By Geoff Carter
Chris Favero from USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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A segment of the film industry has been stuck in a self-induced rut for the past twenty years or so—which is not atypical. Once they find a successful formula, the big studios hang onto it, producing film after film after film based on the same premise or set of characters. I suppose from a businessman’s point-of-view this is a sensible practice. If people will pay to see Spider-Man or The Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy or Star Wars or The Raiders of the Lost Ark, Taken or The Terminator or Mission Impossible or…. I could go on.
And granted, any genre is relatively predictable. Romcoms almost invariably have happy endings. Action films always end up with the good guys winning. The same with your typical Disney flick. The truth is that, not unlike the child who demands to have the same book read to her night after night, most viewers want to see the same story over and over again. The process of doing thing over and over again is affirming and somehow soothing. The child (and viewer) is once again reassured the world is predictable and knowable.
According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, Marvel Studios has produced thirty-one films and eight television series since its advent with the release of Iron Man in 2008, grossing over twenty-eight billion dollars world-wide. In 2021 and 2022, the studio released seven films and eight series. While box office grosses were high, fans began grousing about the declining quality of the franchise. One fan said seeing the new releases felt like “the continuing grind of capitalism.” (L.A. Times).
Yet the franchise is still thriving, even though its parent company, Disney, has been floundering recently. Disney+ and some of its other streaming services have been struggling, and its theme parks, usually its financial bedrock, have come under criticism for recent tweaks in its customer service and pricing. But, if the rumblings are true, and fans of the Marvel Universe are feeling a bit oversaturated, what will the studios do? With already over thirty-one films out there, will they continue trying to milk the cash cow or will they slow down and try to produce greater quality films, or—God forbid—films outside its comic book universe?
And this begs the question of what came first—audience preference or corporate manipulation of taste. Do Marvel and Disney and other major studios help create audience preferences through their marketing strategies? Of course they do. This is what advertising is all about. Create a demand and then exploit it. Since the film industry deals with imagination, a product less concrete than pick-up trucks or deep fryers, they will create narratives that cater to an audience’s wishes and fantasies. The romcom affirm the hope for finding true love. Action films affirm the validity of simple justice—usually through violence. Other films reinforce the mythos of the Western hero (see John McClain in Die Hard), the feel-good validity of the revenge plot, or the appeal of the underdog story.
Of course, none of these narratives were dreamed up by the studios, but they were surely exploited—and over-exploited by them. Besides Marvel and DC, we have many, many other lucrative franchises like The Terminator, Mission Impossible, and now—in its latest installment of Indiana Jones—starring action octogenarian Harrison Ford.
If, as recent reports seem to indicate, audiences are getting tired of consuming the same pablum, where will they turn? The popularity of HBO’s Succession, Squid Game, and Black Mirror suggest that the people’s sensibilities are wider and more sophisticated than the big studios have supposed. Of course, the worldwide viewing audience is not a hegemonic entity; it is comprised of thousands of cultural subsets—which explains successful auteurs like Wes Anderson or Quinten Tarantino. That being said, it seems as if the viewing public that has been (literally) born and raised with Marvel might be on the verge of having their fill. Even though, according to Statista, although fifty-four percent of Americans have seen at least one Marvel movie, maybe that thread is running out.
Where will viewers go after breaking out of the hermetically sealed fantasy world of Marvel—or DC, for that matter? More fantasy? The phenomenal popularity of HBO’s Game of Thrones, a fantasy set in the fictional land of Westeros, would seem to indicate that there is an unending appetite for worlds of the imagination. And yet, the film industry is still producing smaller more sophisticated movies with an eye toward something besides profit.
Last year’s Academy Award nominees for Best Picture (a metric for industry recognition) included Tar, Women Speaking, Triangle of Sadness, The Banshees of Inisherin, and The Fabelmans. None of them, not even Steven Spielberg’s autobiographical epic, did very well at the box office. Yet they were recognized as outstanding films by the Academy and received widespread critical acclaim. Auteurs like Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, and Tim Burton have been stretching the envelope of new cinematic possibilities for years. Their influences and innovations can be seen all over the film industry (see the travel sequence in the new Barbie movie), yet while they do enjoy some popularity, they do not begin to touch the earning power of Marvel.
If—and when—Marvel founders, another franchise will be there to pick up the baton. The only question is which studio, or producer, will have enough courage to try something new, something unproven. Unfortunately, no one seems very excited to try anything new. Disney went to the lengths of putting out live remakes of their animated classics (some of which did quite well at the box office). The Lion King, Cinderella, Mulan, Beauty and the Beast, and now The Little Mermaid are the “newest” fare from this corporate behemoth. Instead of producing new animated gems like they did in the nineties, Disney chose to play it safe—which is unfortunate for the movie fan. Although there is a certain affirmation and reassurance in reliving the familiar, film can be—and should be—a vehicle for exploring the furthest realms of imagination.
When the heir apparent to the Marvel Universe has been crowned, the average Joe will end up watching something very familiar and very worn, but that’s what they want, right? Or is it? Han Solo, Simba, Sarah Conner, or Danny Ocean may seem like good old friends, but, as with anyone or anything we see all the time, they get boring.
Marvel burnouts have choices. They can move on to another comfortable franchise whose narratives are predictable and reassuring, films that take place in fantastic worlds far from their own, or they can go to movies that are new, exciting, and even challenging movies that tackle everyday life head-on. Viewers shouldn’t be judged for their choices. One is as good as the other. They should only be thankful that there are such choices. As cinephiles, we are lucky that the Tars and Banshees exist side by side with Rocket Raccoon and Bruce Banner; we can only hope it stays that way.
Notes
- https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-05-03/marvel-studios-movies-mcu-box-office-reviews-fan-reactions
- https://www.statista.com/topics/5313/marvel/#topicOverview
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/807367/marvel-movie-viewership-age/#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%2C%20around,terms%20of%20box%20office%20revenue.