Among the superhero-based feature
film universes, it won’t be wrong to say that Marvel Cinematic Universe’s films
has replicated their comic counterpart’s model of a thoroughly shared universe
on screen and in doing that Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has set an unparalleled
example for other studios producing similar films to follow.
MCU has released thirteen feature
films yet since May 2008 and plan to release nine more till May 2019 bringing
their total to 22 feature films in what they call is their first saga [1]. This saga is divided into three
phases.
Phase 1:
1.
Iron Man (2008)
2.
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
3.
Iron Man 2 (2010)
4.
Thor (2011)
5.
Captain America : The First Avenger (2011)
6.
Marvel’s The Avengers (2012)
Phase 2:
1.
Iron Man 3 (2013)
2.
Thor : The Dark World (2013)
3.
Captain America : The Winter Soldier
(2014)
4.
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
5.
Avengers : Age of Ultron (2015)
6.
Ant-Man (2015)
Phase 3:
1.
Captain America : Civil War (2016)
2.
Doctor Strange (2016) *
3.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
*
4.
Spider-Man : Homecoming (2017) *
5.
Thor : Ragnarok (2017) *
6.
Black Panther (2018) *
7.
Avengers : Infinity War (2018) *
8.
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) *
9.
Captain Marvel (2019) *
10. Untitled Avengers sequel (2019) *
* means Unreleased as of yet.
Other than the feature films,
the Marvel Cinematic Universe also consists of television series, short films,
comic books and a viral marketing show. Clearly, the scope of their shared
fictional universe is unprecedented.
Listed below are a few major
factors behind the success of MCU’s feature films which work time and again, both,
commercially (the released films’ revenue is of $ 10.2 billion on a budget of
$2.4 billion) and critically (the films have a combined 81% rating on review
aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes) [2]:
1.
Making sure the universe’s timeline
doesn’t contradict itself:
There’s no worse pay-off for a dedicated viewer
of such films than when he/she finds out that the event which happened a few
years back in that first film has been changed because of cast and crew
scheduling problems or money problems or creative control problems or any
problem whatsoever. Disregard of their own timeline by filmmakers makes viewers
cringe and think that if the filmmakers are themselves not serious and invested
in their films, why should they be?
However, MCU has up till now been able to sacredly
maintain their timeline retaining their viewers’ investment, thus, creating the
viewers’ craving to want for more. [3]
2.
Ability to rope in commercially
successful and critically acclaimed actors, writers and directors:
Actors such as Anthony Hopkins, Robert Redford, William
Hurt, Ben Kingsley, Jeff Bridges, Natalie Portman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Brie
Larson (1 Academy Awards®
win each), Mark Ruffalo and Edward Norton (3 Academy Awards® nominations each), Robert Downey Jr.
and Jeremy Renner (2 Academy Awards® nominations each), Samuel L Jackson, Jeff Goldblum,
Josh Brolin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mickey Rourke, Don Cheadle and Terrence
Howard (1 Academy Awards®
nomination each), Tom Hiddleston and Guy Pearce (1 Emmy® win each), Idris Elba (5 Emmy® nominations), Scarlett Johansson and
Rebecca Hall (1 BAFTA®
win each), Paul Bettany (1 BAFTA®
nomination) are members of the lead and supporting cast of these films.
Writers and Directors such as Joe Johnston (1
Academy Awards® win),
Kenneth Branagh (4 Academy Awards® nomination), Joss Whedon and Taika Waititi (1 Academy
Awards® nomination), Alan Taylor, Anthony
Russo, Joseph V. Russo, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (1
Emmy® win each) have lent their services to these films. [4],
[5], [6]
3.
Letting each movie have an independent
and distinct voice
One of the main reasons for MCU’s success is the
creative freedom they provide to each individual film unit for doing their own
thing as long as the films come from the same source material and they’ve got their
Marvel logo in front of them as per the producer/co-producer for each of the
above MCU films and President of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige [7].
Although notably, sometimes the creative
differences between the studios, producers and the film cast and crew have led
to such incidents as
·
Exit of actor Terrence Howard from portraying
James Rhodes
·
Exit of actor Edward Norton from
portraying Bruce Banner/The Hulk
·
Exit of director Edgar Wright as the
director of Ant-Man
·
The Likely Exit of actor Natalie
Portman (portraying Jane Foster) from Thor films [8]
However, when exploring uncharted territory,
there’s bound to be friction amongst the team but as they say ‘The show must go
on.’
And it seems Marvel has imbibed that philosophy
in their vision having managed to make creatively distinct and commercially successful
films while crafting a truly shared feature film universe.
References:
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