If Marvel Studios succeeds, people will have a new entry into the Marvel cinematic universe almost every week.
It all starts with WandaVision. Marvel’s new nine-episode show, which follows Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff and Paul Bettany’s Vision living an absurd suburban life in an alternate universe, begins on January 15. Two episodes will debut, with new episodes being released every week for the rest of the season. Just two weeks later WandaVision ends, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier go to arrive. It is then three weeks until Black Widow hits theaters (unless it’s delayed again) and Loki arrives at Disney Plus. By the time Loki ends, it will be time to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
You get the picture.
Before the launch of Disney Plus, Marvel Studios worked exclusively with films. Television shows fell into Marvel Entertainment’s separate TV division. This includes the Netflix series set (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage), shows on Hulu (The fugitives) and ABC titles like Agent Carter and SHIELD agents. It’s what kept Marvel’s cinematic universe separate from everything else, even if those events were referenced. When Disney Plus appeared, everything changed. Disney needed new Marvel programs to attract subscribers and keep them (like The Mandalorian did). Jeph Loeb, former Marvel TV boss, was effectively deposed when everything came under the command of Marvel Studios boss and MCU architect Kevin Feige.
Under Feige, the MCU is now expanding. The various programs and films will intertwine. WandaVision will feature characters from Thor, Ant-Man, and Captain Marvel and will somehow connect to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. While former Disney executives said The Verge that viewers don’t need to watch every movie or show to follow, the strategy is designed as comics – references made to events that took place elsewhere that fans may want to watch to understand the full context.
Depending on people’s opinions about the Marvel cinematic universe, having a new feature from Marvel each week is either a blessing or a curse. The question is when does this fall into supersaturation? Some people may feel that we have reached that point. While studios and networks are making more films and TV shows than ever before (including outside of the superhero genre), few things dominate the box office and conversations like Disney properties, most notably Marvel and Star Wars. The release of an endless wave of Marvel TV series, in addition to three or four films a year, could be what drives the world to the franchise’s total fatigue.
Except it probably won’t. Franchise fatigue is a popular phrase that spreads, but ultimately it is a failure. Superhero movies remain some of the biggest box office successes that take people to theaters at a time when the United States audience, on average, watches fewer films a year. In China, Marvel films remain some of the best films made by American studios, and the Chinese box office is the second largest box office demographic. This does not mean that Marvel films are the beginning, the end of everything in the film (far from it), but the mainstream audience is not tired of them. Before Infinite War and Endgame, entries like Black Panther and Captain Marvel it took some of the MCU’s biggest hits – and these were new characters within the MCU, not Captain America. Public demand has not gone away.
Marvel Studios and Disney’s most pressing concern is not the fatigue of the franchise – it is trust. Think about Star Wars. With the exception of Onlyeach Star Wars The film released in the past five years has performed exceptionally well, but critical opinion about the films has soured. People discussed The force awakens it’s just a remake of A new hope, The Rise of Skywalker is consistently plunged, The last Jedi is at the center of its own ongoing debate, and Only it seems that two films mix in a complicated case.
The productions were plagued by directors and writers being fired, with Disney rushing to launch a Star Wars film a year, leaving little space for proper rewriting. Disney has undoubtedly lost fans’ confidence in its ability to always do well Star Wars films – or, as an analyst and venture capitalist, Matthew Ball, says, it is an “accumulated disappointment”. Disney tried to rush everything. It didn’t seem like there was a 10 year plan for Star Wars. Marvel Studios’ biggest asset is that Feige was able to archetype how the universe should be. It’s not exactly quality instead of quantity – they keep making more MCU films every year – but quantity without losing the story line.
Ironically, Star Wars it also shows how having more Marvel can still work. To like a rogue before that, The Mandalorian it is successful because it is familiar, but it is independent. It’s obviously Star Wars, and there are enough references to the key Star Wars figures and moments that die-hard fans can delve into the heart of the matter. It’s also new and unique enough, however, that it doesn’t look like a rushed entry into a universe that generates a ton of money for Disney. The MandalorianThe creators of, Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, took the time to figure this out.
By all accounts, WandaVision is in the same boat. The characters are familiar, but the show is so different from anything inside the MCU that hopefully it looks totally refreshing. Maintaining people’s confidence and avoiding accumulated disappointments is taking advantage of the streaming opportunity. Experimentation should be encouraged. If it works, the opportunity for success and continued profitability has no limits.
Otherwise, it’s more forgivable on a streaming service, where people pay monthly for new content, in addition to their favorite movies and TV shows. It is not the same as paying $ 10 or more for a movie ticket or tens of millions of dollars in losses for Disney. Reserve safe bets for big, flashy support films that more than return the original investment and marketing campaign; try it on Disney Plus where people look something to satiate your appetite.
The main pitfall of streaming is thinking, because there is a monthly demand from subscribers that speed is a priority. Consistency is, but consistency also means quality and originality – especially with properties like Marvel and Star Wars. The stakes are higher; there is a precedent for the great, a precedent for the terrible, and a hungry fan base that will only accept below average movies or TV for a while.
The good news is that Marvel Studios just needs to keep doing what it is already doing. Feige – an architect who designs Marvel stories a decade in advance, figuring out how to make a giant universe look tangible and new – is now responsible for ensuring that the same level of attention is applied to the Disney Plus world. We are about to enter a period when there will be constantly new content from Marvel Studios. It looks exhausting – but it doesn’t have to be.