https://lib.uliege.be https://matheo.uliege.be The role of the strategic brand policy in the success of Marvel's Infinity War and Endgame Auteur : Henrard, Alexandra Promoteur(s) : Tomasovic, Dick; Herbillon, Marie Faculté : Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres Diplôme : Master en communication multilingue, à finalité spécialisée en communication économique et sociale Année académique : 2019-2020 URI/URL : http://hdl.handle.net/2268.2/9390 Avertissement à l'attention des usagers : Tous les documents placés en accès ouvert sur le site le site MatheO sont protégés par le droit d'auteur. Conformément aux principes énoncés par la "Budapest Open Access Initiative"(BOAI, 2002), l'utilisateur du site peut lire, télécharger, copier, transmettre, imprimer, chercher ou faire un lien vers le texte intégral de ces documents, les disséquer pour les indexer, s'en servir de données pour un logiciel, ou s'en servir à toute autre fin légale (ou prévue par la réglementation relative au droit d'auteur). 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Mémoire présenté par HENRARD Alexandra en vue de l’obtention du grade de Master en Communication Multilingue à finalité spécialisée en Communication Économique et Sociale Année Académique 2019-2020 “There was an idea, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to fight the battles we never could.” Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson) Acknowledgements There are a number of people who have contributed to the realization of this thesis. I could not have done it without any of them and here I would like to thank them all. First and foremost, I would like to thank Professors Dick Tomasovic and Marie Herbillon for their help, advice and time throughout the production of this Master’s thesis. The exceptional situation we found ourselves in this year made it challenging at times but you kept me motivated and believing in myself. I would also like to thank people who have demonstrated interest in my work, including Edith Culot, my reader and any other future readers. I hope you enjoy what I have written. I cannot write acknowledgments without thanking my mom and dad for allowing me to do the studies I wanted to do. They have been behind me 100%, encouraging me and motivating me throughout my studies. As well as my parents, I should mention my brother, Gérald, for his incredible support during the last few years, as well as his girlfriend. In addition, I would like to acknowledge my friends, who made my time at ULiège so much easier or sometimes less difficult (if you see the difference). Last but definitely not least, I would like to thank Elaine Brook for her amazing work regarding this thesis: her reading, comments, and corrections were beyond the shadow of a doubt a factor in making my thesis something that I am proud of. I am beyond thankful to all these people who helped me during this year; particularly the end of the year as the Covid-19’s crisis made it even harder than we all expected, me included. Again, thank you for your dedication and support. Table of Content INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................7 I. THE HISTORY OF MARVEL AS A FRANCHISE AND A BRAND .............................. 11 1. The notion of brand ................................................................................................. 11 1.1. The notions of franchise and license .................................................................... 13 1.2. The notion of “sérialité” ..................................................................................... 15 1.3. The role of the audience ...................................................................................... 20 2. How did the Marvel brand develop itself? .............................................................. 23 2.1. The role of Stan Lee in the emergence of the Marvel brand ................................. 23 2.2. The development of Marvel’s identity .................................................................. 27 2.3. The development of the MCU under Kevin Feige ................................................ 35 II. THE PARATEXTUAL CORPUS AROUND MARVEL STUDIOS ................................ 39 1. What is a text?.......................................................................................................... 39 2. Definition of the paratextual notion ........................................................................ 40 2.1. Paratexts as gateways into a text ........................................................................ 44 2.2. The difference between paratext and intertext ..................................................... 46 3. Focus on entryway paratexts ................................................................................... 48 3.1. Focus on trailers and TV spots ............................................................................ 48 3.2. Focus on movie posters ....................................................................................... 58 3.3. Focus on ads and interviews ............................................................................... 62 4. Focus on in media res paratexts ............................................................................... 66 4.1. Focus on opening credit scenes ........................................................................... 66 4.2. Focus on post credit scenes ................................................................................. 68 5. Focus on an “extra” paratext: the DVD .................................................................. 68 III. THE TRANSMEDIA AMBITIONS OF MARVEL ........................................................ 71 1. The notion of transmedia ......................................................................................... 71 2. The Seven Principles of Transmedia ....................................................................... 82 3. Marvel’s transmedia policy ..................................................................................... 86 3.1. Comics preludes for Infinity War and Endgame .................................................. 86 3.2. Toys and Games .................................................................................................. 88 3.3. Videogames ........................................................................................................ 94 3.4. Amusements parks with Disney ........................................................................... 97 4. The role of fans in this transmedia brand strategy ................................................. 99 5. Spoilers ................................................................................................................... 100 6. Reviews/critics ........................................................................................................ 102 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 106 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................................. 118 Table of Figures Figure 1. Official movie poster of Infinity War (2018) .......................................................... 58 Figure 2. Official movie poster of Endgame (2019) .............................................................. 59 Figure 3. Endgame: some of the Survivors posters ................................................................ 61 Figure 4. Endgame: some of the Fallen posters ..................................................................... 61 Figure 5. First movie poster of Endgame (2019) ................................................................... 62 Figure 6. Merchandizing found on the internet and developed on the basis of Infinity War (2018) and Endgame (2019) #1............................................................................................. 88 Figure 7. Merchandizing found on the internet and developed on the basis of Infinity War (2018) and Endgame (2019) #2............................................................................................. 89 Figure 8. Merchandizing found on the internet and developed on the basis of Infinity War (2018) and Endgame (2019) #3............................................................................................. 89 Figure 9. Costumes for children based on Infinity War (2018) .............................................. 90 Figure 10. Accessories sold by Marvel Studios, on the basis of its characters' weapons