So where do I start in regards to the blockbuster, slam bang, box office domination of “The Avengers” movie?
I can start all over the place as I had predicted it for years as had several others.
You guys out there who’ve read my blogs and messages on such pop message boards as Animation Nation, know I’ve pushed for a Marvel/Disney marriage for quite some time. It was a simple thing, I wanted to see some awesome movies about the Marvel Comics pantheon of of characters.
That simple.
Marvel Comics’ superhero and supervillain cadre’ has surpassed any other intellectual property house. Marve’ls got thousands upon thousands of characters who haven’t seen the light of popular day here. Only a small handfull are now in the public eye and look at the havoc they’ve wrought at the box office in terms of money. Marvel now equals money but only when done right. In the past there have been disasters at the box office or television but only when the characters, costumes, basic plots have been messed with. Fans had plead, begged, boycotted just to get studios not to stuff these Marvel movies with umpteen executive producers who know nothing about the characters. Whenever the fans pleas were ignored there was a drastic crash.
Spider-Man solved that problem.
SONY knew they had to come up with something that pleased the millions of Marvel fans who had been sitting around for decades unfulfilled. Only television’s “The Incredible Hulk” filled that Marvel void but that was because of the quality demanded by the shows’s staff and principle actors Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. Both men were masters of their crafts and sport long before they got on the show. To this day Mr. Lou Ferrigno is still recognized as the one and true Hulk and contributed to this blockbuster movie with his own voice. SONY then came along 20 years later with Spider-Man starring Toby Maguire. Top special effects, soundtrack, acting, directing from fan favorite Sam Raimi who knows how to do comics right, and the race was on. Followed up by the popular X-Men franchise from 20th Century Fox and the Marvel franchise became solid enough.
Disney could have bought Marvel when it was just tens of millions dollars on the table. Questions from the authorities about the legality of such a purchase are still in debate but the bottom line is the Marvel properties are putting money in the pockets of millions of people especially the stockholders.
Disney ended up buying Marvel for around $9 billion and they’re going to make their money back in no time from the toys alone. We need to look at the astonishing return headed towards Disney from this franchise acquisition. The Avengers has broken just about every box office record known to man. That shows that demographically it’s hitting markets hitherto untapped. Girls and women are now piling into the theaters to watch superhero adventures for two reasons, the romance and hunky heroes. That’s an achievement comics have been looking for for decades. Marvel movies work well with the romance factor because the original writers and artists added these factors into their stories. Writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby and the Marvel bullpen of creators did the unusual. They made stories about superheroes who had real life problems. That meant stories about romance, marital problems, divorce, you name it. That ingrained their characters into the public who loved those soap opera scenarios. Women and girls who dug into those Marvel stories went on to become popular writers and producers themselves. Female Marvel fans do have one up on your average run-of-the-mill women as they look for that extra monumental challenge to take on. Women’s Lib was popular in Marvel Comics long before it was in pop culture. That led to a loyalty to the brand that has lasted half a century.
Now that the transition to film has proven that the basic Marvel formula is a money maker, you’re going to have to get ready for the avalanche and cultural change that is coming. We’re talking big change folks. The sheer lexicon changes that these films will bring will be quite significant let me tell you. The superhero genre is the new “Western” where sagas of good and evil battle it out. Bad supervillains will be strolling into Dodge and the superheroes will have to battle it out to the death. This is going to go on for a very, very, very, long time.
Superheroes ain’t goin’ away anytime soon.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Expect big and small superhero movies, books, websites, and more. The moral stories coming are incredible in depth and scope. Writers and artists now have the web to express themselves and Hollywood is pounding at our door. Yours truly has three comics properties up for film option. Studios and their investors would be extremely wise to cater to the comics industry because if just one comic book property gets into the hands of the right producer and studio and could become the next blockbuster. Comics fans have seen this happen several times especially in the past thirty years alone. There are poignant comics, comics with profound wisdom, stories that range from one end of the spectrum to the other. The Japanese have recognized this for the past 50 years and exploit it to the point of astonishing profits. America has not, but now you should see a re-direction of investment capital to expand the comics and animation base. This Avengers movie has proven beyond any doubt of this. Considering that DC Comics’ “Batman” movie coming out in July and Marvel’s latest “Spider-Man” flick following hot on its heels this is going to be the year of the superhero like no other. The sheer merchandising and licensing of the products will shatter previous records and just wait for Christmas.
Tune in tomorrow for part II of this post.
Posted under ANIMATION, Comic Book Artist, COMIC BOOKS, Cosplay, Movies
This post was written by Greg Boone on May 8, 2012
