漫威电影帝国的起与落——读《MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios》

February 19, 2024

图源 https://www.fullsail.edu/about/full-sail-stories/over-150-grads-credited-throughout-marvel-cinematic-universe

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不能算是漫威铁粉，但在 phase 5 之前也差不多每一部电影都看过，这本书刚好赶在全面扑街之际出版，从头到尾串了一遍眼看他起朱楼眼看他楼塌了的时间线也算应景。不过除了一些幕后权力和版权斗争的八卦小趣闻还算有趣之外，影视最大娱乐帝国的恢弘和时代感没起来，尤其是读到并没那么跨时代意义或者感兴趣的作品部分就分外流水账了，尤其是强调了 Kevin Feige 的核心性但如何起作用却在早期 xmen 选角贡献后就再没怎么写出来。

最大的感叹还是人生充满了机缘巧合，比如因版权之争错过《蜘蛛侠》的卡梅隆和小李子，比如幸亏没谈拢不然差点阿汤哥演了钢铁侠，比如迈克尔杰克逊竟然还想过眼 x 教授等等。不读这个也不知道现在大打 diversity 牌的漫威高层之前以卖玩具为由光明正大地厌女。

整体个人评分：★★★ 购买链接

「MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios」

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "A superb chronicle of how Marvel Studios conquered Hollywood…. This definitive account of the Hollywood juggernaut thrills." —Publishers Weekly, starred review The unauthorized, behind-the-scenes story of the stunning rise—and suddenly uncertain reign—of the most transformative cultural phenomenon of our time: the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel Entertainment was a moribund toymaker not even twenty years ago. Today, Marvel Studios is the dominant player both in Hollywood and in global pop culture. How did an upstart studio conquer the world? In MCU, beloved culture writers Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards draw on more than a hundred interviews with actors, producers, directors, and writers to present the definitive chronicle of Marvel Studios and its sole, ongoing production, the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For all its outward success, the studio was forged by near-constant conflict, from the contentious hiring of Robert Downey Jr. for its 2008 debut, Iron Man, all the way up to the disappointment of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and shocking departures of multiple Marvel executives in 2023. Throughout, the authors demonstrate that the original genius of Marvel was its resurrection and modification of Hollywood’s old studio system. But will it survive its own spectacular achievements? Dishy and authoritative, MCU is the first book to tell the Marvel Studios story in full—and an essential, effervescent account of American mass culture.

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虽然绝大多数篇幅是非影迷过目即忘的流水账，不过既然读了就还是搬运一下我读的时候随手记录下来的觉得比较有意思的点。

詹姆斯·卡梅隆（泰坦尼克号、阿凡达）本来要拍蜘蛛侠电影，小李子出演 Peter Parker，但当时蜘蛛侠的电影版权正在漫威、索尼等几家公司之间混战无法开拍，于是他们就去拍了泰坦尼克号。卡梅隆自己也说"Spiderman is the best movie I never made."
漫威试图把美国队长，黑豹，奇异博士等角色和蜘蛛侠打包一起以 2500 万美元卖给索尼，但是索尼拒绝了，只以 700 万购买了蜘蛛侠的电影版权，并评论道"Nobody give a shit about any of the other Marvel characters".
后来一手创立 MCU 的制作人 Kevin Feige 在职业早期给 X-men 制作人当助手，在他的影响下 X-men 电影选了当时名不见经传且因为身高过高被诟病不像漫画中角色的休·杰克曼出演金刚狼，以及诸多非常标志性的演员 Halle Berry（风暴女），Patrick Stewart（X 教授）等也是他影响选中的。
当年 Michael Jackson 想演 X 教授。（！）
阿汤哥考虑过出演钢铁侠，不过后来因为片酬过高没谈拢。
“China needed Marvel and Marvel needed China, and almost everyone on both sides was willing to bend their principles to make that work.” 这条说的是 COVID 之后漫威重回中国的努力，2022 年，中国总票房比 2019 年下降了 22%，意识到还是需要引进好莱坞大片。与此同时漫威为了中国市场也愿意作出删减。期间还爆出漫威特效团队的元老 Victoria Alonso 跟漫威的反目导火索之一可能是她不愿意为中国市场删除《蚁人3》背景中出现的彩虹旗。
书中花了大篇幅提到了漫威（尤其是漫威 CEO Ike Perlmutter 还掌权，迪斯尼还没有把 Marvel Studios 从主要目标是用电影带动玩具销量的 Marvel Entertainment 下面分离出来的时候）以“女性和有色人种玩具不好卖”为由的明晃晃厌女和种族歧视（书中没有明确用这俩词倒是）。第一部复联的五大英雄之一的黑寡妇却没有跟其它英雄一样数量的玩具和周边产品。甚至到了银河护卫队，作为第二主角的 Gamora 都依然没有玩具和 tshirt，引起了争议，并且 #wheresgamora 上了 trending。后来还有了 #wheresnatasha （黑寡妇），绿巨人扮演者 Mark Ruffulo 也加入了。
书中还提到在奥创纪元中寡姐和 Bruce Banner 谈心的时候为了和他共情提到了自己当年特工训练时候被绝育，“Do you still think you’re the only monster here?” 把没有生育能力和怪物类比。“Whedon (编剧) gives his favorite character the kind of female troubles only a man can write.”
惊奇队长上映前被 review bomb 的这段评论也写得很好：“While any movie that dared to not center on the experience or interests of young white men got accused of ‘identity politics’, the anounymous anger towards women was notably more intense: Captain Marvel was attacked in a way that Black Panther hadn’t been. There was so many prerelease pans on Rotten Tomatoes that the site shut down the user review section until the official release date. That slowed the torrent of abuse but didn’t stop it."（美国的 incel 跟中国的比起来可真是一点不差呢）

漫威电影帝国的起与落——读《MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios》

February 19, 2024

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