History YMMV / MarvelCinematicUniverse

** There are some who believe the franchise should've stopped after ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', and will treate anything that came after as if it doesn't exist. Some more forgiving fans will cite ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' and ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol3'' as good epilogues, but otherwise ignore the rest of the post-''Endgame'' [=MCU=]

** Despite most of the franchise being extremely well-received by critics and fans, they don't do so well with the Academy Awards. Only one MCU film has gotten a Best Picture nomination, ''Black Panther'', and it didn't win. While ''Black Panther'' had seven nominations and won three (Best Original Score, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design), most other MCU films get one or two nominations (if any), usually for Best Visual Effects, and none of them have won. The Academy announced they were considering a new award in 2018, "Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film", which earned them scorn for being perceived as a consolation prize to acknowledge the MCU without letting it have Best Picture, especially since 2018 was the year of ''Black Panther''. That award wasn't actually created, largely due to the backlash.
** This got especially heated in 2022 when both ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' and ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' lost to ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' for a newly-established category where audiences could vote for whichever films they found Oscar-worthy. Diehard Marvel fans immediately accused DC fans of cheating the voting system, since it was conducted via Twitter. Given that there were two Marvel contenders against DC's one, it can be assumed either Marvel film would have been a shoe-in if the vote hadn't been split.

** Thor Odinson, or, more accurately, how he's been characterized from Phase 3 onwards.[[note]]With the exception of ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', which tends to be seen as a good balance between both characterizations.[[/note]] ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' gave substantial tweaks to Thor's characterization as a result of Creator/ChrisHemsworth [[CreatorBacklash being dissatisfied with how his character was being written]]. Consequently, Thor has gone from a [[TheStoic stoic]] ProudWarriorRaceGuy to a BoisterousBruiser {{Manchild}} constantly cracking quips. Some fans approve of this change, feeling it turns Thor from a FlatCharacter into somebody far more engaging. Others argue that Hemsworth was trying to fix something that wasn't broken, and that the changes in Thor's characterization regressed his CharacterDevelopment from the first two phases and turned him into a joke.

*** And ''then'' ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'' pushed the debates to new heights when [[spoiler: Wanda goes off the deep end and becomes a straight-up villain. Fans are incredibly conflicted over whether her FaceHeelTurn was natural given her prior actions and Series/WandaVision, or if it was CharacterDerailment and AesopAmnesia of Series/WandaVision. The hasty reveal that she was corrupted by the Darkhold made things even worse. Even those who ''like'' the idea of Wanda as a villain are conflicted on whether it should've happened like this.]]

