Cameron

Dingee
ENC2135
10/29/15

An Examination of the Sustainability of Marvel Studios

As of recently, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been expanding at a rapid rate. The

studio has constantly been releasing blockbuster after blockbuster introducing more of their
universe to the silver screen. However, this rapid expansion comes at a price, one that could
potentially damage the entire production company. Several primary sources, such as films
produced, and secondary sources will be used to evaluate the sustainability of the Marvel
Cinematic Universe and Marvel Studios current model for expansion.

A Brief History of the Marvel Company

According to Robert Genter, a historian of the Marvel company, it was in the 1930s comic

books became a popular source of relatively cheap entertainment, combining interesting and
unique plots with detailed graphics to match the story. It is here that the Marvel company finds
its beginnings in Timely Publications, which began publishing comics involving now well-known
characters such as Captain America and Iron Man. Captain America, a patriotically themed
superhero, launched the company into a period of great success with the start of World War II,
causing the company to grow exponentially (Genter). However, this trend came to a stop at the
end of the war when the U.S. grew tired of acts of heroism and a man in a red, white, and blue
spandex was no longer needed.

With the Cold War and the threat of nuclear war, superheroes were called back into public

attention and once again became the main focus of every major comic book company. It was at
this point in time that the comic book industry really took off and entered into what has come to

be known as the Golden Age of comic books. Around this time Marvel launched several of its
now famous characters such as Spider-Man and the X-Men. The Golden Age lasted until the late
1980s where it once again tapered off (Genter). In order to reboot the genre, Marvel got into
the movie business.

The Walt Disney Company and Marvel Films

Beginning primarily in the 1980s, films based on the Marvel comics began being produced

by several different companies including Sony and 20th Century Fox. Films were a good medium
to portray comic books because they attract a youthful moviegoing demographic, appeal to
nostalgic older audiences, and offer thrills and well-defined archetype characters which were
extremely successful, especially when based on heroes who also have well-established track
records for popularity, licensing, and sequel potential (McAllister, Gordon & Jancovich 110).
Though the comic book makes a point of emphasizing how the characters of all of their comic
books exist in one universe, often referred to as the Marvel Universe, the films do not include
this key feature. With the rights of different characters owned by several different production
companies, collaboration on these films was nearly impossible. This is a major problem that
plagued the industry and without any major economic backing it wouldve continued, however
in 2009, The Walt Disney Company purchased Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (Rasmussen 2).
Instead of just absorbing Marvel into its conglomeration, Disney chose to set it up as a
subsidiary company which allowed Marvel to maintain most of its creative independence. This
is pivotal because the merger put Disney into the superhero business, an area that they had
been lacking in (Rasmussen 2). Likewise, the deal was beneficial to Marvel who had an interest

in being acquired by a company who would let them remain autonomous and provide them with
financing to complete their projects which they received from the Disney company (Rasmussen
4). Due to the fact that most production companies believed the superhero film genre to be
played out, Disney acquired most of the rights back relatively easily, with the exception of those
owned by Sony and 20th Century Fox. With most of the rights in its ownership, Disney was able
to fund a new production company that would be in charge of making all of the film adaptions:
Marvel Studios.

Marvel Studios and the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Traditionally, comic book-related films have done much to both establish the action-

oriented mega-blockbuster and the thematically and/or visually innovative art film and Marvel
Studios was no exception (McAllister, Gordon & Jancovich 109). With its new funding and a large
collection of its rights Marvel Studios then began one of the largest and most innovative
endeavors of the film industry to date. They sought to change the way that the Marvel Universe
was portrayed through film, also known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the past, film
production companies would isolate their films and the characters in them, even if the company
owned the rights to multiple characters. For instance, 20th Century Fox owned the rights to two
separate and distinct Marvel franchises, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men. However, in the ten
films that the production company has produced using the two franchises, none of them make
reference to one another. For example, the Fantastic Four never appeared in the X-Men movies,
neither do they share a common major enemy or make mention of any of the same concepts.
For all intents and purposes the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, as portrayed in the films, exist in

separate yet similar universes and cannot interact in any way. This is where Marvel Studios
hoped to change things up.

