Left to my own devices

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (or MCU, for short), which used to primarily consist of motion pictures, but now includes television shows (most of them on the Disney+ streaming platform), has announced that it is pushing back the release dates for several of its upcoming projects. Rescheduling for a film or TV show isn't anything new in the entertainment world. Marvel has done it before. But this recent move seems to stem from the decision to put their Blade reboot on hold . They announced the project (starring two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali) years ago and, by all reports, the script still isn't good enough, and the director has left the project. These bumps in the road for Marvel are becoming more common, and are perhaps a sign of the studio trying to do too much, too quickly. For example: Phase 1 of the MCU lasted four years(!), and consisted of six films. Now we're nearing the end of Phase 4, which will close out with the release next month of Black Panther: Wakan...

* NOTE: There are some minor SPOILERS for Eternals that follow. _____________ Rick Blaine and Ilsa Lund. Westley and Buttercup. Rose Dewitt Bukater and Jack Dawson. Elio and Oliver. Elisa Esposito and... Amphibian Man? For over a century, movies have featured some of the greatest love stories ever told. Sometimes, they're the core of a film, other times they're a side-plot. Regardless, when done right, a romance in a movie can be sweeping in its ability to lift -- or even deflate -- our emotions. I'd like to add another set of names of to the aforementioned couples: Thena and Gilgamesh.

The last decade or so in pop culture has really been a nostalgia treat for folks around my age. Our sentimentality for intellectual properties such as Batman, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Transformers,The Conners, Will & Grace, etc. has been indulged to the nth degree. That's a positive, I suppose, though there is a downside: what will the youth of today have to look back on 20-30 years from now for their own nostalgia? The mining of past content to satiate the appetites of people longing to look back really does create a vacuum.

It is my contention that the lackluster box office performance of Solo: A Star Wars Story , and the boffo reception for Avengers: Infinity War are potentially harbingers of the same future for what is now termed the 'cinematic universe' existence for both the Marvel and Star Wars franchises. That may sound odd, so of course some explanation is in order. Part of what follows necessitate going back a few years. As is well-publicized, Marvel has different "phases" of its cinematic universe. Everything is planned-out (something which Star Wars could benefit from greatly). It could be (and has been) argued that Marvel's template is very much rote by this point, even with the inclusion of fresh directorial blood with recent films. Nevertheless, the process seems to have done well for them. The movies have almost always done well at the box office, and the average moviegoer seems genuinely invested in what happens with the characters.