Фансервис как категория нарратива в конвергентной культуре: особенности продвижения фильма «Мстители: Доктор Дум» (2026)

Коммуникативные исследования. 2027. № 1.

Shishkov G.

Communication between media companies and their audience is undergoing a transformation due to the emergence of a new phenomenon: fan service. This consists of audio-visual elements within works of popular culture that are aimed at a specific segment of the audience – fans – with the aim of satisfying their demands and needs as part of a participatory culture and ‘rewarding’ them for their loyalty. Today, fan service is practically an integral part of superhero film franchises (and in particular Disney’s ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe’), which have become the benchmark for the film market of the 2010s–2020s. It has reached the point where fan service is being used directly as a promotional strategy for the film ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ (2026) as part of its promotional campaign, whilst the film’s creators are encouraging fans to independently seek out meanings and construct the narrative of the upcoming film. Such audience engagement at various levels signals a transformation in the narrative structure of the work: its core is no longer the story, but the discourse, including the paratext. On the one hand, this raises the entry threshold and, in doing so, divides the film’s audience; on the other, it may meet the participatory culture needs and co-creation in constructing the narrative of a superhero text. Thus, fan service becomes a new element of narrative storytelling, exerting a strong influence on communication within the Convergence Culture.

Keywords: нарратив, popular culture, narrative, популярная культура, трансмедийный сторителлинг, transmedia storytelling, convergence culture, мстители, конвергентная культура, супергерои, Fan Service, Superheroes, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers, фансервис, Кинематографическая вселенная Марвел