As much as the Marvel Cinematic Universe loves its big, cinematic events, it has recently leaned more heavily on somewhat quieter endings to its phases. Avengers: Endgame, for example, wasn't technically the end of Phase 3; it was Spider-Man: No Way Home. Now, even though Thunderbolts* feels like a solid ending to Phase 5, it wasn't. That task now belongs to Ironheart.
Many fans of the MCU will tell you that the longer the franchise has gone on and the more it has expanded, the less cohesive -- and therefore "good" -- it's gotten. Some cry Marvel fatigue. In reality, there are a lot of reasons these later phases have felt less put-together, many of them sprouting purely from opinion. Which is fair. Part of being a fan and participating in fandom is the luxury of sharing your opinions.
The downfall of streaming certainly hasn't helped, no matter what you think about the quality of Marvel's Disney+ shows over the past few years. Ironheart's release schedule alone, devastatingly similar to Andor's, makes it nearly impossible for even long-term MCU fans to have faith in these series. If the executives want to get them out and over with as quickly as possible, how can we be expected to care even if they end up being quite good?
I don't wholly disagree with the common argument that Endgame should have ended this whole ordeal. The MCU hasn't felt quite the same since, and you can blame nostalgia for that, and you probably wouldn't be wrong in doing so. But I also know enough about the industry to understand that a good thing -- read: a massive moneymaker -- isn't going to end at the height of its popularity. Not a chance.
And so we find ourselves about to see another MCU phase come and go. For a lot of reasons, Ironheart isn't going to get the attention it very well might deserve -- reserving my judgment until I've seen the whole thing, per usual. People want the next movie, and won't have to wait long for it either. Ironheart will come and go as if it never happened, and Riri will appear in future projects when the writers feel her character is needed. Yes, we're allegedly getting more Daredevil: Born Again, but if streaming really is as dead as they're saying, Ironheart could end up being the end of an era in more ways than one.