The Marvel Cinematic Universe and its success: A Personal Analysis

 A superpowered entertainment behemoth

(This is gonna be relatively long and self-indulgent. I'm writing this warning/apology before I start, because I know myself and I wanted to pre-emptively apologise)

The main line up of the MCU, and Thanos, an antagonist a decade in the making

Hi, my name is Sam Heaney. I'm a self confessed Marvel fanboy. It's one of the few things in this world that I love almost unconditionally. This is for a number of reasons.

• The MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) has been around for over a decade, so as a nearly 24 year old man the franchise has been with me throughout most of my developmental years.
• In general, the quality of each individual installment in the series is surprisingly stellar and consistent.
• It is an ingenious way of providing an audience with ongoing compelling storylines, evident in the way that many major brands/franchises are attempting to copy the formula with varying levels of success.

The MCU is a behemoth. It's globally renowned, and has reached the point where each new installment (featuring either new or legacy characters) are nighon guaranteed to reach £1,000,000,000+ at the box office. The rapidity at which the titles are produced also has snowballed since the franchises' inception in 2008 with Jon Favreau's Iron Man. This has garnered a somewhat hostile reception from certain people within Hollywood and the film industry as a whole, be it due to jealousy of box office success, distaste with the genre or the apparent absorption of other brands/ideas into the MCU. The latter most point is the only one I can potentially find merit within. Jealousy of success is pathetic. It is representative that the individual or organisation is unwilling to work hard enough to achieve the same level of success. Dislike of the genre is entirely subjective and therefore a mute point to raise, as it clearly isn't the opinion of the majority of the cinema-going audience. The absorption/saturation point I will expand upon later. 

As Vision mentions in Captain America: Civil War, "Our very strength incites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict breeds catastrophe". This is of importance in this discussion. The MCU's strength and ingenious structuring incites imitation, and challenging of what it has established as an undeniably successful formula. That challenge naturally provokes a competition between the two entities. Warping the end of the quote to be less pessimistic, the competition (or conflict) breeds excellence from both. The success of one drives the other to top it. The customer benefits by gaining better and better products. Both companies reap the financial benefits. Simple logic. Great business. So, why isn't anything or anyone doing it? I'm not sure.

To be fair, it appears that imitation was inevitable, even encouraged by the fanbases of other franchises, but those that seem to be heading on that path are merely at the building blocks to construct the starting gate they aren't out of yet. An example of this is Star Wars (also owned by Disney) which has lost favour amongst critics and fans in recent years. The sequel trilogy was much maligned and lacked a clear sense of direction and therefore narrative cohesion and consistent character arcs; enhanced by the seemingly lack of communication between directors. The Mandalorian, debuting on Disney+ last year (in the UK) was the beginning of a turning point. The series gained positive reviews, adoration from the fans and a second season released later in the same year. The second season in particular was commandeered as a jump start for multiple spin offs that are set to culminate in a interconnected event sometime in the future. While the concept of a truly intertwining Star Wars universe is genuinely exciting (as a Star Wars fan also), it does raise some concerns. The Mandalorian is the first property in this new era of Star Wars. Making the show a conduit to introduce and then spin off other shows is to the detriment of the show itself and its own engaging narrative threads; Baby Yoda for example, captured my heart, and the entire world's. Those that have tried and failed to copy the MCU formula all stumble at the first hurdle; trying to play catch up. 

"It's like a child getting so excited to play with a new toy set that they break the damned thing getting the box open" - Me, just now

Here come the fanboys...

