Marvel has officially entered the horror genre in the MCU. Sure, the company had done this once before with New Mutants, but nobody watched that and it was part of a now-deceased FOX Universe. But Marvel proper’s latest drop on Disney+, Werewolf by Night, is a tremendous proof of concept that the studio can take some of their lesser known characters and do something special and noteworthy with them, but it also presents them with a different issue to tackle if they’re going to continue to do this going forward.
Our Rob Littal reviewed the film for BSO ahead of its release and rather enjoyed it. Check out his review if you’ve yet to see the film and you’re looking for a little information on what the special is about. It’s a good breakdown of all the working parts as well as the feel you get watching the Special Presentation. Rob hit it on the head when he compared it to Thriller, but that’s not what I want to focus on from his review. Rob mentioned something that I’ve seen a lot and also happen to agree with about these shows and characters.
“It was a very enjoyable special and something I think the MCU should do more of,” Littal said. “Everyone doesn’t need a 6-part Disney Plus show. Drop an hour-long TV special and move on to the next. Hopefully, we will get more characters like this in the future.”
Exactly. Maybe instead of creating a show for every new character, they could find a way to do stuff with the characters they have. People are liking these characters and some of them are having to wait a year or more for a TV show they’re not even sure they want to watch because Marvel is intent on everything being an event. But look at this Special Presentation, it was an event and it did well. There are so many different and unique characters that they could tap for a special. Think I’m full of it?
They could do a musical film about the Avengers the Musical and have the in-world musical feature the character of Dazzler. Not only could they promote various songs from the show in the film, but they could introduce a new character based on something that happened because of the shows. Later on in this piece, I’ll give you another idea that they could do as a special. These ideas would serve so many purposes but it would also help kickstart this idea for a connected universe that Marvel has to deliver in a major way.
The problem with the way Marvel’s shows have operated is that nothing has mattered. Not a single thing. Sure, we’ve seen things from the movies affecting the shows, but where’s the huge moment like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s episode “Turn, Turn, Turn,” where Ward reveals he’s Hydra at the exact same time we found out Hydra was back in Captain America: The Winter Soldier? Even with the upcoming release of Wakanda Forever, it once again is introducing a character from a movie and giving them a show and instead of taking character’s created for the show and putting them in films. I’m talking about Riri Williams, who will be the star of the upcoming Ironheart show.
I hear you screaming about Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, but you’d be forgetting that Wanda was created in a film first and the film really dealt more with the post-credit scene of WandaVision than anything that actually happened in the show. Had they brought Agatha Harkness into the film and made her a main character, the second Strange film might have an actual claim to this title. I’m just sayin’, we’re about technicalities here. Plus you can’t tell me you weren’t a little disappointed that more from the show had shown back up in the film.
The best argument for the shows having a lasting impact doesn’t even feature a character from the movies, but from another failed universe or attempt at a universe. That’s right, I’m talking about the Man with No Fear, Daredevil. The debut of Daredevil in She-Hulk would still come up short in this argument because he debuted in a film first, but I’d allow it more than the Scarlet Witch argument. At least his appearance there is laying a foundation for what will eventually be his reboot, but even his lawyer persona debuted first in a film. Just sayin’, we’re about technicalities here.
None of the villains or the secondary characters have had a key moment in a Marvel film. They’ve all been held to the periphery or been given a project that somehow manages to be a film on the periphery. You know, like the newly announced Thunderbolts film or the upgrade of Armor Wars to a film solely because Harrison Ford was now attached to the MCU in a long-term role. It’s cool that Julia Louis-Dreyfuss has joined the MCU, but do they really have to relegate her to the background until that film drops?
The reason we’ve likely yet to see a major influx of talent from the shows into the films is because Phase Four was a weird one for Marvel. It marked the first time they not only had to close out a previous saga while setting up a new one centered around new characters. They also had the untimely death of Chadwick Boseman that changed everything in terms of who would be the focal point of the MCU going forward. Those things have to occur in order for these new stories to make sense.
But Marvel has the ability to accelerate this and with Blade sitting in production hell, maybe they should. Perhaps that’s why we’re hearing that Armor Wars is moving to a film, partially to satisfy that hole and partially because of Ford’s drawing power. Maybe they should scrap the idea of a Blade film and instead come up with a Midnight Suns Special Presentation or film. Bring back Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle, gather Kit Harrington, recall Gael Garcia Bernal and Lauren Donnelly, and do a proper horror event that fans want to see, has star power and perhaps most importantly, it actually means the Disney+ shows will have a bigger impact on events sooner.
The problem with the way they’ve done it is that there’s just too much time to sit on the performances of some of these characters. Marvel has yet to master striking while the iron is hot with some of their characters. They’ve announced stuff, but they should be finding ways to include more villains and more characters from their shows going forward. Marvel’s been selling us on a universe for over 14 years, it’s time to deliver on that promise. That’s all. We’re about technicalities here, remember?
