漫威

On screen， theyre Earths mightiest heroes. But in Hollywood， they were has-beens and never-weres. That is， until Marvel got a hold of them.

Avengers： Age of Ultron kicks off the summer movie season with a whirlwind of superheroes joining forces to once again save the world and shatter boxoffice records. The director and several key stars in the ensemble cast either kick-started their film careers with Marvel Studios （Chris Hemsworth as Thor， Chris Evans as Captain America， director Joss Whedon） or staged a dramatic comeback （Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man）.

The next few months could mark the most lucrative summer in Hollywood history， thanks to a wave of followups to major franchises. After Avengers， some of the most anticipated entries include Mad Max： Fury Road， Jurassic World， Terminator： Genisys， Mission Impossible： Rogue Nation and the Despicable Me spinoff Minions.

Those moviegoers who prefer original stories over digitally created dinosaurs also have a surprising surfeit of choices， as Hollywood has learned that summer can be a smart time for sophisticated counterprogramming. Two of the most celebrated movies from Januarys Sundance Film Festival， the dark comedy Me， Earl and the Dying Girl and hip-hop comedy Dope， both released in June.

But in a summer with 18 sequels， reboots， spinoffs and comic-book adaptations， its the second Avengers that will set the tone. The film also demonstrates a new casting calculus in Hollywood， in which its not the actors who make the character， but the character who makes the actor.

Disney-owned Marvel has mastered that approach and made A-listers out of previous unknowns. Chris Pratt， for example， was best known for his supporting role on the sitcom Parks and Recreation. Then he landed the starring role in last summers Guardians of the Galaxy， by far the seasons biggest box-office winner， bringing in $774 million. Hes now one of Hollywoods most sought-after leading men and starred in Jurassic World this June.

Marvel takes the same approach with directors—in contrast to competitors like Warner Bros.， which has entrusted its superheroes to highend auteur Christopher Nolan and experienced action director Zack Snyder. Kenneth Branaghs career directing big-screen Shakespeare adaptations petered out several years before Marvel picked him to direct Thor. After that film hit it big， Mr. Branagh continued a second career in big-budget movies such as last years Jack Ryan： Shadow Recruit and Marchs live-action Cinderella.

“Everyone pays attention to whos starring， whos directing， whos writing Marvel movies，”said producer and former Sony executive Michael De Luca. “Because of their track record… how can you not pay attention to their farm system？”

Marvel Studios is certainly not the first company to pluck unlikely candidates for superhero films. Its a tradition that dates back to Christopher Reeve in 1978s Superman and continued with Tim Burton directing 1989s Batman and Hugh Jackman in the pivotal role of Wolverine in 2000s X-Men.

But no company has eschewed A-list talents as consistently and effectively in the modern age as Marvel. All but one of its 10 films released so far have been hits， a record rivaled only by Pixar Animation Studios. And none have featured a major star or established action director.

Money is a key reason， say people who have done business with Marvel. The Disney subsidiarys chief executive， Ike Perlmutter， is notoriously frugal and doesnt believe that the millions rivals like Warner Bros. spend to get bigname stars like Ben Affleck and Will Smith are worth it.

“They are in the business of hiring the guy who hasnt had a big success， because they dont have to pay that guy very much，” said Mr. Whedon， adding that he made more money on his self-produced Internet series Dr. Horribles SingAlong Blog than he did directing the first Avengers， which cost $230 million to produce and grossed $1.5 billion worldwide.

Mark Ruffalo， like Scarlett Johansson， made the leap from respected indie film actor to event movie star when he first played the Hulk in 2012s Avengers. “That decision，” Mr. Ruffalo said， “puts me on a shorter list than I used to be for any job. ”

To secure lead actors for its series of interlocking sequels and spinoffs， Marvel typically signs them to sixmovie deals. For stars， upfront salaries are paltry by Hollywood standards， often just barely over $1 million per picture for the first two films in a deal， after which they start to rise.

“Marvel has proved they can succeed without having to step up the way other studios traditionally do，”said one veteran agent who has negotiated deals with the studio.

Still， with more than $7 billion in box-office returns and counting， even Marvel has been forced to become a little more generous. Other lead actors in Avengers： Age of Ultron were able to renegotiate their deals to get upfront salaries of more than $5 million， according to people familiar with the arrangement.

