Off with their heads! Marvel won't kill a main character
Captain America: Civil War has dominated the movie charts in its first couple of weeks of release. It has rave reviews, is a genuinely enjoyable film and delivers exactly what it promised – maybe a little bit more. Yet, some people still aren’t happy. These people are calling for someone’s head, anyone’s head really, just as long as it is a member of the main group of superheroes. A small group of vocal critics complains because Marvel won’t kill anyone important and leave that hero dead. Here’s the thing…
YOU DON’T KILL YOUR CHARACTERS! Especially if they are making you billions (yes, with a “B”) of dollars. Why would you kill that golden goose? Especially if you are going to have to do something to bring that character back.
Even if the whole thing weren’t driven by the economics, there are few enough people that actually want to see someone die. If friendship, honor and choosing between right and wrong aren’t high enough stakes for you, maybe you are a psychopath. The whole point of superhero films is that these guys are supposed to be able to endure things beyond human limits – that is why they are super and not just-kind-of-better-than-averageheros. No one asks to see John McClain dead. People lost their sh-t when Quicksilver was killed, and some weren’t happy with the way that it ended for Agent Carter.
Marvel doesn’t need to kill anyone to raise the stakes of its films. Have characters died in the comics? Yes. Did they come back? Some, yes, but of those who didn’t, how many were main characters in their first 13 issues of the comic? That is what the movies are dealing with. At some point, someone will have to be replaced. None of the actors are getting any younger. That point, however, is not now.
YOU DON’T KILL YOUR CHARACTERS! Especially if they are making you billions (yes, with a “B”) of dollars. Why would you kill that golden goose? Especially if you are going to have to do something to bring that character back.
Even if the whole thing weren’t driven by the economics, there are few enough people that actually want to see someone die. If friendship, honor and choosing between right and wrong aren’t high enough stakes for you, maybe you are a psychopath. The whole point of superhero films is that these guys are supposed to be able to endure things beyond human limits – that is why they are super and not just-kind-of-better-than-averageheros. No one asks to see John McClain dead. People lost their sh-t when Quicksilver was killed, and some weren’t happy with the way that it ended for Agent Carter.
Marvel doesn’t need to kill anyone to raise the stakes of its films. Have characters died in the comics? Yes. Did they come back? Some, yes, but of those who didn’t, how many were main characters in their first 13 issues of the comic? That is what the movies are dealing with. At some point, someone will have to be replaced. None of the actors are getting any younger. That point, however, is not now.