How The Iconic Marvel Studios Intro Sparked A Unhealthy Franchise Pattern
The Marvel Studios intro reel is iconic and was rapidly copied by DC, Star Wars, and others, however shared universes have outgrown the intro development.
The long-lasting Marvel Studios intro has thrilled and delighted followers for years, however the MCU reel has created a horrible film franchise development that should finish. The MCU has been the defining, pre-imminent franchise of the twenty first century and thus spawned a mess of cynical copies seeking to money in on the method, even all the way down to the intro reel. Whether or not it is the DCU, Star Trek, or different Disney properties like Star Wars, as cinematic shared universes have constantly expanded to take over cinemas and television screens, so too have shared universe intros. However they not serve their supposed function.
A static Marvel Studios emblem was first used to introduce a movie over 20 years in the past in 2002’s Spider-Man. At the moment, the brand served as a vital branding touchpoint for a Marvel firm that was combating an uphill battle for relevance towards DC’s family names and basic waning curiosity in comedian e-book characters. Nevertheless, twenty years, a number of intro reworks, and several other multi-billion greenback franchises later, the MCU has vastly outgrown the necessity for its sizzle reel, and the Marvel Studios emblem has been cheapened because of this. Worse, the development has additionally executed far more hurt than good for the quite a few copycats it has impressed.
Marvel Studios Began A Franchise Intro Pattern
That includes a static manufacturing studio emblem and even a particularly detailed and dramatic intro video firstly of a film is not something new, and the MCU definitely cannot be given credit score full for the development. Nevertheless, the place Marvel Studios did innovate, for higher or worse, was with the introduction of the present MCU intro that options massive fanfare and numerous clips of MCU characters that have been launched in 2016. Whereas sure MCU tasks like Black Panther: Wakanda Eternally and Wandavision have modified the Marvel Studios emblem, the intro stays largely the identical throughout each MCU movie and each episode of MCU exhibits.
Since 2016, that Marvel Studios intro has been extensively copied by different blockbuster franchises seeking to money in on the profitable development of a shared universe. Star Wars, one other Disney property, now contains a montage of a number of iconic character helmets initially of all its movies and exhibits, which it hadn’t historically executed. Even Star Trek, a franchise that has existed since 1966, now options an intro sequence throughout all of its properties much like the MCU. In 2017, DC launched its personal comedian characters in a DC Prolonged Universe intro, even together with characters which have but to look in DCU movies.
Why The Shared Universe Intro Pattern Should Cease
On the time of its introduction, the Marvel Studios intro reel for the MCU was a reminder of the fun of a franchise that launched solely two movies a 12 months and was clearly constructing as one story. Seeing an MCU movie and the intro that got here with it felt like a uncommon, particular occasion. Now, with the introduction of Disney+ and a bloated launch schedule, the long-lasting intro has misplaced its luster and means nothing. What as soon as was a uncommon deal with is now a weekly reminder about why Marvel fatigue is going on. The identical goes for Star Wars and DC, and it is time for these franchises to maneuver on.
