The MCU‘s Infinity Saga contained many of the best superhero movies ever released, but rewatching it now comes with some harsh realities. Since it commenced with Iron Man in 2008, the MCU timeline has grown into the most successful cinematic franchise in history, with most of the highest-grossing MCU movies taking place in the Infinity Saga. While the Multiverse Saga still has a way to go, it’s hard not to compare the quality between the two periods – but the Infinity Saga is far from infallible.

It is always going to be difficult to keep the shared narrative of so many composite movies airtight, but some realizations that come with a rewatch are difficult to overlook. Many of the criticisms leveled at the MCU in its first saga concerned plot holes, comic book inaccuracies, and a formulaic structure that began to grow stale quite quickly. It is safe to say the MCU has learned a lot of lessons since its earliest installments, which the realities of a rewatch only help to highlight.

10. The Infinity Saga Should Have Set Up The New Avengers

There Has Been No Avengers Movie Since Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame brought the Infinity Saga to a head in a spectacular fashion, finally bringing all of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes together in a visceral fight for existence. In doing so, it closed several of the MCU’s most central character arcs – with Tony Stark and Steve Rogers being the most prominent. Unfortunately, in finishing the stories of the Avengers’ leaders, it failed to properly establish who would be taking their place.

This has left the Multiverse Saga in a state of disarray. While it seems the new Captain America will finally pull the MCU’s disparate heroes together down the line, their unification cannot carry the same impact as their predecessors’ three phases into the Multiverse Saga. Losing Stark and Rogers meant losing a reason to invest in the future of the MCU for many viewers, which is something the Infinity Saga should have curtailed with a new common cause for the new Avengers initiative – and audiences – to get behind before it was too late.

9. The Hulk Was Let Down

The Incredible Hulk Only Had One Solo Movie

It became increasingly apparent as the Infinity Saga progressed that the MCU’s version of Hulk paled in comparison to his comic book counterpart. While Hulk had his share of wow moments in the early days – such as flooring a Chitauri Leviathan with a single punch and humbling Loki in seconds – he would later be used as the punching bag through which the power levels of other characters could be displayed. The rage-fueled powerhouse would ultimately end his tenure by being summarily humiliated by Thanos in a fistfight, petering out before the Smart Hulk persona took center stage.

The Incredible Hulk was released in June 2008.

The insult to Hulk’s legacy is compounded by the fact that he still only has one solo movie to his name. The Incredible Hulk may not have been the highest-grossing or highest-rated MCU movie, but the founding Avenger deserved more than always playing second fiddle to his colleagues. Thankfully, Smart Hulk is still in operation in the Multiverse Saga, so his redemption – and a deeper look at his character – is not yet beyond the realm of possibility.

8. The Infinity Saga’s Villain Roster Wasted A Lot Of Antagonists With Major Potential

The Infinity Saga Villains Were Often Criticized

Some of the earliest teething problems in the MCU concerned its villains. Despite starting strong with Obadiah Stane, Red Skull, and Loki, the Infinity Saga would go on to waste the potential of many iconic Marvel Comics villains. Thor: The Dark World‘s Malekith, Captain Marvel‘s Yon-Rogg, and Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Ronan the Accuser were among the most forgettable characters in the MCU, while the titular villain of Avengers: Age of Ultron barely resembled the original. As most of these villains died in their MCU debuts, the tragedy is compounded by the prospect that they can’t be redeemed.

While the Multiverse Saga is still not immune to the same mistakes – Karli, MODOK, and Taskmaster being three examples – it is safe to say that the MCU has improved in a lot of ways since its earliest days, which arguably helped pave the way to Thanos’ success. With the likes of Gorr the God Butcher being Thor: Love & Thunder‘s most agreed-upon saving graces, and the High Evolutionary’s Chukwudi Iwuji delivering an Oscars-worthy performance, the MCU’s villain track record is hopefully set to continue to improve with time.

7. The MCU’s New Hero Reveals Make Key Infinity War Battles Look Weirder

Where Were The Rest Of Earth’s Heroes?

As the Multiverse Saga continues to debut and develop the stories of brand-new characters, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to explain where they were when Thanos invaded. The Defenders, for instance, were nowhere to be seen when Ebony Maw descended on New York, which is even harder to explain now that Daredevil and Punisher (at least) are confirmed MCU canon. Xu Wenwu, meanwhile, with the near infinite resources and information at the disposal of his Ten Rings, didn’t see fit to intervene with this alien threat at all.

Eternals attempted to explain the absence of the titular team during Earth’s plight by stating that they were prevented from intervening in human struggles. Unfortunately, it is hard to reconcile this directive with the fact that Thanos’ Snap poses a significant setback to the Celestials’ plans to nourish new Celestial life with the lives of a planet’s inhabitants. Re-watching Thanos’ invasion of Earth is now difficult to do without also imagining these new heroes simply twiddling their thumbs somewhere off-screen.