By Luca Newton
13 years after Iron-Man graced our screens, it was the beginning of a greater universe, one we weren't aware of, just as Nick Fury said in that fateful post-credit scene.
13 years, 23 films, 2 Disney+ shows, and a boat-load of cash in the box office, the Marvel Cinematic is unprecedented in its success. No other franchise has ever succeeded in this same way. The mix of economic success, cultural success and critical success is uncanny, and has not been replicated, and it is very hard to imagine someone successfully dethroning King Kevin Feige from his all-powerful, all-mighty throne of success that is the MCU.
But what exactly is the reason the MCU is such a success story? The Marvel Cinematic Universe could easily have failed miserably. The reason for the MCU's soaring heights of success is down to one man..
Kevin Feige
Kevin Feige is the lead producer for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the creative mind behind the whole universe, making the overall narrative of the phases work and connect. His mind is the reason the MCU even works. Feige is a Marvel fanboy. He grew up with these comics, and so his deep love and admiration for the comics, translate in a true care for making a universe that is a good Marvel film universe, while also being lucrative and working together. Somehow, the madman did it. He created a connected universe.
The success of the MCU should always be attributed to him, as he has done leaps and bounds to forming Marvel into the manic monolithic monster it is today. He was originally a producer on Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, as well as producing the two earliest Fantastic Four films, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). In these examples, he was a much smaller presence to now. Until in 2008, when an Iron Man movie was released, with Kevin Feige in a larger creative and producing role. Iron Man (2008), was a huge risk for the company, as they had a deal for funding their remaining properties, which didn't include Iron Man, and they had to fund it themselves. The whole company was risking everything on one movie about a character that not many people outside of comic fans really know that well. Because, Marvel had been near bankruptcy in the late 90s and had to sell of their properties' film rights to stay afloat. Fox got X-Men and Fantastic Four, Sony got Spider-Man. Despite that, the MCU manages to outperform both Fox's X-Men and Sony's pre-MCU Spider-Man films, with previously less known characters people thought were uninteresting and unprofitable. And this takes more than just budget and writing. There was a mind behind it, and that was Kevin Feige. He pulled off a successful Iron Man film and set up a larger universe with Samuel L Jackson's appearance as Nick Fury in the post-credits scene from Iron Man (2008).
To this very day, 13 years later, he is still steamrolling his way through the MCU, keeping it good, fresh, relevant, successful, even after he finished the major arc he had planned since the start of the cinematic universe. Feige has managed to land a producing role on a Star Wars film, and many reports have claimed that he is one of the most respected producers in Disney, and is probably seen as one of the most respectable producers of all time, as his work is absolutely extraordinary.
I'm sure with hindsight, you could say that in truth Feige actually pulled off easy money. But what you would be missing is that you'd be completely wrong. It is not easy.
Pulling Off A Cinematic Universe
It's very easy to insinuate that what Feige has pulled off is easy. That a connected universe is really just something nobody had thought of, but he capitalised off it. But it has been proven untrue. In the 13 years of the MCU, there have been many attempts at cinematic universes, but the 2 most notable ones are; The DC Extended Universe, and the Monsterverse (Godzilla and Kong films). The Monsterverse has done decently well for itself. It works, but not in the same way that Marvel does, and DC.. well we all know how DC went. DC had a rough time making their movies work and connect well enough to be engaging, and Warner Bros interfered with them too much. Since there was no Feige to control the DCEU, it has now been scrapped, in favour of standalone projects, which do work well. However, it goes to show how challenging it is to pull off.
Oh! And I forgot the Dark Universe.. that one was being really hyped up and failed so miserably, it's barely a thing.
However, the way all these films (and shows) connect just adds to my love for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The fact all these movies are parts of a bigger piece make them incredibly engaging to watch and keep up with. You always have an incentive to watch all these movies, which individually work, while also connecting to what the next Avengers movie is going to be focused on. Additionally, I feel people underestimate why the connected universe works in this case and not in, say, the previous DCEU; each movie working on their own!
Iron Man 2 (2010), is one of the very few failures in the MCU, as a film it doesn't match the standards of the franchise. It was the third ever Marvel Studios made Marvel movie. The reason it fails is because it's messy. It's constantly deciding what kind of movie it wants to be. Does it want to be an Iron Man 1 sequel, or does it want to set up The Avengers? It never draws that line and feels too overcrowded. This was a very early lesson for Marvel, and they've yet to make this mistake again, which makes it work as a connected universe.
The Infinity Saga
Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige set out to create a connected universe story arc over 3 phases, which culminates in a big crossover that takes everything that has happened and pays it all off with a satisfying conclusion. The Infinity Saga is a monumental achievement. 23 movies, only a couple of missteps, and a ton of critical praise, financial success and cultural celebration. It is completely magical seeing the way the Infinity Saga worked out.
In Phase 1, at the end of Iron Man, we are introduced to the concept of the Avengers Initiative, which gets comic fans really intrigued and excited. Then in The Incredible Hulk, we see Tony Stark interact with General Thaddeus Ross in a post-credit scene, giving the audience more clues. These hints all lead to one big crossover in The Avengers (2012), which is a triumphant crossover and culmination of the first phase, as everything set up in the previous films, and directly affecting the events of the movie, such as Loki being the main antagonist of Avengers, after faking his death in the first Thor film, of which he was also an antagonist. It all worked, connected and concluded in a satisfying way. Marvel Studios weren't near ready to stop that train there though.
