Between the various movies, TV shows, animated movies, MMPORPG environments, comics and the comics based around everything else we’ve just mentioned, it seems like there’s precious little room for any new additions to Marvel’s colossal media empire. Well, that’s not a view that director Jordan Vogt-Roberts holds, and this week saw him attempting to promote an idea for something just that little bit different, for Marvel fans to enjoy.
Crashing his way into the public consciousness with the utterly bonkers Kong: Skull Island last year, the American director is currently working on the cinematic adaptation of the iconic Metal Gear Solid games. And with the apparent death of Universal’s Monsterverse in the wake of The Mummy’s failure, Vogt-Roberts has apparently set his sights on working in a brand new franchise.
He recently took to Twitter, spelling out exactly what he felt he could bring to a Marvel-backed project:
I want to direct a Marvel movie that features no superheroes. It would be an absurdist dramedy that follows a group of random humans who deal with that magic and aliens exist.
— Jordan Vogt-Roberts (@VogtRoberts) March 23, 2018
Sounds cool, right? But… also not entirely original?
The idea of a comic book project revolving around ‘the little guys’ and ‘joe public’ is far from new. Recent offerings such as Powers, and DC’s Powerless were both cancelled after failing to connect with viewers. It would seem that moving the focus of a superhero story away from superheroes themselves isn’t something that wider audiences have a great deal of interest in.
The idea is also something that Marvel have already more than catered for. The entire basis of both Agents Of SHIELD, and Agent Carter were that groups of (relatively) normal people would have to go around trying to deal with and clear up after the spectacle and mayhem caused by the super-powered community. Whilst Agent Carter was a critical hit, it’s 1940’s narrative didn’t connect with audiences. Conversely, AOS received a critical kicking, but has been kept going for five seasons on the basis of exceptionally strong fan support.
It’s a concept that is already cemented in Marvel’s original source material too. Ever wonder where the majority of the story for the recent Netflix Punisher series came from? A 2000’s Marvel comics project called the MAX imprint, that’s where…
The MAX comics depicted a neighboring Marvel Universe which had experienced very limited superpowers, with the focus firmly placed on anti-heroes such as Jessica Jones and Frank Castle, who used very grounded methods to stick up for the little guys around them. The material was raw, uncensored, and a huge hit with the fans.
The content and tone of Skull Island would translate perfectly into the MCU, on par with the approach that Thor: Ragnarok Director Taika Waititi was recently seen to use. But with Marvel already having the Netflix shows to cater for their ‘dark and gritty’ fans, and the failure of many similar ‘non-powered’ projects, Vogt-Roberts would be on much steadier ground if he simply auditioned to direct a future MCU project, rather than trying to re-invent the wheel…