"Geek Theory - Episode #1 "The Marvel Issue"" Transcript

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[Scrolling stock images related to topics discussed.]

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been an incredibly interesting experiment for Disney and Marvel Studios. It’s created new interest in comics, has almost singlehandedly turned superhero movies into Hollywood studios’ new giant cash cow, and it’s expanding. The cinematic universe is spilling over onto TV with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Netflix, with their recently announced string of miniseries they plan on producing. And that’s great! I wasn’t even a big fan of Marvel before the movies started coming out, and now I read multiple Marvel books each month. I used to only read Batman. But I feel like they’re squandering their potential.

Marvel’s been doing great, but they have had a few missteps. Nothing big enough to really draw attention, but they’ve had a few, such as Thor. Marvel decided on making a Thor movie because, at the time, he was one of the few semi-major characters they still held the rights to. They didn’t own SpiderMan, and they didn’t own the X-Men, and in fact, the only big name they held the rights to was the Hulk. A year or two later, of course, and Iron Man would be one of the best-known superheroes on the planet, thanks in no small part to Robert Downey Jr., but when they started this cinematic-universe journey, they didn’t have a lot to pick from. If they made a Thor movie, it could work toward an Avengers movie, so they made it, and it worked out pretty well.

But it was no blockbuster, to say the least. It did well, grossing about $480 million dollars worldwide, but compared to the vast majority of superhero movies coming out at the time and since, that’s a pretty paltry number. The sequel, Thor: The Dark World, has recently been released and is on track to do more or less the same at the box office, but it had a bigger budget. Captain America actually made less than Thor, but it received much higher praise from critics, and its sequel, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, looks like it’s going to be a more-traditional Hollywood action movie, which could lead to better box-officer performance.

What does Marvel have coming up next? Guardians of the Galaxy, a series that I certainly hadn’t heard of before it was announced, and one that features characters including a gun-toting raccoon and a talking tree. I’ve spoken to quite a few hard-core Marvel fans, and even they’re not all that excited for it. Interested, yes, but not really excited. After that, we have the Avengers sequel, Age of Ultron, which will probably be amazing and gross, like, $2 billion, and it’s introducing the Scarlet Witch character, which I’m really excited about because that could lead to some seriously dramatic and amazing storylines in the future. Go ahead and look up the Scarlet Witch. Girl has issues. But then, after Age of Ultron, we have Ant-Man. I’d never heard of Ant-Man before I read the Young Avengers comics, and even there, he had a very small role. The biggest Marvel fans I know are even more worried about how that one’s gonna turn out.

And, of course, then there’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which has been so lovingly nicknamed "CSI: Marvel". Comic-book fans don’t think that there’s enough Marvel in the show, while casual viewers think that it’s too comic-book-y. It’s improved since the earlier episodes, but the ratings have been decreasing steadily each week. It has had a full season picked up, though, but one can’t help but wonder if that’s less because of popular demand and more because Disney doesn’t want to admit that not everything from Marvel Studios is gold. Now Marvel’s in a pickle, because Robert Downey Jr. has said he doesn't want to do any more solo Iron Man movies. Iron Man has been, by far, the most successful solo series that Marvel has released, the trilogy having grossed almost $2.5 billion worldwide. No other Marvel movie can touch Iron Man except Spider-Man, which they don’t actually own the production rights to. Sure, The Avengers made more money, but Tony Stark was front and center in that as well.

So, what can Marvel do? Well, Iron Man is successful because people like to think they can relate to Tony Stark. Yes, he’s rich and brilliant, but he’s got problems, just like everyone else. People relate to SpiderMan because Peter Parker is an everyman. People relate to the X-Men because they appeal to the minority in us all: the put-upon, the marginalized.

[Clip from X2: X-Men United: Bobby Drake/Iceman’s mother asks, “Have you tried not being a mutant?” After clip is over, stock images resume.]

Can you relate to Thor, a literal god?

But like I said, Marvel and Disney aren’t allowed to make Spider-Man or X-Men movies, even though they’d love to get their hands back on the most popular and relatable characters. But you better believe Sony and Fox are not gonna give up their grip on those franchises. So, what can Marvel do? They need to start another franchise with a hero that people can relate to. Personally, I hope this turns out to be the Young Avengers series, but that’s probably just a pipe dream and not even feasible until Phase 4 at the earliest, probably phase 5. But they really do need to introduce some characters that people can relate to. Captain America and Thor are fun, not really relatable. There are so many amazing characters in Marvel who could easily support their own movie and could grab the audiences like Iron Man has, but they’re not doing anything with them. As a movie fan and a superhero fan, I really want Marvel to succeed in this, but I fear they might be going a little too far out for mainstream audiences to follow.

Let me know what you think. Do you think Marvel is squandering an opportunity, or do you think they’re doing it all just right? Let me know in the comments below. I’ll be back next week with another episode, so until then, like, subscribe, comment, and share, do all that stuff, and I’ll see you next week.