Summary
Marvel Studios dropped huge news this week by revealing the cast ofAvengers: Doomsday. The film featured a litany of incredible actors and some of the biggest characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Some surprise additions were former X-Men stars, some of whom haven’t been seen in those roles for over a decade.
It proves that Marvel Studios is going all out forAvengers: Doomsdayin a bid to make it a success, but they are also providing opportunities for newer characters. Many stars of the upcomingThunderbolts*movie will also be appearing in the film. However, the announcement provided several significant spoilers for that project, disappointing people.
Marvel Studios Spoiled Thunderbolts* In Its Own Announcement
Thunderboltsfeatures a fantastic cast of actors and some brilliant characters that MCU fans are excited to see more of. However, the decision to reveal that the majority of the team aregoing to be inAvengers: Doomsdayhas effectively spoiled the movie. Audiences now know that they will survive, which has dramatically lowered the stakes of all the upcoming action scenes. However, it also pointed toward one character that is unlikely to surviveThunderbolts: Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster.
There has already been a lot of speculation that he’snot going to make it out ofThunderboltsbased on how rarely Taskmaster is seen in the trailer for the movie. In group shots, he’s often missing, which hints at him being taken out earlier on, and the fact that he’s not joining the rest of the group inAvengers: Doomsdaydoesn’t do much to quell those rumors. It was a strange decision on Marvel’s behalf, given the interest inThunderbolts, as this has given people an idea of what they’re going to see.
This Decision Could Hurt Thunderbolts* Box Office Results
Thunderboltsis a brand new project for the MCU; therefore, there’s always going to be a risk that it won’t deliver, given that interest in the franchise is slightly down across the board. Marvel Studios has put together a great cast, but they still need to promote the film as much as possible, and this announcement feels like something that could hurt the box office results.TheAvengers: Doomsdaycast revealhad over four million views on the livestream alone, so it obviously did a great job of promoting that film. However, anAvengersproject doesn’t really need tons of promotion in order to deliver, as fans are going to head out in their droves to see it regardless of who is involved. On the other hand,Thunderboltsis an unknown commodity and a team that fans have never seen; therefore, making the movie as appealing as possible should be the key.
Of course, adding several cast members toAvengers: Doomsdaycould get some people interested to check it out to see what they’re all about, as Marvel seems to be invested in them as a group. However, effectively confirming who will and won’t survive the movie is a massive problem as it gives away key elements of the story. While nothing is confirmed, as Taskmaster might survive but leave in a different manner, it has certainly brought a lot of controversy and anger amongfans who were excited forThunderbolts*.
It’s A Worrying Long-Term Planning Decision
The timing of this announcement is particularly strange given that it effectively spoiled howThunderboltswill end for no reason. While the cast is likely to be spotted on set forAvengers: Doomsday, the majority of casual audiences wouldn’t have found out about that news until Marvel wanted to reveal it. Therefore, this was an announcement that could easily have taken place afterThunderboltshad been released. It would have benefited that stand-alone movie, which is going to see Marvel attempt to create a brand new team out of characters that are either relatively unknown or lacking in significant powers. Given the positive reviews that the trailer has been receiving and the fact that Marvel Studios could do with a hit, the decision to potentially damage that movie just to get some extremelyearly buzz aroundAvengers: Doomsdayseems baffling.
Marvel Studios has always prided itself on fantastic long-term planning, which is the reason why the MCU exists and has worked in the first place. However,theAvengers: Doomsdayannouncementfelt like the opposite of that, and no real thought had been put into it regarding the impact it could have on other projects and characters.Thunderboltsmight not be one of Marvel’s biggest priorities compared to the upcomingThe Fantastic Four: First Stepsfilm, but it still needs to be treated with the same respect. That’s especially true since there are obviously plans for theThunderboltscharacters beyond this movie, as they are going to be inAvengers: Doomsday,so Marvel should want as many eyes on the film as possible.
