MCU v DCEU I
The House That Iron Man Built
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a seemingly unstoppable juggernaut. The DC Extended Universe is laughably poor competition. What can DC learn from the Marvel Model?
The rivalry between comic giants Marvel and DC has never been truly acknowledged by either company, but there is no doubt that fans of both companies take it very seriously. Their latest battleground, the silver screen, has been extremely one-sided, with Marvel the undisputed conquerer. In this six part series, I’m going to examine what has made Marvel so successful, why DC’s attempt at a cinematic universe is doomed to fail, and what could have been done to save the rivalry on the silver screen.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe, owned, operated, and created by Marvel Studios, is not only the undisputed king of the comic book franchises, but also the most successful film franchise ever. On the other hand, the DC Extended Universe, produced by Warner Brothers, has fired one big miss after another, from Man of Steel to Suicide Squad, in a desperate attempt to keep up.
What has created Marvel’s success? Is it humor? Is it an uncanny knack for perfect casting decisions and director hires? Is it witty dialogue? Is it a willingness to not take itself too seriously? Actually, no. Those elements have been important to the creation of the MCU brand, but there is more to Marvel than meets the eye.
The Beginning: A very good place to start.
The most successful film franchise ever began with a rock-solid foundation. This foundation was based on complete brand control, a plan that could be scaled to any size, and a visionary storyteller holding the reins.
Kevin Feige is the the visionary storyteller that has made the MCU possible. Feige’s first introduction to Marvel came when he produced 2000’s X-Men, directed by Brian Singer. Feige decided to immerse himself in all the X-Men comics he could get his hands on, and was surprised to learn that he was the only one on the production team doing so. “I would hear people, other executives, struggling over a character point, or struggling over how to make a connection, or struggling over how to give even surface-level depth to an action scene or to a character,” Feige recalls. “I’d be sitting there reading the comics going, ‘Look at this. Just do this. This is incredible.’ ”
Marvel was impressed, and hired Feige to be the number-two guy in its itty-bitty film division. Feige ended up producing or executive producing every Marvel film of the early aughts, from Sam Raimi’s Spiderman trilogy to the latest Punisher film, and when Marvel decided to take control of what remained of their film rights with Marvel Studios, Feige was the man they hired for the job. From day one, Kevin Feige’s number one goal was to protect and control Marvel’s brand.
As president of Marvel Studios, Feige has the final say on every major creative decision Marvel Studios would make. He uses that power to fight for every character Marvel has. He knows each character’s entire history, which stories are key parts of their mythology, and his audience: Marvel’s hard-core readers. These are characters that have been around for decades, and they have a LOT of fans.
Marvel Studios now needed a franchise to build around, and Feige had an idea. Although many of their biggest heroes had been sold to major studios in the 1980’s, Marvel still controlled the film rights to the Avengers, Marvel’s version of (at the time) the more well known Justice League. Feige had an ambitious idea of building several franchises that “lived” in the same sandbox, of building a shared Marvel universe on the silver screen like the one Stan Lee and Jack Kirby built on comic book pages in the 60’s and 70’s. He just needed the right hero to launch the idea.
Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk: Sowing the seeds
The story of Marvel’s success really begins with Iron Man and Robert Downey, Jr. At the time, Downey was a surprise choice for the role of Tony Stark because of a history of drug and alcohol abuse. (It’s rumored that Tom Cruise was also offered the role.) However, director Jon Favreau felt this gave Downey the perfect qualities for the role of Tony Stark. “By studying the Iron Man role and developing that script I realized that the character seemed to line-up with Robert in all the good and bad ways. And the story of Iron Man was really the story of Robert’s career.”
The gamble paid off. Iron Man became a hit because of Downey’s portrayal of Tony Stark. “Injecting the brilliantly bright, quick, and clever life force that is Robert Downey Jr. into the comic-book superhero realm is a masterstroke, a kick in the head to the tired franchises of the genre.” said one reviewer.
Iron Man ended with what would soon become a calling card for the MCU: an after credits tease for the Avengers. Nick Fury, the eye-patched, grizzled leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. informed Tony Stark that he was part of a larger universe. He also mentioned something that sent Marvel fans into a frenzy: the Avengers initiative.
Later that summer Marvel debuted The Incredible Hulk, starring Edward Norton as brilliant scientist and tortured alter-ego of the Hulk. While this film is largely forgotten by the MCU, it proved that Marvel could develop superhero movies independently as long as there was a level of consistency in the production design of the films. Directors also had to be willing to include “connective tissue scenes,” which would slow a film’s story but would add depth to the cinematic universe.
Iron Man provided Marvel with a nearly foolproof blueprint for superhero movies: start with the core story, create the right version of the character, and hire a director and/or lead actor capable of carrying out that vision. This pattern has led Marvel to 14 straight number one box office openings. Directors like Joss Whedon, Kenneth Branagh, James Gunn, and Peyton Reed have been able to inject freshness into a formulaic model, and actors like Downey, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo and Benedict Cumberbatch have become iconic in their roles as superheroes. Kevin Feige’s comic book binges were going to pay big divendends for Marvel Studios.
Iron Man 2: Launching the Avengers
After the incredible success of the first Iron Man, Robert Downey, Jr. and Jon Favreau had the burden of the Avengers thrust upon them. Iron Man 2 would be bigger than the first film, and would spend more time building a universe where superheroes were necessary. We were introduced to Black Widow, Nick Fury and War Machine. The film contained easter eggs like Captain America’s shield, a reference to Wakanda, and a glimpse of Thor’s hammer.
Unfortunately, Iron Man 2 didn’t quite have the stamina to carry all of the connective tissue it needed and tell a compelling story about Tony Stark. Critics complained that it felt bloated compared to the first film, and they’re right. Unless you were excited to watch Marvel attempt to launch the Avengers, the scenes that included Nick Fury and Agent Coulson didn’t really make sense. However, thanks to another great performance from Downey, the film worked enough for Marvel to continue its experiment.
Iron Man 2 carried valuable lessons for Marvel Studios. There were limits to how much world-building an audience could endure. The more time that Marvel spent on the stories of individual characters, the better off their films would be. It also helped that many of the best comic book references occur in the background. Easter eggs like an experimental version of Captain America’s shield weren’t essential plot points, which made it easy for the casual moviegoer to enjoy the film.
Marvel also proved it could balance the character arcs of multiple superpowered characters in the same film. This would be especially important. If Marvel was going to make the biggest superhero movie ever, audiences would have to already know every member of the team. There wouldn’t be time for Marvel to introduce all of them with individual films. And the Avengers film would have to balance the stories of these characters without feeling bloated. Marvel had to be sure it knew what it was doing before production started on its biggest gamble.
The MCU was just beginning. Meanwhile, DC was off making one of the greatest superhero films of all time. The Christopher Nolan Batman films would achieve great critical acclaim but would also set the foundation for DC’s attempt at matching Marvel’s success. Check out Part 2, where I praise Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy and explain exactly where Man of Steel went wrong.
