2022 was an interesting time for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They released multiple projects, all of their films opened at number one at the box office and held that spot for several weeks and people are still excited for the future. Yet there did seem to be a sense of fatigue setting in for some audiences.
While the three MCU television series released in 2022, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk: Attorney At Law were about introducing new heroes into the franchise, the three films released in theaters on the other hand were dealt a different task. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever were all very different from one another in terms of tone and plot, but one element they had in common was a unifying theme about the heroes needing to let go.
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In all three films, the heroes come to realize they cannot control everything and will lose something or someone important to them. What does it say that in 2022 the three major MCU films all dealt with the heroes grappling with loss and needing to learn to move on? Why was this message important to be told across three successive movies, and how did Marvel do it without feeling repetitive? Here’s why 2022 was the year the MCU had its heroes learn to let go.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Marvel StudiosDisney
Doctor Strange might be one of the most powerful heroes in the MCU, but the movie pointedly asks: is he happy? The movie opens with Stephen Strange watching his former girlfriend Christine Palmer getting married to someone else. Stephen Strange puts on a brave face for the ceremony, but it does trouble him. Over the course of the film, Stephen learns that in every version of the multiverse, he and Christine are not together. It drives one of his versions evil, while it forces him to look inward at himself.
Christine Palmer of Earth 616 is married, and Doctor Strange on Earth 838 is dead. This in theory should mean that Doctor Strange of Earth 616 and Christine Palmer of 838 could be together, but that isn’t how it works. Both not only have a history of being with one another in their own universes, but they also can’t replace what they’ve lost. They fell in love with the unique specific versions of their Earth that cannot be replaced. Stephen Strange may love her in every universe, but sometimes love also means letting go which foils the Scarlet Witch’s quest for her children. Both of these characters need to let go of the past they’ve been hanging on to.
Stephen Strange’s newfound emotional growth is displayed at the very end. He takes the same broken watch he wore at the end of the first film, one that was a gift from Christine, and fixes it. Time is no longer standing still. It is, and he can move forward.
Thor: Love and Thunder
Despite Thor: Love and Thunder being a more outwardly comedic film than many of the MCU entries (as has been the case with most Thor movies), it still deals with themes of loss in a rather heavy manner. This is namely through the relationship between Thor and Jane Foster in terms of their romantic relationship as well as with Jane Foster’s cancer diagnosis.
The movie recaps the circumstances that led to Thor and Jane’s breakup in the previous film, and in doing so how much it impacted Thor. Despite all the time apart, Thor never stopped thinking of Jane. Meanwhile, Jane was dealt with a real battle of her own, Stage 4 cancer. While Jane seeks out Mljonir to help combat the sickness, it is only a temporary fix, and the more she uses the hammer, the more it kills her. This reunites the two, but only for them to truly get a proper chance to say goodbye.
Thor dealt with the heartbreak of losing Jane Foster once before and now faces it in a more literal sense. While they were broken up before, he knew she was still out there but now he could lose her for realm and in a rare moment of non-humor he lets his guard down and pleads for her to not pick up the hammer. Yet Thor does say it is Jane’s choice, and in the end, Jane picks up the hammer and chooses to be The Mighty Thor one last time to save the day even at the cost of her life.
Jane makes the ultimate sacrifice and when faced with his own death Thor doesn’t hesitate to spend his last few moments with the person he loves. He holds Jane while she dies, and says goodbye. Thor is lost his mother, his father, his brother and now his love, and while he cannot save them they live on in the man he has become.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the most explicit film about loss, and that is due to the real-life circumstances of the film. The tragic passing of star Chadwick Boseman in August 2020 forced the film into a page one rewrite. Director and writer Ryan Coogler tapped into the collective grief the cast and the world felt at the loss of Chadwick Boseman and put it into the script. The movie opens with Shuri frantically trying to find a way to save her brother T’Challa from an unknown sickness. She is unable to and T’Challa dies, with the rest of the movie showcasing how T’Challa’s death impacts Wakanda, specifically those closest to him.
While audiences have seen characters come back to life in the MCU before, this is a different story. The real-life star is dead and therefore T’Challa is dead and cannot come back. It is a devastating reality, one that comes when real-life people embody these fantastical characters that are never supposed to age or go away.
The theme of loss is extended when the film’s antagonist, Namor, floods the city of Wakanda and ends up killing Queen Ramonda. Shuri has now lost all of her family. Instead of seeking justice, her heart is filled with anger and wants revenge. She is confronted in the Ancestral Plane, not by her brother or mother but by her cousin Kilmonger, who she has become a mirror reflection of.
Shuri holds guilt for T’Challa’s death, and anger for her mother, but in the end, her heroism is found in letting go of all that. For the sake of Wakanda, and herself, she must let go so that she is not consumed by vengeance. The film’s final moments show her doing the ceremony she rejected from her mother earlier, burning her funeral clothes, and letting herself cry. She has shed the sadness and can hopefully heal.
With Loss Also Comes Something New
One notable aspect about all of these films is that while all feature some major loss, there is a sense of optimism in the form of the new. Stephen Strange may not get the life he wanted with Christine Palmer, but he has gained a new friend and potential apprentice in the form of the teenager America Chavez.
Jane Foster might be gone, but Thor has now become a father to a young girl Love. Not only is Shuri the new Black Panther, but Riri Williams is now a new hero to rise to the occasion. T’Challa is gone, but his legacy lives on in his son who will literally carry on his name. This is a solid reminder life does take away, but it also gives in return.
Heroism Means Accepting Loss
In a world filled with superhumans with incredible abilities, death and therefore loss sometimes can feel inconsequential. After all, the entire plot of Avengers: Endgame was undoing the deaths of half of all life in the universe. Yet the three 2022 MCU films tapped into losses that were more tangible. A breakup, cancer, or an unknown illness — these are not the plot devices of comic book fantasy but of real life where no amount of superpowers can undo them.
When Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and the rest of the creative team made the Marvel Universe in the 1960s, what made the characters so popular was how relatable they were. Not only did they live in the world of the reader but had issues that could be identifiable. Audiences may not know what it is like to be a sorcerer, but they know what it is like to move on from someone you said “I love you” to. Not everyone can be the ruler of Wakanda, but everyone knows the feeling of having the death of someone close to you.
After having faced off against a threat as massive as Thanos, many wondered where the MCU heroes could go from there. The answer was inward, in more emotionally driven conflicts. They were given obstacles that show not all conflict can be settled with punching. It requires a certain level of emotional maturity to let go no matter how hard it is, but it is in doing so that makes them heroes. The heroes of the MCU are not only figures of aspiration, but relatability.
