Tag: marvel studios

the marvels – marketing recap

How Marvel/Disney have sold a reality-bending super hero team-up

The Marvels movie poster from Marvel Studios
The Marvels movie poster from Marvel Studios

Brie Larson returns as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel in this week’s The Marvels, a sequel to her 2019 solo outing. This time she’s not alone, joined by both Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), now an astronaut for the secret organization S.W.O.R.D. after gaining the power to manipulate energy, and Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani), a teen able to create light-based constructs. The three find they are connected in unexpected ways because of the nature of their powers, not to mention the fact Carol inspired both Rambeau and Khan to become heroes.

As they seek to sort out why they keep switching places they are dealing with the conflict between the Kree and the Skrulls, two alien races that have been at war for generations. The new Kree leader Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) is taking extreme measures to restore the Kree homeworld, leading the Marvels to try and stop her before any more planets are harmed.

Nia DaCosta directed the movie and cowrote the script with Megan McDonnell and Elissa Karasik. The story obviously picks up threads not only from the first Captain Marvel movie but also two Disney+ streaming series: “WandaVision”, where Monica Rambeau was introduced as an adult and where she gained her powers, and “Ms. Marvel”, where we met Kamala Khan and saw her learn what she can do and how to control her powers.

Assuming then that you’ve done your prep work, let’s take a look at how Marvel Studios/Disney have sold it to the public.

announcement and casting

In January of 2020, just about a year after the movie hit theaters, Disney announced work had begun on a sequel, though the creative team was shaken up a bit. Several months later, in August, DaCosta was said to be in final negotiations to take the directorial reins, likely buoyed in part by the anticipation around her Candyman film.

DaCosta’s role as director along with additional cast and other details were revealed during Disney’s investors presentation last December.

The movie, along with other upcoming MCU entries, was name-checked – and given its new title, hinting at the inclusion of more characters who have borne similar names – in the “Marvel Studios Celebrates The Movies” video from early May.

Parris talked in June 2021 about having the opportunity to further explore the character she originated on “WandaVision” and the opportunities the movie has for her and representation.

DaCosta, in an interview from the Candyman press cycle, talked about the unexpected freedom she had during production to tell the story she had in mind. That Candyman tour also included Parris teasing that fans could expect an epic adventure in the sequel.

The “Ms. Marvel” Disney+ series that ran in mid-2022 and which introduced Kamala Khan to the MCU was largely well-received by audience and critics, ending with the promise that she would be seen again in this movie.

In September of last year Disney showed off some early footage from the film to attendees of D23, with Larson, Parris and Vellani in attendance to talk about how excited they were to continue their stories and work together.

the marketing campaign phase one: higher, further, faster

In February Marvel Studios pushed the movie’s release back to November but unveiled the first official poster at the same time. The one-sheet features all three heroes – Carol Danvers, Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau – along with the tagline “Higher. Further. Faster. Together.”, a variation on the best line of dialogue from the first film and a nice way to make it clear this is a team story.

The first teaser trailer (21.3m YouTube plays) didn’t come out until mid-April. It opens with Rambeau in space exploring a strange portal when she suddenly switches places with Khan. That leads to them trying to figure out what’s happening, eventually involving Danvers in the hijinks and battles. Almost nothing of the story beyond that is shared here, just plenty of shots of the cat-like Flerkens and a few unexplained fight sequences.

Ali Selim, who directed the “Secret Invasion” Disney+ series, spoke briefly about how he worked with Marvel to make sure the character of Nick Fury was, at the end of that show, where he needed to be for this movie’s story.

The full trailer (22.1m YouTube plays) was released in mid-July and offers only slightly more insights into the conflict with the Kree. Instead it continues to focus on the craziness of the three Marvels constantly switching places whenever they use their powers and how eventually they need to work together to bring down the threat that’s endangering Earth and other planets.

All three heroes are seen more clearly on the next poster that came out at the same time. In addition to the Marvels, Nick Fury is positioned at the center of the action, surrounded by the Flerkens and with various other characters and locations in the background.

Because of the dual strikes happening at the time there wasn’t a lot going on at San Diego Comic-Con in July but Director of Visual Development for Marvel Studios Andy Park did appear at the Marvel booth to show off concept art and talk about creating the movie’s look and feel. An exclusive poster print was also created and distributed to attendees.

In an interview with Total Film, DaCosta dismissed talk of “superhero fatigue” that’s been blamed for a handful of movies underperforming recently, saying that this movie is a whole different thing that will provide the audience with something new and unexpected.

If you missed any of the previous stories that introduced the main characters of this movie, Marvel released a video providing a quick overview of who they are and how Monica and Kamala connect with Carol as well as what all that means for the story being told here.

the marketing campaign phase two: the past is prologue

TV advertising began in mid-September with spots like this one that was specifically for IMAX, encouraging fans to see the movie in that big screen format. There are some more details about the conflict with Dar-Benn and how she’s motivated by Carol’s actions in the previous film in another TV commercial. An extended promo shows Carol’s journey to date, including footage from her solo film as well as Avengers: Endgame and more.

Exhibitor/format-exclusive posters came out around this time for IMAX, Dolby, RealD3D and ScreenX.

DaCosta was profiled in a piece that highlighted how she handled herself after getting this gig with, at the time, only one small-budget feature film under her belt and how she navigated the Marvel Studios system that doesn’t exactly let filmmakers be their full selves all the time.

A featurette from early October offers some behind-the-scenes footage of everyone having a good time on set as the lead actors and others talk about where the characters are and what audiences can expect. Another focuses on how fans have latched on to the character of Carol Danvers and what that means for this story.

Solo one-sheets for all the major characters arrived in mid-October, around the same time there was a limited – again due to the actors’ strike – promotional presence for the movie at New York Comic-Con. There was even one for Goose, appropriately released on National Cat Day.

Another extended TV spot/promo from late October shows more of the connection between Carol and Dar-Benn.

The first official clip shows a fight sequence happening in multiple locations, with the Marvels constantly switching between them when they use their powers and taking on different threats.

One final trailer was released just a few days ago. It opens with flashbacks to some of the MCU’s most iconic hero moments before getting into this story and how the three main characters have to come together to stop Dar-Benn’s threat.

DaCosta was interviewed again about joining the ranks of MCU directors as well as her desire to keep the movie from running over two hours, a goal I completely respect.

The movie’s premiere – which did not feature the acting talent because the strike was still happening then – took place earlier this week in Las Vegas, with Marvel’s Kevin Fiege and others on the red carpet to talk about where this fits into the overall MCU and more. The location also provided an opportunity for a massive image of Goose the non-cat to take over The Sphere, the new venue made up almost entirely of LED lights.

Finally there were two more short videos offering a bit more background on Monica and Kamala.

overall

A month ago tracking projections were estimating $70-80m for opening weekend but more recently those expectations have been revised down to $65m at the high end. Whether that has to do with the “superhero fatigue” dismissed early on by DaCosta, the inability to have Larson and the rest of the cast on the publicity trail or just a lack of interest in the general public is difficult to divine, but certainly something is going on.

Perhaps that’s why, in the second phase of the campaign outlined above, the studio shifted from trying to sell the movie on its own merits to featuring lots of footage from Avengers: Endgame, including a line from Thanos warning that “..others will continue my work,” the implication being that Dar-Benn is doing just that as opposed to having any motivation or mission of her own.

That second part of the campaign is far less engaging than the first, mostly because of how it keeps repeating the same message over and over again. And the emphasis on getting caught up on the stories of Monica and Kamala in particular comes at the same time Marvel Studios is about to launch its “Spotlight” designation for series and movies that don’t require years of homework and background knowledge to enjoy or even understand.

All in all, though, this is a fun marketing effort that in some important ways keeps the feel of the first Captain Marvel movie going, just now with more characters around her.

guardians of the galaxy vol. 3 – marketing recap

How Marvel Studios has sold the capper to its space-faring super hero trilogy

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 movie poster from Marvel Studios
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 movie poster from Marvel Studios

It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say that in 2014 few people would have expected Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to be hitting theaters almost a decade later. Expectations for the first movie were kept low, with lots of talk about it being Marvel’s “first comedy” (a designation also applied to Ant-Man a year later) and how it featured a group of heroes so far from the A List they’d only heard about it in stories. But Marvel Studios needed a group of characters to expand the universe to outer space and the Guardians fit the bill.

After coming together in the first movie and exploring lots of daddy issues in the second, this week’s installment sees the unlikely team needing to protect one of their own from the consequences of their previous actions. The actual plot may be too convoluted to fully encapsulate, so here’s the official synopsis:

Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him to defend the universe along with protecting one of their own. A mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them.

In addition to writer/director James Gunn (more on that below) all the main cast is back, including Chris Pratt as Quill, Zoe Saldaña as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Vin Diesel as Groot, Pom Klementieff as Mantis and Sean Gunn as Kraglin while the combo of Gunn and Bradley Cooper provide the motion capture for and voice of Rocket, respectively. Joining the story this time around are Will Poulter as Adam Warlock, sent to destroy the Guardians for their crimes and Chukwudi Iwuji as The High Evolutionary, who figures into Rocket’s origins and who the team has to outwit to help their comrade.

So with all that established let’s take a look at how the movie has been sold.

announcement and casting

Things got off to a rocky start when, in mid-July of 2018, Disney abruptly fired director James Gunn, who had been working on the script and other aspects of pre-production. That came after a campaign by right-wing trolls and assholes brought up old Tweets published by Gunn that were certainly offensive but which were old news. The same posts had come up years before the first GotG movie and Gunn had apologized for them, but with this renewed push – spurred by his outspoken criticism of President Trump – Disney almost immediately folded and showed these cultural terrorists they would achieve whatever ends they desired.

The backlash from fans as well as the stars of the movies and other celebrities was swift for just that reason, often pointing out that Gunn had grown much more aware in the years since those posts. The consensus (rightly) was that firing him for old material like this sent the signal that improving yourself wasn’t worth it, so why bother? Disney later confirmed after a few weeks of back-and-forth that no, he would not be returning. All of that lead to a delay in production starting.

So it was relatively surprising when, in the middle of March of 2019, Disney reversed course and announced Gunn was returning to the director’s position. Apparently someone decided that caving to right-wing trolls making bad faith arguments wasn’t a sustainable business model.

During the promotional cycle for Brightburn, Gunn was finally interviewed about that whole situation and how things transpired, including how the cast all reached out both publicly and personally to show their support.

In early 2020, as many films were being delayed and productions shut down, Gunn assured fans things were still on schedule and there shouldn’t be any problems with filming.

During Disney’s December 2020 investors presentation the news was announced that before the movie came out a “Guardians Holiday Special” directed by Gunn would premiere on Disney+.

The movie, along with other upcoming MCU entries, was name-checked in the “Marvel Studios Celebrates The Movies” video from early May.

Gillan spoke briefly about the movie during the Gunpowder Milkshake publicity cycle.

Poulter was cast as Adam Warlock in October 2021.

A month later Gunn shared a photo marking the beginning of filming.

the marketing campaign: volume one

In July 2022 fans at San Diego Comic-Con got a look at the first footage from the film, including what seems to be background on Rocket’s origins and more. That was part of the panel where members of the cast and crew appeared and a release date announced, with Gunn also confirming this was the end of the story for this particular cast of characters. He also later clarified that the trailer wasn’t released online for the general public because the special effects weren’t ready just yet and wouldn’t hold up to repeated viewings.

With Gunn making it clear the story of this team was coming to an end it seemed the cast was ready to put this stage of their careers behind them as well. Saldaña, while she was promoting Avatar: The Way of Water at the end of 2022, said she was eager to not have to go through the daily makeup process again and had other “bitter” feelings about the filming of this movie. Later on while he was promoting Knock at the Cabin Bautista promised he would never return to the character of Drax after this film lest it tarnish the character as a cynical cash grab.

