86 Che’s Character
Marvel Cinematic Universe Audience Study: Fandom and Society Influence
Che Ou
Since the release of the movie Iron Man (2008) in 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has become one of the essential superhero movie franchises in the world’s film industry, and as the movie franchise that transformed and brought about major changes in Hollywood cinema and superhero cinema, its influence has not only been notorious in the industry, but it has also caused a major impact in the movie consumer market, attracting a large number of fans. Their contagiousness stems not only from the content of their films and the sophistication of their storytelling, but also from the efforts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s fanbase to engage in participatory culture through spontaneous community building among viewers, ranging from discussions prior to the release of a movie, video bloggers parsing movie trailers, and the dissemination of second-rate artwork, all of which have been a means of expanding their reach. Through nowadays developed social media, the influence of Marvel fans spreads all over the world, forming a huge ecology of fan communities, discussing, creating and sharing relevant content about the Marvel Cinematic Universe together. This fan community culture has also made Marvel’s IP an important part of contemporary pop culture, bringing it a great deal of value of all kinds.
The fanbase in the Marvel Cinematic Universe analyzed in this research is mainly derived from the period from 2012 to the present, and the time interval will be divided according to the five phases officially set by the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Sandwell & Longridge, 2023). Of these, Phase 3 can be taken as a significant point where the fan base began to undergo growth with the end of Phase 3, i.e. from the release of Iron Man in 2008, until it reached its relative peak with Avengers: Endgame. During this time, Marvel managed to attract a large audience and develop a strong fan base through the introduction of different superheroes, connections created between different movies and mind-blowing storylines. Later on, it can be noticed that the number of fans began to lose, and along with it, the negative comments about Marvel on the Internet gradually increased, this problem may be due to the decrease in the quality of the movie, the story or the portrayal of the characters of the movie is reduced or does not match with the audience’s expectations, through the study of the change in the number of fans with the timeline of the situation, it can be the Marvel fans of the different stages of the movie’s feelings and attitudes. This can not only help to study the embodiment of fans’ participatory culture in the development of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but also provides an opportunity to dig deeper into the changes in fan culture.
In order to achieve the research objectives, I will look at how the Marvel Cinematic Universe fandom was established, how the MCU’s fan community operates itself, those actions of the MCU’s fans that exemplify their participatory culture, the main goals of the MCU’s ANTI fandom and other types of fandom, such as REACTIONARY fandom. I will examine the participatory culture of fans in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by analyzing their patterns of interaction in social media, creating content, commenting on works, and the impact that secondary creativity has had in the fan community of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reveal how the fanbase has built, expanded, operated, and generated revenue for Marvel. Through these questions, I hope to gain a comprehensive understanding of the MCU’s audience and fanbase in order to learn what kind of impact they have had on the MCU.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe, as a cinematic universe in the film industry that has continued to follow the same worldview in more than two dozen films over a fifteen-year period, has a relatively larger fanbase, as no matter which film joins the fanbase, the audience continues to unfold on the basis of Marvel’s Earth- 199999, which allows for the transfer of fans of the but with the characters to other characters or to the MCU. the original MCU fandom was brought to it by traditional Marvel comic book fans as well as the movie Iron Man, who in turn were the very first fanbase of the MCU (Radošinská, & Mago. 2023). Subsequently, through the development of social media and internet forums it gradually came to have its own Fandom Wiki, which served not only as a tool for open learning and welcoming other viewers into the fold, but also as a prosumer producing its own content. From this, it can be suggested that there is a group of people in fandom who not only act as consumers of cultural products, but are also keen to act as producers to share their favorite content with others, which not only generates revenue, but also introduces new people into fandom, forming a two-way relationship with the MCU (Sugihartati, 2020).
And regarding the participatory culture there is likewise still a large number of fans who have left messages in forums such as Reddit to discuss it, after a number of new installments after Phase 3 many viewers are still discussing about whether or not the quality of the comic book movies is starting to decline, the decline mentioned here is not a problem with the production of the movies but rather the idea that the plots are gradually becoming a bit monotonous (ah-screw-it, 2023). At this point in time fans may split into two groups of two camps that show very different views. One is the persistent and stable fan base that has reached a point of “fanatic fandom” where their love for the MCU has outgrown the need for plot and content, and this type of fan base generally has a destructive attachment to its subject matter (Hurova, 2023), and is quite tolerant of the negative aspects of new works. tolerance of the negative aspects of new works. The other type of audience is similar to “reactionary fandom” but may not be as intense or derogatory. This audience is similar to the “reactionary fandom,” but may be less intense and less derogatory. They have a greater sense of belonging to the Marvel brand because of their love of past content, and therefore find it difficult to accept the fact that the changes made to the new films compared to their predecessors have had a negative impact on the content, and that the changes are not in line with what they expect from the evolving Marvel Cinematic Universe. These two types of audiences represent the challenges that the Marvel Cinematic Universe will surely face as it grows, both in terms of balancing the balance between what new fans and old fans want in terms of content while ensuring innovation and growth, and maintaining a sustained appeal to fans of all genres, which highlights Marvel’s role as a company that has already outlived the market’s freshness of superhero movies needing to balance the balance between innovation and legacy in order to maintain continued fan engagement and support.
