Summary

  • The MCU's expansion into television has led to some hits, but a few shows have also failed to connect with several critics and audience .
  • Though lesser-known MCU characters can prove to be breakout starts in TV series, Marvel may want to focus on projects and characters with an established following.
  • Small and large-scale stories can both work, but MCU TV shows need to find a way to follow through on their storylines and set-ups.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe's bottom 10 shows on Rotten Tomatoes can provide important lessons for the franchise. For most of its duration, the MCU only consisted of movies. That was the focus of the Infinity Saga, with 23 movies being released during the MCU's Phases 1-3. That has since changed with the creation of Disney+, the streaming service that allowed the MCU to experiment with new formats such as TV shows, animation, Special Presentations, and even animated shorts. While Phase 4 included the most content of any MCU Phase, it was by far the most criticized.

The MCU's Phase 4 sometimes felt aimless due to being the first chapter of the MCU not to feature an Avengers movie. With 18 projects over just two years, it was impossible for the MCU to maintain the level of quality of the Infinity Saga during Phase 4 and now the start of Phase 5, as Marvel Studios has simply spread itself too thin. Due to that, multiple shows produced by Marvel Studios fell to the bottom of Marvel's shows on popular review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, sitting among some loosely connected MCU shows to reveal important lessons the franchise must learn.

The 10 Lowest-Rated MCU TV Shows On Rotten Tomatoes

  • Marvel's Inhumans - 11%
  • Marvel's Iron Fist - 37% Two-Season Average
  • Secret Invasion - 54%
  • Marvel's The Punisher - 65% Two-Season Average
  • She-Hulk: Attorney At Law - 77%
  • Marvel's The Defenders - 79%
  • Jessica Jones - 83% Three-Season Average
  • Marvel's Runaways - 84% Three-Season Average
  • The Falcon and the Winter Soldier - 85%
  • Marvel's Agent Carter - 86% Two-Season Average

10 Inhumans Killed The Characters’ Potential

A promo photo for Marvel's Inhumans

Originally, Inhumans was a movie set to premiere in 2018, which would have made it part of the MCU's successful Phase 3. However, that would not come to , with the film being canceled before ever going into production. In 2016, the same year the movie was canceled, Marvel announced that an Inhumans series was on the way. Sadly, despite a flashy debut that saw Inhumans' first two episodes be released in IMAX theaters, the series became Marvel's worst-reviewed on Rotten Tomatoes, with a measly 11 percent critics score.

Inhumans' bad reputation killed the characters' potential, with even Ms. Marvel now becoming a mutant in the MCU rather than an Inhuman, a wrong lesson, though Anson Mount's Black Bolt cameos in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and showed that the characters and actors were not the problem. Inhumans teaches a lesson that Marvel Studios' series on Disney+ can't release subpar stories or hold out on spending the necessary amount for good VFX for characters' powers while also raising the thought that some characters are just made for the big screen.

9 Iron Fist Shouldn’t Be One Of The MCU’s Netflix Returns

Finn Jones Iron Fist

While Marvel's shows on Netflix were only loosely tied to the MCU at the time, characters like Daredevil and Kingpin have returned to the franchise. Iron Fist is the lowest-rated offering of the Netflix Marvel series, with a 37 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. The show's plot and fight choreography received criticism on release and have failed to gain a following in the years since. Based on the show's lack of popularity, while Marvel is currently bringing Netflix Marvel actors back for the MCU's future, Iron Fist being recast and presented anew with a clean slate seems to be the best move for Marvel.

8 Secret Invasion Shows Major Comic Book Stories Need To Have The Same Scope

Maria Hill dying with Nick Fury in MCU Secret Invasion

Secret Invasion finally put Nick Fury in the spotlight, as the character stopped a Skrull invasion on Earth. However, Secret Invasion holds an embarrassing Rotten Tomatoes score, with its season finale, "Home," currently scoring only 7 percent, the worst for any MCU entry. Secret Invasion's overall Rotten Tomatoes score is 54 percent. The show is based on a major comic book event that had the element of which Avenger could be revealed as a Skrull in disguise as its most exciting feature. Due to it taking place on Disney+, Secret Invasion couldn't recreate the original story's scope, falling short of expectations, something that Marvel must not repeat in the future.

