As HBO’s new satire series from Veep‘s Armando Ianucci and Jon Brown, and director Sam Mendes, The Franchise might at first seem like it’s eager to stick a knife into the superhero movie boom, just as the genre’s seemingly at a crossroads of identity crises. But not only have the creators behind the show been made keenly aware of what goes into making these kinds of blockbusters, they poke fun because they care—and at the least do have some ideas as to how superpowered franchises might find a bit of their spark again.
“It felt more interesting because franchise movies themselves seem to be going through a crisis,” Brown told the Hollywood Reporter as part of a wide-ranging interview about the series. “There’s a feeling in The Sopranos that you’re seeing a dying way of life; an end-of-empires feeling. That felt like good background for a show that is both a workplace comedy and a satire of this culture; a cash cow recognizing that its best days may be behind it.”
But just because The Franchise looks like it knows where to throw its punches—not necessarily at the films themselves, or people who like them, but the hardworking creatives being chewed up by executive meddling and changing cultural response—doesn’t mean there isn’t at least some love for the genre it’s satirizing, too, especially the behind-the-scenes people that The Franchise chooses to follow over the glitzy stars or the executives and producers with ever-changing whims. “It’s not a cynical show,” Mendes said of the series. “There is a romance to [making movies] and a sense of hope that underpins everything, and Jon has managed to capture that.”
“You have to be respectful of these movies and the people that are involved with them, because everyone is trying to do a good job,” Brown added. “People may consider these movies formulaic, but if you go to the set of one of these films, everyone is trying their absolute best to make something special.”
But even with that perspective of love, that doesn’t mean all the research Brown, Ianucci, and Mendes put into superhero franchise creation didn’t leave them with some thoughts about what they’d do if they were to, say, don Kevin Feige’s famous collection of caps and become the ones in charge.
“[In the early days of Marvel ] they were able to make editorial and casting choices that were completely their own decisions,” Brown pondered. “I feel like their relationship with their fan base has flipped, where instead of telling fans very confidently, ‘This is the movie and this is our way,’ it seems like they’ve gotten themselves into a position where they’re trying to chase a fan base that was more engaged in the previous phases than it currently is. When you start doing that, you start making decisions from a point of fear. I guess the more you’re bold and fearless in what you’re doing, you have a better chance of making something really special—but that’s very easily said when you have all these corporate pressures. I guess you get to the point where you’ll try anything.”
Maybe don’t expect Robert Downey Jr. to make an appearance in The Franchise when it hits HBO and Max from October 6, then.
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