Nostalgic Generations and Media by Lizardi Ryan;

Author:Lizardi, Ryan;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic
Published: 2012-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Same Story, Every Summer

Considering the paucity of diversity, and the sacrificing of originality for origin-ality, the superhero film’s reduction in meaning and new experiences for multiple generations becomes even more problematic when you consider how far in advance the planning of these franchises and universes stretches. For Marvel, and their parent company Disney, upcoming films include roughly fifteen entries through 2020, which ensures that their perennial multiplex dominance will continue for some time. DC Entertainment, in conjunction with Warner Bros. Pictures, has at least ten films planned in between the release of Suicide Squad and 2020. A little more ambiguous and amorphous is the upcoming release plan for Twentieth Century Fox’s aforementioned sunset clause-based licensed Marvel properties, which include all of the members of the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and Deadpool. Twentieth Century Fox may be the smallest in terms of comic book film output of the three studios, but their plans to dominate the annual summer schedule for years to come is no less ambitious with five release dates reserved for a smattering of “Untitled Fox/Marvel Film” designations, Logan (2017), Deadpool 2 (2018), and Gambit (2018). Examining this upcoming schedule in detail will help demonstrate how the encouraged and available theatrical experience for moviegoers, young and old alike, is consistently repetitive to the point that memories and identities would be in danger of blurring across the years because of a lack of Draaisma’s “clear and intense differences” (2004, 206).

Marvel Studios did not start the perennial superhero summer saturation, but they certainly perfected it and plan to continue to do so for some time. So much so, that the bounds of May through August can no longer contain their sprawling cinematic universe, though summer is reserved for the biggest of their properties like The Avengers (2012). Marvel segments their films into “phases,” or groupings of standalone character films that culminate in an Avengers film. This rhythmic approach to cross-property storytelling further contributes to Douwe Draaisma’s concept that re-experiences eventually turn “into automatic routine” and recollections “smooth themselves out” into “contentless units” (as qtd. in Draaisma 2004, 203). Within a given film or television show, such as the newspaper in the background of an episode of Marvel’s Netflix series Daredevil (2015–present) that references the events of The Avengers, there are connected “signposts for rapid recognition” everywhere (Gitlin 1979, 77). Additionally, Marvel’s long-term cinematic plans present viewers with macro-signposts that remind them to expect an Avengers film after a certain amount of standalone films, which turns the years into smoothed out repetitious experiences. The plan itself has set up solid and predictable cinematic expectations. Adjustments are of course made as certain films perform well or poorly at the box office, which influences plans for future films that include the same characters. For Marvel, recent changes include the removing from the slate and the rumored “de-prioritizing” of its previously announced Inhumans film due to concerns over director and vision (Johnston 2016). The other reason for such a move may very well have to

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