Those attitudes were largely understandable given that while this is just the third movie of their own, they’ve played these characters in three or four other MCU movies in that time. And you could kind of tell everyone was just phoning it in when the “Holiday Special” hit Disney+ at the end of November, itself preceded by a full campaign of press interviews, live events, posters and more.

A few more new stills were included in an interview of Gunn talking about the story, his nervousness around making the third in a trilogy and more, including leaving the series as he becomes the head of Warner Bros.’ DC development.

the marketing campaign: volume two

The campaign for the movie itself began in early December of last year when the first trailer (29.1m YouTube plays) was released. It opens with what looks like the Guardians returning to Earth, but when they land it’s inhabited by what look like human-animal hybrids. From there we get brief glimpses of the High Evolutionary and Adam Warlock but the focus is on hinting that the story is about exploring Rocket’s origins along with the usual wackiness the team is known for along with lots of brooding and a bit of sadness along the way.

The poster released simultaneously shows the Guardians standing on the wing of their ship. It’s not much but communicates the bare essentials of the marketing message, that there’s a new movie coming out.

Both of the above were formally unveiled when Saldaña appeared at Brazil Comic-Con to get fans there excited about the movie.

Another trailer (15m YouTube plays) was released in mid-February begins by making sure everyone is up to speed on the story so far, especially the romance between Star-Lord and Gamorra, which was interrupted by her being killed in Avengers: Infinity War and essentially replaced by her past self. The actual story is still not explained in any sort of detail but we see a bit more of High Evolutionary and his megalomania along with the fact that everyone seems to be in the mood for wrapping up their arcs and summarizing their feelings about everyone else.

The Guardians are seen a bit more clearly on the next poster, which has them all kind of staring off into the middle distance, each in a slightly different direction.

As part of Women’s History Month in March, Disney+ released “MPower,” a propaganda film documentary about the female characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe produced by Saldaña.

TV spots began running at the beginning of March as tickets went on sale, each hitting slightly different moments but all covering the same basic ideas of the story wrapping up and Rocket somehow being at the center of an emotional story.

A variation on the latest key art was used in early April on a poster announcing an exclusive IMAX event featuring the first to GotG movies ending with an early screening of this third film.

That was followed by a round of exhibitor-exclusive posters from IMAX, RealD 3D, 4DX, Dolby, ScreenX and Fandango. The ScreenX art was the best because it takes a more original approach by not only being vertically-oriented but showing Rocket reenacting the “evolution of man” progression. A number of them did focus on Rocket or at least bring him to the front of the team lineup to make it clear he was going to be the lead in the story.

A series of character posters – including one for Cosmo the Spacedog – came next.

The cast along with Gunn and Marvel Studio’s Kevin Feige all appear in a featurette expounding on the fun they had making this final installment of the series and how all three films have been about the chosen family the characters made for themselves.

Empire Magazine published an interview with Gunn that included more photos, especially of Adam Warlock and other new elements of the movie.

Marvel set up a Knowhere pop up story/experience in California in the same area as and at the same time as Coachella to take advantage of all the hip young people headed to the music festival, encouraging them to stop in and take a look at props and costumes from the movie along with new swag and products.

The first clip from mid-April has Quill trying to convince Past Gamora to maybe herself up to the same romance he and Present Gamora had before she died, which is supposed to be endearing but is just embarrassing.

Another featurette has everyone reminiscing on the decade-long journey they’ve taken with these characters.

An extended TV spot takes a similar approach, using footage from the first two movies to setup this story.

The next clip shows some of the other animals High Evolutionary has been experimenting on in a flashback to Rocket’s early days. That clip also served as the news Linda Cardellini was voicing one of those characters.

Gunn and members of the cast embarked on the international publicity tour, kicking off in Seoul and continuing in Paris and other locations.

In additional to sponsoring the Discover Weekly playlist for a while, the studio launched its own K-GOTG Radio playlist on Spotify featuring some of the popular tunes featured in all three of the movies.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Spotify Discover Weekly sponsorship banner featuring poster art of the cast
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Spotify Discover Weekly sponsorship

The drama involving Gunn’s unceremonious firing from the movie in 2018 and the efforts by the entire cast to get him back on board along with more from the last 10 years going all the way back to the original casting process were covered in a THR cover story.

Everyone turned out for the official L.A. red carpet premiere at the end of April and looked back on their time together and how the future likely doesn’t involve them playing these characters again but that they all enjoyed working together and hope to do so again soon.

Pratt, Gillian, Gunn and the others all participated in additional interviews, talk show appearances and other press stops in the last couple weeks leading up to release, not really covering any new ground but reiterating stories they’d already told and commenting on making the final film in this unexpected trilogy. Breaking out of that mold was an interview with Iwuji where he talks about joining the series at the end and is praised by Gunn.

overall

Marvel does kind of need the movie to open at the projected $120m level this weekend, even if that’s below the opening weekend of the second film in 2017, to stop “super hero fatigue” from entrenching in the public psyche. More than that, it needs the movie to not drop 70% like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania did a couple months ago.

The focus on the emotional nature of the series ending comes off as *very* forced given these were characters we were actively reminded not to actually root for and who are consistently portrayed as just the worst. These are awful “heroes” but the assumption seems to be that we’ve grown attached to them and are going to be incredibly sad when they stop appearing in movies.

Other random thoughts:

  • There’s an alternate universe where Sean Gunn was given the chance to play Star-Lord and honestly I wish we lived in that one.
  • Congratulations, Marvel, on finding not one but two ways to underuse Linda Cardellini.
  • Wait, so we get a two hours on the early days of Rocket’s creation but at no point in the MCU has Hawkeye’s backstory even been hinted at or referenced? This is my super villain origin story.
  • This is just the latest super hero/sci-fi movie to cast an actor of color but cast them as the villain, hide them under layers of real or digital makeup or both.

ant-man and the wasp: quantumania – marketing recap

How Marvel Studios has sold its latest microscopic adventure

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, in theaters this weekend, marks the official beginning of Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you’re trying to keep up, Phase 3 concluded with the showdown with Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame. Phase 4 was a bit more nebulous, largely because it was taking place during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, so the movies were often delayed and much of the action was taking place in the Disney+ streaming series like “Moon Knight”, “WandaVision” etc. And now we’re opening up a new chapter, one that focuses on the time traveling despot Kang the Conqueror, introduced in the “Loki” streaming series and played by Jonathan Majors.

In this movie, once again directed by Peyton Reed, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) continues to try and make his life work along with his teenage daughter Cassie (now played by Kathryn Newton) as well as his partner/love interest Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and her father Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and mother Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer). Lang and Van Dyne are already active adventurers and super heroes under the pseudonyms Ant-Man and Wasp and Cassie has also begun experimenting with size-changing powers. When an experiment sends them all into the Quantum Realm from which they rescued Janet in the last movie they encounter Kang, a villain able to travel through time and with designs on the multiverse.

Clearly there’s a lot going on, especially since we already know the culmination of Kang’s story is planned for 2025’s Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. So let’s take a look at the campaign Marvel Studios put together.

announcement and casting

The movie was announced, along with the casting of Majors and Newton, during Disney’s December 2020 investors presentation though of course everyone already knew it was happening.

A few months later in May 2021 later it was briefly name-checked in the “Marvel Studios Celebrates The Movies” video, a sizzle reel designed to reaffirm the studio’s commitment to theatrical releases.

As 2021 went on various cast members continued to comment on aspects of the film while they were promoting other projects. That included Lilly sharing how she still struggled with tapping into who her character is and Majors occasionally hyping things, including how he kept his casting as Kang secret for so long.

During the press cycle for The French Dispatch Bill Murray let it slip he had taken a small role in this film but also said it had quenched whatever thirst he might have had for anything else related to superheroes.

William Jackson Harper was cast in an undisclosed (at the time) role in October of 2022, the timing indicating it was primarily voice work he would be doing.

the marketing campaign: phase one

While it was still early on, Marvel started whetting people’s appetites in July of 2022 when footage from the movie that included glimpses of MODOK and Kang was shared during the studio’s Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con. At the same time there was confirmation the movie was the kickoff point for the MCU’s Phase 5, an announcement designed to make this an essential watch for fans who wanted to get in on the ground floor of the new chapter.

A poster was also revealed at SDCC that shows not just Kang looming in the background but also Cassie Lang, now with a size-changing suit of her own, fighting alongside Scott and Hope.

The stars then appeared on stage at Disney’s D23 event in September of that year where Rudd praised Majors and hyped the story as a massive spectacle.

the marketing campaign: phase two

In October the formal campaign finally kicked off with the release of the first trailer (29.5m YouTube plays). It starts with Scott continuing to not get the respect or recognition he deserves as an Avenger before things get serious when Cassie’s attempt to send a signal into the Quantum Realm pulls everyone in. Janet is understandably concerned given she spent 30 years navigating this universe and knows what dangers lie there. They meet Kang, who wants Scott’s help with something that’s never clarified and is willing to help Scott in return.

An “ant-sized” version of the trailer was also released in a nice little bit of fun.

Kang’s presence is the focus of the poster that came out at the same time, the villain’s face seen as he examines the handful of microscopic heroes standing on his fingertip.

Reed teased the impact Kang was going to have in this movie and the larger MCU in an interview that included some new stills of Majors and Rudd together. He also talked about how he didn’t want this to be a B-level story compared to the Avengers movies but be an epic in its own right.

An exclusive featurette on the legacy of Ant-Man and his story to date on film was released at Brazil Comic-Con in December, with the cast and crew also appearing in person to get audiences there excited.

Another trailer (22m YouTube plays) was released in early January, debuting during the College Football Playoff National Championship. This one more clearly sets up the conflict of the story, namely that Scott is lamenting the time he’s lost with Cassie, who grew up while he himself was stuck in the Quantum Realm for so many years. Kang promises he can help him get that time back. That promise eventually becomes a threat as things get serious.

Scott, Hope and Cassie are the heroes seen on the new poster, Kang and his fleet of ships looming in the background. Another more traditionally super heroic one-sheet has Ant-Man out in front and the rest of the supporting characters and locations placed around him.

Kang is featured on an Empire Magazine cover story that included comments from Marvel’s Kevin Feige as well as Majors, both of whom talked about the new disruption the character adds to the MCU.

Scott promises Cassie they’re going to get home from their adventures in an extended TV spot released in mid-January that mostly hits the same beats as the earlier trailer.

Character posters give all the major players their own turn in the spotlight. Interestingly that includes Murray’s character, a citizen of the Quantum Realm who has some sort of history with Janet Van Dyne. There were also exclusive one-sheets from RealD 3D, IMAX, ScreenX, Dolby, 4DX and Fandango, all of which follow the same basic playbook in the elements used and message conveyed.

All of that happened as tickets were going on sale, a moment marked with a new TV spot introduced by Rudd and Lilly.

Feige opens a new featurette by talking about Ant-Man’s importance in the MCU before Rudd takes over explaining how much fun he still has in the role and how much he loves working with the rest of the cast, most of whom also appear and share some details on their characters.

A profile of Rudd was ostensibly about his health routines and related topics but also about his general demeanor and how playing Ant-Man for nearly a decade has fit into his career.

In a meta twist, Rudd appeared in a video selling Scott Lang’s autobiography, which was originally just a prop in an earlier movie but which is now an actual physical book you can order ahead of its release later this year.

A special “fan event” was held in Australia at the beginning of February that included appearances by the cast and crew. That was followed a few days later by the Los Angeles red carpet premiere where everyone talked about the fantastic addition of Majors to the cast, the threat posed by Kang and more.

