Watched this on the DVR a couple of days ago. Host Emily VanCamp helps chronicle the comic company's beginnings to when it was originally called Timely Comics back in the late '30s when the Sub-Mariner and The Human Torch were created to the Marvel Age which started with The Fantastic Four in '61 to the creation of the Marvel Studios series of current superhero movies. Yes, Stan Lee talks here and there are plenty of mentions of Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko.. Yes, the movies made by the studio are mentioned and clips of them are shown. And, yes, there's a preview clip of "Agent Carter" at the end. As a long-time comic fan, I was stoked watching this! So on that note, Marvel 75 Years: From Pulp to Pop! did the job it was meant to do.

This is one of at least three 75yr celebratory documentaries about Marvel and the first one I've seen. It stands at only 40 minutes and therein lies the problem.

It takes a look back at Marvels humble beginnings, where Stan Lee & Jack Kirby came in, the shifts in popularity and the bankruptcy that caused the distribution of characters.

Truth is telling a story like this that dates back all the way to WW2 cannot be summed up in 40 minutes and that makes the whole thing feel extremely rushed.

This is prime material for a documentary, but not to be compacted into little more than half an hour.

There are some good interviews with both people from the industry, cast and crew of the modern Marvel cinematic universe and lots of celebrity fans but even they are little more than sound bites.

Great content but just not enough of it.

The Good:

Good selection of interviewees

Emily VanCamps

Fairly eye opening

The Bad:

Far too short

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Hearing them say that the thing Marvel do best is get the best directors during this James Gunn debacle is quite interesting

"Marvel 75 Years: From Pulp to Pop!" is a 42-minute documentary from 2014, so two more years only until this has its 75th anniversary. Director is Zak Knutson, nobody really new to the subject as he worked on other Marvel documentaries too. It is one of his most known works though. And it is easily the most known work for writer Laura Shields because she hardly worked on anything else. At least according to IMDb. Here the interviewees include several names of actors that play a (not so) major role in the Marvel Universe, also or especially on the small screen. But there's also guys like host Emily VanCamp in here or Jimmy Kimmel who do not necessarily have a great connection with the subject. Anyway, I think this is more for those who really like the superhero television shows and not for those who like the films and I count myself clearly more among the latter. Overall, this documentary does not pretend to be anything it is not, so Ill be relatively generous with my rating here, even if I did not really enjoy the watch and I can see how this has at least partially due to my subjective approach. You don't learn anything new from it either, but for Marvel fans it is worth checking out.