** The long-standing debate on whether or not the shows produced by Marvel TV should be considered canonical to the movies or not. The majority of the shows have their fans, with ''Series/{{Inhumans}}'' being the only real exception, but the decreasing amount of synergy with the films over time led some fans to question if Creator/JephLoeb's repeated claims that "It's all connected!" actually held water or not. [[note]]The shows initially had some high-profile talent from the movies involved, but that largely stopped being the case with Marvel Studios's creative emancipation from parent company Marvel Entertainment, which happened in the middle of 2015 and didn't catch up with the shows until 2016.[[/note]] A common defense at the time was that, since the shows covered different portions of the Marvel Universe than the movies, massive crossovers weren't needed, even though they could happen eventually. While fans were thrown a bone with ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' featuring a cameo from Creator/JamesDArcy as Edwin Jarvis, others were quick to point out that this is the '''only''' direct reference to the shows across 22 movies, and it was with the sole Marvel TV project that Creator/KevinFeige produced. Things were further thrown into question with the last few seasons of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', which used a much different form of time travel than what was established in ''Endgame'', while the sixth season had an unavoidably massive ContinuitySnarl that ignored the ending of ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' (in spite of the last few episodes of the fifth season explicitly referencing Thanos's invasion). With Feige taking over for Loeb in 2019, and promoting the Creator/DisneyPlus series as being equally important to the films of the series (while not doing the same for any of the previous shows), it seems entirely possible that most of Marvel TV's output will fall under CanonDiscontinuity in favor of establishing new takes on the characters that the shows adapted -- but since Feige has yet to retract his past direct statements that the old shows ''do'' inhabit the same continuity as the film's, that hasn't stopped fans from arguing that the shows are still canon. The fact that the ABC and Hulu series were classified as ''Marvel Legacy'' in ''Creator/DisneyPlus'', the TV Show ''Series/{{Wandavision}}'' disregarding the Darkhold's appearances in ''Agents of SHIELD'' and ''Series/Runaways2018'' with a completely different design and function, and ''Series/Loki2021'' insisting that Coulson really died in ''Film/TheAvengers2012'' put more wood in the fire, and both of those instances have been {{Hand Wave}}d by those shows' respective producers.
** After previous films were criticized for having uninteresting villains, more recent stories have tried to give the villains more depth, portraying them as [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-intentioned but overzealous in addressing real-world problems]], such as [[Film/BlackPanther2018 Killmonger]], [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar Thanos]], and [[Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier Karli]]. While many fans saw this as a positive change that made the villains more complex, the MCU's increasing reliance on this has come under criticism, with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpitmEnaYeU this video]] noting that it sends a troubling message that characters who advocate for social justice or want to change the status quo are portrayed as evil, while the heroes merely want to uphold the existing order, [[ReedRichardsIsUseless rather than using their powers and resources to improve society]]. The writing for the villians has also been criticized, as [[VillainHasAPoint the villains often make better points than the heroes]], but rather than actually address their arguments, the writers simply pull a DebateAndSwitch by giving them gratuitous KickTheDog moments to hammer it in that they shouldn't be rooted for.
** Marvel's decision to not recast T'Challa after Creator/ChadwickBoseman's death has been met with a lot of controversy amongst the fandom. Some fans believe that it's only right to do so, as Boseman's performance would be a massive ToughActToFollow and that trying to replace him would be an insult to the man’s legacy. Others argue that ''not'' recasting T'Challa is an insult to the man's legacy and that killing off the character permanently would severely cripple the ''Black Panther'' franchise down the road (as evidenced by Marvel scrapping the character’s spinoff plans for Star-Lord T'Challa to have his own adventures). Further inflaming debate, Marvel appeared to attempt to make Shuri the new face of the ''Black Panther'' franchise, only for Shuri's actress, Letitia Wright, to start promoting anti-vax conspiracy theories during the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic. Subsequently, fans who previously supported writing out T'Challa and even Boseman's family have called to recast the role with a new actor.
*** This decision became even more controversial when Marvel [[TheOtherDarrin chose to do the opposite]] with Thaddus Ross' character following the death of Creator/WilliamHurt. Supporters of this decision find the recast understandable, as Ross was never a main character and, at best, a tertiary character in the overall franchise. Others, however, find recasting Ross to be disrespectful and/or hypocritical of Marvel, as it insinuates that they see the lives of some actors as more valuable than others.
** Since the start of Phase 4 the MCU's continued focus on comedy has become quite divisive. Supporters feel the comedic bent of the films gives the MCU a flavor that makes it stand out from the typical Science-Fiction fare and makes the characters more relatable by [[AudienceSurrogate having them react to situations the way a normal person would]]. Detractors however, feel the MCU's focus on comedy has become a crutch for the writers, causing several characters [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks to feel homogenous]], making it hard to take the stakes of any story seriously due to [[AngstWhatAngst the character's lack of worry or dread]]. This camp also notes that with how many [[FollowTheLeader film franchises follow the MCU's example]] its focus on comedy is, at best, [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny no longer a unique selling point]], and at worst, detrimental to cinema as a whole.

** With Marvel movies not made by Marvel Studios, such as Sony's ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries'' and Fox's ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''. A lot of MCU fans wish these franchises would revert to Marvel, and films made after ''Iron Man'', like ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'' and ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' are often dismissed as cash grabs made to keep the rights from Marvel Studios. Conversely, some argue that Fox's movies work better than Marvel's in-house movies (a phenomenon referred to as "[[StockholmSyndrome Foxholm Syndrome]]" by MCU fans). For a while, the Fox-Marvel and MCU rivalry also extended to Fox's attempt to reboot the ''Fantastic Four''[[note]]not helping Fox is that they had already adapted the Four [[Film/FantasticFour2005 twice]] in the hands of director Tim Story, and both movies he directed are widely seen as subpar at best[[/note]] but after [[Film/FantasticFour2015 the reboot in question]] was critically panned, many Fox-Marvel fans found themselves agreeing with MCU Fans that the Four would fair better in Marvel's hands.

* [[AndTheFandomRejoiced/MarvelCinematicUniverse And the Fandom Rejoiced]]

*** ''Avengers: Endgame'' and onward brought Steve back into base-breaking territory for good, with portions of the Peggy, Bucky, Sam, and Sharon fandoms ''also'' out for his blood after his extremely controversial ending there, elaborated in more detail on the work's [[YMMV/AvengersEndgame own page]]. Ironically, opinions on Steve's ending in ''Endgame'' tend to run in the opposite direction as expected, with it being one of the few things Tony fans who otherwise hate the character approve of, and conversely, many of Steve's supporters do ''not'' defend it, instead treating his depiction in that film as a form of [[OutOfCharacter derailment]] and the kind of exception that proves the rule regarding his previous actions.

