User blog:Lover of the Muse/Marvel Method part 1

In this blog series, I'll be critically examining the Marvel Cinematic Universe to discover how other studios could better go about imitating "the Marvel Method" while avoiding the problems and mistakes I see in the MCU. I'll be providing both positive and negative criticism towards the Marvel since as much as I love the MCU it isn't perfect and has definitely made some mistakes. I'll also be talking about films outside the MCU from studios who tried to copy Marvel and create their own cinematic universe.

It's an objective fact that this point that the DC Extended Universe hasn't been as successful or well received as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yet Warner Brothers has also been the most successful out of all the studios who have tried to create their own "shared universe" in the wake of Marvel's success.

Iron Man
When Iron Man first came out in 2008 general audiences didn't know it was the launching pad for the new Marvel Cinematic Universe. Most people just enjoyed it as a stand-alone movie, it was only the people who stayed till the end credits who knew what this movie was going to be building up to and that there was an Avengers movie on the way.

Tony Stark goes through a character arc in this film.

As my dad pointed out, in that first movie the investment in the MCU was the cost of that one scene with Samuel L Jackson. At the time, Iron Man was a breakaway from the cliches that people were starting to get sick of and though we didn't know it yet also codified the tropes that would become common in the MCU from that point forward.

This movie did set a few precedents however that became problematic later down the line. One of them was the tradition of MCU films killing off villains.

Incredible Hulk
In the 2nd MCU movie, there's a scene with Emil Blonsky and General Ross talk about super-soldiers and the real purpose of Banner's experiments. Anyone who had seen the post-credits scene in Iron Man would know they were alluding to Captain America, but anyone who didn't would just see it as exposition and a background for why the experiments were being conducted. Then the SHIELD logo shows up in a transition shot, that's something you could easily just compartmentalize and forget about.

Finally towards the end of the movie after the Abomination has been defeated there is a scene with General Ross at a bar, and then Tony Stark comes in and has a chat. This moment cements the Incredible Hulk and Iron Man as taking place in the same universe. Tony Stark ends the scene by saying "What if I told you we were putting a team together?". For the second movie, the investment in the MCU was the cost of that one exposition scene, that transition shot, and the bar scene with Stark and Ross.

Iron Man 2
The 3rd MCU film, Iron Man 2 is personally my least favorite MCU movie. This movie has more Avengers tie in moments than the previous films.

For instance Phil Coulson reappears in this movie and is supposed to be Tony's guardian and keep Tony from leaving his house, Phil even threatens to Tazer Tony if he attempts to leave. Then Tony just leaves anyway and we don't even get to watch him evade or outsmart Coulson which makes the scene where Agent Coulson threatens him seem pointless.

This movie introduces the Black Widow and while I think the movie could have been written without her at least she was better integrated into the plot. I also liked the fact that they introduced Natasha in disguise first before revealing her true identity. This movie also contains a few lines that hint at Mjolnir and Phil Coulson's presence in the upcoming Thor film as well as a post-credits scene that establishes that more bluntly. This movie also includes an easter egg that hints at Wakanda.

Thor
In the 4th MCU movie, Thor, sees Phil Coulson reappear as a pseudo-antagonist and the film also introduces us to the character of Hawkeye. This film also introduces us to Loki. The post-credits scene of this movie establishes that Loki isn't dead and is still a threat, and it also introduces us to the Tesseract which will be the macguffin in the Avengers.

Captain America: First Avenger
The 5th MCU film, "Captain America: the First Avenger" also has a lot of MCU tie in moments but they are better integrated into the plot than those in Iron Man 2. The film reintroduces the Tesseract for those of us who didn't see the post-credits scene in Thor, and the scene where Red Skull acquires the cube he references Norse Mythology.

The MCU tie in moments in this film are better integrated into the plot than those in Iron Man 2

Avengers
Phase 1 concluded with the Avengers. Avengers knows what it is and what it is is a fun crowd-pleasing action packed movie set in a comic book universe brought to life.

Before this movie even began we already knew who Tony Stark, Nick Fury, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanov, Thor, Hawkeye, and Steve Rogers were. The existence of the Avengers Initiative had already been established. We also already knew about Loki and even the macguffin (the Tesseract) had already been established. The benefits to having all this legwork done beforehand become obvious once you contrast this movie to Justice League.

Green Lantern (not a DCEU film)
Warner Brothers intended to start their DC Cinematic Universe in 2011 with the film Green Lantern starring Ryan Reynolds. Had this film been successful it would have been followed up by a Flash movie. Had this film been successful it would have been the start of a very different DCEU.

Hal Jordan is a womanizing inconsiderate immature hotshot. It's pretty clear they were trying to emulate Tony Stark to some extent. Unlike Tony Stark however, Hal Jordan is a passive protagonist and overly reluctant hero who continues to shirk responsibility after responsibility for most of the film.

Another problem is this film is the antagonist. I'll start with Hector Hammond. Hector's story literally runs parallel to the main hero, from their origins to their respective arcs and I appreciate what they were trying to do with his character. The problem is that they don't interact until the midpoint of the film at which point it's revealed that they are actually childhood friend.

His character ends up feeling like kind of a waste because he's killed at the beginning of the climax and mostly only serves as a precursor to the true villain of the movie Parallax. Speaking of Parallax this movie set a precedent for DC films blowing their load (prematurely expending their resources or opportunities). Hal Jordan faced his greatest threat way too soon and defeated him way too easily.

Had this movie been successful it would have been followed up by a Flash movie, and then by a Superman movie which would have featured a more adventurous tone. Green Lantern had a production budget of $200 million and a worldwide box office of only $219.5 million. It's easy to see why Warner Brothers didn't want this movie to be the foundation of their new cinematic universe.

Man of Steel
Man of Steel is divisive among both fans and critics but it was still commercially successful. While it didn't make Avengers level money, Man of Steel did make more than Iron Man did during it's theatrical run.

Unlike Iron man which had the post-credits scene with Nick Fury and was explicitly planned as the launching pad for the MCU, nothing in Man of Steel hinted at a larger universe beyond Superman's mythology. This film wasn't originally supposed to be part of a larger universe, it was supposed to be like the Dark Knight Trilogy. Man of Steel's status as the launching pad for the DCEU was confirmed by word of god, rather than established in the movie itself.

This movie's climax pissed a lot of people off because superman wrecks half the city in a fight with General Zod that culminates in Superman snapping Zod's neck. This moment pissed me off for slightly different reasons.

Think about this for a minute; Marvel Studios spent multiple movies building up to a point where the entire planet was at stake and the heroes were fighting against an army of invading aliens. There was a sense of escalation. DC on the other hand in the very first movie had Earth be invaded by an army of Kryptonians without Superman getting help from the rest of the Justice League. Zod and his army should have been a force that the entire Justice League fought together.

This is also an instance of Warner Brothers repeating one of Marvel's mistakes. They killed General Zod in the first DCEU movie. People frequently say that the Marvel villains suck. I've written blog posts before defending the villins who follow the "appear, make evil plan, die" formula but I recognize this restricts the villains and limits the character development they can receive relative to the heroes.

By having Superman not kill his enemy at the end it would have actually made the DCEU stand out more from the MCU where most of the heroes are killers.