Most actors and directors have only good things to say about the experience of working on a Marvel movie. The companys successful track record ironically allows for more experimentation in genre and form than is typically allowed in Hollywood these days—so long as its done with comicbook characters. Its unthinkable that any other studio would greenlight a big budget political thriller like next years Captain America： Civil War or a science-fiction action-comedy like last years Guardians of the Galaxy.

In addition， since the studio makes only two to three movies a year， its president and top creative executive Kevin Feige is personally involved with every project， and the company rarely develops scripts it doesnt intend to make.

Mr. Feige is said to be a firm believer that the characters and the Marvel brand itself are the stars of his films. That approach syncs well with Mr. Perlmutters tight-fistedness and gives Mr. Feige the leeway to make bold choices. He cast Mr. Downey as Iron Man in 2008， even though the actors career was on the rocks at the time， because his showboating bad-boy persona mirrored the character of Tony Stark， the man behind the Iron Man mask.

Comedy star Paul Rudd plays the title role in Julys AntMan， and next year Benedict Cumberbatch， recently Oscar nominated for The Imitation Game， will portray a master of the dark arts in Doctor Strange. The two are arguably the biggest stars to take on Marvel title roles， signifying the companys growing appeal to actors with well-established， if not massive， careers.

New talent will be critical to Marvel as the multi-picture deals of many of its current stars expire in the next few years. Infinity War could mark the last appearances of Downey， Hemsworth and Evans， unless they choose to sign new contracts with the company. And a slew of new talent has yet to be selected for movies scheduled between now and 2019， including a new Spider-Man and galactic team The Inhumans.

But the disappearance of Marvels first wave of stars likely wont mark the disappearance of Iron Man and Thor， nor a reboot of their origins， like 2012s The Amazing SpiderMan， produced by Sony Pictures. Rather， Mr. Feige is said by people familiar with his thinking to favor the model of James Bond， who has been recast and aged down seven times over the past 53 years.

在大銀幕上，他们是地球上最强大的英雄。但在好莱坞，他们是已经过气或无人问津的角色——直到漫威把他们收入麾下。

《复仇者联盟：奥创纪元》为夏天电影季拉开了帷幕。这股超级英雄旋风再次拯救了地球的同时还打破了票房记录。剧组名单中的导演和几个主要演员要么是通过漫威工作室进入电影行业的新人（如饰演雷神的克里斯·海姆斯沃斯，饰演美国队长的克里斯·埃文斯，导演乔斯·威登），要么是卷土重来的过气明星（如饰演钢铁侠的小罗伯特·唐尼）。

多得一大波后续的同类型大制作，接下来夏季的几个月将会是好莱坞历史上获利最丰厚的一段时间。《复仇者联盟》后最值得期待的影片包括：《疯狂的麦克斯：狂暴之路》、《侏罗纪世界》、《终结者：创世纪》、《碟中谍：神秘国度》和由《卑鄙的我》衍生出的《小黄人》。

不喜欢数字技术创造的恐龙而想看原创故事的电影观众同样有非常多的选择，夏季是剧情巧妙的反主流影片上映的好时机，好莱坞深明此理。一月份举行的圣丹斯电影节上最瞩目的两部电影——黑色喜剧《我和厄尔以及将死的女孩》和嘻哈喜剧《酷毙了》——都在六月上映。

但这个夏天，在18部上映的电影续集、重拍影片、衍生影片和漫画改编影片中，《复仇者联盟2》占据了最重要的位置。这部电影同时展现了一种新的好莱坞演员成名方式——不是演员造就角色而是角色造就演员。

迪士尼公司旗下的漫威工作室深谙此道，并把之前默默无名的演员捧成了一线大牌明星。例如，克里斯·帕拉特，他最为人熟知的角色是情景喜剧《公园与游憩》中的一名配角。后来他主演了去年夏天上映的《银河护卫队》，该电影是至今为止这一季度的最大赢家——票房收入为7.74亿美元。他现在已跻身好莱坞最受追捧的男一号之列，今年六月份上映的《侏罗纪世界》就是由他主演的。

漫威也以同样的方式发掘导演——与其竞争对手不同，如华纳兄弟公司，华纳兄弟把超级英雄电影交给了高端而有个性的导演克里斯托弗·诺兰和经验丰富的动作指导扎克·斯奈德。肯尼斯·布拉纳夫执导的莎士比亚原作改编电影逐渐淡出银幕，几年后，漫威才选中他当《雷神》的导演。这部电影大获成功后，布拉纳夫先生继续执导大制作电影，如去年的《一触即发》和今年3月份上映的真人版《灰姑娘》。

