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Welcome to the main discussion thread for the Marvel Cinematic Universe! This pinned post is here to establish some basic guidelines. All of the Media Forum rules still apply.

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    Original post 
Since Thor and now Captain America came out this year, I wanted to get what Tropers thought of the concept and execution of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general. Personally I love the idea and wonder why this idea hasn't been seriously tried before. It sorta seems to me like the DCAU in movie form (And well, ummm, with Marvel), and really 'gets' the comic book feel of a shared universe while not being completely alienating.

Edited by Mrph1 on Jul 29th 2024 at 3:09:00 PM

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#25551: Jan 30th 2015 at 5:15:54 PM

It'd be easier to answer if I knew anything about either production.

Based solely on the source material, Wonder Woman probably has an easier time of it. She's one of the big DC three. She has a rich and colorful history going continuously back. Her backstory is pretty easy to explain. Her background dips freely into the free domain mythology and she has a cameo coming up before her movie to get hype.

edited 30th Jan '15 5:17:08 PM by Bocaj

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
BadWolf21 Since: May, 2010
#25552: Jan 30th 2015 at 5:23:02 PM

On the other hand, Guardians of the Galaxy, a property most people hadn't heard of until trailers started coming out, beat the most recent Superman movie by over $100 million at the box office. Superman. One of, if not the most famous superhero in the world.

comicwriter Since: Sep, 2011
#25553: Jan 30th 2015 at 5:25:14 PM

I imagine in a Marvel thread you're going to get more answers with a favorable view of the Marvel property.

I'm just happy that both studios are finally exploring more diverse leads.

edited 30th Jan '15 5:25:42 PM by comicwriter

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#25554: Jan 30th 2015 at 5:25:28 PM

Wonder Woman is probably the most iconic female superhero but the DCCU is largely unproven. Unless Marvel suddenly starts to fail I think they're going to win just by brand recognition alone.

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#25555: Jan 30th 2015 at 5:25:41 PM

[up][up][up], [up] That's true.

edited 30th Jan '15 5:26:11 PM by Bocaj

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#25556: Jan 30th 2015 at 5:26:04 PM

Yeah, I agree. If taken on their own, I would bet on Wonder Woman. While it is kind of riddiculous that the only live action adaptation of her is a TV show from the 1970s, she at least is known to the general audience. Captain Marvel isn't.

On the other hand, Captain Marvel is connected to the MCU, and if Marvel manages to keep up the quality up to her movie, this might give her the push needed.

But there are a lot of factors which play into this. If Wonder Woman doesn't convince during Dawn of Justice and Justice league, a stand alone movie might get snubbed by the fans. If she is already popular she gets an additional boost. Same if Marvel decides to introduce Carol Danvers before she gets her actual movie.

If Marvel had obted for the Black Widow movie I would have put my money on it, because this particular version of the character already has a lot of fans. As it is, time will tell.

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#25557: Jan 30th 2015 at 5:28:30 PM

Thus said, I currently trust Marvel more with female characters. They have come a long way from Betty Ross and the first introduction of the Black Widow. Between Black Widow in Winter Solder, Peggy Carter and Gamora they are doing pretty well as long as they don't have to write the character as love interest first and foremost. With DC I am hard pressed to find any female character which isn't annoyingly bland in the movies, with the notable exception of Cat Woman (The Anne Hethaway version).

edited 30th Jan '15 5:30:01 PM by Swanpride

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#25558: Jan 30th 2015 at 5:31:08 PM

Pilot Wonder Woman wasn't annoyingly bland.

Just sort of... disturbingly homicidal.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
BadWolf21 Since: May, 2010
#25560: Jan 30th 2015 at 5:33:11 PM

It's actually not as easy as it would seem. Wonder Woman does have a huuuuuge edge in the public consciousness, and is going to be out first. But as much as Wonder Woman is instantly recognizable by most people, and Captain Marvel is not at all, Marvel's numbers tend to be better.

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#25561: Jan 30th 2015 at 5:41:21 PM

That's why I'm giving it to Marvel. Assuming their directors, actors, and marketing department are all equally competent Captain Marvel still has the benefit of coming from one of the most profitable movie franchises ever. Her movie will also release right after Avengers 3 which is almost guaranteed to be one of the highest grossing movies of the entire year while the future of the DC movies is uncertain.

wanderlustwarrior Role Model from Where Gods Belong Since: Jun, 2009 Relationship Status: What's love got to do with it?
Role Model
#25562: Jan 30th 2015 at 5:41:28 PM

In turns of audience turnout, I'd be stunned if Captain Marvel won.

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#25563: Jan 30th 2015 at 5:42:51 PM

Why? Marvel managed to get over 700 million on an obscure property like the Guardians of the Galaxy. DC couldn't even do that with Superman, the most recognizable character in all of comics.

