Published May 6, 2026, 7:00 AM EDT The third Captain America movie isn't bad, but it paved the way for plenty of bad habits Captain America: Civil War planted the seeds for the MCU's destruction Image: Zade Rosenthal/Marvel Studios/Everett Collection In practical terms, we are years if not decades away from the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But if it truly hopes to emulate its comic-book source material in longevity, Marvel will have to accept a formulation of eras — silver, golden, platinum, infinity, whatever you want to call them — delineating various groupings of superhero movies in terms of quality and style, not just their phased narrative arcs. Most people would probably agree that at some point in the past decade, the golden age of the MCU ended.…