Unfortunately, some spoilers are alluded to, though not mentioned directly, in this article. Read on at your own risk, though I will not spoil anything that Marvel hasn’t spoiled on their own.
As revealed at USA Today (something that was mentioned in our daily Rundown), the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier will be making waves between itself and other aspects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, particularly the ongoing television show Agents of SHIELD.
I’m going to assume that if you’ve seen the movie, you’re aware of what this change is. It’s even possible that you may know what the change is without seeing the movie, from intuition or from having it spoiled. Take a look at this video that teases what is to come, though:
That’s right: it’s an event tie-in/crossover on your television.
In the article associated with the video, Jeph Loeb mentions “It’s an extremely unique experience that doesn’t exist anywhere else out there in the entertainment business,” clearly forgetting that he has written comic books. That snide remark aside, though, he’s somewhat correct: while there is tie-in media for various properties all the time, never has there been a film in theaters that directly effects the events of a TV show that is currently running, though clearly planned well in advance. There have been made-for-TV movies that have done this, but that is as close as it gets, I think.
But now, Marvel is trying to take what “works” in comics and use this as a cross-promotional tool between their films and their television programs. And while I’m enjoying the high off of the fact that we just saw a pretty kick ass Captain America film, because of this I began thinking: at what point does everyone else stop buying into the same stuff comic fans do?
Let’s Get Cynical! Cynical!
So before we get into talking about the latest reservations about SHIELD, lets dress the stage a bit by talking about Winter Soldier.
Look, I’ll be honest: it is amazing to me that people can see films like Captain America: the Winter Soldier and still get the same amount of excitement and shock and awe that I got out of reading “Captain America” by Brubaker and Epting. The amount of people who gasped during some of the film’s more poignant reveals, no matter how telegraphed or obvious to comic fans (or people just paying attention, I guess?), was incredible to behold. It’s the sort of thing that makes you realize — wow! Comics are for everyone! Or at least their ideas are when put into a movie, anyway.
But at the same time, there does exist a looming figure in the distance. As many comic readers will similarly feel, there’s a certain amount of lethargy that exists among readers of Marvel and DC’s books. Every game changing moment, every crossover, every death, every universe-shattering whatever — there’s no sense of permanence to it anymore, and because of that there’s often very little emotional connection with the reader. It can all be reversed sooner rather than later in order to keep the perpetual motion machine that is superhero comics flowing, so why bother get upset? I’m even literally describing these things as a “whatever,” so that’s telling if nothing else.
If anything, superhero comics are comparable to soap operas, and it’s just a matter of time before the twists and whatnot stop being shocking and start being just a part of the game.
When you look at major events in comics recently, a singular fan response can often be heard: “Oh, so and so will be back in a year or two anyway.” “Oh, this sort of thing is just going to be undone in a couple months by someone else.” Etcetera.
So what worries me is that I fear that the accelerated aspect of the movies will bring us to a breaking point sooner rather than later — or at least a point where people stop accepting the same kind of nonsense we put up with. There are numerous points within this film and its predecessors that are supposed to have bigger impacts, but because of contract negotiations or bigger plans we’re left in a precarious place where our initial reactions are essentially devalued.
Continued belowI mean, Coulson being around at all still is kind of proof positive of that. Because as much as we all like Clark Gregg (or liked, for some SHIELD watchers), Coulson should be dead.
And those who have seen all the Marvel movies know that he’s not the only character in that situation.
While the excitement and tension you could feel in the theater watching Winter Soldier was something you could practically touch, as good as I may think the movie was it still made Phase Two look like a bubble that was getting ready to burst when looked at within the larger scope of the endeavor. Winter Soldier sets itself up nicely for a sequel, but its one that is two years away and has to deal with Age of Ultron fallout as well. It’s getting a bit messy.
And not for nothing, but the average person’s attention span often barely seems able to stomach a trilogy, but at least there exists a sense of completion in that. You know that all the threads are going to wrap-up nicely. Or maybe that’s just based on what we’re used to, right? The X-Men Trilogy. The Spider-Man Trilogy. The Blade Trilogy. Franchises, but with an obvious finite point. Certainly breaking that mold isn’t something to deride but celebrate?
But a type of film franchise that can go on indefinitely yet still adhere to some kind of ongoing plot throughout it all (and that’s not a Bond movie?) seems like we’re asking people to buy into a bit much. The Iron Man trilogy is barely a trilogy at that, as the third film is really a sequel to the Avengers. When viewed as its own self-contained series without watching the Avengers, there is a HUGE logic gap presented between the last film and its previous two, let alone a lack of pay-off to several threads that were dealt with in the Avengers, not in the Iron Man film series.
