fourteenacross:comicsalliance:WHY MARVEL STUDIOS SUCCEEDS (AND HOW IT WILL FAIL IF IT DOESN’T DIVERS

fourteenacross:comicsalliance:WHY MARVEL STUDIOS SUCCEEDS (AND HOW IT WILL FAIL IF IT DOESN’T DIVERSIFY)By Andrew WheelerGuardians Of The Galaxy just enjoyed a very successful weekend at movie theaters, taking home around $94m, far in excess of expectations. The movie also stands at 92% positive reviews on aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, joining all previous Marvel Studios movies in receiving predominantly favorable notices.Marvel Studios is doing very well. In six years and ten movies, it has avoided both critical and commercial disasters, and frustrated naysayers who hailed the demise of the superhero movie at every step. Marvel’s rivals at Fox, Sony/Columbia, and Warner Bros, have enjoyed commercial success as well — but not with the acclaim, consistency, or proliferation of Marvel. So how does Marvel do it, and can they keep doing it?I think the secret to Marvel’s success owes much to necessity. Marvel simply can’t afford to screw up the superhero movie business, because it’s the only business the studio is in. That sounds like a circular argument — it succeeds because it can’t fail — but I think Marvel’s singular focus forces it to be smart, ambitious, and innovative in ways that its rivals are slow to understand. Marvel Studios succeeds because it goes all-in.Look at Marvel’s competitors and it becomes clear that superhero movies are not their sole priority. Fox has its Fantastic Four reboot and its X-Men franchise, but it makes plenty of other movies, including other franchises — Assassin’s Creed, Ice Age, Planet Of The Apes, Taken, etc. Sony/Columbia wants to build a universe around Spider-Man with Sinister Six, Venom, and perhaps Black Cat or Spider-Woman, but it also has the James Bond franchise, Jump Street, The Smurfs. DC’s parent company Warner Bros. is a beast, and it didn’t just make the Dark Knight movies; it also had Harry Potter, The Hobbit, The Hangover, and much more, including the new Godzilla. There are people at Warner Bros. who never have to think about Batman.There is no-one at Marvel Studios who doesn’t have to think about Captain America.READ MOREThis is a really interesting (I don’t necessarily agree with a couple of the more subjective things at the beginning) look at the more administrative/production process side of both the shared universe and the “why is this franchise entirely white men?” issue. It’s also really fucking depressing. It’s one thing to know, intellectually, that the shared universe rests on the shoulders of a bunch of franchises lead by young white blonde dudes (and RDJ) and another to see the numbers and the schedule and the facts all laid out.The comments (which you shouldn’t read—don’t make my mistake) also seemed to me to reinforce what I’m starting to feel is the general vibe of Marvel Studios at this point—“We gave you ten great movies you loved. Why are you complaining? We took all these risks to build a shared universe of interconnected series with real consequences for the characters and you praised that and now, after all we’ve done for you, it’s not good enough? You liked it before, why are you getting greedy now?” It’s an argument structured around some truths—the studio took risks in a way that, while maybe not entirely new, was certainly new and fresh at the time. The movies built on each other, there was continuity and consequences and more-or-less did better by the (few) women characters than some franchises. It told a bunch of good, diverse (genre-wise, not talent-wise) stories. But there’s this prevailing attitude among the white dude fanbase that we should be happy with this plateau. That because we like these things, expressing frustration that there are zero headlining women and zero headlining people of color is rude or uncalled for, as if having issues with the future of the shared universe and the role of people who look like us invalidates any joy we take from the stories that already exist. If 44% of the GotG audience was women, then obviously women are perfectly happy and don’t need a woman-led movie, because it’s apparently an “either/or” situation.It’s hard enough to deal with fans who take this position, but I’m starting to feel like it’s not just the fans, but the studio as well. Yes, the shared universe of Marvel was cool and innovative when it launched and yes, we’re really excited by it. But you can only be innovative and on the cutting edge like that if you continue to do more, to take new risks, to be more progressive. If you keep making the same movie—young white blonde dude named Chris comes to terms with his responsibilities and powers—you don’t get to keep saying you’re innovative and new and experimental.I dunno. I’m a queer lady who really loves these movies (albeit not as deeply as some of you) and who is getting tired of being told by the internet and the executives alike that I should not only be happy with what I have, but not want anything more. -- source link

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