A Case Study & Look At Marvel Studios
While I originally intended this as a straight-up news
article regarding the dismissal of the Marvel Creative Committee, it has got me
to think about the company, its management system and how the restructure will
affect future ventures. I am a student who was specialized in business and
marketing during my Bachelor’s so while I confess I lack experience to be
called an expert, I still thought it might be interesting to look at Marvel
Studios, the company itself, in the following Case Study. So, I will not try to
talk about how the films are marketed individual, but only focus on
communications aspects when they are appropriate. Neither will I discuss the
films themselves, this is merely me taking a look at the history and the future
of Marvel Studios. I will publicly state that everything within this
paper/article/case study is objective except if I clearly state a subjective
opinion. All sources used will be given at the end of the article if anyone
wants to read them.
Case
Study-Structure
I won’t be looking at the entire history of Marvel Studios,
as I lack the appropriate sources to truly take a look into the entire history,
but with recent reports I will try to rhyme together the situation of how it
has worked since Iron Man to this point and what could potentially happen in
the future. Furthermore, I will throw in how this affects the Marvel Cinematic
Universe in general and maybe even throw in my own subjective outlook on what
potential changes might still be required to ensure its future ventures. So,
without further ado let us get into the matter.
If you want to skip
specific parts, then here is a short overview of the chapters that will be
tackled within this Case Study.
1.
Marvel
Studio’s Beginnings
2.
The
Avengers Effect
3.
The
Two Sides Of The Same Coin
4.
When
Expectations Change
5.
A
New Age, A New Structure
6. What Future Does It Hold?
Marvel
Studio’s Beginnings
At first glance as an external party, it seemed that Marvel
Studios is a small independent film production company that focuses on using
the core characters from the Marvel brand. In simple terms, that is exactly
what it is, as the film company at the time was not a part of the Disney
license and had to produce its films together with Paramound Pictures so they
could acquire enough funding to even make Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk at
the time. As the characters original slated films have been in developments
hells at the various companies, they were able to retrieve the rights at the
time and start production on the films. Enough pressure was laid on the
production of Iron Man, as its financial success would ensure the future of
Marvel Studios or even potentially its downfall.
After Iron Man turning into a hit and the small Easter Egg
of a potential Avengers film buzzing up headlines, it seemed like the future
was bright for the company as it started producing its next films focusing on
Captain America, Thor and a sequel to Iron Man, which would all lead into an
Avengers film. Trouble was that most heavy hitters of the Marvel brand weren’t
with the actual company and Ant-Man, a film originally slated to appear even
before Iron Man, was trapped in development hell at the time, they had to try
and sell rather unknown characters. Even Thor, a character of Norse mythology,
was a hard sell considering it had to fit into the at the time established
Marvel Cinematic Universe. So, the Marvel Creative Committee at the time tried
to keep an overview as much as possible so that it would keep a consistent tone
and themes as they build their way towards the Avengers. These “showrunners”
were the Alan Fine, who came from Toy Biz, Brian Mcihael Bendis, a famous
writer for Marvel Comics, Dan Buckley, publisher of Marvel Comics and Joe
Quesada, current Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Enterprise. In addition, they
worked under the surveillance of Ike Perlmutter, who was quite famous for being
stingy and adding more pressure to the company.
As a small company, they tried to use lesser known actors at
the time to portray their famous heroes, as it would allow for cheaper
contracts and even to create multi-film contracts keeping the actors
contractually obligated to participate in the crossover film and even in the
potential sequels. Already quite a risky move considering there was no true
knowledge that their films wouldn’t even prove to be a success at the time.
Scipts and their writers, directors and various film production members were
forced to wait for feedback from three various parties each on different
levels. This is a pure managerial horror for anyone, as it leads to many delays
and especially in an artistic environment push many people away, something that
had happened to Edgar Wright for Ant-Man, supposedly Petty Jenkins for Thor:
The Dark World and could be the reason why Ava DuVernay decided against
directing Black Panther.