This is, to me, where the cracks began to show most profoundly. Because I can’t watch Iron Man without watching an additional film to “get it” beyond context clues, and that is pretty much precisely what is one of the most critically derided actions in comics.
Not only that, but there will be a point where the films are forced into a seismic shift. The films can do things that comics can’t (like get people excited about Captain America) but the comics can do things that the films can’t: go on indefinitely. Steve Rogers can keep being Captain America forever and ever in a comic book, but Chris Evans will have to stop at some point. He may not want to, and I can’t blame him there, but this role won’t exist for him alone forever, especially not until 2028.
So while many have speculated that Sebastian Stan’s current 9-picture contract is a clue as to the future of that franchise, there still exists a limitation that poses an interesting question: what do we do when Captain America has to be someone else? And to me, the bigger question then becomes: as what people currently are enjoying begins to get more complex or change, will people still buy into it?
Looking at the reviews of the post-Avengers films, we’re beginning to notice a bit of ennui set in. According to Forbes, Winter Soldier earned $96.2 million on its first domestic weekend, which is 47% larger than the $65 million earned by The First Avenger and Thor back in 2011. It’s also 13% larger than the $85 million earned by Thor: The Dark World on its first weekend last November. It is, however, under the $102 million opening weekend of Iron Man and the $128 million earned by Iron Man 2 or $175 million earned by Iron Man 3, let alone the $207 million debut of The Avengers.
Ticket sales aren’t down in a particularly negative way, but the drop between Winter Soldier and The Avengers/Iron Man 3 is curious. Is there less excitement to go see Winter Soldier, or is there less excitement to go see a Marvel film? I’d hedge my bets on the former, honestly (which will make the reaction to Guardians so damn interesting to watch).
So with Marvel planning out their Cinematic Universe through 2028, how far can we really get with what we have now? And to me, the bigger question to ask is: how much of this relates to the overall complexity of the universe, and as things get even more complex or change, will people still buy into it?
Continued belowMarvel Phase One was an incredible thing. You had all these movies loosely tied together that came together to make the Avengers, and wow! What a spectacle! But in Phase Two as things get pulled together in a much tighter grip of canon, the cracks are beginning to show, both in terms of the reviews, the immediate reception and the structure of the films. Whether it bothers you that all released movies are sequels to the Avengers instead of their individual franchises (Thor: the Dark World and Iron Man 3 were particularly egregious of this, moreso than Winter Soldier) or if the scope of it is just getting too big, Phase Two is beginning to have some very noticeable, almost worrying elements to it that have got people like me (ie casual pessimists) thinking.
Specifically when we get into one very specific, very dividing aspect of Phase Two: Agents of SHIELD.
Agents of WHAT?
The reaction to Agents of SHIELD has been polarizing, to say the least. Some people love it and seem content with ignoring its many faults and flaws; other people deride it and can’t seem to say anything nice about it without otherwise being snide or bringing up that it has faults and flaws. (See?)
But no matter whether you like it or not, it’s part of the whole package. If you want to see the scope of everything MCU you “need” to watch SHIELD, and if you don’t watch SHIELD then you’re only getting half of the story (arguably the more interesting half, though).
It may not be readily obvious yet, but there are seeds from SHIELD that are so clearly planted for what is it come. There have been months and months of unease in SHIELD that led to Winter Soldier, but then there is the Kree/assumed “Inhuman” synergy in particular that’s an obvious path to Guardians. At this point I’d be surprised if Avengers: Age of Ultron didn’t have fallout from SHIELD Season One in it with some confusing references, let alone the onscreen reappearance of Coulson again. I assume.
Some are more content with this than others, as I know many people who love the Marvel movies and do not watch the show. To them, I have nothing but envy. But if you ask me, the show’s mere existence is the major fly in the ointment to the whole shared endeavor.
Why? Because for a show that’s already mired by its convoluted and often impossible to maintain storyline, it now has to react to the events of the films — something that has happened twice since it started airing. For the Thor tie-in, not much occurred in relation to the movie and it was easily passable; some character progression was had, nothing felt too forced (just kind of forced) and that’s about it. And Sif showed up later, which was fun.
But for the Winter Soldier tie-in, the relationship is much more immediate, something clearly planned for in advance in order for people to get a more immersive experience.
Keep in mind: Winter Soldier had to end at its two-hour plus runtime, but Agents of SHIELD? Just like with the Avengers where quite a few leftover threads were addressed, this is where the story continues: all the fallout, the left-over teasers, What Happened After New York et al was dealt with in SHIELD so the films didn’t have to. That is — if nothing else — the purpose of the show.
