The MCU fills us with complex and ambivalent feelings, like the ending of Crime and Punishment, or our significant other’s farts. You see, on the one hand they’re an intricate tapestry of ideas and artists and world-building, the kind of thing we did not dare dream when we were kids and the best superhero action out there was Batman Returns (with all due respect to Batman Returns, of course). On the other hand, however, the MCU is also a money-making machine, and thus results in what money-making imperatives do to art: Flatten it out, turn its expressions into the lowest common denominator so people everywhere can laugh at Star-Lord’s childish banter or, erm, Chris Pratt’s privileged ignorance.

Add to all of this that the current MCU phase is made up of innumerable little details that don’t really go together. Indeed, and just like our significant other’s farts, Phase Four is kind of a stinking mess. We’re trying to make sense of its cosmic scale and little crime dramas and multiple themes and multiple interdimensional races and multidimensional plot threads — but it’s too much, and we end up just opening the window to air out the mind-bogging stink (by which we mean, just watching the much superior new season of The Boys). In this context of ambivalence, then, we turn our attention to a bunch of tropes we’re definitely tired of. And if you now ask, “well, what was the point with those fart jokes?”, we’d just point out the giant CGI fart monster behind you. Look, we didn’t want it to be there, it’s studio-commanded, we’re stuck with it. Let’s just defeat it quickly so we can go to the post-credits scene, okay?

Tired MCU Tropes The final CGI fights Seriously, how many recent average-to-good projects have become bogged down by the usual cacophony of CGI noise? The Eternals, and especially Shang-Chi and WandaVision come to mind. At least the Loki show had a more dialogue-driven ending. CRACKED.COM

Tired MCU Tropes villains created by Tony stark OK, we get Iron-Man and Avengers villains being connected to Stark somehow. But is this really necessary for Spider-Man villains? Well, except for No Way Home-since its villains were from other Spider-Men. Can Spidey fight his own baddies already? CRACKED.COM

Tired MCU Tropes Misleading trailers We get it: Marvel wants to avoid spoilers and subvert expectations. But sometimes, trailer scenes are much more interesting than those in the actual movies. This has happened with Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange, Infinity War, the Spider-Man movies, and especially with Iron Man 3's (fake) Mandarin. CRACKED.COM

Tired MCU Tropes Mirror-image villains A clown complementing a man dressed as a bat requires some abstract thought. Instead of that, MCU villains tend to be like the heroes, but evil. Starting with the first Iron Man, examples also include Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Shang-Chi, and WandaVision. CRACKED.COM

Tired MCU Tropes DAILY THE BUGLE .NET J. JONAH JAMESON Misplaced post-credits scenes The scenes are mostly good fun, but some of them would make way more sense as pre-credits scenes. Iron Man 3's scene kinda belonged there, and doubly so for Far From Home's Jameson scene. CRACKED.COM

Tired MCU Tropes superhero landing When Iron Man did it in his first movie, it was awesome. When non-MCU Deadpool turned it into a joke, we giggled and said, I understood that reference. But by the time it was the butt of even more jokes in Black Widow, we knew it was dead. CRACKED.COM

Tired MCU Tropes Killing the villains Ignoring all the Loki fake-outs, the MCU has wasted several awesome performers and characters that could have easily teamed up. Can you imagine Endgame if Thanos had joined powers with Hela, Kaecilius, or Erik Killmonger? CRACKED.COM

Tired MCU Tropes The damn jokes Whether it's Korg joking after Asgard collapses, or Nick Fury's eye story being wasted on a cat, or Ned doing a sitcom pause after Toby Maguire's Peter Parker recollects Harry Osborn's death... It's like the MCU doesn't trust its own emotional anchors, and has to ruin them with silly jokes. CRACKED.COM

Tired MCU Tropes Forgettable villains We won't make fun of old-school MCU villains like The Dark World's Whatsisname, but current baddies are not too far in the lame department. Just look at Ant-Man's Yellowjacket or Captain Marvel's Yon-Rogg. Do you even think about them when someone mentions those movies? CRACKED.COM

Tired MCU Tropes Faux-feminist posturing The all-female fight in Infinity War was badass, but doesn't negate the MCU's history of failing its female superheroes. Just look at the long wait for Black Widow, or Endgame trying to replicate Infinity War's girls get it done scene, only in a much more try-hard and condescending manner. CRACKED.COM

Tired MCU Tropes The hero's journey It might be unfair to blame the MCU for such a basic trope - and yet, at the time of writing this we'd be willing to bet that Ms. Marvel is going to end with our quirky hero hitting rock bottom, getting in touch with her true power level, and a happier status quo will result after a big CGI fight. Again. CRACKED.COM

Tired MCU Tropes Destruction taken lightly True, the Sokovia accords acknowledged superhero- caused destruction. But on the other hand, The Eternals ended with what should have been massive earthquakes worldwide - and nothing happened. We're also still waiting for Wanda to pay for the town she held psychically hostage, by the way. CRACKED.COM

Tired MCU Tropes The banter Iron Man script was clever and full of fast-paced, witty banter. But by now it gets tiresome that every character talks like... well, like they're in an MCU movie. Either they're all experts on banter, or the Falcon and the Winter Soldier should just cut their rom-com short and get a room already. CRACKED.COM

Tired MCU Tropes overcomplication Between the movies and shows, it has become harder to keep track of Phase Four, even if hardcore fans say its heading to the Secret Wars and its going to be awesome. Sure, perhaps, probably - but can you currently connect the Falcon and Winter Soldier, Loki, and Ms. Marvel TV shows? CRACKED.COM
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