Analysis | Earth’s mightiest content machine

The Chapman community reflects on the current state of Marvel in determining whether the franchise is on the decline, or whether they’re just finding their footing. UNSPLASH 

At a height of 0.5 inches, Ant-Man is the smallest character in Marvel Studios’ cinematic universe. That’s smaller than the size of an up-right dime. Ironically, Ant-Man is everywhere. He has a restaurant in Disney California Adventure Park and soon will have a ride in Disneyland Hong Kong and even his own show on the Disney Wish cruise ship. 

While this smaller-than-life character has broken through the noise and been branded as a spectacle around the world, junior creative producing major Jack Cohenour raises a vital question: do we really care about Ant-Man or is Marvel trying to make us love Ant-Man? And what about the rest of the new cast?

“The new characters just aren't sticking as much with fans,” Cohenour said. “Think about the way they are now putting Ant-Man in everything possible. They're really trying to use him everywhere, but (Marvel) hasn’t made people love Ant-Man enough. They're trying to get the public to really appreciate some newer characters, and it's just not working as well as the original six.”

As Marvel trudges through the influx of phase four projects, the original Avengers have taken a back-seat to the new emerging heroes including Kamala Khan in “Ms. Marvel”, Kate Bishop in “Hawkeye”, Marc Spector in “Moon Knight”, Shang-Chi in “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” and America Chavez introduced in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.” 

However, in their efforts to introduce the future of the franchise, fans have been bombarded with content that, according to AA Dowd of The Guardian, “...contains perfunctory CGI climaxes, boring ensembles, convoluted homework plots and complete tonal incoherence.” 

After their recent announcements of upcoming projects at San Diego Comic-Con in July, it seems there’s much more just around the corner. 

In the past two years, Marvel Studios has introduced a plethora of new characters, causing fans to question whether the newcomers are arriving too quickly. Photo collage by DANIEL PEARSON, staff photographer

While the quality of these projects is subjective, the increase in overall content is not. This has Marvel fans questioning the notion of quantity over quality in conjunction with the franchise’s interconnectivity.

The Panther set out to find whether Chapman students are excited for more content or struggling to keep up. According to Cohenour, Marvel shouldn’t expect as much of a commitment from fans with the rate they’re pumping out projects. 

“If they're going to crank out so many series, they can't all be essential to the overall plot,” Cohenour said. “If you hadn't seen 'WandaVision', then ('Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness') won’t make a lot of sense. At this point, it's really hard to jump in if you know no backstory.”

According to senior psychology major Shiko Zhang, who has been an avid Marvel fan for six years, the flood of new characters and the new six-episode series format on Disney+ has led to her disengaging from the franchise.

“I like some of the new projects but I think (the Disney+ series) are too slow for me, plot wise,” Zhang said. “I watched the first four episodes of 'WandaVision' and 'Loki' and half the time, I'm just skipping through everything. Some of (the shows) have a fairly good concept, but overall, it's a drag while the movies have that intensity where they build up quickly.”

On the contrary, Cohenour shares a different sentiment about the new series being released to Disney+.

“I think it's nice that they've expanded their medium into series because not every story is best told in the form of a feature-length movie,” Cohenour said. "The problem is that they’re doing way too much too fast. But I think that Disney acquiring Marvel is why Marvel is such a successful franchise now. Disney has so much money they can throw at things, so they're able to do some experimenting. I think if Disney hadn’t bought Marvel, you wouldn’t have something like 'WandaVision' or 'Loki.'” 

While the new format of projects may lead some fans astray, people like sophomore screenwriting major Sara Shohoud have gained a hero in the process. Coming from an Egyptian background, Sara said that the new "Ms. Marvel" series on Disney+ accurately depicted Muslim culture in a way not found in any other mainstream project. 

“As of now, ('Ms. Marvel') is the only show or movie to get it right,” Shohoud said. “I understand other places may be trying, but Disney really hired actual Muslims and Pakistani people to work on the whole production. My brother recently married a Pakistani girl, and they have a wedding scene in the show that is so incredibly accurate.”

Lecturer at Dodge College of Film and Media ArtsPeter Dickinson has been a Marvel fan since there were only comic books and B-movies. Dickson said that through his work as a software engineer at National Research Group  — which partners with Disney to track entertainment analytics — he's noticed the public demand for the superhero genre has begun to lose momentum. 

“If the pattern continues, eventually it'll begin to plateau,” Dickinson said. “If it begins to plateau, it can crash or it could flatten out. But for something to be popular, it has to always have that constant upward momentum.”

Aside from the repetition of the same stories, Dickinson notes that Marvel currently lacks direction, building up a world with no destination. He says Marvel’s situation is simply history repeating itself, similar to what happened with their comic books in the past. 

“The comics will start off with a point where all the characters become established, then you then start having them intertwine, then they start going to these big events,” Dickinson said. “The plot becomes more convoluted, to the point where the plot basically starts to collapse under its own weight. And then they almost always have to reboot the comics.”

Zhang argues that no matter the quality or ratings of these projects, nostalgia will keep fans coming for years to come. 

“A lot of people grew up reading comics like 'Spider-Man' and 'Iron-Man,'” Zhang said. “A lot of fans were reading about the heroes before they made it to the big screens. I feel like people generally go back to support because, at the end of the day, it's about those memories of you reading those comics in your room and seeing them be brought to life. The diehard fans will support (Marvel) no matter what.”

Marvel might regain their footing with the release of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” in December by delving into familiar territory. With over 20 new projects on the horizon within the next three years, dedicated fans will be tested on whether they can keep up or whether they'll crumble under Marvel fatigue.