﻿Infinity War is the culmination of ten years and 18 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and odds are, if you’re buying a ticket, you already know what’s up.
The MCU is serialized, TV-style storytelling on a billion-dollar scale,
and it works because Marvel trusts us to have seen and understood everything that came before.
So we’re not gonna waste your time recapping ‘The Dark World,’
or throwing out theories based on blurry trailer screenshots.
Instead, we’re taking a behind-the-scenes look at the three phases of the MCU,
to see how it became the groundbreaking goliath that’s changed the way movies are made.
I’m Dev,
and I’m Andrew,
and we’re running down
The MCU: Phase by Phase
So far, the MCU has raked in nearly $15 billion,
which is a far cry from the ‘90s,
when Marvel actually went bankrupt after the comics industry crashed.
In order to survive, they sold off their characters’ movie rights to whatever studio would write them a check.
The quick cash saved Marvel in the short term, and gave us some awesome franchises like Sony’s ‘Spider-Man’ and Fox’s ‘X-Men’
Problem was, they made money for everyone except Marvel.
‘Blade’ grossed $70 million at the box office,
but Marvel only pocketed $25,000.
That's a freakin' disgrace.
How do you think we fund this organization, huh?
Even worse, they didn’t make a dime from any of the X-Men movies,
all they got was a flat fee up front.
You should have killed me when you had the chance!!!
Marvel’s A-list characters were printing money for everyone but the company that created them,
and all they had left were heroes who were beloved by comic fans, but were far from being household names.
It’s hard to believe, but back then,
most people though Iron Man was a robot.
Still, the company was confident in their potential,
so they formed Marvel Studios to make movies on their terms,
with all the profits going into their pockets.
In order to fund their first films,
Marvel took out a loan for $525 million,
They went to college.
They put up all of their remaining movie rights as collateral.
If their experiment failed,
Marvel would be toast,
and the bank would own all their characters.
But lucky for them, and us,
the Marvel Cinematic Universe started with a big bang.
Let’s look at
Phase 1: Getting the Band Together
Even with so much at stake, Marvel made some big gambles with 2008’s ‘Iron Man.’
Director Jon Favreau was mostly known for family flicks like ‘Elf’ and ‘Zathura,’
and star Robert Downey Jr. was in a career slump after spending most of the ‘90s in and out of jail due to his drug addictions.
But Favreau’s improv style and RDJ’s charisma was a breath of fresh air for the stale superhero genre.
It's completely harmless.
I didn't expect that.
‘Iron Man’ grossed over $500 million at the box office,
and a secret stinger with Nick Fury introduced the world to the concept of a shared cinematic universe.
I'm here to talk about the Avenger Initiative.
Very exciting.
And now, fast-forward to the Dark Universe and look at what that is.
What the hell...
If the MCU was a band, Phase 1 would be the early years,
recording demos in a garage,
and working out the kinks in their lineup.
I told you, I don't wanna join your super-secret boy band.
In other words, if the MCU is the Beatles...
Ugh.
In other words, if the MCU is the Beatles,
Ed Norton is Pete Best
and Phase 1 is the period they spent honing their craft in Germany.
Some of it’s a little sloppy,
but it’s innovative, exciting, and not afraid to take risks.
Like making a Captain America film set entirely in the ‘40s.
Or hiring Shakespearean actor Kenneth Branagh to make a movie about a beer-pounding Thunder God.
My hero.
This drink, I like it. Another!
Now, not every movie was a homerun.
‘The Incredible Hulk’ came out the same year as ‘Iron Man,’ like a month later, actually,
but the Green Goliath couldn’t hold a candle to Shellhead’s success.
And while ‘Iron Man 2’ introduced us to Black Widow and SHIELD,
it lacked the charm and surprise of the first movie.
Still, the payoff made the bumpy road worth it,
and in 2012, Marvel and geek town master Joss Whedon assembled all the complex moving parts into a satisfying superhero symphony.
Let's do a head count, here.
Your brother, the demigod. A super soldier, living legend who kinda lives up to the legend,
a man with breathtaking anger management issues, a couple of master assassins,
and you, big fella.
‘The Avengers’ made $1.5 billion,
still the highest-grossing superhero film ever,
at least, until they count the receipts for ‘Infinity War.’
More importantly, it proved the concept of the MCU viable,
and gave Marvel a blueprint for the next decade of dominance.
Let’s move on to
Phase 2: Awkward Adolescence
Now, one thing we haven’t mentioned yet is Disney’s 4.2 billion dollar purchase of Marvel in 2009.
The House of Mouse spent decades trying to create their own IP that went beyond their traditional kid demographic,
and eventually they said ‘screw it’ and bought someone else instead.
See also: ‘Star Wars.’
See also: Almost Fox, maybe.
With the Disney machine behind them,
the MCU barreled into Phase 2 like a freight train,
with mixed results.
