Popular Cinema Assessment Task #3 Liam Morkham 23/10/15

How can the Marvel Universe that The Avengers inhabits be understood
in relation to the historical trajectory of popular cinema as an industrial
and aesthetic form that we have explore in this course?

One of the rejuvenating factors in the longevity of film as a medium of entertainment has
unarguably always been the continual shifting of which film genres and styles have fallen in
and out of popular culture. The superhero genre being one of the most recent and also most
successful genres to fall into popular contemporary cinema, can be used as a tool to
highlight the industrial and historical implications of the shifting mainstream cinema. And
while the superhero genre has existed in a less development form prior to the inception of
the marvel cinematic universe or MCU, the new successful trend to arise within both
superhero films and in the broader view of cinema, is the intertextuality and shared
universes between films that allows many creative and marketing benefits not accessible to
films operating in solitary universes. In the case of Marvel, having many different characters
and plots exist simultaneously within their own dedicated films and beyond that within the
defined universe in which all these characters and plots share, and even at times interact
with each other, specifically The Avengers (2012) and The Avengers 2: Age Of Ultron (2015)
in which fans are serviced with seeing all their favourite marvel characters join together
onscreen with impressive narrative and financial payloads.

A key component in understanding both the success of Joss Whedons The Avengers and the
universe in which the character specific films inhabit is through the history of film crossovers
prior to the MCU. Such films as King Kong Vs. Godzilla (1962), Who Framed Roger Rabbit
(1988) and Alien Vs. Predator (2004), all received extreme financial success by falling under
the industrial model of filmmaking in which these films employ: genre: training, promotion,
advertising, education, propaganda, etc. (B. Oakes 2010, p.96) to build success. These prior
examples in some way parallel what Marvel has strived to achieve in creating a self-
promoting film franchise that in a sense, embodies the notion that each of the films is a
trailer to the next. Perhaps one of the most prominent examples of a company attempting
to pioneer this convergence between films into creating a universe, is the financially
successful crossover film Alien vs. Predator, which released in 2004 and was the result of
converging two existing franchises from the same studio (20th Century Fox). While both the
Alien and the Predator franchises existed as separate film entities prior to the 2004
release, the 1990 film Predator 2 featured a short glimpse of what fans recognized as the
skull of A Xenomorph (The monster featured in the Alien franchise), leading to fans into
realizes that these films existed within the same universe. While this was initially just a fun
homage to the franchise it ended up prompting 20th Century Fox into taking this a step
further into making 2 crossover films based on this Easter egg.
Easter egg being a term that most fans and critics of the Marvel films should be well
acquainted with by now as hidden nods to other characters and references to comics or
upcoming films are a large financial and aesthetic signature of the superhero genre and
more specifically Marvel. This not only provides diehard fans with extra little titbits of
information about the world and characters of each film, but it is also an assisting factor in
allowing The Walt Disney Company as well as Marvel to prematurely test which characters
could work in future films by featuring little pieces of information or short scenes of
characters to establish a character does exist in the MCU and then use the fan reaction as
a gauge as to if it could work and with enough hype and support, potential being made into
films, an example of this being Captain Americas shield being featured in Iron Man (2008)
before the release Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). Marvel continued to develop
this device as a means of promotion through after credit sequences because a guest star
would show up and say something portentous. Something wicked awesome this way comes.
(S. Waxman 2015, p1). Leading to marvel using this model as a means of self-sustained
advertising that would preview films before they might have even begun production.

A key focus point in understanding the industrial processes of Marvel Studios relates
strongly to many already established marketing and financial practices that paved the way
for Marvel and Disney to build a collection of films into a stronger and more profitable
business model. David Maisel, a key member who contributed in planning Marvel Studios
initial production slate and business model in 2007 at the beginning of the MCU stated that
he strived to transform his division of Marvel Entertainment into a true filmmaking brand,
maintaining control from script to release, keeping all the profits for the company and
building a film library (S. Waxman 2015, p1). This model of independently controlling the
entities of films relates strongly to The Hollywood Studio System of the 1930s and 1940s
which would see films developed, exhibited and maintained by the specific company of
ownership and dominate these three functions (D. Gomery 1986, p2), and while the
examples of classic cinema may appear as an archaic oligopoly of filmmaking, Marvel and
the parent company Disneys business model of developing films with the ownership over all
characters and content does bleed into the definition of the listed model above from 70
years ago with the exception of Marvel films having a much larger amount of contributors as
the auteurs of such films. This being said, Marvel has developed their model a step further
through having all films developed by the company to exist within the universe and abiding
by briefs set out by Marvel creative executives to oversee that all films can exist
harmoniously within the MCU and build upon each other. During the development of
Marvels Ant Man (2015) this actually lead to the initial film director Edgar Wright pulling out
of the production as Marvels requirements didnt co-inside with Wrights vision for the film
as Marvel films are as much made by the studio itself as it is by the writers and filmmakers
tasked in bringing it to life.
Expanding upon the notion of Marvel and Disneys ruthless business model of ensuring that
each film contains both a story written and produced by the team working on the film, but
also contain other requirements set out by the studio in order to promote or set up for
future films, has led to Marvel pioneering their own method of filmmaking. This model being
that each film inherently is a promo or trailer as it were for other upcoming films. The
Avengers can have much of its success accredited to this concept when put into perspective
of its financial profits. Being the 4th highest grossing film of all time, it is fair to make the
assumption that due to the 5 already released film at the time that made up Phase 1 of
the MCU films (2008-2012), The Avengers was already set for financial success as much of
the marketing and advertising had already been achieved through the building hype
surrounding the existing films which all established and built upon a key character in their
own film in such a way that The Avengers film could jump in straight into the conflicts and
plots layed out by the other films without needing to introduce characters to the audience.
A better summary of this notion being that The phenomenon of crossovers is characterized
by a storyline that starts in an episode of one show and concludes in an episode of another
show (J. KJjelstrup 2007, p.32). While Kjelstrup is discussing this idea of crossover in
reference to primetime TV, the semantics implied by Kjelstrup can be directly transposed to
the Marvel Cinematic universe where in each character focused film such as Iron Man or
Thor is the start of an episode within the MCU and The Avengers being the conclusion of a
specific story arch in which a storyline is concluded and a new one started again by the next
phase of solo films such as Thor 2 or Captain America 2: Winter Soldier making up a new
chapter of the Marvel franchise films.

