I have more than one prominent Marvel tattoo and I’ve lost count of how many comic books I own. I’ve been collecting them for almost as long as I’ve been able to read.
Thankfully my house still has room for my husband and our two dogs. One is a Pomeranian he named Riverboat Cap’n before we started dating, coined after an eccentric dream, and the other is my baby and a Jack Russell mix he let me name Howard.
It’s obviously short for Howard the Dog, whose namesake is Marvel’s Howard the Duck. So in short, I’m a pretty diehard Marvel fan.
Over the decades I’ve enjoyed the company’s success across all sorts of mediums. Growing up in the ‘90s, that mostly meant through comic books, videogames and of course, cartoons.
My absolute favorites were “X-Men” and “Spider-Man,” but I also enjoyed the relatively unknown “Marvel Action Hour.” It featured less-celebrated superheroes via “Fantastic Four” and “Iron Man.”
The general public didn’t care much for or about comic properties at the time, but that started to change by the early 2000s. “Blade” saved Marvel from bankruptcy in 1998 and in the early 2000s, Fox and Sony were pumping out fan-favorite films based on, yet again, the more-celebrated “X-Men” and “Spider-Man.”
The franchises eventually began to flounder, but things changed drastically in 2008 when Marvel Studios took more control of their properties. That’s when they brought their armored Avenger to the silver screen.
“Iron Man” not only made Tony Stark a household name and reignited Robert Downey Jr.’s career, it launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Whatever your thoughts on the MCU, now the highest-grossing film series of all time, it altered the trajectory of cinema forever.
I couldn’t wait to see it on its preview night — which at the time meant heading to the theater at midnight on “Friday morning” — and that’s how I’ve watched every MCU entry since. Thankfully these screenings are now held at a reasonable hour on Thursday nights, most recently with this month’s “The Marvels.”
I was eager to see the 33rd MCU film for a number of reasons. I enjoyed its predecessor “Captain Marvel” for one, and for another I’ve loved the character since I was a kid.
Captain Marvel has been a cosmic powerhouse since 1968. In the comics and in cartoons she’s led the Avengers, worked closely with the X-Men and more — and as far as I’m concerned, she’s been portrayed in live action by another kind of superhero.
Brie Larson is a notable feminist who’s spent years enraging fragile (usually white, straight, cisgender male) egos on the internet, often just by existing. It’s a win-win for me.
The film also just looked and sounded fun, which is where I’ll note I’m not a total Marvel Studios loyalist. I’ll see any and everything, sure, but that doesn’t mean I’ll love it.
“The Marvels,” which brought several key characters to the silver screen for the first time, just seemed to have a different kind of energy. From the first preview, it felt like it would be a welcome departure from this year’s delightful-but-harrowing “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3” and disappointing “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”
I’m very happy to say that it was.
I went in with high expectations and as blind as I possibly could in the age of the internet, which is full of spoilers months before a film’s release, and I loved it from start to finish. I thought it was hilarious and heartfelt.
As an added bonus, “The Marvels” was helmed by Nia DaCosta — the first Black, female director to lead an MCU film — and starred three women saving multiple worlds, two of whom were women of color. That kind of representation matters.
Unfortunately, the film opened with the MCU’s lowest-ever debut, which critics of Marvel Studios (and of course, those aforementioned fragile egos) trounced on. I strongly encourage casual and diehard Marvel fans alike to tune out the internet noise and go enjoy yourself at the cinema. I’m glad I did.
We look at a few other marvels in this issue, like advancements in HIV care ahead of next month’s World AIDS Day. Orlando, St. Petersburg and Tampa also prove to be superheroes in their own right, retaining their perfect scores of 100 in the Human Rights Campaign’s 12th annual Municipal Equality Index.
In arts and entertainment, we check in with comedian Fortune Feimster ahead of her stops in Central Florida and Tampa Bay. We also preview fan favorite artist John Gascot’s new show in St. Petersburg.
Watermark strives to bring you a variety of stories, your stories. Please stay safe, stay informed and enjoy this latest issue.
