February Digital Magazine

45
DARK NEW
ERA
Will Marvel’s entrance into horror movies impact younger audience turnout?
April 26, 2019 — audiences flocked by the millions
to view the conclusion to “Phase 3” of the Marvel
Cinematic Universe. Avengers: Endgame became
the highest grossing film of all time, an incredible feat for
any movie, but especially a superhero film. This might
have been due, in large part, to the scope of their audience.
Moviegoers of all ages attended Endgame, a pointer
to just what makes these kind of movies tick, the key
to their success; regardless of age, most Marvel movies
promise a good time. Teens have seen the last decade of
their lives packed with the likes of Robert Downey Jr. and
Chris Evans, and Phase 3 of the MCU ended right around
when those same teens are about to enter college adulthood.
So, what does Marvel have in store for the next
generation of moviegoers?
Of all the answers to that question, horror seemed
the least likely. And yet, here we are. On Monday, Sony
released the trailer to Morbius, and, well, it’s not for
everyone. This isn’t a movie about men in flying suits
or overweight Norse gods — Morbius tells the story of
Dr. Michael Morbius, a genius trapped by his rare and
lethal blood disease. Being a genius and all, he decides
to search for a cure using vampire bats. Something goes
horribly wrong, and now Jared Leto is jumping off walls
and attacking people with six-inch-long fangs. Yes, the
studio that gave audiences a movie where Tom Hardy
bonds with a hungry alien and starts biting off peoples’
heads has now given us the first glimpse at Marvel’s first
vampire movie. Fan responses have been overwhelmingly
positive, but there’s an issue here that people aren’t
considering.
Who in their right mind is going to take their child or
younger sibling to see a vampire movie?
Last week, 20th Century Fox released The New Mutants
trailer, which is also a horror movie from Marvel entertainment.
Months before, Marvel announced their continued
plans for Phase 4 of their cinematic universe. One
of these scheduled released was Doctor Strange in the
Multiverse of Madness, which has since been confirmed
to be the MCU’s first horror movie. It all begs the same
question — is this darker side of Marvel going to negatively
impact their box office numbers? “I think Marvel
should at least try making more horror movies,” says
Marvel fan Frank Smoot-Canty (11). “Since Morbius is a
new character to the MCU, this is very much an experiment
to see what audiences will like. I don’t think, however,
that movie turnout will be that great though, with
Morbius not being a mainstream character and horror
being a topic younger audiences would shy away from.”
It remains to be seen if Frank’s words will prove true,
but there’s a logic to his statement. Marvel is dipping its
toe in an area previously alien to it, and there really is
no way of knowing for sure what that entails. One thing’s
for sure; when the day comes when Jared Leto’s Morbius
tries to take a bite out of Tom Holland’s Spider Man, we’ll
all tune in to see who wins.
Image courtesy of Looper
charlie williams|staff writer