Another echo to the practices of classical cinema in terms of the Hollywood Studio System is
that of the stars that play the characters in the Marvel films. With much of the stars chosen
for the roles of the main characters in each marvel film being less established actors or
actors that many not be bound to other films (at least at the time of casting), allowing
Marvel studios to create long term business investments with each actor being contractually
signed to not just 1 film but to a series of films, with most actors playing key roles in the
MCU currently still being contracted until 2018 or about to end their contracts in 2016. This
decision has worked in Marvels favour allowing the studio to not be bound to constantly
changing the focus characters of each of their films, but instead ease the transition over
times by introducing new characters/actors in already established characters films and
having enough characters that some can depart without necessarily affecting the sales and
financial success of the films. The upcoming Captain America 3: Civil War (2016) being the
best example as in which many of the current stars of the Marvel films prior will have their
contracts either expire or renew with other newer characters becoming more predominant
or take the place of characters set to depart, with Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans being
the two stars rumoured to be departing or at least have their contracts expire. While this
would be a detrimental blow to any company in which fans have become attached to
characters, Marvel has been able to prepare over time with many other newer characters
more than prepared to take their place for future films. Thus Marvel has created a
rejuvenating and evolving film model in which they are not bound to certain stars or
characters in such a way that will enable the Marvel films to continue to flourish in such a
way that very other films or TV shows have been able to achieve.
 From an aesthetic standpoint from all that has been discussed about Marvels innovation in
creating many of their own practices, or at least building upon existing financial and
aesthetic operations of cinema. It is also fundamental to analyse some of the established
traits of the action genre and narrative model that superhero movies adopt in order to reach
such peaks of success. Scott Higgins writes in his analytical study on Melodramatic
Narrative and the contemporary action film that the action genre has become both The
most popular and most popularly derided of contemporary genres (S. Higgins 2008, p.74) in
reference to the three act narrative that many action films adopt in which the narrative can
be viewed of a rollercoaster that peaks and dips leading up to a point of conflict and climax
towards the end of the film and then resolution. Joss Whedon himself confirmed that The
Avengers followed this model closely stating that: They [Marvel Studios] wanted a set piece
in the middle that tore the team apart somehow. And there had to be an epic final battle. "I
was like, great, you just gave me your three acts," (A. Rogers, 2012, p1.). With Joss Whedon
furthering this point by saying that all he had to do is: "justify getting to those places and
beyond them." With superhero films almost existing to the point in which they have
established their own genre it becomes easy to forget that it was only through building upon
existing methods and styles of filmmaking in terms of genre and narrative that the film have
been able to reach this peak of success.

In summary, The Marvel Cinematic Universe in terms of success and comprisal can be
understood as an amalgamation between existing film practices regarding crossovers and
intertextuality as well as a neo-cinematic formula built upon by Marvel into a profitable and
critically successful business model that incorporates marketing strategies that build upon
each film through the success of prior instalments. From a historical perspective having
Marvel adopt many of the established practices of classic cinema in which a film is
completely owned and overseen by the studio, allowing for a more streamlined and
profitable film model.

BIBLIOGRAPHY CITATIONS:

- Suspenseful Situations: Melodramatic Narrative and the Contemporary Action Film,

Scott Higgins, Cinema Journal Vol 47, No.2 (winter, 2008) p. 74-96

- Gomery, Douglas. The Hollywood Studio System: 1930-1949. in the Hollywood

Studio System. British Film Institute Cinema Series. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1986.
P1-25

- Waxman, Sharon. Marvel Wants to Flex Its Own Heroic Muscles as a Moviemaker
New York Times, 18th June 2007,
www.nytimes.com/2007/06/18/business/media/18marvel.html (accessed 14/3/2015)
 - Sarris Andrews, Notes on the Autuer Theory in 1962, the primal screen: essays on
film and related subjects, (p. 38-52). New York: Simon and Schuster, [1974]

- Building films for business: Jamison Handy and the industrial animation of the Jam
Handy Organization, Brian Oakes, Film History Vol. 22, No. 1, This Issue: Footnotes
to Film History (March 2010), pp. 95-107

- Challenging Narratives: Crossovers in Prime Time, J. RICHARD KJELSTRUP,

Journal of Film and Video, Vol. 59, No. 1 (SPRING 2007), pp. 32-4

- Carl Barks and the Disney Comic Book: Unmasking the Myth of Modernity by
Thomas Andrae, Review by: Susan Louise Stewart, MELUS, Vol. 32, No. 3, Coloring
America: Multi-Ethnic Engagements with Graphic Narrative (Fall, 2007), pp. 310-
312

- Rogers, A. (2012, 05). Master of the universe. Wired, 20, 170-n/a. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1021206693?accountid=13552

- Why I Hate Superhero Movies, Scott Bukatman, Cinema Journal, Vol. 50, No. 3
(Spring 2011), pp. 118-122

(3 Internal Articles from course readings and 5 External Research Articles)