Credit: Marvel StudiosMarvel Comics legend Roy Thomas says there’s “no such thing as superhero film fatigue,” and the massive success of Deadpool & Wolverine proves it. According to the longtime editor-in-chief of Marvel, movies only need to do one thing: respect their source material.
Roy Thomas, a lifelong comic book fan, was hired as a Marvel Comics staff writer in 1966 by Stan Lee himself; according to Thomas, he “was supposed to come in 40 hours a week and write scripts on staff,” but his knack for maintaining continuity and deep knowledge of comics lore soon saw him become an editorial assistant.
Over the years, Thomas created or co-created numerous iconic Marvel characters and concepts, including Ultron (who introduced adamantium to the canon), Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, Morbius the Living Vampire, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Ghost Rider, Doc Samson, Valkyrie, Werewolf by Night, and Banshee as well as further developing existing characters like Vision, Yellowjacket, the Black Knight, and Adam Warlock.
All of the above characters have appeared in feature film adaptations, many of them in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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In 1972, Roy Thomas became editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. Long story short, this is a person who really should be listened to when he talks about what makes comic books effective. Despite that, Deadpool & Wolverine is the first time that he has received co-creator credit for the character of Logan, shared with Len Wein, John Romita Sr., and Herb Trimpe.
In a new op-ed in The Hollywood Reporter, the former editor is not afraid to take credit for Wolverine, one of the most iconic characters in comic book history.
In fact, according to Roy Thomas, “I strongly feel my name should have come first, not last, in the Wolverine grouping, since the Wolverine character was my concept on which Len and the others built … but hey, being listed last never hurt Oliver Hardy, Lou Costello, Jerry Lewis or Paul McCartney, right? (Or Jack Kirby as in “Simon and” and “Lee and,” come to that.)”
Clearly, Roy Thomas learned from Stan Lee how not to be shy about receiving credit. But he had more to say about the current fallen state of MCU and the idea that audiences were simply too tired of movies based on comic books. If you ask Thomas, it’s not that audiences don’t want superheroes; it’s just that they want ones that are accurate and respectful of the books they came from.
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He wrote:
“I hope that [Deadpool & Wolverine] does its little part to get the slightly stalled MCU back on track, which should be doable. There’s no such thing as “superhero film fatigue” — only an impatience with movies that are poorly done and don’t respect the original material. We need more like the four Avengers films, a number of the Spider-Mans (especially Spider-Man: No Way Home), Iron Man, Thor: Ragnarok, Captain America: Civil War, both Doctor Stranges, et al. And here’s hoping we get them, over the next few years while I’m still young enough to enjoy them, giant tub of popcorn on my lap!”
It is relatively rare for the term “respect” to be used in conjunction with Deadpool, the chaotic and fourth-wall-breaking character portrayed by Ryan Reynolds in various films and (now) the MCU. But Roy Thomas might just have something to the idea of what audiences want: movies that are good.
Have you seen Deadpool & Wolverine?