Throughout the years, Marvel Studios has created an empire that has taken over superhero fans all around the world. The MCU that started with the 2008’s Iron Man has become one of the biggest franchises of all time and is continuously growing with no end in sight. The studio introduced its upcoming phases earlier this year. Phase five of the MCU will start with the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and fans have started guessing what might happen in the film.
However, these expectations might put Marvel Studios at risk. In a recent case, two people filed a lawsuit against Universal Studio for releasing deceptive trailers. The federal court ruled the decision in favor of the two Ana de Armas fans, who filed the lawsuit.
Ana de Armas Fans Filed a Lawsuit Against Universal Studios
Two Ana de Armas fans rented out a 2019 film Yesterday after they saw their favorite star in the movie’s trailer. However, after watching the film they found out the actress was cut out of the film. The disappointed fans, who did not see Ana de Armas in the film, filed a lawsuit against Universal Studios.
The studio argued that the trailers are entitled to broad protection under the “First Amendment.” Universal Studios’ lawyers claimed that the trailer is an “artistic, expressive work” trying to convey the plot and the story of the film and thus, it should be considered “non-commercial” speech.
However, the US District Judge, Stephen Wilson, ruled that the trailer is a commercial speech, which is subject to the “California False Adverting Law and the state’s Unfair Competition Law.”
The court claimed that the trailer seems to portray Ana de Armas to have a prominent role as the protagonist’s love interest, which would lead people to expect to see her in the film.
The judge claimed that trailers do involve some “creativity and editorial discretion,” but it does not “outweigh the commercial nature of a trailer.” The judge ruled, “At its core, a trailer is an advertisement designed to sell a movie by providing consumers with a preview of the movie.”
The 2019 film Yesterday follows Jack Malik, who one day wakes up to find that he is the only one who remembers The Beatles. When he learns the whole situation, he starts using the band’s song as his own for fame and success.
Why it Could Cause Problems For Marvel Studios?
Universal Studios’ lawyers argued that removing trailers from “First Amendment protection” could lead to multiple complaints from viewers. They claimed that people would start filing lawsuits if they are not satisfied or unable to see what they expected from the trailer.
Stephen Wilson ruled that the False Adverting Law will be applied only when a “significant portion of reasonable consumers” could be misled.
While Marvel Studios has nothing to do with the lawsuit, the studio is known for including small clips in the trailers that never make it to the final cut. While fans were disappointed not to see some of these scenes in the films, none of them opted to file a lawsuit against Marvel Studios.
However, the ruling of this new case might lead MCU fans to sue Marvel Studios in the future for a similar situation. Luckily, fans seem supportive of Marvel Studios as they claimed that the studio does what it does to avoid spoilers in trailers.
One of the biggest mislead of the Marvel Studios includes Hulk’s appearance in Avengers: Infinity War trailer. The trailer shows Hulk charging on Thanos’ army with Avengers. However, throughout the film, Bruce Banner was unable to transform into his alter-ego Hulk. While fans did point it out, they never attempted to file a lawsuit against the studio.
People are arguing that if the makers of Yesterday did cut off the Blonde star from the film, the scene should have also been removed from the film. Having one person in the trailer as a prominent character and then cutting it off is misleading for viewers. While Marvel Studios do have some scenes that do not make it to the final cut, It does not seem to impact the story that much.
Source: Twitter
