Marvel was founded in 1939 in New York by Martin Goodman. This franchise started out with comic books, and those comics became very popular and kept being produced. It took many people to create as many comics as they did. Some of the most well-known collaborators with the production of Marvel comics were Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko. They were a big help in creating some of the most popular comics. These comics are very special to many fans today and can be sold for thousands of dollars for just one comic! 

Although Marvel comics gained a lot of popularity, the movies that Marvel then created made the fandom much larger. The most well-known Marvel movies are in a long series called the Marvel Cinematic Universe, better known as the MCU. The MCU started in 2008 with the movie Iron Man. This hit movie made over half a million dollars at the box office and became an iconic superhero movie. Since then, Marvel has attracted people of all ages, from young children to adults. 

In the past decade, there have been two Marvel movies, which many say is where they “peaked”: Avengers Infinity War and Avengers Endgame. These two movies were a turning point for Marvel and gained even more popularity. Infinity War came out in 2017, and Endgame followed two years later, released in 2019. Most people have heard of Marvel movies, but these two made everyone want to watch. Soon after the fandom expanded, Marvel released shows which gained lots of attention. The first and biggest hit was a show called WandaVision which is about two characters who have been seen in previous movies. This came out in 2021 which was when many of us were still at home due to COVID, so we all had much downtime to watch shows. WandaVision attracted viewers who haven’t even previously watched any of the movies. There were a couple shows after WandaVision that did very well,  like Loki and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. 

Once these shows were over, Marvel was in a rough patch. There were a couple more shows released like She-Hulk and Mrs. Marvel, but those did not do well and people were not enjoying Marvel like they used to. Although the previous shows did well, Marvel started to fall off after Endgame in 2019. In my opinion, the last MCU movie that even came anywhere close to Endgame was Spider-Man: No Way Home which came out in 2021. Since then, there have been six more movies released in the MCU, but they have not been very successful and honestly not very good. Many people have been beginning to lose interest in the fandom and not keeping up with the latest content. Personally, I have been a big fan but recently I haven’t been updated with all of the new movies just because I have no interest in watching them. A new Marvel movie coming to theaters used to be a huge deal but now people don’t even know what’s coming out. 

Marvel will never be the same as it used to be. The characters have changed drastically because almost all of the original characters have been killed off. The six main Marvel characters were Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye. In Endgame, both Iron Man and Black Widow died, which were some of the most loved characters. Many people don’t enjoy anything after that because their favorite characters are not a part of it anymore. The MCU is broken up into different phases and the most recent ones have been with many different characters. People don’t appreciate the new characters’ stories as much because the original ones meant more to the viewers. Another way Marvel has changed is from the death of Stan Lee in 2018. Lee was a big help with the creation of Marvel and always had cameos in the movie. Even though it was only for a few seconds on the big screen, he became an important part to the movies and people looked forward to seeing his cameo. His absence in the recent movies leaves the fans like they’re missing a part of the film. Overall, Marvel has recently felt like a whole different franchise than when it started. It has been slowly progressing since the start, but went in the downward spiral after 2019. Marvel will never be how it used to be and won’t be able surpass the previous films.