After the impressive results achieved by the previous four films, both Marvel Comics and Marvel Studios were brimming with confidence. Perhaps it's more accurate to say that no film series has ever had ambitions as grand as Marvel's. They used post-credit scenes in every film to remind the audience that these superheroes all live in the same universe. Just how vast and wondrous could this universe be?
A concept now known as the "Marvel Formula" has indeed taken shape.
At the end of May, Duke attended the premiere of Thor along with all the Avengers. This film, adapted from a second-tier Marvel hero, still managed to attract immense attention from movie fans, especially with the greenlighting of The Avengers, which made the film even more eye-catching and brought the Marvel Formula to full display.
In just its first three days, Thor, a character who had never been particularly popular or well-received in Marvel Comics, pulled in a whopping $78.09 million at the North American box office. Even though the film's word of mouth wasn't particularly strong, it still managed to attract a huge number of fans.
Perhaps Thor himself seemed a bit dull, but the charm of the villain Loki was remarkable. With the release of the film, Tom Hiddleston became an instant sensation, raising expectations for Loki's performance in The Avengers.
Riding the wave of hype stirred up by the heavy promotion of The Avengers, Thor earned $150 million in North America in just ten days, and its global box office exceeded $250 million, which could already be considered a success.
For a film without any star actors in its cast to achieve such brilliant results in such a short time is considered a small miracle in Hollywood.
But for Marvel films, this has become the norm.
Previous film series were basically centered around the core creative team—director, actors, screenwriters. Take the first three Superman movies, for instance. The directors were Richard Donner and Richard Lester, and the screenwriters were mainly David Newman and Mario Puzo. Audiences simply couldn't imagine anyone other than Christopher Reeve playing Superman so when Reeve had an accident, no one dared make another Superman movie for many years.
But in Marvel's superhero films today, the irreplaceability of leading actors has been drastically diminished. A few years back, when Tobey Maguire, who played Spider-Man, felt his value had risen and demanded a $20 million paycheck, Sony Columbia Pictures responded by saying that for a character who wears a mask two-thirds of the time on screen, replacing the actor could be done in minutes. As a result, Tobey Maguire had to quietly drop the matter.
Even though Chris Evans, who played Captain America, signed a six-film deal with Marvel, and Sebastian Stan, who played the Winter Soldier, signed for nine, they too can be replaced X-Men: First Class recast all the roles and portrayed the earlier years of Professor X and Magneto, which is one possible approach.
Although replacing main actors remains a last resort, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the uniqueness of the actors has been reduced to near-invisibility. Fans often have trouble remembering who starred in which superhero movie. What they remember is how the movie connects to previous ones and how the relationships between heroes have evolved.
Especially with Duke's suggestion to focus on showcasing the world-building, actors are no longer the soul of superhero films. They've become merely external shells. With the actors' irreplaceability diminished, the development of superhero films is no longer constrained by an actor's departure. Stories can evolve more freely according to market demand.
Within the entire series, any character that gains popularity could spawn a new universe of their own—even if they were originally a B-list or even C-list character.
Of course, Thor's success isn't solely due to the Marvel Formula; the film's outstanding digital effects played a big part as well.
Today's rapidly advancing digital effects are undoubtedly one of the guarantees that Duke and Marvel Comics can realize their Marvel master plan.
Back in the 1970s and 1980s, practical effects helped science fiction films take off. Entering the 21st century, computer-generated imagery fully took over special effects production, leading to an industry upgrade in Hollywood where technology stood shoulder to shoulder with creativity.
Now, with technologies like 3D, IMAX, Dolby Atmos, high frame rate, and motion capture, the boundless imagination found in comics can finally be unleashed. After years of hardship, Marvel Comics finally welcomed the era where 2D illustrations could be transformed into live-action films, where imagination could leap off the screen through digital technology.
With producers like Duke at the helm, along with the push of various technologies and commercial interests, superhero movies have become the perfect models for digital effects. Different styles of cinematic spectacles appear one after another, making audiences feel like they're riding a roller coaster, jumping from one climax to the next.
Will audiences eventually get tired of superheroes? The answer is: certainly. Just as they once grew tired of western cowboys, musical stars, robots, and aliens.
