It’s no secret that Marvel Studios is aiming to exploit as many of its comic book characters as humanly possible. And with the sale to Disney long since locked in, the company is now owned by a studio looking to get as many merchandisable characters out into the mainstream as possible. But given that many of the smaller, second-and-third-tier heroes aren’t exactly suited to a straight movie launch, the Marvel team might just be thinking smaller. As in shorter. As in shorts.
According to Latino Review’s sources, there’s a rumour – the guys warn us that this is strictly unconfirmed for now – that the company is looking at ways to launch characters with lower recognition factor like Luke Cage, Dr Strange and Black Panther, which includes the idea of putting short adventures for those and other heroes in front of the bigger Marvel movies.
If it happens, it sounds like a decent idea to raise awareness for those who don’t come boasting the instant appeal of, say, Spider-Man or even the X-Men. And thanks to Disney’s animation side, with John Lasseter and Ed Catmull keeping the tradition, particularly on Pixar movies, of running a short before the feature, it’s not like it’s something new to the Mouse House.
But while for now it’s so much speculation, we throw the question open: do you want to see Marvel shorts aimed at getting cinema going audiences excited for the likes of Dr Strange? Or would you prefer Marvel’s previously touted option of lower-budgeted films handed to creative types as the main launch pad?