I have to say most of the names being thrown around in this thread repulse me; it shows just how much the MCU (and what people want from it) has diverged from my own interests. I remember voicing my concerns about Marvel's future after Civil War, and if anything my apathy has only grown.
The way people talk about being hyped for MoM due to the cameos and what it means for the future is completely antithetical to how I experience film and what I get out of it. It's repellant to me how these films and tv shows have devolved into puzzle pieces that exist solely to set-up what's coming next, instead of standalone stories focused on catharsis and character growth. And the increasing reliance on comedy and meta-awareness to paper over narrative shortcomings is exhausting.
FF & X-Men are two properties I have a great deal of fondness for, so it would be disappointing if they follow the same mediocre, crowd pleasing mold that has become their recent formula. Of the last five MCU films, I only saw two of them in theaters. Basically the only reason I still keep watching is out of a sense of obligation as a fan. BP2 and L&T are the only future films I have interest in, and even those are with qualifications.
Even with Watts' gone, I have little hope that whoever they hire would craft something I'd enjoy. The MCU is too micromanaged, too obsessed with its house style and tying into the larger narrative to be of cinematic value. I'd love a Fantastic Four movie that captured the feeling of Jonathan Hickman's run, and a filmmaker like Alex Garland could deliver on that concept, but I don't see Feige being interested in something like that.