In Duke and Marvel Studios' long-term plans, even films ten years into the future already have preliminary outlines. Will the next generation still obsess over the superhero universe? Does the focus on world-building deviate too far from storytelling and narrative art?
Duke doesn't know the answer to that. Only time will tell.
As modern-day mythology, as long as there are profits to be made, superhero stories will continue to be told—until the entire society and culture undergo a complete shift. Duke is well aware that it is commercial interests that have shaped superheroes. It is society's needs that bestowed them with divine status.
Whether it's Superman, Batman, Iron Man, or Spider-Man, they are merely projections of the real world in an alternate parallel universe.
The release of The Avengers also marks the beginning of the second phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In this phase, superhero movies are no longer about a single hero showing off on screen. The entire Marvel series becomes intertwined, forming a near-realistic social landscape where the superheroes live together, fight side-by-side, oppose one another, or lend each other support.
In fact, Duke already had a clear plan for Marvel's film universe layout. For example, in terms of stylistic direction, the Thor series would emphasize a magnificent fantasy style; the Iron Man series would follow the path of a rich, suave playboy with high-tech elements; the Captain America series would probably continue with a grounded realistic approach; and the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy would venture into comedy—a style barely touched by previous superhero films.
In the future, the superhero world will only become more vast and realistic, and perhaps even darker and more chaotic.
By July, when all aspects of The Avengers' pre-production were fully underway, Thor's domestic box office was approaching $230 million, and its global box office had exceeded $450 million.
A new San Diego Comic-Con had also kicked off in San Diego. As a major promotional platform in Hollywood, Marvel Studios would obviously not miss this major event.
On the opening day of San Diego Comic-Con, Duke led all of Marvel's major actors to appear at the Marvel Comics exhibition booth.
The media covering the scene described the promotional event with headlines like, "Avengers All-Stars Appear at Comic-Con, Superhero Grand Reunion."
At the Marvel Comics exhibition that day, in front of nearly ten thousand comic book lovers and movie fans, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Samuel L. Jackson took to the stage to introduce the super cast lineup of The Avengers, which was scheduled to meet audiences in 2012—Clark Gregg as "Agent Coulson," Scarlett Johansson as "Black Widow," Chris Hemsworth as "Thor," Chris Evans as "Captain America," Robert Downey Jr. as "Iron Man," Jeremy Renner as "Hawkeye," and Mark Ruffalo as "The Hulk."
At the same time, Marvel also released the first batch of posters for the film at the Comic-Con, and the new looks of the six Avengers were revealed for the first time.
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"When we were doing our costume test photos, 'Thor' held his hammer, 'Captain America' had his shield, 'Hawkeye' was equipped with his bow and arrows, 'Iron Man' was floating above us, and 'The Hulk' was bulky enough to instantly crush us,"
During an interview, Scarlett seemed a bit discontented, "Only I was holding two small handguns, but the stylist immediately comforted me, saying, 'These guns match you perfectly! You look like a no-blinking killing machine!'"
Compared to the actors' focus, Duke, aside from preparing The Avengers, also had his attention divided by other work.
This month, he also attended the premiere of Transformers 3. Since Michael Bay took over, the franchise had reached its third installment. Although the film's reputation was not as solid as the first one, its commercial performance remained outstanding. The second film grossed over $350 million in North America and collected more than $1 billion globally.
Michael Bay himself, thanks to this franchise, had completely shaken off his previous downturn and returned to the ranks of top-tier commercial directors in Hollywood.
This franchise had always maintained close cooperation with China, and its box office in the Chinese market continued to set new records. In the third film alone, commercial advertising sponsorships from China exceeded $30 million.
Transformers 3 maintained strong commercial momentum, earning over $130 million in its first week in North America, and grossing more than $400 million in nearly a hundred markets worldwide upon simultaneous release.
Those once-mechanical beings had already become global pop culture icons.
When it came to Transformers, Duke was fully at ease. This was a thoroughly commercialized series, and Michael Bay could be considered a highly suitable director. If, as some professionals suggested, Optimus Prime and Megatron frequently indulged in philosophical reflections or pondered the meaning of existence, the franchise would have collapsed.
Aside from following Transformers, Duke focused more of his energy on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. The film had already been pulled from North American theaters, and he, along with Warner Bros., had to employ various means to prevent certain parties from taking more of the profits that rightfully belonged to them.
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