Martin Scorsese compared them to theme parks. Nicolas Cage likened them to WWE. The products of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – 38 films, 18 television shows and counting – are not generally well regarded as works of art. This is understandable: they are derivative, corporate and also somewhat mechanical – not just in their CGI-heavy production or phased rollouts, but in their preoccupations, with robotics, technological combat, complex webs of association. This is not the cinema, per Scorsese, “of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”
The MCU doesn’t just gravitate towards cliche in this area, it barely features actual humans at all. And yet – like a superhero searching for a special stone – you get the sense that Marvel will not rest until such profundity is within its grasp. Unlike rollercoasters or wrestling, the MCU can be quite intellectually demanding: why shouldn’t it be capable of illuminating truths about the human condition as well?
