If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of Marvel content coming at you from every direction, rest assured, you’re not alone. Even Hideo Kojima, the creative mastermind behind Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding, is struggling to keep track of what’s happening in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And when the guy who created Death Stranding’s wild, multi-layered plot finds something too convoluted, you know we have a problem.
Gone are the days when watching a couple of movies every year was enough to stay updated on the MCU. Now, there’s a new show dropping on Disney+ every few months, each one adding vital pieces of information that you’re apparently supposed to remember for the next big-screen event.
If you skip one, you risk being completely lost. And if Kojima himself is feeling this way, maybe it’s time to admit that Marvel’s obsession with cranking out endless series might be doing more harm than good.
Hideo Kojima’s Marvel confusion is painfully relatable
Hideo Kojima recently tweeted after watching Captain America: Brave New World, saying that he vaguely remembers Sam Wilson played by Anthony Mackie, receiving the shield at the end of Endgame but wasn’t sure when he officially became Captain America.
He wondered if it was because he hadn’t watched The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, a six-hour Disney+ series, while also getting mixed up about what was going on with the Avengers and Thunderbolts. And honestly? Who can blame him?
This is the biggest issue with the MCU post-Avengers: Endgame, it now feels like homework. What used to be simple, watch a few big movies every year and you’re good, has turned into an exhausting task of keeping up with interwoven narratives that spread across movies, limited series, spin-offs, and animated projects. Miss one, and suddenly you’re playing catch-up.
Marvel used to pride itself on accessible storytelling. Now, it expects audiences to watch every single show, even if it means dedicating hours of screen time to characters they may not even care about.
Kojima, a man known for his intricate and layered storytelling, should be the perfect audience for Marvel’s ambitious expansion. Instead, even he’s struggling to see the bigger picture.
After all, to fully understand Captain America: Brave New World, you need to watch, The Incredible Hulk, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Eternals. Yes… The lowest-rated Marvel movie on Rotten Tomatoes, Eternals, is important too.
The pre-Avengers: Endgame MCU was simply better
Remember when Marvel movies were just… movies? You could walk into a theater, enjoy a film, and still understand what was going on without needing a PhD in Marvelology. The Infinity Saga era was beautifully structured, each film contributed to the overall story without demanding that you also watch a dozen TV episodes to make sense of it all.
Sure, there were interconnected stories, but they were streamlined and accessible. Iron Man to Avengers: Endgame felt like a well-planned journey where everything built up naturally, with major team-up films acting as milestones. There was a clear progression, and fans could pick and choose what they wanted to watch without feeling lost.
Now? It feels like the MCU is more concerned with filling Disney+ than telling a cohesive, engaging story. Instead of a handful of must-watch films, we now have a flood of content that ranges from essentials like Loki to totally skippable Secret Invasion. The constant need to keep up has drained a lot of the excitement out of Marvel storytelling, replacing anticipation with fatigue.
When even a storytelling genius like Hideo Kojima is confused by what’s happening in the MCU, maybe it’s time for Marvel to step back and realize that less is more. Otherwise, the only infinity left will be the endless hours of content we’re expected to watch just to keep up.
Captain America: Brave New World is playing in theatres.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
