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Nowadays, it is hard not to run into a Marvel fan when you are adventuring in everyday life. Slowly but surely, Marvel has built up its fanbase to insane levels. It seems that most moviegoers are obsessed with the MCU and the movies found within it.
Marvel’s newest release, ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’, came out with mediocre critical reviews, but the Marvel fan base loved it as usual. One thing I and other critics noticed about this new Marvel film was that it seemed to follow Marvel’s closely held formula. This formula has been a part of Marvel and the MCU from the start and has recently grown into Marvel’s strongest weapon and also its biggest weakness.
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What Is the Marvel Formula?
Before I get into how the Marvel formula is Marvel and the MCU’s largest weak point, I must define exactly what the Marvel formula is. In short, the Marvel formula is a cinematic formula used by Marvel when it makes its feature films. The formula contains things like a typical hero’s arc, one-liners, and a moment where it looks like the hero has lost it all before they manage to come back and take victory.
All of this is seen in nearly every Marvel film. It is a formula that the higher-ups at Marvel like to stick to religiously and a formula they don’t deviate from often. This has many consequences for the MCU and filmmaking alike.
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The Consequences Created by This Formula
Along with this formula come many negatives. The first and most important con of this formula is that its use pumps the film industry full of unoriginal content. At the moment, the MCU is arguably the biggest and most important film franchise on the planet. This title holds a lot of weight and comes with a lot of responsibility when it comes to the art of filmmaking. This art must be preserved at all costs; however, using a formula to create movies goes against this art and instead creates commercial pieces whose sole purpose is to make and maintain a steady profit.
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The MCU has a responsibility to uphold, and by using a formula when they make their movies, they do not live up to this responsibility. Another negative that comes with this formula’s existence is the lack of creative power given to otherwise talented writers, directors, and other film crews. Making a director or writer adjust their work to fit a certain model goes against everything that the art of filmmaking is about. Filmmaking should be about creativity and creating new, entertaining, and important content, not sticking to a tightly held formula. This formula has even caused some directors to entirely abandon passion projects, such as when Edgar Wright left Ant-Man.
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Finally, another negative when it comes to this Marvel formula is that the formula as a whole produces content that is simply, for the most part, boring. Who wants to watch the same movie over and over again? I know that I would prefer not to, but over the years, that is what it feels like I’m doing when it comes to these Marvel releases. Year after year, it seems as if Marvel creates the same movie with a different title and characters. The plot always follows the same pathway that the formula dictates and never deviates from that. There is one exception to this, however, and as a result, this film is arguably my favorite Marvel film. That film is ‘Avengers: Infinity War’.
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What ‘Infinity War’ Does Right
Spoilers ahead for ‘Avengers: Infinity War’. While ‘Infinity War’ does for the most part follow the same Marvel formula full of action sequences, one-liners, and characters with zero depth throughout one film, the film itself features a stark difference from the Marvel formula. Namely, the heroes end up losing. Sitting in the theater and watching this, I was overjoyed as many of the Avengers and more turned to dust. Finally, Marvel had taken a chance and gone against their previous formula and ways of doing things. This was an all-welcome sight to see, and as a result, it quickly solidified ‘Infinity War’ as my favorite Marvel film.
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This type of small deviation from the Marvel formula made ‘Infinity War’ a much better movie than many of its competitors and was the key to the film’s success. This type of success can be easily replicated by Marvel; all they need to do is further deviate from the formula that they hold so dear. Doing this instantly makes their content much more original and intriguing, as the film will not be something that we have already seen ten times over. Marvel can do this, and furthermore, they can get great creative talents to lead this new revolution in filmmaking. All the higher-ups need to do is take a chance. All they need to do is ditch the formula that they have ridden for years and instead opt for a more original form of filmmaking. This will lead Marvel to great success, much greater than they are currently experiencing with their new line of films. Original filmmaking is the key to Marvel’s revamp and the key to their future success in the film industry and beyond.
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Closing
To end this article, I would like to further push the agenda on which I have been focused. Marvel needs to ditch their formula and adopt a filmmaking strategy that’s more based on the creativity of individuals instead of simply what has worked in the past. If Marvel continues down the route they’re currently on, I guarantee that they will soon fizzle out as people grow tired of the endless content machine that is Marvel. People will eventually take notice that they are watching the same movie or TV show over and over again, and they will take leave of the MCU. All of this can be easily avoided; however, all Marvel has to do is ditch the formula. It is that simple. If Marvel ditches the formula, then success will forever be theirs, and that I guarantee.
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.”
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