Here's why we like Marvel's plan to keep you in theaters until 2028.
By: Matt Cummings
Marvel Studios has redefined the way we watch movies - what other film series consistently keeps the audience in their seats to wade through the credits? Their pull has forced a paradigm shift in the way movies and entertainment are marketed and distributed. Other studios, feeling much like a schoolkid who gets dunked on by the larger stronger baller, are trying to follow suit, but their efforts have been spotty and are short-sighted. DC's demand to merge Batman vs Superman into a glorified Justice League film demonstrate just how desperate they are to tap in to Marvel's mojo without really knowing how to achieve it.
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| In its first week, WS made over $96 million worldwide. |
Take the release of
Captain America: The Winter Soldier, a film we personally love, not because we're superfans, but because it's good...really, really good. Built up slowly and through several previous films,
Winter Solider is the franchise's deepest and possibly best film to date. And apparently, other people seem to think so as well.
The news this week that
Marvel has plans to keep us in theaters until 2028 shouldn't be all that surprising, considering we already knew about their plans to 2017. What is significant is who reported it: not SuperHeroHype (although we love them), or the great boys at ScreenRant.com:, but Bloomberg. A site and network known for stock quotes and stories about overseas capital investitures reported the most significant entertainment item of the week. In our opinion, this just goes to show how big Marvel Studios has become, moving beyond the world of geek websites and into the high-stakes world of finance, and we're OK with that.
What we've seen since 2012 is nothing short of a sea change in the genre, fueled by The Marvel Plan, a dedicated hype machine that follows very simple rules:
- Hype everything in your arsenal every week
- Make it feel unique and therefore of high value
- Make it feel cool and therefore something you must have
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| The man behind Marvel's Mojo |
This is usually the plan for local brick-and-mortar stores, but why don't people overtake Best Buy, Macy's, or Sports Authority? Simple: Marvel President Kevin Feige. In our opinion, his roadmap and vision are very similar to another innovator who made things feel cool and needed: Apple's Steve Jobs. When he died in 2011, you could feel the vacuum left by his presence. Since then, Apple doesn't seem that cool or innovative, and their releases feel...old. Marvel Studios, once on the brink of financial collapse, has risen to the top of the entertainment heap, fueled by Disney's acquisition, whose resources can now allow Feige and team to make and market their films to an even wider audience. But does that make them cooler? Of course not. Like Jobs, Feige and Iron Man Director Jon Favreau built the Marvel Cinematic Universe around simple concepts: make it cool and desirable, pimp like you walk the streets, and be prepared for a slow burn as their plan is fully fleshed out. That might be one reason why Feige has a plan until 2028, but he won't make us wait that long, which is why we love his brand of hype. And much like those end-credits scenes, we are constantly rewarded for sticking around. That makes the brand feel like it knows what we want, another powerful aspect of marketing that works so well for them.
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| The other man with the plan...Creator Stan Lee |
Marvel is only as good as long as Feige remains in charge. Like Jobs, the studio relies on Feige's vision and talent to move the ball uphill. So long as that doesn't change in the near future, fans should continue to enjoy films through 2017 and apparently 2028. When you have a plan that deep, even dull financial websites want a piece of you. That's the kind of power money can't buy. Maybe Loki should have taken notes.
Discuss this story with fellow SJF fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @SandwichJohnFilms, and follow author Matt Cummings at @mfc90125.
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