I Know It's Fiction. Shut Up.
Warning: Proceed only if you’re cool with superhero tangents written by someone who definitely does not work for Marvel except in her own head.
Something changed recently.
I haven’t been this wired about Marvel news since Endgame. My daughter was right there with me. So was the entire internet. I actually found myself (I wish I was making this up) Googling how to get into San Diego Comic-Con 2026.
We missed out, but I still want in…mainly because getting into Hall H feels like a goal to justify the unhinged emotional investment I’ve made in fictional people.
This Isn’t About RDJ. (Except It Kind of Is.)
Last week, I wrote about what it felt like to fall in love with movies that gut-punch you and leave you changed. I feel like that kind of connection is rare now. But every once in a while, something breaks through the clutter and reminds you why you ever gave a damn in the first place.
For me, that reminder came when Marvel cracked open the vault and whispered, “We’re not done yet”. And then Robert Downey Jr. happened. And when he walked back on stage it was more than just a singular pop culture moment. It was a callback to everything I wrote about here. Then came the recent cast announcement that made it very clear that the stakes are back.
I’m not a screenwriter. I don’t run a billion-dollar franchise. I’m sure my loved ones were hoping that by this point in my life, I’d be writing think pieces on The Seventh Seal or pontificating on The Double Life of Veronique.
Instead, here I am. Poring over MCU deets like they pay me.
[1] I could dissect Bergman’s existential dread or Kieslowski’s metaphysical symbolism. But I’d rather unpack RDJ's new villain era. Priorities.
Where It All Went Off the Rails (For Me, Anyway)
Somewhere between the multiverse rules changing every 15 minutes and the tonal cacophony of Phase Four, I tapped out. Even the Russos acknowledged the post-Endgame slump. The emotional momentum was gone, and the studio was spinning in circles trying to pretend it wasn’t.
To be fair, Endgame was that perfect storm of timing, spectacle, and payoff of a movie that ruined us for everything after.
We nerds crave that type of theatre experience again, and chasing that high ever since has been frustrating.
I never did get into the Disney+ lineup. Loki was the exception, partially because Hiddleston and Wilson are magic together. But even then, I still couldn’t finish it. The ending got spoiled for me, and in my head canon, if I don’t see it, it didn't happen. In the meantime, I told myself I'd spent enough time immersed in the "Marvel-verse". Other things needed my attention.
[2] I’m a grown adult with mortgages, deadlines, and actual problems, but somehow, Marvel still takes up real estate e in my brain.
And Then…Thor: Love and Thunder.
The cringe. My God, the cringe.
I hadn’t squirmed that much since The Incredible Hulk, a film so irrelevant even Edward Norton won't talk about it, and he starred in it. Which totally tracks, since the rewrite battles, the control issues, and the general vibe all had one thing in common: him.
Love and Thunder was somehow dumber and less emotionally coherent.
[3] I’m so sorry, Mr. Hemsworth. Still a big fan, though. Just… not of whatever that was.
Being a Marvel fan began to feel… complicated. I had to specify the era, like, “Yes, I love Marvel…but not that Marvel.” So I did what any emotionally mature fan does: I pretended I’d moved on. But I hadn’t. Not really.
Because I didn’t just watch that first saga, I lived it (a tad dramatic, I know, but stay with me here). I lived it with my daughter, one movie at a time. Her first superhero film was Iron Man. Nearly ten years later, we were watching Endgame together when Stark died a hero. So when the return of RDJ was announced to star in Doomsday, it hit us both, like the first time, all over again.
Yeah, We Were Just Waiting
The Avengers: Doomsday cast reveal shattered records: 275 million digital views, 3.1 million social interactions. The biggest Marvel Studios livestream ever.
Some say that proves the Marvel spark never left.
I say it proves we were waiting for a reason to care again.
So now with all this, I have thoughts.
Kevin, Hit Me Up. I Have Notes and Reasonable Expectations.
That cast reveal was Marvel lighting the beacons because this lineup is absolutely stacked (with rumors that more are still under wraps. Squee!).
Hemsworth. Hiddleston. Stewart. McKellen. Pascal. X-Men. Fantastic Four. Doom.
And I’m betting the budget’s probably larger than some countries’ GDP.
I think the sun will shine on those yet-to-be-named characters again. Especially (please, Kevin!) on the brothers who never got their goodbye.
If Marvel believes in emotional symmetry, Thor and Loki, older and changed, will stand together again, but bound by more than fate. A therapeutic session within a CGI-generated spectacle.
[4] Not unlike most of my family gatherings, except with better costumes and slightly less yelling.
Want to help me keep overanalyzing fictional people for free? Chip in here.
Where This Feels Like It’s Going
I think this is a setup. We’re heading to Secret Wars, and Marvel is playing the long game again. So here are my entire predictable, mostly regurgitated thoughts. (Yes, I've read the same half-dozen theories you have.)
Tony Without the Cave = Doom
No cave, no crisis of conscious, no Iron Man. Just the locked-in narcissism that would’ve burned the world instead of saving it.
Crisis of Perception
Doom looks like someone Peter loved as a father figure. But (if/when) they meet, there’s no recognition. Just a cold stare and a “Who’s Mr. Stark?”. Uggghhhh…..
616 Tony: One Last Kick in the Feels
He’ll come back just long enough to see what he might’ve become. And then they’ll take him away again. Because Marvel lives for emotional trauma.
[5] Yes, I’m preemptively rabbit-holing over nonexistent scenes. This is apparently who I am now.
I think we’re heading into Infinity War: Part Deux; it’s giving that same slow-burn, tension-building setup; based on that pattern recognition, Marvel is setting the stage.
And we’re doing what we always do: overanalyzing, pretending we’re not invested, and refreshing TikTok for leaks.
[6] In my defense, they started it. It’s fine. I’m fine.
Final Words
I’ll say this:
Something about this moment, the cast, the tone, the reaction, feels different.
Maybe this is Marvel’s redemption arc, or just superior marketing, but if it leads to another epic theater moment with my kid, then it’ll be well worth it.
[7] Ideally, from a premier seat. Preferably not next to anyone who defends Love and Thunder.
I know none of these thoughts are exactly new, but still, if one lands, I’d like a little credit. And maybe a premiere invite in exchange for never posting about it again.
[8] Yeah, right. I live for this nonsense.
So if this really is the comeback…we’re more than ready.
And Kevin? I’m still available for notes.
Heather P. is an essayist and longtime ghostwriter publishing unapologetic stories about trauma, reinvention, and the absurdity of real life.
Creator of Unfinished Business, a platform reaching readers in over 20 countries for its dark humor, emotional precision, and refusal of performative healing, whether the story is about grief, growth, or just getting through Tuesday.
Member discussion