So, you have a small independent company trying to make a
living off of a limited amount of characters, as a plethora have been sold to
other companies before they started their own independent productions, with a
managerial structure that only got more complicated as Disney purchased Marvel,
in a strongly artistic environment, which can scare away a considerable amount
of directors, writers and many more. I think it is a miracle that we have
received the products that we have up to this point.
The
Avengers Effect
Here comes the hardest part for a small starting company. Up
to this point the most successful film was Iron Man 2 with an international
gross of around $630 million, which is already quite a considerable success,
but Thor only truly made around $450 million, which is certainly a success, but
a regular one for most companies. This alongside Captain America: The First
Avenger making $370 million was certainly proof that Marvel Studios was not
just a small producing company anymore, but a growing and ever-expanding
business. Superhero films were slowly growing, while some would point out this
is the start of the “superhero boom”, it was more the quiet before the storm.
What was the storm you ask? None other than The Avengers themselves.
I have a hard time believing anyone expected Marvel’s The
Avengers to become the third (now fourth) highest grossing film of all time and
imagine if you are a small company with some considerable great successes and
some plans for the future are suddenly told that what you expected to be at
least a great success at the same level of Iron Man 2 was suddenly a behemoth
of a film making headlines. From a financial stand point, this opens up gates
no one would have ever believed, which is certainly proven in the upcoming
Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but from a business or even
communications standpoint this is dangerous.
Some might be wondering, isn’t this great? I mean, it makes
Marvel Studios very publicly known and certainly a headline grabber, as it was
the one who started the superhero phenomena. Yet, from a Public Relations
standpoint for a small company, where I am unsure if they outsource certain
functions or not, this means more work, more risks and the scariest part, more backlash.
Anyone remember Iron Man 3’s reaction by the public? While being a financial
success it was critically pandered and we had the first time someone voiced the
words: “Is this a sign for Superhero fatigue?”, which to a certain degree was
proven wrong as Thor: The Dark World and Captain America. The Winter Soldier
proved to be quite successful. Then, throw in another huge surprise hit with
Guardians of the Galaxy, which made much more money and started the
expectations of the “Avengers effect”. Every film that came out afterwards was
going to be a proven success, as “Marvel Studios cannot fail”. If I was in the
PR team behind them, I’d get scared because how do you walk away from that when
you actually don’t meet expectations.
The Two Sides Of The Same Coin
Here comes Marvel Studios biggest issue, the rapid expansion
yet separation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe itself. ABC’s production of
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was not what people expected and at Marvel’s high-point
became quite a success in its pilot episode, but lost viewers due to these
expectations just not aligning as they should. What did they expect? Naturally,
you hear Joss Whedon you already have high expectations for the TV show and in
addition, people expected the company was going to bring the Avengers to the
small screen, but were met with something completely different. While Agent
Carter did not quite draw in the audience it wanted as well, it seemed that
Marvel could do not right on television.
What is it’s biggest flaws here? Marvel Television is headed
by Jeph Leob, who has proven to be quite a successful man in the industry, but
the problem is that due to Marvel Studios focusing on film and keeping its
Television department a complete separate entity, you not only managerial
separate them, but also publicly. There have been public statements that drive
the nail in the coffin that they are separate entities, especially when film
actors are willing to join the show but never are given even the offer. You add
to the public feeling that these stories told on television are not an
essential aspects to the films, and while Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has had many
storylines that directly tie into the films, even introducing elements that
would only be explored later on, it feels like this is not necessary to the
entire MCU experience. This might actually be even more of a communications
issue, as TV markets film, but the cross-marketing aspect is never truly won if
the films don’t market television.
Yet, suddenly something changed as Marvel made quite a
massive deal with Netflix to create four separate TV shows that would all lead
into a mini-series titled The Defenders. It is the television equivalent of
Phase 1 that aims to explore the much darker regions of the MCU, which Kevin
Feige explained would never truly be looked at in the films, so the focus is
laid on Netflix. Daredevil was a massive hit, which actually proved one thing,
the audience while interested in the expanded universe known as the MCU, are
completely focused on seeing the superhero aspect, something that Agents of
S.H.I.E.L.D. is trying to sell with the upcoming third season’s Secret Warrior
storyline. If you consider it, without that show we wouldn’t have the Netflix
deal, even if some still tend to heavily critique it online.
