#i'm a believer in steady change and reform-the mcu makes a mockery of it

[faillen]

the fact that marvel villains have valid causes is not the win you think it is when the entire franchise operates under letting its heroes uphold the existing status quo just because they disagree with the villains’ means. there is an absolute refusal to actually engage with the structural questions that each movie/tv show brings up, and it is critical to recognize that before you praise it for being groundbreaking—they’re not trying to tell you that the villain’s issues are valid. they’re trying to convince you that the structural issues can’t be meaningfully solved without utter destruction of the current way of life, which is just so incredibly insidious.

any indication of incremental change that exists in the mcu never, ever, carries over into generative conversation and ends at the end credits of the given piece of media. the hero never truly takes up the responsibility of pushing for the villain’s objectives without utilizing the villain’s means. whatever the resolution is, it is always token and it never has true lasting ramifications for the foundational political and societal realities of the universe it’s built, and that is intentional.