Marvel's social clout will be key as the company moves to promote films and TV shows for its lesser-known characters. Two of its movies slated for release in the next 16 months, "The Eternals" and "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," scored well in ListenFirst's review of Twitter hashtags, mentions and Wikipedia page views over the past three months.
"When a more obscure character gets turned into a feature, there's the benefit and power of all this fan base that exists for Marvel properties on social media everywhere that they can cross-promote and build huge awareness," says Klein.
Adding big-name stars to a lesser-known part of the franchise can also help boost a movie's social performance. "The Eternals," set for release in November 2020, stars Angelie Jolie, Salma Hayek and Kit Harrington.
"The name recognition of Angelia Jolie helps drive a lot of the awareness and interest in it," says Klein.
Comic book movies outside of the Marvel universe have also performed well on social recently. Marvel's competitor DC Entertainment claimed two of the top 10 spots for Twitter mentions, hashtags and Wikipedia views among films with release dates between Oct. 1, 2019 and Dec 31., 2021, as analyzed by ListenFirst. "Joker" came in first while the studio's upcoming Harley Quinn story "Birds of Prey" was number five on the firm's ranking.
Marvel's parent company Disney leaned on social media recently to promote its new Disney+ service, which will feature exclusive Marvel releases like “She-Hulk,” “Loki” and “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.” The service is set to roll out in the U.S. on November 12.