T w e n t y S i d e d

Once upon a time I was elated with the MCU. There were consistently fun movies coming out multiple times per year to look forward to. They were funny, action packed powerhouses. Slowly over time, though, I grew exhausted with the formula.

I was never a HUGE super hero guy to begin with. I always loved Spiderman and Batman because of their shows. Batman the Animated Series is still elite television, by the way. However that’s basically where my interest began and ended. So when Iron Man came out and was an absolute banger I was pleasantly surprised. Then Thor and the Edward Norton Hulk were pretty great too. That made me a lot more interested in the Avengers Universe.

Honestly the build to Infinity War and then Endgame felt amazing to me. The series built up a big head of steam but the payoff felt a bit lackluster. And that was it for me. I had my fill, since I’d watched nothing MCU except the Spiderman movies.

I had officially become overwhelmed by the content. I can’t be expected to watch all the MCU content out there to keep up with story beats and character development. I’ve heard great things about several movies and shows, but I just don’t really care anymore.

I say all this because The Punisher brought me back in. Maybe it’s the edgy boy in me that wants my content more gritty and dark. Maybe the lack of a constant drive to have levity injected into scenes to keep the tone lighter. Whatever it was, I’m interested again. I like the somewhat grounded feel. I like the lack of superpowers bailing characters out. I’m enjoying the adult tone. I only wish it went all out on that tone instead of pulling all the punches and ending up with a PG-13ish tinge. That’s a conversation for another time, though.

But that leaves me curious. Have any of you guys fallen off the MCU bandwagon and hopped back on? I’m genuinely curious where that happened for people.

Ethan Rodgers