Marvel is a company that takes risks. They are bold and have justifiably been paid for it... bigtime. They continue to put out critic-proof (except Iron-man 2) blockbusters and audiences love them. But their decision to start a TV show based on a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents has now exposed Marvel's weakness. Here's why:
Marvel's blockbusters usually have a thin story and goofy flawed characters at the center of the story. Apart from The Incredible Hulk they don't have a strong memorable script. Captain America and Iron Man 1 had a semi-solid script but other than that it was all clownish. But like many fantasy/scifi blockbusters CGI made up for it, and like many blockbusters most people don't pay much attention to the finer points.
But with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. being a tv show there isn't much room for CGI. I mean, you can't have a 20 million budget per episode can you?
The script seems to be written by 5 year olds, dialog like "It's an origin story" and "Are we there yet" makes my stomach cringe. Can it get more awful then this? Well almost every movie Marvel Studios has made would compete for that position. Here's why:
1) Iron Man 3: Ok a guy called The Mandarin is out making threats against American citizens and Tony Stark doesn't care until his bodyguard is hurt. Really that's you definition of a superhero. All Iron Man films start this way , playing up the same thing over and over again.
Maya's intentions are so confusing, I think the actress playing the character is also confused about her character.
The REAL Mandarin becomes a supervillan because he got stood up by Tony on a rooftop. REALLY?
The director said the helicopters that attacked Stark Mansion were posing as journalist copters, really ? I didn't know apache copters can pose as news copters, I mean you can literally see the guns and missiles.
2) The Avengers: Loki is attacking earth with an army called Chitauri, so we'll bring a pair of psychopaths and you know, fight back. What an awesome and original plot.
3) THOR: Cheesy dialog, forced romance, rigorous plot holes, laughable excuses.
4) Captain America: Actually had a half-decent script, but their portrayal of a true american hero was simply not good enough at the end. Their disappointing box office total of 367 million dollars with a 150 million production budget and at least 100 million marketing spend says it all.
5) Iron Man 2: Has been proven bad over and over again. Not gonna add anything more to the god-awfulness that was Iron Man 2. Again Tony not stepping up until someone he cares about gets in harm's way.
6) The Incredible Hulk: That a very solid script that deal with the whole man and monster concept very honestly. But depriving the film of the 20-40 more minutes it so desperately craved for hurt it like hell at the end.
7) Iron Man: Not a bad script. It was a decent blockbuster, but story was flawed like usual.
But all those flawed films had big money CGI to cover their asses. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't, so Marvel's weakest side is out in the open left to rot. This is something that should harm Marvel's reputation even if just a little bit.
Honestly with Ender's Game and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire threatening to take away some of Thor: The Dark World's box office potential and Captain America: The Winter Soldier opening at a very difficult slot (April 4th 2014), this is the last thing Marvel wants . They should just abandon this show.