Ben Ross is a writer at Hollywood Insider. He loves watching films and finding the message behind the art. With a love for movies and television, his goal is to understand as much as he can about anything he watches, and engage with readers about different topics related to the industry. He aims to find work that sheds a light on issues not really talked about and showcase it, feeling that it is important to understand the truth. Together with his readers, he hopes to celebrate beautiful stories in film and explore topics that are worth discussing – a value that defines Hollywood Insider.
Sep 1, 2024
Table of Contents
The film industry is in a much different place now than it was back in the 2000s. The most popular franchise was the ‘Harry Potter’series and the genre of superhero films was only beginning to really gain in popularity. But in 2008, a film came out that would radically change the landscape of blockbusters and big-budget studios: Marvel Studios’ ‘Iron Man.’
Now, 13 years later, Marvel Studios is absolutely dominating the film industry. Through what is dubbed “The Infinity Saga,” the Marvel Cinematic Universe (affectionately referred to as the “MCU” by fans and filmmakers alike) has gone through 3 different phases and released 23 films, to mostly positive critical success. Their 2019 film ‘Avengers: Endgame’ was, at one point, the highest-grossing film of all time. By November 2020, it was reported that the MCU was the single highest-grossing film franchise in the world, earning a total worldwide box office revenue of 2.8 billion U.S. dollars. That’s a staggering amount of money. So, with all of this success at the box office and all of these other studios attempting to copy them, how did Marvel Studios get this big?
The main reason, the lynchpin holding it all together, is Kevin Feige. Feige, the president of Marvel Studios and now the chief creative officer for all Marvel media, had envisioned creating a shared universe between films where characters could come and go between films. This would involve introducing new characters and then having them cross over to another character’s movie. With this idea, he planned to follow a similar path to the superhero comic books of the 1960s, where heroes constantly jumped between different stories to team up. He began by laying the groundwork in ‘Iron Man,’ then continuing it in Marvel’s next properties, ‘The Incredible Hulk,’ ‘Iron Man 2,’‘Thor,’ and ‘Captain America: The First Avenger.’ Finally, in 2012, he brought all the heroes from the previous films together in one big blockbuster battle in Marvel’s ‘The Avengers.’ The film was an immense success, grossing over 1 billion at the box office and being praised by critics and fans alike. Marvel Studios was now truly a Cinema force to be reckoned with.
It’s a really interesting strategy for storytelling. If audiences like certain superheroes from different films, then why not have them team up? People already know these characters from previous films, so introduction and character set-up becomes less of an issue when trying to fit an action-packed story into a two-to-three hour film. Merchandising becomes more profitable too. After all, who doesn’t want to see Iron Man team up with Captain America and Hulk and fight giant monsters together? The comics were smart enough to understand this, and Feige was wise to realize this vision and put it onto film.
DC Wants to Stay in the Game
Now, with the release and success of ‘The Avengers,’ other studios finally saw just how profitable these team-up movies could be and how much fans loved the idea of a shared universe between characters on film. Thus, they decided to start their own. In 2011, DC Films decided to begin creating their own cinematic universe to compete with Marvel (their longtime rival in the comics department) based on the superheroes from DC Comics. They marketed this as the DC Extended Universe, or the DCEU for short.
They planned to introduce characters in their own separate films before putting them together into one giant film and calling them the Justice League. Some of their films, such as ‘Wonder Woman’ and ‘Shazam!’ have been received positively, while many others have had negative reactions from fans and critics alike. This all culminated in the expensive blockbuster ‘Justice League.’ Despite a budget of $300 million, it only made about $658 million in the box office, a flop for a film of that magnitude. Now, DC has decided to focus back on individual films, rather than a shared universe like Marvel; one studio that has failed to copy the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Another interesting, and non-superhero, example is Universal Studios’ Dark Universe. Back in 2017, Universal Studios revealed their vision for the “Dark Universe” series of movies. These were films that involved the classic monsters of old, such as the Mummy, the Invisible Man, Frankenstein’s monster, etc. However, just like the MCU, these films would be connected, sharing characters and details that would carry over through the different stories. The plan was to have famous actors starring as the titular monsters, the actors in question being Johnny Depp, Russell Crowe, Tom Cruise, Sophia Boutella, and Javier Bardem. The first film to kick off the franchise: ‘The Mummy,’ starring Cruise as the titular character.
The film ended up bombing at the box office and garnering negative reviews from fans and critics alike. Complaints of bad acting, terrible writing, and too much setting up for the Dark Universe, ‘The Mummy’ was a failure in every aspect. After the negative reception, Universal decided to cancel their whole shared universe, leaving the rest of their films to be shut down. Now, they have a soft reboot planned, starting with ‘The Invisible Man,’ which premiered in 2020 to much more positive reviews. Despite not reaching anywhere near the heights of the MCU, the future of the Dark Universe seems to be in a much brighter position than before.
