How Marvel Studios Created the Mold, Then Smashed it to Pieces

By Katia 

“TEN YEARS!” 

That’s what I heard shouted behind me as the Marvel Studios logo sequence played out on the screen. The energy in the theater that night was nothing short of monumental. I have never experienced audience reactions like I have seen in the 10:30 pm premiere of Infinity War. 

Avengers: Infinity War is the culmination of a 10 year cinematic event, and boy does it prove itself to be such a thing. The obession and anticipation surrounding Marvel is truly unique. The fanbase covers far and wide, from longtime comic book fans, little kids dressed as their favorite heroes, teen fangirls & fanboys, Marvel pretty much covers it all. No matter the fan, the imapct the films and the audience has on filmgoing as we know it today is massive. The whole ten years has truly hit me. I remember the release of Iron Man (2008), and going to the theatre to see it the day after it came out. 

I was 7 years old then, I’m about to turn 17. 

In my lifetime, I have witnessed the entirety of a cinematic franchise at its worst and best, through the ups and downs, Marvel is still barreling through.

There is no denying that most of Marvel’s films are formulaic, which is usually a negative for most critics, myself included. My personal favorite MCU films have been the individuals to break the rules a bit, defy whats possible for these films. Marvel has been on an incline for overall quality. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Thor Ragnarok, Black Panther, and now, Infinity War. 

While Marvel films are typically formulaic, we clearly saw the creativity and risks being taken in their past four films. Infinity War has completely defied all of Marvel Studios previous works. We can observe that the shift in tone for phase 3 of the MCU was intentional to warm audiences up to what was to come from the culmination that is Infinity War. 

Infinity War is unlike any other Marvel film. The tonal and storytelling risks chosen in Infinity War have not been done before for the studio. Whether you like the film or not, you have to realize the impact this has not only on the box office, but on the filmgoers. Not only does it affect its audience, it has forever impacted the superhero blockbuster genre.

In it’s existence, Marvel Studios has created the “model” or “status quo”  of comic book and superhero films. Over the course of 10 years, 19 films in total, Marvel Studios has taken the cookie cutter basis for its films and smashed it to pieces with the release of Avengers: Infinity War. At first watch, you come out of Infinity War not knowing the outcome of the next Marvel film, which is not normal for previous Marvel films. This film and studio has completely changed the game for what it means to be a comic book film. First they created it, and now they have turned on its head. 

This is not to discourage negative criticism for Marvel Studios, as that crticism is justified in the right of the critic or viewer, but the common notion to dismiss Marvel films simply because they’re mainstream or blockbusters, doesn’t have any merit. We clearly see the studios efforts to diversify the films creativity (not diversifying the representation unfortunately). 

Marvel’s future gets brighter and brighter with each film released. With new and innovative storylines and characters being introduced, the films will have to amp up in creativity and diversity, which is only the beginning with “Phase 3”.