Age of the Geek

Hooked on a Feeling

     It’s official. “Guardians of the Galaxy” is a hit.

     The space adventure filled with sarcastic aliens and 70s pop music didn’t just set a high bar in “Star Wars: Episode VII,” but proved that Marvel Studios could take one of their most obscure properties and turn it into a box-office hit.

     Five months ago, when the first trailer aired on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” I predicted that this movie was going to make a billion dollars. After a worldwide total of $160,000,000 in just three days, it looks like I’m going to be right.

     Guardians isn’t just breaking the bank. It’s also one of those rare movies that the general public and the professional critics both enjoy. And if the latest Transformers movie could top $1,000,000,000, then surely a movie that’s actually good can do the same.

     At first glance, “Guardians of the Galaxy” seemed like a huge risk for Marvel Studios. After all, the members of the team aren’t strictly super-heroes and they’re virtually unknown to the general public.

     But the more I think about it, the less of a departure it seems.

     After all, Iron Man wasn’t a household name back in 2007. The only reason Marvel Studios made movies out of The Avengers in the first place was because nobody wanted to buy the movie rights during their bankruptcy in the late 90s.

     It’s a testament to how well Marvel Studios has done for themselves. Sony, Fox and Warner Brothers had the cream of the crop when it came to recognizable comic book characters, and today they are all following the lead of the studio that makes billion dollar movies with the leftovers.

     As for branching away from the super-hero setting, that was never really too much of a stretch anyway. The first Captain America movie was a WWII adventure and the second was a spy thriller. The Thor films have been Shakespearian sci-fi while “Iron Man 3” spent its middle half pretending to be a buddy-cop movie.

     So outlaws-in-space really isn’t that far out of Marvel Studios’ comfort zone.

     The bigger question is, where does Marvel Studios go from here?

     The next Marvel Studios movie is “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” which will wrap up the Phase Two portion of their multi-year plan on May 1, 2015.

     Phase Three begins just a couple months later on July 17, 2015 with “Ant-Man,” where we’ll see if Peyton Reed can salvage the film after Edgar Wright walked off the project earlier this year.

     In 2016 we’ll have “Captain America 3” going toe-to-toe with “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” on May 6. And again, if you had told me ten years ago that a Captain America movie would be considered the favorite in a box-office battle against a movie with Batman and Superman, I’d say you were out of your mind. That’s how far we’ve come.

     Later in 2016, we’ll get another new franchise out of Marvel with “Doctor Strange” on July 8, where the Sorcerer Supreme will no doubt encounter yet another of the Infinity Stones.

     In 2017, Marvel finally ups their movie production to three films a year. Of the three release dates that Marvel has penciled in, one has been claimed by the “Guardians of the Galaxy” sequel. I’d wager the two remaining spots will go to “Thor 3” and either a Black Widow movie or a Captain Marvel movie.

     Marvel Studios has claimed three more release dates in 2018, and one date in 2019. It’s anybody’s guess what will go there, although you can bet that one of them will be “Avengers: Infinity Gauntlet.”

     It’ll be a long road to get there but, like Pixar, Marvel Studios has proven that even their worst is still pretty good.

     It’s a good time to be a fan of comic book movies.

     And talking raccoons.

     Travis Fischer is a news writer for Mid-America Publishing and still really wants a Nova movie.