Transmedia Storytelling- X-Men

Carl Azor

Convergence

Professor Cacoilo

November 18, 2015

Transmedia Storytelling

            Multimedia and transmedia may sound similar but they are two completely different categories of media. Both use the same business tactics to reel consumers and followers in. The huge difference between the two is that transmedia transcends through a plethora of media outlets with different stories under one umbrella. Multimedia is using more than one medium of expression or communication to tell one story. Both are very effective at how they deliver their media as a whole.

           

Antwone Fisher for instance is a great example of multimedia. Antwone Fisher is a book about an African-American man who had a troubled childhood due to the instability of his family and the poverty stricken area in which he was raised. He changed his life around when he joined the Navy, in which he received counseling, and formed bonds with people that helped him change his life for the better. The book did so well that it was picked up to have a film based on its storyline. Just like the book, the movie did really well and got great reviews. What made the story of Antwone Fisher multimedia is not only just the fact that it was produced through literature and film. It is also multimedia because it conveys the same underlining story.  That is the main difference between multimedia and transmedia.

            “The Matrix is entertainment for the age of media convergence, integrating multiple texts to create a narrative so large that it cannot be contained within a single media” (Jenkins 97).  Jenkins’s insight on the Matrix series shows how impactful an intriguing work can be on various industries. The same is true for Marvel’s X-Men franchise. The X-Men series started as strictly a comic book series in 1963. Through increasing popularity, the series made its way to television. In 2000, X-Men the movie, was released grossing $296 million. Since then, the X-Men film series has grown to encompass 8 movies, the X-Men franchise has its own video games, and the franchise has amusement park rides.

            According to Jenkins, “every franchise entry needs to be self-contained so you don’t need to have seen the film to enjoy the game and vice versa” (Jenkins 98). These sentiments are true of the X-Men series. While the TV shows and movies are based on the original comics in that they include some general storylines and characters, they also tell new stories of their own. Each X-Men film, is its own independent movie, therefore viewers can watch any film, at any time, without having to see the preceding one or have read the comics in order to understand the current film. These movies also highlight certain popular characters such as Wolverine in various films that solely follow his story thereby creating new channels for the expansion of the franchise.

            In order to continue the momentum of the franchise growth, Marvel tapped into the adolescent market. By releasing high action films geared toward adolescents, they were able to market to an impressionable audience, who would likely follow the franchise not only on screen, but in other similar outlets. Gaming is one such outlet that Marvel transcended into, since it is another area with a large adolescent market. The same is true of their theme park attraction, Storm Force at Universal Studios. These tactics create a world for this series that far transcends the world of comic books.

The X-Men comics rose to success due to the fact that the stories told in them were not only those of fiction, but they also incorporated current issues faced in society. The fans of X-Men drew parallels to X-Men and real life issues such as the American battle for Civil Rights. Artist Orion Martin drew depictions of X-Men characters as African Americans in order to compare the treatment of the X-Men mutants to the treatment of blacks in American society (Demby). X-Men mutants were shunned by society, as were blacks during the Civil rights movement. By portraying these social issues by making comparisons to a popular series, the topic of race relations becomes less taboo, and the comic series reaches a wider fan base.

While multimedia and transmedia have similarities, transmedia is a much more powerful category of media because it allows a subject matter to transcend far beyond its original realm. Transmedia allows a franchise to grow in order to target new audiences and create additional outlets for their stories to be given to fans. By allowing fans additional ways of connecting with one franchise, a heightened sense of loyalty to the franchise is ultimately created.

Works Cited

Demby, Gene. Who Gets To Be A Superhero? Race And Identity In Comics. 12 01 2014. 19 11 2015 <http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/01/11/261449394/who-gets-to-be-a-superhero-race-and-identity-in-comics>.

Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture. New York: New York University Press, 2006.