Life In a Marvel Universe

        *This article discusses recent events in several Marvel films, most notably Captain America: The Winter Soldier and therefore does contain spoilers. If you have not yet seen the film, continue at your own risk.

A few friends and I were recently discussing events that occurred during Captain America: The Winter Soldier, a very fun film but one which I had a major complaint with. A complaint that elicited some seriously polar opposite reactions. Some are on board, some use the ‘It’s A Comic Book!’ argument, and some are even calling ‘Hater!’

This demands discussion, so here it is:

 During the film Nick Fury is handed a major story arc where he goes full-throttle against the very government he has sworn to protect. Fury is then viciously and violently gunned down by the titular Winter Soldier. After much sobbing, weeping and exposition about his beautiful mocha skin, One-Eyed Willy seems to cash in his Marvel contract right there on the operating table. He dead.

Cap is renewed, reinvigorated and now determined to bring those responsible to justice. All of them. Whomever they may be. It serves as the catalyst for every other single event that happens after. And, at the end of the film, that sunufa bitch Fury is still alive! He duped us. Well not most of us, but they tried pretty hard to dupe us. You know what else they did? They told us that in the Marvel universe, life just doesn’t matter.

This is, by my count, the third major character ‘fake’ death in the last four Marvel films. Agent Coulson in Avengers (he’s on TV now, seems to be recovering from death nicely), Pepper Pots in Iron Man 3 and now Nick ‘Don’t Hassle the Hoff’ Fury. For you accountants out there, that means 75% of the time Marvel is pretending to kill off people you like. And 0% of the time they actually do. That isn’t even taking into account the actual Winter Soldier (Bucky ‘died’) nor the recent Thor 2 (so that cool Loki death didn’t hold either, eh?). In the Marvel Universe, life just doesn’t matter.

I am not advocating killing off characters we love in a Marvel world. This isn’t Game of Thrones and there is no need for heroes to bite the end of a proverbial bullet every film. But if you are going to continue to use this trope, you absolutely have to allow SOMEONE of importance to die. Anyone. Hell, Hawkeye if pretty pointless so start there if you can’t decide who. If they do not leave someone in the afterlife, these films become nothing more than flashy soap operas where there are no real consequences other than property damage. That is not raising the stakes, that is lazy writing.

The argument that ‘It happens all the time in the comics’ is such a gross misrepresentation of the truth it makes me wish I had a cape so I could super-kick into the stratosphere. Yes, it happens in the comics. It does NOT happen 3 out of 4 issues of a standard series. If you really want to equate direct to the comics, that is how you have to do it: Pick up any 4 issues of any title in succession.  I’m willing to bet my Iron Man decoder ring that maybe one fake death occurs, if that. This argument is meant to shut down the point, and all it does is cause a cocker-spaniel head tilt followed by my ‘Whaaaa?’ face. Argue smarter, not harder

A good friend of mine said something very insightful on this point: ‘To do this almost every movie is lazy and unimaginative from a company that employs some of the most creative minds on the planet.’ He couldn’t be more right.

Think of The Avengers. They had split up, were not working cohesively, and then Coulson’s death united them. From the memory of their fallen comrade, they saw the realities of a cruel world. We felt that death and wept with them. We were wounded by losing a character we had built up such an affection and enjoyment for. Now if you turn on ABC, you will see the same Agent Coulson popping up every Tuesday with zippy one-liners and renewed zest on Agents of SHIELD. His death was marginalized and now, when re-watching The Avengers, it carries none of the weight it held previously. It has been cheapened.

 The other prevalent argument is that ‘You’re just being a hater’ or ‘That’s far too critical’. I call complete and total BS. Just because you are a fan does not mean the same rules and expectations you put on everything else do not apply. If this happened in a series most of the accusatory voices were not a fan of, you would hear up and down how idiotic that is, how cheap, how that is why X film sucks. This is a great movie, but a great movie with a lazy plot device at its core. Calling that point out is not hating, it is a legitimate discussion point.

I loved Winter Soldier, truly, but this just has to stop. Marvel has become an amazing cinematic storyteller, yet for these films to continue to be successful we need to have investment in the fate of these characters. There needs to be more of consequence than simply wanton destruction. You have to show us you are willing to hurt us, otherwise stop trying to. That means if you place a character in peril, we NEED to feel there is an actual chance of losing them. Otherwise we feel it will always be ok…because so far, it always is. I want these films to be the absolute classics they deserve to be.

And for me personally, that means that life should matter.

Aaron Peterson

The Hollywood Outsider