Marvel's Power Creep Problem

Marvel Logo, from Pinterest.


I’ve been a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for quite some time now. I joined the fandom when Captain America: Civil War came out in theaters– my family and I watched Age of Ultron the day before, just so we had some background information on the plot of the movie, and I’ve been hooked ever since. At this point I’ve seen nearly every Marvel movie, and even a handful of their TV shows. But something has been bothering me about Marvel ever since we entered Phase 4, and I think I’ve managed to finally put my finger on it: Power Creep. 

If you’re a TCG (trading-card game) gamer, you’re probably familiar with the term power creep, but just so we’re all on the same page: In gaming, power creep is when newer cards, abilities, or other gameplay elements are added to a game that are all-around better than what’s currently available in-game. In isolation, this isn’t a bad thing, but when it keeps happening over time? The newer items/abilities/cards/what-have-you become so powerful that they completely invalidate the original content, rendering the original entirely useless in the face of the newer and shinier thing. 



An example of power creep from Fire Emblem Heroes (Nintendo). The top text is the newer character's ability, the bottom is the older one. Both have a Might of 16, a Range of 1, and the ability to counterattack, but why would you use the old ability when the new one has so many more benefits? From www.game8.co


In terms of Marvel, this applies to the power levels of the heroes and villains, as well as the stakes of the movies and shows. We began in Phase One, where aside from the Avengers crossover movie, most of the individual movies were relatively separate from each other, and (relatively-speaking) low-stakes. Captain America had no impact on Thor; why would it? The MCU wouldn’t have been over if Tony Stark had lost to Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2. It would have been different, sure, but it wouldn’t have been over. But let’s take a look at Marvel’s recent projects, starting with Phase 4. If the Eternals had failed in their movie, the world would have been destroyed, and the franchise would be over. If Dr. Strange had failed to stop Wanda in Dr. Strange 2, the universe would have been destroyed, and the franchise would definitely be over. Heck, if Loki failed, the entire multiverse would have been destroyed. You can’t keep telling us the world is going to end or the universe is going to be destroyed in every single movie– after so many instances, it loses its punch (and scientifically, there’s a point where it stops mattering– most humans can’t fathom the difference in scale between a million and a billion properly, never mind the universe versus the multiverse). Plus, we know the world isn’t going to end– Marvel has given us a project timeline for the next several years, and if the world ends, all of those would be for nothing! 


Unless they’re all prequels. 

(Which they’re not.)


Regardless, the power creep in the MCU has gotten out of hand. Instead of resetting the stakes after Endgame and giving new characters and teams time to develop at a believable pace, we’ve made nearly every project contain world-ending threats, forcing these new characters to come out of the gate absurdly strong and competent and rushing the process of replacing the old Avengers team with the new Avengers team (which is an entirely separate issue, for an entirely separate blog post). 



The Avengers (2012) facing down the Chitauri. Photo: Marvel


I see a lot of people complaining online about how the MCU has “fallen off” or otherwise gone downhill, whether their complaints be about how bloated the series has become, the quippy nature of the writing, or the objectively garbage CGI– but most of these problems could easily be solved by resetting the stakes. Stop having every project be about fighting a world-ending threat, or an advanced alien race trying to subjugate the Earth; sometimes all you need is a couple of goons robbing a secret military base. Lower stakes allow for more moments of characterization, which gives the audience more time to bond with these newer characters, which then gives their eventual team-up movie more weight. Lower stakes allow breathing room for us to get to know our new team– leave the higher stakes for the team-ups, where we can watch our new team work together to tackle a threat larger than they could handle on their own. If the world is ending during a big team-up movie, then that’s big news, and cause for a team-up. But if the world is ending every other project?

Then it’s just another Tuesday.

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