As a teen in the 00s, I thought I was growing up in the era of superhero films. But this trend has no apparent ceiling, and in 2014 we're still at the era's utter peak. It hasn't plateaued yet, it may even have a little higher to climb. Me, I'm perfectly thrilled about that; I like superhero films and I have no problem picking and choosing one or two out of the ten that come out each year now.
But to be honest, by the time the Marvel Cinematic Universe began in the summer of 2008, my eagerness to gobble up new superhero films had already begun to waver. They came too late to cause a stir. I enjoyed Iron Man well enough, but I had no interest in Thor or The Incredible Hulk. Not only was my interest in the trend waning, but The Avengers are a B-grade superhero outfit to me.
So I was highly skeptical of The Avengers film, even after hearing from pretty much everybody on Earth that it was amazing. In fact, the first time I tried to watch The Avengers, I turned it off after one scene. Could that first scene have been any more generic? Ooh there's this super-powerful object and a bunch of pseudo-science. Uh oh, the evil guy steals the super-powerful object. I was just like "Ugh, seen it before," and turned it off.
Avengers Reassemble
But people keep gushing about the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) films. And after X-Men: Days of Future Past, I'm in the mood for some superheroes right about now. So I gave The Avengers another try.
And to my surprise, this movie actually fucking rocks. Despite frequent misgivings, it really won me over. The action was sick, the CGI looked good, it even had me genuinely invested in these characters. It pulled on my heartstrings a couple times. The story kept my interest and lacked any especially jarring foibles. They fit all these different characters into the film without ever feeling overburdened with content or leaving any characters noticeably underused. And most surprising of all, Loki waxes philosophic a couple times and it was actually pretty clever stuff. It didn't come off as cheesy.
Best of all was ScarJo. Black Widow, a SHIELD Agency assassin played by Scarlet Johansson, completely stole the film. In a movie featuring several of history's most beloved superheroes, Black Widow was more interesting than any of them. Here's a character with wit and strength, who doesn't have superpowers, and leaves me grappling for who she is, what her backstory is. Where's her stand alone movie? Now that's an MCU film that I'd actually go see. Maybe even in theaters.
So, I'm officially won over. The Avengers make a great ensemble and this film definitely ranks among the top 10 best superhero movies. But I can't say I'm completely sold on the MCU just yet. The MCU is much more of a comic-styled film series, with aliens and gratuitous action. I am and always will be more a disciple of the superhero approach that is grounded closer to reality (even if it's merely relative), with darker, more adult content, like what has been done with the Batman and X-Men films.
Marvel Takeover
A lot of people want Disney-Marvel to regain the rights to X-Men and The Fantastic Four, currently held by Fox. To that I say no no no no no no, no no no no no. We already have continuing franchises for Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and The Avengers, quite possibly The Hulk as well, plus new films for Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, and any number of other additions. Do you really want to see X-Men and the Fantastic Four placed on the MCU assembly line as well? The MCU has roundly proven their style to be stagnant and consistent between all their products. All we would be getting from MCU-made X-Men and Fantastic Four movies is exactly what we've already gotten from the dozen other MCU movies. To people who have an insatiable appetite for the MCU, this would be a good thing. For those of us who want variety and nuance, this would be an unbearable Marvelopoly.
The problem with the MCU is that it's the assembly line of superhero movies, they keep coming out, but they're too similar to each other. It's a lighter, more kid-friendly approach to superhero films, exactly what you'd expect from Disney. And I frickin' love Disney, but there's no reason that all great comic characters should be bowdlerized to fit this mold. What we have now is pretty much perfect, Fox doing more serious movies with the best Marvel franchise, and Disney doing lighter, but still high quality, films with a lesser set of characters.
The biggest problem with The Avengers film is this: Too many one-liners. And don't get me wrong, this is Joss Whedon, a lot of these one-liners are really frickin' funny. But when you have enough one-liners to end every fucking scene, you have to really start to wonder whether this movie is action/adventure, or a comedy. This tactic seems designed primarily to diminish the tension as often as possible, and makes it patently impossible to deny that the Marvel Cinematic Universe takes itself less seriously than the X-Men, Batman, or even Spider-Man franchises.
What we really need isn't to Disney-ify all the great comic-film franchises. What we need is for studios to wake the fuck up to the money train and start cooperating on flicks that can include characters from more than one franchise. We don't need a Marvelopoly in order to see The Hulk, Spider-Man and Wolverine in the same film, all we need is for these studios to be a little less antisocial and a little more ambitious. As the superhero trend continues to soar uninhibited, these collaborations may inch closer to fruition.
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