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#25564: Jan 30th 2015 at 5:43:03 PM

I don't care if Captain Marvel beats Wonder Woman. I just want it to make a healthy profit so Hollywood will be that bit less afraid of female-led movies.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
BadWolf21 Since: May, 2010
#25565: Jan 30th 2015 at 5:46:14 PM

You'd probably have to thank Hunger Games and Frozen more for that than anything.

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#25566: Jan 30th 2015 at 5:49:52 PM

Its like carving a statue by slamming your head into marble. Its a long, frustrating process.

But thank you Frozen and Hunger Games.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Heatth (X-Troper) Relationship Status: In Spades with myself
#25567: Jan 30th 2015 at 5:51:27 PM

As others been said, I would go with Captain Marvel solely because Marvel Studios have yet to fail. They have published ten diverse movies already, who are, at worst, kinda mediocre and at best freaking awesome. DC have a lot less, have at last one flop, and all their true huge success are from the same character. Going by that, I put way more faith in anything coming from Marvel.

In a vacuum, however, Wonder Woman is, naturally, way more popular.

[up][up]I've never been much fan of Hunger Games movie (opposed to the book, which I liked), but I surely am thankful to their contribution to the industry.

edited 30th Jan '15 5:52:49 PM by Heatth

BadWolf21 Since: May, 2010
#25568: Jan 30th 2015 at 5:55:05 PM

Well, I wouldn't say they have yet to fail. They just failed super early on. The Incredible Hulk was terrible, and didn't make anywhere near the kind of money the rest of the movies have.

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#25569: Jan 30th 2015 at 5:56:25 PM

I thought the Incredible Hulk was okay.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Heatth (X-Troper) Relationship Status: In Spades with myself
#25570: Jan 30th 2015 at 5:58:57 PM

[up]So did I. I thought the consensus was that the movie was far from amazing, but not terrible either. Certainly not close to the disaster that was Green Lantern. I mean, box-office-wise Hulk was a success, while Green Lantern was apparently the 13th biggest bomb in history.

edited 30th Jan '15 6:02:50 PM by Heatth

wanderlustwarrior Role Model from Where Gods Belong Since: Jun, 2009 Relationship Status: What's love got to do with it?
Role Model
#25571: Jan 30th 2015 at 6:14:53 PM

Incredible Hulk was alright.

Yes Marvel captured lightning with GOTG, but they also had a team, a lot of promotion, and Cap 2 to piggyback off of. Thor 2 did worse, and it was a sequel with a founding Avenger. Iron Man 3 did better, and it was crap at best decent. Audiences are crazy, and often go for the recognizeable name or face, or the best marketing. Wonder Woman will be following her appearance in a movie with Batman (who everyone is on the dick of) and Superman.

KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#25572: Jan 30th 2015 at 6:17:04 PM

I'll give it to Hunger Games, since it's an action movie at least (albeit one of those teen dramas, which are female led more often than some other genres), but Frozen is in a genre that is fairly different from the superhero/action genre, in a brand that has been emphasizing female characters for a long time.

I don't really think it's success will influence one way or another the success of films like Wonder Woman or Captain Marvel, nor influence execs who greenlight such things into doing so more often.

BadWolf21 Since: May, 2010
#25573: Jan 30th 2015 at 6:49:17 PM

What Frozen contributes isn't that it's particularly genre-busting. It's that it's the highest grossing animated movie by a wide margin, the fifth-highest-grossing movie ever, and one of the most successful product licenses ever (I believe it was the best-selling product license of 2014, a title which had been held by Pokemon for 10 years). It's the first animated movie to make over one billion dollars, and the second to do so with a female lead (the first being Titanic).

What makes Frozen important is that conventional Hollywood wisdom is that female-led movies don't sell. Frozen has two, and is making money hand over fist. It's a giant flashing neon sign to Hollywood that says "This shit works, yo."

Falrinn Since: Dec, 2014
#25574: Jan 30th 2015 at 7:11:33 PM

If you put a gun to my head and made me pick whether I thought the Captain Marvel or Wonder Woman movies would be more successful, I'd probably say Captain Marvel simply because the MCU is a much more proven concept at this very moment.

But there's tons of variables that could come into play. Wonder Woman is going to have a role in Batman v. Superman, so audience reaction to that, as well as the quality of the MCU in general, is going to have a serious impact on that. Captain Marvel isn't officially slated to appear in any other movies, but I would be surprised if she doesn't at least show up in Infinity War part 1, and that appearance will shape the success or failure of her solo movie. So basically I have no idea.

Overall, I'm looking forward to both movies and hope they both do well.

KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#25575: Jan 30th 2015 at 7:12:34 PM

[up][up] Again, part of that is because of the genre it's in, which is a lot more accepting of female major characters and leads than the action genre for its success to be as applicable to the success of female led movies in this genre as it seems at first glance.

edited 30th Jan '15 7:13:15 PM by KnownUnknown


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