OSR Commentary - The Disney Marvel OSR Campaign Method

So over the past couple of months like everyone else I've been following Disney/Marvel's handling of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it effectively been called. So Thor Ragnarok second trailer hit the internet wilds yesterday. Now something interesting has been risen among the ashes of the various bits and pieces of the whole hot steaming advertising & marketing mess of a campaign that Disney has been plugging. Let's watch the latest trailer for a moment. I'll wait for you folks.

But for months we had hints that were were being set up for a whole range of MCU related call backs of the same type we've seen in old school games table top games adventures. A call back by the way is the sprinkling in of elements from one adventure into another so that you can link up both adventures some months or even years later.  Like the getting together of Thor & Dr.Strange in the post credits scene of Dr.Strange a couple of months ago.

Well there's more to this then just that folks, Thor Ragnorok effectively puts together a team that comic fans have been seeing for years. Yeah their almost all there and like a good DM Marvel has been teasing and dealing out just enough clues and call backs for years now. Its a really good marketing & advertising campaign. But what they've done is put together enough of the powerhouses not to make team Thor but to make the Defenders.

Yeah the unofficial power house team that put down more then a few menaces on Earth down in Marvels 616 universe. "The group had a rotating line-up from 1972 until 1986, with Dr. Strange and the Hulk being usually constant members along with a number of other mainstays such as Valkyrie, Nighthawk, Hellcat, Gargoyle, Beast, the Son of Satan and Luke Cage, and a large number of temporary members" So what does this have to do with old school gaming? Well quite a bit actually like a party of adventurers there's always been a rotating roster of members in the Defenders and the writers back in the 70's weren't afraid to kill off or cycle out members that weren't working. The Defenders were loose enough to play ball with some of the stranger and weirder corners of the Marvel universe.


When we delve into the origins of the Defenders comic book then the method of the Defenders madness towards dungeon mastering becomes even a bit more obvious.
'The origin of the Defenders lies in two crossover story arcs by Roy Thomas prior to the official founding of the team. The first, in Doctor Strange #183 (November 1969), Sub-Mariner #22 (February 1970), and The Incredible Hulk #126 (April 1970) occurred when the Dr. Strange series was canceled and the storyline was completed in another series. Dr. Strange teams with Sub-Mariner then the Hulk to protect the Earth from invasion by Lovecraftian interplanar beings known as the Undying Ones and their leader, the Nameless One. Barbara Norriss, later the host of the Valkyrie, first appears in this story. In the second arc featured in Sub-Mariner #34–35, (February–March 1971), Namor enlists the aid of the Silver Surfer and the Hulk to stop a potentially devastating weather control experiment, inadvertently freeing a small island nation from a dictator and facing the Avengers under the unofficial name of the "Titans Three"'
There's the set up for the menace, the assembling of the team and its powerhouses, and then the take down of the menace. This same sort of a set up was done last year when another foundation member of the Defenders appeared in his own movie, Dr. Strange. This also ties in with a major arch of the Agents of Shield television show.  Check out the well written article by Angie Han over at slash film.com How ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Connects to ‘Doctor Strange’ by Angie Han.

This would be a perfect set up for a campaign of the classic Marvel Super Heroes game & a damn epic campaign with legendary heavy hitters. So effectively Disney/Marvel has an in for a Defenders movie.

Marvel/Disney is effectively using every trick in this marketing/advertising campaign straight out of the the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition Dungeon Master's Guide. From 'bait and switch', 'full blow dungeon crawls,' to 'hook line & sinker'  all of the classics are there in this campaign and these films.

There have been dungeon crawls in these films, recruitment from the tavern scenes, etc. all of the classics are in here and we the audience keep falling for it. I'm not saying that's a bad thing at all but you as the DM's can effectively use this same style to fuel your home adventures and campaigns. Food for thought anyway. Will we be seeing a Defenders movie? I can hold out hope but for now only at the table top level where you my friends make it happen! So for now keep rolling those dice!

 This blog entry isn't an attempt to violate the trademarks or copyrights of  Disney or Marvel comics or the Marvel Cinematic universe in anyway. This blog entry is for educational and entertainment purposes. None of the role playing game systems mentioned in the article are responsible for the content and ideas of this blog which are the property of the writer whose warped opinion as a fan fuels this blog.