New historical criticism and cultural criticism are the broadest theoretical perspectives we’ve worked with thus far, and as such, don’t have many limits. Questions of historical context, cultural reception, rhetorical analysis, and group experience are boundless and could be used to support any number of arguments. This breadth is, perhaps, also a limitation of the perspectives as well. New historical and cultural criticism assume that experience and reality are largely subjective and, as such, believe interpretation is subjective as well. Unlike New Criticism which assumes objectivity and a single correct interpretation, new historical and cultural criticism can get lost in their subjectivity. This subjectivity means that any number of perspectives are valid and therefore any number of interpretations could also be valid. Any multiplicity of interpretation would also seem to indicate the impossibility of a single correct answer. While the inability to reach a single answer doesn’t invalidate the perspective, it can create some problems. New historical and cultural criticism thus become limited in the sense that they can only truly be used interpretively and to understand contextual information, not to provide definite answers about a text.

One of the largest cultural phenomena in the past decade surrounds the creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This particular event provides the perfect site for cultural analysis. When it began in May of 2008 with the first Iron Man film, no one had ever heard of a “cinematic universe” and certainly some folks thought it would fail. The closest approximation at the time was the James Bond series, which, though successful, has a niche audience at best. Iron Man was a success, however, and soon The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avengerwere too. After the first Avengersfilm, it became abundantly clear that the Marvel Cinematic Universe was incredibly lucrative and here to stay. There’s plenty of speculation around the initial success of the MCU. Perhaps there was space to be filled in the film industry for such a massive project, after successes like the original Spider Man trilogy there was a desire for more superhero blockbusters, or maybe the only reason it was able to stick around was Disney’s acquisition of Marvel Studios. In any case, its success at the time is undeniable.

Even more noteworthy, from the standpoint of cultural criticism, however, is the lasting effect the Marvel Cinematic Universe has had on the film and television industries as a whole. In the 11 years since its creation, the MCU has spawned 23 films and 12 television series. Its success has spawned such competitors as the DC Extended Universe and Sony’s Marvel Universe (for what it’s worth, neither has come anywhere close to the success of the MCU). Since the creation of these industry behemoths, standalone superhero films have been few and rather unsuccessful. The first Transformers film grossed 709 million in 2007 (pre-MCU). Before the mass MCU expansion that came after Avengers: Age of Ultronin 2015, the fourth film Transformers: Age of Extinction grossed 1.1 billion in 2014.  In 2017, Transformers: The Last Knightgrossed a comparatively small 605 million. In 2018 Bumblebee made only 468 million. That same year, Avengers: Infinity War grossed over 2 billion dollars.

For further proof of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s strong grip on the industry we can look at other superhero films that don’t have the legacy of a franchise like Transformers. In the same year of Infinity War’s record-breaking success, the standalone superhero film Fast Colorwas held to a limited release by Lionsgate and failed to break the $100,000 line in box office sales despite generally positive reviews. It becomes clear to any cultural critic that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has changed the film industry and the way fans respond to that industry for decades to come.