Movie-themed content was added to at least a couple of Marvel’s mobile games, including Marvel SNAP! and Contest of Champions, with Cassie Lang and Ant-Man (Future) being added as playable characters to the latter.

Additional featurettes offered more in-depth introductions of Kang and Cassie. There was also one that focused on the film’s visuals and locations.

Press stops included Lilly and Rudd on “The Tonight Show”, Newton and Rudd on “Late Night” and lots more.

overall

Goodness everyone here is working *so* hard to make MCU Phase 5 happen. Like…SO hard.

And that sums up the biggest issue with the MCU as a whole. The campaign for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has become just part of the campaign for the next three things, all of which spin out of this movie or are setup by this story. So only about half the usual space is still available to sell this movie, which is positioned only partially as a movie in and of itself and otherwise as a stepping stone to what’s coming soon.

Part of that includes everyone here making sure to praise Majors’ performance as Kang. Those accolades may be well deserved (Majors is a very good actor) but it’s also them endorsing him because he’s already committed to those future projects, so best to talk him up.

Kang The Conqueror Kang GIF by Marvel Studios - Find & Share on GIPHY

There’s also a notable shift in tone here from how the first movie was sold in 2015. At the time it was positioned as a funny lark of a film, kind of a break from the super-serious tone of the rest of the MCU. The stakes were very small and personal, though of course the connections to the rest of the story were clear. Now even Ant-Man and Wasp are facing multiverse-ending threats in stories said by the cast and crew to be epic and sprawling in their scale. So while it’s a good campaign that gets its point across effectively it also feels very heavy, like it’s another movie we’re going to have to spend a lot of effort paying attention to every side character so we can remember who they are three years from now.

black panther: wakanda forever – marketing recap

How Marvel has sold what became an unexpectedly emotional sequel

2018’s Black Panther was, and continues to be, one of the more solid entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sure, there were the usual problems with the antagonist and some of the special effects appear to have been completed with a Spin Art toy, but you can’t argue with the emotional honesty of Chadwick Boseman’s first full-length outing as the title hero as well as director Ryan Coogler’s ability to work some engaging elements into the story.

Now Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arrives in theaters two years after Boseman passed away from colon cancer. That’s an unquestionably tragic loss that for a time threw the fate of this sequel into doubt as everyone wondered: How do you tell another Black Panther story if the actor is gone? Aside from Hulk and Rhodey, that’s something Marvel hasn’t done much of and would have been extremely disrespectful since this isn’t just another switch but the result of an untimely passing.

Coogler and his collaborators have opted to tell another story and acknowledge the reality of the situation instead of pretending nothing happened.

The sequel finds the African nation of Wakanda mourning the loss of T’Challa and working to find a way following his revealing the truth of the nation at the end of the last movie. As the kingdom’s warriors defend it from various threats, Namor (Tenoch Huerta), the ruler of the undersea kingdom of Talokan, launches a full-scale invasion in an effort to protect his people from the surface world.

Much of the original cast, including Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Angela Bassett and others return. In addition to Huerta, new members include Michaela Coel as the Wakandan warrior Aneka and Dominique Thorne plays Riri Williams, a young woman who builds her own suit of armor to become the hero Ironheart.

With so much going on, let’s take a look at how the movie’s been sold.

announcements and casting

Coogler appeared on stage at Disney’s D23 Fan Expo in August, 2019 to announce the movie’s official release date. The fact this came a year and a half after the release of the first movie when Marvel usually sets up sequels five minutes after opening weekend was not lost on anyone.

Tragedy struck in August 2020 when Boseman passed away suddenly from colon cancer he’d been diagnosed with six years earlier. While the fate of the movie and character were the first thing on no one’s mind, it certainly left it up in the air. Coogler, in his statement on Boseman’s passing, talked about being in the midst of working on the script, including lines Boseman would never get to speak.

News then came in late November that Marvel had set a date to begin production, though details on how Boseman’s absence was going to be handled were not shared at that time. That was cleared up during Disney’s 2020 investors presentation, with executives sharing that T’Challa would not be recast but that this movie would continue to explore other characters in Wakanda.

In an op-ed, Coogler explained why he was alright with the movie’s production remaining in Georgia despite the state’s recently-passed voter suppression laws. That was in response to calls for him and other filmmakers to pull their productions.

How she and the others were preparing for the eventual filming in the wake of Boseman’s passing was the subject of an interview with Nyong’o.

The movie, along with other upcoming MCU entries, was name-checked – and given its official subtitle – in the “Marvel Studios Celebrates The Movies” video from early May.

Production officially got underway in July 2021. Coel was cast in an unnamed role later that month, with speculation she would play Storm. Also raising eyebrows was the August news that Thorne would appear as Ironheart ahead of her already-announced solo Disney+ series.

While in Cannes in May 2022 Wright spoke more about how they worked to honor Boseman while filming the sequel.

News came in July of that year that, because of scheduling conflicts resulting from the many delays in shooting, Kaluuya was dropping out of this film.

Right after that, the cast and crew appeared at San Diego Comic-Con, where they were part of Marvel Studios’ Hall H panel to talk about what fans could expect, the loss of Boseman and lots more, including the introduction of Huerta as Namor.

the marketing campaign

After the panel concluded the studio released the first poster, which shows the Black Panther helmet empty and nearly hidden in the black background, and the first teaser trailer.

That trailer (41.5m YouTube views) starts with establishing shots of some of the characters we met in the first film, all of whom seem to be collecting their thoughts and dealing with what can be assumed to be the loss of T’Challa. Then the focus shifts to what’s happening underwater. Lots of shots of characters in some form of anguish – including Ramonda’s impassioned speech about what she’s sacrificed for the good of Wakanda – and the appearance of Namor (who’s unnamed because there’s almost no dialogue here) all lead up to confrontation between the people of Wakanda and the armies of Talocan. It ends with someone new in the Black Panther garb as they prepare for battle.

Funko also revealed the first look at the movie’s line of POP! Figures at SDCC.

Right after the convention ended Marvel released a “Prologue” album including the music featured in that trailer and more.

Marvel put out a Namor 101 video in August to make sure everyone was up to date on the character.

Bassett praised Coogler and commented more about the movie when she appeared on “The Ellen Degeneres Show”. Wright did likewise a bit later on when she stopped by “The Tonight Show.”

In mid-September Disney gave attendees of its D23 event an early look at footage from the film with Duke, Wright, Nyong’o and others from the cast appearing on stage to talk about what fans can expect.

Huerta was interviewed at the event about how Namor is unique and how the character adds something new to the story.

Loungefly revealed a line of movie-inspired fashion accessories.

Empire published a cover story about the movie in September that included new images of many of the characters along with comments from the cast and crew. Some of those had Feige discussing why the role of T’Challa wasn’t recast and the revelation the movie’s running time was nearly three hours. Wright, Nyong’o and Gurira then appeared on the cover of Elle UK and were interviewed about the situation they found themselves in when it came time for the sequel.

The second trailer (31.3m YouTube views) was released in early October. It’s not too terribly different from the first spot but does add more of Namor and his attacks on Wakanda along with the rest of the surface world along with some vague comments about who he is and the threat he poses.

Shuri stands at the forefront of the heroes on the theatrical poster that came out at the same time, with the others arranged in a V formation behind her. That’s the top of the one-sheet, with Namor on his throne as others flank him upside down at the bottom to illustrate how he comes from the world below our own.

An interview with the director had him sharing how Boseman’s death had him questioning not just whether he could make another Black Panther movie without his lead actor, friend and collaborator but whether he could go on directing. There were other parts of that Entertainment Weekly package that had Duke, Thorne and others talking about the movie and story.

Exclusive posters were released for IMAX, Dolby, RealD3D, Screen X and 4DX, all of which take slightly different approaches in how they display the warring factions of Wakanda and Talokan, some of which are more like high-gloss family portraits and some of which are more artistic.

Marvel offered exclusive movie-branded apparel and other items at its New York Comic-Con booth.

A TV spot from a week later in October uses much of the same footage as the trailers but also offers the first actual dialogue from Namor, who warns “Wakanda will fall” while later on Shuri declares her defiance.

The cast also appeared in a commercial announcing tickets were now on sale.

Gurira appears in character in a Lexus tie-in commercial where she has to fight off attackers on her way to a speech, all while enjoying the comfort and amenities of the electric RZ 450e.

A set of character posters highlight Shuri, Attuma and Agent Ross.

Coel was featured on the cover of Vogue later in October while Nyong’o received feature profiles in both Vanity Fair and The Hollywood Reporter where she talked about coping with Boseman’s passing, how much she and the rest of the cast bonded once again with their grief and more.

Coogler and the cast reflected on the loss of Boseman as well as what audiences can expect in this sequel in an IMAX featurette.

Riri Williams is the focus of a Target tie-in commercial where she inspires a young girl working on a project and shopping for supplies at the retailer.

Another collection of character posters features Shuri, M’Baku and Okoye.

Bassett was interviewed for a cover story in Essence.

Viewers of the NBA games on ESPN on 10/26 got a special look at movie.

At this point the big news was that the rumors were true and a new song from Rihanna would be featured on the movie’s soundtrack. She and the studio started teasing “Lift Me Up”, with the full song dropping later in the month.

The purple carpet premiere was held at the end of October with the cast and crew along with the usual array of others from the MCU franchise and various friends in attendance. They all talked more about what they hoped this movie would accomplish as well as the emotional nature of making it.

Lexus continued its sponsorship deal to a trivia contest at that premiere.

Some members of the cast also appeared on “Kimmel” while they were in L.A. Huerta appeared on that show a few days later. Both Duke and Nyong’o showed up on “The Tonight Show” a bit after that.

A line of movie-inspired cosmetics was announced by Mac Cosmetics at this time as well.

More details about Namor’s attack on the surface were shared in an extended TV spot that features a lot more new footage than we’d seen before.

Marvel Studios teamed with the Chadwick Boseman Foundation for the Arts and the Smithsonian National Museum for a special screening of the movie that included an appearance by the cast and crew.

News came at the beginning of November that writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, who famously wrote one of the most well-received “Black Panther” comics runs in the last decade, would host a six-episode audio series featuring recollections of the character along with interviews with Coogler and others.

Further TV and online advertising was done as the weeks went on, including a sponsored playlist on Spotify and an extended spot featuring Rihanna’s original song.

Both Shuri and Attuma were added as playable characters to Marvel’s Contest of Champions mobile game.

An Ebony cover story featured all the main cast members.

Additional premiere events were held in Europe and Africa with the cast and crew in attendance.

Coogler talked about the making of the movie in a featurette that also had the cast praising him as a director and leader on set.

overall

Tracking projections estimate an opening weekend box office of at least $175m, but it’s likely the final number could be higher. That shows a lot of interest in how the story will continue given the seismic shift that occurred with the loss of Boseman.

As for the campaign itself, as is usual for Marvel Studios marketing efforts it’s so massive as to be nearly overwhelming. It’s huge, with dozens of trailers and other videos yet at the same time it manages to betray very little about the story itself save for the broadest of strokes about the conflict and such.

There’s a disconnect that runs through the campaign, though.

On the one hand you have the very emotional element where Boseman’s memory is evoked, either through comments by Coogler and the cast in the press or the overt references to T’Challa’s death in the marketing elements. On the other, you have the blatantly commercial, where all of that emotion is evoked in order to sell tie in merchandise.

Not that the two elements can’t coexist, just that the one inherently impacts the other and creates a sometimes inconsistent tone.

Regardless of all that, I think that while your mileage might vary for various individual parts of the campaign, we can all agree there isn’t enough Ironheart, who too often simply evokes some moment originated by Tony Stark 14 years ago, and that Namor’s feet wings are proof we have strayed too far from God’s light.