“每个人都在关注漫威电影的主演、导演和编剧，”制片人、索尼前管理人迈克尔·德·鲁卡说。“因为他们的票房记录……你怎么能不关注他们的运作体系？”

漫威工作室当然不是第一家敢在超级英雄电影中起用没有名气的演员、导演的公司。这是一个传统，从1978年克里斯托弗·里夫主演《超人》，到1989年蒂姆·伯顿执导《蝙蝠侠》，再到2000年休·杰克曼在《X战警》中出演主要角色“金刚狼”。

但在当代，没有一家公司像漫威那样持之以恒而又卓有成效地避开了一线大牌。目前为止，十部上映的电影中有九部都大受欢迎，能与之匹敌的就只有皮克斯动画工作室。这十部影片没有用过一位大牌明星和有名的动作指导。

钱是关键所在，曾跟漫威合作过的人说。迪士尼子公司总裁艾克·佩尔穆特是出了名的节俭，他觉得竞争对手（如华纳兄弟）花几百万请本·阿弗莱克和威尔·史密斯这样的大明星是不值得的。

“他们就是要请那些还没获得巨大成功的演员，因为这样他们就不必付很高的报酬，”惠登先生说，还说他自己制作的网络连续剧《恐怖博士的欢唱博客》比他导演的第一部《复仇者联盟》还要赚钱，后者制作花费了2.3亿美元，全球票房收入15亿美元。

马克·鲁法洛在2012年的《复仇者联盟》中饰演绿巨人后，和斯嘉丽·约翰逊一样，从受人尊敬的独立电影演员一跃成为大片明星。“那个决定，”鲁法洛先生说，“让如今的我在竞逐任何角色时都比以前得到更优先的考虑。”

为了保证主演出现在剧情相关的续集和衍生影片中，漫威通常跟他们签下六部电影的合约。以好莱坞的标准来看，这些明星的前期片酬简直少得可怜，通常前两部电影每部片酬只有一百多万美元，后来才会上升。

“漫威证明了他们不必依照其他工作室的传统做法也能成功，”一位曾跟漫威商谈协议的资深经理人说道。

然而，有着七十亿美元的票房收入（还在不断增加），漫威也不得不变得大方一点了。据了解协议的人士透露，其他《复仇者联盟：奥创纪元》的主演能重新谈判，获得超过五百万美元的前期片酬。

对于在漫威电影的工作经历，大部分演员和导演都赞不绝口。跟现今的好莱坞相比，该公司成功的票房记录让它能够尝试更多不同的类型和形式——只要是以漫画人物为核心。给一部大预算的政治惊悚片或科幻动作喜剧开绿灯——如明年上映的《美国队长：内战》和去年的《银河护卫队》——对于其他工作室来说是不可想象的。

另外，由于该工作室每年只制作两到三部影片，其总经理兼最高创意总监凯文·费格会亲自参与每一个项目，公司甚少随便创作脚本，写出来了就一定会制作成影片。

据说费格先生坚信角色和漫威品牌本身就是他电影里的卖点。这与佩尔穆特先生的节俭作风不谋而合，也给了费格先生作出大胆选择的自由。他在2008年的《钢铁侠》中请了唐尼先生主演，那时可是唐尼先生的事业搁浅期，因为唐尼那爱炫耀的坏男孩形象很符合托尼·斯塔克一角——钢铁侠面具下的男人。

喜剧明星保罗·路德出演七月上映的《蚂蚁侠》主角，凭《模仿游戏》获奥斯卡提名的尼迪克特·康伯巴奇将在明年的《奇异博士》中饰演黑魔法大师。这两位算是漫威电影起用过的最大牌明星了，他们的出演说明该公司对一些有名气的演员（也许不能说是巨星）越来越有吸引力。

由于目前很多明星签下的多部影片合约在接下来几年将陆续到期，发掘有潜力的新人对漫威来说至关重要。《无尽之战》或许是唐尼、海姆斯沃斯和埃文斯的最后一部漫威电影，除非他们选择与该公司签订新的合同。该公司要为现在到2019年的电影挑选大量新人，包括新版《蜘蛛侠》和银河系团队《异人族》。

但第一代漫威明星的离开并不代表钢铁侠和雷神或其新版本會消失，像索尼影视于2012年制作的《超凡蜘蛛侠》。相反，据熟悉费格先生想法的人表示，他更喜欢詹姆斯·邦德这样的英雄，而这个形象在过去53年已被翻拍、年轻化七次之多。