DC is the prime example of this. It has tried and spectacularly failed to copy the MCU in a number of ways and it also is a perfect (if not played out) comparison due to it also being a set of comic book properties. DC, prior to the MCU's 2008 inception, arguably had the stronger film library. Multiple beloved and iconic Batman portrayals, Christopher Reeve's Superman and the second film in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy The Dark Knight released mere months after Iron Man.  5 years later, DC and Warner Bros decided to follow Marvels' footsteps of a shared universe... a year after the release of The Avengers (which at the time was naively viewed as the ultimate culmination event). Man of Steel was the origin story of this new Superman in this new world they were building (with a story by Christopher Nolan no less!), and while not perfect the film set a strong foundation. THREE years later, the follow up came. Batman v Superman. My god. Is... is this Bale's Batman going toe to toe with Cavill? That's aweso- What you say? A brand new Batman? That hasn't been introduced yet? And you're gonna throw Wonder Woman in? AND the death of Superman? As in... one of the strongest and emotionally impactful storylines you have up your sleeve and you've blown it *checks notes* in the second film in your universe? Ah.

The DCEU reeks of potential, and is always on the cusp of success

The executives at DC/Warner Bros were on the right track, they were just expecting the same results as Marvel without doing the set up. Their darker tone and more grounded world was the perfect differentiation from Marvel, and twofold it was more in line with DC's comics. In the same year as BvS, Suicide Squad was released. A shameless carbon copy of James Gunn's 2014 Guardians of the Galaxy, a stand out film in the MCU. Both films attempted to introduce an entire team of characters without prior set up. One failed, and it wasn't Guardians. Not only did Suicide Squad debut two years after Guardians and therefore, as second to the mark, had a tough job impressing from the get-go; it also once again fundamentally misunderstood what its greatest potential strengths were. Making it more skewed towards comedy was the single worst thing they could have done. Understandable through an out of touch execs eyes, perhaps. But creatively it shows a complete disregard for foundational aspects of the characters they utilised. That creative abandon reflects in the critical panning and financial failure the film was. If the creative process is creatively bankrupt, you can't expect the end result to be any different. BvS and Suicide Squad releasing in the same year also demonstrates the creative disconnect and lack of cohesion that plagues DC to this day, and is the singular thing holding it back from eventual grand success.

After an origin film in Wonder Woman releasing in 2017 (after she was already introduced in BvS, hmm...), Justice League came out late that same year. DC decided to one-up themselves and introduce three major heroes with no set up. Cyborg (Ray Fisher), The Flash (Ezra Miller) and Aquaman (Jason Momoa) are squashed in with little explanation or space to develop in their own right, leading to a disconnect with audiences that don't feel emotionally invested. Justice League has a boatload of its own problems; the removal of Zack Snyder, bringing in Joss Whedon to replace him (the director of Avengers that was fired, who is also an abusive and abhorrent entity, on this set especially) and the legal disputes involving Ray Fisher and his A>E movement against Warner Bros execs. Lest we mention Zack Snyder's Justice League cut, which further muddied the waters as to the exact approach DC were taking to their films. The upcoming The Batman starring Robert Pattinson introduces a new version of the caped crusader, yet won't take place within the established universe. Yet Aquaman 2 and The Flash will? It's a 'chuck out what doesn't work, keep what does' approach which leads to risk averse moves, and a tendency to reboot as opposed to course correcting a character. This is creatively disruptive for different film makers and therefore demands the detached nature of the DCEU; directors don't want to latch onto a story thread or character that they have no guarantee will stick around. Aquaman admittedly made a billion at the box office, but feels tonally off from his costars. So stick to the comedy for some characters in their solo films but in team ups change it back to darker tones? But The Batman with R-Patz is dark. And not in the same universe. It makes no sense!

Thor in the MCU is an example of the opposite approach to DC's being fruitful; undergoing a drastic revival/reimagining in Thor Ragnarok that skyrocketed the character from a B-tier hero amongst fans to an automatic favourite. That on screen excellence took Thor (and Chris Hemsworth) 4 separate films prior to Ragnarok (both solo and team-ups) to nail. DC doesn't permit that same room/time for growth, which is infuriating. 

