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Abstract

The following study will explore the ways in which film trailers have helped shape the evolving dynamic between fans and producers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Recognising that the franchise has been promoted entirely within what Jenkins terms the age of ‘media convergence’, it will argue that Marvel Studios has responded to the growing capabilities of the digital world by foregrounding an internet-based release model for its trailers. This can build upon Johnston’s notion that these paratexts are now habitually consumed beyond the silver screen, using one of today’s most popular franchises to explore how and why this is the case. For the MCU, the study will argue that the omnipresence of these paratexts online enables – and indeed encourages – its fandom to ‘spread’ the media (as per Jenkins, Green and Ford). Drawing on ideas about fan productivity, the study will examine how amateur productions spawned from the corporate trailer (including narrative speculations, reaction videos and fake trailers) serve to build hype and awareness in much the same way as official paratexts. Case studies of recent trailer campaigns will be employed in hopes of providing an up-to-date analysis on how asymmetrical the relationship between MCU fans and producers really is in light of the former’s textual expression. The results of this research will be used to speculate how increasingly vague and belated trailer campaigns may affect the producer-fan dynamic in future. Recent MCU campaigns may suggest that its fans’ textual production will grow more rampant than ever before

Course: Film Studies and Creative Writing - BA (Hons) - C1787

Date Deposited: 2022-08-08

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis13959.html