I just watched Black Widow in theatres two nights ago and have determined that the true problem with films and Marvel Studios TV shows isn't that the enemies get killed off half the time (which is definitely a problem, though), but that SOOOOO many of the enemies are just evil avatars of the heroes. I had noticed this with the Phase One films but didn't realize how bad it had gotten. Here's my list showing all non-evil avatar match-ups in Red:
Iron Man = Obadiah Stane
The Incredible Hulk = Abomination
Iron Man 2 = Whiplash/Justin Hammer
Thor = Loki
Captain America: The First Avenger = Red Skull
The Avengers = Thor vs. Loki
Iron Man 3 = Aldrich Killian
Thor: The Dark World = Malekith
Captain America: The Winter Soldier = Winter Soldier/SHIELD
Guardians of the Galaxy = Ronan the Accuser
Avengers: Age of Ultron = Iron Man/Vision vs. Ultron
Ant-Man = Yellowjacket
Captain America: Civil War = Halmut Zemo
Doctor Strange = Kaecilius
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 = Ego the Living Planet
Spider-Man: Homecoming = Vulture
Thor: Ragnarok = Hela
Black Panther = Killmonger
Avengers: Infinity War = Thanos
Ant-Man and the Wasp = Ghost
Captain Marvel = Yon-Rogg
Avengers: Endgame = Thanos
Spider-Man: Far From Home = Mysterio
WandaVision = Agnes Harkness/White Vision
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier = Super Soldiers/Halmut Zemo
Black Widow = The Black Widow Program
Loki is still up in the air until next week, but every one of these shows except for the first Guardians, the two Spider-Man films, and the last two Avengers films show heroes fighting people with very similar skillsets to themselves. And yes, I include Avengers and Age of Ultron as fighting evil avatars since the former is, at it's core, a Thor vs. Loki rematch, while the latter is an Iron Man vs. Ultron match (sometimes through the proxy of Vision). Even Guardians 2 is a fight between Peter and his father, with Peter having the potential for all or many of the powers of his father.
I admit The Dark World connection is a little weaker, but it's still a super-strong God-like entity from one of the Nine Realms fighting a super-strong God-like entity from one of the Nine Realms. That being said, you could argue that all three Thor films (and by extension Avengers) actual do the opposite of having evil avatars by pitting various God-like entities against Thor. Thus, where Thor is goodness and stability, Loki is chaos, Melakith is evil, and Hela is death. Yet I still see them all as variations of a similar formula of God-like powers facing off against one-another.
The funny thing is, the two Spider-Man films are probably my least favorite in the MCU so far, with the exception of The Dark World. I always feel Spider-Man is best when he's in New York fighting New York villains, but they keep sending him out to the suburbs or to space or to Europe. And no in No Way Home, it sounds like he's off again! I like Tom Holland as Spider-Man just fine, but I haven't really enjoyed the plots he's been stuck with. That being said, Vulture and Mysterio were both novel enemies compared to Green Goblin, Doc Ock, and Venom. Still, I wonder if Spider-Man fighting an evil avatar of himself would make for a better film.
Just some random thoughts of the day. What do you think? Do you prefer MCU heroes to fight their own dark avatars or do you wish that they'd change things up a little?
I was kind of indifferent to Black Widow. I mean, I enjoyed it fine but more as an action/spy film than a Marvel film. With only Thaddeus Ross showing up as a cameo from the larger universe, it felt really separate from everything. The whole prequel thing didn't help either since we already knew what would happen to Natasha and we also knew none of the other characters would appear again...yet? Honestly, I'd be surprised if we see any of the characters again except Yelena. It would be cool if the whole pack of Widows, Taskmaster, Red Guardian, and Melina re-appeared in some capacity, and they all could, but I somehow don't see it s likely. Maybe in a Disney+ show down the road, but to what end? Everything else is building up to something—multiverse shenanigans, Young Avengers, Thunderbolts—but Black Widow kind of just felt like it would have worked better possibly as a Disney+ show too. That's not really fair to Scarlett Johansson, but it's true. I would have enjoyed another hour of spycraft and intrigue and maybe a little less implausible secret airbase filled with brainwashed Widows controlled by a pheromonal mastermind. It also kind of undermines the Widows to have them all just be brainwashed assassins—what's even the point of culling them or training them if they can just be programmed? Nevertheless, I'm glad they did the film and I will be happy when it joins the superedit in its chronological position.
Regarding the villains, you have a point with overcoming your own weaknesses. And it's true that at least some of the villains have had their abilities as long as or longer than the heroes. It just makes for a sometimes uninteresting fight at the end. I mean, Iron Man fighting against three different avatars of himself (four counting Ultron) is just a little much. That's why a different villain like the Mandarin is interesting. You are definitely right about them killing the villains, though. I'm hoping all the multiverse action gives the MCU a chance to correct some of that, because it really is a mistake. They have the Raft now and with Fantastic Four they can create the Null-Time Zone prison, which can contain supernatural entities. Why do they keep killing the enemies? In Phase 1, it made some sense because there was a good chance most of the films wouldn't get sequels. But these days, it is a dumb move. Fortunately, they seem to realize this since they aren't doing it as much. At least not with the big ticket villains.