I know class has ended but I thought I would add another addition onto the blog. With the recent release of the second Avengers film, it had me thinking about the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it pertains to Auteur theory. The MCU is a series of movies that all take place in the same world. The characters, storylines, and events carry over from one film to another almost like a giant television show.  Because these “episodes” are supposed to be in the same world, marvel does a lot to make them similar. They feature similar cinematography, dialogue, and style. If you watched one after the other they would look very similar. This is what got me thinking in the context of auteur theory. These films all feature different directors, writers, and cinematographers. Does this mean that the studio who releases the film can be the auteur? If they all shared a common director then many a critic would pronounce him an auteur for his shared style from film to film. Is marvel studios an auteur? They are the selling point of the film. Some auteurs like Tarantino and Wes Anderson can bring fans into the theater based on their name alone. Marvel does the same. It is much more common to hear someone say “I can’t wait for the new marvel film”, then it is to hear them say “I can’t wait for the new Universal studios film”. This is because Marvel is seen as a brand that contributes consistently similar entertainment. I understand that the backbone of auteur theory is that the director can be seen as the sole author of a film but what I am suggesting is that perhaps their are larger forces at play and maybe there can be no author. The classic argument is that film is too collaborative to have a sole author, well maybe the MCU proves this. They can produces tens of films that have the same style, look, feel, and characters, and all with tens of different directors.