User blog comment:Hellhamer/So...Daredevil is back at home!/@comment-1895174-20130424010858/@comment-3317214-20130426155703

What do you mean, "Heck no"? It's true. Companies like Disney and Marvel acknowledge that it's their income. That they want to make something profitable, and that there's no point in making the movie if it won't make money. They're a company. Duh.

But ultimately, they acknowledge that film is an art form. Guys like Whedon, they're artists. Their occupation is to tell stories, and they know that if the quality of their art isn't there, neither is the money. Their main concern is (or at least should be) to tell a good story. Sure, the company pulls a lot of strings and does some things entirely for monetary concerns, but that's the way the world works. All art goes through that kind of thing.

They greenlit Guardians of the Galaxy after all, right? You think they greenlit it because it would be their best option for making money? Of course not. They've got plenty of other options, that, at least, seem more profitable on paper. No, they greenlit it, because it fits in with the bigger picture of their universe. Because it is a part of the story they want to tell.

Yes, of course the Avengers is the reason Stark appeared, but all of the references to SHIELD? It's clear, without RDJ's cameo, that it's a part of a bigger universe. But the reason behind the cameo wasn't the point. The point was that it worked. Well before the Avengers. If the Avengers film project was cancelled before Iron Man 2, although the cameo would be an unfinished plot thread, it still worked in connecting the universes, and therefore, didn't need to lead anywhere

The non-Avengers movies are not glorified advertisements. That's a heck of a lot of money to spend on ads, especially when they're taking risks with them such as introducing new and more obscure characters, and using directors that aren't necessarily known for film work (or at least, superhero film work).

Like it or not, all of the films in the MCU are FILMS. They are stories. The characters themselves don't have to be a part of an Avengers movie to fit into the universe. The film just needs to tell a story.