Captain Marvel comes out in cinemas this Thursday March 7, and the hype can barely be contained. In spite of the petulant trolls who have tried to stifle the excitement for female-led Marvel film, the reception for Brie Larson’s superhero debut is overwhelmingly positive and its set to smash at the box office.
The trailers are electrifying, the reviews are excellent, the world is ready for Captain Marvel.
But not everyone is loving the latest promo, which features Kardashian mom-ager Kris Jenner alongside actress and Real Housewives star Lisa Rinna. It’s definitely an unexpected crossover of characters.
Captain Marvel falls into Blockbuster and meets … Kris Jenner and Lisa Rinna in new promo ?
(via Kris Jenner | Instagram) pic.twitter.com/qmaqJ5DPmH
— Fandom (@getFANDOM) March 4, 2019
Yes this promo is very cringe. Captain Marvel is an icon of female empowerment and Kris Jenner is decidedly not.
As Jenner and Linna pull up to the Blockbuster the following exchange goes down.
“Hey did you rewind those?” Jenner asks.
“I’ve got better things to do.” Rinna replies.
“Like what?”
“Do you think this hair does itself?”
It’s not exactly progressive stuff, which feels like an awkward friction against the empowerment that Captain Marvel stands for.
The closing joke is that upon seeing Captain Marvel, Jenner declares that, “what she needs is her own movie.”
Kris Jenner in a Captain Marvel commercial? The Devil works hard but good lawd Kris Jenner works HARDER. pic.twitter.com/S6pTZjRu0d
— Danielle (@KittyKatDeee) March 4, 2019
There’s plenty of Marvel fans lamenting the misalignment of morals between these two worlds of pop culture that have been brought together. But as far as marketing goes, this promotion intentionally casts the film’s net over a broader audience than it might have already reached.
If you drew a Venn diagram representing fans of Marvel against fans of the Kardashians and The Real Housewives, there would be some overlap, sure. But there is a huge audience that would likely enjoy Captain Marvel, but don’t consider themselves the target of the Marvel universe superhero films.
Kris Jenner can get that audience. She’s a connoisseur of content for that audience, and her stamp of approval on Captain Marvel is a smart way to attract new eyes to the superhero screen.
It’s a cringe promo, and an awkward combo, but the Kris Jenner/Captain Marvel crossover is undeniably good strategy.