Though theyre not always perfect, if you wonder why we support big studios like Sony, 20th Century Fox, and Warner Brothers making comic book movie adaptations- and have some minor apathy towards the path Marvel Studios chooses to go in terms of creating big-budget blockbusters- look no further than this news. collider/marvel-fights-fox-cancels-fantastic-four/ While the idea of a shared cinematic universe sounded great in 2008, and while theyve made a good handful of great movies, Marvel Studios continued marginalization of their directors, franchises, and petty, penny-pinching way of doing business is snaky, underhanded, and everything wrong with big studios to begin with. Marvel was a comics company we loved, were inspired by, and had great appreciation for throughout childhood and into our adolescent years. As a comics and media company, it was a brand that to us really seemed to value their artists and creators, and felt important and connected to its audience. We would read the back pages of the comics and books- the Bullpen Bulletin on every release- and have a real fascination with how and why they worked. In 1999, when Spiderman (2002) was announced before the heavy use of the internet for news updates, it was in Bullpen Bulletins that we read the enthusiastic and positive behind-the-scenes news about the film, and got to see the creators at-work. Their cross-productions with 20th Century Fox and Sony in the early 2000s, like the original X-Men and Spiderman trilogies, made sense and were well-made. They bundled with and supported big studios, and in turn big studios tenderly took care of their biggest comic franchises. (Making some of arguably both Sony and Foxs best blockbusters in the histories of their existence) Then, when Marvel decided to branch out and build their own shared world, too- That was cool. We could appreciate that, and loved to see where they went. But we also appreciate choice- and the ability for different studios to tackle material in different, self-contained ways. Not every comic book movie should have to follow the Marvel Studios way of doing things, and the Marvel Studios shouldnt feel impressed upon by other studios, either. As viewers, theres room for us all- and the success of both Guardians of the Galaxy and X-Men Days Of Future Past this summer, two Marvel properties produced separately by Disney and Fox, show theres still a deep care and understanding for the material by creators and fans alike. So when we see news like this, that Marvel is damaging its own creators for the sake of spite. That theyre canceling one of the brands institutions and premiere character groups, and not allowing another to expand- it hurts us. Not just because its petty and childish. But because its disrespectful to what the once-great comic book company was. It used to be Marvel would find the best people to make their content- be it X-Men on a saturday morning cartoon, Alex Ross painting a short-run collection of illustrated novels in Marvels, Sam Raimi developing the first Spidey film- and collaborate. They mightve been the big comic book conglomerate, but they were the antithesis of the set-in-their-ways studio. And those set-in-their-ways studios? For all their faults and problems (Fox, especially. Were honest on that one.)- they still managed to make their biggest and most-trusted projects the Marvel ones, too. Things werent perfect, but they were good. They worked. And Marvel was still that childhood brand we loved. The good guys. The artists. The ones that created the magic. Now? Now its just Marvel the big, bad, greedy, close-minded studio. Doing things one way, undercutting and underpaying their cast and crews, focusing so much on the bigger picture they lose sight of the small details, scorching earth on their own people to vindictively punish another studio (that this year alone made one of the best and highest-grossing comic book films, ironically), enslaving their actors into insufferably-long contracts, and all-the-while pushing through for the almighty dollar. Its Kevin Feiges world. Were all just living in it. And, quite frankly, were all worse for it. What happened to you Marvel? How did you become the biggest, baddest, most miserable studio of them all? Theres a lot of bad-blood in Hollywood. A lot of sneakiness and apathy, with all the studios, make no mistake. But its news like this. News like this that hits us hard. Because they know better. The Marvel we used to know would be better than this.
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 08:45:11 +0000