Marvel's cinematic universe has become a massive part of their current business model. However, that does not mean the company is neglecting their traditional comic book roots. According to Marvel's Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada, the comics are key to the future success of the movies, the TV shows, and everything else the company is working on. The stories that influence all of those things will come from the comics.
If Marvel is a wheel, comics are the hub and everything else spokes out. Movies, TV ... they're all spokes of the wheel. If you want to know what the future is, in the movies, television, video games, animation --- pick up the comics, because there's a very good possibility that the stuff you're reading today will eventually find itself --- or a version of it --- in one of our media outlets. Could be next year, four, five years from now, maybe 10 years from now.
The comics have certainly been the perfect fodder for the Marvel Cinematic Universe up to this point. Aside from simply being the birthplace of all the major characters, major comic book events, like Age of Ultron and Civil War were adapted for the screen from the comics. In addition, the upcoming Infinity War was also a major comic book story. While we have no idea where the plot of the MCU will be going following Infinity War, it would appear, based on Joe Quesada's comments to Comic Book Resource, that the plan is to continue to look to the comics for inspiration.
There are certainly plenty of places to look. Marvel has been making comics for decades so the sheer volume of stories is out of control. Most recently, Marvel ran a second Civil War series, which included one of Marvel's upcoming characters in the films, Captain Marvel as a major player. Does that mean we're on track for a second Civil War at some point down the road on the big screen? It's impossible to know for sure, but we'd guess that possibility is one that's being considered.
While Marvel Studios has some great writers that have put together some great original stories, and could certainly continue to do so, it's probably a good move to focus on this method of having the comics build the stories for the movies. It has the potential of creating new comic book fans as people who got into Marvel through the movies can potentially get a sneak peek at the future of the MCU by picking up the latest books. It should help keep both sides of the business strong.
What major comic book story would you like to see the MCU tackle next? Let us know in the comments below.
