Marvel fans can get a unique and comprehensive look behind the scenes of how the House of Ideas operates with Marvel's Storyboards, a new, free online series that follows Joe Quesada - Executive Vice President and Creative Director of Marvel Entertainment - as he details the inspirations and aspirations that go into Marvel's stories, while also exploring the stories behind an eccentric and eclectic rotation of special guests as they share their own personal stories.
“Whether you choose to speak through your words or through your actions, we are all storytellers with something to share. Marvel’s Storyboards captures that spirit and drive behind some of the most incredible voices across film, television, music, theater, sports, journalism, and beyond.” Quesada said of the 12-episode series. “With all of us now spending so much more time at home, we felt it was more important than ever to make these inspirational stories accessible to as many people as possible and share them with the world. We are thrilled to debut Marvel’s Storyboards for all our fans this summer!”
The series launched on Marvel's Youtube channel and Marvel.com July 23, with the first episode featuring special guest Hugh Jackman. In the wide-ranging interview, the pair discuss a work of art that Jackman had commissioned from Quesada to commemorate the end of the actor's 17-year run as Wolverine with Logan, Jackman's entrance into the acting world, how he approached playing the iconic X-Man and more. Fun fact: Jackman didn't even know wolverines were a real animal before taking the role. Episode 2, which released July 30, saw Quesada with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Natalia Cordova-Buckley, who fans may know better as Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez, who gave the host a tough lesson in the physicality it takes to play a Marvel character.
The series will be split into two 6-episode seasons and new episodes will drop every Thursday through the end of August. Future episodes will feature guests like EGOT-winning songwriter Bobby Lopez, Broadway star Christian Borle, Comminity's Gillian Jacobs and many, many more. Paralleling Marvel's Storyboards, a recent profile for New York's ABC 7 delved into Quesada's own origin story. A Queens native himself, Quesada said that the borough's resident Wall-Crawler was an inspiration growing up, singling out The Amazing Spider-Man #96, as his jumping off point. "It changed my life," he said. “Everything I needed to know… to have a leadership role here at Marvel, all happened on 95th Street between 37th Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue.”
"I've learned that you can find stories anywhere and everywhere," Quesada said. "Everyone is a storyteller. Even if you're not making money from it, we're all storytellers... I get paid to do what I used to get yelled at in school for doing, which is daydreaming, staring out a window, imagining things, and then doodling in my notebook.”
Both Marvel's Storyboards and Quesada's profile offer unique perspectives on not only the House of Idea's storytelling processes, but also individuals' storytelling processes and both are worth checking out. The next episode of Marvel's Storyboards will release August 6 and feature actor Christian Borle as a guest. There isn't any news yet as to when season two will be released, but for fans of the creative process, Storyboards is essential viewing.
Source: ABC7