Style Guide for Marvel Studios http://marvel.com/movies By Madi Puzey Updated: October 15, 2016 Marvel Studios is an American film company based in Burbank, California. Since its original foundation in 1993—when it was known as Marvel Films—Marvel Studios has merged with the Walt Disney Company, and to this day, it remains a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios. Marvel Studios aims to entertain comic fans and wider audiences by creating movies based off popular comics and include the most recognizable comic characters in said comics. Marvel Studios is responsible for past films such as X-Men (2000), Daredevil (2003), and Fantastic Four (2005), as well as more recent films, such as Iron Man (2008), The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). Netflix series such as Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage are Marvel Studios productions as well. This in-house style guide is intended to provide clarity and consistency for both employees of Marvel Studios and those who intend to write about projects Marvel Studios. This clarity and consistency is pertinent in order to cater to a wider audience and avoid confusion among those seeking to write about Marvel Studios productions in the future. Marvel Studios does not currently follow a particular style guide, and while this style guide is not inclusive, its organization will comply with standards set by The Chicago Manual of Style (sixteenth edition). This style guide will address issues not explicitly covered by Chicago, as well as instances in which more than one style is acceptable. Marvel Studios is an American film company, but its has reached a global audience. Because of this global reach, this style guide will incorporate principles of global English in an attempt to better communicate with a global audience. Global English decisions are references to John R. Kohl’s The Global English Style Guide: Writing Clear, Translatable Documentation for a Global Market (2008, SAS Press: Cary, North Carolina, ISBN 978-1-59994-657-3).
Contents 5 Grammar and Usage 5.1 Parallelism 5.2 Passive Voice
6 Punctuation 6.1 Serial Commas 6.2 Commas with Dates 6.3 Commas with Locations 6.4 Semicolons in a Complex Series 6.5 Hyphens and Dashes 6.6 Hyphens 6.7 En dashes 6.8 Em dashes 6.9 Fragments and Periods 6.10 Capitalization of Proper Nouns 6.11 And/Or
7 Spelling, Distinctive Treatment of Words, Compounds 7.1 Plurals 7.2 Possessives of Words and Names Ending in “s� 7.3 Possessive of It
8 Names and Terms 8.1 Personal Names 8.2 Hyphenated Names 8.3 Titles and Offices 8.4 Ethnic, Socioeconomic, and Other Groups 8.5 Names of Places 8.6 Names of Governmental Bodies 8.7 Names of Ships and Other Vehicles 8.8 Brand Names and Trademarks 8.9 Capitalizing Titles of Works 8.10 Capitalizing Series and Editions 8.11 Titles of Movies and Television Programs
9 Numbers 9.1 Numerals versus Words 9.2 Money
10 Quotations and Dialogue 10.1
Ellipses
5 Grammar and Usage 5.1 Parallelism In Kohl 6.5, parallelism is not seen as “just a stylistic issue.” Instead, it insinuates that parallelism is so important that it is “often essential for clear communication.” Marvel Studio’s audience is a global one, so clarity is key when it comes to communicating with their audience. The scene involved cars exploding, ships sinking, bullets flying, and people running. NOT The scene involved cars exploding, a sunken ship, flying bullets, and people. 5.2 Passive Voice Active voice, according to Kohl 3.6, is preferable to using passive voice. Constructions with active voice makes for less clunky and cluttered sentences and makes it easier for a global audience, such as Marvel Studios’, to understand. The film brought in over millions of dollars this weekend. NOT Millions of dollars were brought in by the film.
6 Punctuation 6.1 Serial Commas Serial items are separated by commas. When there is a conjunction between the last two elements in a series, a comma should come before it. (See Chicago 6.18) Team Iron Man includes Iron Man, Iron Patriot, Spider-Man, Black Widow, and Vision. NOT Team Iron Man includes Iron Man, Iron Patriot, Spider-Man, Black Widow and Vision. 6.2 Commas with Dates In dates, commas are used to both set off the year and to separate the traditional month-day-year style from the rest of the text. The commas are not required in the day-month-year system, which is standard in British English. (See Chicago 6.45) The film was released on April 12, 2016, at the Dolby Theater and on May 6, 2016, in the United States. NOT The film was released on April 12, 2016 at the Dolby Theater and on May 6 2016, in the United States.
