Analyzing the Globalization of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

This report delves into the globalization of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a phenomenon that has captivated audiences worldwide. It examines how Marvel, a Disney-owned company, has leveraged globalization to increase revenue, expand its appeal across diverse cultures, and maintain a competitive edge. The report highlights the company's marketing strategies, including the interconnected nature of its films, the inclusion of diverse actors and cultural elements, and the use of global promotional events. It analyzes how Marvel has successfully engaged with international markets, with examples like the success of "Avengers: Endgame" and "Black Panther." Furthermore, the report discusses the impact of internet and social media, fan engagement, and the role of rival companies like DC in shaping Marvel's global strategy. The conclusion emphasizes the significant impact of globalization on the Marvel Cinematic Universe's success, underscoring its ability to unite cultures and empower audiences worldwide through popular culture and digital media.

Running head: GLOBALISATION OF MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE
GLOBALISATION OF MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE
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Marvel Cinematic Universe is the greatest phenomenon that has happened in popular
culture. Every person all around the globe is familiar with the term superheroes. However,
Marvel has gone ahead and brought in extravaganza and thrill in the genre of superheroes.
Moreover, Marvel has been able to do this on a global level that has brought in huge amounts of
publicity and profit for the company. The Disney owned company is performing amazingly well
all around the globe and this is the result of globalization. The world economies are getting
closer through the exchange of information and technology (Martell, 2016). The exchange of
culture is also influencing the cultures of different countries and this influence has also been seen
in the popular cultures like Marvel. The aim of this paper is to understand how globalization has
affected the business of the Disney owned Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel is what it is today
because of globalization and it will keep on expanding its universe, in the literal sense, going
beyond the barriers of language and culture. This paper will discuss how becoming an
international company has increased its revenue, how incorporating different cultures and actors
from different backgrounds has increased its appeal among the global masses and how
competition from the rival companies are making Marvel to take their business to the next level.
The supporting evidences and analysis are highlighted further is this paper.
The Disney brand Marvel Cinematic Universe owes its success highly to becoming an
international company. Going global has increased its publicity and brought in immense amount
of revenues for the company. The main marketing strategy of this brand is the sequel franchising
of the movies that somehow connects the previous movie to the upcoming one. All the movies
are interrelated to one another. The suspense created in the movies keeps the audience hooked
and wait eagerly for the next movie. Marvel has been able to do this consistently and on a larger,
global scale. They have not only kept the America audience in their grasp but have attracted

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large parts of the audience in the European as well as Asian countries like China and India. The
evidence can be given in the form of the amount of revenue that they have earned from the
international market. The biggest grossing films that are credited to marvel’s success have been
seen to earn more from the international markets than the domestic markets. For example, the
recent release “Avengers: Endgame” earned a staggering amount of 2.7 billion U.S. dollars
worldwide (Marvel.com, 2020). Another reason for their huge success in going global is because
many movies of this brand have been released in the international markets much earlier than in
the United States. For instance, the movie “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” had released
in 30 countries prior to its release in America. In the era of globalization, it is usual for
Hollywood movies to open in foreign countries prior to its domestic release.
Marvel often tries to include actors from different cultural backgrounds to increase its
appeal to global audience. Including actors from different races, ethnicities and cultures attracts
people from various cultures to analyse the movie according to their terms (Durham & Kellner,
2006). For example, the movie “Black Panther” was the first movie ever to portray a black
superhero on screen in its lead role. The amount of people who were inspired by the movie was
insurmountable. The blacks especially felt so empowered by the movie that they adopted the
“Wakandan Salute” as a new form of instilling empowering feelings in them. The movie must
have empowered all the black people residing all over the world. The movie grossed $1.3 billion
worldwide while garnering R 100 million in South Africa alone. This proves the popularity of
the movies when they portray a specific culture of the country. The people of Africa must have
felt empowered by it and it generated interest in them that mace them come out in numbers and
support the movie. Instances have been seen where various footballers have been seen to wear
masks portraying Black Panther and many of them donning the “Wakandan Salute” to celebrate

