Marvel flops! Except for "Guardians of the Galaxy 3"

Disappointing Marvel

Three movies and two TV shows. That sums up the entire entourage of 2023 Marvel Universe releases so far.

According to Peliplat ratings, "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" released in February scored 6.4， much lower than its two prequels which hit 7.3 and 6.9 respectively. "The Marvels" which is currently screening in theatres only has a 6.2 rating, and "Secret Invasion" bagged a measly score of 5.4. Although "Loki" is somewhat better, it didn’t gain much popularity either.

The only exception is "Guardians of the Galaxy 3", which scored 8.2.

An Increasingly Bloated Lineup

To understand why "Guardians of the Galaxy 3" is such an enjoyable movie, we need to take a look at those poorly rated Marvel movies.

Based on my own gut feeling, the Marvel Universe is becoming more and more boring because of the ever-growing number of superheroes, which makes the plots increasingly looser.

Take, for example, the "Ant-Man" series.

The story in the first movie is crystal clear. It is a tale about an ordinary guy named Scott Lang becoming Ant-Man, which is spectacular; along with Scott's transformation, he also wins back the affection of his daughter, which is the emotionally apt.

Let's imagine its structure to be that of an article's. In the first movie, which lasts about 120 minutes, Scott's personal story accounts for about 80% of the entire duration, giving enough space for his character to stand out, be well-rounded, and fleshed out.

But when we reach the third movie, the protagonist is no longer Scott but his whole family. First, there's Ant-Man and his wife, the Wasp. Then there are Ant-Man's parents, who are also superheroes and have significant roles in the movie. So now we already have four superheroes in this film. That’s not all. Scott's daughter, Cassie, eventually becomes a new superhero herself.

And let's not forget the major villain, Kang, who is on the same level as Thanos and needs a grand entrance in this movie. So, "Quantumania" has the task of showcasing six important characters all at once.

Continuing on the analogy of the structure of an article, the duration of the third film is also around 120 minutes, and the time allocated to every character is evenly distributed, with each of them getting about 16% screen time which equates to less than 20 minutes. Within this short period, they not only have to showcase their personalities and motivations but also put up spectacular displays of their superpowers. Clearly, the time is not enough.

What's even worse is that when I was watching "Quantumania" I couldn't see a clear main storyline. It's like each part of the movie has its own theme that is unrelated to the others. The movie lacks an overarching theme that can connect the dots.

The same goes for the "Captain Marvel" series. In the first movie, Captain Marvel is the sole protagonist. But when we reach the second installment, the title becomes "The Marvels," and there are already three Marvel heroes, not to mention other characters.

As for "Secret Invasion," it also has similar issues, but let's not get into that here.

The "Guardians of the Galaxy" series is known for its multiple characters. Doesn't it seem more prone to getting into the predicament of a bloated story? The amazing thing is that James Gunn，the man behind "Guardians of the Galaxy 3" cleverly solved this problem.

Simplifying Complexity in "Guardians of the Galaxy 3"

"Simplifying complexity" is the reason why "Guardians of the Galaxy 3" stands out from the bloated Marvel Universe this year.

In fact, compared to other movies, "Guardians of the Galaxy 3" has more superheroes. Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Nebula, Yondu, and Rocket, just to name a few. But these characters' stories are not evenly distributed across the movie like in other Marvel works. Instead, there is a clear main storyline.

This main storyline revolves around Rocket, and his part accounts for at least 60% of the movie’s duration.

In the first two movies, Rocket appears as an adorable character whose cuteness comes from the contrast between his small physique and fiery temper, and not his personality. For instance, he doesn't know how to love someone. Even when he worries about Star-Lord's safety, Rocket intentionally says that he's saving him to prove he's better, and purposefully teases him for that matter. Sharp-tongued, that's the impression he gives me.

This time, through a complete portrayal of his troubled past, I discovered that behind this trait of his, Rocket has hidden self-doubt and secretly feels lonely.

The thing Rocket has always cared about the most is him not being like a human. Rabbit? Fox? Squirrel? Dog? Raccoon? Rocket has been called countless types of animals. He doesn't know what he is and is afraid of others defining his identity. The climax of the story is when Rocket sees the name tag on the cage where he was kept in as a child, which clearly has the word "raccoon" written on it. At that moment, he finally realizes that he is a raccoon. Rocket decisively decides to save all the animals, which also signifies his acceptance of the fact that he is an animal himself.

Til this point, Rocket completes the transformation from denying that he is a raccoon to embracing himself as "Rocket Raccoon."

Furthermore, the stories of all the other characters revolve around rescuing Rocket Raccoon. This is the overarching theme that other Marvel works this year lack.

The proportion of screentime allocated to the other characters' stories, apart from the only human character, Star-Lord, whose story probably accounts for about 15%, is below 8% per character on average. Although far less complex than Rocket Raccoon's story, they are all concise and can be clearly presented in just a few minutes.

Drax, who doesn’t know how to speak or express emotions, unexpectedly receives a warm welcome from the alien children. In the first movie, he loses his daughter, and now, through showing more widespread love to unfamiliar children, he regains the feeling of being a father. For Nebula, who once jeopardized the entire universe to gain the love of her adoptive father Thanos, she realizes what she truly needs is self-love. Meanwhile, Star-Lord reembarks on a journey of finding himself. He cannot accept the death of his loved one Gamora in "Avengers: Endgame," and encounters another version of her with a completely different personality from a parallel universe in "Guardians of the Galaxy 3." At one point, I thought the new Gamora would join the Guardians of the Galaxy, but in the end, she didn't. And that's a good thing because if Star-Lord had ended up with her, it would mean he never truly loved the original Gamora.

Behind these different stories, there is a common theme of self-acceptance. These stories not only don't disrupt Rocket Raccoon's main storyline but also make me feel the strong emotional connection between them and Rocket Raccoon. I see them in Rocket Raccoon's story, and I feel Rocket Raccoon’s presence in their stories. They are a family.

Although Gunn didn't explicitly state so, compared to those Marvel works with an ever-growing number of superheroes and increasingly complex stories, "Guardians of the Galaxy 3" has indeed taken the reverse route by simplifying things.

Just imagine if "Guardians of the Galaxy 3" had followed the same path as those other Marvel movies by adding more characters and significantly expanding and complicating each character's story, it would have become just another mediocre Marvel work.

This reminds me of a quote from Steve Jobs, "Simple can be harder than complex." After returning to Apple, Jobs made sweeping changes to the company. He cut its bloated product lines significantly and streamlined them into just two categories: iPods, and Macs and MacBooks. Simplicity has led Apple back on the path of success.

Perhaps, "simplifying complexity" not only applies to "Guardians of the Galaxy 3" but also to the increasingly bloated and dull Marvel Universe.