New Delhi: Marvel Studios is one of the largest companies in terms of box office numbers and fan following. Starting from Marvel comics to the creation of MCU, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the firm has come a long way. Serving its fan base with superhero characters like Spiderman, Iron Man, Captain America and many more, Marvel is playing in a different league altogether.
A look at Phase 4 of MCU
Phase 4 of the MCU began on Disney+Hotstar with Wanda Vision in January 2021. After the success of Phase 3 and ending it with Avengers: Endgame, the MCU gained a lot in terms of numbers and critical acclaim. The stage was set for Marvel to capitalise and use ‘multiverse’ as the new idea for phase 4.
Marvel again managed to gift a treat to its fans, not only with movies released in cinemas but also by adding MCU web series to its repertoire. Wanda Vision, which seemed to be a family drama, had a lot of secrets in its womb and seemed to be a well-planned show. The next show, Falcon and the Winter Soldier also panned well showing the incidents after everyone’s beloved Steve Rogers passed the job of Captain America. This show, however, showed Marvel’s lack of intent in talking about politics. They had a great chance to talk about racial discrimination in America and they even hit the issue but in the end, it was just treated by means of a monologue. If talking about politics is what it intends to do, then Marvel needs to have more cinematic tools in its arsenal.
Loki and Moon Knight were two great shows created by Marvel, which got a bit imbalanced as they approached the end, but were still fine pieces of art. Moon Knight was more like the vigilante Marvel shows that were released on Netflix. But as phase 4 continued, it seemingly became all about giving nostalgic and good graphical treats to the fans. Especially, Spider-Man: No Way Home, which brought in three spider-mans in form of Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland, was just a piece of nostalgia rather than offering a compelling plot.
A similar thing happened with Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness, where there was no good conflict to root for. Even many Marvel fans did not like the film and this shows that there is some serious issue with Marvel. Eternals, made by Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao featured Harry Styles and Angelina Jolie. The movie had the numbers to show, but the critics, as well as the audience, did not like the film.
The numbers
The box office numbers are working well in favour of Marvel. Spider-Man: No Way Home earned around $1.9 billion across the globe, which shows that Marvel need not worry about the money side of it. Even DC, another superhero franchise, does not have similar numbers. With 10 MCU films in the top 50 highest-grossing films, the franchise stands at the top of the list of franchises.
This has also posed a hurdle for critically acclaimed films which are not able to do well at the box office. It is not just Marvel, but many similar franchises putting a lot of money into production, are earning much more than the films which are winning Oscars.
Where is Marvel going wrong?
It is not like Marvel has never created a good superhero story. Series like Daredevil, Jessica Jones and others have gained a lot of good reviews both from the critics as well as the audience. First of all, for writing a good superhero story one needs to have a good conflict in the plot, secondly, if the protagonist is more of a human than a superhero, it becomes more relatable to the audience. For instance, Matt Murdock aka Daredevil faces a conflicting question that should he kill the bad people or should he not. This question is constantly used to define his choices and hence define his character. Marvel did a good writing job with the character of Killmonger in Black Panther by introducing a grey villain who is not simply right or wrong.
What MCU is failing at is the treatment of what is available on the table while writing. Giving nostalgia to your fans is okay, but the first and foremost task of a film is to deliver a compelling story.
As ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ is about to release on July 7, the hopes are really high as Thor: Ragnarok did well. Thor is one of those characters who have got a good character arc. From being unworthy to winning against all his opponents and then losing Asgard, makes for fine character development.
* The views shared in the write-up are the writer’s personal opinions.
