So this week Marvel Studios released its first trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy. Marvel proudly declares on the films poster: From the studio that brought you Iron Man, Thor, Captain America & The Avengers. -- YOURE WELCOME That pretty much sums up the mainstream attitude towards comic book movies in 2014. Guardians of the Galaxy is Marvel Studios tenth independently produced film but it stands apart from all the rest. Iron Man, Thor and Captain America are recognizable names to most people who arent comic book readers. The Guardians are not (I myself had not heard of them until pre-production on this film started.) However, Marvel Studios is now in a very comfortable and prosperous position. Superhero films have very little ground left to conquer in terms of box office return or critical acclaim. What the audience is willing to accept has changed as well. Marvel launched its cinematic universe in 2008 with Iron Man. Iron Man was a mortal with no superpowers other than money, technology and the brains to use both to marvelous potential. Not a very big pill for folks to swallow, especially while having their pants charmed off by Robert Downey Jrs Tony Stark, the cornerstone of the whole damn show over at Marvel. Fast forward 6 years and we have Bradley Cooper voicing an anthropomorphic raccoon next to Vin Diesel as his Groot, his walking house plant/muscle. Iron Man exists in the same universe as Rocket Raccoon and Groot now, both in the comics and in the film. In a post Avengers world, we are willing to accept these new, offbeat characters because Marvel has earned our trust. Guardians of the Galaxy unique in that, while it does exist in the same universe as The Avengers, it is more a spin off of that world. The events of this film do not lead directly into Avergers: Age of Ultron and dont expect these characters to appear in the next team up film either. Marvel is thinking about expansion now. Robert Downey Jr. will reprise his role as Iron Man in the next two Avengers movies but we wont be seeing any solo Iron Man films any time soon. Thor and Cap are rounding their second solo outings and will most likely get a third in Phase Three but the potential for those characters in their individual films is dwindling. Marvel knows it has limitless material from decades of comics to draw from. They have created a standard in the film business with a shared fictional universe that is now being imitated at other studios. Marvel has also set the bar in terms of finding the right writers and directors and trusting them to treat the material with respect. Bringing Thor to the big screen seemed silly until Kenneth Branagh signed on to direct. Marvel knows what its doing and the audience is along for the ride. This week Marvel announced it is looking for directors for Dr. Strange, a sorcerer. The Guardians will probably get a sequel and after the next outing of The Avengers we will get Ant-Man in 2015. Another silly character right? Well -- Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim) is directing and Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas have already signed on to star. Get ready for some quirkier superheroes folks, theyre gonna be coming out of the word work. Happy Friday!
Posted on: Fri, 21 Feb 2014 21:58:45 +0000
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