Movie Franchises Done Right

Avengers: Infinity War is the culmination of a decade of films, with probably a hundred-or-so Characters from all across the universe. Chances are, it’s going to break box office records, and join the likes of Toy Story 3, Fast & Furious Seven and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in the billion-dollar club.

What do these four movies have in common? They’re the conclusion to long-running franchises, and the end of the story for Characters that audiences will have grown up with. We have watched these Characters grow- Captain America, Buzz Lightyear, Harry Potter, Brian O’Conner- and evolve as they face the events from multiple stories. Each time, they learn something new, they experience loss, their appearances change. As we grow up, so do they.

Time And Care Pay Off

Harry Potter was always going to have an end, and judging by the success of the books, it was always going to be a hit at the box office.

J. K. Rowling and Warner Brothers worked hard to tell eight excellent movies, and every time it paid off. They could have been unremarkable films and made decent money, but the creators put in the effort to make an exceptional product, and this series will be remembered forever.

When Pixar started out, Toy Story was a huge gamble but it paid off. A few years later, Disney announced a sequel going straight to DVD. The studio wrestled back control, told a story worth telling and the results spoke for themselves- it helped Pixar become the animation powerhouse it is today. Years later, they decided to end the Toy Story franchise and take their care making a perfect ending. It grossed over a billion dollars and was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.

Developing Organically

Marvel Studios risked everything with Iron Man, and it paid off. They slowly started introducing Characters like Thor and Captain America, letting audiences get to know them. Four years after Iron Man, Marvel released The Avengers and it became one of the highest-grossing movies of all time.

The studio continued the pattern- introducing more Characters to a movie at a time, then bringing them all together. Each time, the box office improved. Some were more successful than others, but audiences got to know Characters as they appeared more often.

The Fast and The Furious started off as a generic car-racing movie. It limped on for a few more installments with different characters, never quite capturing the magic of the original. Then the studio decided to change gears, hire a new director, and crucially bring back Characters from the first four movies. Somehow, this worked and with every new Fast and Furious movie, featuring Characters that now had a chance to develop, the movies became more successful.

When you have a plan, and it shows that you really care about these Characters, it pays off. It doesn’t matter if you planned it all out from the beginning, or it happened organically and you maintained the quality of each sequel. When you realize you have something special that people connect with and you work hard to nurture these Characters, the aforementioned examples prove that it will often result in success.

Forcing It

The previous examples, across multiple movies, make you care about their characters and developed a rich, ongoing story. Yes, even The Fast and The Furious did this. They all took their time to build a universe and didn’t rush their storytelling.

However, they are the exception to the rule. More often than not, in the case of Avengers and Harry Potter, competitors thought in the short-term and wanted what these franchises had worked long and hard to achieve. They wanted the same success in a much shorter space of time, and it didn’t work out for them.

DC Comics

DC, the comics studio that owns beloved Characters like Superman and Batman, altered their plans after the Superman movie Man of Steel and released 3 films in the space of fewer than 2 years. This enabled them to release Justice League, their own equivalent of The Avengers. When they finally released Justice League, a team of 6 heroes, we were introduced to half of the team for the first time. They lacked Character development, and they had no chemistry as a group.

Wonder Woman is the only fleshed-out Character of the Justice League. Audiences responded well to her solo movie, released several months before. It was a huge hit and the most financially successful DC movie. But Justice League made less money than any other DC film before it. A movie featuring Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman together was less successful than Marvel movies featuring superheroes most people had never heard of.

Young Adult Series

After the Harry Potter series, movie studios were desperate to copy its success. They bought the rights to many Young Adult book series and rushed them into production. But The Hunger Games and Twilight, whilst successful, completed their series in less than a decade, and each successive installment made less money than the previous one.

Rather than learn from these popular franchises, rivals wanted to copy them exactly, and put less time and effort into them. Even if they were relatively successful, their attempts have less of a life beyond the opening weekend. Audiences stop talking about their movies pretty soon after the credits roll.

What Writers Can Learn From Franchises

People cry out about “the death of Hollywood”, and how sequels and comic book movies are ruining Cinema. In fact, Franchises, if done right, present a wonderful opportunity for writers.

They are able to take their time developing Character arcs and storylines. Franchises that take their time and spread themselves out end up being more like long-form Television series.

Our culture has changed, and Television has become the storytelling medium of choice. Some stories can be told in 2 hours or less, but some need longer. They can connect with audiences for longer, and don’t need to rush things. Shows like The Wire and Breaking Bad have captured the public imagination and remain talked about to this day.

In certain circumstances, if properties are going to create multiple installments of their movie franchise, then they might as well treat them like long-form television. The four successful examples prove that this is one of the best ways forward, as Hollywood relies more and more on expensive blockbuster franchises.

This month is Power of Conscience month, where most of the website’s content is dedicated to those who are justice seekers. They believe they know best what is right or wrong, and will go as far as they have to do ensure that wrong is punished or set right.

Today we’re looking at Whistleblowers. These are the men and women who call out injustice and conspiracy for the good of the people. In the real world, we have recent examples like Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning, who were forced into exile for exposing Government wrongdoing.

Whilst it may have broken the law, sometimes laws are outdated and no longer work to protect the people. When this is the case, sometimes, you need to go outside the law in order to do what it right. This is exactly what any Power of Conscience character would do.

There are also Whistleblowers who don’t break the law but are suppressed and finally risk everything to do what is right. Most recently we saw Rose McGowan, among others, who drove the momentum after the accusations came out against Harvey Weinstein.

The movement became bigger than one predator because of Whistleblowers like Rose McGowan who were bullied into silence but spoke out because it was the right thing to do. Whistleblowers are always Power of Conscience characters.

