How Marvel Can Make R-Rated Horror Franchise:
As Disney spreads its wings throughout the movie-making industry, the list of potential and under development movies at its disposal keeps on increasing. Since time immemorial, Disney has been cursed with the tag of family-friendly entertainment. The critics of Disney movies consider it to be too formulaic and generic, with the storylines being baby-proofed so that the audience is not exposed to what Disney considers to be unnecessary violence and graphic elements. An R-Rating has long been Disney’s worst nightmare. They dread it beyond measure. But times are changing and even Disney has recognized the change in people’s mindsets. The fans do not care if the movie shows a little blood anymore. They are ready to watch anything provided it is worth watching. And that is where Marvel under the Disney banner, has a new potential to launch an R-rated horror movie franchise that could become the new king of the scare.
Disney’s tryst with the R-rating dates back to several decades ago. When Walt Disney envisioned Disney Studios, he wanted a studio that makes movies that were targeted towards children. Back in the ’60s and the ’70s, it was very hard to find a grown man watching animated shorts. Walt Disney created a fantasy out of children’s sweetest dreams. And it paid off. Today the Walt Disney Company is a merchant of dreams. It is one of the greatest players in the entertainment industry. It owns amusement parks and attractions as well as the world’s most powerful private information superpower – Walt Disney Studios.
Over the years, Disney Studios has launched a number of movies. Their first animated feature film was Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, which was released in 1937 and is still considered as a cinematic milestone and artistic masterpiece. Disney brought Marvel Studios and dabbled into the superhero genre in the 2000s. With Disney’s deep pockets backing it up, Marvel Studios has never had the misfortune of looking back ever since.
But the Disney banner does come with its own demerits. Being a subordinate to a larger studio would mean that the child company has to satiate the whims and fancies of the parent studio which is the irony given the nomenclature of the relationship here! Marvel has been making one movie after another, starting with Iron Man in 2008 with their latest movie being Spiderman: Far From Home in 2019. Each movie was a huge blockbuster and the Avengers franchise as a whole owes a lot to Disney and Marvel for helping them become a pop-culture phenomenon.
But just like any other pop culture element, people do get bored. Until and unless Marvel is ready to experiment and start out their journeys in newer ventures that have never been tried before to keep the audience engaged and ensure their movies still appeal to the masses, Marvel Studios and the Marvel Cinematic Universe – the world’s most profitable movie franchise in the history of mankind, might be moving towards their inevitable doom. The franchise on its current course risks stagnation. But every cloud has a silver lining. And for Marvel – it is the Disney-Fox merger.
Touted as the media deal of the century, Disney brought Fox Studios for an amount north of 50 Billion US dollars. Along with Fox Studios came its huge array of copyrighted characters and its huge network of studios and channels. Avatar, the Simpsons, Indiana Jones, Ice Age, Planet of the Apes, and even the Die Hard franchise is now Disney property. But the good news is that with the Disney Fox merger, the X-Men can finally come back home and be a part of the grander Marvel Cinematic Universe, where they truly belong.
Fox Studios never had any qualms in experimentation with genres. Before they were merged with Disney, the Studio had several anticipated movies in the works. The X-Men franchise itself had a lot of other spin-offs. Fox had since moved on from just team-up movies to that as well as origin stories. They were now juggling between the two. One such project that Fox had about an X-Men spin-off movie with a highly experimental genre that looked really intriguing was the superhero-horror genre The New Mutants.
No movie in history has ventured where the New Mutants have ventured before. It will be a psychological thriller that dives deep into the human psyche. The true antagonist of the movie is still not revealed yet but many claims that the movie will have Demon Bear as well as Cameron Hodge as the two lead antagonists with one being the primary and the other being in a secondary role. The New Mutants were set to break new ground for Fox, and it will now do the same for Marvel. But we say why to stop there?!?! The movie’s premise is extremely tempting and despite repeated delays that are kind of frustrating, fans are loyally waiting for it to hit the big screens.
The horror genre may have a lesser fan base than the superhero genre, but they are very faithful and very loyal to the genre. The New Mutants is not just going to be a horror movie. It will also feature elements of superhero fiction. It will be the best of both worlds. When you combine the die-hard loyal fan base of the horror genre with the humongous fan base of the superhero genre, you get a sizable fan base that will provide you with enough revenue if you start a sub-franchise under the MCU with themes that satisfy both sides’ fan-bases.
How will Marvel cash in on the New Mutants momentum you ask? Well it will be fairly easy to turn the New Mutants into a trilogy. There are a lot of villains in the Marvel Comic Book Universe that could be used for future New Mutant movies. For a second New Mutants movie, our choice would be to use the Brood, a predatory alien race that is pretty similar to the Aliens from Ridley Scott’s franchise. They are quick, agile, nasty, and make for a good jump scare with that horrifying looks on their faces. New Mutants 1 will be exploring the psychic mind-scape. New Mutants 2 will be exploring the unknown frontiers of space and the dangers that lay beyond in the deepest and darkest corners of the cosmos.
If Marvel wants to travel even further into the franchise and make a third New Mutants movie, we suggest they use a villain that has a very high caliber for horror. We would recommend Disney uses the Shadow King, a villain that has tremendously powerful psychic abilities and lives in the astral plane. Shadow King will be an upgrade to Demon Bear. He will be more powerful and cunning.
The Conjuring series has grossed a total of 557 Million Dollars in worldwide revenue, of which the Annabelle series has about 257 Million Dollars of contribution. The Nun, a spin-off of The Conjuring, earned about 365 Million Dollars. So the entire franchise earned more than 922 Million Dollars. The New Mutants could also earn as much or even more. If the movie hits it off, it could also give rise to spin-off projects. Imagine a Shadow King Origin story. Or even a story that reveals the first contact of brood with human beings. The possibilities are endless. We believe that if done correctly, an R-rated New Mutants Superhero-horror franchise could earn Disney more than 2 Billion dollars in gross collective revenue. All Disney needs to do is grow a spine and take the step.
The Last Solo Marvel movie to be released under the Disney banner is Spider-Man: Far From Home. The movie is currently in theatres. The official film synopsis for the movie reads:
Peter Parker’s relaxing European vacation takes an unexpected turn when Nick Fury shows up in his hotel room to recruit him for a mission. The world is in danger as four massive elemental creatures — each representing Earth, air, water, and fire — emerge from a hole torn in the universe. Parker soon finds himself donning the Spider-Man suit to help Fury and fellow superhero Mysterio stop the evil entities from wreaking havoc across the continent.
Avengers: Endgame released on the 26th of April, 2019. The official film synopsis of the movie has been released and it states:
“After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War, the universe is in ruins due to the efforts of the Mad Titan, Thanos. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers must assemble once more in order to undo Thanos’ actions and restore order to the universe once and for all, no matter what consequences may be in store.”
