Avengers: Infinity War
Once upon a time , when Marvel Studios was tentatively releasing the firstIron Manmovie and the Edward Norton - ledThe Incredible Hulk , the Marvel Cinematic Universe was little more than a twinkle in Kevin Feige ’s optic and not even the most affirmative comic leger rooter could ’ve ever imagined the critically acclaimed box - office juggernaut the MCU has now become . Those former movies were largely standalone features , with only a handful of Easter Eggs and post - credit scenes to connect them to the wider Marvel domain and hint at the multi - hero universe that was before long to come into full effect .
That all changed with Joss Whedon’sThe Avengersin 2012 . combine the effort of Marvel Studios ' late standalone movies and bringing together an A - List ensemble cast , The Avengerschanged the landscape painting of the superhero genre and showed exactly the level of critical andcommercial successthat could be reach in a multi - hero venture . From this tip on , characters began to bilk over with far more oftenness - notably Black Window landing a significant use inCaptain America : The Winter Soldierand Cap ’s own cameo inThor : The Dark World- and this phenomenon was crusade to the next spirit level withCaptain America : Civil War . Despite technically being the thirdCaptain Americasolo moving picture , Civil Warfelt , looked and acted far more like anAvengersfilm , featuring the bulk of the MCU in a vast cinematic junk up .
By achievingmore successthan either of the premature twoCapmovies could manage , Civil Warproved that expanding the franchise ’s population with multiple superheroes and interlink game in turn bring greater payoff . Since then , it has seemed as if Marvel ’s standalone movie days might just be numbered , as Robert Downey Jr. prepares toappearinSpider - human race : Homecoming , Bruce Banner stick abig partinThor : Ragnarokand one-half of Hollywood joins the cast leaning ofThe Avengers : Infinity War . But with Marvel Studios preparing to introduce a new batch of characters for Phase Three , is it really going to abandon its standalone movies ?
Standalone Success
Having manufacture their cinematic empire from the ground up over a number of years , Marvel Studios intelligibly value the grandness of take the time to ramp up characters and familiarize audience with them via individual standalone movies . Captain America : The First AvengerandThormight not be the most fondly recall accounting entry in the MCU but both were vital in the brass of their respective persona and as a upshot , whenThe Avengersrolled around , fans were already very well-fixed with each figure ’s personalities , motivations and backstories , allowing Joss Whedon to focus on more interesting subject without accept to worry about the grunt work .
For the sake of equivalence , Warner Bros. ' D.C. Extended Universe has take a dissimilar approach , quickly launching into theBatman V. Supermanteam - up movie that connect importantly to the franchise ’s larger narrative . The DCEU has n’t had as leisurely a time as its Marvel twin when it comes to decisive reception and part of the reason for this can be attributed to the decision to pull the initiation on the all-embracing reaching movies before building the franchise up with some standalone features beforehand .
With the MCU correct to introduce new protagonists such as Captain Marvel and ramp up the use of new figure like Black Panther , the importance of standalone movies will once again become apparent , specially since these character reference ' risible origin are n’t as well get it on within a mainstream audience . This has already been see in Marvel ’s most recent speculation -Doctor Strange . Other than a hilarious post - creditscameoand some brief visual or dialog references to the wider MCU , Doctor Strangerepresented a move back towards the enfranchisement ’s yesteryear of self - contained narrative by pore squarely on the grapheme at hand .
This move was only necessary as not only is Doctor Strange a lesser known character in the Marvel canon but he foretell awhole new world of illusion and mysticismthat require a standalone moving-picture show to the right way innovate , explicate and do justice to . mirthfully , the movie was aresounding successboth in terms of box place takings and reviews , which aim particular praise at the visual dash and the carrying out of this new mystical side to the MCU .
Another property that has been more or less standalone in nature isGuardians of the Galaxy . Although the first movie featured Thanos - arch - scoundrel of the MCU ’s overall narrative - the intergalactic location set the movie apart from the rest of the Marvel mankind and was another model of a mega - successful standalone small-arm . Somewhat surprisingly , it appears from thetrailersand plot details released so far thatGuardians of the Galaxy Vol . 2will beeven more ego - check than the original movieand although you may expect some form of set - up to lead the persona towardsInfinity War , the subsequence has its own ensemble , stories and lore to play with without throw other MCU character or plot of ground parentage into the mix and yet despite this , GOTGremains an integral part of the franchise .