When Expectations Change
Now, we have the next issue that was probably a question of
time. Avengers: Age of Ultron tried to top every storyline from the first film
and meet expectations, but that was in a way the issue. It only met
expectations, something Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn’t truly achieve, as
expectations were already too high and the same happened to Age of Ultron. It
tried to up everything from the first film, and had a much more distinct Whedon
touch in addition to being the “middle” film that needs to build up towards
Phase 3 and Thanos’ arrival. What seemed perfect at first glance, was almost
meant to not achieve what it could before, because if you think about it,
Avengers already met something no one expected it to. Yet while already many
articles were stating that the “superhero fatigue” has finally come, Age of
Ultron as still a considerable success that probably came out in the worst time
possible, shortly before 2015’s surprise success Jurassic World. It did pass
the billion dollar mark, which has happened so often at this point it is almost
expected to a ridiculous degree, but because it didn’t surpass the first it is
almost considered a quasi “failure” by the public or at least its greatest
critics.
This year certainly proved one thing, the film industry is a
gamble on a massive scale, we are talking about investments between $100 to
$200 million dollars if you think about Summer Blockbusters alone. After Age of
Ultron slightly missed the mark set by the first, came Marvel’s first original film
focused on a complete new superhero since 2011 and a year after the first new
first installment with Guardians of the Galaxy. While Ant-Man was not a
surprise hit like Guardians of the Galaxy, it still made around the same money
Captain America: The First Avenger did. In addition to Fantastic Four being the
bomb that it was, articles on the matter have probably written themselves at
this point. Yet why is Ant-Man, probably the most difficult character to sell
with a production history that many could describe as poisonous to the films
success, still considered by the public as another showing that superhero films
are dying out?
With Warner Bros. now having officially stated their plans
until 2020, they forced Marvel to start thinking similarly and they officially
announced their plans up until 2019 for Phase 3. Competition is getting
stronger and the rivalry with 20th Century Fox regarding the rights
to specific characters is certainly not helping the situation. Opening up a
brand new possibility was making a risky deal with Sony Entertainment to share
the rights to Spider-Man may could be a new direction for Marvel Studios, it
still seemed like the future was going to be quite a difficult one. Fantastic
Four was a colossal failure for Fox, so now the question remains what will
happen with those characters in the near future. Will they also undergo a
similar deal like Sony Entertainment? Or is the competition opening a
completely new issue? Did this maybe force Marvel Studios to rethink
everything?
A New Age, A New Structure?
Now, while I probably already lost quite a considerable
amount of readers, we come to the recent events. Marvel Studios has completely
restructured itself due to the rise in competition and simply due to the
pressure behind the scenes. The audience is getting more and more hyped for
each film while the general consensus among the media seems to be in regard to
the superhero films slowly reaching their limit before it even began. Not
helping is the fact that many auteur in the industry commonly voice their
opinions against the genre, even Steven Spielberg recently stating it will
follow the same path the Westerns did, but the question remains how does this
affect Marvel Studios, the focus of this case study?
Well, Marvel Studios unlike 20th Century Fox and
Warner Bros. only sells superhero themed films, so unlike them they have no
other products to truly sell. They cannot make a random artistic piece focusing
on a young couple trying to get through life, or even just a blockbuster film focusing
on a post-apocalyptic world with one lone survivor. People will see the Marvel
Studios logo and at this point expect a superhero film or at least heroic
characters that all share the same universe. Anything that happens to this
industry will greatly affect the company, which while still greatly successful
is still a small company in comparison to others with a very strong and complex
structure it needs to work with.
So, maybe the competition, the public view and opinions,
which commonly have turned into high expectations before the film, great
reviews during the film’s release that then end in voicing that it was just
mediocre to begin with, forced its current president Kevin Feige to take a
strong, firm look at the company within. Any business will tell you that a
companies success starts within the company, so a lean and functioning
management can make or break the future a company, especially if it seems they
are fighting each other. So up to this point, Marvel Studios was battling
against Perlmutter, its own Creative Committee to create more artistic films
and then having to adapt to regulations made by Disney Studios. It was only a
matter of time until their hands were forced.
