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 never quite felt the same.

Then Robert Downey, Jr. was announced as Doom, and soon after that infamous Avengers: Doomsday cast reveal, it suddenly felt like the old days for some of us.

I realize scores of actual professionals are being paid to undertake this; alas, I am not one of them.

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'm also someone who watched Iron Man with her eight-year-old daughter, then sat beside that same daughter eleven years later and watched Tony Stark die, in Endgame.

So, yeah.

We're gonna talk about Marvel.

After Endgame, I basically lost interest and tapped out. 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, whatever came next had impossibly high expectations set for them. Still, a lot of us have been chasing that high ever since.

I never got into Disney+. I did watch 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 according to my own highly sophisticated rules of canon, if I didn't see it, it never happened.

Which is why I will never 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.”

My daughter and I have real history with that Marvel. That was our thing.

Then Avengers: Doomsday shattered records with its cast reveal: 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 presumably has the face of Tony Stark, someone Peter Parker loved like a father. If Peter ever sees it, imagine hearing "Who's Mr. Stark?" Uggghhhh…

Second, this feels like Infinity War. This cast is huge, and Marvel loves foreshadowing.

Someone's going down hard.

Third, I think Earth-616 Stark will be there just long enough to see what he could've become. Which will be enough emotional damage to the fandom as it is.

Marvel loves that shit; prove me wrong.

Lastly, I think the sun will shine on those yet-to-be-named characters again. Especially (please, Kevin!) on the brothers who never got a proper goodbye.

I wouldn't be surprised if Thor and Loki team up again, older, wiser, and finally on the same damn side. Maybe all that unresolved family history finally gets the closure we've all been waiting for.

(Unlike my family, where grudges are more of a tradition.)

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.