Marvel hoped to create a singular cinematic universe for its film similar to how Marvel

was the first to introduce comics with continuity between issues (William Davidson 2). Beginning
with the first film distributed by Marvel Studios, Iron Man, the foundations for an overlapping
Cinematic Universe were started. This occurs when, in the post-credits scene, Nick Fury (Samuel
L. Jackson) offers Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) the opportunity to join the Avengers Initiative.
For those unfamiliar with the Avengers, it is a group of superheroes that consists of big name
characters such as Iron Man, Captain America, and the Hulk and when applied to the films gave
Marvel the perfect opportunity to begin to overlap their films. The overlap occurred mostly
through the post-credit scenes, in which there would typically be mention of the Avengers
Initiative which became the overarching concept that connected the first films. Not only were
certain shared concepts in each film but characters from each film played a role in each film. This
is significant because this was the first time that a major production studio truly attempted to
make a universe in which all of their characters lived and interacted with one another.

Though Marvel Studios paved new grounds in the film industry and it is profiting highly

for the risks that they took, it does come at a price. Since Marvel is essentially the first production
company to create one cinematic universe for their films there wasnt any type of prior example
to base their own model off of. As a result, Marvel has essentially become the guinea pig in this
singular cinematic universe experiment. In order to truly comprehend the problem that Marvel
Studios is faced with one must first understand the model of expansion that the studio is
currently using.

Marvel Studios Current Growth Model

It is worth mentioning that throughout this paper that the term growth model or

expansion model refers to the pattern through which Marvel Studios has released their films
and the expansion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. These patterns can be evaluated and to
help suggest possible future patterns in order to help predict the sustainability of the Studio and
should not be confused with the actual growth of the company itself. There was initial worry
that the studio would fail (Barnes). However, then-president of Marvel, Peter Cuneo, stated:
I view Marvel as having the potential to be the leading
entertainment company in the world built around fantasy
characters. I view all of our characters as brands, and what were
doing is brand management. I view our characters as celebrities
only they dont get old or misbehave. Were going to place them in
as many mediums and entertainment venues as possible, and
were building the business for the long term.

Currently Marvel Studios has been releasing films in what they have deemed as phases.

These phases are described directly by Marvel and are separated into 3 distinct time periods so
far. Phase One included the beginning films Iron Man, Captain America, etc. which essentially
gave the background for the Avengers. Then at the end of Phase One the studio released
Marvels The Avengers to tie all of the characters together. This film is significant in the franchise
history because this was the first time interaction between characters from different films was
seen and was the main focus of a film. It is also significant to mention that the film of entire
interaction was based on the overarching theme, the Avenger Initiative, that was seen

throughout all of the initial films and the Avengers also combated a villain that was referenced
throughout most of the other films. The pattern that each movie in a phase builds up the plot
for the finale film at the end of that phase will be seen again in the following phases. This can
even be seen in the post credit scene of Marvels The Avengers in which a new character, known
as Thanos, is introduced and will go on to act as the overarching villain with a weapon known as
the infinity gauntlet acting as the overarching concept.

After Phase One was concluded with Marvels The Avengers and the overarching concepts

for the next phase established, Phase Two did not begin until almost exactly one year later with
the release of Iron Man 3. Marvel chose to wait this long in order to recreate public interest for
the films and revamp the franchise. It also helped to break up the phases into distinct films and
prevented the films from being viewed as just a series. Phase Two primarily consisted of sequels
to the films in Phase One, however it also introduced two new titles, The Guardians of the Galaxy
and Ant-Man, along with two television series. The expansion allowed the Marvel Cinematic
Universe to branch out to newer, lesser known titles. However, though these titles may not have
been well known, Marvel Studios still managed to incorporate the overarching themes into them.
For example, Guardians of the Galaxy made mention of infinity stones, which are part of the
Infinity Gauntlet, while in Ant-Man Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) directly interacts with the Avengers.
This continues the pattern of interaction and proves that the films all still take place within the
same cinematic universe.

Phase Two ends with the finale of Avengers: Age of Ultron which does not bring the

overarching concepts to a close, but instead continues them. However, the film did introduce
several new characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and alluded to possible new directions

in which newer films could eventually go in. At this point in time, Marvel Studios has announced
its new film lineup for Phase Three and has even alluded to possible films that could be included
in Phase Four. It is also important to note that, as it currently stands, Phase Three is planned to
be substantially larger than either of the other two phases. Along with the staggering eleven
films that will be released in this phase, Marvel also plans on launching five new television series.
Phase Three will dwarf the other phases which each contained only six films and two television
series and many believe it to be a very ambitious lineup, as noted in the New York Times. This
massive undertaking serves to exemplify Marvel Studios intention to expand rapidly, along with
the fact that Phase Three will continue to build upon the already established titles and will
continue to introduce less popular titles and characters.
At this point, the expansion model of the Marvel Cinematic Universe can be most easily
compared to that of a tree, in the sense that the studio began with relatively separate films in
Phase One that would make up the roots of the tree and the roots are brought together to
form a trunk in Marvels The Avengers. With Phase Two the previous films are built upon thus
the trunk is expanded with tiny branches shooting off that are the newer films. Then with phase
Three, the trunk continues to grow, while even more new films create even more branches. This
type of growth will then continue with future phases constantly branching the tree out further
and further. It is in this fact that lies the problem.

