Marvel Has A Behind The Scenes Problem

zachbobbob

For a long time now I've had a big problem with Marvel Studios' behind the scenes content. The MCU is the biggest franchise on the planet arguably but their special features on the DVDs and Blu-Rays have been extremely lazy and lackluster ever since Disney bought the franchise. When this was announced I was praying that it would finally be the MCU BTS content I've been craving for years, but in the end it was more of the same. Here are my two biggest issues:

1) The background music. It's so loud, obnoxious and incessant. I find it so difficult to actually hear in the information I'm here for. It's okay Marvel I won't lose interest during quiet moments.

2) The editing. Marvel behind the scenes featurettes are all edited in the style of those short-form, minute long, special look behind the scenes videos Marvel posts to social media to get fans hyped for an upcoming movie. They're basically quasi-trailers that feature the cast or directors explaining the general plot of an upcoming movie paired with footage of the film and couple tidbits of b-roll or on-set footage sprinkled in.

The MCU as a franchise, it's producers, directors, actors, VFX artists, production designers and concept artists all deserve a proper deep dive into their work on the level of The Lord of the Rings behind the scenes for The Matrix trilogy for example. This isn't even a Disney problem per-se because Star Wars still has excellent behind the scenes on their Blu-Rays too.

But Marvel's behind the scenes content, including this show are basically glorified special look trailers extended. They're edited in the same snappy, quick, loud and flashy manner that trailers are and when this content becomes longer than a couple minutes it becomes extremely annoying and grating.

Assembled is primarily just the actors and directors explaining the show we've already seen over footage of the show we've already watched with a few moments of actual behind the scenes sprinkled in. It's as though they're selling us a product we've already all bought. Now Assembled isn't as guilty of this as the BTS featurettes on the Blu-Rays. We do actually get some decent looks into the production of WandaVision, especially in the first third that explores the 50s and 60s episodes, but after that it's basically a giant recap with the writers and actors.

I think overall my problem is that I feel pandered to. I don't come to behind the scenes content to get a glorified summary of a show or movie I've already seen. I want to see how it was actually made. And I don't need constant music and quick cuts to keep my attention. I can just watch craftspeople doing their craft for a while. I love just seeing directors direct with the actual on-set sound in the background, or seeing costume designers talk us through their process, or VFX artists explain in detail how they did what they did. This stuff is extremely interesting its what we're all here to see.

BTS content is why I wanted to get into the film industry in the first place. Overall this was a fun glimpse into the making of the show but it was just that, a glimpse. I didn't learn anything that I didn't already know. I really hope one day the MCU can give us some making of content worthy of the final product we all love.

score 5/10

zachbobbob 14 March 2021

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw6693447/