| WHIH Newsfront | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | |
| Presented by | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Production | |
| Production company | Marvel Studios |
| Original release | |
| Network | YouTube |
| Release | July 2, 2015 (2015-07-02) – May 3, 2016 (2016-05-03) |
WHIH Newsfront is afaux Americancurrent affairsdigital series serving as the center of severalviral marketing campaigns forMarvel Studios. Based on thefictional television network WHIH World News that appears throughout theMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), theYouTube videos began as marketing for the filmAnt-Man, and deal with major events depicted in the MCU'sfilms andtelevision series. The videos were created by Marvel Studios in partnership withGoogle.
Thenews program featuresLeslie Bibb asChristine Everhart, reprising her role from the MCU films, withAl Madrigal portraying political correspondent Will Adams. Several other actors reprise their roles from the films, while archival footage of others is also used. The initial videos were released during July 2015, focusing on the immediate aftermath ofAvengers: Age of Ultron, while leading up to the events ofAnt-Man. More were released beginning in April 2016, as aWHIH Newsfront Special Report, focusing on theAvengers and the political issues surrounding them, as part of a similar viral marketing campaign for the filmCaptain America: Civil War.
The videos are accompanied by additional marketing materials, such as in-universe web articles and social media posts. The series has been received positively, seen as better than average viral marketing campaigns, and as a fun and insightful expansion of the MCU for fans of the franchise.
| No. overall | No. in campaign | Title | Guest(s) | Original release date | Runtime | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "WHIH Newsfront Promo" | None | July 2, 2015 (2015-07-02) | 0:28 | |
Christine Everhart runs down the upcoming week's main stories. | ||||||
| 2 | 2 | "WHIH Newsfront Top Stories" | None | July 7, 2015 (2015-07-07) | 1:20 | |
Christine Everhart discusses the ongoing relief efforts inSokovia,[a] and the upcoming release of corporate criminalScott Lang.[b] | ||||||
| 3 | 3 | "WHIH EXCLUSIVE: 2012 VistaCorp break-in security footage involving cyber-criminal Scott Lang" | None | July 11, 2015 (2015-07-11) | 1:48 | |
Security footage featuring Lang's VistaCorp break in, for which he was arrested and imprisoned. | ||||||
| 4 | 4 | "WIRED Insider Interviews Darren Cross, CEO of Pym Technologies" | Corey Stoll asDarren Cross | July 13, 2015 (2015-07-13) | 2:36 | |
An interview with Pym Technologies CEODarren Cross, concerning the future of his company. | ||||||
| 5 | 5 | "WHIH EXCLUSIVE: Scott Lang Interview" | Paul Rudd as Scott Lang | July 16, 2015 (2015-07-16) | 3:23 | |
Christine Everhart interviews Scott Lang via video fromSan Quentin Prison ahead of his release. | ||||||
| No. overall | No. in campaign | Title | Guest(s) | Original release date | Runtime | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 1 | "AVENGERS IMPACT: AWHIH Newsfront Special Report" | None | April 22, 2016 (2016-04-22) | 2:22 | |
Christine Everhart and political correspondent Will Adams discuss theAvengers and whether they require governmental oversight to prevent further collateral damage. | ||||||
| 7 | 2 | "WHIH Newsfront: The Cost of Saving the World" | None | April 26, 2016 (2016-04-26) | 1:41 | |
Christine Everhart and Will Adams discuss whether the Avengers or taxpayers should pay for damages caused by the Avengers' saving the world, an issue upon which public response is divided. | ||||||
| 8 | 3 | "WHIH Newsfront: The Avengers and The White House" | None | April 28, 2016 (2016-04-28) | 3:12 | |
Christine Everhart and Will Adams discussPresidentMatthew Ellis's stance on the Avengers, and the increasing political activity ofThaddeus Ross following his retirement from the military. | ||||||
| 9 | 4 | "WHIH Newsfront Exclusive: President Ellis Discusses the Avengers" | William Sadler as Matthew Ellis | May 3, 2016 (2016-05-03) | 3:14 | |
Christine Everhart and Will Adams interview President Matthew Ellis about his decision to nominate Thaddeus Ross for the position ofUnited States Secretary of State, and about his stance on the Avengers. | ||||||
| 10 | 5 | "WHIH Breaking News: Attack in Lagos" | William Sadler as Matthew Ellis | May 3, 2016 (2016-05-03) | 3:06 | |
