Marvel Studios have swept the box office with each of their films. It’s been astounding how popular they are and even, at times, how great. I’ve thought about it, and I wonder if it’s because they remind us of other types of films we all love. I submit to you what I think is a correlation between each Marvel film and what it harkens to.
Iron Man
The one that started it all. I don’t know if I could place this, actually. It’s pretty unique. I would put it as an actual super hero movie. There’s special effects galore. It’s very much good vs. evil. It’s a simple hero blockbuster.
The Incredible Hulk
Probably the least seen and known of Marvel Studios releases, this one is the monster film. Not monster like vampire or Frankenstein. I see it as the King Kong type. Man vs. beast. Internally and in the world.
Iron Man 2
We’re back to hero movies again, but now it’s the tragic hero. It’s in mythology at times. But, we’re still at simple super hero movies. If there’s any super hero that has been around for a while and on cinema screens for a few decades, it’s Batman. Think of this as Marvel’s Batman.
Thor
Super hero movies fit into sci-fi or fantasy as a movie genre. But, Thor is very much this. I think of it as Marvel’s version of a fantasy movie, like Lord of the Rings. You’ve got a whole mythical land to explore.
Captain America: The First Avenger
Cap’s first outing is Marvel’s war epic. We are in World War II which has had many great films about it. This is the super hero take.
Avengers
Not quite a buddy film, but that ensemble film. It’s about those guys who don’t get along, almost comedically, but end up banding together.
Iron Man 3
It may seem like I’m stretching it, but I think that when a formula works it works. Here’s the third Marvel’s Batman.
Thor: The Dark World
And now we have the sequel to the fantasy film. We explore a world very much not like ours more and more. There’s swords and viking like people. It’s the fantasy at its finest…with super heroes too.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Marvel’s spy movie. Cap takes on spies within spies, with a spy by his side. Yeah, this was all espionage with a Marvel twist.
Guardians of the Galaxy
Again, super hero movies could be in the sci-fi realm, so isn’t it obvious this is touting its own style? Well, I think of it more as Marvel’s Star Wars, maybe even Star Trek. It’s that galactic team taking on the rest of the galaxy to save it. We’ve seen it in these other films, now with a talking raccoon.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
This one is slightly hard for me to categorize. Is it just another super hero movie? Well, now I think of it as the family road trip film. You’ve got conflict within the family, but they are still getting to a destination. It’s Marvel’s road trip film with more action than comedy.
Ant-Man
This one fooled me at first. I thought it’d be Marvel’s first take on a family comedy. It turned out to be Marvel’s heist film. I almost wanted Danny Ocean from Ocean’s 11 to walk into scenes and start having Ant-Man break into a bank vault.
That will certainly not be all. As more movies come out, I’ll update, but for now, what do you think? Did I get it right, or do you have different thoughts on the films?
