Is Marvel's Phase 2 Truly Consequence Free, And If So, Why?

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I was recently reading an article on the MCU Exchange regarding the Marvel Cinematic Universe and how Phase 2 felt like there were no true stakes to truly leave a strong impact. I do agree that all Phase 2 films, with the exception of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, do have stakes that are contained within the film. While reading the article, which I highly recommend you check out HERE. Anyone who follows my site will know that I am quite fond of the interconnectivity that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I may have some theories on why this perception may have been enhanced through specific actions of the Marvel universe. Here are three distinctive paradigms that I believe have led to the current worldview of Marvel Studio’s second phase and will take a brief look into the future.

Here is a warning, I will spoiler all Phase 1 and Phase 2 films from this point on. If you haven’t seen any of the films and are still trying to avoid spoilers, then only continue reading at your own risk!

The Coulson Paradigm
While Agents of SHIELD has been faced with heavy criticism over the course of its run, may it be due to people’s expectations of a Avengers-style show on television, or even its own fanbase unhappy with it going a different direction than they were hoping for, one cannot deny that its existence had shifted the MCU perception to the public. Not only was it the gateway to Netflix seeing the potential in shows set in the MCU, but also it introduce, or rather enforced, a concept that echoed throughout Phase 2 of Marvel Studio’s productions. Death doesn’t truly matter, as they will always be able to return, something they introduced with resurrecting the first major death in the MCU, Agent Phil Coulson.

I’ll be the first to say that the show wouldn’t be the same without him, but his return opened up to a common theme throughout the second phase, as many different characters were apparently killed off only to return once more. Iron Man 3 had Pepper fall to her death, only to return a few minutes later to give the finishing blow. Thor: The Dark World saw Loki getting impaled, only to reveal himself as the new king of Asgard. Captain America: The Winter Soldier saw Nick Fury using one of his oldest tricks, purposely faking his death to avoid actually getting killed and uncover HYDRA’s infiltration of SHIELD and Guardians of the Galaxy had Groot sacrifice himself to save his friends, but only to return as a stick later on in the last few minutes.

The only true deaths we have seen are the villains, which in some cases are actually wasting characters with great potential, or in the case of Age of Ultron, Quicksilver. I still believe the character was killed off not only to divert people that Hawkeye was going to bite the dust, something Joss Whedon was hoping to make us believe, but also due to 20th Century Fox using the character in their franchise. To this point we have still not seen an actual funeral for the character, so who knows if the serum that resurrected Coulson may return to bring back Quicksilver, who actually has close ties to the Inhumans in the comics.

So what is it about Coulson that changes the way we, as an audience, perceive the MCU? His resurrection created the believe that there aren’t any true consequences in this world, as any character can be revived at any time, something the comics are quite famous for. Not helping the fact was that most of the films released featured a scene that had the same effect, killing off a character only for them to return later on. If Quicksilver does not stay dead in the upcoming films then it would take away from his sacrifice and the stake less perception of the MCU would continue. Coulson strangely lies at the center of the issue, as he not only was he the start of the massive expansion of the franchise into ABC and Netflix, but at the same time was the reason the world simply shifted into a new direction.

The Business Paradigm
Marvel Studios is first and foremost a company that aims to make a profit off of its intellectual properties, and as such it will try to see how much they can potentially gain out of specific franchises. Iron Man has certainly proven itself to be quite a successful franchise with Iron Man 3 making around $1,215 million worldwide.[1] Naturally, Robert Downey Jr. has become a franchise flagpole as the first Iron Man started the MCU and he certainly has proven to be a Box Office draw, which could be the reason we are seeing him return in Captain America: Civil War next year. It certainly pushes the film in 2016, as it is going to face off with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which will be released a month earlier. As a company, knowing how valuable the character of Tony Stark or Iron Man is, would you want to kill him off?

His death or personal sacrifice to stop his own creation, Ultron, would have been a perfect ending of his storyline throughout the films, but at the same time would take Marvel Studios most successful franchise and character away from them. Obviously, they wouldn’t take that risk and kill off a character, who won’t have a gigantic franchise future due to his character being heavily marketed in another franchise, making Quicksilver’s untimely demise in Age of Ultron not only a storytelling decision, but also a business one. Even Captain America’s Chris Evans is proving to be quite a star in his own rights with Captain America: The Winter Soldier making around $714 million worldwide,[2] which is a considerable jump in comparison to the first film in the franchise.

