Can Marvel Studios Succeed Using The DC Formula?

WandaVision is out now on Disney +, marking the first Marvel Cinematic Universe content we’ve had in over a year. however, WandaVision is a project that Marvel Studios has warned fans will be unlike anything they’ve seen before – and so far it’s not the instant fan success that most MCU projects do. Kevin Feige and other creators at Marvel Studios have said Phase 4 will offer some of the most diverse content ideas the franchise has put together – an approach Warner Bros. and DC Films have fully embraced with their cinematic multiverse approach. .

But after so many years of running (and winning with) the same formula playbook for years, can Marvel Studios be successful using the DC Formula?

First: this is not an antagonistic question to ask. Ironically, this is a direct reversal of the question the industry was asking itself ten years ago. At the time, the MCU had just unveiled its Avengers stars and was showing solo movies like Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger in 2011, leading to the much anticipated (and ultimately groundbreaking) Marvel’s The Avengers team film in 2012.

At DC / Warner Bros., Chris Nolan had just taken superhero movies to the top of a billion dollar box office and major awards considerations, with the release of The black Knight. However, Nolan’s success also left DC / WB in an obvious situation: what to do with the biggest franchise in the Cinematic Universe that Marvel was building? Nolan was committed to making his Batman trilogy an isolated story; Yet in 2011, Henry Cavill’s Superman was announced for the Zack Snyder reboot (Steel man), Nolan was announced as part of the creative team for this film. This sent fans into rampant speculation that Nolan would be the Kevin Feige of the DC Cinematic Universe, and ultimately Christian Bale’s Batman would unite with Cavill’s Superman to form a Nolenverse Justice League, whose your would be very different from Marvel’s MCU offerings. When it later became clear that Nolan was done and Snyder was taking the reins of the DCEU, the debate turned to whether Snyder would seek to emulate Marvel’s PG-13 action / comedy tone.

For better or worse, the DC “Snyderverse” movies have gone in a very different way than the MCU. And yet, the chaos and confusion engendered by Snyder’s incomplete vision forced DC / WB to adapt its thinking on how to build a franchise. The new leadership at Warner’s has resulted in a DC branded “multiverse” content approach, where there will now be all kinds of movies and TV links. Movies like Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam, offer something more Marvel-Esque, while Joker was R-rated reward bait; the next The batman will offer a darker view of the Dark Knight than Nolan, while Flash The film’s alternate reality story will officially establish a DC cinematic multiverse. DC also offers streaming series of an equally wide variety to accompany their varied cinematic content – whether it is serious crime proceedings (Gotham PD), black comedy for adults (Peacemaker), or science fiction anthology (The Green Lantern).

Marvel Studios is clearly moving closer to DC in terms of content strategy: Phase 4 of the MCU will bring diverse cinematic content, in terms of concepts, genre influences, and cast (Eternals, Black Widow, Shang-Chi, Black Panther II, Thor: love and thunder). The Marvel Disney + series will take even more chances by offering fans unique genre approaches to Marvel material: WandaVision riffs on the evolution of TV sitcoms (and their social importance); Falcon and the Winter Soldier will get socio-political between great moments of action / espionage; even Loki does a fun heist / comedy riff on the madness of Marvel’s cosmic multiverse.

But will it work for Marvel?

Of particular concern are the Disney + Marvel series. Marvel Studios has never had to score big wins in an episodic week-to-week format before, and the franchise must have drawn fans into a high-concept premise since 2008 when Iron Man established the master plan for the Marvel films, or 2012 when Avengers established what Marvel event films are. It is therefore not surprising that WandaVision A slow-burning ode to the tropes of classic television leaves the fan base more divided than usual.

In our opinion (see: WandaVision Official Review) Marvel Studios got off to a good start with WandaVision; Fans may just need more time to adjust to the idea of ​​getting unexpected or surprising types of content from the MCU. If all goes to Kevin Feige’s plan, the massive multiverse story we’ll see in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse madness and Spider-Man 3 will send fans back to content like WandaVision again, to see what this gender weirdness was really everything on.

Do you think Marvel can take the same approach to multiverse content as DC is right now? Or are you hungry for that familiar Marvel flavor? Let us know in the comments.