Mr Mystery
08-03-2016, 04:27 PM
How do. A more specific topic than the general super hero comics thread, so figured I'd make it a separate one.
In short? I'm mildly baffled.
You see, Marvel are set to release their fourteenth movie in the MCU later this year, in the shape of Doctor Strange, starring everyone's favourite Etonian, Bendyitch Custardpatch.
And whilst there's definitely the odd internal consistency issue (and a shameful lack of female lead movies), they're very much '13 for 13' when it comes to a healthy profit.
Add to that the TV element of their shared Universe (SHIELD, Agent Carter, Daredevil and Jessica Jones), and they're really yet to shoot themselves in the foot.
Yet.....Fox. Sony. Warner Bro's......they're all struggling to replicate the runaway success which Marvel has been enjoying. Let's have a brief synopsis of their efforts....
Fox - responsible for X-Men, Deadpool and Fantastic Four.
To date, no really solid Fantastic Four film. Including Wolverine in X-Men, they've done eight films, of which I'd say perhaps half are decent efforts. Deadpool of course was something of a surprise hit in terms of sheer profitability.
Sony? Two decent efforts on Spidey, three pretty awful ones.
Warner Bro's? Well, their tv output is fairly solid. Whilst I've not watched it all, what I have seen of Arrow, Gotham, Flash and Supergirl tick all the right boxes, and the shows are certainly well received. But their movies? Jesus. Let's tick them off, shall we?
I'll kick off with Batman Begins, as I think that's their first modern foray. That was a corker, and its sequel was pretty damned good. Shame about Dark Knight Rises though.
Then we have Supes. Superman Returns, and Man of Steel - neither is held in especially high esteem. I dunno about you, but the more I've seen Man of Steel, the less I enjoy it. There's then the two most recent offerings - BvS and Suicide Squad. I've not yet seen either of these, but the critical consensus is that they're messy offerings. Some good bits, but just off key.
Now whilst WB/DC have turned a profit on all of these, they didn't set the box office alight the way Marvel has - and the critical reception to their respective offerings has the conspirasphere utterly convinced Disney/Marvel are bribing critics for favourable reviews (if you're not aware of this, it's probably because the mouth breathers haven't found a convenient woman to blame for it. Yet.)
But hey, the above is just my opinion, so please don't think I'm confusing it with fact.
But what is an indisputable fact is that Marvel are running away with the genre. Even their films which I genuinely didn't expect much from turned out to be highly enjoyable slices of cinematic nonsense. Specifically Guardians of the Galaxy (very much my favourite), and Ant-Man. Especially Ant-Man. Ain't no film goes through that level of development hell and actually turns out to be thoroughly entertaining.
So how are they doing it? It really seems that this stage they can do no wrong. Box Office and Home Media sales point to it being far more than just fanboy squeeing.
I mean I'm seriously expecting their bubble to burst at any moment. As above, I expected it to start with GOTG. Then Ant-Man. Then Civil War. But nope, the juggernaut of their success continues to steamroller the box office. Even when it shouldn't. Did I mention that Ant-Man should've been a massive steaming pile because of its very painful, convoluted, change of writers journey to the silver screen?
How. How the hell are they doing it when others just can't get it work as well? It's maddening!
In short? I'm mildly baffled.
You see, Marvel are set to release their fourteenth movie in the MCU later this year, in the shape of Doctor Strange, starring everyone's favourite Etonian, Bendyitch Custardpatch.
And whilst there's definitely the odd internal consistency issue (and a shameful lack of female lead movies), they're very much '13 for 13' when it comes to a healthy profit.
Add to that the TV element of their shared Universe (SHIELD, Agent Carter, Daredevil and Jessica Jones), and they're really yet to shoot themselves in the foot.
Yet.....Fox. Sony. Warner Bro's......they're all struggling to replicate the runaway success which Marvel has been enjoying. Let's have a brief synopsis of their efforts....
Fox - responsible for X-Men, Deadpool and Fantastic Four.
To date, no really solid Fantastic Four film. Including Wolverine in X-Men, they've done eight films, of which I'd say perhaps half are decent efforts. Deadpool of course was something of a surprise hit in terms of sheer profitability.
Sony? Two decent efforts on Spidey, three pretty awful ones.
Warner Bro's? Well, their tv output is fairly solid. Whilst I've not watched it all, what I have seen of Arrow, Gotham, Flash and Supergirl tick all the right boxes, and the shows are certainly well received. But their movies? Jesus. Let's tick them off, shall we?
I'll kick off with Batman Begins, as I think that's their first modern foray. That was a corker, and its sequel was pretty damned good. Shame about Dark Knight Rises though.
Then we have Supes. Superman Returns, and Man of Steel - neither is held in especially high esteem. I dunno about you, but the more I've seen Man of Steel, the less I enjoy it. There's then the two most recent offerings - BvS and Suicide Squad. I've not yet seen either of these, but the critical consensus is that they're messy offerings. Some good bits, but just off key.
Now whilst WB/DC have turned a profit on all of these, they didn't set the box office alight the way Marvel has - and the critical reception to their respective offerings has the conspirasphere utterly convinced Disney/Marvel are bribing critics for favourable reviews (if you're not aware of this, it's probably because the mouth breathers haven't found a convenient woman to blame for it. Yet.)
But hey, the above is just my opinion, so please don't think I'm confusing it with fact.
But what is an indisputable fact is that Marvel are running away with the genre. Even their films which I genuinely didn't expect much from turned out to be highly enjoyable slices of cinematic nonsense. Specifically Guardians of the Galaxy (very much my favourite), and Ant-Man. Especially Ant-Man. Ain't no film goes through that level of development hell and actually turns out to be thoroughly entertaining.
So how are they doing it? It really seems that this stage they can do no wrong. Box Office and Home Media sales point to it being far more than just fanboy squeeing.
I mean I'm seriously expecting their bubble to burst at any moment. As above, I expected it to start with GOTG. Then Ant-Man. Then Civil War. But nope, the juggernaut of their success continues to steamroller the box office. Even when it shouldn't. Did I mention that Ant-Man should've been a massive steaming pile because of its very painful, convoluted, change of writers journey to the silver screen?
How. How the hell are they doing it when others just can't get it work as well? It's maddening!