Also reprising his role from the films isWilliam Sadler as President of the United States,Matthew Ellis,[4] whilePaul Rudd andCorey Stoll asScott Lang andDarren Cross, respectively, appear before their appearances inAnt-Man.[5] Additionally,WIRED Insider presenter James Rondell appears as himself,[5] and a WHIH reporter based on the characterJackson Norris briefly appears;[6][7] the latter is a separate character from the similarly named Jackson Norriss, who appears in theMarvel One-Shot short filmAll Hail the King portrayed byScoot McNairy.[8]
In June 2015,Leslie Bibb revealed that she was involved in a new project forMarvel Studios, reprising her role ofChristine Everhart fromIron Man andIron Man 2.[2] The next week, the project was revealed to be part of aviral marketing campaign for the Marvel filmAnt-Man with the reveal of a faux news program,WHIH Newsfront with Christine Everhart,[1] an extension of the fictional television network WHIH World News which is depicted reporting on major events in many MCU films and television series.[9]
Bibb returned as Everhart, and was joined byAl Madrigal as WHIH political correspondent Will Adams, for aWHIH Newsfront Special Report as part of a similar campaign in April 2016 in the lead up to the filmCaptain America: Civil War.[10] The report focuses on the opposing sides ofCivil War's central conflict, with Everhart supporting governmental oversight and accountability for superheroes, and Adams willing to let the Avengers do what is necessary to save the world. The opinion of the MCU public is also depicted as divided between the two sides.[10][11]
Marvel partnered withGoogle to produce the videos,[12] which deal with the aftermath ofAvengers: Age of Ultron, and the buildup toAnt-Man andCaptain America: Civil War, while featuring numerouseaster eggs to the MCU, including anews ticker that mentions MCU characters and events such asJane Foster, the death ofWolfgang von Strucker,[5] and Dr.Stephen Strange.[4] In addition to archive footage from the films, the videos also use original material and "footage showing what these fights and their aftermaths look [like] from the civilian perspective".[13]
The videos were made available on the WHIH World News'YouTube channel, with some of them debuting in publications such as Mashable,BuzzFeed, andWIRED Insider.[12] TheAnt-Man campaign videos also appear as bonus features on that film'sBlu-ray release.[14]
Other content released for the viral marketing campaigns include ongoing posts on social media sites such asTwitter andGoogle+,[3][12] as well as a full length piece onMashable, attributed to Everhart, that serves as a companion to the videos.[15] More focus was placed on social media for the 2016 return, with tweets released to celebrateEarth Day, with reference toStark Industries andPepper Potts,[3] and to mark the end of the clean up ofWashington, D.C. following the events ofCaptain America: The Winter Soldier, with quotes from MCU politicians such as President Ellis used.[16][17]
Oliver Lyttelton ofIndieWire called the campaign, "one of the cannier bits of marketing that Marvel have come up with", saying that "it's not particularly funny, but fans will definitely enjoy it."[18] CinemaBlend's Adam Holmes noted how the videos were able to give insight to the rest of the MCU and its population's perception of the films' events.[13] Matthew Mueller at ComicBook.com said, "As far as viral marketing goes, this is definitely one of the more well-produced campaigns," and noted, "In our 24-hour news cycle, the smallest abnormal occurrence can spawn countless hours of coverage....so it stands to reason that multiple superhero related catastrophes would also warrant that kind of coverage."[10]
Alanna Smith, writing for Geek Chic Elite, stated, "When I found out about this channel I couldn't help but laugh out of disbelief and awe towards the Marvel team. I mean come on, real online broadcasts of the news channel that it turns out has been there from the start, and it's hosted by the same side character (whom we probably didn't even think would be back) from the startup MCU film made 7 years ago? When Marvel says "It's All Connected" they don't mess around; they really meaneverything."[9] Sean K. Cureton of Screen Rant found the videos to be "in keeping with the willingness on the part of Marvel Studios to poke fun at some of the more vocal complaints frequently raised against the action-centric nature of the MCU, and the entire superhero film genre by default. At the same time, in incorporating the real world dialogue regarding the ridiculous levels of structural damage inflicted on various metropolitan settings, [the franchise] sets itself apart through a coy flirtation in engaging the discussion."[11]
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