Black Panther Heart GIF by Marvel Studios - Find & Share on GIPHY

thor: love and thunder – marketing recap

How Marvel Studios is selling the next thunderous series installment

Thor Love and Thunder poster from Marvel Studios
Thor Love and Thunder poster from Marvel Studios

After making a big splash with the funny, creative and off-kilter Thor: Ragnarok, director Taika Waititi returns to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with this week’s Thor: Love and Thunder.

Chris Hemsworth once again stars as Thor, the God of Thunder. After losing his hammer Mjolnir in the last film and going through lots of trials fighting Thanos in the Infinity War/Endgame duology, Thor is wandering around with the Guardians of the Galaxy before being summoned back to New Asgard, now established on Earth. The realm is being targeted by Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who is seeking revenge on all deities for the loss of his family. To stop him he’s aided by Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Waititi) and, to his surprise, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who now wields Mjolnir under the guise of The Mighty Thor.

So there’s a lot going on there, not least of which is the return of Portman to the franchise after taking the third movie (and most of the team movies and crossovers) off for various reasons. And of course this comes out as the sixth film in “Phase Four” of the MCU, though the fact there have also been a half-dozen Disney+ series means this phase is rather over-stuffed, especially since there are several more movies and series planned.

But before all that happens, let’s take a look at how Marvel and Disney have presented this one to the public.

announcement and casting

Marvel Studios’ presentation at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 acted as the first big publicity pop for the movie. While Waititi had been announced as the returning director a week or so prior – news that came at the same time his work on Akira for Warner Bros. was said to be paused – it was at SDCC that Marvel revealed the title as well as that Portman would not only be returning but taking up Mjolnir in the story. Thompson hinted and the Kevin Fiege confirmed that Valkyrie would indeed be portrayed as LGBTQ in the film, satisfying speculation begun when Ragnorak came out.

Waititi commented on how things were progressing with pre-production and what kinds of stories he had in mind while promoting JoJo Rabbit in late 2019. That included adding to speculation the story could include the arc from the comics that had Jane Foster dealing with breast cancer, something Portman also weighed in on. Just how flexible the story was and how the final version may or may not pull points from the source material was emphasized by Waititi in a valiant attempt to manage fan expectations.

Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, the writer/director of Someone Great, was brought on to help with the script in February of 2020. Several months later in November there were reports that Chris Pratt had signed on to appear in the film.

Some new details about the movie were dropped by Waititi and Ruffalo in April when they offered Covid-19 shut-ins streaming commentary of Ragnarok. A few months later Portman commented on the workout routine she was getting ready for, her anticipation at working with Waititi and living in Australia during production. Thompson made similar comments when she appeared on “Kimmel” in January 2021 while Dennings spoke about preparing for the shoot while promoting her appearance on “WandaVision.”

Bale’s casting was revealed during Disney’s December 2020 investors presentation. Crowe then broke the secret of his casting as Zeus in April 2021.

The movie, along with other upcoming MCU entries, was name-checked in the “Marvel Studios Celebrates The Movies” video from early May.

Hemsworth shared a muscular pic in early June to mark the end of primary filming.

Gillan spoke briefly about the movie during the Gunpowder Milkshake publicity cycle. An interview with Waititi had him promising an absolutely insane story that audiences wouldn’t believe, continuing to speak about the movie during other stops.

Later in 2021 Thompson kept teasing the movie during her press appearances for Passing.

Giacchino was brought on to provide the movie’s score.

the marketing campaign

As more time passed there was more anxiety over when exactly the first trailer and other marketing materials would finally appear.

Those anxieties were quenched in mid-April with the release of the first trailer and poster. In fact, Marvel Studios seemed to snap back a bit at that hand-wringing, writing simply “Here it is” when the trailer was shared on Twitter and elsewhere.

That teaser starts off with shots of Thor in younger years – and sporting a very Kirby-esque costume as a teenager – running through the forest before showing he’s focused on peace at the moment as we hear about how his days as a super hero are over. After some scenes with the Guardians and shots of Valkyrie in New Asgard, it ends with a reconstructed Mjölnir flying into the hand of a now costumed Jane Foster.

The trailer also generated tons of backlash directed at Disney, largely because of one shot that was pulled directly from a comics panel while the studio has a track record of not paying comics artists or writers whose work is adapted for film or series. This seemed particularly egregious, with the panel in question essentially serving as a storyboard for the film shot.

Despite that criticism, the trailer accumulated 209 million views in the first 24 hours after release.

Just before the teaser was released, Marvel Comics put out a video explaining the backstory of Jane Foster and her relationship with Thor leading up to her assuming the title.

Waitit was interviewed about the movie and focused on how he wasn’t going to bring Portman back into the fold and not give her something to do.

The full trailer then came out in late May, debuting during the NBA Eastern Conference Finals. It opens with Korg narrating Thor’s story to a bunch of kids. But the story of Thor’s redemption hits a snag with Jane taking on the mantle, leading to an awkward reunion between the former flames. We then meet God Butcher, who will provide both heroes – all three, counting Valkyrie – with a bad guy to fight. The Guardians make a brief appearance before a scene with Zeus offers Jane and Valkyrie a moment of bonding.

Both Thors are featured on the poster released at that time with Valkyrie, God Butcher and Korg assembled around them as New Asgard provides the backdrop.

TV spots began running in early June in advance of tickets going on sale showing more of the story along with the humor and the group of heroes Thor assembles. The cast introduces some of what the audience can expect in a video announcing tickets are available now.

Character posters released at this time included one for Dude Thor and the goats that are seen in the trailers and which seem to be a major focus of everything because…they’re goats.

Those were followed by exhibitor-exclusive posters for RealD 3D (showing the company’s logo tattooed on Dude Thor’s muscled arm), Dolby Cinemas (showing the rest of the heroes springing into action while Dude Thor meditates in the center), ScreenXUSA (showing the heroes in a very neon lighting situation) and IMAX (showing the characters in kind of a dime store novel arrangement).

An extended spot showed a bit of new footage framed mostly around an inspirational speech Thor is giving to the citizens of New Asgard.

A Variety cover story on Portman had her talking about the process behind getting so physically bulked up for her role, the production challenges of making her appear a foot taller than she actually is and overall what it was like coming back to the series.

Thompson and Waititi both made late night talk show appearances to promote the film and, in the case of the latter, promise that yes, you get to see a *lot* of Hemsworth.

An interview with Hemsworth included him appearing to be open to returning to the role in future films.

Another extended spot focuses less on the threat the heroes face and more on the team Thor has assembled to take it on.

The cast and crew, as well as others from the MCU orbit, turned out for the red carpet premiere of the movie a couple weeks ago. While there they all commented on what audiences could expect while throwing quite a bit of praise at Waititi for his creative, loose energy on set.

Right after that Portman appeared on “Kimmel” to talk more about returning to the character of Jane Foster as well as debuting a new clip from the film.

A featurette delves into the history of Thor in the cinematic realm, going all the way back to Hemsworth being cast in the first film and tracking through the various sequels, Avengers movies and more.

Waititi and Hemsworth were on hand at the movie’s Australian premiere. Around that same time a profile of the director covered how he became connected with Thor in the first place, how he’s tried to bring his own sensibilities to the films and what other projects he’s currently involved in.

As release approached there were more and more TV commercials like this that covered various angles on the story, from the humor to the action and more. A longer commercial emphasized how this is the culmination of Thor’s journey to date.

More of the cast appeared on “Kimmel” to engage in various hijinks and promote the movie.

The creativity of Waititi was covered in another featurette that had the cast once more lavishing him with praise for the energy and style he brings to the production. The cast then shows up in a video where they uncover some of the toys and figures that are on store shelves now.

AMC Theaters had exclusive videos with the cast. Dolby shared an exclusive featurette with Waititi talking about the technical aspects of production.

Marvel brought some of the costumes from the movie to a display at Essence Fest in New Orleans at the beginning of July.

A joint interview with Thompson and Waititi had the two talking about Valkyrie’s journey in the two movies she’s been in and whether the character finds love in this new one.

One more premiere event happened in London just days before release.

overall

The narrative of the box office recovery should continue given the movie is projected to enjoy an opening weekend of around $150 million.

That speaks to the effectiveness of the campaign recapped above as well as to the continued desire among the audience for more sequels, franchises and so on.

But the most interesting part of the marketing push here is the focus, especially in the last few weeks, on making sure to show Waititi as much love as possible. Featurettes, commercials, feature profiles and more all have people talking about how amazing he is to work with and so on.

With all that in mind, the audience is being promised a funny, adventure-filled time at the theater, with the main message being that this is a continuation of the style found in Thor: Ragnarok, but with the addition of Portman returning to actually be part of the story this time.

Natalie Portman Disney GIF by Marvel Studios - Find & Share on GIPHY

Oh…and a couple of huge goats. Can’t forget about them.

morbius – marketing recap

How Sony is selling its latest Spider-Man villain spinoff.

Morbius movie poster
Morbius movie poster

Morbius should have come out two years ago. But, of course, a lot has happened in that time.

Jared Leto stars as Dr. Michael Morbius, a scientist suffering from a rare blood-based disease. When he takes what he believes to be a cure for his condition he finds the side effects include a form of vampirism that gives him a taste for human blood. It’s then up to him to decide to put the powers that come with it to use for good or evil.

The movie is (maybe?) part of Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man Universe, which interestingly contains no Spider-Man movies but does have the two Venom movies to date. Matt Smith also stars as Michael’s brother Milo, who has the same condition and who also develops powers as a result of the experimental cure. Adria Arjona plays Michael’s coworker and fiancée Martine Bancroft while Tyrese Gibson plays FBI agent Simon Stroud, who’s hot on the trail of Morbius.

With all the delays and a general lack of focus, it’s sometimes been difficult to get a firm handle on the campaign, but let’s dive in and see what has transpired.

announcement and casting

Leto’s casting in the title role was announced in mid-2018, as was the involvement of director Daniel Espinosa. Arjona joined the cast in late 2018, as did Smith and others.

Leto shared a first teaser look at himself as the title character in early March of 2019 and another a month or so later.

the marketing campaign: 2020

The teaser trailer (21.3m YouTube views)released in early January 2020 presents a slightly ridiculous take on the comic hero genre. Morbious, we see, suffers from a chronic blood disease without a cure and his time is running short. So he tests an experimental cure on himself. It works, but with substantial side effects that have turned him into something not quite human, faster and stronger and with the abilities of a bat to fly and see things through echolocation. Oh, and he is driven to consume blood.

Two notable components make it clear that unlike Venom, this movie clearly takes place in the Holland-verse of Spider-Man movies, making it also part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 1) Morbious walks past a Spider-Man poster with “Murderer” spraypainted on it, and 2) Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes from Homecoming appears at the end, seeming to team up with Morbious on some new villainous endeavor.

At the end of March 2020, Sony announced it was shifting the movie’s release date by several months as theaters remained closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Another delay was announced in January 2021, with the movie shifting from March to October and then, just days later, to January 2022 to stay out of James Bond’s way.

the marketing campaign: 2021

With little conversation or acknowledgement, there was then a pause in the campaign of over a year, spanning a solid year, restarting only slightly in January 2021.

In an interview, Leto talked about how it was difficult to play a character who’s a little closer to how he is in real life.

Claims went back and forth between Sony and Disney executives and stars about whether or not this was part of the Holland universe of films until Sony issued a statement in late June 2021 saying definitively that the movie does *not* connect with the MCU in any way.

Leto appeared in a Fandango-exclusive featurette released at the beginning of November, one meant to set the stage for a new trailer the next day.

That new trailer (17m YouTube views) touted the January release while hitting many of the same beats as the spots that had come out earlier.

