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Opinion | Why Affleck Is Right About Superhero Movies

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The whole “superhero vs. cinema” debate has been talked about ad nauseam, but add Ben Affleck to the list of actors who have put out their sort of opinion about the genre that he was once a part of. For those who don’t know, and for context, Affleck played Daredevil in the 2003 adaptation of the same name, along with Batman in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Justice League, and finally, Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Take it from someone who has done nothing but small movies recently, with the exception of reshoots for Zack Snyder’s Justice League, franchise movies are killing the spotlight for non-franchise movies. Note: Not the theatrical experience, as people are still going in droves to see No Way Home which is great for theaters, but the ability to see something other than Tom Holland at their local movie theater.

Affleck’s quote was pretty clear, talking to Entertainment Weekly, the Good Will Hunting star said: “Hey, I’m so into the Marvel Universe, I can’t wait to see what happens next.” And there’ll be 40 movies a year theatrically, probably, all IP, sequel, animated.” He would then go on to mention The Last Duel, the Ridley Scott film that he starred in this last fall that had critical acclaim but underperformed at the box office, only making $30.5 million worldwide according to Box Office Mojo. The Last Duel did top VOD charts, so at least they can hang their hat on something.

When reading Affleck’s quote, some may roll their eyes at yet another person using Marvel as their example, but the numbers back it up. The top ten highest-grossing movies of 2021 domestically were all franchise movies of the prequel, sequel, and franchise kickstarter assortment. The first original movie to come up (not counting Free Guy or Jungle Cruise, which obviously have hopes for sequels) was another Ridley Scott movie, House of Gucci. Hell, Disney accounted for a quarter of the entirety of 2021’s domestic box office (CNBC), with Sony, by the power of Spider-Man: No Way Home and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, coming in at second place.

Ben Affleck photographed exclusively for EW on December 8, 2020, in LA.

Nothing that Affleck said above is wrong. Argo, Affleck’s Oscar-winning 2012 film, likely would be relegated to a streaming series. Hell, Martin-freaking-Scorsese had to make The Irishman for Netflix and his next film, Killers of the Flower Moon, for Apple. And look, thank God for streaming, or else these voices wouldn’t get to share their work. Ricky Gervais’ After Life has resided on Netflix for each of its three seasons, and it’s some of his best work. But what is depressing is that movies like Affleck’s The Tender Bar, which is not a perfect movie by any means, get a limited theatrical run before heading to Prime Video, a common practice nowadays for films without a post-credits scene.

And I should be the first to say, that I am very blessed to experience the number of movies I do at press screenings. If I hadn’t made a screening to see Flee, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, or The Tragedy of Macbeth to name a few, I likely would have missed them before they hit streaming. My local AMC usually does a decent job of getting the smaller releases, they had India Sweets and Spices for a week, but all three mentioned in the previous sentence were nowhere to be found at any point of their theatrical run. And I know that The Tragedy of Macbeth is heading to Apple TV+ this Friday, but it’s a visual spectacle more than anything, and seeing it on the big screen probably enhanced my enjoyment rather than watching the Bergman-like imagery on a laptop.

I must also disclose that screeners do have a certain level of convenience. Sometimes the commute into New York or Philadelphia does not outweigh the enjoyment of sitting in bed watching The Night House or Annette, so I cannot act like I am not guilty of opting for a screener, but there are also times where there isn’t a choice.

I’m also not trying to kid myself, not every movie needs a big-screen to fully experience the movie, but that also doesn’t mean that filmmakers who don’t make movies about men in tights should instantly be thrown onto a streaming service, with a limited theatrical run in New York and Los Angeles as the coveted added bonus.

Ben Affleck photographed exclusively for EW on December 8, 2020, in LA.

There are some filmmakers that seem to get theatrical runs; Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch expanded and was playing in almost every theater around me, Licorice Pizza has been going steady at the box office, hell, House of Gucci, by the same director of the financial flop that was The Last Duel, is still selling out showings almost two full months into its run.

The financial side of things is a whole other issue. Yes, of course, the film industry is a money-making business at the end of the day, but there has to be some middle ground that allows mid-budget/small-budget movies to see the light of day. There’s just something about seeing a comedy like Don’t Look Up in a crowded theater full of laughter that makes the movie funnier than watching it at home.

Look, at the end of the day, this is just my opinion and I am completely aware that people will go and see No Way Home for their sixth rewatch instead of The Worst Person in the World. I cannot act like I don’t catch the latest MCU movie, but I also make an effort to catch Spencer while it’s in theaters or do my rewatch of Licorice Pizza after already seeing it at a press screening at the AMC. I just wish that instead of asking people to cancel their reservation to see Nightmare Alley in an effort to open up auditoriums for No Way Home, Matrix Resurrections, etc., we let those films have at least one showtime. And none of what Affleck said was about the quality of the Marvel movies, that’s a whole different debate, it’s just the silencing of voices in the industry. With it seeming like the number of Marvel movies only rises every year, film lovers can only pray that Dr. Strange could cast that forgetting spell on moviegoers with the Peter Parker in this scenario being the MCU, DCEU, and any other franchise that has dominated the box office in recent years. Even Tom Brady and the Bill Belichick-led New England Patriots lost in the playoffs (thank you, Eli Manning) every once in a while.

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Andrew is an entertainment journalist and film "critic" who has written for the likes of Above the Line, Below the Line, Collider, Film Focus Online, /Film and The Hollywood Handle among others. Leader of the Kaitlyn Dever Fanclub.

