Thirty-five films into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I wonder if Cumbersome would be the more accurate c-word in MCU. What will it take in 2025 to make one of these movies really interesting? Or a massive hit?

“This isn’t an instruction manual for the current president,” he said. “It’s simply a story about a group of people in tight suits who can fly, as part of the wonderful imagination that the Marvel Cinematic Universe provides. It’s primarily an escape from reality.”

The movie, while intricately connected to all that's come before (epic imprisonments! adamantium! Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes!), works well enough as a prosaic, vigorous, more-stand-alone-than-not adventure that balances shield-bashing,