In early December a new poster came out showing the two halves of Morbius’ personality while proclaiming “A new Marvel legend arrives”, which seems a bit hyperbolic as well as duplicative since it’s very similar to the tagline used for Shang-Chi last year.

An extended clip was released in early December of last year showing Morbius’ transformation into the vampiric beast aboard a ship and going on to decimate most of the crew.

A short while later Leto appeared at the red carpet premiere of Spider-Man: No Way Home, furthering speculation that the two movies were in some way connected though it’s more likely this was just a publicity moment for the studio.

the marketing campaign: 2022

Another delay – this time to April 2022 – was announced in early January, reportedly to give Spider-Man: No Way Home some additional breathing room in theaters. That announcement came nearly two years to the day after the first trailer was released.

A short featurette was released in late February that had Leto introducing the character and explaining the super natural origins from the comics and how that’s being translated on-screen.

The final final final trailer (4.1m YouTube views) came out at the end of February. It starts with the same “hunt aboard the ship” scene that’s been featured several times previously. After that we see Michael fretting over the moral choice he now has to make in order to live followed by some advice from Adrian Toomes and a bit of posturing from Michael’s brother Milo. Overall it doesn’t offer much that we haven’t seen repeatedly in previous trailers and clips.

In a first (at least as far as I’ve noticed), a Discord community was created for the movie involving a series of message boards and chat rooms where updates and other information was shared.

TV spots like this began airing in early March, each one offering a slightly different cutdown of the trailer footage focusing on Michael’s search for a cure and the resulting mayhem when he takes that cure.

Arjona and Leto appeared together at a fan screening of the movie in Mexico.

An interview with Leto had him talking about why he decided to take on this role, including how being the first to portray Morbius was attractive to him since he didn’t have to worry about comparisons to other actor’s performances.

Morbius’ head forms the outline for a spooky cave and dissolves into a swarm of bats on the IMAX poster. The character’s demonic side gets a very artistic representation on the Regal Cinemas poster, with a similar approach taken on the D Box poster.

Another featurette has Leto talking more about the history of the character, specifically calling out how this is part of the Marvel Multiverse, something that opens up lots of opportunities for new stories. In one more he expanded on being the first to play Morbius and why the character was interesting to him.

He talked about the movie and playing another comic character on “The Tonight Show.”

An AR app for various platforms let users transform themselves into the sinister Morbius.

Sony shared videos from the cast’s publicity tour stops in Mexico City, Berlin, Paris and Madrid.

G Fuel created a movie-branded package containing a themed energy drink as well as a collector’s cup.

NFL player Von Miller appeared in a TV commercial where his trainers, concerned he’s showing superhuman abilities, consult Dr. Morbius, who tells them not to worry about it.

Arjona finally got a profile of her own, talking about joining a big Marvel movie as a Latina actress, STEM representation and lots more.

overall

Phew. A few thoughts in summary:

First, I don’t know that I’ve encountered a campaign that is so stop-and-start. Other campaigns over the last few years have had big gaps, but this one comes and goes with little acknowledgement of time having passed, essentially running the same handful of beats from the top each time a new phase starts.

Angry Jared Leto GIF by MorbiusMovie - Find & Share on GIPHY

Second, the gymnastics Sony has to jump through to try and explain whether or not this movie is connected to Venom much less the MCU-partnering Spider-Man films is worthy of solid Olympics judges consideration.

Jared Leto Marvel GIF by MorbiusMovie - Find & Share on GIPHY

Third, this is being sold entirely as an anti-hero character study. The villain played by Matt Smith appears briefly in the first trailer and briefly in the final trailer and is otherwise completely absent. That’s an odd choice that may have been driven largely by how big a personality Leto is as well as the desire to introduce the character on his own.

Matt Smith Walking GIF by MorbiusMovie - Find & Share on GIPHY

Fourth, I forget what this one was.

Scared Jared Leto GIF by MorbiusMovie - Find & Share on GIPHY

Finally, Leto’s repeated insistence that this character was more like him personally so he didn’t have to go full method as he has on other films is just funny on, by my rough count, at least nine levels.

spider-man: no way home – marketing recap

How Marvel and Sony have sold the third entry in the web-slinging franchise

Spider-Man: No Way Home movie poster
Spider-Man: No Way Home movie poster

Spider-Man: No Way Home arrives in theaters this week at the end of what can easily and legitimately be described as a weird year for Hollywood and the entertainment industry. At the beginning of 2021, Covid-19 vaccines were only just beginning to become widely available and many new movies were still going straight to streaming or VOD if they weren’t being delayed indefinitely.

Now the theatrical release picture has gone back to something approaching pre-2020 normal, including how only franchise blockbusters seem to score any level of success at the box office. But there are headwinds building, including new Covid variants, that could skew things going forward.

Into all this comes the third film in Sony’s third (or fourth depending on if you count Into The Spider-Verse) Spider-Man franchise. Tom Holland returns as Spider-Man/Peter Parker, as does Zendaya as Michelle “MJ” Jones-Watson and Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds.

The story revolves around Parker turning to Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to undo the revealing of his identity as Spider-Man that occurred at the end of the last movie. But when the spell goes wrong a rift in the fabric of the universe occurs, leading to intrusions on the MCU Spider-Verse by characters from Sony’s previous two Spider-Man series.

announcement and casting

In late summer of 2019, well before the movie actually moved into production, the press was dominated by reports that the tenuous partnership between Sony and Disney that had allowed Spider-Man to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe had fallen apart. Both sides blamed the other, saying parts of the deal had been reneged on and a new agreement was impossible to reach that would allow the crossover to continue.

Things seemed destined to go back to their pre-2016 status quo, with Spidey unconnected from the MCU until Holland himself exerted pressure on the heads of both studios, making the fan outpouring clear to them, resulting in a new deal that would at the very least allow for a resolution to the character’s arc within the MCU instead of an abrupt, unexplained exit.

In October reports emerged that Cumberbatch would be reprising his role as Doctor Strange in the film.

Sony moved the movie by a month on the release schedule in July of last year while the Covid-19 pandemic was still causing massive disruptions. In September it raised a lots of eyebrows with the news Jamie Foxx was returning as Electro, a role he played in 2014’s Spider-Man 2 with Andrew Garfield,

Production was underway, as marked by Holland in a timely mask-related post, in November of 2020.

Additional casting news came fast and furious in December of last year, when Molina, Stone, Garfield, Dunst and Maguire were all reported to be coming back, lending credence to the rumors this movie was going full multiverse.

Zendaya spoke briefly about the movie late last year when doing publicity for other projects.

In February speculation as to the movie’s official title came to head when Holland, Zendaya and Batalon all shared a few new stills along with totally fake-out title cards, a planned stunt to get fans talking and sharing. It all culminated when Sony shared a video featuring the three leaving Watts’ office frustrated by his refusal to share the title of the film, only to walk past a white board with that title written on it along with a handful of rejected contenders.

Molina confirmed in April he was returning as Doctor Octopus, but Andrew Garfield in May denied he was involved saying he hadn’t been contacted by anyone about the project.

The movie, along with other upcoming MCU entries, was name-checked in the “Marvel Studios Celebrates The Movies” video from early May.

marketing phase one: spectacular

The first good look at the characters, including hints as to what the story may involve, came when Marvel released photos of some of the toys and collectibles in early July.

The trailer leaked in mid-August, causing Sony to go through the paces to try and have it taken down from the various places it popped up.

When it was finally released by both Marvel and Sony (107.5m combined views on YouTube), it shows Peter is still dealing with the fallout of the last movie, including police suspicion he killed Mysterio. With his secret identity now public, he goes to see Doctor Strange to see if anything can be done about that. But Strange’s spell to reverse what happened goes awry – in part because of Peter’s nervous meddling – it opens up a portal to the multiverse. That means there are glimpses of characters like Green Goblin, Electro and, dramatically at the end, Doctor Octopus.

Sony addressed that leak as it showed off the trailer and other footage to attendees of CinemaCon in August.

A first TV spot from the day after the trailer came out touted how successful it had been as measured by both video views and social media conversations generated.

Cumberbatch talked about what the story has in store for Peter and Stephen when he appeared at the Telluride Film Festival to promote some of the other films he had being screened there.

As Garfield was doing the media rounds for his other projects he kept being asked whether or not he was appearing in this movie, consistently denying any cameos had been filmed.

The release of Venom: Let There Be Carnage in September included conversation about this movie because of a mid-credits sequence that hinted at Eddie Brock/Venom, played by Tom Hardy, finally meeting Spider-Man in this film because of multiverse craziness.

Holland talked more here about what it was like to finish the trilogy with Watts as well as how he was super-excited to work with Molina. Around the same time a profile of Zendaya covered her experience on this franchise as well as her other recent work. More stills were released in an Empire cover story that had Watts talking about overcoming the seemingly impossible task of assembling so much of the talent from all the previous films.

marketing phase two: amazing

The first poster wasn’t released until early November, over two months after the trailer came out. It’s surprisingly restrained for this franchise but still shows a lot, including Spider-Man balancing on one of Doc Ock’s arms while Green Goblin is seen in the background along with hints of Sandman and Electro’s involvement.

The next one-sheet came out just a week later, this one showing Spider-Man huddled with Doctor Strange against the encroaching enemies.

More small hints and comments came from Cumberbatch on “Kimmel” in November during the press cycle for The Power of the Dog.

The official trailer (58m YouTube views from Sony) came out in mid-November. This one skips some of the setup about Peter wanting to make everyone forget his super hero identity and gets straight to the incoming threats from the multiverse. After the challenges become clear, Peter learns that all these villains die in their home universe, something he’s determined to prevent before closing the rifts and sending everyone back. Doctor Strange isn’t on board with that, but Peter and his friends won’t be stopped.

Sony held events screening that trailer in various cities, with Holland showing up at a couple of them to get fans even more excited.

The star was profiled in GQ, sharing some thoughts about this movie as well as what he sees for the future of Spider-Man on film.

At this time Liberty Mutual began running a cross-promotional campaign that worked the idea of Spider-Man saving the city into the company’s commercials about saving people money and hassle. There were also commercials from Hyundai that showed Peter getting picked up by Ned in the middle of nowhere as he tries to clear his name.

More TV spots were released that cut down the message of the second trailer to a shorter runtime while still conveying the multiverse nature of the story and the attendant villains.

Tickets going on sale was announced by the cast in a Fandango video on what was called “Spider Monday,” the Monday after Thanksgiving. Another video had Foxx joining Holland. AMC Theaters promised those buying advance tickets a free “eco-friendly” Spider-Man NFT.

An interview with producer Amy Pascal, who’s been involved with the franchise since she was the head of Sony Pictures, had her confirming there will be future Spider-Man movies, that those will be made in cooperation with Marvel Studios and that Holland wasn’t quite done with the suit yet.

The IMAX poster released at the end of November shows Spidey swinging through a distorted cityscape, hinting at how the universe is unraveling because of what’s happened. The Dolby poster shows him swinging through the city, this time upside down.

Lots of different elements are brought together on the theatrical poster, which has Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and MJ at the center of a twisted reality vortex as the various villains swirl around them. Electro, Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus all got individual posters as well.

Just leaving these here.

Two movie-inspired costumes were added to the Spider-Man video game from Insomniac.

At CCXP in early December there were a couple promotional moments, including a video of Molina, Dafoe and Foxx together talking about the legacy of their characters and working together for the first time, at least in this series, and how production technology has changed since the last time they suited up.

G Fuel released a commercial for its cross-promotional campaign, including new drink flavors and movie-branded cans and packaging.

Holland talked about the movie on “Late Night.” In another interview he cast more doubt on his future in the series while also reflecting on his involvement as being one of growth and enjoyment.

