Lately, Marvel has been striking out at the box office. So far this year, only the third “Guardians of the Galaxy” has likely made significant money. “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” was supposed to set up Phase of the MCU, and it didn’t even make $480 million. “The Marvels” doesn’t seem to be headed for a big box office either, and now the director Nia DaCosta may be trying to “sell” the film to an audience that is getting tired of super serious superhero films and super “wacky and silly” superhero films.
According to Variety, the director has an interview in Total Film Magazine about her first superhero film, “The Marvels.” During the interview, she says, “I think superhero fatigue absolutely exists. The biggest difference from the other MCU movies to date is that [‘The Marvels’ is] really wacky, and silly. The worlds we go to in this movie are worlds unlike others you’ve seen in the MCU. Bright worlds that you haven’t seen before.”
Except, lately, the Marvel films keep going for “wacky,” and for films like “Guardians of the Galaxy,” it works, and that tone was established with that group from the first film. Even “Ant-man and the Wasp” dips into silly, and it worked in the past, yet the latest movie “Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantumania” it didn’t (see Modok.)
With “The Marvels,” the characters of Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) and Photon (Monica Rambeau) come from more serious MCU origins. The first “Captain Marvel” and “WandaVision” had elements of comedy, but the characters were quite serious. Only Ms. Marvel came from a show that was more “wacky.” Now it seems that all the characters will suddenly be in a “silly” and “wacky” setting. While it could work, it could also go very badly.
Let’s take “Thor Love and Thunder,” for example. The Thor films started much more serious, but Thor himself became increasingly silly as the MCU progressed. I’m sorry fat Thor was just ridiculous. While “Thor: Ragnarok” was much more silly, it balanced it all. But by “Thor Love and Thunder,” audiences weren’t there like they used to be. Maybe Marvel flicked too hard?
I’m not sold on this film and not on Marvel going all in on “wacky” and “silly.” It is not new. It is not different from other films or shows, and with each one, the audience declines.
But who knows, maybe this one will be different. But I’m not counting on it. We will soon find out as ‘The Marvels’ hits theaters on November 10, but currently not IMAX until several weeks later.
What do you think? Comment and let us know.
Source: Variety,
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