Yahoo News Origins and Rise of Marvel Studios Explored in ‘With Great Power’ Podcast
As questions swirl over whether superhero fatigue is real, a new new podcast is hitting the airwaves that tackles the 21st century’s favorite movie genre as well as the studio primarily responsible for its ascendance.
With Great Power: The Rise of Superhero Cinema is a four-part podcast that hails from the Wall Street Journal and editor Ben Fritz, the longtime entertainment reporter who wrote the prescient Hollywood tome The Big Picture: The Fight for the Future of Movies.
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And just like his book, the podcast promises to be a business story as well as a Hollywood story, filled with drama, outsized egos, heroes, villains and billions of dollars.
Fritz, who hosts and reported the podcast, talked to a deep bench of people, ranging from Avi Arad, former Marvel general counsel John Turitzin, and former Marvel Studios chairman David Maisel to former Sony Pictures movie chief Amy Pascal, former DC Entertainment president Diane Nelson and X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner.
Among the podcast’s big gets is Ike Perlmutter, the reclusive billionaire who owned Marvel and was marginalized after a civil war with Marvel’s Kevin Feige. Fritz details the inside story of the fracture including how Perlmutter tried to orchestrate a peace summit at Mar-a-Lago in 2015 that was nothing short of disastrous. Perlmutter also defends himself against the accusations he didn’t want to make Black Panther and says Disney CEO Bob Iger betrayed him after Marvel’s 2009 sale to Disney.
Feige himself doesn’t make an appearance but his presence is felt all over the podcast, notably the Feige-centric third episode and the fourth, which details the Feige-Perlmutter battle for control. (Don’t worry, DC gets its time in the podcast as well with a close look at the rise and fall of Zack Snyder’s plans.)
Fritz initially was going to tackle the Marvel and the rise of superhero movies as a book but then realized the episodic nature of the story would translate better as limited series podcast.
“I also got really excited about the chance to hear the voices of people who made superheroes movies and negotiated the deals that made them happen,” Fritz tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Or were involved in the most intense behind the scenes fights and machinations. Plus the opportunity to weave in audio from the films themselves, old Comic-Con events, and fan interviews at cons I attended this year made for a more immersive way to tell the story.”
With Great Power will be part of The Journal, the flagship daily podcast of The Wall Street Journal, produced in partnership with Gimlet Media. The release dates for the four episodes are July 5, 6, 7 and 9 on all podcast platforms.
Even as Marvel hits a rough patch or the DC brand gets damaged, superhero movies remain a hot topic of discussion. This fall will see the release of MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, by The Ringer writer and podcaster Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards, which promises an unvarnished look at Marvel.
Fritz believes the issues facing Marvel and DC are real but that the genre is here for the long-term.
“I think in the past several years, quantity has taken precedence over quality and fans have noticed,” he says. “There are too many Marvel shows on Disney+ for most people to keep up with. And a lack of steady, focused leadership with the time to pay attention to each project has led to disappointing films from both Marvel and DC. But if they refocus on quality and consistency, I think fans will definitely want to see good superhero films (and TV shows). Just look at the success of the last two Spider-Man films, No Way Home and Across the Spider-Verse!”
A previous version misspelled the surename of Dave Gonzales.
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