In the global film franchises rankings Marvel Cinematic Universe is among the leading positions. But whether commercial success is enough to be the best? MCU aims to prove that their company’s developed films can not only make the most money, but also to gain the title that of the most successful franchise that would elevate franchises to a new level.
Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) – a media franchise, centred on series of superhero films that are independently produced by Marvel Studios and based on characters that appear in Marvel Comics publications. Franchise has evolved to include comics, short films and television series.
The first film released in the MCU was “Iron Man” (2008), which began the First Phase of films, culminating in “The Avengers” (2012). Phase Two began with “Iron Man 3” (2013), and is expected to conclude with “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015). Marvel is also preparing Phase Three, beginning with the release of “Ant-Man” (2015).
Still from “Iron Man 3”
Marvel Cinematic Universe films received both commercial success and critical acclaim. MCU franchise is ranked first in the overall rankings of the best film franchises of all time, overtaking the Harry Potter film series.
“Spider-Man”, “Shrek”, “The Lord of the Rings”, “Batman”, “James Bond”, “Star Wars” and “Harry Potter” all have one thing in common – they have grossed less money than the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”, which recently appeared in cinema, together with the other 8 this company’s films has brought the gross of $2,463,300,000 . That’s more than the 8 “Harry Potter” films, 7 “Star Wars” films, and 24 “James Bond” films have grossed. Therefore, here comes a conclusion that MCU is the highest grossing franchise in American history…not adjusted for inflation” – says film reviewer Germain Lussier.
Still from“Captain America: The Winter Soldier”
About the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise’s climb to first place among the all time best, speaks Germain Lussier, the author of “The Marvel Cinematic Universe Is The Most Successful Franchise in US History” article. He presents a number of arguments, which makes us look at MCU franchise, identified as the best in the world, with a different angle.
On the other hand, this is only the beginning.”Captain America: The Winter Soldier” has only been out recently. “Guardians of the Galaxy” comes out soon, and a few more MCU films come next year: “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Ant-Man”. All of those films will be out before the next “Star Wars” or “James Bond” film in 2015. “That’s going to give the Marvel Cinematic Universe a potential $2 billion-plus lead on any of those franchises, easily,” says Germain Lussier.
Still from “Guardians of The Galaxy”
Looking at the global franchises rankings, Marvel Cinematic Universe end up in debatable position – MCU, is it worth or not to be recognized as the most successful franchise from the commercial point of view? But one thing is clear – Marvel Cinematic Universe is worth to be recognized as franchise that creates film franchise world anew.
Now MCU is slightly pushing the evolution of franchise films to another level. Marvel is going beyond the idea of series of a single franchise and they are spreading their story out through all of their series, basically making MCU films one big franchise that has several films open a year.
First of all, it should be remembered that earlier mentioned MCU earnings are just domestic box office (USA and Canada). Internationally, Harry Potter is ahead by approximately $2 billion over Marvel ($5,979,6 billion to $7,723,4 billion). Second, it’s not adjusted for inflation. Ticket prices now are significantly higher than they were even two or three years ago, so this fact would move up Harry Potter and automatically such film series as Star Wars or James Bond. Third, almost all the Marvel films have been in 3D, unlike films couple of years ago, thus this raises ticket prices.
Still from “The Avengers”
An example illustrating the uniqueness of “MCU” franchise:”Iron Man 3″ and “Thor: The Dark World” are direct sequels to” The Avengers “. “In Iron Man 3” Tony’s personal conflict stems directly from “The Avengers”. “Thor: The Dark World” begins with chained Loki returning to Asgard, a very different status quo than where we left Loki at the end of “Thor”. You can watch all the “Thor” films in a row, but that will not be the best decision.
Marvel Cinematic Universe aims to convey storyline through all of their film series. This is a new film franchise concept, pushing the franchises to another level. By the Phase Three MCU will not just be a series of films that are sitting next to each other, they’re going to be a single long franchise telling one story leading up to one conclusion in “The Avengers 3”.
