Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last eight years, you’ve probably noticed
a certain trend in superhero movies: the shared universe.
While superhero films used to be treated as independent series that would reset after
two or three movies, they now build on top of each other to create an almost overwhelming
amount of shared continuity.
Case in point: the upcoming Captain America: Civil War, which functions as a follow up
to Captain America: Winter Soldier, an action-packed reunion of the Avengers: Age of Ultron cast
and an introduction to both Black Panther as well as a new iteration of Spider Man!
But how long can this go on?
Hollywood’s obsession with fan approval shows that one day a series that seems to
be riding strong (Amazing Spider Man, for instance), can bottom out within 9 months
of the latest films release.
Steven Spielberg has even gone on record saying the superhero film will soon go “the way
of the western” and fall out of popularity in mainstream Hollywood.
Is the father of American Blockbuster Cinema on to something?
Around 30 characters have already enjoyed multiple appearances across the Marvel films
so far, and a library of characters in Marvel Comics continuity that number in the thousands,
most of whom can appear and cross over between a number of films and TV series.
With a potentially infinite number of combinations, will this cinematic universe collapse under
its own weight?
Or will the Marvel Cinematic Universe go on FOREVER?
The History: How Marvel Became a Movie Studio
It may be inconceivable now, but there was a time when Marvel wasn’t a huge player
in blockbuster filmmaking.
It used to be just a comics publisher that would license its intellectual property to
various movie studios.
The first movie based on a marvel comic property was the Captain America serial, released in
1944, back when Marvel Comics was known as Timely Comics.
Instead of Steve Rogers, Captain America’s alter ego was District Attorney Grant Gardner,
played by Dick Purcell, who actually died a few weeks after filming was completed.
Changes like these, as well as the omission of Captain America’s iconic shield, made
the finished film extremely unpopular with creators and fans of the character.
The next film adaptation of a Marvel property was 42 years later, a co-production between
Universal Studios and LucasFilm.
Howard the Duck was released in 1986 to critical scorn and financial ruin, tanking the careers
of most of its cast, and forcing George Lucas to sell the animation branch of LucasFilm
in order to recoup his own personal losses.
Far from being the box office gold they are now, Marvel licensed a couple direct-to-DVD
releases as well as a still unreleased Fantastic Four movie before their first major blockbusters
hit the screens with Blade and X-Men over a decade later.
The Kevin Feige Years
As the success of the X-Men and Spider Man movies began to gain traction for the superhero
movie genre, the newly incorporated Marvel Studios began re-acquiring movie rights to
characters it had sold off to other studios around 2004, with the intent to develop in-house
feature films.
By 2007, the studio had the film rights to Iron Man, Ant-Man, and The Incredible Hulk.
They hired producer Kevin Feige to oversee the project as Iron Man began production in
2007.
The massive success of Iron Man lead to a snowball effect that took the blockbuster
world by storm, but Feige and Marvel Studios were only getting started.
Within 4 years, the MCU had not only created fresh new adaptations of Thor and Captain
America, it saw the first major crossover film, The Avengers, become the third highest
grossing film of all time.
The infrastructure of the MCU, overseen and produced by Kevin Feige, has held so far.
What possibly could stop them?
Possible Obstacle #1: Box Office Failure?
One major franchise killer in Hollywood is the prospect of financial ruin.
The paranoia surrounding box office numbers is one massive reason for Hollywood Studios
to rely on surefire hits – like popular comic books, for instance.
But what financial disaster could possibly derail Marvel?
As of 2010, Marvel is owned by Disney, one of the few companies with carte blanche to
do whatever it wants with intellectual property it owns.
Considering they now own Lucasfilm’s properties as well, it would take a financial storm of
biblical proportions to get Disney to lose enough money to consider Marvel a liability.
And considering the closest thing the Marvel Cinematic Universe has to a box office Failure
is 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, which still made its budget back with over 250 million
worldwide, it does not seem the MCU is in any real financial danger – in the foreseeable
future.
Possible Obstacle # 2: Critical Disaster?
But will the movies be able to sustain their own quality standard?
Franchises like Transformers, which routinely make massive amounts of money despite critical
derision are common, but part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s appeal is that the
films themselves are generally held to a higher standard than your average blockbuster.
Can the studio sustain the same level of critical favour as their movies get more complex and
potentially convoluted?
This possibility is inherently more difficult to predict, because there are two kinds of
backlash that could force Marvel to change course: fan backlash and critical backlash.
Once again, we find ourselves looking at the biggest critical failure of the MCU: The Incredible
Hulk.
The Incredible Hulk received mixed response from fans and critics alike, much like its
2003 predecessor, and there hasn’t been a solo Hulk movie since.
Edward Norton was replaced by Mark Ruffalo for The Avengers, and the greater cinematic
universe continued unimpeded.
That is the Ace in the Hole for Marvel – The MCU serves as a system of checks and balances
in case any particular series underperforms or is critically panned.
Soft reboots are commonplace, as evidenced by Tom Holland’s appearance as a new Spider-Man
in Captain America: Civil War.