While it can do world-building things that the films can brush over in a single line of dialogue, the show can not seem to do the reverse — and therein lies a problem.
Specifically, in that Agents of SHIELD is then not even really a TV show.
SHIELD is the weakest part of Phase 2, by far. When I talk about the problems of Phase 2, I don’t speak just about the not-stellar reviews (Thor 2’s D, IM3’s C+) or other previously mentioned aspects but also the failure of SHIELD, which is less about being its own show and more about being franchise padding. Perhaps it is the hype that killed it, but in execution the show has barely managed to maintain its own singular identity, something that makes it really unique, because everything that makes SHIELD noteworthy is implicitly tied to the films.
It’s the kind of thing that’s indicative of a way of thinking that is a problem in Big Two Comics, in that certain books can’t stand on their own because they need to react to outside events as if that’s part of its natural story.
Continued belowJust think of the last big Marvel event, “Infinity.” Think of every comic that was supposed to “matter” to the crossover or every book you enjoyed that had a storyline interrupted, resulting in a filler comic.
That’s Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD in a nutshell. Except for 22 episodes instead of 1 or 2 issues.
This brings up one inherent issue, in that this means SHIELD as an entity needs to lie and act like this is part of the plan all along, that its story always was leading to this shared point. We hate this kind of stuff in comics, and from what I’ve seen in reviews and general online commentary, people are barely putting up with it on TV. SHIELD debuted with 17.01 million viewers between live and DVR viewers, but its last episode that was a prelude to Winter Soldier? 9.07 million.
And if we can assume for a minute that SHIELD itself should be like other television shows, then it ostensibly should have a central storyline for its first season, shouldn’t it? That is to say, you should be able to watch the show without having to see anything else in order to “get” the story. But because the show reflects the films specifically and now the events of Winter Soldier directly and immediately, this becomes impossible to do in a manner that makes sense on its own. We have to essentially make believe that there is no outside force that is dictating where the show has to go rather than have the show exist to tell its own story with these characters in a shared space, something to flesh it out rather than be reflective of it.
(Not to mention the problem that exists that, if you didn’t see Winter Soldier, you basically have to stop watching SHIELD for a while if you have any interest in avoiding spoilers (which you may not).)
In other words: It’s literally the exact same problem comic readers put up with for all major events and crossovers and whatnot.
It’s what causes books we love to get dragged down in the dirt of a crossover and, in some occasions, its when we see our favorite books get cancelled.
You’re a comic fan reading an opinionated article on a comic book website. Don’t pretend you don’t know that feeling. We all do. We all groan about it, though, and we just put up with it.
So yes, everyone is correct when they say nothing like this has ever been done, but I would argue that there’s a very good reason for it — and while the Winter Soldier episodes haven’t aired yet, it’ll be interesting to see how much further the ratings drop and what the reviews say. SHIELD is already struggling to find its audience and get just one positive review from a major, credible source, but the problem that it has in finding an identity is now so clearly exacerbated by additional outside forces that, if emblematic of a trend and not just a singular fluke, could help to bring everything down.
The Explanation of My Current Pessimism
When Marvel introduced the Cinematic Universe throughout Phase One, it was incredibly exciting for fans like me. Seeing how they could pull threads together throughout a number of films in order to create a different, unique film experience was something that was incredible, laudable and exciting. Like LOST, you could see how future things in this medium would try and ape the format, and the possibilities were/are endless.
But, the downside to this is that the more we make films equivalent to the comic experience, the more potential for alienation exists the bigger the endeavor becomes. Comics are alienating, at least/especially in the world of Big Two comics, and I don’t think that is something that the films need.
Phase Two exists under the premise that we all agree these films are going to forever feed into one another. The caveat to this is that there is breathing room, though; the more interwoven and complex things become, especially with the DVD/Blu-ray extra films, the more exhausting it becomes to keep up with — but at least you have the time to do it.
Comics already demand a lot from their fans, whether through compulsory buying habits or some kind of strict adherence to fifty-year old canon. But at the end of the day, can a film audience keep up with that?
Continued belowThe Winter Soldier itself was a pseudo-follow-up to The First Avenger. You could probably get by without seeing the Avengers, but you’d have missed Cap finding all those Hydra weapons. You could probably get by without seeing SHIELD, but then a character like Agent Sitwell (originally introduced in Thor) being involved at all loses its impact. Between the Avengers and Iron Man 2 you’d have met the Black Widow, but if you hadn’t seen those? There’s enough contextual clues about who she is to have her matter. Same with Senator Stern. Heck, you can also probably get by without having seen Agent 47, featuring the creation of SHIELD itself!
