Phase One of theMarvel Cinematic Universewas a completely different story than Phase Four is now. This was before Thanos, Infinity Stones, Ant-Man, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Daredevil, or Kang the Conqueror. It was a much more groundedexperience with Tony Starkbuilding his own high-tech armor, Bruce Banner avoiding the government, and Steve Rogers joining the war effort in the 1940s. TheThorfranchise was the only one that really pushed into the weirder aspects of the Marvel Comics universe.
Now,the MCU is stackedwith oddities, sitcoms, horror films, holiday specials, and more every year. Phase Four showed that the MCU is going to get weirder and weirder with no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Here are ten examples of moments from Phase Four that would not have flown in Marvel’s earlier days.
10Shang-Chi’s Well-Choreographed Bus Fight
Back in the Phase One days, the Iron Man action sequences were pretty legendary. The hand-to-hand fight scenes though left a little to be desired. It wasn’t untilCaptain America: The Winter Soldierthat the MCU figured out how to make more grounded characters like Captain America pack a punch. Fast-forward to Phase 4 andShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and we see Shang-Chi taking down a bus full of bad guys in a fight so well choreographed that it’s basically a very violent ballet.
The entire film features fights from beginning to end that could stand toe-to-toe with the best fight scenes ever put to film. The days when Captain America was clunkily throwing around HYDRA goons in a blink-and-you-miss-it montage are long gone.
Related:These Are the Best One-on-One Fight Scenes in the MCU, Ranked
9WandaVision’s Sitcom Hijinks
Phase One began with a very grounded take with 2008’sIron Man.The movie felt significantly less “comic booky” than most of the other Marvel projects that had come before. EvenThorandCaptain America: The First Avengertried to find ways to ground the story to make it fit inIron Man’suniverse.
Now we have projects likeWandaVisionwhich portrayed itself as a classic sitcom for several episodes before explaining that the entire thing was a spell brought on by Wanda’s mental breakdown. This kind of storytelling would’ve been impossible to predict after seeing the firstIron Manfilm. Some may not be as fond of Phase 4, but it’s clear that Marvel is much more comfortable taking wild chances than they used to be.
8Moon Knight’s Purgatory Episode
Speaking of wild chances, perhaps the strangest thing that has happened in all the MCU is whenMoon Knightwent to purgatory where the Egyptian god Taweret was waiting for him, complete with a hippo head. The story bounces back from being an asylum nightmare to a ship carrying Marc and Steven to the afterlife. It also expertly uncovers the dark secret behind his dissociative identity disorder. The episode offers a dark and complex look into Marc’s guilt over his brother’s unfortunate accident and his subsequent abuse at the hands of his mother.
This type of storytelling that could cover Egyptian afterlife lore and an incredibly grounded take on some truly serious issues just did not exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe at that point. Frankly, you’d have to watch a film by Charlie Kaufman to find anything quite this weird. Who would’ve thought Disney would be the company to bring this story to life?
7Ms. Marvel’s Positive Cultural Depictions
If there’s one common complaint from Phase One it’s that the original group of movies struggled with diversity and depictions of non-American cultures. To Marvel’s credit, the company has made serious strides to address all of these issues.Ms. Marvelwas praised for how deftly it handled Kamala Khan’s heritage, her family life, and her school life. Here’s to hoping another season with the Khan family is on the way!
6Namor’s Ankle Wings
Remember when all you heard about the MCU was that “Marvel has a villain problem”? Well, you rarely hear that anymore! In Phase 4 there were a ton of truly iconic villains. Wenwu, Scarlet Witch, Agatha Harkness, Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin, Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin, and Baron Zemo all ruled the villain game in this Phase. The most unlikely villain to make his MCU debut was Namor, the Sub-Mariner. The character dates back to 1939, so obviously some aspects of his character have aged better than others. Yet, somehow Ryan Coogler made the character into a truly harrowing force forBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever.He changed a great deal about the character to update him for a modern audience including changing his origin story, his ethnicity, and the city of Atlantis into Talokan to avoid bumping into DC’sAquamanfranchise.
