Fans Believe MCU Should 'Slow Down' Amid VFX Artists Backlash
Maybe there's no actual need for dozens of new projects every year.
Marvel Studios seems to be increasing its pace every year, offering more and more projects for its new phases and trying to embrace every potentially successful superhero story that comic books can offer. Now that the studio has also set ambitious goals for small screens, there isn't a month when there's no new MCU project to be released.
But is it really a good thing?
Struggling to meet the deadlines of the many premieres scheduled for each month, Marvel creators sometimes find themselves sacrificing the quality of their projects for the sake of quantity, some fans argued online. And they have a good point, according to the recent wave of grievances shared by VFX artists in a Reddit thread.
With dozens of VFX artists flocking to the thread to slam Marvel's working conditions and deadlines that are sometimes physically impossible to meet, many fans expressed overwhelming support towards the usually overlooked staffers.
Many recent Marvel projects were heavily criticized for less than perfect CGI, but according to fans, it's the studio executives who should be blamed, not the VFX artists who burn out as they try to meet the studio's ambitious demands.
There is a perfect solution for that, people argue, and it is… slowing down.
"@MarvelStudios please show down, for audience’s sake and worker’s sake… it doesn’t look awful about 90% of the time I like it, but make it a better environment." – @andrewlg13.
Returning to the principle "quality over quantity" might be good for both the audience and the staffers, some fans believe. The way things currently work simply leaves the vital part of the creative team overlooked and even disrespected.
"The industry has such little respect for animators and Visual effects artists. They basically make the entire damn thing nowadays yet the recognition barely ever gets there, and in the case of animation, they actively undermine it. Artists deserve the respect they don't get." – @Diego_Solano180.
In 2022, Marvel pushed for three big screen projects ('Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness', 'Thor: Love and Thunder ', as well as upcoming 'Black Panther' sequel), and at least six projects for small screens. According to fans, this schedule could be way less cramped.
"If they want the cake and to eat it too, how about two movies and two shows a year. Extend the shows to have anywhere between 6-12 episodes too. That way we as an audience and the all of the workers get breaks from this mess." – @TheCTFrank.
But it certainly doesn't look like Marvel is anywhere near slowing down. With big plans for 2022, the upcoming year seems to be even more stuffed with premieres, as there are at least four big screen projects coming, and some five TV shows with their release date to be announced.