And even if films are released to critical indifference, like the two Thor films, their
characters’ relation to The Avengers keeps them afloat.
The Marvel Strategy: Filmmakers
How does one guarantee consistent quality?
Marvel Studios’ ongoing plan follows the pattern that made both X-Men and Spider Man
a success in the early 2000s: Find up and coming directors with interesting voices,
and tap their talent for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Who would have thought the director of Elf, Jon Favreau, would make a great Iron Man movie?
From Kenneth Branagh to James Gunn, Feige and the heads of Marvel are exceedingly clever
at tapping talent for their projects - so that their movies stay relevant to current
cinema.
The hiring department at Marvel remains the best at poaching rising talent from smaller
or more obscure ends of the movie industry.
Just recently, they signed acclaimed Creed and Fruitvale Station director Ryan Coogler
and What We Do in the Shadows director Taika Waititi for Black Panther and Thor: Ragnarok
respectively.
And with their new Spider Man film, it seems Marvel is exceptionally clever at catering
to what their audiences want on both the filmmaking side as well as the content side.
Obstacle #3: Introducing Audiences to New Characters
Probably the biggest doubt everyone ever had about the Marvel experiment was how they would
get a mainstream movie-going public invested in shared universe storytelling in the same
way fans of their comics are.
They proved they could make stand alone stories about their heroes engaging, but bringing
that full universes together seemed like a different challenge entirely.
Keeping diverse mythologies and scores of characters straight is something that people
can barely manage for one franchise, how could they think this would work for multiple intersecting
series?
Though it was clear by The Avengers that the MCU was a box office success, it was in Guardians
of the Galaxy that Marvel proved their brand alone is worth more than the individual comics
they adapt.
Guardians of the Galaxy took a goofy space opera, that even some Marvel fans didn’t
know well, starring a talking tree and racoon, and made it a success on par with their other
films.
And Marvel’s smaller screen ventures as well – such as Jessica Jones and the upcoming
Luke Cage – prove the studio can draw attention to even the most obscure property with the
right creative staff.
All they have to do is worry about sharing that continuity with the Avengers.
Obstacle #4: Too Many Characters
The most present threat to the Marvel Cinematic Universe seems is likely one that comic book
movie fans would have never imagined.
Managing a whole Universe is a tricky thing, and while Marvel has so far been successful
at their shared universe experiments, when will the world they’ve created simply become
too big to sustain?
Avengers: Age of Ultron garnered criticism for feeling trimmed down, and now Avengers:
Infinity War is set to be a saga-spanning epic with a budget reportedly around 1 Billion
dollars between two films and a cast overstuffed with Marvel regulars.
As viewers of Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice can attest, trying to cram too many
characters, events, and effects into your movie can result in a film that is more overblown
than necessary, and deters new viewers.
In a movie series that has weathered metaphors for Terrorism as well as fantasy space magic,
is there any going back once they threaten to blow up the known universe?
There is no ready answer for this particular question, but the numerous franchise obligations
of the series has previously proved overwhelming for directors working under Marvel’s umbrella.
See for instance, any interview Joss Whedon attended during the press tour for Age of
Ultron.
Obstacle #5: Audience Fatigue
The biggest and most dangerous obstacle Marvel may face is their own success.
With 2-3 films a year, Marvel Studios is the largest producer of superhero films, and it
is matched by their competitors in DC and Fox, producing Justice League and X-Men sequels
to fight for their piece of the superhero pie, making for an average 5 – 7 superhero
films a year for the foreseeable future.
This is what Spielberg was referencing when comparing the superhero film genre to the
western in old Hollywood.
Back when western TV shows and movies were all the rage, the genre suffered from oversaturation,
and eventually fell out of fashion.
But is it an accurate comparison to draw parallels between the two genres?
A large influence in the western falling out of favour was growing cynicism toward the
myth of the west and American exceptionalism post-World War II.
And, let’s face it: The western is not nearly as flexible as the superhero film, which in
the Marvel Cinematic Universe encompasses heist movies (Ant Man), espionage thrillers
(Captain America: Winter Soldier) and space operas (Guardians of the Galaxy), among other
subgenres.
Still, shared universe fatigue is a reality that modern Hollywood will have to face.
Now that Star Wars is branching out into standalone films and DC is trying their best to catch
up with the MCU, the blockbuster market is leaning toward shared universes more and more.
Will the bubble burst on multiverses - and audiences will, instead, start craving satisfying
standalone experiences?
The MCU is built to sustain both smaller individual films and galaxy spanning epics, but dwindling
audience interest may make billion dollar ventures like Avengers: Infinity War a bigger
risk than might seem apparent right now.
With a plan going through 2028, it’s clear the Marvel Cinematic Universe is dedicated
to keeping its own course.
If it ends, it is going to be on the terms of Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios, not due
to external forces such as the performance of the inevitable Justice League movies or
Avengers: Infinity War.
Will audiences lose interest and prove Spielberg right, or is this money making machine never
stopping?
So what do you think?
Are you suffering from superhero fatigue or have you already marked every Marvel opening
night in your calendar?
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