Years and years after the first Iron Man film, Marvel Studios is now a force to be reckoned with, an unstoppable cinematic stronghold raking in billions upon billions of dollars in the box office as much as it weaves a culture of heroic spectacles on the silver screen.
There are no signs of stopping, either. Says Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios's president, the films will just keep coming, especially in the years going forward as the thirst for its cinematic universe refuses to end. It is why his company switched to three big-budget films per year, just to accommodate sequels for stories people have responded to strongly.
The Marvel Studios Strategy
"It's one of the reasons we've expanded to three films a year, is so that we could do the sequels to films that people have responded to — " says Feige as CinemaBlend reports, "because we love to make continuing stories with characters people have responded to — but also keep doing the stuff that nobody's ever heard of, and people go, 'Why are you doing that?' That's fun."
For the most part, Feige's explanation makes a lot of sense: it allows Marvel to carve out space for new, untold stories, but it also lets it create a higher volume of content for stories that are already franchises of their own accord. Black Panther, for instance, is a new story. Avengers: Infinity War, meanwhile, continues a franchise. These films give Marvel fans both something new and a continuation of something tried and tested, and the studio makes sure they're all worth the price of admission.
Tentpole Sequels And Original Stories
That release pattern, according to Feige, also explains why there might be huge gaps between stories for a particular character. He uses Doctor Strange as an example, a sequel for which he just casually confirmed, by the way. The second Doctor Strange will be a few years from the first one, he says, but that's just part of the studios' commitment to making sure it keeps doing different types of things.
With that, expect sequels in the next few years for Marvel characters both old and new, including one for T'Challa, or more commonly known as Black Panther. Fans are also eagerly awaiting for the standalone Black Widow movie, although Marvel has been largely quiet on that front.
What do you think about Marvel Studios's strategy? Do you wish it comes out with more than three films a year, or would that be too much? As always, if you have anything to share, feel free to sound them off in the comments section below!
