The New Yorker On the Marvel Cinematic Universe

This month the New Yorker published a long article by Michael Schulman on the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The item is, for much of its length, a puff piece singing Hollywood Suits as gods ("Let there be Marvel"), while I doubt very much of the gossip, or the commentary, it retails will surprise anyone who has paid much attention to the phenomena. Still, the New Yorker's readers, for the most part, are a different demographic from the fan site readers who would ordinarily be attentive to the gossip--while it is notable that the piece essentially admits that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a triumph of shrewd marketing rather than artistic genius (emphasizing its use of cross-overs to connect one franchise to another, and hints to arouse interest in subsequent films, so as to help lure the audience from one film to another to another).

Indeed, it invites the reader to admire it as such.

When that is the case, can anyone really blame the public for thinking like movie executives when they look at new releases?