Captain Marvel (2019) (1 Viewer)

[Keith Cobby]

I also finally watched it last night but only as it was my wife's turn to host her book club. Took my son and some of his friends and they enjoyed it. I didn't like it as a film but there were some bright spots, Nick Fury and the cat were great but the rest was too formulaic for me (there are simply too many films like this being released). Brie Larson was ok but the storyline was by the numbers. It came across more like an episode of a long running television series rather than a big budget cinema film, which I suppose is what it is really.

 

[dpippel]

Captain Marvel worldwide box office has officially topped $1 billion:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottm...o-top-1-billion-worldwide-today/#2f35a24670cd

 

[Carlo_M]

Why make a billion when you can make...a million?

 

[Jake Lipson]

This is especially impressive because it's the first time Marvel has made a billion dollars with a character who was completely unknown to cinema audiences.

The Avengers and its sequels made a billion dollars after introducing the major characters in solo films. Iron Man 3 made a billion after he had already appeared in two solo films plus The Avengers. Captain America: Civil War made a billion in Cap's fifth appearance, and with a whole lot of other superheroes in tow, in what was effectively an Avengers movie without the name. And Black Panther made a billion on his own after appearing in Civil War, so audiences already knew who he was.

Captain Marvel had never appeared on film before, or even been mentioned, aside from 3 seconds of her logo on the pager in Infinity War. She is a brand-new character. Of course, the asterisk is that Nick Fury is in there, and so are some other characters that we've seen before, but she is the central character who was the focus of the marketing campaign, and audiences still turned out to see her in huge numbers even though she is new.

It's not as hard to make a billion dollars as it used to be, but this still feels like an accomplishment because it demonstrates, again, that audiences are wiling to turn out in massive numbers for a Marvel property they don't know simply because Marvel has built up enough goodwill toward the brand that audiences expect they will like it. That has to be gratifying to Marvel and probably emboldening to them as they enter the next phase with some of the original cast likely departing.

 

[JimmyO]

Captain Marvel being a known stepping stone to Endgame sure didn't hurt it.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Captain Marvel being a known stepping stone to Endgame sure didn't hurt it.

Right. But that's the thing -- people were willing to go see Captain Marvel even though they didn't know who she was because they knew she was going to be in Endgame. They want to be able to understand the whole puzzle, so they'll see this piece to lead into that piece.

So that suggests that in the future, Marvel can sell something previously unknown like, say, The Eternals, because people are invested in the brand of Marvel. They'll know that The Eternals will show up down the line in something else and they'll go to it. That's got to be a good feeling for Marvel to have developed that kind of trust and brand loyalty in the audience, which is something that you have to earn.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Marvel’s been great at this all along. Iron Man, Thor and Captain America were not A-list top tier heroes in modern culture before those movies came out. The Guardians were obscure. Ant-Man wasn’t widely known. It’s been that way pretty much since the beginning.

They’ve done a fantastic job of attracting large audiences by making these movies well and putting likeable talent front and center. The success of Captain Marvel doesn’t surprise me, but I’m still heartened by it.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Marvel’s been great at this all along. Iron Man, Thor and Captain America were not A-list top tier heroes in modern culture before those movies came out. The Guardians were obscure. Ant-Man wasn’t widely known. It’s been that way pretty much since the beginning.

They’ve done a fantastic job of attracting large audiences by making these movies well and putting likeable talent front and center. The success of Captain Marvel doesn’t surprise me, but I’m still heartened by it.

I always thought Captain America was A-List top tier in comics when I was growing up in the 1960s. He's not Superman, but who is? I never heard of Iron Man growing up or more likely I don't remember him. I do remember Thor.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I always thought Captain America was A-List top tier in comics when I was growing up in the 1960s. He's not Superman, but who is?

Totally. I was just talking about the state of pop culture in the mid-2000s prior to the start of the MCU. If someone told you in 2006 that soon there were going to be Captain America movies that would make a billion dollars, you’d probably think that person was crazy.

 

[Sam Favate]

It's also impressive that this movie crossed the billion mark with an aggressive troll campaign against it, at least in the beginning. It actually warms my heart to know that that kind of negativity toward a film can be completely disregarded by the movie-going public.

Growing up, Captain America was just shy of being one of Marvel's top-tier characters, which were pretty much limited to Spider-Man and the Hulk (both of which had their own TV shows in the 70s). But when Marvel started their films 10-12 years ago, Captain America was easily the best known character, next to the Hulk.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Growing up, Captain America was just shy of being one of Marvel's top-tier characters, which were pretty much limited to Spider-Man and the Hulk (both of which had their own TV shows in the 70s). But when Marvel started their films 10-12 years ago, Captain America was easily the best known character, next to the Hulk.

I'm not sure I'd agree that Captain America was better known than Spider-Man in 2008. The first Captain America film didn't come out until 2011. Granted, Captain America's popularity skyrocketed after that movie, but I don't think he was in the same league as Spider-Man prior to that.

 

[Greg.K]

I'd have put the most well known Marvel property tier as X-Men, Spider-Man, Hulk, & Fantastic Four - which got made into movies & TV series before the MCU started & the rights were tied up with their respective studios.

Avengers was pretty much what Marvel Studios had left to work with, so it's pretty amazing what they've been able to accomplish with it.

 

[Malcolm R]

I always thought Captain America was A-List top tier in comics when I was growing up in the 1960s. He's not Superman, but who is?

