by Brian LeTendre
Given the blockbuster success of Disney/Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy this weekend, it will be very interesting to see how Guardians and the rest of the Marvel cosmic universe are handled moving forward.
Guardians of the Galaxy is an amazing, sci-fi, swashbuckling adventure that showcases some of the great characters, worlds and storylines the Marvel cosmic universe has to offer. One could make the argument that in its totality, the Marvel cosmic universe should be considered in the same conversation as Star Wars.
Or at least, it could be, if Disney wanted it to be. All the pieces are there.
Given the blockbuster success of Disney/Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy this weekend, it will be very interesting to see how Guardians and the rest of the Marvel cosmic universe are handled moving forward.
Guardians of the Galaxy is an amazing, sci-fi, swashbuckling adventure that showcases some of the great characters, worlds and storylines the Marvel cosmic universe has to offer. One could make the argument that in its totality, the Marvel cosmic universe should be considered in the same conversation as Star Wars.
Or at least, it could be, if Disney wanted it to be. All the pieces are there.
But I don’t think we’ll ever see the Marvel cosmic universe as fully realized as it could be. Because the same company that owns Marvel also owns the Star Wars universe. And from a business standpoint, making the Marvel cosmic universe as big as it could be would mean bringing it into direct competition with Star Wars.
Despite many fans’ reaction to the prequel trilogies, there’s no denying that Star Wars is still a cultural phenomenon, and a household name. It’s also clear that Disney has big plans for Star Wars, from the new movies, to the new animated series, to the Marvel comics that were just announced at SDCC a couple weeks ago.
Despite many fans’ reaction to the prequel trilogies, there’s no denying that Star Wars is still a cultural phenomenon, and a household name. It’s also clear that Disney has big plans for Star Wars, from the new movies, to the new animated series, to the Marvel comics that were just announced at SDCC a couple weeks ago.
Don’t get me wrong--this is a very good problem for Disney to have. But as a Marvel fan, I think it will result in the relegation of the Marvel cosmic universe to just another corner of the Marvel cinematic universe. Because it it’s just one part of the Marvel U, then it doesn't have the potential to negatively impact the success of future Star Wars endeavors. We'll get our Guardians sequel in 2017, and they'll finish out the Thanos arc and then move on to Civil War. The cosmic universe will fade to the background as Civil War is not a cosmic tale.
In this situation, it might actually be better if Disney didn't own Star Wars. Because you can bet your bottom dollar they’d be pushing to make the Marvel cosmic universe their Star Wars universe.
At the end of the day, I’m so happy that Guardians of the Galaxy exits, and that it was this good, that I would be fine if that’s all we ever got. But it’s hard not to think about the potential of that universe when the glimpse of it we just got is so darn great. I mean, think about the Annihilation series, and how epic those stories are. You could do seven or eight movies off of the first Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest alone. Of course, there is that small problem of Fox having the rights to Silver Surfer and Galactus, but that could be worked around.
Now, in the almost 0% chance that the next few Star Wars movies don’t do so well, or the brand suddenly dips in popularity, Disney can at least rest assured they have the Marvel cosmic universe waiting in the wings.
And of course, since they own both universe, they could just decide to connect them together, right?
Right?
I mean, stranger things have happened.
In this situation, it might actually be better if Disney didn't own Star Wars. Because you can bet your bottom dollar they’d be pushing to make the Marvel cosmic universe their Star Wars universe.
At the end of the day, I’m so happy that Guardians of the Galaxy exits, and that it was this good, that I would be fine if that’s all we ever got. But it’s hard not to think about the potential of that universe when the glimpse of it we just got is so darn great. I mean, think about the Annihilation series, and how epic those stories are. You could do seven or eight movies off of the first Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest alone. Of course, there is that small problem of Fox having the rights to Silver Surfer and Galactus, but that could be worked around.
Now, in the almost 0% chance that the next few Star Wars movies don’t do so well, or the brand suddenly dips in popularity, Disney can at least rest assured they have the Marvel cosmic universe waiting in the wings.
And of course, since they own both universe, they could just decide to connect them together, right?
Right?
I mean, stranger things have happened.
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