Marvel: Comic Creators "Influenced" by Film Universe

StewShearerOld

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Marvel: Comic Creators "Influenced" by Film Universe


Marvel publisher Dan Buckley believes that Marvel Comics content creators are naturally "influenced" by the awesome factor of the company's film universe.

In case you've been living under a rock in a galaxy far, far away, the <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/marvel>Marvel cinematic universe has been one of recent most successful film experiments. Its interconnected stories about characters sharing a wider world have accumulated millions of fans who routinely make Marvel and Disney Scrooge McDuck-ian amounts of money. It would make sense, in turn, for Marvel to look for ways to replicate the success of its movies with the less lucrative comics that inspired them. To some however, things like the <a href=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=57773>recent retconning of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver's parentage represent active attempts by Marvel's film arm to forcibly make its comic universe more closely reflect the company's films.

It's an idea that Marvel's Dan Buckley would argue against. Speaking about the film-to-comics bleed over <a href=http://icv2.com/articles/news/view/30662/interview-marvel-publisher-dan-buckley-part-2>recently, the published affirmed that the emerging similarities are far less intentional. "The fact is the comics universe continuity is driven by editorial and the creative people within that area: the writers and artists involved with the editorial staff, and business management people in the publishing group," he explained. "We allow the publishing people to tell the stories that they're telling, but when a movie comes out and does something with a character that we find to be cool and also is very defining of the character, that will probably start influencing what the comic continuity will start looking like because the creators we have writing those products are influenced by that movie."

In example, Buckley pointed to the way that Thor has transformed over the years. When the character was first created by Jack Kirby back in 1962, "it was sci-fi." That said, "different artists' influences" have led the series down different paths that "felt more like Norse mythology or The Lord of the Rings." Following the release of the recent Thor movies however, the "feeling of what Asgard looks like" in the comics is something that Buckley would describe as being "more sci-fi again."

Now, just speaking personally, this is an explanation that I can buy to a certain degree. As a person who's pursued creative endeavors at several points in his life, I can safely say that the shape of what I'm working on has often been influenced by my shifting obsessions with different movies, TV shows and books. That being the case, it's still kind of hard to believe that some of the decisions Marvel's made recently haven't been born from a desire to more closely connect its comics business to the lore of the movies. The increasing prominence of the Inhumans, the crossing over <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/139220-Agents-of-S-H-I-E-L-D-Variant-Covers-Reveal-Marvel-Universe-Team-Ups>of Agent Coulson to the comics universe, the fact we're only a few months away from having <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/138002-Marvel-Announces-Gamora-Comic-for-Spring-2015>five Guardians of the Galaxy books in circulation? These, to me, don't feel like content creators just taking an interest in whatever the Marvel flick of the moment is.

Source: <a href=http://icv2.com/articles/news/view/30662/interview-marvel-publisher-dan-buckley-part-2>ICv2


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Robyrt

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Comics creators bending to the will of the market is nothing new. This time, the creators can get excited about it, because it's generally better-executed versions of their own properties, instead of being tapped to draw 4 issues of the X-Men battling this year's hot new toy line.
 

Eclipse Dragon

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I've passed a few glances at the Marvel cartoons on the Disney channel and I'm interested to see what will happen with Dr. Strange in particular. Right now, they have no movie to influence the character, I wonder what that version will be like in comparison to how Benedict Cumberbatch portrays him?

Steve Rogers is very much like he is in the movies, Thor is a bit more like the comics, Tony Stark seems somewhere in between, Black Widow and Hawkeye are like the movie versions, Spiderman exists and is angsty as ever, the Hulk can speak and is the Hulk 24/7.
 

Trishbot

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I just know that Marvel comics aren't "right" until Richard Rider is Nova again. He's what brought me back into comics during "Annihilation".

... I miss you, Rich. Come back.
 

Hairless Mammoth

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It's been done before. Harley Quinn was made specifically for Batman: the Animated Series and was one of the greatest characters on the show. Now she is a cannon character in the comics.

When an idea from a spin off works and you own the IP, you can bet you will want to use that idea. Just make sure that ideas works in the main franchise or medium.
 

TripleDaddy

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It's already been well established that the prominence of the Inhumans has been driven by Marvel not having the rights to the X-Men and mutants in general. And I hardly think it's fair to claim that the MCU is influencing comics in the case of Agent Coulson when he wasn't a comic book character to begin with. Spinoffs of successful franchises are to be expected. In fact, they'ed be idiots not to do it if the fanbase is there.
 

Baresark

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I kind of just came to say, "duh". It's happened like that for a long time.

Trishbot said:
I just know that Marvel comics aren't "right" until Richard Rider is Nova again. He's what brought me back into comics during "Annihilation".

... I miss you, Rich. Come back.
Except in Guardians, the Nova were just police in ships. It was a huge let down. I wanted to see the Nova Corp, not the boys in yellow. An otherwise good movie was kind of marred a bit for me.
 

hermes

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Well, personally, I like the Guardians version of the movies a lot more than the comic book versions, so if they want to take references from there, you are more than welcomed.
 

V4Viewtiful

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Baresark said:
I kind of just came to say, "duh". It's happened like that for a long time.

