I Know It's Fiction. Shut Up.

Fair warning: this article includes tangents from someone who takes Marvel far too seriously for someone who doesn’t even work for them.

I haven’t been this invested in Marvel updates since Endgame. I even Googled how to get into San Diego Comic-Con and quickly realized it's easier to get out of the mafia than it is to get into SDCC.

Still, I am undeterred.

Last week, I wrote about the power of a great story and how, after Avengers: Endgame, the MCU just wasn't quite the same.

Then Robert Downey, Jr. walked back onstage, and soon after that infamous Avengers: Doomsday cast announcement, it became very clear the stakes were back.

I’m not a screenwriter, and I don’t run a billion-dollar franchise. I’m sure my mother was hoping that by this point in my career, I’d be writing essays on The Seventh Seal or pontificating on The Double Life of Veronique.

But I have range, I swear.

I am someone who watched her daughter's first superhero movie, Iron Man, with her at age eight and sat next to her when she was 19, watching Stark die in Endgame.

So when RDJ was announced to be returning, we were texting each other in all caps.

I tapped out after Endgame. Even the Russos acknowledged the post-Endgame slump was...inevitable. (Heh.)

To be fair, it was a colossal hit for all the right reasons, so of course, anything immediately after was doomed (pun intended). Still, a lot of us have been chasing that high ever since, and it's been frustrating.

I never got into Disney+. I did see part of Loki Season 1 at my daughter's insistence (Loki is her favorite; I empathize). Also, Hiddleston and Wilson are magic together.

But I couldn’t finish it. The ending got spoiled, and in my head canon, if I didn't see it, it never happened.

Which is why, to this day, I refuse to watch Marley & Me.

And then…Thor: Love and Thunder. Oof. I hadn’t physically cringed that much at a film in years.

(I’m so sorry, Mr. Hemsworth. Still a big fan, just…not of whatever that was.)

Being a Marvel fan began to feel complicated. You had to specify the era: “Yes, I loved that Marvel. Not this one.”

And I know it probably sounds ridiculous, but my daughter and I have real history with that Marvel. That was our thing.

The Avengers: Doomsday cast reveal shattered records: 275 million digital views, 3.1 million social interactions, and the biggest Marvel Studios livestream ever.

And let me just say, the slow, deliberate execution of it felt very old-school MCU. They were lighting the beacons because this lineup is stacked. I’m betting the budget’s probably larger than some countries’ GDP.

And of course, I have theories.

First: Doom has the face of someone Peter Parker loved like a father. Imagine looking up and seeing that. Imagine that mindf*ck of hearing a detached, "Who's Mr. Stark?" Uggghhhh…

Second: This feels like Infinity War. The lineup is too big, and Marvel is kind of known for patterns and foreshadowing. Someone's going down hard.

Third: Earth-616 Tony Stark is there just long enough to see what he could've become. And then they take him away again, because Marvel has never once passed up the chance to inflict this specific kind of damage on us.

I doubt they're about to start now.

Fourth: 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.

I wouldn't be surprised if Thor and Loki team up again, older, wiser, now bound by something deeper than fate. A lot of unresolved family history finally/hopefully getting the closure we're all waiting for.

(Not unlike my family gatherings, but with much better outfits.)

Theories aside, something about all of this just feels different.

Maybe this is Marvel’s actual redemption arc, or just elite-tier promotion. Either way, it's gonna lead to another epic theater moment with my kid.

(Ideally, from a premier seat. Preferably not next to anyone who defends Love and Thunder.)

If one of these theories pans out, I’ll happily take the credit. Kevin - I’m always available for notes.

Heather Papovich is the voice behind Unfinished Business. She's seen some things. She'll tell you about them.