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after scoring a goal. The fact that these footballer players are from different nationalities playing
in a foreign country show the power of globalization and the impact that it has had on the movies
of Marvel and its consumers. The filmmakers have used cameos from actors belonging to the
Chinese film industry and many more to attract the Chinese market too. For example, there was a
cameo of Fan Bingbing, a Chinese actor in the movie “Iron Man 3”. Though Marvel had tried to
appease its Chinese consumers, the people criticized the move. However, it was an attempt to
bring in people of different diversities in the movie. Another instance of this is the movie
“Avengers: Age of Ultron” where the South Korean actor Claudia Kim was cast.
The marketing strategies of the company is also influential in globalization of the
company. The actors of the movies are seen to promote their movies in various countries. There
are various premiers of these movies held in different countries all over the world. For instance,
the movie “Avengers: Endgame” had various promotional events in various countries that
included European and Asian countries (Menard, 2015). These promotional events had a huge
contribution in the movies’ coming out as the highest grossing movie that touched nearly $2.8
billion worldwide. The marketing campaign had spent more than $200 million on these
promotional campaigns 9Harvard Business Review, 2020). The popularity of the movie can also
be seen in the terms of the emotional attachment that the people for the particular characters in
the movie (Aiyesimoju, 2018). For instance, the death of the fans most favourite character Tony
Stark, also known as Iron Man had a massive cultural impact. A statue representing the armour
of Tony Stark was erected in Forte dei Marmi in Italy. Another marketing strategy of the
company is the making of merchandises in the form of t-shirts, mugs, badges, pop sockets and
various other commodities. People want to possess something that represents their favourite
characters because that improves the connection and the love they have for the character. For

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example, in a research it was found out that the merchandise for the character of Captain
America had sold the most during the release of the movie “Avenger: Endgame” (Lout, 2017).
Promoting the merchandise and making it available in all the countries is an important strategy to
keep the viewer engaged in the movies. It helps maintaining the connection that these kinds of
movies need. When people talk about it, create theories regarding to the plot and provide their
insights as to the making of the movie, it shows their level of engagement with the end product.
Marvel has a strong fan following when this aspect of its strategy is concerned. Another vital
part is the growth of internet in this era. Internet has made it possible to connect people from
various countries and bring them to the same platform (Berisha-Shaqiri, 2014). Marvel has
highly benefitted from it, as there are various fan accounts that can be seen on various social
media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. These fan accounts are owned by people
belonging from America, United Kingdom, India, China and many other countries. These people
come together to provide their opinions and even the cast of the movies engage with these fan
accounts. This increases the interest of people and that increases their love and appreciation for
them that then returns in the form of increased revenues for the movies.
Popular culture has attained such global acclamation because it is popular (Storey, 2001).
Many people believe that it is Americanization of the movie culture however; it is only because
the United States of America is the leading producer of film and cinema. The globalization of
Marvel however, owes a little share of its success to its rivals in the industry as well. The major
rival of Marvel is the DC Universe that has Superman, Batman to its credit. The competition is
not limited just to the movies. The rivalry starts with the comics industry that spread to the
cinematic universe. Due to the tough competition from DC, Marvel has upped their game in the
category of cinema. Though DC is much better in the department of comics, Marvel has fared

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well in the movie department. The company has given creative freedom to its directors that are
the reasons behind the success of these films that are liked by so many people worldwide.
Globalization comes into the picture when we see that the directors working behind the movies
come from different countries to showcase their creativity (Potrafke, 2015). For example, Taika
Waititi, the director of the blockbuster “Thor Ragnarok” is a New Zealand filmmaker. This
movie was completely different to the style and tone of the previous instalments of the Thor
movies that represented a different side of the characters that was liked by people. The movie
was a complete success as compared to the prequels of the movie.
Thus, it can be concluded that globalization has had a great impact on the success and
popularity of the movies not only in America but also all over the world. The characters and the
cast of the movie have become so popular that all the people love them. Their popularity has also
soared over the roof and that is the reason that they are admired by so many across the world.
Marvel has successfully established itself as an international company that is admired by people
all across the globe. Including people from different cultures and countries has increased the
interest of the people in the movies too. The important part of the globalization of the popular
culture owes its success to the growth of information and technology. Internet has played a vital
role in spreading the popularity of the movies where the directors and the filmmakers are using
its power to its full potential. Thus, it can be said that globalization of popular culture has been
beneficial for Marvel Cinematic Universe, bringing in all the cultures together and empowering
each other.

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