Board 8 > Should there be a Nintendo Cinematic Universe

(+) Yeah! (+)

MacArrowny posted...

GotG would've been just as successful if all of the other MCU movies didn't exist.

This, honestly

What % of viewers truly care about the MCU? Is it significantly bigger than the % who care about the comics? I don't think so. It's the regular person susceptible to Disney advertising (me included) looking for a fun movie that makes these $1 bil movies. That's why Black Panther was so successful, it had strong word of mouth with the normies. No one cares that it's the origin story of an Avenger that will eventually be part of the big crossover movie 9 months later.

foolm0r0n posted...

What % of viewers truly care about the MCU? Is it significantly bigger than the % who care about the comics?

Considering comics rarely sell more than 100,000 copies, absolutely 100% yes. It's a much larger margin. The MCU's connective tissue certainly accounts for tens of millions of dollars, and actual comics fans account for, what? Two million dollars?

To put comics in perspective, actual comics fans are a very small (and all too vocal) minority, whereas the MCU has not seen a marked increase in sales for comics. In fact, comic sales generally trend a decline in the six months after a related franchise releases a film. Honestly, it's not been since 1989 that comics have seen a boost from a comic-related movie coming out.

What MCU fans cared about was the overarching narrative. Disney and Marvel Studios capitalized on that by demanding relatively little - less time than a TV series would on any network at least - and the serialized nature was compelling. It would be foolish to not suggest that the build of Thanos didn't at least guarantee 100-200 million dollars in ticket sales for each of those films globally. This is especially true for the Infinity War-Endgame period.

Still, that's NOT a majority. Just a plurality.

Guardians, however, falls outside of the Infinity War era. The interconnectedness likely guaranteed the strong opening to the film, but not the legs that would follow.

Yeah, it's not everybody, but a significant percentage does care about the overarching narrative of the MCU. Infinity War and Endgame aren't as wildly successful as they are if people aren't invested in what they'd been building up to for 10 years, even if they didn't watch every movie.

scarletspeed7 posted...

The MCU's connective tissue certainly accounts for tens of millions of dollars

Leonhart4 posted...

Infinity War and Endgame aren't as wildly successful as they are if people aren't invested in what they'd been building up to for 10 years, even if they didn't watch every movie.

What's the evidence though?

Infinity War was absolutely the most hyped up movie of the year. Not superhero movie, not action movie, but movie in general. That's why I watched it. The only MCU movie I watched in between that and Avengers 1 was Dr Strange cuz I like the character.

I had to google who Vision was and why Magneto's daughter was trying to bang a robot. And why she's is in the movie when no other X-men were.

Then obviously Endgame because it was the end of the movie (was seriously pissed about them making it a surprise 2 parter btw).

It was hyped up as the movie of the year because it was the conclusion of a ten year arc so yeah even watching it for that reason is because of the connective tissue

Only if Nintendo gets other movie studios to do other franchises. Just because illumination did well for themselves with the Mario movie doesn't mean Nintendo should be having them touch Nintendo's whole catalog.

MacArrowny posted...

GotG would've been just as successful if all of the other MCU movies didn't exist.

What? No. I honestly can't believe someone would think this. Even as someone who had followed comics earlier in his life, I had never heard of the Guardians.

Sure, GotG was legitimately great so it would have had strong word of mouth, and that would have helped it make some extra money... but it opened to $94 million domestically, in 2014 dollars. Remove the MCU connection, factor in that the comics weren't well known- what do you think the interest level is for "wacky space adventures, kind of like Star Wars, but funny"? Because realistically, it's microscopic.

2017 Valerian and the City of 1000 Planets - $17 million
2015 Fantastic Four - $26 million
2015 Jupiter Ascending - $18 million
1999 Galaxy Quest - $7 million
1997 The Fifth Element - $17 million
1997 Starship Troopers - $22 million
1987 Spaceballs - $7 million
1984 The Last Starfighter - $6 million

Black Panther also got hyped for no MCU reason

TIL it made more money domestically than Infinity War

Ngamer posted...