And so without hesitation, it seems Kevin Feige managed to
make Marvel Studios a more independent company by trying to bypass the publicly
and supposed stingy middleman, Marvel CEO Perlmutter directly to Disney, which
should decrease delays and allow more flexibility for the company itself. Then
they decided to get rid of the Creative Committee that also halted many
productions and led to supposed creative differences that in the long-run have
publicly scarred the companies reputation among the more creative directors in
the industry. Edgar Wright being probably the most infamous event especially
considering how close before production it had occurred.
From a personal standpoint, this is a natural progression of
a company that is growing far beyond what it started and had more and more
expectations thrown at it. Kevin Feige has certainly proved himself to be a
juggernaut within the industry, so I am sure that he has a clear vision in mind
with this restructure. To a certain degree, it also seems to be something
Disney wanted, as it would probably would minimize the efforts to ensure a film
can be produced and give more creative freedom. Disney has garnered quite an
experience in handling subsidiaries such as Pixar and now LucasArts with the
Star Wars franchise. If you think about it, being a part of such a large
corporation, it is even a wonder that it managed to give itself a much more
flexible environment.
Personally, I think there is one major flaw with the way it
was restructured. The Marvel Television division is still under Perlmutter’s
control and some rumor that the Creative Commission is still a functioning
element in that division. My problem here is that Marvel Studios and Marvel
Television are still separate, or at least the Marvel Cinematic Universe
aspects are. To a certain degree, the MCU has far surpassed Marvel Studios at
this point and the universe in itself needs one structural system, not two
separate ones. Both the ABC and Netflix produced shows are still an important
element of the MCU, and per se should probably be more a part of Marvel
Studios. This restructuring of Marvel Studios has made the direct separation of
TV and film a much more apparent issue.
What Future Does It Hold?
Where is Marvel Studios heading from this point on? Well,
from a public standpoint this could mean that the films might go more into a
creative direction and could potentially show a new level of film production.
Sadly I do not work for Marvel Studios yet so I, just as anyone else, can only
guess where they can go and how much this truly will influence them. My
professional guess is that all films that have yet to be produced, maybe even
Doctor Strange to a certain degree, as it seems to be quite a passion project
of Marvel Studios president and could be the most distinctive film in their
repertoire. It could even strongly influence the way they tackle Black Panther,
which could become quite a controversial film and hold a very strong political
message.
My only concern is probably how this will affect the TV
division. Considering that it is still separated I don’t believe the quality of
the productions will be affected, as Luke Cage is now officially starting its
production and we are still anticipating the official word on Jessica Jones’
release date. Yet I worry that the marketing departments will still be strongly
separated and I sadly still won’t expect seeing a trailer for Agents of
S.H.I.E.L.D. before or after a film. I know its probably bizarre to some, but
just a short exclusive snippet with the words: “Explore another aspect of the
Marvel Cinematic Universe” could go a long way to just put a thought in the
heads of the general audience. Yet, this is a just a personal wish for the
future of the MCU.
We still have a long way to go with 4 more years of films
planned and I am certainly looking forward to what Marvel Studios has in store
for us. This entire case study is very much on the surface and bare bones due
to the limitations of information I can access. Still, there is a lot of
history there and some events that give us a look at the behind-the-scenes.
Marvel Studios is famous for its secrecy and one must respect in a world of
transparency and connections through World Wide Web.
Yes, I went a little
further than I even expected with this, but I hope I could maybe give a glimpse
and overview (well not a short one) of Marvel Studios history, current events
and even potential future. Leave a comment below and your thoughts on the whole
thing.
Sources:
![[IAoS] #01 - Strange Introductions](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oAIx0pTHYqI/VsNPf1LMPQI/AAAAAAAABOM/Zw3gIN11i0s/s72-c/Isaac%2BAgent%2Bof%2BSHIELD%2B%252301.jpg)
0 comments: