Thor: Love and Thunder is now in theaters and fans are eagerly getting in line to see yet another movie of the MCU. A lot of people have pointed out that all Marvel films follow a formula that leads to their success at the box office, however, if it was so easy to figure out, other companies would be just as prosperous in their movie releases.

There are many theories as to what shapes the famous "Marvel formula", and although the MCU films are not always the same, they do share similarities that fans and viewers have been able to spot. It is true that most of the MCU characteristics just follow the known "Hero's Journey" story that has existed since ancient times, but According to Redditors, these are the crucial steps to achieve the Marvel Formula.

Introduce A Hero

According to SiBea13 there are two options: introduce a hero that is "witty, selfish, and above all else - arrogant" so "their arc is them achieving humility" or one that is "kind, selfless, and above all else - naive" that fights because it is "the right thing to do" and therefore "their arc is realizing that the world is more complicated than they realize."

Although there may be exceptions, most of MCU heroes can be categorized into these two personalities. The first hero perfectly describes Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and Thor, while the second one describes Captain America, Spider-Man, or Sam Wilson, amongst others. Therefore to achieve the formula, the protagonist should not stray too far away from these descriptions.

Introduce A Villain That Is An Evil Version Of The Hero

Next, as Appropiate-Day-734 explained, a villain that is the "dark reflection of the protagonist" should be introduced early on. The Redditor added "this applies more to origin stories but is quite effective, it reflects the hero's own internal struggles" which is quite accurate.

Audiences saw it with Obadahia Stane or Ivan Vanko in Iron Man, Agatha Harkness in WandaVision,and Red Skull inCaptain America: The First Avenger.There are other examples in the best MCU villains that prove Marvel knows everyone's worst enemy is themselves. When characters face a darker version of their persona, they are obliged to grow and understand themselves better, which is usually captivating for audiences.

Include A Romance

Audiences are fans of love, so there must be a romantic interest for the hero that, according to Tuft64, should be "cliche" and part of the "plot". For it to become one of the best MCU romances, the relationship should not be cast to the side, but also have its own story that usually gets tangled up with the villain conflict.

When the hero and his romantic interest fall in love they have to face a big obstacle that prevents them from being together, and when they finally do, they will experience something else that separates them forever, or at least for some time. Only on the rarest occasions, where certain captains can go back in time, or a skilled archer somehow has his family untouched, heroes can be able to be happy with their loved ones, get married, and have a family.

Have Someone Loved By The Hero, Die

Redditor Ocksalis pointed out how the "Father figure dies" in most movies, but it is not necessarily a father figure, but any person loved by the main superhero. Parents, uncles, aunts, brothers, partners, and mentors will do the trick, and make the heroes feel personally committed to a cause.

The saddest MCU characters' deaths also make them reveal or learn something about themselves. It triggers a personal struggle that proves heroes' have a tragic life full of pain and sacrifice. Most of the time, deaths are also growth devices to fuel their mission as superheroes, or to just add the emotional drama that every audience member loves.

Don't Forget Humor

User awesomeness0232 proposed a formula for  Marvel's humor. He explained, "there's a big action scene where the protagonists are fighting the bad guy or are fighting with each other" he then added that "there's a moment in the fight where everyone stops, and somebody says something totally inappropriate for the moment" that of course, is considered funny.

In the first Marvel movies, humor was not such a big thing, but lately, it s a distinctive trademark of all the films to add some jokes, inappropriate comments, or show moments where superheroes are clumsy and not as perfect as they once were portrayed in battle. Most of all, nowadays the MCU loves to break the tension of a scene with a silly comment from one of the characters.

Make The Villain More Powerful Than The Hero

To achieve Marvel's formula, heroes should not be able to defeat the villain in their first encounter, but be weaker than them. This has defined the best phase four antagonists so far, and as a deleted Redditor pointed out,  this unbalanced power between them makes "battles ensue" and "the protagonist is met with insurmountable odds".

Despite the enemy being considerably stronger than the hero, or the minimal probability of winning, the superhero will try to fight. This perfectly describes battles against Thanos, Hela, or the Scarlet Witch, to name a few, in which the protagonist's powers are outmatched in the beginning.

Action-Packed Climax

In most cases, the climax has to be full of explosions, buildings falling apart, civilians panicking and screaming, or multiple smaller enemies being killed. This may vary from movie to movie but as stated by Cafeterialoca is a "Big bombastic third act that usually a giant action sequence where something huge is at stakes and usually something explosive is in the mix."

This is the moment where production costs most shine and prove how much money was the movie worth. Suspense relies upon the doubt if the superheroes are going to make it out alive or if they will be able to defeat the villain that is overwhelmingly stronger than them.

Last Minute Victory

The battle against the villain continues, and it seems victory is impossible until an unexpected solution occurs only "to win last minute in this epic fight" according to Redditor jolocus, which pretty much describes every MCU movie or series ending.

The film wouldn't be as exciting if it was clear audiences' favorite superheroes were winning from the start. The climax development must be intriguing and have everybody at the edge of their seats wondering how will the superheroes survive such a brutal match, which will be resolved in five seconds with an improvised plan.

Death...?

Redditor Roller_Ball explained, "Major characters gets killed. Oh wait, no, they are actually alive". The MCU really likes to play with fans' hearts and always presents a scenario where an important hero or villain seemed to have died, or did and somehow came back to life.

Death is not taken that seriously, and there are always doubts as to whether a character who died is coming back later. Despite it being some sort of tradition for Marvel Studios to bring their characters back to life, or have them pass out so everyone believes they are dead, the scenes where a hero's life is lost stills move audiences.

Post Credit Scene

Bea13 mentioned the last iconic detail of every Marvel movie, the "Post credits scene". This became a trademark and MCU movies are not really from the company without it.

The post-credit scenes always appear to give fans exciting news about the upcoming movie of the franchise or other films of the company. It is a beloved tradition to stay in the theater seat, wait for the credits to pass, and watch a short clip of intriguing clues about the Marvel universe.

NEXT: Which Avenger Are You Based On Your Zodiac Sign?

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Tamara Garcia (76 Articles Published)

Tamara Garcia is a writer from Mexico with a passion for literature, music, film, and pop culture. Her articles have been published in different Latinamerican music platforms and her poems have also been published in literary magazines. She appreciates art in every shape or form (which has led her to argue video games should be officially considered the eighth art) and is naturally curious, creative, and most of all, a fan of good stories. Consequently, she likes to write about almost anything that involves movies, books, songs, artists, games, or any other subject related to human creativity and artwork.

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