Could Inhumans become Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first Imax-sized flop? We look for hints at an audience with director Roel Reine

If there’s one thing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), it is that it has always been able to prove conventional wisdom wrong.

The grand vision behind MCU – to connect multiple superhero films that would collectively build towards a team-up movie in 2012 – was considered too ambitious by industry insiders ... until The Avengers took US$1.5 billion at the global box office and changed the landscape of Hollywood.

When MCU branched out to the small screen, some wondered if the drastically different production schedules and storytelling structure would ruin the continuity of the universe; it mostly didn’t.

By 2014, when MCU managed to turn an obscure team of corny superheroes – one of whom is a talking raccoon – into the critically acclaimed, almost US$800 million-grossing hit Guardians of the Galaxy, people finally learnt to stop doubting Marvel Studio president Kevin Feige.

But MCU may finally have bitten off more than it can chew with Inhumans, an ambitious series whose first two episodes were shot on Alexa 65mm Imax cameras and will enjoy a worldwide Imax cinematic run for two weeks, before the other eight episodes of the season are aired on television.