Disney Plus Marvel Equals Done.

This is just gonna be a quick little article tonight, guys, as it’s basically me bitching about something that isn’t on everyone’s radar. But hey, it’s what I love, so what else can I do?

Oh, by the way, I saw Zombieland: Double Tap…it was fine. Pretty much more of the same stuff from the first movie. If you liked the previous film, you’ll like this one.

Anyway, I am getting close to being done with Marvel. And here’s why: as I’m sure you all know, Disney launched its streaming service Disney+ this week, with a library of all the classic Disney films and TV show – live action and animated – along with a catalog of newly acquired IP from Fox, and a shipload of new original content, much of which is set to come out next year. And part of that forthcoming original content is a slew of original shows set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe including Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision, Loki, and Hawkeye, to name a few. In total, there are about nine of these shows set to premiere on the newly launched streaming service.

Sounds like a lot, right? A pretty unwieldy number of shows to keep up with, no? Well, you’d better get used to it, because according to Marvel bigwig Kevin Feige, if you don’t watch these shows, you'll probably be confused by what goes down in the movies (this obviously does not include Black Widow or The Eternals as those are already shooting or raring up to shoot). For example, whatever goes down in both Loki and WandaVision will directly lead into 2021’s Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.

And you know what? This piece of news makes me lose some respect for Marvel. See, what I had always admired about them is that even though they were committed to going whole-hog on the interconnected universe thing, at least most of their films worked as individual movies of

their own; you didn’t need to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 to properly enjoy Avengers: Infinity War, and so on. But now in order to fully enjoy these films, I’m gonna have to watch at least eight shows that I have no interest in just so I can keep up with what’s going on?

This is a move that just reeks of corporate greed. Not on Kevin Feige’s end, but on Bob Iger’s end. Being the mastermind that he is, he knows that part of the reason that people come out in droves to see these Marvel movies is because of the interconnectedness between them. And part of the reason that Avengers: Endgame made $2 billion at the box office is because people had a ton of fun laughing at the references to all the other Marvel films. So in Iger’s mind, this must have gotten the wheels turning to come up with the brilliant idea of doubling down on the interconnectedness and preying on the fans’ feeling of having to see every one of these movies to be caught up by making them sign up for a $6.99 a month streaming service and watch a bunch of shows they otherwise may not have watched just so they don’t get lost, in addition to the $10 ticket they’ll pay for the movie.

The other reason I don’t like this piece of news is because this move has the very real risk of Marvel fatigue. Which is why I think the best thing Marvel should have done after Endgame is announce a six or seven year hiatus from movies. Endgame was a cultural touchstone, a culmination of eleven years of buildup. There’s just no way you’re gonna top that right away, nor are you gonna be able to keep the train going at the same power after we’ve all experienced that emotional high. Pretty soon, the novelty of interconnected films and TV shows is gonna wear off and people just aren’t going to find it worth the trouble to keep up with all these shows just to acclimate themselves to the films. As YouTuber Council of Geeks put it, it's gonna begin to feel like homework.

And the whole notion just makes me very tired. Because then if something in the films doesn’t make any sense and I remark upon it, a deluge of Marvel devotees will get on my case and bombard me with “Well, actually, this makes sense if you watch this show” comments. To which I will reply, “I shouldn’t have to watch the show. The film should be able to work on its own.”

You know, I used to get mad at celebrities who would take potshots at Marvel just because they could. But with news like this coming out…I am in slightly more agreement with those celebrities.

I hope it doesn’t get to the point where I’m pulling a full-on David Ayer and just saying “Fuck Marvel”. But I just might get to that point if Marvel/Disney keep pulling this crap.

So for now, I do not care about anymore upcoming Marvel films/TV shows, save for Spider-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Otherwise…

Make me proud, DC. Birds of Prey and Wonder Woman 1984 both look very good, so let’s see what you got!