The one thing that he decided to keep about the character is the one thing that most directors would’ve cut immediately. That would be the silly wings on his ankles that allow him to leap from the water and sprint through the air with deadly speed. Somehow not only did Coogler keep this detail about Namor intact, but it did nothing to make Namor any less harrowing of a threat to Wakanda. There’s no doubt that in Phase One, Namor may have been Atlantean, but there’s little chance he’d have the ankle wings. He might have a tattoo on his ankle or something to reference the wings but there’s no way he’d be flying around with him like he did inWakanda Forever.
Related:Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: Why Namor’s Ideas Make Sense
5Drawing on Mjolnir in Thor: Love & Thunder
The firstThormovie was all about how Thor needed to regain his worth to his father Odin after his hasty invasion of Jotunheim nearly brought war to the Nine Realms. This was personified by his tragic inability to take his sacred weapon Mjolnir. It wasn’t until he was able to sacrifice his life for mortal humans that he proved himself worthy of taking his hammer once again. This was a poignant moment that really solidified who Thor was in Phase One.
So it seems like heresy that inThor: Love & Thunder, Mjolnir is drawn on by Thor’s adoptive daughter. Thor’s prized posession in Phase One has now become one of those coloring pages kids get at restaurants, so they behave. Phase One Thor would be so upset.
4References to the Sony and 20th Century Fox Movies
In Phase One, Marvel studios was trying very hard to push itself away from the Marvel films made by the likes of Sonyand 20th Century Fox. The young studio wanted to make a name for itself and change the superhero movie game for good.
By Phase Four, it had already changed the game so many times that it could get away with whatever it wanted. So it was kind of nice that it decided to look back and give some credit to the films that helped shape Marvel’s success on the big screen. Phase Four saw some pretty substantial cameos from previous franchises. Most notably,Spider-Man: No Way Homefeatured Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield returning as their versions of Spider-Man once again, along with several of their own villains. ThenDoctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madnessfeatured characters like Patrick Stewart’s Professor X returning for the first time sinceLoganseemingly provided the epilogue for 20th Century Fox’sX-Menuniverse. It was absolutely fan service done right.
3Loki’s Redemption Arc
In Phase One, Thor’s brother Loki was the big bad. While several attempts were made to redeem him, he proved that he was far from redemption. His attack on Jotunheim and then his attack on New York proved that he was a monster who deserved no redemption. In Phases Two and Three, he did manage to find redemption, but he also found his grizzly end at the hands of Thanos.
In Phase Four, the Phase One version ofLokiliterally jumped from his own timeline into his own tv series. There he showed that, while still mischievous, he actually did have what it took to become a noble hero his brother would be proud of. Too bad his female variant Sylvie didn’t get with the redemption thing. She stabbed He Who Remains and released the Kang variants out into the Multiverse, kickstarting a whole host of problems.
At least one Loki found redemption though…
2Kevin Bacon Singing A Christmas Song
Could you even imagine Kevin Bacon playing himself in the firstIron Manmovie where he actually sings an original Christmas song? That kind of thing was just unthinkable back in Phase One of the MCU. That was before James Gunn brought his own brand of weirdness into the mix with theGuardians of the Galaxyfranchise.
Now we live in a world where Marvel feels free to stretch itself with special presentations to commemorate holidays like Halloween and Christmas.Werewolf By NightandThe Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Specialboth charted new, weirder paths for the MCU to wild acclaim. There’s no telling how the MCU will outdo a Kevin Bacon Christmas sing-a-long, but there’s little doubt that the studio will see it done.
1Every Fourth Wall Break In She-Hulk
TheShe-Hulktv show was by far the biggest change in Marvel since Phase One. The dance sequences, the Fourth Wall break, the comedic sitcom tone, and the meta moment where Jennifer Walters literally broke out of her own show to visit Marvel studios would’ve been unthinkable during the first Phase of the MCU.
Depending on who you ask, this is either a great step forward for the MCU to welcome Deadpool into the fold with open arms, or this show was Marvel jumping the shark for good. Either way, you can’t say they don’t try new things.
