Marvel Entertainment, bought by The Walt Disney Company in 2009, has created an epic cinematic universe that is expanding rapidly, but it may be too much, too fast. In the past 14 years, Marvel has created the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and released 27 films and 5 television series, with 5 films and 5 series planned to be released in the next year and a half.

This rapid expansion of the MCU means that new films or shows require the audience to have watched hours of past content. “Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness” is out in theaters soon and the film is expected to have many cameos of other characters from previous MCU projects, as well as bringing characters from other Marvel projects from different entertainment companies. The MCU has introduced the multiverse, which allows them to bring in characters from previous films, even if they were released years before the MCU began.

At the start of the MCU, the films were all connected, but they were not as intertwined as they are now. To provide necessary context for the upcoming “Doctor Strange” film, audience members will have to have watched two films and three shows which is a little over 20 straight hours of content, and that is not even including every movie that the characters have been in. 

From 2008-2019, Marvel Studios implemented phases one-three of their MCU film franchise and phase three ended with “Avengers: Endgame.” Phases one-three include 23 movies made over the course of 11 years with a total runtime of 50 hours. Phase four kicked off with “WandaVision” premiering in January of 2020 on Disney’s own streaming service, Disney Plus.

“WandaVision” also marked the premiere of the first MCU story going to the small screen. Since then, four more shows have been released on the platform. These Disney Plus exclusive shows are meant to be a part of the MCU. The shows continue characters’ stories, introduce new characters and they all connect back to the films. 

In a little over a year, Marvel Studios has released five shows and four films, adding 36 hours to the MCU runtime.  The total runtime of all MCU content is 86 hours. In other words, it would take three and a half days to watch every show and film, back to back. This might turn potential new fans away and since new MCU content comes out every few months, catching up on all the movies and shows can seem daunting. There is only more planned for the future. 

Marvel Studios is known for planning very far in advance for their upcoming phases and films. Alex Vargas, communications major at Sonoma State University, said,  “That was their plan the whole time. After phase three ended, Marvel announced they were implementing shows and movies and they already had a whole plan set already. I wouldn’t be surprised if they released a plan for phase five soon.”

Long form content is great for detailed and complicated story telling but some casual viewers of the films may not be able to enjoy upcoming theatrical releases, as you need to have watched many of the Disney Plus exclusive shows to understand the stories. The shows make up 30% of all MCU content and they are exclusive to Disney Plus subscribers. 

Vargas said, “I haven’t watched any of the shows. I know they’re moving so quickly with phase four, but it’s so much that I can’t catch up at this point.”

With all the cameos expected to be in “Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness,” there are a lot of movies and shows that need to be watched in order to understand the backstory. This may stop some people from seeing future films, but it does not have a large effect on box office numbers. The MCU has fans all over the world that eagerly wait for new content, whether that be films or shows.