With the latest reviews and low box office after the release of The Marvels, many news media sources are wondering if the time for superheroes, or the MCU, is at an end.

The film has numerous criticisms, from tonal inconsistency to a mish-mashed plot, making it an imperfect entry in the MCU series. However, the most common label found in reviews is “superhero fatigue,” a claim that people are tired of Marvel (and superheroes in general).

This claim wouldn’t be the first, as people have been predicting this “fatigue” since Phase One. Critics and sites have constantly talked about how audiences will tire of these movies since the MCU took off 15 years ago.

But does this “fatigue” really exist? Or is there a better label for people’s problems with massive shared universes, like the MCU?

In a recent conversation about The Marvels, the term was not fatigue but MCU dependence.

The issue wasn’t that anyone was exhausted by the number of superhero films (or even TV projects), but instead that people were overwhelmed by the amount of movies or shows necessary to understand what was happening.

When the MCU started, each film was standalone; some characters might carry over, or there might be references, but you could enjoy Thor or Captain America without seeing Iron Man. Even as established franchises received sequels and new ones were introduced, watching the other movies wasn’t required (although it made them more enjoyable).

That rule remained the same when Marvel Television began its part of the MCU. The shows would often reference the movies but rarely did the reverse happen, and the series often paralleled the more extensive universe without requiring as much knowledge of it.

As the MCU grew, however, knowledge of previous materials became a requirement. How could you understand Infinity War, with its massive ensemble cast, if you had yet to see all 18 earlier films up to that point?

This dependence only grew after Feige took over the television series, changing them from independent projects to “interquels,” filling in the gaps between movies or setting up characters to be integrated into existing franchises. The latest example was The Marvels, which required watching both Ms. Marvel and WandaVision; the latter also needed watching up to Endgame (and most of the 21 films before it)!

For hardcore fans of the MCU, with access to streaming services, watching everything was a no-brainer. But these requirements were exhausting for more casual fans or those who merely wanted a fun superhero film.

Imagine if you’d need to watch cartoons and read books to understand Star Wars completely? Oh, wait; that’s happened as well.

The point is that the label of “fatigue” is likely incorrect, especially given how many times the media and critics have predicted “the end” over more than a decade.

Instead of blaming the MCU’s falling popularity on audiences growing tired of the franchise (or genre), we should focus on current productions’ dependence on previous films and shows. Films (outside of direct sequels) should be standalone, with references to other materials more as easter eggs for the hardcore fans to enjoy rather than key to the plot.

While we may have valid criticisms of The Marvels and other films in Phases 4 and 5, I don’t think “fatigue” is one of them. Based on audience reviews, most audiences are still interested in superheroes, including the MCU.

Critics and casuals, however, are turned off by the need to watch a multitude of previous materials merely to understand the characters and story.

MCU dependence rather than fatigue.