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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.

  • This thread is for talking about the live-action films, TV shows, animated works, and related content that use the Marvel brand, currently owned by Disney.
  • While mild digressions are okay, discussion of the comic books should go in this thread. Extended digressions may be thumped as off-topic.
  • Spoilers for new releases should not be discussed without spoiler tagging for at least two weeks. Rather, each title should have a dedicated thread where that sort of conversation is held. We can mention new releases in a general sense, but please be courteous to people who don't want to be spoiled.

If you're posting tagged spoilers, make sure that the film or series is clearly identified outside the spoiler tagging. People need to know what will be spoiled before they choose to read the post.

    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

Unsung it's a living from a tenement of clay Since: Jun, 2016
it's a living
#90351: Oct 20th 2018 at 2:09:31 PM

Why would you pay more to own a physical disc when you could just re-up your Netflix subscription for a month? And then you get new movies and series, made by Netflix or otherwise.

Anyway, as noted this is about new viewers, not rewatch views. But Netflix is doing pretty well lately, and I don't think the Marvel shows are really their banner series anymore. I'm not all the way through Daredevil yet, but everything other than Luke Cage s2 has been kind of meh. I'm still watching it as a fan, but I have to wonder what viewership looks like outside of that core fanbase, if they're really seeing that synergy with the movies anymore.

slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: May, 2013
The Head of the Hydra
#90352: Oct 20th 2018 at 2:11:09 PM

Huh remember when Dardevil first came out & it was critically acclaimed as the greatest thing ever?

Man where does the time fly?

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#90353: Oct 20th 2018 at 2:12:51 PM

[up][up] Because the disk will be there whenever I want and it cheaper in the long run because I pay only once for it.

alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#90354: Oct 20th 2018 at 2:14:32 PM

And if you are really into it, well, you can just buy the Blue Rays.
I was going to buy the Blu Ray for Daredevil Season 1, but then I realized that it's only the episodes and that's it. There are zero extras. No commentaries, no gag reel, not even a VFX reel. Hell, at least when Agents of SHIELD puts out its DVD/Blu Ray sets, it includes a bunch of extras so you seem like your getting your money's worth — but zero extras? I don't know whose decision that was, but it's terrible.

Edited by alliterator on Oct 20th 2018 at 2:14:41 AM

Unsung it's a living from a tenement of clay Since: Jun, 2016
it's a living
#90355: Oct 20th 2018 at 2:20:58 PM

It's only cheaper if that series was the only thing you ever watched on Netflix, and if you bought that season, watched it all the time, and never bought any other movies or series. If you buy one Blu Ray set, that's what, $30 USD? Two seasons of a single series, $60. You could subscribe to Netflix for like six or seven months for that money, and watch not just two seasons of a single show, but all ten seasons of the Defenders shows if you wanted, and more besides. And you don't have to stay subscribed to Netflix all the time— you could let it lapse, and then just re-up for a month when you get a hankering to watch it, a year from now or a however many years down the line.

Unless Netflix and iTunes and Steam and the rest all combust and your library is just gone one day. But I mean your house could burn down or you could step on the DVD case, too.

And I could see how some people might just like having a physical object in hand enough to pay the extra money, but not enough of those people to impact Netflix's business model.

Edited by Unsung on Oct 20th 2018 at 5:04:20 AM

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#90356: Oct 20th 2018 at 2:36:47 PM

Personally I think that Netflix library is too thin for the money you pay, and it will soon get even thinner.

Unsung it's a living from a tenement of clay Since: Jun, 2016
it's a living
#90357: Oct 20th 2018 at 2:43:30 PM

I can't really help you with that, and I don't know what their selection is like in Germany, but it's not exactly a universal response. The loss of Disney/Marvel isn't going to ruin them. And even if the Marvel shows were all you watched, I suspect it would still be cheaper to just get Netflix again whenever you wanted to see them, unless you expect to watch them multiple times a year for years on end.

Edited by Unsung on Oct 20th 2018 at 3:47:02 AM

slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: May, 2013
The Head of the Hydra
#90358: Oct 20th 2018 at 2:43:44 PM

[up][up] I disagree heavily with that.

They have a lot of stuff I haven't watched yet.

I just found out they even have The Godfather.

Edited by slimcoder on Oct 20th 2018 at 2:45:06 AM

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#90359: Oct 20th 2018 at 3:38:30 PM

I mean, I don't actually pay for my Netflix (I share my sister's account), so...I'm good.

VeryMelon Since: Jul, 2011 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#90360: Oct 20th 2018 at 3:54:38 PM

I've watched lots of shows on Netflix, some I didn't even know existed.

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#90361: Oct 20th 2018 at 3:58:07 PM

It depends which region you acccess Netflix from,I ended up closing my account because I was'nt satisfied by the selection I was getting

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
RavenWilder Since: Apr, 2009
#90362: Oct 20th 2018 at 5:01:39 PM

There's a reason Netflix is spending billions of dollars each year on original content now, so much that, if they're making any profit at all, it has to be pretty slim. They see that more and more content rights holders are taking their good somewhere other than Netflix (or are at least asking for more money than Netflix is willing to pay), so they're now throwing all their cash into building up their own content that they can hold onto perpetually, keeping their catalog sizeable.

