I love the nitty gritty inner workings of how movies and television get made. It’s the reason why I listen to so many pop culture and Hollywood history podcasts. Podcasts are another reason I knew I was going to enjoy MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios. Two of its authors are podcasters that I have been listening to for the better part of a decade (Joanna Robinson and Dave Gonzales) and I trust them to be able to put together a narrative in a way that keeps me engaged and to do the work to bring a well-researched and nuanced take as they do in their various shows and articles.
MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios delivers on that trust. The four years of research, interviews, writing, and addition of a third author in Gavin Edwards created a narrative that brings into focus all of the unlikely things that had to happen for Marvel Studios to exist in the first place and the strategies, luck, and good timing that led to the truly impressive track record and cultural phenomenon that it has become. I’m not a big comic book fan, but I watched almost all of the MCU content that has been put out since 2008 (well, with a significant drop off in Phase 4 which as the book chronicles is not necessarily uncommon). This book goes a long way to explaining the whys and how’s of fans like me and for fans like me. It even has its own version of a mid-credits’ scene, which while silly is also indicative of the way in which this book was crafted.
I received this book as an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley. It has not affected the contents of this review, only its timing.
