This Villain Trope is Overused in Recent Marvel Movies, Fans Complain
MCU Phase Four could definitely use a new approach to its villains.
Fans have spotted a striking similarity in how villains behave in the most recent Marvel movies, and it turns out that pretty much every bad guy in the MCU tends to be "turning good".
It does not necessarily mean they switch sides or immediately redeem themselves, but the pattern of ending up regretting their choices is obvious in Phase Four movies. In 'Black Widow', we had Taskmaster abandoning her evil ways after a pep talk with Natasha. In 'Spider-Man: No Way Home', pretty much every villain ends up turning good sooner or later. Ikaris from 'Eternals' even launched himself into the Sun after regretting everything bad he's done to his family and friends.
The most recent Phase Four movie, 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness', had Wanda Maximoff who at first turned villainous and then regretted the atrocious things she did while she was corrupted by Darkhold.
There are practically no villains who would stick to be being a villain until the end, like Thanos did. And it seems to be bothering fans.
There are only a few of Marvel villains who remained appalling until the last minute.
Other people, however, argued that what some fans deem to be "turning good" is simply a character journey which does not necessarily make them heroes.
And in terms of character development, all of the aforementioned villains seem to be handled just fine, people argue.
We still have plenty of Phase Four projects – not only those made for big screens but also a handful of TV shows – to introduce more compelling villains to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Among them is 'Thor: Love and Thunder ' that premieres on July 8, 'She-Hulk ' TV show to be released on August 17, 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ' that arrives on November 11, as well as 'Secret Invasion ' and 'Ironheart ', with their premiere dates to be announced.