www.inverse.com: There’s a lot that separates Marvel movies from “normal” movies. The biggest thing is, of course, the franchise itself, as each movie is the next chapter in an ever-growing saga. But Marvel Studios films also popularized the post-credits scene teaser, as well as surprise cameos that lead into other movies or shows. But one other surprising filmmaking technique has been part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe fabric from the beginning.
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As someone who had a very large Marvel phase during COVID, I am very excited to see the next installment of the Avengers storyline. I am, however, also concerned about Marvel’s track record leading up to this point. Now in phase 6, its past phase following Avengers: Endgame has been disappointing to many fans. This technique of “plus-ing” may have worked in the past, but, as the article also pointed out, Avengers: Doomsday has a new lineup of characters that have not interacted with each other to a capacity like the past Avengers films. Yes, crafting the story as they went along may have worked when the story followed six superheroes and built from that every movie, but with the main cast being extremely large and coming from all different Marvel backgrounds, I am curious to see how the Russo brothers tackle this challenge. I also wish the article could have provided more concrete examples of when “plus-ing” occurs to accurately gauge how much is actually developed while in production.
I’ve known for a while that the filming process of Marvel movies is never smooth or planned out ahead, but I wasn’t aware of how much the studio (specifically the Russo brothers) relied on plus-ing for their films. A lot of fans, specifically voice complaints with films or shows straying from comic accuracy or seeming to be all over the place. Complaints also arise from an abundance of bad or seemingly lazy writing. The plus-ing film method most certainly contributes to this problem. Instead of having a small team of writers, director, and a producer or two, the base script is essentially made by over a hundred people (Marvel movies have an egregious amount of main characters). If production began filming with a completed or at least flushed out script, and then allowed for improv and scene changes from the actors, the films/shows would likely be perceived as more complete and put together. I’ve been a Marvel fan for years, and am one of the many excited to go see Doomsday in theatres this December. I am worried this movie is too much of an effort to combine the new era of avengers together. Leading up to Infinity War or Endgame”there were 3 full avengers movies (I count civil war) and a dozen others where multiple characters teamed up. There has not been a character crossover movie since Endgame, and no big leadup to Doomsday. Part of that stems from Marvel's abrupt canceling of Avengers: Age of Kang because of issues with Jonathan Majors. It will be interesting to see how they solve that problem. Only so much can fit into 3 hours of film without it seeming like just throwing spaghetti at the wall.
I think there is certainly a looseness that comes with this style of filmmaking. It's less a stage play where every moment is precisely calculated and executed in exactly the same way night after night, and more like a group of people playing marvel themed DND around a table. Which is not to say either way is bad, I think the challenge with this technique comes in when you need continuity through other movies. It feels like the Russo brothers have plot points they need to hit, and despite letting the actors improv and bring their own ideas to the table, at the end of the day they still need x y and z to happen, but the most important rule of improv is that you can't throw in a no but every time the story starts to veer away from your original plan. I think the Russos are trying to get the best of both worlds, but in trying to mash them together it often creates weird disjointed storylines that make everyone a little upset that it didn't feel more thought out.
How did I not know this was a thing??? Somehow I love marvel even more now. It has superheroes AND it’s an improvised filming process? That. Is. So. Cool. I really appreciate the rehearsal-led directing process. While I have learned that that approach is too much for my anxiety and with my current limited experience level I think there is a lot that can be gained from it. Planning ahead of time allows for more efficient time management and is more affordable. But by sacrificing some of that security for a more organic process you may get something much more valuable out of it. Part of what is so great about theater is there is always some level of improvisation (some shows more than others) that raw unscriptedness makes it feel that much more alive and real. Maybe that is an underlying reason why I enjoy marvel movies so much? It would be a really cool experiment to list all the marvel movies I like then to compare that to the ones that were filmed with this method and see if there is a correlation.
Reading this article I wonder what the actors think of this style of script and production. I feel like the collaboration would be fun and a bit of a change from other productions however there would be stress from not knowing what would be coming next in the scenes and having the main characterization of such a well known character relying so strongly on your choices as an actor and essentially script writer for your role. I think for a franchise that is based off preexisting media this could be easier because there is a wealth of knowledge to find the motives and voice of these characters however for a lesser known or original work this may be a struggle if you are trying to fit with multiple people’s differing expectations of the film without as big a backbone as a script to refer back to.
As is the case for most people, I was aware that this was how Marvel approached their movies. Part of me really enjoys the idea of this method, and I’m sure it’s given me many of my favorite scenes and moments in the franchise. On the other hand, though, I can imagine it has also been a cause of some of their more recent movies feeling directionless and a bit messy. As most Marvel fans would openly tell you, there’s been a bit of a decline in quality over the past few years. Though I’m sure that’s due to many different factors, hearing about this method of filming lines up with that. But in the right hands, that kind of collaboration and improv can be so wonderful and positive for the movie. I’m really hopeful going into Doomsday in a couple of months that they won’t let the film get too garbled.
Improv is the cornerstone of good entertainment because it fosters collaborations. On a set like marvel doomsday you have enough money that you are not necessarily worried about holding your crew for longer than expected which allows you to incorporate more open space and time during filming to add and adjust ideas. One detail that I found particularly interesting in this article was the idea that it is the 10th or 12th time that all these actors are playing their characters. They know who the character is and have been through several iterations allowing them to truly know the ins and outs of that person. The article claims that this connection to the character makes the actor's voice more valid and I don't know if I agree. Although yes they have more background information it is the actors job to walk onto a set or stage and know the entire being of who their character is. This means that an actor's opinions will always be valid even if it is only their first time playing the character.
While I’ve watched a ton of marvel films I’ve never known that this was a tactic they used so much, while I know a ton of movies an tv shows begin filming without a finished script I never would have thought that marvel would do the same, marvel is a billion dollar franchise so I would of thought that they would make sure the script would be as good as possible to ensure that their movies remain as profitable as possible. This is especially strange to me considering the budget of these films, often the budget for these big films are 300 million dollars + so it’s a bit crazy to me to green light budgets like that and not have a full idea where the story is gonna go, especially for doomsday since it’s gonna be their biggest film since endgame, a lot is at stake for them but the hype surrounding the movie is big enough that it will make money even if the script isn’t as good as it could’ve been
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