Fan Engagement with the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Negotiating Franchise Fatigue and Queer Representation in Agatha All Along

Abstract

This thesis examines how online fan discourse surrounding Agatha All Along (AAA) reflects shifting relationships between audiences and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Drawing on fan studies, transmedia storytelling, and queer representation, it explores how fans negotiate AAA’s place within a fragmented franchise landscape. Using thematic discourse analysis, this study investigates tensions between franchise fatigue and participatory engagement, with a particular focus on identity politics and cultural ownership. The analysis demonstrates that fans are not passive recipients of content but active participants in shaping AAA’s interpretation within the MCU. While some express exhaustion with the franchise’s perceived narrative overload and tonal repetition, others celebrate Agatha All Along’s queer-coded aesthetics, tone, and focus on marginalized characters. These reactions often hinge on tensions of legitimacy and inclusion: who the MCU is “for,” what stories “belong,” and how much creative deviation the franchise can accommodate. Agatha All Along’s departure from the tightly interconnected structure of earlier MCU phases intensifies these debates, leading some fans to question the show’s relevance or payoff, while others praise it as long-overdue progress. Reception of queer representation in Agatha All Along further reveals how fan discourse becomes a site of cultural negotiation. While many fans embraced the inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters and a more feminized tone, others dismissed these elements as ideological impositions. These divides reflect broader anxieties about shifting norms, perceived audience displacement, and the evolving identity of the MCU itself. Ultimately, this thesis argues that franchise fatigue is not solely a response to content saturation, but a negotiation over cultural legitimacy, affective investment, and contested ownership. Fan discourse around Agatha All Along thus offers a lens through which to understand how audiences navigate inclusion, continuity, and creative change in contemporary franchise storytelling.