Marvel Contracts And The Movie Industry
Let’s look at Spidey’s death, for example. However unlikely it might be, Marvel could have replicated a Game of Thrones/Ned Stark scenario and decided to finish off their flagship character for Infinity War’s story. But thousands of viewers already know that they haven’t for several reasons.
If you’re more of a cynical fan, you’ll have realized just how unlikely it would be for Marvel to definitively kill off one of their very lucrative characters, especially one that’s only just joined the MCU and with immense box office potential. Of course, it would be very powerful to see superheroes tragically perish in this way. But we’d applaud Marvel far more if we didn’t suspect the deaths would be reversed and that the studio would continue following the money trail.
Then there’s that fact that we outright know that Spider-Man will return – somehow – because Tom Holland is contracted for two more solo films. One of these even comes out mere weeks after Avengers 4! You see, thanks to the rise of the internet and social media, the process of filmmaking has become very open. As such, we know about Marvel’s future plans from easily accessible reports and interviews.
Part of this is because the industry is, well, an industry first and foremost. Conventions, articles and announcements like this keep those big time investors happy. Plus, it’s useful for studios to gauge audience reactions to these stories through social media. By reading the room, they can tinker with their films to appeal to the largest audience possible. But rather than enhancing a film for cinema-goers, does it actually harm them?
