For the past 10 or so years I’ve avoided all the MCU films. I would shit on them, write them off as cheap predictable cashgrab schlock, and thought people that were obsessed with these movies were idiots because I wanted to be a pretentious indie film nerd.

However when I heard all the positive reception around No Way Home, my wife and I begrudgingly started watching all of them in order. We were huge fans of the Raimi films growing up so we wanted to be able to watch No Way Home and not be totally lost.

I did not expect to enjoy these films as much as I did. I’ve become obsessed. I’ve never had so much fun plowing my way through films. Every time we finished a movie it left us excited to watch the next one. We’ve become hooked.

I was completely wrong for writing these films off and never giving them a fair chance. Hell, I’m kicking myself now for doing that because I feel like I missed out on a huge cultural movement. These MCU movies are incredibly fun movies and I feel like a lot of them stand on their own as just great films overall. The tension, the action, the humor, the tear jerking moments, everything about these films for the most part leaves me wanting more. It’s absolutely incredible how they’ve managed to cultivate an entire universe connecting these films without it being tiring or repeating itself too much.

I feel like I learned a lot about myself from watching these too. I’ve grown up to be a pretty cynical adult and usually have a hard time sitting through a movie without making fun of it. However, with the MCU films I’ve learned to just let loose and have fun.

Watching these makes me feel like a kid again. Just like how I felt watching the Raimi trilogy in theaters growing up. These movies not only have touched my inner child but have opened my mind up to enjoying so much more of life. Not everything has to be a serious thinker or life changing experience. Sometimes you just want to immerse yourself in an entirely different universe and forget about the stresses of life for a couple hours. I’ve left each of these films feeling absolutely enthralled and lustful for life and enjoyment.

Seeing No Way Home in theaters was the absolute greatest theater movie watching experience I’ve had in 15 years. My wife and I were on the edges of our seats cheering, curling up from tension, dropping our jaws in surprise and amazement, and even choking up a little bit. I’ll avoid posting spoilers for now even though it’s been out for a bit.

Sorry for the wall of text, but long story short I’m here to say I was wrong. I’m sorry for being a huge asshole towards MCU fans over the years. My judgement was completely misplaced in trying to maintain my own self-image as some kind of “mysterious” pretentious hipster. These films are great and I cannot wait to keep watching them in theaters as they come out.