Can Marvel Die Now?
A reflection on Marvel after the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
James Gunn’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ feels like the final appendix of the Avengers saga that first began in 2008’s ‘Iron Man.’ The film gives the space band of misfits a fitting send-off by concluding their emotional arcs with levity, compelling-enough drama, and quirky action sequences.
While not a great film, it was enjoyable enough — a last breath of fresh air before my attention span with comic book movies completely morphs into disdain (although it may already be there). That is, until it left a sour taste in my mouth.
*SPOILER WARNING…so skip to the bottom to see my favorite Marvel movies*
After the wacky space adventure concludes, Star-Lord/Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) finally decides to return to Earth and face his grandfather in an attempt to reconcile with his past. The stunned grandfather welcomes the boy he hasn’t seen in 30-plus years with a tearful, loving embrace. You would think this is a good resolution — Peter, who has traveled the stars searching for a family, finds the love he needs back where he left it. The moment is touching, witnessing the character find spiritual rest.
But in the after credits scene that shows Peter chowing down on a bowl of cereal, (which is almost as pointless as the Shawarma joke in the first Avengers movie), the end title card reads: Star Lord Will Return.
Now whether Marvel means Peter Quill’s Star Lord or another human/alien stepping into the role (a la Sam Wilson/Falcon becoming Captain America) is up for the internet to fight over until the next Avengers movie. But, for this former devoted fan, the card was a disappointing reminder that Marvel won’t let the story end.
If you’re Marvel — or in the business of making money — why would you stop milking the cash cow? The studio produced the most successful film franchise ever, grossing more than $28 billion worldwide. And while it has had some critical and financial duds (i.e. The Eternals and Black Widow), the film giant, conversely, recently released box-office juggernauts (Spider-Man: No Way Home and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever). Other companies have tried emulating Marvel’s content strategy, but have come across as desperate imitations rather than innovative (i.e. the failed Dark Universe franchise and even Star Wars).
Marvel has radically changed the game. It dared to do something no one ever did before — interwoven movies/storylines leading to one climatic showdown. If the studio rode off into the sunset now, no one would blame them.
But they’ve lingered — long after the story they promised to tell in the Phase One films concluded. Each entry further dilutes the goodwill fans and general audiences invested wholeheartedly for nearly two decades.
Eleven years after ‘Iron Man’ and more than 20 movies later, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and company pooled their talents and willpower to defeat Thanos, a Malthusistic madman bent on literally snapping away half of the universe’s population. The stakes could never be higher. The concluding chapter’s universe/time warping almost shatters the story — but the ‘Avengers’ storyline never lost its central focus on the main villain, the MacGuffins (collecting the infinity stones), and, most importantly, the characters. Yet the franchise’s emotional core rested on Iron Man/Tony Stark’s grappling with heroism and Captain America/Steve Rogers’ search for peace after being separated from a life he knew. Those two characters were the cornerstones, and their storylines ended in the aptly, fittingly named ‘Endgame.’ Those characters experienced meaningful arcs — and satisfied the emotional drive for the series.
Removing those cornerstones has been detrimental, as Marvel has scrambled ever since to find a new ‘heart’ for the subsequent Phases (ironically, Tony Stark needed proof he even had a heart from Pepper Potts/Gwyneth Paltrow). Unfortunately, Chadwick Boseman/Black Panther passed away from cancer; Spider-Man is still entangled with Sony — so Marvel’s freedom with the character is more limiting; and Captain Marvel/Brie Larson has been practically demoted in her own series (see The Marvels).
Meanwhile, Ant-Man’s Kang as the newest Avengers’ baddie is in limbo (or rather trapped in the quantum realm) after revelations of actor Jonathan Majors’ abuse accusations. And the Thor franchise — the last being ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ — felt directed by a disinterested, tonally disjointed Taika Waititi, whose attitude seeped into the main character’s aimlessness. That movie in particular had no reason to exist — advancing neither story or characters to interesting/new places (Christian Bale was pretty good though…)
‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ was when Marvel ‘jumped the shark.’ The movie was captivating enough, if only for nostalgic feelings toward Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man series (it was nice to see Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker again — but Andrew Garfield and Willem Dafoe stole the show). But in its wake, the story left too open of a rip in space time — one large enough that Doctor Strange (or Marvel’s writers) can’t fix. Essentially, if the ‘same’ (though not the same) characters exist in multiple universes, then no one can ever ‘die’ — meaning the stakes appear utterly pointless because, no matter how much one explains multiverses, what audiences want to know is ‘will the character they love live or die’ by the end of the story.
Heck, even Guardians Vol. 3 tried to explain Gamora’s existence. Her presence undercuts her sacrifice/death in ‘Infinity War,’ thereby diminishing the impact of the scene in subsequent screenings and future films. The fact is the multiverse storyline is not being well established because, for all of the portals/different realities, there isn’t an emotional core and it’s not building to anything — at least, not to anything we haven’t already seen. Thanos threatened the universe’s existence…is Kang’s plan to do the same? Been there, done that.
Frankly, I have yet to see the third Ant-Man because, frankly, I don’t care anymore. Marvel’s hook of interwoven content is now its detriment with the studio desperately vying for you to subscribe to Disney+. Story arcs and critical emotional drama are now scattered across platforms, making it harder for the consumer to follow. At some point, casual fans will become disinterested, as well as even the former, emotionally-invested viewers (like yours truly). It was hard enough for viewers to see all 20-plus films to conclude the Thanos-arc; but missing one film is less detrimental than missing several TV shows and movies that are all, supposedly, feeding into one another for an epic, climactic battle. The next Phases will be devoid of importance because no one — except the fanatics — will actually do the homework.
Ultimately, too much content — without purpose or direction — is mind-numbing and soul-sucking. That’s where Marvel resides now.
Regardless, Marvel will continue churning out mediocre-to-cringe-worthy and soulless movies and TV (*cough She-Hulk cough*) until it totally oversaturates the market, becoming economically unviable. For me, I wish the studio rode off into the sunset after ‘Endgame,’ and I truly hope it does so after ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’; but that’s a fool’s dream.
After all, in comics, no one is ever really gone. But some things should stay dead. Or, in this case, should die.
— or maybe I’m a bitter old man now. Feel free to let me know. But, as promised, here are my top ten favorite Marvel Studios/Avengers movies, presented in no particular order:
Iron Man
Captain America: The First Avenger
Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Captain America: Winter Soldier
Thor: Ragnarok
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Avengers: Endgame
Captain America: Civil War
The Avengers
Absolutely agree! (But will say I enjoyed Hawkeye! She-Hulk? Augh! Terrible !) Phase 1 was Good vs. Evil. GOOD WON!!
Let it stand!