Enjoy this complimentary article, previously available exclusively for Popverse members. If you like what you see, consider becoming a Popverse member.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is going through growing pains. We all do it, so why shouldn't it? After being born in 2008 with Iron Man, the release of 2019's Avengers: Endgame saw it hit its pre-teen years .... and now, the MCU is 17. And it shows. But looking over the expansive of the MCU, there's an even more apt metaphor for these last few years - and they told the story themselves with the Loki series.

Through both 2021's Loki season 1 and 2023's Loki season 2, the creatives involved told a story of a bureaucracy charged with monitoring and guiding the timeline - and dealing with the repercussions of that. Sounds a lot like Marvel Studios, especially right now as it is aiming to recover its magic after some creatively lacking few years; it is on the upswing while still having some missteps.
 

Marvel Studios is the TVA

The Time Variance Authority debuted in 2021's Loki season 1, revealing itself to be the overtly bureaucratic organization that isn't in the MCU but monitors the MCU - and all of the variant universes that are coming to bear. That is the same thing Kevin Feige and co. began dealing with after the idea of multiple timelines was first broached in Avengers: Endgame, and the idea of other timelines (such as Sony's Spider-Man movies and Fox's X-Men movies) became a reality thanks to mega-million deals between Marvel's parent company Disney and both Sony and Fox.

At first, Marvel Studios' plans seemed to be recasting and not paying any attention to what came before - even to the extent of de-canonizing the television bits of the MCU seen in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Netflix TV shows the same way Mobius and the TVA killed off timelines in Loki season 1. But as timelines are killed, Loki finds something worth saving in a variant of himself named Sylvie - the same way Feige found something worth saving in the X-Men movies (which he was involved with early on), first with Sir Patrick Stewart's Charles Xavier, then Kelsey Grammer's Beast, Hugh Jackman's Wolverine. And then the floodgates open.

What Feige & Co realized - much as how Loki made the TVA realize at the end of Loki season 1 and into Loki season 1 was that the bug they were trying to erase was a feature - a feature to be used. Thus the TVA became open to the idea of a multiverse - just as Feige has opened the doors to the MCM - Marvel Cinematic Multiverse, now full bore with projects like What If...?. 

But in the midst of that liminal period, you saw plans to bring Netflix's Daredevil back as Disney+'s Daredevil: Born Again, while taking away the key elements (and some of the characters) that made it break. They stopped, recalibrated, and came out with what we're now enjoying currently in the Born Again series. Along the way, they made clear that the MCU wasn't born in 2008 with Iron Man - they themselves became so comfortable with it that by re-canonizing 1998's Blade movie in Deadpool & Wolverine then that makes Blade (and the X-Men and Daredevil movies) the Phase Zero of the MCU.

At the same time, Marvel Studios is feeling the pressure after a poor reception to Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels, and Captain America; Brave New World, the same way Loki and his allies in his season 2 had to "battle for the soul" of the TVA. But in this case, it's Feige battling for the soul of Marvel Studios.

Is former Marvel chairman Isaac 'Ike' Perlmutter the Kang of it all? That's an interesting thought but perhaps goes too far. But in both cases, you gotta wonder what ever happened to him... and would he ever return?

Where does Marvel Studios go now?

At the end of Loki season 2 (spoilers?), Loki ended up as the person overseeing all the branches of the MCU - much in the same way Kevin Feige does now, for the first time in full control of Marvel Studios as well as the other branches of Marvel such as Marvel Comics. But as we know, Loki's story isn't over as he's returning for 2026's Avengers: Doomsday - and much in the same way Loki is working behind the scenes for his big return for the next Avengers movie, Kevin Feige is working on that to try to repeat the one-two punch of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame by making an even bigger crossover - not just of characters from one universe, but now characters from multiple universes. And for it to be amazing.

Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:

• How to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in release or chronological order
• The best Marvel Comics stories of all time
• All the MCU movies ranked from best to worst
• Our weekly Marvel insider's column, Marvel Matters