Warning: This text accommodates spoilers for each “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” and “Marvel Man” season 1.
Keep in mind when TV exhibits have been allowed to be TV exhibits? On the threat of unleashing numerous “Positive grandpa, time for mattress” memes, there was certainly a time when even franchises on the small display opted to not topic their audiences to hours and hours of pointless, extracurricular homework. The CW superhero collection “Smallville” did not depend on films or comics to be understood; it merely existed in its personal self-contained little nook, requiring nothing extra from us than popular culture’s basic information of Superman. The beloved “Batman: The Animated Collection” took an identical method, utilizing its supply materials as a tenet to inform what oftentimes grew to become the definitive variations of the present’s DC Comics characters. Continuity hasn’t at all times been king, in different phrases, regardless of how far we have swung in that course these days.
What “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” and Marvel’s recently-released “Marvel Man” suggest, nonetheless, is that these days should not be a distant gleam in our rearview mirrors. Positive, each exhibits have apparent ties to ongoing universes and neither can fairly escape the shadow of the initiatives earlier than them. “Marvel Man” makes use of Sir Ben Kingsley’s Trevor Slattery to finish a heroic arc that started in one other Marvel Cinematic Universe title fully, in any case, whereas “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” goes out of its method to attract music connections to “Recreation of Thrones.” However, even with that, these two non secular siblings are a well timed reminder of how good we used to have it.
If there is a lesson to be realized right here, it is that blockbuster TV needn’t be an train in extra. Generally, merely telling a superb story is sufficient to make it worthwhile. These two exhibits have confirmed precisely why.
Marvel Man and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms have decrease stakes, and that is a superb factor
A pair of episodic exhibits about two very totally different strangers coming collectively — one in all whom is hiding a game-changing secret, whereas the opposite has their sights set on fame and fortune — and happening a collection of misadventures that carry them nearer than they ever might’ve imagined? Yeah, it is no surprise why each “Marvel Man” and “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” are inviting so many apparent parallels and comparisons between them. In a barren sea of mediocre, slapdash, and all-too-corporate productions, these are two tropical islands unto themselves.
All of it begins with them figuring out their limits. In no universe would Marvel greenlight “Marvel Man” with the hopes of instigating the kind of canon-reshaping bombshells seen in, say, “Secret Invasion.” Neither was “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” ever going to rival “Recreation of Thrones” or “Home of the Dragon” when it comes to scope, scale, and ambition. As an alternative, the frivolity is your entire level. Whereas fashionable viewers have sadly been educated to dismiss something that does not “advance the plot” within the bigger universe, that comes on the expense of two exhibits which can be as character-focused, no-frills, and purely entertaining as something of their respective franchises.
Is not that as refreshing because it will get these days? The fraught emotional journeys of each Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and Trevor Slattery could be completely meaningless within the face of “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Secret Wars,” whereas Dunk (Peter Claffey) and Egg’s (Dexter Sol Ansell) travels throughout Westeros as hedge knight and squire do not (instantly) result in the political intrigue initially of “Recreation of Thrones.” However by making us invested in these heroes, they find yourself which means the world to us anyway.
Hollywood wants extra exhibits like A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and Marvel Man to keep away from franchise fatigue
In an period full of accelerating blockbuster spectacle, there’s one thing to be mentioned for the need of tales that play out in a minor key. The success of all the varied “Avengers” crossover movies could be chalked up primarily to the cautious bricklaying and setup from the solo films in between them. In the meantime, “Recreation of Thrones” grew to become a phenomenon because of its dragon-sized motion and end-of-the-world stakes, however the place do you go from there? Rather than “Home of the Dragon,” but one other collection about political squabbling and energy grabs for the throne, think about how efficient a palate cleanser “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” would’ve been as a substitute.
Clearly, this logic runs counter to Hollywood’s typical knowledge, however that is exactly what makes exhibits like “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” and “Marvel Man” so important and necessary. Beneath their buddy-comedy charms and low-stakes thrills, these are reminders of why viewers everywhere in the world fell in love with these properties within the first place. Watching Simon and Trevor scramble to make an audition tape or Dunk and Egg good-naturedly mocking one another whereas taking in a jousting event could be each bit as charming as essentially the most epic, larger-than-life moments in both of those universes (if no more so). Dragons and portals get all of the sexiest headlines, however they imply completely nothing when divorced from the emotional grounding we want within the first place.
Thank goodness that “Marvel Man” and “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” arrived once they did, simply as their respective properties most wanted a lift. What might be extra heroic than virtually singlehandedly maintaining franchise fatigue at bay? Hopefully, the remainder of the trade is taking notes.