Saturation levels rising

As a hardcore MCU fan, I can never seem to get enough, and I crave to be in this world as much as possible with characters I have come to genuinely know and love. Many critics of the MCU, and the superhero genre as a whole, suggest that it takes up all the big releases (and therefore all the revenue). I can understand this sentiment. After 25 released installments in the saga within 13 years an oversaturation could be argued. For those more traditional film makers I can see they might perceive themselves being edged out. Yet this is nothing new. This argument is countered by trends in cinematic history being the case since the medium was invented. Throughout the 20th century, movie musicals were rife. You hardly ever see them nowadays, though they are making a comeback with West Side Story and In the Heights getting new film versions out soon. Dare I mention *shudders* Cats. It also appears the complaints are mainly coming from white older male directors who were the talk of the town in previous decades; Scorsese, Tarantino, Spielberg even. They have had their day, have tonnes of money and are still highly sought after to create new films (which are often still critically praised). Lest I mention the fact that all of the directors complaining also tend to make blockbusters themselves. Heard of FOMO? 

The saturation argument collapses particularly over the past few years, which seems paradoxical as the past few years have seen the amount of the genre on offer reach peak levels; it doesn't seem to be stopping either. The reason, to me, that this isn't a problem is because Marvel particularly are branching out and trying to prevent fatigue setting in and quell complaints of 'Marvel Generic' projects. Disney+ seems to be the ace in the hole, as the first two MCU projects on the streaming service, 'WandaVision' and 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' both released to critical and fan acclaim. As series (therefore longer than a singular film installment) allowed previously unseen levels of character study and growth. Both projects delved deep into culturally relevant, emotionally resonative topics and simultaneously provided a familiar warm MCU vibe while pushing the boat out and providing audiences with things we haven't seen before. Old dogs, new tricks. These shows are riding off the coat tails of more diverse and representational films; Black Panther as a cultural phenomenon and a hit particularly with the black community, and Captain Marvel being the first female led film in the MCU. This commitment to characters (despite any stumbles) and a willingness to diversify tones in their projects/integrating other genres ie spy/thriller in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, show Marvel isn't afraid of sticking to their singular vision and telling the stories they want to tell whilst still being innovative. The passion from the creative teams is almost always palpable. That passion bleeds down into the fans and drives commitment, engagement and loyalty; this in turn drives consistent box office success. All of this is due to the MCU being spearheaded by one man from it's inception to present day; Kevin Feige.

Closing thoughts

Kevin Feige with Marvel comic writer, the late great Stan Lee.

Kevin Feige is, and always has been a diehard fan of comics. He was a producer on the early 00's X-Men films, and has been the sole producer on every single MCU project. The characters introduced, structure created and stories told are all from his mind, drawing on decades of the golden age of comic books (30's to 60's). His passion and clear reverance of the source material is, as previously mentioned, tangible and therefore incites the audience hold it in the same regard. This is the key element to franchise success. The creatives behind it, particularly the executives need to be fans. It seems obvious but no one has gotten the memo. Kevin's dedication to the overarching narrative has inspired a faith in the various creative teams that is rarely seen in the entertainment industry. It genuinely breeds a infatuating sense of community, be it through theorizing future plot threads or gushing about how far our favourite characters have come. Characters no one cared about, let alone ever heard of, have become household names and this has happened dozens of times at this point. Iron Man, Captain America, Ant-Man, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Falcon. No one but the hardcore knew their names, let alone their character. Sarah Halley Finn, the Marvel casting director, also deserves unbridled praise for casting actors who have become synonymous as their characters, and vice versa.

The consistency of quality and acclaim (both critical and financial) for these films, and now streaming shows, is mind-boggling and shouldn't feasibly be possible. But it's happened. It's still happening. And we are lucky enough to be alive as it plays out. It's the first experiment of its kind, and the most successful to date. Arguably the only successful one to date. In an age of remakes and reboots, it is consistently refreshing to see a studio creating high budget experimental blockbusters on the big and small screen providing experiences that no one has seen before. It rewards the fans who have been around from the start, but remains approachable to new-comers. 

It's truly remarkable. A literal Marvel.

Dear MCU... I love you 3000.

SH