As Speculative Chic’s Marvel Cinematic Universe fangirl-in-chic, I saw Avengers: Infinity War on Thursday evening, the day of the film’s debut to general audiences in the United States. This post does not include even a bland description of my reaction, because even that much verges on spoiler territory for such a film.
Instead, as Speculative Chic’s film editor, I have made the decision to delay the Sound Off reaction post for this film for another week. I was partially inspired by Marvel Studios’ own hashtag, #ThanosDemandsYourSilence, as they encourage fans to allow their friends and family to view the movie with no preconceptions. After all, this isn’t just another superhero team-up movie. This film is 10 years in the making by a studio that started with a dream and became a worldwide sensation.
Not only would I like to give my fellow Speculative Chic authors more time to see the film, but I also wanted to give our readers the chance as well. That way, none of you would see a post today and feel the need to skip it, because even a “spoiler-free” review can reveal too much when the life/romance/character arc of your favorite Marvel character is at stake.
Join us next Tuesday afternoon, May 8, for Speculative Chic’s Sound Off for Avengers: Infinity War!
For now, let’s go back to the beginning. Share with me what got you started on this journey — your own Marvel Cinematic Universe “origin story.” Were you a long-time comic book fan who was curious to see your favorite heroes brought to life on the big screen? Did you intend to hate-watch a movie starring a talking raccoon and fall in love with a ragtag group of space pirates? Were you just there to admire Benedict Cumberbatch’s facial structure? Let us know in the comments!
I started watching from the beginning, back when Iron Man came out. I skipped Hulk for a few years but went back to watch that one too when the Avengers was coming out. I never read the comics, but comic book movies have always been intriguing. I was getting super tired of DC movies, please no more Batmans or Supermans or whaaaatever (except more Wonder Woman, always more Wonder Woman). But yeah, Iron Man looked interesting and action-y fun. And as they kept coming out I kept watching them. And it didn’t hurt that I already liked a lot of the people they kept casting from other stuff.
I also started watching at the beginning. I read comics at the time, but I wasn’t as heavily invested in the superhero titles as I am now. Still, I had enjoyed plenty of the previously released superhero flicks like the X-men movies, Sam Raimi’s Spiderman films, and Batman Begins. I remember going on opening weekend with my then-fiance/now-husband and being completely sucked in. I’ve seen every single Marvel movie in theaters since then (all on opening weekend, if I’m not mistaken) and have really turned into a mega fan over the years.
Out of the nineteen (!!!) Marvel movies that have been released, only one has genuinely disappointed me (Iron Man 3), and I am so impressed that the general level of quality has remained so consistent over the years. And to think, when Iron Man first came out, so many people doubted that the MCU could make it, due to Marvel not having access to the licenses for their most popular characters. Sure, it’s exciting that they’re finally getting access to them with their deals with Sony and upcoming Fox acquisition, but what the last ten years have shown us is that they didn’t necessarily need those characters to be successful. If you invest in good stories and good talent (both in front and behind the camera) then you’ll get good movies.
If we’re talking what got us started on Marvel in the first place, then it’s going to be X-Men: The Animated Series that came out in 1992. An animated Spiderman came out around that time too. I knew of the DC world (or at the very least, Batman, having seen that when I was 6), but never really made any kind of DC/Marvel associations. I was still young (and a girl – and girls at that time didn’t exactly dive in to comics because stereotypes told me so).
Frankly, I think the first Spiderman movie that came out was really what helped kick superhero movies into overdrive. Sure, there’s a 6 year gap between that movie and Iron Man, but it had been so long since anyone tried for a superhero movie with newer, more awesome effects that they’d sort of become a forgotten thing. Then Spidey came on the scene and it was AWESOME. I saw that movie 3 times. It seemed to remind everyone that comic book heroes were cool and now, yes, they could be on the big screen and be a success. I don’t include Blade because I’m not sure truly how many people even knew he was a Marvel character – I didn’t until decades later – or the first X-Men movie because while it was good, it’s plot was weak (and it’s music was a huge disappointment). Spiderman was just good (people can rag on it now all the want, but let’s be honest, anyone that saw that in the theaters had a damn good time). Hell, it beat out Harry Potter in terms of money on it’s opening weekend! From then on you can look at the list of superhero movies and realize that studios saw a good thing, tried (often failed), and kept trying until the whole Marvel Universe somehow coalesced together into what we have now. Iron Man was excellent and from there I think once we all realized what was happening and what was going to happen in the future, we were all pretty much on board.