Marvel Has The Winning Formula. Can Everyone Else Keep Up?

   When I was a kid, I looked forward to Saturday morning cartoons every week.  My earliest recollection is of "Garfield and Friends" with Garfield the lazy cat and that weird group of farm animals which included a duck who wore a floating tube wherever he went and a little chicken who had never hatched out of his shell conveniently named "Sheldon".

    Side note 1: What on earth was that show?

    Side note 2: I am convinced that there has been, for quite some time, a group of people who get together, get high as a kite, and then create kids shows.  That is the only explanation I can think of for shows from my childhood like Zoobilee Zoo and Today's Special.  In the modern era, Doodlebop fits this description.  I am going to toss the unknown farm animal show into this group.

    As I got older, my interests changed.  X-Men, Spider-Man, and the Batman-Superman Adventures were the best two hours of the week.  Super heroes battling seemingly unbeatable foes and at the end of the day, always finding a way to save the day.

    Sidenote 3: The exception here is Morph from X-Men.  Poor Morph..

    When the X-Men movies started coming out around the turn of the century, I was "too cool" for kids stuff like that, and didn't bother to see them.  It wasn't until "The Dark Knight" came out that I actually saw a comic book movie.

    I loved it.  I loved the message it sent; given the choice, people will generally do the right thing, even at a great cost.

   As the years went by, I started getting more into them.  My wife and I went back and watched all of the X-Men movies, the Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, etc. etc.

   Some of them, quite frankly, bored me to tears.

   Sidenote 4: Sorry DC diehards, you are about to get trolled!

   During "The Dark Knight Rises", I had to struggle to stay awake.  While watching last summer's "Man of Steel", I kept wishing that the Avengers would show up, mop the floor with all of these characters, and then the movie would end.

    Others were just all right, but I was still glad I'd watched them.  The Tobey Maguire Spider-Man series, Fantastic Four, and Thor movies fit here.  Even movies that have been generally accepted as trash like "Daredevil" and its spinoff "Elektra" were ok.

    When the "Avengers" finally came out, it was incredible.  I left the theater just pumped for the sequel.  I had no idea why, but I was excited.

    This last Saturday, I went and saw the "Captain America: The Winter Solider".  I loved it.  For two hours, I was totally carefree.  Captain America saved the day and all was right with the world.  For those two hours, I was 10 again, watching Saturday morning cartoons and then pretending to be these heroes.

    It finally hit me.  That is why I love these movies.  They take me back to childhood.  They bring out the kid in me.  They make me forget that there are any other movies out there.

   What Marvel has done with their cinematic universe is unparalleled in the history of movies.  Sure, we have seen hundreds of movies that have sequels.  But to create a universe where many movies take place and then to have characters that we have come to know join forces to save the world?  Incredible.  Add to that a TV show that exists in this universe and upcoming Netflix series and you have something pretty cool.

    How cool is it?  Every other studio involved with making comic book movies is trying to follow suite.  I am really excited to see what Fox does with bringing the X-Men and the Fantastic Four reboot into the same universe.  There are a lot of interesting stories that could be told.  With Spider-Man and Sony pictures, there are many directions the stories could go.  I might even give DC comics another shot if they can successfully throw together a Justice League movie.

    Sidenote 5:  That last line is a lie.  I am done with them.  Just not my thing.  If you like it, cool.  No sense in me trying to argue my side, all of us like what we like and don't what we don't.  I just like to troll. :)

   I think that as time goes along, and the competition increases, we are going to see better and better movies made.  I can't wait to pop some popcorn and enjoy the ride!