Another manifestation of participatory culture is similar to the production of memes; one of the most beloved pieces of content about Marvel comes from the sequence in The Avengers (2012) in which Loki is brutally beaten by Hulk in Avengers Mansion, which is an iconic piece of content from that movie because of its absurdly hilarious nature, and many viewers may be attracted to this meme and thus decide to Many viewers may be attracted by this meme and decide to watch the whole movie. Also by taking character nicknames from the movie and bringing them into real life can also serve as a form of participatory culture, as in the movie Avengers: the Endgame (2019) Captain America creates a punchline for himself after battling his 2012 self, “American’s ass ” (Zakarin, 2019), and this is one of the ways in which Marvel interacts with the fan community (Armitage, 2021), a point that figures prominently in the fan community’s interactions, with its use not only as a means of relaxation for the viewer while watching the movie, but also as a part of the fan community, a statement that many people have adaptations, thus expanding its reach as an iconic element. The moniker has contributed to the spread of culture in social media, as well as making movie actors less vanilla and more relatable. Many fans in Twitter began to follow the trend and discuss it (Florio, 2019), as well as begin to make peripheral memes, with GIFs about Captain America and some netizens commenting “I can’t stop thinking about Captain America I can’t stop thinking about Captain America’s ass.” These comments and thoughts will be delivered to every fan through the fan community. Thus memes have become a unique form of expression and dissemination of participatory fan culture, establishing a closer connection between the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the fan community.
There is also a segment of fans known as transmedia fans who mainly originate from before the Marvel Cinematic Universe as comic book fans and also this is going to be a popular trend which makes it easier for viewers to create and share content and expand original content (Scott, 2017). After the advent of the movies, more and more old fans joined the fans of the cinematic universe and there is an interaction with this same segment of fans in the Marvel movies. Instead of grabbing the scepter as he did in Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier (2014), the elevator sequence in the movie Avengers: Endgame has Captain America getting the scepter by saying “Hail Hydra” to the enemy. This clip was inspired by Captain Hydra, who appeared in Marvel’s early comics, a detail that not only pays homage to Marvel’s early work by skimming over similar storylines in the plot, but also reinforces fans’ recognition of the movie’s heritage from the comics and serves as an important topic of discussion for the fan community to lead the way in increasing the level of discussion.
There is also an economic model in fandom that scholars and fans regard as a sharing economy, in which the most valuable and appreciated products are works of art, a genre that includes, but is not limited to, fandom novels, fandom videos, and fandom art (Turk, 2014). The value of this secondary content covers not only the tangible assets, i.e., the product or fiction produced for the image in fandom, but also the intangible assets, i.e., the recognition, attention, and status in fandom that the author receives. This content not only creates economic and emotional value for the prosumer himself, but also passes it on to the owner of the fandom, increasing its popularity and income. Under this economic model, the fan economy has emerged. Based on the influence of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, LEGO has launched an exclusive Marvel series of building blocks, while Hai and Warner have jointly launched Marvel-authorized IP derivative games, which also reflects Marvel’s desire to interact with its fans and to learn about new products that the market expects to emerge through fans’ consumption and investment in different product categories.
Cosplay is also a form of participatory culture, allowing fans to become more immersed in their favorite characters by imitating their costumes, props, and images. Many fans wear cosplay costumes at movie locations and iconic landmarks when traveling to commemorate the event. At the same time, such activities can be shared on the Internet, and in reality, by participating in events such as comic conventions and interacting with others, they are able to represent their idols to the outside world as they see them (Strait MCP, 2023). Successful cosplayers will have a large fanbase in the Internet, and this can likewise serve as an extension of the prosumer’s creation of Comic-Con culture, participating in the construction of the associated fan culture through their own efforts, a model that holds an important place in the fan community (Tang, Song, & Wang, 2023), and also as a secondary creation of cultural content for output. Meanwhile, in the Marvel episode Hawkeye (2021), there is a segment of a play about the Avengers in which the actors on stage perform to make Hawkeye, who is watching, reminisce about his past. Thus such an event triggers the same emotions in the audience, while from the rest of the audience offstage, they enjoy the piece because they are seeing the world exactly as the fans see it.