The Poisoning of Marvel Studios Tree

To discuss the problem of sustainability that Marvel Studios faces, it will be most easily

discussed using the metaphor of the tree. To begin with, one must take into account the nature

of filmmaking and the business behind it. It has often been demonstrated through cinematic
history that most actors do not enjoy filling the same role over and over again and will often leave
a character role after filling it a few times. Such is the case with Robert Downey Jr. who is most
well known for playing Tony Stark/Iron Man within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With his
contract now up it is currently unclear what Downey will do but the situation has brought to light
the problem of what Marvel will do once an actor playing a character in the cinematic universe
leaves the franchise. Since Downey has played Stark for so long and audiences enjoy him in the
role it is unlikely that Marvel will fill his role with another actor. However, without Downey there
to play the role Iron Man will be essentially unable to continue within the Marvel Cinematic
Universe.

However, the question: Why dont the Studios just replace any actors who want to leave

their roles? This is what Marvel has done in the past by replacing Edward Norton with Mark
Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/the Hulk. Yet, a recent interview with Jeremy Latcham suggests that
Avengers: Infinity Wars, the third installment of the Avengers franchise, will mark the end to
some version of the team weve come to know as the Avengers. Here Latcham is alluding to a
possible end of the Avengers as they have been depicted in the past. Latcham also suggests that
the Avengers will be phased out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This is not to imply that the
team itself will come to an end, but that the individual characters themselves will be phased out
and new heroes and heroines will be introduced to the team and the universe. Latcham goes on
to say that, It's not the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but I think it's the end of part of it for
sure. We're still trying to figure out which parts that means. This allusion to the death of part of the
cinematic universe will have to be explained in some way.

If the Marvel Cinematic Universe wants to continue as it currently is, then an explanation of

why the Avengers disappeared will be needed, once they were phased out. For instance, the Studios
will have to essentially kill off or put characters into a position where they will be unable to return to
the Universe and will justify their absence. This may be particularly difficult for Marvel Studios due
to the fact that the Avengers have been a pillar in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and are responsible
for its existence in the first place. However, the cinematic universe will not be the only one affected
by this. As the films have been distributed, the comic books on which they were based upon also
began to evolve and were now inspired by the cinematic universe. In some cases, complete plotlines
and characters were changed in order to match the cinematic universe. For instance, Nick Fury, who
was originally a white character, was changed to a black character when Samuel L. Jackson assumed
the role. Likewise, the characters in comics who were then represented in the films began to change
to look more like the actors that were playing them in the films. This would then suggest that as
characters were killed or relocated within the films in order to phase them out, they would also be
rendered useless to in the comics. This would lead to the failure of several comic series or a schism
between films and comics. Though Marvel will most likely just create a schism, it would shatter the
shared universe that all of their products are in. However, the only major change will be that the
films and the comic books will not align perfectly.
Returning to the problem of Iron Man, the studio could not simply make a reboot for the
series, as seen with the Spider-Man movies which until recently were distributed through Sony.
This is once again due to the fact that Marvel uses a shared universe and thus they will be unable
to reboot the films without greatly affecting the other films in the universe. This means that, in
order for a variant of Iron Man to continue to be present in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Stark

will most likely have to step down from the Iron Man suit and let another character fill it, which
occurs in the comic books when Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) gains a suit of armor for herself.
This would also align itself nicely with the movement currently occurring in which Marvel is trying
to increase the number of female and ethnic characters within the Universe.

Possible Solutions

At this point, there are only two true scenarios for how Marvel Studios can choose to play

their hand. In one scenario Marvel can choose to create one giant event that draws in every
single Marvel character in the franchise and can effectively bring closure to the characters and
ties up all loose ends. The other option is that Marvel Studios can continue to cycle through
characters, using less and less well known characters, until the point where the cinematic
universe is far different from the comic book universe. However, this too will end when Marvel
Studios runs out of characters to use or the public becomes to disinterested with the lesser
known characters. This is the option that the studios will likely choose due to the fact that it has
the best opportunity for making the most profit.

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