Apparently Cap is bigger than Superman, since the highest grossing film including Superman peaked at a worldwide total of $873m (Batman vs. Superman).

 

[Robert Crawford]

Apparently Cap is bigger than Superman, since the highest grossing film including Superman peaked at a worldwide total of $873m (Batman vs. Superman).

I don't care what the box office shows, Superman is by far the most well known super hero in yesteryear's and today's culture.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I'm not sure I'd agree that Captain America was better known than Spider-Man in 2008. The first Captain America film didn't come out until 2011. Granted, Captain America's popularity skyrocketed after that movie, but I don't think he was in the same league as Spider-Man prior to that.

I don't want to speak for him, but the way I read it, I think that @Sam Favate was counting only Marvel's self-produced films. Here is his quote (emphasis added by me.)

But when Marvel started their films 10-12 years ago, Captain America was easily the best known character, next to the Hulk.

Out of the characters that Marvel started with in Phase One -- the ones they had available to them to start with because they hadn't sold them off to other studios yet -- this is absolutely correct. Spider-Man, of course, was an outside production by Sony until Homecoming, so those earlier ones didn't count as their films.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

I don't want to speak for him, but the way I read it, I think that @Sam Favate was counting only Marvel's self-produced films. Here is his quote (emphasis added by me.)



Out of the characters that Marvel started with in Phase One -- the ones they had available to them to start with because they hadn't sold them off to other studios yet -- this is absolutely correct. Spider-Man, of course, was an outside production by Sony until Homecoming, so those earlier ones didn't count as their films.

Agreed on all counts. I would've assumed that's what what he was talking about, except that he mentioned Spider-Man as well. Perhaps he will clarify.

 

[Sam Favate]

I'm not sure I'd agree that Captain America was better known than Spider-Man in 2008. The first Captain America film didn't come out until 2011. Granted, Captain America's popularity skyrocketed after that movie, but I don't think he was in the same league as Spider-Man prior to that.

Yup, Jake's right. I meant that Cap and the Hulk were the best known characters of the ones Marvel Studios had to play with. Obviously, Spider-Man is ubiquitous, and the X-Men had just had three popular movies in the 8 years before Iron Man.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Yup, Jake's right. I meant that Cap and the Hulk were the best known characters of the ones Marvel Studios had to play with. Obviously, Spider-Man is ubiquitous, and the X-Men had just had three popular movies in the 8 years before Iron Man.

Gotcha. Then we are in total agreement.

 

[Chip_HT]

Right. But that's the thing -- people were willing to go see Captain Marvel even though they didn't know who she was because they knew she was going to be in Endgame. They want to be able to understand the whole puzzle, so they'll see this piece to lead into that piece.

Timing is also a significant factor. Endgame opens less than two months after Captain Marvel. There's no time to wait for it to come out on home media before going to see Endgame.

By comparison, Thor Ragnarok had some key pieces bridging Avengers 2 and 3, but because it was released in November prior to Infinity War's April release, I could safely wait for the blu-ray (and did). If Captain Marvel followed a similar release pattern, I would have waited for the blu-ray.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Right. But that's the thing -- people were willing to go see Captain Marvel even though they didn't know who she was because they knew she was going to be in Endgame. They want to be able to understand the whole puzzle, so they'll see this piece to lead into that piece.

So that suggests that in the future, Marvel can sell something previously unknown like, say, The Eternals, because people are invested in the brand of Marvel. They'll know that The Eternals will show up down the line in something else and they'll go to it. That's got to be a good feeling for Marvel to have developed that kind of trust and brand loyalty in the audience, which is something that you have to earn.

I do think the Marvel brand itself will put some asses in seats, but I don't know know that Marvel will be able to replicate Captain Marvel's success launching unknown characters to quite this level of success.

Avengers: Endgame is a unique cinematic event, the culmination of an unprecedented 22-film cinematic endeavor. It has been very effectively promoted as a line of demarcation for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, concluding the story than began with Iron Man and then laying the groundwork for whatever comes afterward. The promise that Captain Marvel would factor into that in an important way is more of an enticement than just the prospect of appearing in future Marvel movies.

Captain Marvel is also the first Marvel movie with a solo female lead. Disney's marketing did a great job using that to boost female turnout without significantly sacrificing male turnout. You can only be the first once.

I always thought Captain America was A-List top tier in comics when I was growing up in the 1960s. He's not Superman, but who is? I never heard of Iron Man growing up or more likely I don't remember him. I do remember Thor.

I agree with with you completely about Captain America. Iron Man was familiar to myself (and most Millennials) from the mid-nineties "Iron Man" animated series that also featured War Machine, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and the Julia Carpenter Spider-Woman.

I'm not sure I'd agree that Captain America was better known than Spider-Man in 2008. The first Captain America film didn't come out until 2011. Granted, Captain America's popularity skyrocketed after that movie, but I don't think he was in the same league as Spider-Man prior to that.

The fixed top-tier for me is Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, and Wonder Woman. But Captain America has always been near the top of that second tier for me.

I don't care what the box office shows, Superman is by far the most well known super hero in yesteryear's and today's culture.

Absolutely.

Part of why his recent movies haven't drawn as well is because of the filmmaking choices. There's also the fact that we're up to eight Superman movies.

But he will always be the first superhero to achieve widespread mainstream success, and will always be the greatest costumed superhero in my book.

Doesn't take anything away from Marvel's incredible achievement when I say that.