When Iron Man was released in 2008, Marvel had stumbled onto the formula that would create countless movie franchises.
Superhero + Funny + Relatively Family Friendly = Big Bucks
After some light tweaking through the first Hulk film and subsequent Iron Man 2, it seemed like Marvel had it all figured out.
Now after 19 movies the formula is just starting to change. But much too slowly.
It seems like I am able to predict every single facet of movie. Jokes, the ending, characters that show up. The only thing that really surprises me are the Stan Lee cameos.
Stan Lee Having a Good Ass Time
Also why does everything have to be world ending? I loved Spider-man Homecoming. It was true to what Spider-man was!
A friendly neighborhood Spider-man.
I'm hoping you have seen the newest Avengers movie, and so if not, SPOILERS AHEAD.
warningPhoto by Stefan Steinbauer
Like everyone dies.
Not EVERYone. Actually half of everyone.
This added something that the marvel movies were missing (something DC really did a good job with).
Consequence?
When the good guys acted like idiots, they paid the price. They died. They were imprisoned.
In the early movies there was little to no consequence which led to two different issues.
Firstly, too many heroes.
Too Many CooksAdult Swim
There are like a billion Marvel characters and at this point it's hard to keep up. I'm currently watching Thor Ragnarok. Partly because they just added it to Netflix and partly because I actually wanted to see it.
In the Thor “universe" alone there are about 400 characters with rich backstories and, if you missed one, or saw them out of order (because Marvel forgets every number past three), you would be so confused.
Secondly, it makes us numb to the danger on screen.
We know that Thor isn't going to die. He has like six more movies to do! Same with Spider-man, or any of the newer movies. Iron Man is definitely going to die because RDJ is tired and wants another role.
Infinity war took all of our perceived knowledge about how a Marvel movie is made and flipped it on its head. The bag guy won. Most of our heroes are dead. All hope seems lost.
That's how you sell tickets folks! After that, everyone will watch the next movie. Marvel could run blank ads that just say Avengers: Next Movie and we would all go.
At least I would.
Moving on, Marvel has a choice.
They can go back to their formula and make movies that most people will see.
Or they can do what we all want them to do.
Rewrite the formula.
Ad consequence and reason back into superhero movies. Make our hero's think and act as if they are real people.
Make our heroes independent of one another as they fight their own battles. Come together for mutual gains or support. Don't just have people show up and do stuff because the plot needs it.
This is what I want for Marvel and for all movies. The "why." Today's movies are missing the why.
Now go watch your favorite movie and ask why. Why do the characters do what they do?