It simply would be throwing money out of the window if they simply go out of their way to kill off characters that are heavy hitters in the market and even those that have potential to carry their own franchises. While Ant-Man wasn’t a gigantic Box Office surprise like Guardians of the Galaxy was, it still showcased interest in the character and the potential to expand upon his stories. If they could market a sequel that might even make more money than the first did, then naturally they would want to keep the character of Ant-Man around much longer. Especially looking at the upcoming film slate for Marvel Studios, it does make one wonder how many more characters will be joining this world in the future and that is without considering the ever-expanding Netflix franchise that is now adding Frank Castle in Daredevil’s second season. The MCU is handled in a similar vein to a TV show with Kevin Feige and his team as the showrunners behind the scenes. They have to make the tough calls to ensure a future for the franchise, as unlike Warner Bros. or 20th Century Fox, they live off of these superhero franchises alone.

The Fandom Paradigm
Speaking of the ever-expanding franchise that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it makes me wonder if the reveal of Phase 3 might have come at an inopportune time. As much as we were anxiously anticipating what other films they would be producing, I might get the feeling that the reveal at El Capitan Theatre back in October of 2014 might have hurt Marvel’s 2015 productions.[3] What do I mean by that? People were clamoring to see what Marvel had planned until 2020, as Warner Bros. revealed their DC slate of eleven films until 2020 excluding the new Batman films and Superman sequel.[4] So, taking this as a declaration of war (or competition) and with heavy demand, they revealed their entire slate up until Avengers: Infinity War, which will end Phase 3. Here is my question though, did this just maybe force a perspective into the mind of viewers that there are no true stakes in the MCU?

Look at it this way, we know Robert Downey Jr. has signed on for the Avengers films in addition to the upcoming Captain America film. Every contract these actors signed have at least three films included, even having rumors that characters Baron von Strucker (Thomas Kretschman) and Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) have multi-film contracts even though they were killed off in Age of Ultron. Especially in the digital age, we are aware of a lot of behind-the-scenes activities then we would normally know. This is something that one can easily see with Ant-Man’s troubled production, when Edgar Wright left the project last year.

The fandom of a franchise are more involved through the Internet and Social Media, which adds even more pressure to the productions. You have fans that wish for the films to be as accurate as possible to the comics, you have those that build up their very own expectations that they want met and then you even have people that want to be surprised by something new. These are just a few examples of people Marvel Studios is trying to satisfy, forcing them in some cases, like Thor: The Dark World, to take a safer approach.

Age of Ultron might offer the best possible issue that Marvel Studios has to face with us, the fans. Remember the outrage over the relationship between Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanoff? It was something that Joss Whedon wanted to do and Marvel Studios trusted his judgement to act accordingly. Instead of the relationship many believed she had with either Clint Barton, or even Steve Rogers, she ended up with another character, something people were quite annoyed about. Was the relationship perfect? No, as the film had such a massive cast it got strongly overshadowed by everything else, but still it struck a nerve with people, almost as much as the Mandarin twist did in Iron Man 3.

At this point you probably realize the biggest issue with the franchise, on one side people want to be surprised, but on the other they want it to be the way they want it to. Marvel Studios has to face many people proclaiming the franchise is too safe, but when they take a risk people revolt against them, so naturally they tend to adapt once again and play it a little safer. Even at this point that isn’t enough anymore, there is a duality in the fandoms behind any show, where everyone is entitled to their vision of a show or franchise, but expect it to surprise them at the same time. These are two things not every single film can manage, as they are long in production before anyone can truly react to what the film will entail. In some sense, we are our own worst enemies, as we forced Marvel Studios hands into telling stories that have no true stakes, as we fear the implications, but will complain that they don’t exist anyway.

Will Phase 3 Change?
At this point it is difficult to say how Phase 3 will turn out, Civil War could change the fabric of the entire franchise, similar to what The Winter Soldier managed in 2014, or simply continue the path we are already on. It is rather difficult to say, but Phase 3 does certainly echo much more drastic measures with Thor facing Ragnarok and introducing new heroes that could potentially replace the one’s we have grown fond of over the past few years. Maybe Phase 2 in its core was more of a buildup, a test run after the surprising massive success of The Avengers, which forced Marvel Studios’ hands. I don’t think anyone truly believed the film to make the amount of money it did, but as a result the expectations skyrocketed and Marvel Studios may have never been able to recover from it in its second phase, as they were still trying to learn how the cogs and gears work that make the MCU move forward.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Leave a comment below!

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