After 11 years and 22 films of Marvel, which is now officially dubbed as ‘The Infinity Saga’. Starting with the release of Iron man (2008) and finishing with the record-breaking finale, Avengers: Endgame (2019). Marvel has been my number 1 since the beginning, no other franchise can stand up to it in my opinion, others may argue like the massive DC fan or Harry Potter fans we have in the office. However, to me and many others alike, Marvel is family. But how have they managed to entice a huge amount of the world’s population, and kept our attention for 11 years straight?
Well, Marvel already had a devoted following from its comics and previous movies. It was founded on 19th February 1961, this is when Stan Lee released the comic ‘Fantastic Four no.1’ (November 1961) Jack Kirkby was the artist that brought Stan Lee’s vision to life. They gave their characters something new which was more realistic interaction, something for the reader to invest in. Arguments and fighting with each other, making them feel more familiar to the readers. When the comics were transformed into movies, this engaging familiarisation with the characters was translated on screen offering a good connection with viewers from the outset.
So, the love for the characters was already there, but to keep that going for so many years would seem impossible right? Marvel did it spot-on, they kept adding plot twists and surprises into the films to keep their audience engaged. Also keeping up with the times, keeping it relative to current and growing audiences. It just sparks a fire inside you which you can’t put out, not that you would ever want to. People start to feel an emotional connection, as I mentioned, family. With this, you just want to see story after story, what happens next!
This huge love for Marvel and knowing that Avengers: Endgame is the end of this Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as we know it, brought on a tonne of sadness, excitement, anticipation and everything in between. Which brings no surprise when you learn that the film broke many records, not just in the box office but Twitter too! Twitter revealed that Avengers: Endgame is the most tweeted about film of all time! (May 2nd 2019) … OF ALL TIME! Just let that sink in for a moment. Mind blowing, I know. So, what other records were blown?
- Trailer views: 289 million in first 24 hours
- Presale tickets: in amount and costs ($120 million)
- MCU run-time: 3 hours and 58 seconds, approximately 21 mins longer than Infinity War (previous record holder)
- Highest grossing worldwide opening weekend: $1.209 billion!!!
- Marvel studios’ promotional campaign: $200 million, $50 million more than Infinity War
- And many more!
Going back to the promotional campaign record: $200 million, many Marvel fanatics believe that the film didn’t need any promoting what so ever just because of the hype around it and what this film meant, the end of an era. The reason why Marvel invested so much into marketing this film is because it was the last in a saga, they wanted to reach more than their devoted fans and appeal to a new demographic. It’s also caused a surge in people re-watching previous films. By hyping this film up so much, more and more people have become interested and some may even watch the film just to see what all the fuss is about. Of course, for those who went to see Endgame without watching any of the others would have loved the film, but maybe missed out on understanding it entirely, and this is the element that would capture them and spin them out to watch all the previous films. Therefore, birthing a new realm of Marvel fans, an ever-growing community.
The story-telling that Marvel has throughout its film franchise is Marvellous (pun intended). I believe it is because of their way of story-telling that we (the fans) get so emotionally attached. From the comics to the movies and the TV-series. It’s an engaging story. If the movies aren’t being released, there’s a TV-series filling in the blank space until the next movie is out. You are constantly being kept in the loop, made to feel like part of the family, being taken on a Marvel journey.
They even tell stories through their movie posters, to support their promotional campaign. They had quite the variety for Endgame.
These posters added to the hype of the release, people were trying to scrape out theories from the posters, none of which I will say, the fun remains in the mystery of not knowing. Along with posters, there were figures and mugs and all sorts of merchandise set to be released after the film’s premier. The reason for this is because of spoilers, having seen them they don’t make much sense unless you have seen Endgame. Haven’t seen it yet? Stay clear of them just to be safe! Funko Pop also released some Endgame themed Avenger Pops (which are bad-ass btw) but again they are Endgame themed, so the same spoiler related theme applies to these. They’ve mustered up all this anticipation and excitement which has created such a buzz in the marketing of the film.
I mentioned earlier that Endgame was the most tweeted about film EVER! Twitter has helped enormously with the marketing of this particular film too. A hashtag started trending: #DontSpoilTheEndgame this came about via the directors of the films, The Russo Brothers. They released this letter on Twitter addressed to ‘the greatest fans in the world’, (which is the truth by the way). Asking everyone to keep the spoilers to themselves so everyone can enjoy this spectacular finale the way that Marvel intends them to.
The fact that so many people followed the rule of this hashtag just goes to show how powerful the Marvel Universe is as well as social media. There were those few mean people out there letting the spoilers out, I unfortunately fell victim to these crimes. Many celebrities jumped on this hashtag bandwagon and made Instagram stories/videos, tweets and all sorts telling the worldwide nation “Don’t spoil the Endgame!” Probably even became unpaid influencers to help support this motion. A school teacher even gave a student 3 days detention for shouting out spoilers in front of the whole class, and rightly so I say!
The Russo Brothers made something incredible and timeless and we will cherish these movies forever. To truly appreciate the story and workmanship of the Infinity saga watching all 22 films is something you have to do. Just like you would watch all 8 of the Harry Potter films and maybe even throw in the Fantastic Beasts films as they are from the same universe. The Infinity Saga is the biggest back to back film set you will watch in your lifetime for now until someone beats the 22 mark.
After many debates with Marvel fans I have created 2 infographics which mark up the perfect viewing order of the Infinity Saga. One follows the order that they were released by Marvel and the other is the order in which the Brothers recommended in the lead up to the premiere of Endgame.
If you’re already a Marvel fan and have seen all the films, you’re probably best going with the MCU chronological viewing order, and if you’re new to the scene go for the release date viewing order (the post credit scenes will make a lot more sense).
There we have it, all 11 years and 22 films, the end of an era. Am I emotional? Very, and I know I’ll be watching all of these over and over again for all my years to come. Thank you Marvel, thank you Stan Lee, thank you to all of those who helped make this franchise Marvellous. Excelsior!
I wonder what the next movie craze will be. We’ve had Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and The Infinity Saga, which have all come to an end, even Game of Thrones the biggest TV series ever ends! It’s a sad time, but it makes room for new and exciting things. Marvel has told us that they will release another 8 movies by the year 2022 which will make up Phase 4 of this MCU. So, their reign will carry on for sure, the question is will it be the biggest or will something else take over?
Written by Sadz (aka Iron Man)
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