** While Spider-Man's introduction to the MCU had been something long anticipated, its portrayal of Peter Parker proved to be very controversial. Fans adore Tom Holland's portrayal for bringing in the youthful energy and High School based dilemmas that had been mostly absent from the [[Film/SpiderManTrilogy previous]] [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries iterations]] of the character in film, and adore his father/son relationship with Tony Stark, viewing it as a unique take on the hero that stays true to the core concept. Detractors however feel Spider-Man was turned into a supporting character for Iron Man noting how even [[spoiler: following Tony's death]] much of Peter's films are dominated by Spider-Man having to live up to Iron Man with grudges against Tony Stark being the motives behind the villains in his first two solo films, with many fans criticizing how the films go out of their way to avoid mentioning Uncle Ben, and how most of Peter's gear was hand-me-downs from Stark. Some detractors go as far as to call this incarnation of Peter Parker "Iron Boy Jr." feeling he doesn't deserve the moniker of Spider-Man. While ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' made great strides to address these complaints by [[spoiler: having Peter work alongside both of his Live-Action predecessors and ultimately sacrifice everything he had to ensure the multiverse's safety, and the film ends with Peter starting at square one with a homemadesuit]]. But this caused some to feel that [[spoiler: having Peter lose all his friends, family, and belongings]] is far too much of an overcorrection, or simply feel these changes arrived too little too late.

* Since the start of Phase 4 the MCU's continued focus on comedy has become quite divisive. Supporters feel the comedic bent of the films gives the MCU a flavor that makes it stand out from the typical Science-Fiction fare and makes the characters more relatable by [[AudienceSurrogate having them react to situations the way a normal person would]]. Detractors however, feel the MCU's focus on comedy has become a crutch for the writers, causing several characters [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks to feel homogenous]], making it hard to take the stakes of any story seriously due to [[AngstWhatAngst the character's lack of worry or dread]]. This camp also notes that with how many [[FollowTheLeader film franchises follow the MCU's example]] its focus on comedy is, at best, [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny no longer a unique selling point]], and at worst, detrimental to cinema as a whole.

* FandomEnragingMisconception: Hardcore fans get very irritated when people mistake a superhero film as part of the MCU just because it stars a Marvel character. No, the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'' and ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'' are ''not'' part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as they are in different continuities and were made by Fox and Sony, respectively. ''Film/Venom2018'' actively attempted to fool audiences into thinking this, to the ire of MCU fans, which Sony continued to do with the first trailer for ''Film/Morbius2022''.

*** This decision became even more controversial when Marvel [[TheOtherDarrin chose to do the opposite]] with Thaddus Ross' character following the death of Creator/WilliamHurt. Supporters of this decision find the recast understandable, as Ross was never a main character and at best a tertiary character in the overall franchise. Others however find recasting Ross to be disrespectful and/or hypocritical of Marvel, as it insinuates that they see the lives of some actors as more valuable than others.

** Marvel's decision to not recast T'Challa after Creator/ChadwickBoseman's death has been met with a lot of controversy amongst the fandom. Some fans believe that it's only right to do so, as Boseman's performance would be a massive ToughActToFollow and that trying to replace him would be an insult to the man’s legacy. Others argue that ''not'' recasting T'Challa is an insult to the man's legacy and that killing off the character permanently would severely cripple the ''Black Panther'' franchise down the road (as evidenced with Marvel scrapping the character’s spinoff plans for Star-Lord T'Challa to have his own adventures). Further inflaming debate, Marvel appeared to attempt to make Shuri the new face of the ''Black Panther'' franchise, only for Shuri's actress, Letitia Wright, to start promoting anti-vax conspiracy theories during the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic. Subsequently, fans who previous supported writing out T'Challa and even Boseman's family have called to recast the role with a new actor.

* SeasonalRot: Despite having some standout entries that are nearly universally praised such as ''Series/WandaVision'', ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', and ''Film/BlackPantherWakandaForever'', The Multiverse Saga has largely been seen as a step down from The Infinity Saga, being hit with criticism from everything ranging from [[SpecialEffectFailure spottier visual effects]], screenplays that aren't as consistently-solid as what preceded it (with the MCU's only "Rotten" scoring movies releasing in this part of the slate), and an overreliance on comedy at the expense of storytelling -- [[FranchiseOriginalSin though some of these criticisms were already rooted in previous entries]]. There have also been criticisms that Marvel are stretching themselves too thin between introducing tons of new characters and worlds into the mix, while seemingly lacking a clear direction for the franchise beyond somehow tying disparate plot threads to Kang.

