the mcu is really fan service focused, while star wars is not.
just compare the last two huge MCU and SW installments: Infinity War and The Last Jedi. one is a fan service fest, the other is an indie director’s vision of the continuation of a story not really caring about what the fans think. i actually admire the latter attitude a lot more, even if i dislike TLJ and really enjoy Infinity War. but that IW was much better received by fans and general audience alike is an undisputable fact, so SW does probably have something to learn from the MCU in regards to audience reaction.
I don’t think IW was a fan service fest. The heroes lost, and 50% of them died. It featured a complex villain with moral ambiguity.
After 18 movies with next to zero deaths and very few complex villains, I’d say those were the two things most fans were clamoring for. I don’t want to go too far off topic, but I thought both of those elements were executed poorly and felt very fan servicey to me.
Which is fine of course, but unlike TLJ IW did not divide its fan base. I agree the MCU is too heavy on the fan service, but so is Star Wars, and most franchises these days.
i agree. take TFA for example. nowadays it’s a lot more criticized than upon release by fans due to the nostalgia goggles coming off for some (read: the ones that only liked it due to nostalgia don’t anymore). TFA was extremely fan servicey too, but with a specific target audience. i wasn’t in this target, so the fan service side of it didn’t impact me at all. and i unfortunately really dislike it nowadays. goes to show that not even fan service is flawless.