Decades have passed since the birth of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and while the Marvel Cinematic Universe has gained a large number of fans through the quality of its work and its ability to operate, the influx of fans has also created an unusual group of people who participate in fan discussions: anti-fandom, whose primary actions on social media include, but are not limited to, expressing negative opinions about Marvel’s work, behavior, and most anything related to it, as well as helping to repost and promote other similar actions on social media. Their main actions in social media include, but are not limited to, expressing negative opinions about Marvel’s work, behavior, and most anything related to the show at hand, as well as retweeting and promoting other similar actions on social media, a form of fandom that has grown in popularity with the high level of communication on social media, creating a unique fan community. Some anti-fandom argue that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been striving for a superhero scope since 2008, and that it has not been able to adapt and produce other genres of films, leading to a high degree of templatization of content (Accomplished-Quit 187, 2023). At a time when social media is taking over the lives of the general public, more and more anti-fandom is appearing in social media, and they are using it to spout anti-fandom views in an attempt to influence other viewers. But this also reflects the pluralistic and open culture of social media, where different ideas reflect different notions of cultural identity, and many fans turn to anti-fandom because they believe that comic book movies are now too commercialized and have lost their original depth. and such a large number of shifts in the original fanbase are mainly centered on the timing of the release of the Iron Man movie in 2008 and the movie Black Widow (2021) was released.The 2008 timeframe was because Iron Man was the first film after the founding of Marvel Studios and the opening of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and this shift in focus from comics to films made the first group of anti-fandom in the MCU dissatisfied, and the second timeframe was because the Avengers: Endgame that preceded this film represented the the official end of Phase III of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the Phase IV films showed a marked difference and decline in quality compared to the first three phases, thus converting many fans to anti-fandom.Issues such as these have led to a split in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s fan community, but have demonstrated the openness of their fans to a variety of cultural identities all the same.
In this research I have analyzed the fan engagement communities with the official Marvel interactions with fans by analyzing the fan and anti-fandom and offline fan group activities in Twitter (X), Reddit, Fandom Wiki communities. Twitter, as one of the most popular social media for mass users, I observed how active Marvel Cinematic Universe fans are in participatory fan activities, they are very eager to discuss about the movies, predictions, and exchange opinions about the movie characters with others in social media, and also as the platform where many official accounts are most active, Marvel Studios at the same time interacts with the audience occasionally in the comments. Reddit, on the other hand, is a forum-based social media platform, where each user can find a discussion forum that is more relevant to his or her own ideas, and therefore more oriented to a large number of discussions of the same content. The pace of discussion here is relatively slow, and in the different threads gathered under the group of fans who have a common topic, and more in-depth discussion of the content. However, because of the forum structure, it is easier to gather anti-fandom, and it is easier to hide the real identity of users on Reddit than on Twitter, which makes it easier for users to express controversial or non-mainstream views. Through the study of both positive fans and anti-fandom, it can be clearly seen that in this virtual space for discussing Comic-Con, the majority of fans still discuss and speak based on the content posted, and we cannot ignore an important social phenomenon related to fan participation, namely “parasociality”. “In social media platforms, fan interactions are still only virtual, which emphasizes the emotional projection of fans towards characters or content created by Marvel, a one-way relationship that projects their emotions into social media interactions (Baker & Cohen, 2023). Thus both fan and anti-fandom discussions on social media platforms such as reddit are like a private sphere, a space built on social media that highlights the uniqueness of fans in the digital age and demonstrates a unique participatory fan culture.
The MCU Fandom Wiki, a Wikipedia-like site created by some of the MCU’s most dedicated fans, brings together a wealth of content produced by Marvel, and with the vast majority of posters being dedicated fans who have been active in the Marvel fan community for a long time, it’s one of the first platforms that many new fans use to access content after joining the fan community. But some of the ANTI-fandom members will likewise dive in to modify content they don’t agree with, showcasing the struggles regarding the diversity of culture in the Marvel Universe. Offline activities, on the other hand, are closer to the real lives of fans, and comic cons and discussion panels can help fans build closer relationships, highlighting the impact of fan culture on real life. By studying and analyzing a variety of fan activities, it is clear that the community environment constructed by the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s fanbase and the influences they are subjected to can help to reflect the cultural diversity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the support of the masses of the community for content creation.
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