Like I mentioned previously, this is just a fun little in-between chapter I wanted to throw in to really indicate how huge the MCU has become. Not just content with movies, televised and streaming shows, and short films; the MCU also dabbled in streaming multi-part webisodes. The first two we'll cover are part of the same series, bringing in minor MCU characters to fill in details leading up to a couple of films. The final web-series is a spin-off featuring one of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most popular characters in a cool little side-story. Let's get started.
Ant-Man Promotional Campaign
The Ant-Man viral promotional campaign, which started on July 2nd, 2015 (just two weeks before the film's release) featured five videos filling in little details leading up to the beginning of the film. The story is framed with a segment called WHiH Newsroom featuring Christine Everhart, played by Leslie Bibb reprising her role from the first two Iron Man films. In the five years since we last saw Christine, she's unfortunately become more of a shill for corporate interests; unapolgetically working for a company that unashamedly wishes to smear Scott Lang's image for what he did three years prior.
The first two parts indulge in the aftermath of Avengers: Age of Ultron before filling in details about Scott Lang's past. They're short, but they set the tone for what Marvel is setting out to do here. This is followed by a collection of surveillance footage featuring Scott on the night of the heist that would get him arrested, culminating in a fun gag with a car in a pool. This is then followed up by an interview from WIRED (yes, that WIRED) with Darren Cross, filling in some background on his character and his tense relationship with Hank Pym. There's some fun foreshadowing of his temper, though the illusion is broken by keeping in the moment where a P.A. whispers something in Darren's ear. Finally, the last part features Paul Rudd as Scott Lang being interviewed by Christine from prison. Once again, his name is smeared as Christine shows her true colors (which will come up again later).
Overall, these four short videos are just neat additions to an ever-growing universe. The presentation is spot-on, including a ticker on the bottom filled with Easter eggs that MCU loyalists will eat up. Things like this make the universe feel more real, they have news channels bought out by corporate interests just like us! Isn't that great?
WHiH Newsfront Special Report
The idea proved to be so popular that Marvel brought the format back the next year to promote Captain America: Civil War. This time around, Marvel dedicated itself even further to the format. The set was upgraded, they included an opposing views correspondent to make this look like another news group passing itself off as "unbiased", and the activity on social media was far more active. The Twitter account used at the time of these videos being uploaded would tweet out multiple times a day, holding polls and encouraging more user-interaction.
As for the videos themselves, they teased the upcoming conflict between each side of the Sokovia Accords. Christine seeks oversight on the Avengers whereas Will Adams believes it is unnecessary. The ticker gives us more Easter eggs, including some fallout over Ant-Man and a tease for another upcoming MCU hero. There's an interview and subsequent news conference with President Matthew Ellis, with William Sadler reprising his role from Iron Man 3 and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. And it all culminates with a "Breaking News" report about the events at the very beginning of the film when the Avengers battle Crossbones in Lagos, leading to a deadly explosion and setting off the long line of events.
I honestly miss these webisodes. They were funny, realistic, and like I already said, nice small touches that really sell the MCU as a lived-in world where these minor characters from previous films still carry on even when they're not on the big screen. And that is why I'm so invested in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It lives up to its name.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Slingshot
Our final set of webisodes is a departure. The producers of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. were interested in a digital series spin-off to be released on ABC.com to advertise its streaming service. Eventually, the writing and producing team came up with the right focus for this side-story: fan favorite Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez. Introduced in season 3 of the show, Yo-Yo became one of the Secret Warriors, a group of Inhumans gathered by Coulson to take on extraordinary threats. While the Secret Warriors were dissolved, Yo-Yo would eventually become a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent on her own. This story fills in some gaps between seasons 3 and 4, when she is still on the fence about being a part of the team.
Natalya Cordova-Buckley has been one of the strongest additions to the main cast, finally getting promoted to main cast member this past season. I like to believe Slingshot was a test-run to see how well she could hold up as a core team member, and she does a great job here. She builds strong chemistry with the entire cast, especially Chloe Bennett and Henry Simmons, and she holds her own very well in action scenes. This side-story fills in some small details about her past, the fallout over the Sokovia Accords, and cements her place in the team.
At six parts, it's an easy watch, especially when the average length of an episode is 4 minutes plus credits. It fits in snugly within the main show, keeping the whole cast intact and maintaining the aesthetic (which means lots of muted colors unfortunately). While I doubt we'll get another digital spin-off, it's nice to entertain the idea. I mean, I'd kill for a side-story featuring Ghost Rider.
And that's it. Told you this would be a short one. While Marvel has been weirdly getting more and more into commercials instead of these neat webisodes, I won't be diving into those because they're not canon and there's just not much to talk about with those (though the NBA Finals Spider-Man: Homecoming commercial is pretty fun and worth a look). Who's to say these won't come back either? They were a pleasant surprise before, so maybe they'll pleasantly surprise us again with a new WHiH report or a new adventure from another overlooked S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Guess we'll know within the next 10 years.
Now, without further ado, we're about to FINALLY begin phase 3 and it is a big start. After 8 years of build-up, tensions naturally would build between our heroes. While they may have the same goal in mind, to protect innocent people, they have shown to have vastly different ideologies. And now, those clashes finally come to a head in one of the best MCU films to date.
Next time: Captain America: Civil War
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