Liberty Mutual came back to the campaign to sponsor Daily Bugle newsstands in New York City filled with newspapers that had Spider-Man pictures and news.

A video of the Paris kickoff to the cast’s press tour was released.

An ESPN commercial that had fun with some of the rumors circulating around the movie and its cast was part of a larger element of the campaign focused on what was or wasn’t known. That included the cast discussing fan theories amongst themselves and then later asking those who had begun seeing the movie not to spoil anything for those who hadn’t yet.

Holland, Zendaya and Batalon all appeared on “GMA” to promote the movie while those three were joined by Cumberbatch for an appearance on “Kimmel.” Marisa Tomei showed up on “Late Night” by herself, though.

Literally everyone, including Marvel’s Kevin Feige and costars Tomei, J.K. Simmons, Jon Favreau, turned out for the red carpet world premiere. Even Jared Leto, who stars in the upcoming Morbius, was there. That event was sponsored by Hyundai and TikTok, which had been a major promotional platform for the movie to date, offering clips, filters, stickers and more. It even released its own commercial touting the features.

PlayStation put out a clip showing the disagreement between Peter and Strange that causes some of the story’s conflict.

One more video of the cast warning against spoiling the movie came out right at the end of the campaign.

overall

First: We have to address the very last part of the campaign, the one where the cast of the film was enlisted in the War Against Spoilers. While I get that there are a lot of plot twists and surprising characters, the entire premise of the story is that the multiverse is coming together, which means that anything is possible. So learning that X has been cast as a character they played previously isn’t exactly an outlandish statement that can upend one’s enjoyment of the film.

Second: You have to love how the three leads – Holland, Zendaya and Batalon – have seemingly formed this tight knit group over the course of three movies. Putting them all together in various components of the campaign, from the title announcement to press appearances and other videos, only works because they’ve clearly bonded and are now a family, with an easy rapport that makes the banter believable.

Third: Everyone needs to get their stories straight regarding Tom Holland’s future in the Spider-Man series. He seems to be pulling a Daniel Craig-esque “Yeah, I had a good run but I’m done” move while Pascal and Fiege are trying to pull him back in. The latter may just be marketing positioning by the executives who don’t want to blow up audience expectations, but then someone needs better media training.

Fourth: If you are brining back Willem Dafoe but also still putting him behind a mask that doesn’t allow for his natural expressiveness to come through, you’re doing it wrong. But am I right in understanding that the one villain from the Holland movies still alive – Michael Keaton’s Vulture – isn’t in this while almost all the villains from the other series are? OK I guess…

Fifth: I forgot what this was going to be.

Sixth: The campaign has a lot going for it but it might actually be too much. While super hero movies tend to be plot-heavy this feels excessively so. Still, it gave us this extremely relatable Doctor Strange GIF so it wins on points.

Benedict Cumberbatch Fire GIF by Spider-Man - Find & Share on GIPHY

Finally: While the reviews have been generally positive and anticipation for the movie seems high, it’s hard to believe the $150m opening weekend projections will wind up being accurate. We’re fully in the midst of a Covid-19 surge (thanks, everyone refusing to get vaccinated!) that is already causing Broadway shows to close, sports teams to cancel games and more. It might be big, but it won’t be that big. And if it is, it might be the last one to reach that mark for a little while here, at least until the spring.

eternals – marketing recap

How Marvel Studios has made its weirdest, most esoteric super hero pitch to date…

Eternals poster

There have been a few times when Marvel Studios, with the help of the entertainment press and its love of a good narrative, has made the case that an upcoming release is truly a departure from what’s come before in its long-running Cinematic Universe. This is in part a reaction to complaints that emerged after several years that many of the movies were mostly the same five themes and plot points. Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man have been sold as far-out departures from the established formula, though to what extent they were actually unique is up for debate.

This week’s Eternals has also been presented to the audience as something brand new. In this case it’s not that it’s more of a comedy than previous films but instead that it’s so much more epic, spanning not only the entire galaxy but also thousands of years.

The movie focuses on a team of 10 eternal beings created by The Celestials and sent to Earth 7,000 years ago to protect its native inhabitants from evil creatures called Deviants. So the Eternals stand in the shadows, pledged to not interfere with humanity’s progress except to protect against the Deviants. They are called back to do just that when the Deviants are awakened by the sudden return of half the population, as seen at the end of Avengers: Endgame.

So you can see there’s a lot going on. And the Eternals are not characters that Marvel Comics has prioritized over the years, with fewer than 50 issues of their own title published in total prior to a new series launched earlier this year. Even hardcore fans are likely to be somewhat confused by their various retcons, reintroductions and so on. They’re not on anyone’s lunchbox, all of which has made this one of the harder pitches Marvel Studios has had to make since 2008.

Angelina Jolie GIF by Marvel Studios - Find & Share on GIPHY

Those Eternals are played by Gemma Chan, Angelina Jolie, Selma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani, Richard Madden, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Lia McHugh, Barry Keoghan and Don Lee. So it’s an impressive cast that’s been assembled under director Chloé Zhao.

All that being said, let’s take a look at just what that pitch has entailed.

announcement and casting

Rumors and speculation were common between the time Marvel announced the movie as part of its future plans and San Diego Comic-Con 2019, where the full cast and release date were announced. The cast also appeared at Disney’s D23 Fan Expo in August to show off the first looks at themselves in costume, talk about how excited they were and more.

In December of 2019 Feige appeared at Comic Con Experience in Sao Paulo to talk about the movie and share a first look at early footage. Later that month Nanjiani started the thirst by posting a picture of his new, toned body to Instagram.

Disney used the social media app Weibo to release a special poster designed in the style of Chinese tapestries to celebrate Lunar New Year in 2019.

The release date was changed by Disney, moving out several months, when in September of last year it announced several other delays because of the Covid-19 pandemic and related theater closures.

Marvel launched a new “The Eternals” comic series in January, 2021, one that wasn’t intended to tie into the movie but reintroduce the characters and prime the pump. Around that same time it posted a video offering an overview of the property for those unfamiliar with the characters.

In the wake of D23, Feige made the media rounds to hype the upcoming film and tease that one of the main characters – he didn’t specify which – would be openly gay on screen, a big change for the MCU.

Nanjiani talked about the sci-fi nature of the movie in January, at about the same time he appeared on “Late Night” to discuss the diet and fitness regime he was on to get in shape.

As has been common with movies starring doughy comedians who got jacked for a role, a profile of Nanjiani focused on his workout routine along with what sources of inspiration he pulled from for his character. He kept talking about his fitness routine during interviews for The Lovebirds earlier this year.

Zhao was profiled late last year about this and other projects, with the director talking about how she assembled her cast and crew and Feige weighing in on why she was a good fit for the film. Another profile later on covered similar ground, talking about her shift from small- to big-budget features.

In an interview from late last year Chan spoke about how she was approached to play this role after playing someone different in the first Captain Marvel.

Hayek spoke briefly about her role in the film while promoting Bliss earlier this year.

the marketing campaign phase one: this is a movie that’s happening

The first actual footage came in early May, part of the studio’s “Marvel Studios Celebrates The Movies” video that celebrated the theatrical experience and the history of the MCU.

The first trailer (26.8m YouTube views), released in late May, begins as the Eternals arrive on Earth in the early days of human civilization. They’re treated as benevolent gods, helping humans progress in their development but mostly staying out of the way. Something is about to bring them out of the shadows, but what that is isn’t made clear. It’s a decent first look at the vibe of the movie, but there isn’t much in the way of actual story.

A similarly vague but kind of powerful tone is struck on the first poster, which shows the group off in the distance as they walk toward the camera, their faces obscured. The only copy aside from the title and names of the actors reads “In the beginning” as we see what looks like a massive ship hovering in the sky above everyone.

Hayek received a Variety cover story in May that had her talking about how unexpected being cast in a lead role in a Marvel movie was and how excited she was at the prospect. She also commented on the diverse cast and how she thought that would help lots of people finally see themselves as heroes on screen.

Hayek talked about keeping the secrets of production when she appeared on “Late Night” during the The Hitman’s Bodyguard’s Wife publicity cycle.

Fiege revealed a few more character details in an interview where he also praised Zhao’s filmmaking approach and style, though his comments about how amazed he was that natural settings could be as glorious as GGI were widely mocked.

The movie got a full EW cover story package in August that included lots of photos, interviews and other comments from the cast and crew and lots more. Everyone praised Zhao’s filmmaking style while also teasing the kind of story audiences could expect later.

the marketing campaign phase two: mcu connections

The next poster pulls the camera in closer than on the first one-sheet so we can see everyone’s faces, but we still have no idea who these characters are.

As the second trailer (33.1m YouTube views)begins we’re given a recap of how half the population was wiped out by Thanos but then brought back, apparently creating enough energy to begin something called “The Emergence,” which will begin in just seven days. After that comes an explanation of how The Eternals arrived on Earth 7,000 years ago to protect people from The Deviants. They haven’t gotten involved in human wars because they were ordered not to unless Deviants were involved, but now they’re being activated to help save the planet. It’s a *lot* of exposition, but still little in the way of character introductions or anything like that.

Nanjiani was part of a joint interview with Awkwafina about not only making their first MCU appearances but also bringing more Asian representation to the super hero movie genre.

Zhao shared how she presented her vision for the movie to Disney execs in this interview.

TV advertising began in early October with spots that cut down the trailer but feature the same mix of action and humor.

The first cross-promotional campaign from Lexus also started with a commercial for its Lexus IS 500 model that has Kingo driving his car to where the other Eternals are engaged in battle but he’s running late because he can’t find a parking spot. That spot was part of a bigger tie-in push from Lexus that ran across digital and other media.

Additional TV spots expanded on previously seen footage a bit but kept the same basic themes and ideas going.

A very open and honest Nanjiani was interviewed about the movie, sharing how his life has changed since he first showed off his more muscular physique. That change, he said, has led to people treating him differently, sometimes in very aggressive ways since they now want to challenge him after seeing him all buff.

the marketing campaign phase three: the characters finally get their due

Each character got their own poster in a series of color-coded one-sheets released later in October. There were also new exclusive posters for Dolby, IMAX, 4DX and RealD 3D.

The backstory of who the Eternals are and what their mission is gets explained a bit in a featurette that starts to introduce the characters and how they operate as kind of a family unit more than a super hero team.

Hayek and Nanjiani appeared together on “Kimmel” to talk about joining the MCU and tease what fans could expect in the film.

The first clip released in mid-October shows the team fighting one of the Deviants who is attacking a human.

The movie was selected as the closing night feature of the Rome Film Festival in late October.

Lots more TV commercials continued to come out that included mention of the Deviants, how long the Eternals have been on Earth and more.

The world premiere event took place in Los Angeles in mid-October, with the cast and crew along with others who have been, are or will be part of the MCU in attendance. Lexus’ partnership with the film was represented by the unveiling of 10 character- and movie-themed cars on the red carpet.

Ridloff was interviewed about how she felt not only joining the MCU but her status as the franchise’s first deaf hero. Another later interview covered similar territory.

Around this time the studio couldn’t hold back the flood of reports that music star Harry Styles made an appearance in a post-credits sequence and so went ahead and admitted that yes, it was happening, at the premiere.

Another event hosted by Elle was held shortly after the premiere and featured much of the cast and crew save for a few who skipped it because of possible Covid-19 exposure.

A featurette released at this point finally took the time to introduce the characters, with each actor explaining who their character is, what their powers are and what the group relationships and dynamics are. Another featurette focused on Zhao, with Feige talking about how she was the perfect fit for the story the studio wanted to tell and the director sharing what challenged and excited her.

