Is the MCU Back? Three Consecutive Rotten Tomatoes Wins Suggest So

In recent years, the term “Marvel fatigue” has echoed throughout entertainment discussions, with even devoted fans acknowledging that the franchise seemed to have lost some of its charm. The decline in box office performance and mixed reviews for several post-‘Endgame’ films only reinforced this narrative.

However, the current landscape tells a different story. A series of recent releases from Marvel Studios has garnered some of the best critical and audience scores the franchise has seen in years, igniting genuine conversations about whether the MCU is truly regaining its momentum.

This resurgence kicks off with ‘Thunderbolts*,’ which subtly rebranded itself as ‘The New Avengers’ in its final moments and achieved an impressive 88% critics’ score along with a 93% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Featuring a team of antiheroes such as Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, and Ghost, the film received acclaim for embracing flawed, morally complex characters instead of another conventional hero ensemble.

Following that, ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ also achieved strong numbers, landing at 86% with critics and 90% with audiences on the Popcornmeter. Set against a retro-futuristic 1960s backdrop, this film introduced Marvel’s First Family to the MCU, with critics praising the cast chemistry and period aesthetic that finally delivered a Fantastic Four movie worthy of the characters’ legacy.

Now, ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘ has joined this successful streak, currently boasting a 91% rating on the Tomatometer from 158 reviews as it approaches its opening weekend. The film follows Peter Parker four years after the events of ‘No Way Home,’ as he battles crime full-time in a city that has forgotten him, while an unseen new threat looms.

What’s remarkable about this streak is not just the individual scores, but the consistent pattern across three distinct segments of the franchise. A gritty antihero team-up, a period-piece reboot, and a fourth solo Spider-Man film have all surpassed the 85% mark with critics, a feat that seemed unlikely during the franchise’s more challenging post-Endgame period.

Audience reactions have been equally enthusiastic, with all three films comfortably landing in “Certified Fresh” or “Verified Hot” territory on their respective Popcornmeter scores. This alignment between critics and general audiences has become increasingly rare for major franchise releases in recent years, where the two groups often arrive at vastly different conclusions.

Part of what seems to be driving this success is the enhanced interconnectivity among projects, with characters and storylines intertwining in a more deliberate manner than some of the franchise’s earlier, more scattered Phase Four and Five efforts. Threads introduced in one film are paying off in subsequent releases, rather than standing as isolated stories.

Whether this momentum continues throughout the year remains uncertain, especially with ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ still on the horizon as the franchise’s most ambitious project yet. However, for a studio that has faced years of speculation about losing its magic, three consecutive strong releases is precisely the kind of streak that can quell that conversation, at least for the time being.

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