But you’re supposed to watch these movies. You’re supposed to know all of these things, and you’re supposed to experience them as they come out to get the True Marvel Cinematic Universe Experience.
Marvel seems so content on “changing the game” that I’d argue they have the potential of making the “game” worse. There are so many plates spinning at this point that I’m actually shocked one hasn’t clearly fallen and shattered (depending how you view SHIELD, I suppose, though I won’t consider that shattered until the show is cancelled — which is unlikely).
I’ve had this conversation with four people now since Winter Soldier hit theaters, but every time I bring up my concerns to someone they essentially shrug and say, “Yeah, but, well, what are you going to do?” Because it just is what it is — you either get it or you don’t, and you probably see the movie anyway.
This apathy or annoyance, the literal definition of a First World Problem, is something we’re all complacent with. And, hey, it’s also not something that is universally felt by every fan of every kind; some don’t care about spoilers, others are fine compartmentalizing. People connect to these types of films and endeavors in different ways, and mine is obviously that of a comic book fan — perhaps, to some people, even a jaded one.
But I do think that the harder Marvel tries to introduce things that barely work for comic fans to their new audience in film, with these tenuous threads for all their properties because #ItsAllConnected, the more strain we’ll see. SHIELD barely survives on its own, and now its story (what little there is of it) is interrupted; or, worse, you have to see a movie to “get it” because its inherently reactionary. And sure, it was before, but at least there was enough time between it and The Avengers that it didn’t feel so abrasive.
If we keep on this trend, we’re at the point where I expect Marvel to announce what the stinger of Age of Ultron is before the film is in theaters, just to make sure people go see the movie. Because that kind of move is such a well received move in comics.
But we put up with it. We always have.
Will everyone else?
These types of movies, the big blockbuster blow-ups? They’re always going to be big. They’ll always make a lot of money. The movie could be shot in 4D and literally punch you in the nose, but you’d still pay to see it, because we all always do. And when they make money, that means there will be more of it.
And I suppose, to completely diminish one of my earlier examples of skepticism, Marvel could be looking at their films as Phase Trilogies instead of Actual Trilogies. For example, Marvel’s first three phases could culminate in Avengers 3: Infinity Gauntlet, and that could be the endpoint for a lot of the characters we currently know; from there, Marvel could develop Bucky as Cap and form a new Avengers team with different character movies and then make New Avengers, and just keep on going from there until 3028.
But you know what? I only think this stuff could work because I’m looking at it through a comic lens, and so is Marvel. When I put my film buff hat on, it seems wildly unsustainable — both in keeping the current generation interested and in getting the next generation involved.
Imagine, a few years from now, when Avengers 10 is in theaters and we have to explain to Little Jimmy Soandso that he has to watch X Amount of films before this one, otherwise he won’t get it.
Continued below
Compare, if you will, how well those kinds of conversations go when trying to get people into comics.
Marvel is trying to dance on a much bigger stage with dauntingly broad moves, and given the amount of time I’ve spent reading and writing about comics, I can’t help but notice the beginnings of certain patterns. Specifically, I begin to see the same things that have cause ennui for me as a reader of Big Two comics.
And honestly, at the end of the day, I have serious doubts about people that don’t normally buy into this nonsense continuing to buy into it. I don’t think ticket sales will go down egregiously just like sales of event comics don’t fall to the point where Marvel and DC don’t want to make them, but I feel the strain and I see the plates and I have serious doubts and reservations.
The average person, the people I talk to in my life that don’t read comics? Interest is being lost. This is an incredibly small scale poll, sure, but when I asked my friend why he didn’t want to see the Winter Soldier at all, his response was that it just seemed to busy, that he wasn’t interested in seeing another superhero movie that required him to see some other superhero movie and he’d already seen enough. He was content ending with The Avengers.
For me, the reason that Phase One — the Avengers and its five prequels — was so great is because ultimately, it was rather simple. You’ve got six films, they’re easy to get into, easy to follow along with and then enjoy how these films connected to make the ultimate superhero film experience. They built up and came to a very well made end.
The bigger this becomes, the more this becomes less about having a strong individual cinematic experience and more about re-creating the experience of comics on the big screen? The more I think we’ll see things start to crumble or even outright fail the deeper into this whole endeavor we get.
And if I want to get the comic book experience, I’ll do what I do every Wednesday and go buy some comic books.
