By The problem of superhero fatigue is one that’s swirled around in recent years with many weighing in. A common refrain is that it’s “not superhero fatigue, it’s bad movie fatigue,” but that doesn’t quite describe it right.
Then, earlier this week, Marvel Studios chief and MCU architect Kevin Feige offered one of the better explanations as to what people mean when they say it. He tells Phase Zero:
“It’s not all required viewing, right there’s a sense that people say superhero fatigue I actually think it’s almost the feeling of ‘having to do homework fatigue’ right.
These are all individual stories meant to be enjoyed as singular entities. The connectivity is a bonus and something that a lot of people like and I like and I think it’s one of the singular defining notions of the MCU.”
Despite the explanation, many people can and do see these interconnected works as things that do require complete viewing in order to understand.
Others were never fans of the concept to begin with, case in point being “Logan,” “The Wolverine” and “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” filmmaker James Mangold.
With the release of the trailer this morning for Mangold’s new Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” he tells Rolling Stone he isn’t a fan of ‘multi-movie universe-building’:
“I don’t do multiverses. It’s weird that I’ve even worked in the world of IP entertainment because I don’t like multi-movie universe-building. It’s the enemy of storytelling. The death of storytelling. It’s more interesting to people the way the Legos connect than the way the story works in front of us.
For me, the goal becomes, always, ‘What is unique about this film, and these characters?’ Not making you think about some other movie or some Easter egg or something else, which is all an intellectual act, not an emotional act. You want the movie to work on an emotional level.”
The answer was in response to a question regarding the Dylan biopic because it features Johnny Cash as a character – Mangold directed the Johnny Cash biopic “Walk the Line” in 2005. That film starred Joaquin Phoenix in the role whereas in the Dylan film it’s Boyd Holbrook playing Cash.
Mangold affirms he approaches his franchise work as standalone entries. That fits with his response to a question about “Indiana Jones” spin-offs last year in which he said down that path “isn’t storytelling anymore, it’s large-scale advertising.”
Mangold isn’t shying away from franchises though – he’ll soon be tackling an ‘origin of the Force’ “Star Wars” movie and has an adaptation of DC Comics title “Swamp Thing” in development.
The post “Logan” Director Won’t ‘Do Multiverses’ appeared first on Dark Horizons.