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#90363: Oct 20th 2018 at 11:13:06 PM

Well, we will see who wins in the stand-off between Netflix and Disney and all the others...the one advantage Netflix has in my country is that it will most likely be some time before Disney decides to compete in the market.

But in any case, I will always only have one streaming service. And if there is a choice between the Netflix and the Disney library, well, Disney is it.

slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: May, 2013
The Head of the Hydra
#90364: Oct 20th 2018 at 11:17:57 PM

The advantage Netflix has over every other new streaming service is that its already established.

Its gonna take a lot of time & work to create your own successful streaming service.

Though if Disney is able to put every single product its made on its streaming service I can certainly see it doing well because Disney has made a ton of shit.

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
Unsung it's a living from a tenement of clay Since: Jun, 2016
it's a living
#90365: Oct 20th 2018 at 11:34:08 PM

I don't really see Netflix and Disney as direct competitors yet. Disney is huge, just not huge as a streaming service. I'm sure their streaming service will be successful, because Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Fox, ABC, etc. But I'm not sure it will be able to oust Netflix right away, becoming that level of essential in the current zeitgeist.

I also admit that I kind of hope not, because I still don't think any one corporation should have that kind of control over a single industry.

alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#90366: Oct 20th 2018 at 11:57:46 PM

Disney is also super cautious about releasing things — like, they used to release Disney movies "from the vaults" only occasionally, so that people would have to buy them then and then they wouldn't be available any other time.

A streaming service is almost the opposite of that — Netflix was marketed on the fact that you could watch anything in their library anytime you wanted. You didn't need to go out and buy or rent the DVD, you didn't need to wait until it was even out on DVD. If Netflix had it, you could watch it.

Disney, for all of their huge library, will probably want to hold stuff back, which makes sense for them, but not for any actual users.

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#90367: Oct 21st 2018 at 5:57:10 AM

[up] Netflix might market it this way, but that is far, far from the reality. They remove stuff from the streaming service all the time and their library of "Netflix originals" is simply not big enough and above all not good enough to be worth constantly paying for it.

Disney only has to keep their animated shows and family movies permanently on their streaming service, and it would be worth it as long as they don't hike the price up too much.

Edited by Swanpride on Oct 21st 2018 at 5:58:43 AM

LordVatek Not really a lord of anything Since: Sep, 2014
Not really a lord of anything
#90368: Oct 21st 2018 at 8:18:49 AM

If they keep doing stuff like the planned Loki and Scarlet Witch shows for their other properties, then I could easily see their streaming service being an example of quality over quantity.

This song needs more love.
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#90369: Oct 21st 2018 at 8:26:29 AM

[up] That too. But Disney can easily can do both. They can easily put a bunch of older properties which aren't necessarily viable anymore (at least I suspect they aren't because I haven't seen them aired anywhere for quite some time or only aired in the dead slots on the Disney channel) but are still beloved by some people in constant access on the streaming service, while also rotating in their more viable movies. God knows that Disney has never been good in putting their series on DVD anyway. And they can offer high quality new shows on top of it.

Edited by Swanpride on Oct 21st 2018 at 8:27:08 AM

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#90370: Oct 21st 2018 at 8:41:49 AM

I don't expect Disney's streaming service to have much trouble. Having exclusive streaming rights to

  • All Disney content.
  • All Marvel content.
  • All Star Wars content.
  • All Fox content.

gives them a pretty substantial leg up on the competition. Shit, if they put The Simpsons up there, they'll have a wealth of people subscribing for that alone.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Oct 21st 2018 at 9:42:25 AM

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#90371: Oct 21st 2018 at 8:43:40 AM

Simpsons,futurma,King of the Hill,Family Guy..

The list goes on and on

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#90372: Oct 21st 2018 at 8:55:47 AM

Netflix might market it this way, but that is far, far from the reality. They remove stuff from the streaming service all the time
They remove stuff when they lose the rights. Everything they have the rights to is up on their service right now.

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#90373: Oct 21st 2018 at 9:07:14 AM

Yeah, there's this misconception that Netflix just takes stuff down to be assholes or something, but that's not how it works at all.

Netflix puts movies on their service by purchasing temporary licenses from IP holders. Those licenses eventually expire, at which point Netflix has to make a decision on whether or not to pay the renewal cost and keep it going. This decision is made based on viewership. If something's super popular, they'll renew it so it can keep attracting new subscribers.

But if it isn't pulling in a lot of hits, they'll let the license expire and spend the money acquiring interesting new licenses instead. The constantly rotating list of movies and shows is the result of them not being able to actually own the content that people are tuning in to see.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Oct 21st 2018 at 10:08:39 AM

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#90374: Oct 21st 2018 at 9:33:44 AM

[up] Sure, but this is EXACTLY what might knock Netflix out of the competition eventually. Because Disney, Warner Bros or Universal all don't have this problem.

Especially Disney. With the Fox properties they cover some of the most beloved I Ps out there.

RavenWilder Since: Apr, 2009
#90375: Oct 21st 2018 at 11:47:35 AM

Which, again, is why Netflix is spending billions each year making their own stuff.

Also, in addition to good content, a streaming service also needs a good system and software. Part of what makes Netflix more appealing than most other streaming services is how well their videos play, quickly and smoothly with rarely any technical difficulties. If you ever checked out that streaming service Yahoo! tried launching a few years back, you know that's much easier said than done.

Edited by RavenWilder on Oct 21st 2018 at 11:50:09 AM


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