Better get my pants.
Keeping with the band analogy,
Phase 2 is the part in ‘Behind the Music’ where they made too much money too fast, and gave in to some of the excesses of success.
You ready for a bombshell? You saved my life that night.
But... I was driving...
I was on a road to destruction, man.
I seriously haven’t met a single person who actually likes ‘Thor: The Dark World,’
Sorry.
Jane what...
and it’s firmly at the bottom of Rotten Tomatoes’ MCU standings.
And even if you loved the Mandarin twist in the extremely underrated ‘Iron Man 3,’ Shane Black’s buddy comedy wasn’t what a lot of fans were looking for.
But with the lowest valleys come the highest peaks, thanks to Marvel’s continuing practice of taking risks with lesser-known characters and fresh talent.
From the astonishingly good ‘Ant-Man,’
ANTS
ANT-MAN!
to handing Troma veteran James Gunn $200 million to make ‘Guardians of the freakin’ Galaxy.’
Also, by the way, he wrote the original 'Scooby-Doo' live-action movie,
which is important to note, because it's basically the same movie as 'Guardians of the Galaxy.'
Like, zoinks, we got aliens coming after our asses!
Not to mention the Russos, the two ‘Arrested Development’ directors who made
the incredible, impeccable, my favorite MCU movie ‘Winter Soldier,
and did such a stellar job that Marvel gave them the reins for ‘Infinity War.’
Still, for all their success, Marvel couldn’t stick the landing.
‘Age of Ultron,’ crammed full of sequel setup and endless quipping from a genocidal robot,
Oooh, I'm sure that's gonna be okay, I'm sorry, It's just that I don't understand! Don't compare me with Stark!
was a big disappointment in comparison to its beloved predecessor,
and frustrations with Marvel’s oversight led Joss Whedon to jump ship for the Distinguished Competition.
How’d that one work out for ya, buddy?
Ugh, something is definitely bleeding.
Even with the lukewarm reception, Ultron still made a shitload of money,
so the gravy train kept rolling into
Phase 3: Gone Commercial
To finish out our music analogy, that we established at the very beginning of this video, very expertly,
Phase 3 is the MCU’s greatest hits tour.
Okay, there's Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, woah, who's that new guy?
Underoos!
That's me, I gotta go!
The band is older, established, and beloved,
it's got a couple of Guitar Hero soundtracks under their belt,
and all they have to do is play the hits and rake in the cash.
Most accusations of the MCU feeling samey and formulaic come from Phase 3.
Movies like ‘Dr. Strange’ and ‘Guardians Vol. 2’ were fine,
They were fine.
but none of them stood out from the pack the way ‘Winter Soldier’ did,
although ‘Civil War’ comes close.
Absolutely.
They served their purpose of introducing characters and setting up future conflicts,
but as standalone films, they’re nothing to write home about.
Speaking of home, Phase 3 was able to deliver plenty of awesome surprises,
like introducing Spider-Man into the MCU after Marvel pawned off the rights decades earlier.
‘Homecoming’ blew everyone out of the water, in part because people didn’t expect it,
a low-key, street-level story with a Spidey that didn’t make you wanna punch his smarmy face.
Hey, could you hold this for a second? Thanks.
Hey, is this anybody's bike? Hey, buddy, is this your bike?
No change.
a 'realistic' version of Queens and a perfect compliment to the cosmic Kirby insanity of ‘Thor: Ragnarok.’
The last stop on the road to ‘Infinity War’ was the unbeatable ‘Black Panther,’ which not only set a new high bar for superhero movies,
but is helping to usher in a brand new era of representation in big-budget blockbusters.
That brings us to ‘Infinity War,’ and even though it feels like the end of, well…
everything,
there are still three movies left in Phase 3,
including some long-awaited female-led films like ‘Captain Marvel’ and ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp,’
not to mention the still-untitled ‘Avengers 4.’
We’ll have to wait and see how it shakes out, and who survives, but either way,
Marvel has promised that Phase 4 will be radically different than everything that came before.
It pretty much has to be,
the MCU made most of its actors into massive stars, and now that their multi-year contracts are up,
they’re antsy to explore roles that don’t involve powers and punching.
Not to mention the fact that, if this Disney/Fox merger goes through,
the MCU is going to be a radically different place with the X-Men and Fantastic Four back in the mix.
The shared universe is here to stay,and even though Hollywood keeps trying to replicate the magic,
It’ll be a very dark universe indeed if anyone ever tops the MCU.
We might not recognize it by the time Phase 42 rolls around,
but that’s okay, we'll probably both be 90 and most of us will be dead.
Superheroes, though, are constantly evolving,
dying off, coming back with different costumes and continuity.
Because heroes never die.
That was a nice 'Overwatch' reference.
Things progress, time marches on,
and just like your favorite band, the rosters might change,
but the song remains the same.