Film Pacing and Franchise Setting
So what does this mean for the MCU? Why has Marvel been so successful while so many other studios haven’t? The most important factor is star power. Casting well-known actors like Robert Downey Jr, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Scarlett Johansson creates a much easier box-office draw than casting lesser-known actors. If people know the face, then they’ll be more inclined to see it.
Another factor that has been critical to Marvel’s success is the idea of a good film versus a good franchise. A large factor into why both DC and Universal had failed to recreate the Marvel movie formula is that they were playing catch-up the entire time. They wanted to make their movies feel like crossovers from the start in order to introduce other characters that would be important for future films down the line. In other words, they were more focused on creating a good franchise instead of making a good film. In ‘Iron Man,’ Marvel never forced the idea of a shared universe down the audience’s throat. The movie played out completely as if it was a standalone entry, with the only hint at a sequel being in a quick post-credits scene. This is how Feige planned most of their early films, making them great in their own right and only hinting at more very minimally. They were more focused on a good film over a good franchise.
All of Feige and Marvel’s moves had worked out beautifully, and the payoff has made the MCU the biggest and highest-grossing film franchise of all time. Now, being finished with their first 3 phases and wrapping up the Infinity Saga, they plan on releasing 10 more films in 2 years, an insane feat that only a studio as successful as Marvel could attempt to pull off. Only time will tell if another studio will ever be able to fully replicate the unparalleled success that Marvel Studios has had in the last 13 years, but so far, it seems as though the Marvel Cinematic Universe has no plans of slowing down any time soon.
By Ben Ross
Click here to read The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase’s love letter to Cinema, TV and Media. An excerpt from the love letter: The Hollywood Insider’s CEO/editor-in-chief Pritan Ambroase affirms, “We have the space and time for all your stories, no matter who/what/where you are. Media/Cinema/TV have a responsibility to better the world and The Hollywood Insider will continue to do so. Talent, diversity and authenticity matter in Cinema/TV, media and storytelling. In fact, I reckon that we should announce “talent-diversity-authenticity-storytelling-Cinema-Oscars-Academy-Awards” as synonyms of each other. We show respect to talent and stories regardless of their skin color, race, gender, sexuality, religion, nationality, etc., thus allowing authenticity into this system just by something as simple as accepting and showing respect to the human species’ factual diversity. We become greater just by respecting and appreciating talent in all its shapes, sizes, and forms. Award winners, which includes nominees, must be chosen on the greatness of their talent ALONE.
I am sure I am speaking for a multitude of Cinema lovers all over the world when I speak of the following sentiments that this medium of art has blessed me with. Cinema taught me about our world, at times in English and at times through the beautiful one-inch bar of subtitles. I learned from the stories in the global movies that we are all alike across all borders. Remember that one of the best symbols of many great civilizations and their prosperity has been the art they have left behind. This art can be in the form of paintings, sculptures, architecture, writings, inventions, etc. For our modern society, Cinema happens to be one of them. Cinema is more than just a form of entertainment, it is an integral part of society. I love the world uniting, be it for Cinema, TV, media, art, fashion, sport, etc. Please keep this going full speed.”
Ben Ross is a writer at Hollywood Insider. He loves watching films and finding the message behind the art. With a love for movies and television, his goal is to understand as much as he can about anything he watches, and engage with readers about different topics related to the industry. He aims to find work that sheds a light on issues not really talked about and showcase it, feeling that it is important to understand the truth. Together with his readers, he hopes to celebrate beautiful stories in film and explore topics that are worth discussing - a value that defines Hollywood Insider.
Ben Ross is a writer at Hollywood Insider. He loves watching films and finding the message behind the art. With a love for movies and television, his goal is to understand as much as he can about anything he watches, and engage with readers about different topics related to the industry. He aims to find work that sheds a light on issues not really talked about and showcase it, feeling that it is important to understand the truth. Together with his readers, he hopes to celebrate beautiful stories in film and explore topics that are worth discussing – a value that defines Hollywood Insider.
Ben Ross is a writer at Hollywood Insider. He loves watching films and finding the message behind the art. With a love for movies and television, his goal is to understand as much as he can about anything he watches, and engage with readers about different topics related to the industry. He aims to find work that sheds a light on issues not really talked about and showcase it, feeling that it is important to understand the truth. Together with his readers, he hopes to celebrate beautiful stories in film and explore topics that are worth discussing – a value that defines Hollywood Insider.
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