7 The MCU Might Be Better Using The Punisher In A ing Role

Jon Bernthal in a dark hallway in The Punisher

Netflix's The Punisher has a 65 percent score on Punisher's return in Daredevil: Born Again, which stars Netflix Daredevil actor Charlie Cox. After he returns to the role, Bernthal's Punisher can continue popping up in street-level stories.

6 Marvel Series Need To Fully Commit To Their Premise

Jennifer at a courtroom in She-Hulk

Marvel Studios' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law series prided itself as a legal comedy, with Tatiana Maslany's Jennifer Walters dealing with multiple cases over the course of the show's season 1. However, the series never really committed to its premise, as its courtroom scenes left much to be desired, which might have been due to She-Hulk: Attorney at Law writers not knowing how to write "rousing trial scenes," as revealed by showrunner Jessica Gao to Daredevil: Born Again focusing on more legal scenes.

5 Daredevil Can Make Projects Better

charlie cox as matt murdock aka daredevil in poster for she-hulk attorney at law

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has revealed that Charlie Cox's Daredevil and Tom Holland's Spider-Man are going to be the faces of the MCU's street-level heroes. That is a great choice, as Daredevil has made other series better with his presence. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law's "Ribbit and Rip It" episode, which featured Cox as Daredevil in a major role, is the show's best-rated on Rotten Tomatoes with 95 percent. Likewise, while Marvel's The Defenders was not the success fans expected it to be, Daredevil was easily the show's standout hero, proving that Feige is right in wanting to use him more often.

4 A Team-Up Series Is Not A Guaranteed Success

The Defenders team from Netflixs Defenders in the elevator waiting

After the debut of two seasons of Daredevil and the first seasons of Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist came the Marvel Netflix crossover event series Marvel's The Defenders. While it was entertaining to watch the four heroes interact with one another, Marvel's The Defenders ultimately fell short of expectations, with its 70 percent Rotten Tomatoes audience score teaching an important lesson for the MCU. While Avengers films have proven to be groundbreaking successes, not all MCU team-ups will necessarily be a win for Marvel, with Marvel's The Defenders raising the alarms for the rumored Young Avengers series and other team-up shows that might be in development.

3 Jessica Jones Needs A Stronger Story If She Returns

A promo image of Krysten Ritter for Marvel's Jessica Jones

Krysten Ritter delivered one of the best performances in any Marvel project as the titular hero in Jessica Jones; however, the series ended up failing the actress. After Jessica Jones' spectacular season 1, which boasts a 94 percent critics score, the series' two following seasons entered a downward spiral, with season 2 and season 3 scoring 82 percent and 73 percent, respectively, on Rotten Tomatoes. With rumors claiming that Ritter might be in Daredevil: Born Again, the actress' MCU return could lead to a new Jessica Jones series, and Marvel must find a story as strong as Jessica Jones' Killgrave arc if Ritter returns.

2 MCU Series Need Better Villains

Karli as the Flag Smasher in the Falcon and the Winter Soldier

While some Marvel shows have done well with their villain choice, others multiple Marvel series have faltered due to not having compelling enough villains. That trend hits particularly hard on shows that sit among the Marvel's bottom 10 Rotten Tomatoes series. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's Karli Morgenthau, Jessica Jones season 2 and 3's villains, Marvel's The Defenders' Alexandra Reid, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law's Todd, and more have been less than exciting additions. With Marvel having such a great track record with villains in film, such as Thanos, Loki, and now Kang the Conqueror, the Marvel shows need to be more consistent in that department.

1 Prequel Shows Should Stay In The Past

peggy carter in marvel televisions agent carter series

Finally, prequel series focused on established characters should be a thing of the past. Born from the Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter, a format that seems to have been discontinued for good, was Hayley Atwell's solo series, Agent Carter. The show explored what happened to Peggy Carter after the events of Captain America: The First Avenger. While it was a nice bit of expansion for the MCU's lore, showing the beginning of S.H.I.E.L.D., with so many projects in the MCU today, especially shows that fail to achieve acclaim like Secret Invasion, Marvel needs to focus its output on its main characters. This way, the MCU can make its series more exciting.

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