Why Marvel Desperately Needs To Make A Villain Focused Movie
Kevin Feige is no stranger to taking risks. He chose the volatile Robert Downey Jr. to star in Iron Man and green-lit the unknown Guardians of the Galaxy in phase 2. He has consistently gambled, bet big, and allowed fans to come out on top. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is not perfect but each phase of the MCU has invited growth and learned from its mistakes. To expand on this trend Kevin needs to take his most significant, and most important, gamble and explore a movie from the villain's perspective.
The MCU has come close. Loki, Infinity War, and WandaVision are all arguably anti-hero or villain-based but each fails in some way to put the villain in the foreground of the narrative. WandaVision made it seem that the couple was unaware of what (and how everything) was happening and then set up minor villains they could later defeat. We learn Wanda was responsible for Westview’s plight but faces (and defeats) Agatha to save the day in the end. She was able to keep some notion of her hero status but also left with the Darkhold, setting herself up to be the villain in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
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The Avenger movies are not centered around a central character but Infinity War feels like a Thanos movie. He owns the most screen time and the movie begins and ends with him. The Mad Titan even comes out on top (giving the team its first real defeat) but with his screen time maxing out at 31 min and the Avenger movies being more of a team-up project, Infinity War almost succeeds but does not qualify. The closest Kevin has come is with the Loki series. Loki was the villain in the first Avengers movie and has always been an adversary of his brother Thor. Loki is the king of mischief and is hell-bent on coming out on top but it is clear that by the time the show ends, Kang is the real threat and Loki is more of a victimized antihero and not so much the hardened monster he tries to be.
A villain-centered film is not an absurd concept. DC (Marvel's direct competition) has found the most success in recent years with “bad guy” specific material. The Harley Quinn show, The Peacemaker series, and The Joker movie were all incredibly successful. Joaquin Phoenix won an Oscar for his portrayal of the villain and both The Peacemaker and The Harley Quinn show have been greenlit for additional seasons. That’s not to say it’s easy but if you pick the right characters, format, and directors the stories will be successful.
Marvel, in its 14th year of movies and shows, still has dozens of untapped heroes and storylines it could explore from the villain side. The Thunderbolts, Dr. Doom, and Magneto from the X-Men universe are all prime examples. The MCU has already set up Zemo, Yelena, US Agent, and The Abomination to be on The Thunderbolts team. Kevin Feige could explore the narrative of building a reverse Avengers or directly from Victor Von Doom’s perspective. Multiverse of Madness just canonized The Fantastic Four so a movie from the villain's POV would be unique and eliminate the fatigue of another reboot. Magneto is slightly more complicated because he is not yet in the universe but diving into a story from his perspective would be an interesting way to show the racial and social injustice that helped inspire the character.
To stay fresh, the MCU will need to find new approaches to keep the audience engaged and a film from the villain's perspective is the perfect way to do that. Fans love the bad guy as much as the hero. They are unique, and unpredictable and leave us constantly craving more. Kevin Feige should continue to reward fans but give them impactful stories that show that the best villains are often heroes, in their own minds.
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Source(s): IMDB, ScreenRant, GamesRadar