HBO’s The Franchise gives Marvel the Veep treatment. Well, at least a little bit. The series’ “Monument Pictures” is pretty clearly a take on the Marvel and DC superhero movie machines, with the serial numbers are thoroughly filed off. But still, there are obstacles and issues that bear a striking resemblance to real events.
In Episode 2, “Scene 36: The Invisible Jackhammer,” one character’s mistake echoes one made by Marvel Studios in recent years, and it could doom the in-universe movie — just like its real-world counterparts.
In the episode, Pat Shannon (Darren Goldstein) drops in on the set of Tecto: Eye of the Storm, causing everyone to be on their best behavior. While he’s there, he tells producer Anita about the Monument Studios president, the ever-elusive Shane, and how he accidentally inflated the upcoming slate. “Yeah, he got addicted to announcing stuff,” he said. “He went on a hot streak at Comic-Con and nobody told him no.” That “hot streak” is the only reason Tecto is happening in the first place.
Pat was the apparent Kevin Feige analog in The Franchise so far, but this reveals Shane is also based on him. It’s not a total reflection, as showrunner Jon Brown told The Hollywood Reporter that everyone said Feige was an “incredibly nice man.” Instead, these two characters reflect what people think Feige is like: diva-esque and looming, chaotic and vaguely callous.
But this one line refers to one of Feige’s real-life actions: over-announcing. In her recent book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, Joanna Robinson revealed Kevin Feige and his Lucasfilm counterpart Kathleen Kennedy were pressured into announcing projects before they were ready.
In reality, this issue wasn’t the fault of the studio presidents, as they were facing pressure from higher-ups, but it did highlight the sheer ambition of Disney’s franchises. For example, in December 2020, Feige announced Riri Williams would get her own series on Disney+, titled Ironheart. Now, it doesn’t look like we’ll get this series until well into 2025. (Let’s not even mention the other embattled Iron Man-related spinoff, Armor Wars, which went from movie to TV show, back to movie.) If he had waited to announce this series until 2022 when Riri was actually introduced to the MCU, the wait wouldn’t seem so long. If fans have to wait half a decade for a project, it feels like the entire franchise is out of control.
The Franchise may not be a direct parody of Marvel, but behind every joke and outrageous reveal is a kernel of truth. Sometimes, artsy directors have all control taken away once they helm a blockbuster. Sometimes, a classically trained theatre actor like Richard E. Grant has to act in front of a green screen while wearing tights. And sometimes, franchises try to stoke fan excitement by announcing a project even if it will spend years in development hell afterward. But Tecto did eventually make it to production, so even in this series, there’s still hope.