Trishbot said:
I just know that Marvel comics aren't "right" until Richard Rider is Nova again. He's what brought me back into comics during "Annihilation".
... I miss you, Rich. Come back.
Except in Guardians, the Nova were just police in ships. It was a huge let down. I wanted to see the Nova Corp, not the boys in yellow. An otherwise good movie was kind of marred a bit for me.
Well actually they could just be Foot Soldiers, corpsman and the Centurions can left for a later Movie.

(I know they ignored the significant of the ranks in the costumes but I digress)

Edit Actually, they where ALL Corpsman
look

Look at his arm


The higher ranks are yet to be revealed is entirely possible.
 

Darth_Payn

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Wait, there's going to be 5 Guardians books? Great Caesar's ghost, Marvel, tone it down, please! You still have a f%$-ton of Avengers and X-Men team titles already (many of which share the same members).
But, to be fair to Marvel Comics, not everything is influenced by the movies. If I heard the events of AXIS right, Iron Man's a douchebag again. And who asked for that, really? The last time that happened was Civil War, and that worked out swimmingly.
 

Baresark

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V4Viewtiful said:
Baresark said:
I kind of just came to say, "duh". It's happened like that for a long time.

Trishbot said:
I just know that Marvel comics aren't "right" until Richard Rider is Nova again. He's what brought me back into comics during "Annihilation".
... I miss you, Rich. Come back.
Except in Guardians, the Nova were just police in ships. It was a huge let down. I wanted to see the Nova Corp, not the boys in yellow. An otherwise good movie was kind of marred a bit for me.
Well actually they could just be Foot Soldiers, corpsman and the Centurions can left for a later Movie.

(I know they ignored the significant of the ranks in the costumes but I digress)

Edit Actually, they where ALL Corpsman
look

Look at his arm


The higher ranks are yet to be revealed is entirely possible.
It seems unlikely. I did also notice a distinct lack of mention of the Xandarian Worldmind, which controls the distribution of the Nova Force. But I too digress. I'm hoping that we see Richard Rider show up in the ranks of the Nova Corps. And why the hell not I say.
 

ccggenius12

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I'm not much of a Marvel fan, but one thing DID bother me. They made Samuel L Jackson Nick Fury in the Ultimate comics on the grounds that he'd get the part in all of the movies. The Ultimate series was supposed to be separate from the main universe. Then they killed off original WWII David Hasselhoff Nick Fury and replaced him with his long lost illegitimate half black son who is ALSO named Nick Fury, because they were afraid that people coming to the comics from the movies would be confused about him not being Samuel L Jackson. It feels wrong, and unlike most character deaths in comics, I can't see classic Fury coming back unless the cinematic universe goes belly up, or Jackson decides he doesn't like having truckloads of money dropped on his doorstep on a regular basis.
 

chiasmata

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The Marvel universe has always revolved around what was popular at the time. @ccggenius12 is spot on with Nick Fury. The Ultimates universe was created after the success of X-Men for the movie fans to have a comic series that was easy to start reading and more inline with the movieverse. After the X-Men movies there were also billions* of Wolverine titles, and he camoed in everything that had panels. The X-Men movieverse has faltered and now
Wolvie is dead.
And so it goes.

*could be an exaggeration
 

Gutsripper

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ccggenius12 said:
I'm not much of a Marvel fan, but one thing DID bother me. They made Samuel L Jackson Nick Fury in the Ultimate comics on the grounds that he'd get the part in all of the movies. The Ultimate series was supposed to be separate from the main universe. Then they killed off original WWII David Hasselhoff Nick Fury and replaced him with his long lost illegitimate half black son who is ALSO named Nick Fury, because they were afraid that people coming to the comics from the movies would be confused about him not being Samuel L Jackson. It feels wrong, and unlike most character deaths in comics, I can't see classic Fury coming back unless the cinematic universe goes belly up, or Jackson decides he doesn't like having truckloads of money dropped on his doorstep on a regular basis.
I really hated that too.

The whole making the comics more like the movies just puts me off really.
Shouldn't it be the other way around?
I know they might be doing it because of what's popular but come on, it's like they can't think up something remotely new or orignal anymore.
And the whole thing about canceling the Fantastic Four comics, featuring less mutant and bringing the Inhumans way to the front all of a sudden... all that (probably) because of the movie rights, it just leaves a bad taste to be honest.
 

Right Hook

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I call bullshit, I love Marvel to death but there is definitely clear cut cases of writers having changes dictated to them to line-up the Marvel universe with the movies. I tend to think it is the higher ups green-lighting series that further their agenda, like that incredibly forced Nick Fury is now a black guy who also happens to be named Nick Fury and now needs an eye patch too story from a couple years back.
 

i4njw

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Hairless Mammoth said:
It's been done before. Harley Quinn was made specifically for Batman: the Animated Series and was one of the greatest characters on the show. Now she is a cannon character in the comics.
The difference here is that Harley wasn't put into the comics to get people to watch the show, or draw fans of the show to comics. She wasn't even making regular appearances until 1999/2000, long after the show was on the air. They put her in the comics because she's an interesting character that could lead to lots of new stories.

However, I don't think Coulson or Nick Fury Jr. were introduced into the 616 because they were great, interesting characters; they're only there to make the comic universe and the movie universe more similar. That's IT.