While admitting that The Boys would never have worked if not for Marvel’s success, he says the MCU just isn’t made for people like him.
Marvel Studios
Everyone has an opinion on who exactly the Marvel Cinematic Universe is aimed at, with some not exactly feeling that the box office-dominating franchise is made for the general adult moviegoer. One of those people seems to be Seth Rogen, who recently shared his thoughts on the MCU, and despite having his hands in another comic book franchise, it appears that he doesn’t believe the biggest movie franchise in the world is aimed at people like him.
Rogen is one of the producers of Prime Video’s The Boys, the ultra-violent and ultra-popular show that also happens to be based on a long-running comic book. However, while The Boys is very clearly aimed at a mature market, and although Rogen does admit that the show probably would never have been made if not for the popularity that the MCU has brought to comic book movies and TV series, he certainly won’t be rushing to watch any upcoming MCU movies. He told Total Film:
“I think that Kevin Feige is a brilliant guy, and I think a lot of the filmmakers he’s hired to make these movies are great filmmakers. But as someone who doesn’t have children… It is [all] kind of geared towards kids, you know? There are times where I will forget. I’ll watch one of these things, as an adult with no kids, and be like, ‘Oh, this is just not for me.’ I think just as naturally to us as The Boys fell into the comic-book-store landscape as a comic, we thought it would fall well into the media landscape as a TV show. But truthfully, without Marvel, The Boys wouldn’t exist or be interesting. I’m aware of that. I think if it was only Marvel, it would be bad. But I think it isn’t – clearly.”
Is the MCU Really Aimed at Children, Or Just Those Who Are Happy to Enjoy Childish Things?
Marvel Studios / Disney
The world inhabited by comic book lovers is one that has undergone huge changes in the last two decades. From every comic book reader and watcher of comic-book movies being labeled geeks and nerds, there is now nothing cooler for most actors than to appear in the latest comic book or graphic novel-based film or TV series, and they are some of the biggest and most profitable in the world without many exceptions.
While the MCU has become well known and often ridiculed for wanting to keep things “family-friendly,” that could be about to change with Deadpool arriving in the franchise soon and some other darker projects being developed. But is the franchise still, overall, aimed at kids and those with children? Or does it all come back to C.S. Lewis’s quote, “When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”
It is clear when going to the cinema to see the latest Marvel movie that many people don’t share Rogen’s sentiments, as the number of couples and groups of adults often equals or outnumbers that of those with children. However, when it comes to losing yourself from the world’s problems, the escapism of Marvel is hard to turn down.
source: movieweb.com