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If Marvel Studios is successful, people will have a new entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe almost every week.
It all starts with WandaVision. Marvel’s new nine-episode show, which follows Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff and Paul Bettany’s Vision living an absurd suburban life in an alternate universe, premieres on January 15. Two episodes will premiere, with new episodes releasing weekly for the remainder of the season. Just two weeks later WandaVision ends, The falcon and the winter soldier will arrival. It is then three weeks before Black Widow hits theaters (unless it’s delayed again) and Loki lands on Disney Plus. By the time Loki ends, it will be time for Shang-Chi and the legend of the ten rings.
You see the picture.
Before the launch of Disney Plus, Marvel Studios worked only on movies. The TV shows were under the separate TV division of Marvel Entertainment. This includes the Netflix series sequel (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage), watch on Hulu (Runaways) and ABC titles like Agent Carter and Agents of SHIELD. This is what kept the Marvel Cinematic Universe separate from everything else, even though these events were referenced. When Disney Plus arrived it was all mixed up. Disney needed new Marvel shows to attract and keep subscribers (like The Mandalorian made). Former director of Marvel TV, Jeph Loeb, was effectively ousted because everything was under the responsibility of Marvel Studios chief and MCU architect Kevin Feige.
Under Feige, the MCU is now expanding. The different shows and films will intermingle. WandaVision will feature characters from Thor, Ant-Man, and Captain Marvel and somehow connect to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. As former Disney executives recounted The edge which viewers won’t need to watch every movie or show to follow, the strategy is meant as comic books – references made to events that happened elsewhere that fans may want to watch to understand the context in its together.
In people’s opinion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, having a new Marvel thing every week is either a blessing or a curse. The question is, when does it go oversaturated? Some people may feel that we have reached this point. While studios and networks are producing more movies and TV shows than ever before (including outside the superhero genre), few things dominate the box office and conversations like Disney properties, especially Marvel and Star wars. Throwing an endless wave of Marvel TV series, in addition to three or four films a year, could be what topples the world into total franchise fatigue.
Except it probably won’t. Franchise fatigue is a popular phrase that is spreading, but ultimately it is flawed. Superhero movies remain among the biggest box office hits that are driving people to theaters at a time when American audiences are seeing, on average, fewer movies per year. In China, Marvel films remain among the top performing films made by US studios, and the Chinese box office is the second largest demographic at the box office. That’s not to say that the Marvel movies are the whole, the end of all movies (far from it), but the general public isn’t tired of it. Prior to Infinity war and End of Game, entries like Black Panther and Captain Marvel drove some of the MCU’s biggest hits – and these were new characters within the MCU, not Captain America. Public demand has not disappeared.
Marvel Studios and Disney’s most pressing concern isn’t franchise fatigue – it’s confidence. Think about Star wars. With the exception of Solo, each Star wars the film released in the past five years has performed exceptionally well, but critical opinion of the films has soured. People were arguing the force awakens is just a remake of A new hope, The Rise of Skywalker is constantly soaked, The Last Jedi is at the center of its own ongoing debate, and Solo feels like two movies crushed into a messy affair.
Productions have been plagued by directors and writers firing, with Disney rushing to release a Star wars film per year, leaving little room for proper rewrites. Disney arguably lost fan confidence in its ability to always do good Star wars movies – or, as analyst and venture capitalist Matthew Ball puts it, it’s “an accumulated disappointment.” Disney tried to rush everything. There didn’t seem to be a 10-year plan for Star wars. Marvel Studios’ greatest asset is that Feige was able to archetypal what the universe should look like. It’s not exactly quality over quantity – they continue to make more MCU movies every year – but quantity without losing the overall thread of history.
Ironically, Star wars also shows how having more of Marvel can still work. As Rogue One before that, The Mandalorian succeeds because he is familiar but is autonomous. It is obviously Star wars, and there are enough references to the key Star wars numbers and moments that diehard fans can dig into the thick of it. It’s also new and unique enough, however, that it doesn’t feel like a rushed entry into a universe that makes a ton of money for Disney. The MandalorianThe creators of Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni had time to understand this.
By all accounts, WandaVision is in the same boat. The characters are familiar, but the show is so different from anything in the MCU that it feels quite refreshing. Maintaining people’s trust and avoiding increased disappointment plays into the timeliness of streaming. Experimentation should be encouraged. If it works, the odds of continued success and profitability have no cap.
If not, it’s more forgivable on a streaming service, where people pay monthly for new content in addition to their favorite movies and TV shows. It’s not the same as paying $ 10 or more for a movie ticket or tens of millions of dollars in Disney losses. Book safe bets on big tentpole movies that do more than go back on the original investment and marketing campaign; experience on Disney Plus where people are looking Something to satisfy their appetite.
The main trap of streaming is thinking because there is a monthly demand from subscribers that speed is a priority. Consistency is, but consistency also means quality and originality – especially with properties like Marvel and Star wars. The stakes are higher; there is a precedent for great, a precedent for horrible, and a hungry fan base that will only accept substandard movies or television for so long.
The good news is that Marvel Studios just needs to keep doing what it already does. Feige – an architect who designs Marvel scenarios a decade in advance, seeking to make a giant universe feel tangible and new – is now tasked with ensuring that the same level of attention is applied to the world. Disney Plus. We’re about to enter a period where there will constantly be new content from Marvel Studios. It sounds exhausting – but it doesn’t have to be.
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