** Phase 4 has been hit with this. After the release of the middling ''Film/ThorLoveAndThunder'' and ''Series/SheHulk'', quite a few people began to complain about how aimless and meandering Phase 4 of the MCU was starting to feel, with no clear plot emerging beyond some extremely vague multiverse stuff after nearly 70 hours of total runtime between the movies and shows that have made up Phase 4 so far. Perhaps as a reaction to this fatigue, Marvel Studios would announce their Phase 5 and 6 slate to establish ''where'' the current StoryArc is heading, with Kang being set to be the new main villain.

** Thor Odinson, or, more accurately, how he's been characterized from Phase 3 onwards.[[note]]With the exception of ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', which tends to be seen as a good balance between both characterizations.[[/note]] ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' gave substantial tweaks to Thor's characterization as a result of Creator/ChrisHemsworth [[CreatorBacklash being dissatisfied with how his character was being written]]. Consequently, Thor has gone from a [[TheStoic stoic]] ProudWarriorRaceGuy to a BoisterousBruiser {{Manchild}} constantly cracking quips. Some fans approve of this change, feeling it turns Thor from a FlatCharacter into somebody far more engaging. Others, however, argue that Hemsworth was trying to fix something that wasn't broken. These fans feel the changes in Thor's characterization regressed his CharacterDevelopment from the first two phases and turned Thor into a joke.

** Thor Odinson, or, more accurately, how he's been characterized from Phase 3 onwards.[[note]]With the exception of ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', which tends to be seen as a good balance between both characterizations.[[/note]] ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' gave substantial tweaks to Thor's characterization as a result of Creator/ChrisHemsworth [[CreatorBacklash being dissatisfied with how his character was being written]]. Consequently, Thor has gone from a {{Stoic}} ProudWarriorRaceGuy to a BoisterousBruiser {{Manchild}} constantly cracking quips. Some fans approve of this change, feeling it turns Thor from a FlatCharacter into somebody far more engaging. Others, however, argue that Hemsworth was trying to fix something that wasn't broken. These fans feel the changes in Thor's characterization regressed his CharacterDevelopment from the first two phases and turned Thor into a joke.

* SeasonalRot: Despite having some standout entries that are nearly-universally praised such as ''Series/WandaVision'', ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', and ''Film/BlackPantherWakandaForever'', The Multiverse Saga has largely been seen as a step down from The Infinity Saga, being hit with criticism from everything ranging from [[SpecialEffectFailure spottier visual effects]], screenplays that aren't as consistently-solid as what preceded it (with the MCU's only "Rotten" scoring movies releasing in this part of the slate), and an overreliance on comedy at the expense of storytelling -- [[FranchiseOriginalSin though some of these criticisms were already rooted in previous entries]]. There have also been criticisms that Marvel are both stretching themselves too thin to introduce tons of new characters and worlds into the mix and also lacking a clear direction for the franchise beyond somehow tying disparate plot threads to Kang.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: With how big the cinematic SharedUniverse model in filmmaking is, it's easy to forget that the entire franchise was a ''very'' risky idea back in phase 1, a {{Crossover}} on this scale was seen as risky at best and downright impossible at worst, nowadays [[FollowTheLeader many are trying to be the MCU!]]

** Hank Pym gets a quick appearance midway through the movie when Steve and Tony time-travel back to UsefulNotes/TheSeventies, which is made quite memorable by being a hilarious scene that once again features a digitally de-aged Creator/MichaelDouglas.

** Phase 4 has been hit with this. After the release of the middling ''Film/ThorLoveAndThunder'' and ''Series/SheHulk'', quite a few people began to complain about how aimless and meandering Phase 4 of the MCU is starting to feel, with no clear plot emerging beyond some extremely vague multiverse stuff after nearly 70 hours of total runtime between the movies and shows that have made up Phase 4 so far. Perhaps as a reaction to this fatigue, Marvel Studios would announce their Phase 5 and 6 slate to establish ''where'' the current StoryArc is heading, with Kang being set to be the new main villain.

[[folder: Phase One]]

[[AC:Works set in the MCU with their own YMMV pages]]

[[AC:The whole MCU]]

For specific movies and television shows, see: