Films and Feelings

I've heard the news: Marvel is bringing back both the Russo brothers and even Robert Downey Jr. That is apparently what Co-President of Marvel Studios, Louis D'Esposito meant when he said that they had "learned their lesson" after a disastrous 2023 and were going to get their output back on track ... As is often the case in Hollywood, Marvel has deflected to the conclusion that what actually made their movies great wasn't carefully finessed storytelling, but a laundry list of factors, like you can just plug Robert Downey Jr. into whatever movie, and that movie will strike gold. There are obviously a number of developments at work both within larger Hollywood and Marvel specifically that are feeding into Marvel at present, such that I can't really begin to guess whether 2025 will be the year that Marvel makes its grand comeback, or if bringing back not-Iron-Man will have anything to do with it. But I would be remiss not to acknowledge that this retreat into