2017 Valerian and the City of 1000 Planets - $17 million
2015 Fantastic Four - $26 million
2015 Jupiter Ascending - $18 million
1999 Galaxy Quest - $7 million
1997 The Fifth Element - $17 million
1997 Starship Troopers - $22 million
1987 Spaceballs - $7 million
1984 The Last Starfighter - $6 million

Now do movies marketed by Disney in that timeframe. You can stick to new IPs to make it more fair.

Absolutely no way Guardians does as well without being attached to the MCU. During that era (and still, to an extent) being an MCU movie was a status symbol thing even for people who didn't really care about the overarching narrative. It still would have done okay with Disney marketing, but it probably doesn't go above $450 mil.

foolm0r0n posted...

Black Panther also got hyped for no MCU reason

TIL it made more money domestically than Infinity War

Black Panther became a cultural event because it was an MCU movie. Specifically, the first MCU movie with a black lead. That representation in mainstream popular culture mattered to a lot of people. They wouldn't have given nearly as much of a shit if it was a random standalone superhero movie.

You have to look at MCU as a brand, not a narrative.

Star Wars did $3B, adjusted for inflation, if you want a sci-fi movie.

As far as opening weekends go, Suicide Squad (the first one) did $133M in its opening weekend, and you're not gonna tell me that was a hit because of the DCEU connection.

Or the original Iron Man, if you want an MCU movie that didn't benefit from being part of the MCU, where mass audiences didn't care about the comic version. It's box office was dead even with Guardians.

Suicide Squad was imo a much easier sell to audiences than Guardian of the Galaxy. Suicide Squad had the trailers, Will Smith, Harley Quinn. Guardians is way more overtly silly, and that kind of movie is harder to sell to audiences than you would think. There was a LOT of skepticism towards Guardians when it was first announced, and being part of the MCU helped smooth that over and give it a chance to shine.

The original Iron Man isn't a fair comparison either because that was the progenitor. No one expected it to do as well as it did, and its success paved the way for comic book movies besides Batman to do well in the future. If you're saying that Guardians of the Galaxy would do $770 mil worldwide pre-Iron Man and pre-Avengers than I simply do not agree with that.

Excuse you Tobey Maguire would like a word

Oh yeah, Spidey popped off too. It was really just the big supeheroes that did extremely well before though. Batman, Spiderman, Superman. A team of D-listers storming the box office wasn't a thing before the MCU.

KamikazePotato posted...

It was really just the big supeheroes that did extremely well before though. Batman, Spiderman, Superman.

No X-Men? They're probably also in that top tier, but with that many examples it's hard to argue successful superhero movies were unheard of.

X-Men did pretty good but not nearly on the same level. Like, box office grosses can be hard to compare due to inflation, but:

Spider-Man 1 (2002) - $825 million
Guardians 1 (2014) - $773.3 million
Batman 1 (1989) - $411.6 million
Superman 1 (1978) - $300.5 million
X-Men 1 (2000) - $296.3 million

Jesus I forgot how popular Spider-Man was.

Spidey is Mario

Just imagine an NCU where there's no Mario for 8 years

Leonhart4 posted...

Spidey is Mario

Just imagine an NCU where there's no Mario for 8 years

No X-Men for 20 years is just as crazy :p.

KamikazePotato posted...

The original Iron Man isn't a fair comparison either because that was the progenitor. No one expected it to do as well as it did, and its success paved the way for comic book movies besides Batman to do well in the future.

That makes it the fairest comparison, really :p.

Also, people loved the Guardians trailers, with the 80s music and making fun of Star-Lord and everything. GotG had some huge stars too - Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel. Not saying it would've done as well without the MCU, but it would've been a big hit for sure imo.

That's like no Pokemon for 20 years, which would be pretty crazy

Also Guardians has the best ride at Disney. I think that will legit make it more popular. I kinda want to watch them now