A Future United
Certainly then , standalone movies will be a key part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe - at least in the immediate hereafter - but it could be argued that the studio apartment are reserving these for lesser fuck characters that casual fans may demand familiarizing with . The estimate of a solo movie starring Steve Rogers or Thor thatdoesn’thave implications in the wider MCU seems unlikely at this point , as the various Avengers have become ever more entangled in each others ' type arcs . Furthermore , given the impact ofCivil War , if Marvel Studios hypothetically did decide to announceCaptain America 4as a standalone solo motion picture with no extra fiber , there would no doubt be some part of the fandom who would be disappointed at what could be see as a ' smaller ' weighing machine moving-picture show . Marvel sic its own streak and now it has the duty of meeting those expectations .
The same can be say for theThorseries . Neither of the Norse God ’s solo adventures were rapturously received but the hype surrounding the forthcomingRagnarokis tangible and that ’s largely thanks to the addition of Bruce Banner . In what is being described as a ' pal picture ' in space ' , there is well more anticipation for this third trip to Asgard and when all is said and done , money talks . IfRagnarokvastly out - performs the late twoThormovies - and it most probable will - then the formula will sure enough be clean for Marvel to follow : more grapheme and interlink stories = higher box bureau .
And from a critical standpoint , it would be hard to find fault them . After all , the core Avengers characters have all had their base laid - Hawkeye and Black Widow away - and audiences are very familiar with each of them at this point . It not only makes good business sensory faculty to have these fictitious character team up with others and become Byzantine in write up business that grow over a number of films , it also keeps them fresh and relevant in an ever - expanding moving picture macrocosm and the standalone lineament can be reserved for young characters . As far asSpider - Man : Homecomingis concerned , Peter Parker might be new to the MCU but Marvel Studios will only be too aware of how familiar moving picture - departer are with the role and bring in Tony Stark will greatly help in anchoring Spidey to the wider Marvel universe of discourse after five movies under the Sony umbrella .
However , the real Elvis test for Marvel ’s intentions with their standalone output will be next year’sAnt - Man and the Wasp . apart from a brief scrap with Anthony Mackie ’s Falcon , the firstAnt - Manmovie was a standalone heist movie , for the most part unconnected to the rest period of the dealership . Now that the character has properly establish himself , it ’ll be interesting to see whether the same overture will be utilized for the sequel or whether Ant - Man ’s new Avengers joining will mean a more Byzantine role in the wider departure - on of the MCU and feature appearances from more names than just Falcon . If Marvel go with the latter , it ’ll be a strong sign that the studio is wait to make their movies as inter - connected as possible , reserve standalone features for newer grapheme in pauperism of expounding and establishment .
After Infinity
If it feel as if the Marvel Cinematic Universe is put less emphasis on standalone motion picture , this can perhaps be explain by the proportional proximity ofTheAvengers : Infinity War . The outgoing battle against Thanos constitute the mop up of a decade of movies and is the very here and now the MCU has been building towards since its inception . With sight to do before reaching that gunpoint , it ’s only natural that the direction mighty now would be on the bigger moving picture . But what happens when the threat of Thanos has been vanquished ?
There ’s only so ' big ' Marvel can realistically go in terms of scale and - judging from the cast list and bruit budget - the conclusion of the Thanos discharge will be enceinte than anything realise before . From there , set about to go even crowing does n’t feel like the most appropriate option . The Michael Bay philosophy of ' more , more , more ' is unlikely to cut it in the MCU and although there are plenty of juicy , universe - spanning narration from the funnies to plunk from , it may not be wise to jump direct from the Thanos material into a newfangled major spark right away .
Perhaps then , the post - Infinity WarMCU may see a replication to extrusion of the standalone superhero movie . After all , if you ca n’t go bigger , the only way is inwards and this might see whichever Marvel characters are left standing get involved in some more personal , small - graduated table story . For instance , it has long been rumored that Sebastian Stan ’s Winter Soldier would finally take over the Captain America mantle from Steve Rogers . There have also been rumblings of asolo outingfor Black Widow and for Mark Ruffalo to get the opportunity to finally do a standaloneHulk moviejustice . In the wake of Thanos , perhaps these account and other standalone menu can once again do to the fore … and start build towards a whole raw major arc .
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