Marvel put out another ”101” video to help explain who the Eternals are and what they’re doing on Earth. Along those same lines a series of videos like this one for Sersi came out that introduced each individual character and how they fit into the group. Another explainer came later specifically for The Deviants.

Other more lighthearted videos had the cast reacting to Nanjiani’s voiceover that puts Kingo at the center of the action, them talking about what kind of food etc they would choose for eternity if they had to, explaining the story in 60 seconds, trying to explain the film’s plot solely through emojis, engage in a staring contest with Jolie and play some Marvel trivia.

More seriously there was a featurette with the cast once more introducing their characters and praising not only their costars but also Zhao and the others involved behind the scenes.

There was also coverage of how Henry’s Phastos is the first gay superhero in an MCU-produced show or movie, openly so and married to Ben (Haaz Sleiman). Harrington was interviewed later about moving from “Game Of Thrones” to the world of superheroes.

A new AR app allowed those who downloaded it to see the Eternals and Deviants in their own home or wherever they were.

Another red carpet premiere was held in Rome, a suitable location given its designation as “The Eternal City.” Additional events took place in London and Paris.

Because of the multicultural cast and especially because of Zhao’s involvement Gold House and CAPE got involved to coordinate the One Open campaign to try and turn out relevant audiences and make opening weekend a big event.

The cast appeared in video interviews from Regal Cinemas while Ridloff introduced an AMC promo touting “open captions” available at select locations for hearing-impaired audiences.

Early screenings were scheduled for tonight, the day before the official release.

Another clip focused on Kingo as he’s brought into the new mission by others, who find him performing in a Bollywood musical. That kind of portrayal was hailed by Nanjiani on social media and when he appeared on “The Tonight Show.”

Ridloff talked about the movie on “Good Morning America” a few days after others from the cast did likewise.

Another extended commercial once again spent considerable time revisiting the earlier phases of the MCU, positioning this as the evolution of what’s come before.

overall

Before looking at anything else, there are two things going on.

First, the reviews to date have not been overly kind. At present Rotten Tomatoes has it as just 53%. That’s resulted in a number of secondary stories about how this is the lowest-rated entry in the MCU series. At the same time there’s been widespread review-bombing of the film’s IMDb entry by non-critics upset by an openly gay super hero in their comic book movie.

Second, those reviews don’t seem to be tamping down audience interest given tracking estimates project a $75 million opening weekend. That’s about what Shang Chi brought in when it opened, solidly in the middle of the field since theaters reopened a few months ago.

If that estimate comes to pass it would indicate that audience interest in the MCU is strong enough to overcome what has at times been a…difficult…campaign. There’s been so much that’s been unclear, overwhelming and even confusing. So many characters with so dense a backstory and that’s not surprising. And, as stated previously, these aren’t heroes that have a lot of existing foundational awareness in the general audience.

That’s why the most effective part of the push has been the effort to tie this movie into the events of the last phase of the MCU. By reminding people of how much they loved Iron Man and Thor and everyone and saying this is what happens next they made this something akin to essential viewing instead of something wholly new and unfamiliar.

GIF by Marvel Studios - Find & Share on GIPHY

shang-chi and the legend of the ten rings – marketing recap

How Marvel Studios has sold an expansion of its character roster with another origin story

shang-chi poster

Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings arrives as the latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe a scant two months after the last entry, Black Widow. The movie stars Simu Liu, the first Asian lead in a major superhero film, as Shang-Chi, a man who leaves his past behind as he sets out to define his own destiny. But his connections to a mysterious organization known as The Ten Rings and to his family may be things he can’t shake and has to confront.

The movie also stars Tony Leung as Wenwu, Shang Chi’s father who has his own secrets, Fala Chen as Shang’s mother Jiang Li, Awkwafina as Katy, a friend he makes in his time away and more. Notably, Benedict Wong reprises his Doctor Strange role as Wong and Ben Kingsley makes another appearance as Trevor, a character last seen in Iron Man 3 who was hired to pose as The Mandarin.

It’s directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, who cowrote the screenplay with Dave Callaham and Andrew Lanham.

announcement and casting

While the movie had been announced as “upcoming” well before that, the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con panel with Marvel Studios was where announcements regarding official release dates, cast and full title were revealed.

A couple months after SDCC 2019 Cretton was interviewed about his hesitancy to take on the project as well as what he hoped to accomplish with the movie.

In March of 2020 production was halted when Cretton self-isolated out of concern surrounding the Covid-19 outbreak. He later announced he was fine.

Several months later Disney pushed its release back at the same time it moved a number of other titles because of coronavirus closures.

In December of last year additional details, including cast members, were revealed during Disney’s investors presentation which coincided with the wrapping of production.

the marketing commences

The formal marketing campaign kicked off this past February when Marvel put out a video overview of the character to help introduce him to audiences who may not be familiar, which is nearly everyone, including long-time comics readers.

The first teaser (22.3m views on YouTube), released in April, introduces us to Shang-Chi and shows he is reluctant to embrace the destiny his father and others trained him for. But that reluctance isn’t stopping a variety of bad guys from coming after him, meaning he needs to put that training to use to survive. No one’s motivations are explained, but it sure does look cool, and that’s the goal of this first spot.

Shang stands in front of the 10 rings – all of them seemingly inscribed with runes – on the first poster (by marketing agency BOND), also released in April.

First glimpses at the film itself included in the studio’s “Marvel Studios Celebrates The Movies” video from early May.

The first real good look at Liu in costume as the title character came in May as part of an interview with him where they talked about getting involved with the movie and what the character meant to them. Later that month Disney CEO Bob Chapek confirmed the movie would receive an exclusive 45-day theatrical run instead of going to streaming simultaneously or shortly after that theatrical run. That put it in stark contrast to Black Widow, which recently had a simultaneous Disney+/theatrical debut.

More of the history of the power of the 10 rings and the connection they have to Shang-Chi’s family is explained in the second trailer, released in June. The trials – both physical and emotional – the hero is put through are shown, including how he wants to be his own man. Toward the end there are surprise appearances by not just Abomination but also Fin Fang Foom, of all things.

An EW cover story from July had Liu talking about the audition process along with lots more about getting to know the character and so on.

Advertising for the film essentially kicked off with an extended TV spot released in July that offers more details on how Shang attempts to reject his family’s legacy and entanglements but finds himself ultimately needing to confront things in order to become his own man.

A featurette released around that same time has the cast and crew talking about the characters and story as well as producer/overlord Kevin Feige making the first overt connection with the 10 Rings organization that was introduced all the way back in the original Iron Man, The Mandarin being a long-time adversary of that character in the comics.

The cast introduced their characters in another featurette where they also answered questions about themselves.

Shang-Chi is in the same pose on the second poster, released in July, that he was on the first. This time, though, he’s surrounded by the other characters, from Kate to his father, the latter looming in the background in the traditional “villain” position.

a marvel legend will rise

More TV commercials – also run as preroll on YouTube and as social promoted posts – continued to come out beginning in early August. As is the norm, each focused on a slightly different aspect of the story, from the action to the family drama to the humor and more. Some also included slightly better looks at characters like Wong and even Abomination.

Those spots also began positioning the film and the character of Shang-Chi as “a Marvel legend” that is finally getting the spotlight. That’s interesting branding in that it gives the character a little more importance, but it also makes you wonder why that debut is only happening now if the character is such a legend.

Additional posters came out that broke out each of the main characters onto their own one-sheet in early August. Shang-Chi is finally in an action pose on another poster that came out a week later.

Liu took issue with comments from Disney CEO Bob Chapek about this movie being “an experiment”, pointing out that Asian-American representation on film is necessary and good, not something to play around with to see if it works.

The world premiere red carpet event was held in Hollywood at the El Capitan in mid-August.

At the premiere, Feige responded to Liu’s comments, attempting to clarify that the “experiment” was in the 45-day theatrical exclusivity, but that feels like it only addressed part of the issue. There were also interviews with Liu, who espoused his opinion that the movie would be world-changing, and others at the premiere as well.

“Run It” by DJ Snake, Rick Ross, Rich Brian from the movie’s soundtrack was also released in the middle of last month. That song was featured in another commercial.

Fandango MovieClips had the first clip, which shows Shang-Chi and Kate escaping a bunch of ninjas.

That “legend” branding was continued with a TV spot that starts out showing clips of Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, positioning Shang-Chi as a hero in the same vein, one who stands at the same level.

Tickets went on sale in mid-August, announced with another TV spot.

Around that time a special IMAX advance screening in select markets was announced with just about 24 hours notice, an attempt to create some buzz for the film by showing it off to more people.

Awkwafina talked about the movie and filming action sequences when she appeared on “Kimmel”. Liu also appeared on that show a few days later.

Another song from the soundtrack, “In The Dark” by Swae Lee feat. Jhené Aiko, came out later in August.

A scene from the trailers of Shang-Chi and Kate being attacked by assassins on a bus was expanded on in another clip.

An interview with Feige had the producer discussing some of the issues that had complicated or delayed the movie’s release in China, an important market for Marvel but one that is up for grabs here given the subject matter.

Cap, Thor and Iron Man make another appearance in a later TV commercial that hints at the 10 Rings themselves being not only powerful but also not from this universe.

The action sequences of the movie were covered in another featurette, with Liu talking about the choreography and filming.

How Awkwafina not only got involved in the project but also found herself leading the chemistry read sessions looking for the lead were covered in an interview with her. Liu expanded on the process that resulted in him being cast and how life-changing the opportunity is.

Similar to other films with Asian and Asian-American leads, the Gold House initiative organized a campaign to get people to theaters, partnering with GoFundMe for this one. The topic of Asian-American representation on film was also the subject of a joint interview with Awkwafina and Kumail Nanjiani, who stars in the upcoming Marvel Studios film The Eternals.

The “Rise” portion of the campaign came to an ending (more or less) with the release of a featurette with that exact name and about the debut of a character who is being set up as very important to the future of the MCU.

Leung finally got a profile of his own late last month, the emphasis being on the amount of preparation he did before filming his scenes and how he paid attention to what was happening even if he wasn’t involved on a particular day.

Format-specific posters were released in mid- to late-August for 4DX, ReadD 3D, Dolby Cinemas and IMAX.

overall

  • Considering everything that’s going on in the world right now – continued pandemic spikes, wildfires that are engulfing much of the western U.S., hurricane aftermath that has much of the southern U.S. underwater or utterly destroyed – the $50 million projection for opening weekend isn’t bad.
  • The “Rise of a legend” theme really tried to make Shang-Chi into something he isn’t in the comics, but is a good sign for what he might mean to the movies. It’s also an attempt by Marvel Studios to overdo it a bit in making the first Asian character to lead an MCU movie a big deal without earning it at all in previous entries.
  • It’s a bit surprising to me that there wasn’t much said or done to address how problematic and drenched in racist stereotypes Shang-Chi, The Mandarin and other supporting characters were in the comics. If you’re wondering why there aren’t new collected editions of old comics on sale right now, that’s why. But there could have been more acknowledging the past here.

black widow – marketing recap

How Marvel Studios has sold a long-awaited – on multiple levels – super hero solo film.

Over a decade after being first introduced in Iron Man 2 and following several supporting appearances in other MCU movies, Scarlett Johansson strikes out on her own in this week’s Black Widow.

Set in the aftermath of Captain America: Civil War, which gets around the fact that Natasha Romanoff sacrificed herself in Avengers: Endgame, the story follows Natasha as she’s on the run from the authorities. A series of events lead her to reunite with Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), a fellow agent of Russia’s Red Room who shares a sister-like bond with Natasha, as well as former Black Widow Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz) and Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian (David Harbour), the Russian equivalent of Captain America. All four, a surrogate family of sorts, face off against Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), a villain who can copy anyone’s movements and who is after the same MacGuffin sought by Natasha and Yelena.

