An Inquisitive Peak at What Sets Marvel Studios Apart From its Peers

Marvel Studios are a phenomenon in the entertainment industry. They are like a well-oiled machine that is sure to deliver the goods when called upon. Over the last decade, they have trail blazed the way for the rest of Hollywood on how franchises should run.

The success has been so profound that their most recent release, Black Panther just surpassed the already incredulous milestones set by Marvel studios by registering sales of a cool $1.2 billion.

Marvel Comics owned the rights to the word ‘zombie’ from 1975 through 1996, they dropped it once they were unable to enforce it

To really comprehend the giant that Marvel Studios have become, one only has to look at the rest of the studios around them. None can match up to the sales and buzz that most Marvel releases tend to generate. Surely, they must be doing something right. So, what is it?

The truth is, things haven’t always been so rosy for Marvel. Only 10 years ago, in 2008, Marvel Entertainment operated atop a Mercedes-Benz showroom in Beverly Hills. The CEO, Isaac Perlmutter was prepping up the release of the maiden Iron Man movie. He was so concerned about making a profit that he was not sure whether he could afford to serve anything else other than potato chips during the premiere.

What transpired next is nothing short of magic. Hit after hit in terms of release has followed what was considered an uncertain venture by the CEO. Today, Marvel Entertainment strides like a colossus on matters showbiz.

For Marvel to have made such a turnaround, they must have stumbled upon a secret formula of sorts. Perhaps, it has been a combination of everything thrown all at once at the pot. There’s no clear-cut way of explaining how everything just panned together. That said, we look at a couple of things we believe made Marvel a cut above the rest.

Foundations

A good foundation stone is essential when aiming to build a megastructure. In the case of Marvel, they built a solid platform to launch themselves onwards and upwards. How exactly? Well, Marvel strived to ensure that their universe was based on exactly what people loved about comic books.

By a stroke of genius, they also successfully managed to cajole fans into the hype behind their next releases. In Iron Man, Nick Fury, smooth as ever, managed to raise eyebrows with mentions of Captain America and then, Thor. Such structured foresight has been of the essence in preparing the masses for future releases.

By piggyback riding on previous releases, and actually delivering quality on the new releases, Marvel successfully catapulted itself atop the Mt. Everest of Super Hero studios.

The Big Difference

The Marvel Cinematic Universe Has Topped $13 Billion In Worldwide Box Office Sales

Unlike most other studios, Marvel seems to have a set plan to work. In the last 10 years alone, they have come up with 18 blockbusters for the big screen with more set to be released. So impressive is their planning that they are said to be working on 20 more movies to be rolled out in the years to come.

For a company to make such audacious moves, they must have calculated all the probable pressure points and come up with a couple of workarounds in case of a hitch in the system. Why? Because each release presents itself with a working budget that is astronomical all on its own without accounting for other miscellaneous expenditure and promotion necessary.

Of course, even the best laid of plans are useless without a proper execution strategy in place. A good case in point lies with the premiere of the latest Dead Pool movie barely a couple of weeks since Black Panther was released. Marvel seems to have set a first by balancing quantity with quality.

The Importance of Marketing

Interesting fact: during production of ‘The Avengers’ the Pentagon halted its cooperation with Marvel Studios because they did not appreciate that they would have to answer to the secret organization like S.H.I.E.L.D.

Even with the most exceptional of products, without marketing, not much can be done to aid the course. The social media platform has been used exceptionally well to hype fans up about future releases.

Marvel’s movies have also managed to stand out due to the continuity of the universe and timeline. One can comfortably enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy without ever having seen The Avengers or Captain America. Due to the allure of each individual film as standalones, the movies seem to almost sell themselves to the masses.

From an entrepreneurial standpoint, there are a couple of pointers we can all pick up about the incredulous success story of Marvel. Planning and consistency are the essential elements one needs to have in order to succeed.