An excellent example of a fictional Whistleblower is Captain America (Chris Evans), in the 2014 movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Captain America is frozen in time after WW2 and defrosted in the present day. A soldier with a boy scout mentality has his morality severely tested when he discovers that SHIELD, the espionage organization he works for, has been infiltrated by HYDRA, the villains he thought he defeated back in the 1940s, since the beginning. He has been working for the bad guys and decides to reveal this information to the public.

This action destabilizes national security and leaves the espionage community, and government, in chaos.

He may not have been a Whistleblower if he wasn’t a Power of Conscience character. He always does the right thing, even if it may have catastrophic results in the long term.

In this case, he was right to do so, but in the 2016 sequel he goes the other way and keeps information from his friends, and violates international law because he believes it is the right thing to do. Captain America is every bit as much as Power of Conscience character as Manning, Snowden, and McGowan.

This key speech from the film perfectly sums up Captain America’s motivations:

“The Price of Freedom is high, and it’s a price I’m willing to pay.”

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The character moments were my favorite parts of the movie because, I confess, the 3-D gave me a splitting headache and the action scenes go on a tad long for my personal taste.

The movie begins with the premise that humanity will be annihilated if Loki, the bitter banished demigod, opens a hole in space to let in an invading mechanized army. Loki is adopted, hates his brother, Thor, and wants to destroy the earth Thor loves and protects.

This crisis brings together the reluctant Avengers teammates.  Each portrays his or her Character Type with nearly pitch perfect attitude and dialogue.

Loki is a Power of Idealism demi-god villain:  Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and these Character Types believe they are meant for some kind of heroic destiny.

He says: I am Loki, of Asgard. And I am burdened with glorious purpose.

These characters are “divas” and want to be seen as special, unique, and extraordinary– something out of reach for Loki, who is always in the shadow of his more perfect “brother” Thor.  It was Thor who got all the glory and Loki is furious about that. A bit of dialogue says it all–

Tony Stark: Loki wants everyone to see what he’s doing.

Steve Rogers: Yeah, I caught his act at Stuttengard.

Tony Stark: That was a preview, this will be opening night. Loki’s a full-fledged diva, everything’s got to be about him. He wants a parade, flowers, anything that’ll bring in an audience. He needs someplace where everyone can see it’s him and he’s doing it, somewhere where his name is up in lights!

Thor is a  Power of Love demigod:  Thor (Chris Hemsworth) uses his strength and power to care for and protect the earth.  Despite everything, he still is attached to his adoptive brother, Loki, as evidenced in the following exchange:

Bruce Banner: I don’t think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy’s brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him.

Thor: Have a care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother.

Natasha Romanoff: He killed eighty people in two days.

Thor: He’s adopted.

Thor is the son of Gaea, the nurturing mother earth herself. In his comic book backstory Thor is a caring doctor, Donald Black, who is willing to defy the might of Asgard for the woman he loves.  Power of Love characters are incredibly strong characters and are ferociously unstoppable when something they love and care for is in threatened.

Iron Man is a Power of Excitement man-made superhero in his mechanized suit:  In his own words he is Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. In addition, he’s a jokester and an agent of chaos, who loves to stir things up. He’d especially like to see the Hulk get unleashed.

He says: “Dr. Banner, your work is unparalleled. And I’m a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.”

Stark speaks frequently in the movie about escape or wanting to escape. Steve Rogers, Captain America, chides him for that saying Stark doesn’t have it in him to make the “sacrifice play” that puts others first. Tony Stark’s rakish push-the-envelop devil-may-care attitude continually presses everyone’s buttons in the story, but his charm, ready wit, and natural talent as an improvisor helps save the day.

Captain American is a Power of Conscience government laboratory experiment turned superhero: Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is a super-soldier who believes in following rules, following orders, and the importance of the chain of command.  He can seem a little stiff and humorless at times but he is 100%  reliable, trustworthy, and always puts the good of the team first. The difference between Rogers and Stark is summed up in this exchange:

Steve Rogers: We have orders, we should follow them.

Tony Stark: Following’s not really my style.

Steve Rogers: And you’re all about style, aren’t you?

Tony Stark: Of the people in this room, which one is A – wearing a spangly outfit and B – not of much use?

Stark surprises Rogers at the climax. And Rogers learns to improvise more, following Stark’s example.

The Hulk is a Power of Will gamma ray experiment gone-wrong superhero:  Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), in his Hulk state, is all angry impulse. He is primitive. He’s strong. He is a mass of instinctual drives and impulses that only finds satisfaction in “Hulk smash!”  In his normal human state Banner controls his anger enough to be a protector (as a doctor in remote India) rather than a destroyer. But his raw uncontrollable instinctual side is never far away.

Steve Rogers: Doc… I think now is the perfect time for you to get angry.

Bruce Banner: That’s my secret Cap, I’m always angry.

The Black Widow is a Power of Truth super-spy: Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) doesn’t have super powers per se but she is as skilled a warrior as any of her other Avengers teammates. She lives in a spy vs. spy world that is filled with hidden dangers, secretive enemies, and concealed pitfalls. With the Black Widow– “Things are never what they seem.” “Trust no one.” “Question everything.” “Watch out for secret agendas and hidden pitfalls.” Just when an adversary thinks she is most vulnerable she is actually conducting a brilliant and treacherous interrogation.

Hawkeye is a Power of Reason ultra-expert archer:  Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) is a loner and a bit alienated, the perfect combination for his backstory and continuing role as sniper. He is a cold and calculating and spends the first half of the movie under the mind control of Loki.

There isn’t time for very much character development in The Avengers, but what there is is spot on.  Each hero is absolutely true to his or her Character Types in both word and deed. When every bit of dialogue and action has to count as character development, the Character Types will help you be as economical and on target as the characters here.