Originally scheduled for May of last year but delayed multiple times because of Covid, the movie hits both theaters and Disney+ Premier Access this week. It’s notable for a number of reasons:

  • It is, of course, the first solo movie Marvel Studios has released with a female lead character, the only founding Avenger other than Hawkeye to not get a standalone story (and his turn is coming via a Disney+ series later this year).
  • It’s the first MCU release in two years, the longest the franchise has been absent from audiences since the gap between the first two Iron Man movies.
  • It’s the first MCU feature film to be released on Disney+ day-and-date with theatrical, a circumstance brought on because plans made during the worst of the pandemic were hard to adjust on short notice.

First reactions have been largely positive, with critics calling out the movie’s spy genre heritage as well as the strong performances, particularly Pugh’s. That’s resulted in an 81% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes for a film that’s received a full court press campaign from Disney that’s focused on Johansson finally getting her own turn in the spotlight. This confluence of events has led to speculation the movie could score a pandemic-high opening weekend box office of $80 million or more.

The Posters

In November 2019 the first teaser poster (by artist Andy Park) came out offering a look at Natasha as she stands at the forefront of an arrangement of the other characters, the red “X” that will dominate the film’s branding from here on out in the background.

The second poster (by marketing agency LA) from December of that year brings that branding even more to the surface as the solid red “X” dominates the design, Natasha shown at the bottom walking toward the camera ready for action. It’s inspired by a cover from the character’s 2016 comics series.

An exclusive poster handed out at CCXP in early December 2019 features an artistic drawing of Natasha’s face looking weary and tired, as if she’s come through a difficult battle.

Disney used the social media app Weibo to release a special poster designed in the style of Chinese tapestries to celebrate Lunar New Year.

The four major heroes received character posters released in February 2020, each standing in front of a background made up of heavily-redacted documents, the kind a bunch of spies would be very interested in.

Everyone’s brought together on the initial theatrical poster, which came out in March of last year, including a handful of faceless women at the bottom who look very much Black Widow and are walking away from the Kremlin, establishing them as part of the same program that trained Natasha.

Another poster came out in March of this year that shows Natasha in her white uniform.

More character posters, including ones for Taskmaster and the agent played by O-T Fagbenle, came out in May.

A similar approach from the character posters is taken on the final one-sheet, with Natasha at the center of her surrogate family, with other supporting characters scattered around as well.

Additional posters for RealD 3D, Dolby Cinemas, ScreenxUSA and IMAX offered their own takes on the character and settings.

The Trailers

The first trailer, released in early December 2019, opens with Natasha’s lines from Endgame about how the Avengers gave her a home and a family. At this point she’s ready to confront her past and so heads home, leading to an interesting reunion with her sister. The two set out to investigate the organization that made them what they are, but why is unclear. What is shown are brief looks at Taskmaster and his goons along with an extended introduction to Natasha’s father, who can still fit into his Red Guardian costume.

One thing that’s not clear is the movie’s time period. Natasha’s comments and narration are vague, so you have to have some foreknowledge that the story takes place before the events of Infinity War.

A “Special Look” trailer came out in mid-January 2020 that introduced a key premise of the film, that there is a new generation of Widows being trained that Natasha and her family must confront before they’re loosed upon the world.

The bond between Natasha and her chosen family is the focus of the next trailer, released in early March. It starts with her and her sister reconnecting and sharing the lies they’ve told and ends with everyone gathered around the table as we see the same kind of dynamic that might be found in any family. In between we’re shown Natasha has found some of the mistakes she made before becoming an Avenger have caught up with her. The Taskmaster is introduced as the new head of the Russian training facility she came out of, but he’s more cruel and so she sets out to stop him and free the girls that have been sent to kill her.

The final trailer, released in early April, is all about secrets and dealing with the sins of the past. It’s the same basic message being sold here about family and such, but with a few new shots and the promise of a lot of action and a lot of drama.

Online and Social

Marvel’s page for the film featured some videos, posters and other background information, but not much details on other aspects of the marketing campaign. There were also social profiles that offered a bit more.

Advertising, Press and Publicity

After years of speculation, rumors, comments by Marvel Studios execs about how they’d “love to” make a Black Widow movie (as if they were subject to someone else’s whims), it finally moved into the realm of reality when Cate Shortland was hired to direct the feature. Many people pointed out as the synopsis was released that the story sounded more or less just like 2018’s Jennifer Lawrence-starring Red Sparrow about a female Russian agent trained to seduce and spy at all costs in the service of the Motherland.

The topic of the movie’s existence came up during the Avengers: Endgame press tour, but Johansson remained mum on whether it was happening or not, part of Marvel’s strategy of not officially announcing any future projects.

Plans became much more official when the movie was part of Marvel’s Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2019. That event featured revelations about the cast, characters and story, including Johansson commenting on her desire to keep playing Natasha over the last decade. Marvel put out a video of footage from the panel that included insights from the cast.

There were more comments from Johansson about the timing of the project and what it means for her and the character. She kept teasing the movie while promoting other projects in 2019.

In addition to the trailer shown, attendees of Disney’s D23 Fan Expo in August of 2019 were able to see costumes from the movie on the show floor.

The first paid promotion came via a commercial aired during the College Football Playoffs on ESPN in January, 2020, when the movie was still expected to be just a few months away.

A featurette released in mid-January 2020 had Johansson talking about the potential for future stories the character has while also reflecting on the fact she’s been playing Natasha for 10 years now, with this movie offering audiences something new as well.

Marvel had three Black Widow comics already on the schedule for May, all of them focusing on characters that would be seen in the movie, when it announced in January the launch – also in May – of a new ongoing series for the character. Later on the publisher showed off movie-themed variant covers for some issues of those titles.

Widow has unfinished family business in the Super Bowl commercial that shows the drama and action of the story, including some of the threats she’ll face off against.

An explanation of who Red Guardian is was the subject of a video released by Marvel in mid-February.

The movie was a major part of Marvel’s promotional presence at two major conventions earlier this year. Toys based on the film were shown off at ToyFair in February, while C2E2 in March included Black Widow merchandise for sale.

A profile of Johansson had her talking about her long history with the character and what it means to finally have her stand on her own in a film. Another piece had her sharing what she felt were the character’s best scenes from over the years.

An Omaze campaign was launched in March with a video featuring Johansson telling people they could win a trip to the movie’s premiere. That was followed by an International Women’s Day greeting from Johansson and Pugh.

At that point – early April 2020, about a month after Disney pulled it from the schedule – the first date change happened as the movie was pushed to November, when we thought things would be back to normal again.

Harbor spoke about his character of Red Guardian and what it means in the context of the story.

In an interview from last July, Shortland revealed the film essentially puts a cap on Johansson’s time in the MCU and lets Pough’s character pick up the baton going forward. Another feature package in Empire came out in September that had more comments from Johansson and others along with exclusive new images. Shortland also commented on how the story, which mixes super heroics and family drama, evolved during development and production.

Another interview with Johansson and Pugh had the two talking about production of this movie, the pandemic-related delays and what future plans there might be for both of their characters.

In November Black Widow, sporting the same white uniform she’s wearing in many of the trailers, was added to Fortnite.

The question of release seemed to be settled in December of last year, when Disney made it clear during its investors presentation that the movie was still planned as a theatrical-only title. It reiterated that commitment in February during the company’s earnings announcement, which also included the news Disney+ had grown to 94 million subscribers.

A few months later, in March, that commitment was (unsurprisingly) called into question when Disney announced A) one last date shift – from May to July – as well as B) that the movie would get a simultaneous theatrical and Disney+ Premier Access release.

Johannson presented the movie as being a chance for audiences to finally get to know Natasha’s true story in a video released on National Super Hero Day in early May.

Additional footage was included in the “Marvel Studios Celebrates The Movies” video also from early May. It’s not a lot, but it puts this film in the context of the previous MCU entries while also playing up the communal experience of theatrical viewing.

The first clip came in mid-May during the “MTV Movie & TV Awards” broadcast, where Johansson accepted the “Generation Award.”. It shows Natasha and Yelena bickering like the sisters they are while trying to get away from a bad guy.

A “special look” came out in early June telling fans the wait is over, though technically there was still another month or so to wait.

Weisz talked about the movie when she appeared on “Kimmel” in June, as did Pugh when she appeared a week or so later.

Tickets going on sale in early June unlocked a host of content, almost like a tide that’s been held back for a year and was suddenly unleashed. That included:

Around that same time, Shortland was interviewed about what movies and other stories she drew inspiration from.

Harbour talked more about the movie when he appeared on “The Tonight Show” in June of last year

In a much-shared interview, Johansson talked about how her character has evolved since being introduced in 2010’s Iron Man 2 where, she said, Natasha was overly-sexualized and objectified, underestimated because of that by almost all the other characters at some point or another.

Harbour had some fun speculating on his character’s backstory and what potential there might be in that unexplored territory while the rest of the cast talked about working with Shortland.

In a video released on Father’s Day Harbour read some corny “dad jokes” much to the embarrassment of his costars.

Johansson appeared on “The Tonight Show” to hype the movie, convince people to see it in theaters and tease some revelations.

A ton of commercials and other promo spots started running in early June, each taking a slightly different take on the story but all selling the movie as a fast-paced action romp with the Romanov family.

Weisz answered a handful of questions about the production like the person most likely to pull a prank on set in a video from mid-June. Later on Johansson, Harbour and Pugh answered their own sets of fan questions.

A joint interview with Johansson and Pugh had the two of them sharing anecdotes over how they bonded on set, particularly over the ridiculousness of some of the fighting poses they were expected to perform and more.

A fan screening event was held in Los Angeles recently with some of the cast in attendance and some appearing virtually. Similar events, each with some subset of the cast and crew, were held in major cities around the world.

Another interview with Shortland had her talking about the multiple times she declined taking on the project, only to eventually be worn down/won over by the persistence of her agent and Marvel.

Regal Cinemas shared an exclusive video interview with the cast.

More background on Taskmaster was shared by Marvel in a featurette released just a week or so ago. There was also a recap of Widow’s character journey through the 10+ years since her introduction to the MCU.

The last wave of commercials like this explicitly called out this being Marvel’s return to theater screens after a two year absence.

Natasha and Yelena are breaking Alexei out of prison in the last official clip released before the movie was made available.

One last featurette had the cast talking about the makeshift family the characters have formed.

Additional interviews with Shortland like this had her talking about the opportunity that exists for more female directors to be brought into the MCU. Meanwhile Feige talked about how this story takes place during the third phase of the MCU arc but sets the stage for things that will happen moving forward.

Disney+ released a movie-themed episode of the “Legends” series, offering more background on the character and her history.

Promotional partners for the movie included:

  • Geico, which has the company’s spokesgecko imagining what it would be like to ride along with Natasha and Yelena.
  • BMW, which released exclusive interviews with the cast in support of a campaign that shows the company’s cars executing some of the movie’s big driving stunts.
  • Synchrony Bank, which launched a campaign encouraging people to learn about its savings tools.

Overall

This is probably the biggest campaign in terms of sheer volume of elements in quite a while, even bigger than F9 and other recent releases. As such it’s hard to judge on an objective level. But what’s impressive is how Marvel Studios has maintained a sense of brand consistency despite the unexpectedly long period of time the marketing has been forced to stretch over. Add to that a very professionally enthusiastic push from Johansson and a focus on Pugh that sets her up as the future of this part of the franchise’s future and you have a solid campaign that hopes audiences are ready for more of the series after a prolonged break.

Now we just see if it can stick the landing.

Scarlett Johansson GIF by Marvel Studios - Find & Share on GIPHY