A viral Reddit thread shows how the Blip from Infinity War continues to have an inconsistent impact on the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Blip in Avengers: Infinity War was a watershed event in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it also led to polarizing side effects for the franchise’s run, as a Marvel fan’s viral Reddit thread points out. The shocking third-act twist occurred when Thanos snapped half of the universe from existence, in what remains the biggest event in the history of the MCU timeline. The Blip was undone five years later in Avengers: Endgame, but still had far-reaching consequences for society. The traumatic impact of a chunk of the population disappearing for years only to suddenly all reappear has been hinted at, but broadly speaking, the MCU missed the opportunity to explore the Blip and the true extent of its impact.

Addressing the narrative importance of the Blip, Reddit user r/MavrickIndigo penned a detailed post with the heading, “The Blip was terrible for long-term storytelling.” The Redditor’s argument behind this is that MCU Phase 4 and Phase 5 projects haven’t been able to fully reference a “universe-shattering” event like Infinity Saga’s Blip and this is what makes them feel “incomplete“.

The MCU Can’t Get Over Infinity War & Endgame

The MCU projects that immediately followed Avengers: Endgame were bound to reference the Blip as a major plot point, but newer releases are still wrangling with the initial approach to the Blip and its reversal. For example, WandaVision episode 4, “We Interrupt This Program”, detailed the paranoia and confusion faced by unblipped individuals like Monica Rambeau. However, this was for just one episode, and future MCU projects began to stray away from the Blip as far as possible.

In fact, the shocking, universe-altering twist is now mostly reduced to comedic relief, as seen in the Spider-Man: Far From Home scene with unblipped band members appearing in the middle of a basketball game. Shang-Chi and Hawkeye similarly reduced the Blip to a background element in the form of a “Thanos Was Right” coffee mug and a “post-Blip anxiety” hotline. The Reddit thread in question points out how fans would still be thinking about what happened during the Blip, considering most of these projects are set only a few years after it. And as for heroes who emerged after it like Moon Knight, questions arise on what they had been doing during the five-year gap.