I’m Impressed The MCU’s Last 3 Movies All Pulled Off The Same Villain Trick In A Row

The MCU"s last three movies all used a similar villain story trick in their respective stories, and I"m impressed they all managed to do so in a row. The MCU timeline is no stranger to following trends with the stories of its heroes and villains alike, with the concept of the franchise"s reliance on redeemable or sympathetic villains being the subject of some considerable conversations as one prime example. However, the franchise hasn"t limited itself to just this idea when it comes to trends and trajectories that can be found in its stories.
While there"s a wide range of Marvel villains for the MCU to adapt still - and an even wider array of stories to bring to life in order to do so - certain story beats and paths make more sense for the kinds of plots the MCU is often looking to tell. This goes some way to explain why the villains of the past three MCU movies have had similar depictions in their respective installments, especially in terms how their own protagonists eventually are able to deal with them before the film concludes.
The MCU's Last 3 Movies All Had Similar Villains Close The MCU"s most recent three movies - that of Thunderbolts*, Captain America: Brave New World, and Deadpool & Wolverine, respectively - generally follow very different paths, both in terms of their broader stories and their respective tones. However, all three share some core similarities when it comes to their villains, as all of these movies place their heroes against a villain who is very clearly considerably stronger than them, and who they thus can"t defeat through a simple conventional fight.
Thunderbolts* released in May 2025, Captain America: Brave New World released in February 2025, and Deadpool & Wolverine released in July 2024, with these three films being the last half of the MCU"s Phase 5.
Thunderbolts* has the most recent and perhaps most clear example of this by pitting its titular team of supersoldiers and assassins against the inordinately powerful Sentry and then Void, which mirrors Captain America"s fight against Red Hulk in this regard, as while Sam"s suit is seriously advanced - and Wilson is shown using it to great effect - the Hulk"s physical powers are depicted as going well beyond its power level. Similarly, Cassandra Nova"s colossal Omega-level mutant powerset allows her to essentially toy with both Wolverine and Deadpool when they face one another in combat.
This makes interesting scenarios for all three film storylines, as the protagonists have to find a different way to take down their respective opponents, rather than going the often more traditional superhero movie route of just having the heroes beat their opponent in a climactic final dual. To further cement their similarities, all three of these films take a strikingly identical path when it comes to the matter of how they take down antagonists who won"t be defeated in a more rudimentary test of strength.
All 3 Of The MCU's Most Recent Movies Had Its Heroes Use The Same Method To Defeat Their Enemies Close With defeating their respective villains via a normal fight made essentially impossible, all three of the most recent MCU movies instead have their villains defeated by emotional means. In Thunderbolts*, the Void is taken down by the team"s decision to bond together, with their final group hug being what manages to deal with the entity and restore a sort of normalcy to New York. For Captain America: Brave New World, Wilson is able to stop the Red Hulk by reminding Thaddeus Ross of his beloved daughter via the cherry blossom trees the then-President discussed seeing with her around the hero.
Finally, in Deadpool & Wolverine, the titular hero duo are able to deal with Cassandra Nova twice via the proverbial power of friendship. Their battle with Cassandra sees them escape alive despite being clearly less powerful when Wolverine discusses Nova"s brother Charles Xavier with her, both because of his clear love for Xavier, and because he insists that Professor X would have come to the Void to rescue Nova if he"d only known she was there, which resonates with her enough that she helps the duo return to Deadpool"s home universe.
The climactic ending of Deadpool & Wolverine - wherein the heroes both end up trying to sacrifice themselves to deal with the Time Ripper that Cassandra Nova was attempting to use to destroy the multiverse - also mirrors this. Both of the protagonists survive ostensibly because they cared for one another enough to try risking their lives to save each other and the Fox X-Men universe itself, with the shared and thus halved force of the energy they faced proving non-lethal to them - but killing Cassandra Nova - as a result.
I'm Glad The Last 3 MCU Movies All Followed This Story Trend Close The concept of heroes using the power of friendship or other emotional means to defeat an otherwise unsurmountable threat isn"t a new one by any stretch of the imagination, but it is one that proves consistently effective, particularly for the superhero genre. Giving a superhero movie a villain that cannot be defeated through brute force or conventional fighting alone makes its plot naturally more engaging by creating a harder seeming challenge for the heroes in question, making the audience root more for them as a result.
This approach is also effective in terms of ensuring the emotional crux of the story in question and the dramatic final confrontations feel as intertwined as possible, since it more directly ties together the personal arcs of the characters involved and their eventual ability to overcome the odds and tackle an antagonist whose powers far outweigh their own. Indeed, the fact that these three movies all still feel so different despite their similar approach to their villains is a testament to this idea, since it allows this similar approach to still feel unique and distinct in each separate installment.
While watching immensely powerful heroes and villains enter lethal frays with one another to spectacular results is often an undeniable highlight of the superhero genre, stories that show how this concept can be played with and subverted are all the more special because they"re so different to what many expect when they enter the cinema for a new superhero blockbuster. As such, I"m glad all the last three MCU movies followed this story trend, and showed just how many different ways the same concept can be used in succession and still feel unique and fitting.

Marvel Cinematic Universe Created by Kevin Feige First Film Iron Man Upcoming Films Deadpool & Wolverine, Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, Blade (2025), The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Avengers: Doomsday (2026), Avengers: Secret Wars First TV Show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Upcoming TV Shows Agatha: Coven of Chaos, Ironheart, Daredevil: Born Again, Wakanda, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Marvel Zombies, Wonder Man, Vision Quest Cast Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Edward Norton, Paul Rudd, Tom Holland, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Brie Larson, Chadwick Boseman, Sebastian Stan, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff, Josh Brolin, Karen Gillan, Clark Gregg, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Simu Liu, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, Barry Keoghan, Gemma Chan, Ma Dong-seok, Brian Tyree Henry, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Lia McHugh, Jonathan Majors The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount's Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.
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