It feels like Marvel Studios has been around for a lot longer than a decade, but that just speaks to how dominant the studio has been in the past ten years. The January issue of Vanity Fair is a multiple-cover affair, featuring the current stars of all of the Marvel franchises, from Iron Man to Black Panther to Doctor Strange to Ant-Man. Joanna Robinson wrote the cover story, which you can read here. VF did a huge photoshoot with the stars, as everyone who has ever worked on a Marvel film was encouraged to come to Atlanta for the editorial shoot.
What’s the point of all this? Marvel Studios is a multi-billion-dollar organization and they’re being backed up by Disney (Disney purchased Marvel in 2009 for $4 billion). But the studio is also in a moment of flux – several of their biggest stars are leaving the tentpole films because their contracts are running out, and I guess no one is interested in signing on for more films. After Avengers 4 – which will be released in 2019 – Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth and Jeremy Renner will all be done with their Marvel contracts. I’m sure that Marvel will “reboot” these franchises with new stars, which will lead to many thinkpieces about “when is it too soon to reboot a beloved franchise” and “is Marvel a craven, money-hungry exercise in futility?”
There’s also an interesting – and exceedingly careful – discussion about how Marvel got it so wrong about women, and the untapped female audience for superhero films. They bungled Black Widow and when asked about DC Comics’ Wonder Woman film and its massive success, Kevin Feige admits that he wishes he had gotten there first with a stand-alone Black Widow film, much less Black Widow merch. Now Marvel is going to be seen as blatantly riding WW’s coattails with Captain Marvel, their first stand-alone female superhero.
Anyway, I’m sure the fanboys will enjoy these covers. Blah.
After a decade of unprecedented success, @MarvelStudios is at a pivotal moment: the looming farewell to some of its founding superheroes, and the rise of a new generation. https://t.co/JoKFAtWZA5 pic.twitter.com/ed9u2kiNQx
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) November 27, 2017
Photos courtesy of Vanity Fair.
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