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Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom | Official Trailer

Arthur must enlist the help of his half-brother Orm in order to protect Atlantis against Black Manta, who has unleashed a devastating weapon in his obsessive quest to avenge his father’s death.

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Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom [credit: Warner Bros. / DC]

Genre:

Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Release Date:

December 20,  2023

Director:

James Wan

Cast:

Jason Momoa, Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II

Plot Summary:

Arthur must enlist the help of his half-brother Orm in order to protect Atlantis against Black Manta, who has unleashed a devastating weapon in his obsessive quest to avenge his father’s death.

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Disney +

Marvel Studios’ Loki Season 2 | Official Trailer | Disney +

The second season of the American television series Loki, based on Marvel Comics featuring the character of the same name, sees Loki working with Mobius M. Mobius, Hunter B-15, and other members of the Time Variance Authority to navigate the multiverse in order to find Sylvie, Ravonna Renslayer, and Miss Minutes.

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Genre:

Action, Adventure

Release Date:

October 6, 2023

Director:

Disney +

Cast:

Tom Hiddleston, Jonathan Majors, Sophia Di Martino, Owen Wilson

Plot Summary:

The second season of the American television series Loki, based on Marvel Comics featuring the character of the same name, sees Loki working with Mobius M. Mobius, Hunter B-15, and other members of the Time Variance Authority to navigate the multiverse in order to find Sylvie, Ravonna Renslayer, and Miss Minutes.

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Comic Book Movies

Marvel Studios’ Secret Invasion Review: Nick Returns With A Fury

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Nick Fury (Marvel)

The following piece was written during the 2023 Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the television series being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Overview Of Secret Invasion

Secret Invasion is set in the present-day Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Nick Fury learns of an invasion of Earth by a faction of shapeshifting Skrulls. Fury, joined by Everett Ross, Maria Hill, and the Skrull Talos, who has made a life for himself on Earth, races against time to stop an invasion and save humanity.

Brief Summary (Contains Spoilers)

Ben Mendelsohn  as Talos (Marvel)

The series starts off with Talos pursuing Everett Ross for the murder of a CIA agent, who had information about a potential Skrull rebellion. Maria Hill arrives on scene and discovers that Everett is a shapeshifting Skrull and contacts Nick Fury to request assistance. Nick returns to learn that not only has Talos been exiled from the Skrull Council, but Gravik is taking the lead with the rebellion. Fury approaches an old acquaintance by the name of Sonya Falsworth to propose an alliance, but to no avail. In the meantime, Talos reunites with his daughter, G’iah who shares with him the location of a Skrull attack in Russia. The mission to stop the attack not only end in failure, but in the death of one of Fury’s team mates. Fury and Talos is forced to escape to fight another day.

Kingsley Ben-Adir as Gravik (Marvel)

Gravik gains the support of the Skrull Council to lead them in a new war. Fury is blamed for the attack in Russia and the death of one of the team members, and is discharged of his duties. Sonya learns from another rebel that Gravik has a new weapon, a machine that can help enhance their strength with the use of powered DNA. The rebel’s next target is the Royal Navy. Their attempt to launch a missile at another aircraft is however thwarted by collective efforts from Fury, Talos, Sonya and G’iah. G’iah attempts to run away but is confronted by Gravik who shoots her and leaves her for dead.

Emilia Clarke as G’iah (Marvel)

G’iah, however, survives and lives to fight another day. We quickly learn that there is a rebel Skull Imposter posing as one of the Avengers. The rebels turn their focus on the President of the United States, and posing as Russian soldiers almost succeeds in their attempt, however, they leave behind many casualties. The rebel Skrulls tries to convince the United States President to attack one of the Skrull compounds. Gravik is willing to call off the attack in exchange for something from Nick that could potentially tip the scales in the favor of the rebels.

The last episode ends with a short but grand face-off between Fury and Gravik with a special twist…but I will leave this for you as the viewer to experience on the screen.

The summary has been written in such a way as to not spoil too much for the viewer.

Gravik as a Skrull (Marvel)

Final Views

I really enjoyed the suspense and surprises that the series brought with every episode. Even though the series was only 6 episodes long, it kept the suspense alive and it kept the golden thread going that is taking place within the broader MCU. As you may recall, Captain Marvel’s movie end where she flew off to find a new home for the Skrulls and this series continue many years later where some of the Skrulls feel the promise of a new home has been broken. Even the blip is referenced and it keeps the memory alive of a world still affected by Thanos’ snap.

The rating for this series is definitely a 4 out of 5. The story had a feel of a crime drama and spy thriller. The fight scenes were amazing and I personally felt the last episode could have been longer to give us an even longer fight. There are many questions that this television series have going through my head that I won’t list over here to limit spoiling the experience for you as the viewer. I can only hope that some of the questions will be answered in future Marvel Studios productions.

Olivia Colman as Sonya Falsworth (Marvel)

Olivia Colman’s portrayal of Sonya Falsworth was really amazing to watch and I really hope we get to see more of her in future productions. Emelia Clark and Kingsley Ben-Adir brought in a breath of fresh air as G’iah and Gravik respectively. As always, having Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury is epic to say the least, and I encourage keeping both eyes on his performance throughout the MCU.

I highly recommend watching Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Captain Marvel (2019), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), WandaVision (2021), Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) before watching Secret Invasion. These movies provide the detailed backstory to most of the returning characters. These movies and television series are based on the list of recommendations made in Marvel Studios’ Legends as well.

There is no post-credits scene, so no need to wait till the end. The whole series is now available on Disney Plus so make sure to watch. This series is rumored to tie-in with both The Marvels and Armor Wars, upcoming movies in the MCU.

FILM RATING
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