Spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine ahead
When I went to see Deadpool & Wolverine in New York last Thursday afternoon, it wasn’t a surprise to me that the various cameos from Wesley Snipes’s return as Blase, Channing Tatum finally living his dream as Gambit, and Jennifer Garner’s reprisal as Elektra among others were some that elicited the loudest cheers in the theater. Who would have thought we would be living in a world where we would see all of them together with Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman? It was a comic book nerd’s dream — especially considering how big superhero films have grown in the cultural zeitgeist. This affinity with nostalgia is precisely what Marvel Studios was counting on (the film has currently made $550 million and is cruising to that golden billion number) and may have discovered the way out of its uneven state of projects. It wasn’t until the Marvel Hall H presentation and the unveiling of The Russo Brothers coming back to direct the next Avengers installments, and the return of Robert Downey Jr as famous Marvel villain Victor Von Doom that everyone could see where the pivot was. Marvel wants the “steady” hands to usher them into a soft reboot era and is banking on the success of Deadpool & Wolverine to point to as causation.
It’s been chronicled that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been on some shaky ground lately. There was the unfortunate passing of Chadwick Boseman, the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a change in Disney leadership that pushed for more projects not passing the quality control litmus test, and the firing of Jonathan Majors while he was portraying an overarching villain. There is also the issue of people not wanting to watch 25 projects to get caught up to where the story is going. People have little time, and it’s a very daunting task. This is why Marvel has made their Spotlight brand a one-off on-ramp for those casual viewers.
Photo Credit: Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures
For a studio blessed with all the stars aligning with the second highest-grossing film of all time, 2019’s ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ as its pinnacle, it was time for drastic pivots. What better way out than in a multiverse story where variants of characters can come together just in case you need to call on somebody? (in Robert Downey Jr’s case). That’s exactly what Marvel did here when they anticipated the huge reaction as Downey Jr removed Dr. Doom’s mask on that stage – like the reaction all across the world when they saw the cameos. It’s interesting to see Marvel doubling down on the population of devoted comic book readers and watchers of these projects and betting there is enough to bank on box office success. In all actuality, they are looking at the previous box office data as a guiding light. The top five grossing MCU movies have all been ensemble films (2019’s Avengers: Endgame, 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, 2012’s The Avengers, and 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron) Not to mention; the top five opening weekends are the same style of film.
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The Saturday morning cartoon feeling of seeing all your favorite superheroes on the same stage is still abundant, and Marvel knows that. Will people be confused about Robert Downey Jr.’s return for another role? Absolutely. “Wait, wasn’t he Iron Man?” It’s in asking those questions Marvel hopes those familiar with the multiverse story can inform those people and get them excited. Marvel is putting a team together (again) with the Russos, Downey Jr., and writer Stephen McFeely, who co-wrote Infinity War and Endgame, hoping record-making money lighting can strike for a third and fourth time. It’s a safe play in an era with opposing sides to this thinking. There is a good percentage of the population craving new stories and for superhero films and television to think outside of the box with casting and initiatives. Then, there are the people, due to a wide variety of factors, who are only willing to see these films if they are big franchises and are under the assumption that they will be great. Lastly, there are the MCU faithful hooked on the twists and turns of this forever-growing universe and turnout. Marvel/Disney are banking on two of the three to make sure this risk-adverse approach works.
Main Photo Credit: Marvel Studios