At the end of The Avengers, Thanos was shown in the post-credits scene. The Mad Titan himself. An absolutely massive threat in the Marvel Comics. Fans knew of the Infinity Gauntlet story, and that tease kept fans interested well into phase 2. This second phase upped the ante, increased the scale of this universe, helped diversify the movies within the phase more, and established a tone for the rest of the franchise. Iron Man, Thor and Captain America all got sequels (threequel in Iron Man's case). Some were more beloved than others, but one thing in common for them were their high stakes, and distinct styles. Captain America: The Winter Soldier was an action spy thriller, with political undertones, very grounded action and set a new standard for the Captain, as well as giving Natasha Romanoff more development. While, Iron Man 3, by Shane Black, delved into ideas of PTSD, and helped conclude Tony's trilogy arc in an interesting and new way. Additionally to reintroducing us to beloved characters from the previous phase, we are introduced to more new character. Most distinctly, Guardians of the Galaxy by James Gunn. The Guardians were completely unknown entities, some comic readers didn't even know them well. However, it's an attribute to Marvel's success when Guardians of the Galaxy was a roaring success, which everyone loves to this day. People know and love the Guardians, some even more than popular DC characters, which is something only thanks to the incredible way the MCU was managed and created a loyalty to the brand. In Guardians, we saw another glimpse at the Mad Titan Thanos again. Going into Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), the middle Avengers film. It established the team as an actual team, working together and being at their high point, and eventually shows a rift between the team, that changes the dynamic, going into phase 3, as we see Thanos actively taking the mission of the Infinity stones into his own hands. We had seen peaks at multiple stones over the last couple phases, and they were all paying off now to set up the next phase.
Phase 3 was announced at the peak of public interest in what happens next. The phase manages to outdo phases 1 and 2 right from the start. Characters such as Doctor Strange, Black Panther and Captain Marvel are promised, and each hero gets their own sequels and threequels, to wrap up their individual trilogies. However, phase 3 really displayed how Marvel Studios had found their groove in making these films. Captain America: Civil War, was a form of an adaptation of the story in the comics where we see Captain America and Iron Man fight for what they believe in, tearing the Avengers apart. This movie manages to balance so much stuff. Introducing Black Panther, being a Captain America movie, having a satsifying team battle and one-on-one and being overall thematically and ideologically rich. It succeeds as a third Cap film, and is a display of the affects of the movies on each other. The events of Age of Ultron, made the government make the Sokovia Accords, which directly lead to the events of Infinity War.
Between this and Avengers Infinity War and Avengers Endgame, we see a plethora of successful and fun films which stand alone while connecting well to the overall story. For example, Thor: Ragnarok, the third Thor film completely outdoes the other 2 films by being this truly unique and colourful, comedic space adventure that Thor always needed to be, thanks to the incredibly talented mind of Taika Waititi. Additionally, Ryan Coogler managed to take the Black Panther, and make it a celebration of the black community, while also having strong ideologies prevailing through the movie, while being a fun action film too. It even was nominated for Best Picture in 2018. However, everything was leading towards Infinity War and Endgame.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018) was the culmination of three phases, and promised to be an action-packed fight to stop Thanos from taking all the stones and erasing half of all life in the universe. This movie from the start completely hooks you as you're attached to these characters, and you want them to win, but the film follows Thanos, and gives us a deeply well written villain, who is iconic and quotable, as well as incredibly intimidating. What makes Infinity War so powerful is how, Thanos wins in the end. He gets rid of half of all life in the universe. It is such a beautifully sorrowful ending. This ending leads into Endgame. The film that concludes everything. It brings everyone back to defeat Thanos, finish Tony Stark and Steve Rogers' journey, and be a satisfying conclusion for fans. Endgame manages to be chock-filled with fanservice, as the Avengers go through time, back to many movies such as the first Avengers, and the final hour is this long fight with everyone. This fanservice is truly earned by waiting 11 years for the payoff.
Avengers: Endgame is not the end though. They managed to keep enough open for the future, and now there is even more in store for the Marvel Cinematic Universe..
Phase 4 and Beyond..
This takes us to now. Today. Marvel Studios pulled off a huge 3-phase story arc with the biggest movie ever, and yet they are still pumping out projects for their universe. Some fans were worried that after the sheer scale of Avengers: Endgame, that Marvel would fail to outdo it, and thus wouldn't be able to thrive. But what Marvel are doing with their Phase 4, is outdo their previous phases in a different way. Instead of making bigger movies, they are making better movies. Marvel are using their brand loyalty to really expand their horizons and change up the feel of each of their films, while keeping the connections. Marvel's Eternals, got a teaser trailer the same day as I am currently writing this, and it looks incredible, but it also looks so different and ambitious. With Oscar-winner Chloe Zhao at the helm, we see gorgeous visuals and some depth and nuance. The idea of a film set over thousands of years with god-like beings sounds so exciting. Contrast that to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, that film is a martial arts action film, street level. Then compare that to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which has promised horror-elements , while being a visually wild movie set through a multiverse.
Additionally, Marvel have started to bring original series' to Disney+. Currently being WandaVision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and soon-out, Loki. WandaVision is a Marvel project mixed with a sitcom, and is very unique and different, used as a character study for Wanda Maximoff. Falcon and the Winter Solider is more traditional, but has some genuinely mature moments, and comments on social issues, while Loki looks to be a time travelling crime drama. These ambitious ideas which focus on single characters are just absolutely interesting and give a better understanding to these old characters, or establish new ones, and helps cement the MCU as a force not to reckon with. Additionally, with Disney and Fox's merger, the X-Men and Fantastic Four are finally finding their way into the future of the MCU, adding new and interesting events to the potential future movies of the MCU. There is something new from the MCU practically every month for the next few years, and I am personally enthralled..
Why I Love the MCU
I love the MCU because it's always been there for me. I watched Iron Man 2 in cinemas when it released, and from then I have been watching all these movies in cinemas since. And it's been so long, yet I am still more than eager to watch more and see where the universe goes next. I am attached to this universe, and after watching the Eternals trailer, I am definitely still on for the ride.
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