Marvel Studios and Inspired Choices
Why some feel Marvel has lost their way and what to do about it.
Let me start off by saying that this is not a review of Captain America: Brave New World. I should also say that I love Marvel movies, so this won’t be a “Marvel films aren’t cinema” type of piece either. For as long as I can remember, comic book movies were not mainstream until Marvel Studios. Films based on comics existed and made good money, but usually they were for people who were “into that kind of stuff.” Starting in 2008 with Iron Man and culminating in 2012 with The Avengers, Marvel Studios showed us something novel: superheroes in other movies joining together in the same movie. It was so brilliant that Hollywood decided to create their own versions of it and mostly failed. I’m looking at you Universal and Warner Bros.
What other attempts at a shared universe seemed to forget in the grand scheme of things is that at the end of the day, people have to enjoy the films. Sure you can make decisions on characters and popularity to decide what movies to make, but the movies have to be good, plain and simple. Marvel Studios has managed to not only make worthwhile movies, proven by the bought in audience, but they also managed to keep the shared storyline tight and easy to follow, so even the most novice of audience goers can follow along. I have always said if the movies aren’t good, then no one cares if they connect but as of late, Marvel Studios has suffered from a double whammy issue: the movies aren’t exciting and they don’t seem to connect in meaningful ways, and you need at least one of the two but ideally the former.