In 2008, superhero fans saw two very different and successful approaches to the comic book adaptation, with the firstIron Manthat kicked off theMarvel Cinematic Universeand the mega-blockbusterThe Dark Knight, which broke box office records later that summer. WhileThe Dark Knighttrilogy concluded a few years later withThe Dark Knight Rises,Iron Mankicked off the highly-successful MCU, which has embraced a much more light-hearted yet action-packed approach, as opposed to the much darker tendencies of Warner Bros.‘The Dark Knightand 2013’sMan of Steel. Since Warner Bros and DC are preparing their massive slate, some fans are still wondering whether or not Marvel will ever go dark, but studio presidentKevin Feigerecently revealed that they have no plans to go down that path. Here’s an excerpt from a recentRedditpost.
“There is no dark turn in the MCU. He says every year fans come up to him and ask him if this movie is when the MCU goes “dark” or takes a “dark” turn. He said while the trailers may seem ominous or have a sense of impending doom, the movies do not have that feel, and will not. He said he ‘Hoped people would catch on by now; - there will be no giant dark turns in the MCU where it then continues to head in that direction. The humor is in the DNA of the movies, there are no plans to change that.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean Marvel movies still won’t have massive, life-altering stakes at play, as fans saw inAvengers: Age of Ultron, which managed to blend in plenty of humor with enormous action set pieces. As Marvel heads intoPhase ThreewithCaptain America: Civil War, the first of nine movies, the MCU will surely be altered plenty, leading up to the two-part adventureAvengers: Infinity War Part 1andAvengers: Infinity War Part 2in 2018 and 2019. The Civil War comics are quite dark and violent, so it will be interesting to see how Marvel will tweak the comics to fit their tried-and-true blueprint for a successful comic book adaptation.
Warner Bros.’ DC movies are known for their “no-joke” approach, so perhaps it’s fitting that Marvel doesn’t plan to go dark, just as DC doesn’t intend to go light. Would you like to see Marvel go darker? Or do you think their approach is just right?
