. If there is a criticism of this post-Endgame world, it’s that things have seemed kind of aimless. Unlike previous phases, which gradually teased the Infinity Stones, Phase 4 doesn’t seem to be building up to anything in particular.
Sure, there are options.
“Loki” introduced us to Kang the Conqueror, “The Eternals” seemed to be setting the stage for the Secret War, and there are still a whole lot of Skrulls running around. Beyond that, it really looks like Marvel Studios is getting ready to introduce the X-Men and all their mutant drama to the MCU, which comes with a new supply of stories that could sustain them for another decade.
It’s hard to say where exactly the MCU goes from here, but I’ll have a better idea this Saturday when I attend the Marvel Studios panel at ComicCon International during my long awaited vacation.
Travis Fischer is a news writer for Mid-America Publishing and asks that nothing important happen for the next two weeks.
