Marvel will have the opportunity to discover that the secret of his good luck is not the interconnectivity or the undeniable summation appeal of superhero cinema.
Sony Move the third Spider-Man film directed via Jon Watts/Tom Holland with the most productive release date on the calendar is a smart game. Spider-Man’s films flourished during the long holiday weekends (Spider-Man 2, Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Man: Away from home premiered in the four July openings in 200four, 2012 and 2019), and Aquaman has shown ($335 million from a $72 million release in 2018) that a big-budget superhero film can make both at Christmas and Christmas in summer. The fact that Disney now owns a small stake in Sony’s Spider-Man franchise means they’re replacing a major Disney character with a large one close to Disney. In terms of Spider-Man 3 being the fantastic end of year named in court in 2021, “that’s good.”
But it also means “complicated thing” in terms of the post-Avengers calendar: Marvel’s Endgame. After the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was delayed, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness was considered unofficially, if not the first of the season, then the wonderful “mythological episode” that would usd after the wonderful phase 4 narrative (and beyond). Wandavision episodic of Ditto Disney, which would lead directly to the occasions of Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange sequel, adding a co-starring role in Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlett Witch. The film would stick to 3 probably independent MCU films (a prequel to Black Widow, Eternals and Shang-Chi and the legend of the ten rings). In a sense, the “mythology” of the MCU was taking a break after Avengers: Endgame.
Cate Shortland’s Black Widow probably wouldn’t have much effect on the continuity of the MCU (apart from making Florence Pugh the next proverbial Black Widow), and I would expect Destiny’s Shang-Chi Daniel Cretton to be as autonomous as Black Panther. If the film tries to be (commercially speaking) the Asian black panther, it would require a fairly autonomous narrative that requires little external wisdom about MCU. This will make those shown for demographic reasons easier to use and have not memorized all previous Marvel movies. Ditto Eternals through Chloe Zhao, where the audience acclimatizes to very unknown MCU assets (for the masses) in a cosmic story as autonomous as the guardians of the galaxy.
But now Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be released on March 25, 2022, after those 3 films and Spider-Man 3 through Jon Watts (December 17, 2021) and Thor: Love and Thunder through Taika Waititi (February 11) Array 2022). What was intended to be the first/start of Phase 4 is now necessarily the season finale before Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther 2 supposedly began phase five on May 6, 2022. It will apparently be followed through Captain Marvel 2 on July 8. Array 2022 and (potentially) Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man 3 on July 29, 2022. Since Phase 4 was intended to tell a linear story of Guardians 3 or Doctor Strange 2, it’s through the window.
This is not a fateful destination, because the MCU has been more autonomous than it was worth credit. Like The X-Files and Lost, MCU videos did not interconnect/dense in mythology until the end of “season two”, when we emotionally invested in the characters and their shared destiny. Even the films in the Phase III solo franchise separated from each other, with the exception of some “mythological episodes” such as Captain America: Civil War, which had to be seen for a “general image”. Spider-Man: Homecoming and Black Panther presented a useful exhibition for those who had not noticed this action game “Avengers 2.5”. The Guardians’ films were completely autonomous, as were (giving or taking a cameo or reference) Ant-Man’s photographs.
The two films between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame did not exactly present clues as to how the Cliffhanger Infinity War would be solved. Black Panther had no interest in knowing where this last infinity stone might be. The concept that each MCU movie provides clues about the next or even the next big crossing occasion is necessarily crafted through bloggers. Yes, solo franchises assume you’ve noticed the Avengers movies (a smart presumption, given their functionality compared to the maximum of other MCU movies), but the Avengers movies never assume you’ve noticed most of the exclusive movies. Damage to Spider-Man 3, Thor four, and Shang-Chi is maximum and probably minimal.
The key to Marvel’s advertising success, aside from the fact that most of his films are at least “good” and “publicly friendly” as A blockbuster IMAX-compatible entertainment, was to focus on the characters that on the plot and interaction between the characters that the screen and the interconnectivity. The shared universe was an attraction, but Kevin Feige and his friends treated it as a seasoning that as a main course, focusing mainly on the main characters. The main characters, especially the heroes (unlike the nasty scene thieves from Burton/Schumacher’s Batman images), were so well explained and so sincerely beautiful that the enthusiasts turned to them even if the film in question failed for an explanation of why or another. Like Lost, X-Files and the Harry Potter films, the MCU’s character of precedence.
That’s also why Marvel and DC Films will probably work well despite existing problems. Of course, the Avengers spend their time preventing villains and cosmic terrorists instead of viruses and (probably) corrupt police unions, but the videos can, if necessary, evolve over time. Audiences flock to those MCU and DC movies because they like the express versions of those express characters (whether Thor by Chris Hemsworth or Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman). The public relies on Steve Rogers of Chris Evans and Jason Momoa’s Arthur Curry to exercise their “absolute power” with humility and empathy. If the superheroes in the summary were a winning sale, Dark Phoenix would shoot MCU numbers and Hellboy would have been a success.
Since Marvel fandom has its roots in espresso characters, the logo has long earned the advantages of doubt by introducing new characters and mythologies, needless to say the audience will return. I can’t tell if the absence will make the center more affectionate, however, the almost random release schedule means that much of Phase 4 is possibly less interconnected than expected. And if the next batch of MCU videos works as well as otherwise, it will be evidence that the audience presents itself for express characters in the express world, not because of the promised interconnectivity as a thing in itself and not because they just love the summary. superhero film concept.
I’ve studied the film industry, both academically and informally, and with an emphasis in box office analysis, for nearly 30 years. I have extensively written about all
I studied the film industry, both academically and informally, and with an analysis in the workplace, for almost 30 years. I have written extensively on all these topics over the more than 11 years. My media for film reviews, workplace reviews and film bias scholarships have included The Huffington Post, Salon and Film Threat. Follow me on @ScottMendelson and like The Ticket Booth on Facebook.