6.3 Commas with Locations Commas are used to set off addresses and place-names in run-in text. In mailing addresses, commas should be used as little as possible. If in doubt, consult the postal service.. (See Chicago 6.46) Walt Disney Studios is located at 500 S Buena Vista St. Burbank, CA 91521, and Twentieth Century Fox Studios is located at 2121 Avenue of the Stars #100. NOT Walt Disney Studios is located at 500 S Buena Vista St. Burbank, CA 91521 and Twentieth Century Fox Studios is located at 2121 Avenue of the Stars #100. 6.4 Semicolons in a Complex Series When items in a series contain internal punctuation, semicolons are used to set the items off from one another. (See Chicago 6.58) Kohl 8.10.2 warns against using semicolons to separate clauses. Characters include Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr.; Rhodey, played by Don Cheadle; Pepper Potts, played by Gwyneth Paltrow; Natalie Rushman, played by Scarlett Johansson; and Nick Fury, played by Samuel L. Jackson. NOT Characters include Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr., Rhodey, played by Don Cheadle, Pepper Potts, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, Natalie Rushman, played by Scarlett Johansson, and Nick Fury, played by Samuel L. Jackson. 6.5 Hyphens and Dashes Hyphens and dashes have specific appearances, and therefore, specific purposes. The hyphen, en dash, and em dash are all the most commonly used. There are also 2-em and 3-em dashes. Below are the different hyphens and dashes. (See Chicago 6.75) hyphen -
en dash –
em dash — 2-em dash —— 3-em dash ———
6.6 Hyphens Hyphens can be used in compound words and as separators. They are used to separate numbers that are not inclusive, such as telephone and Social Security numbers. It is also used to separate letters when a word is spelled out, and in reference to American Sign Language. (See Chicago 6.76, 6.77, and 5.91) 123-456-67890 “My name is Clinton, that’s c-l-i-n-t-o-n.” He fingerspelled where he was from—I-O-W-A—in less than two seconds. 6.7 En Dashes as to According to Chicago 6.78, “the principal use of the en dash is to connect numbers and, less often, words.” It means up to and including. The word to cannot precede an en dash. Phase Two lasted from 2013 to 2015. Years 2008–2012 saw Phase One.
NOT Phase Two lasted from 2013–2015. Years 2008-2012 saw Phase One. 6.8 Em Dashes According to Kohl 8.4, “double hyphens are a relic from the days of typewriters,” and they should not be used in documents that are electronically produced. They can cause unintended hyphenations and they look sloppy. Em dashes should be used in place of double hyphens. Black Panther—also known as T’Challa—is the king of Wakanda. NOT Black Panther--also known as T’Challa--is the king of Wakanda. 6.9 Photo Captions Captions to photos should not be punctuated the way a sentence would be. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) travels to Kathmandu in Marvel’s Doctor Strange NOT Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) travels to Kathmandu in Marvel’s Doctor Strange. 6.10 Capitalization of Proper Nouns Kohl 8.13.1 states that proper nouns include trademarks, product names—even if they aren’t trademarked—major components or subsystems of a product, acronyms, intialisms, and short forms of names, as well as other names. Marvel Studios Hulk Sketchbook Ornament S.H.I.E.L.D. Hydra NOT Marvel studios Hulk sketchbook ornament S.h.i.e.l.d. HYDRA 6.11 Slash Used in and/or According to Kohl 8.12, using a slash in and/or does not pose a threat to non-native speakers, and should be clear and concise enough to use.
7 Spelling, Distinctive Treatment of Words, Compounds 7.1 Plurals Most nouns form plurals by adding an s. If they end in ch, j, s, sh, x, or z, the plural is formed by adding es. There are some exceptions to this rule, which should be looked up in the dictionary. (See Chicago 7.5) Films Movies Comics 7.2 Possessives of Words and Names Ending in s The general rule that possessives are created with an apostrophe before an s extends to proper nouns that end in s, x, or z. (See Chicago 7.16) Dr. Stevens’s lab Drax’s body 7.3 Possessive of it It only has an apostrophe before an s if it is a contraction of it is. The possessive form of it is its.
8 Names and Terms 8.1 Personal Names Names and initials of persons, both real and fictional, should be capitalized. A space should also go between the initials, except when the initials are used alone. (See Chicago 8.4) Stephen Strange Joe Russo RDJ Samuel L. Jackson 8.2 Hyphenated Names According to Chicago 8.6, hyphenated names should never “be shorn of one of its elements.” If in doubt about whether a name should be hyphenated or not, check the Marvel character database. 8.3 Titles and Offices Civil, military, religious, and professional titles are only capitalized when they precede a proper name. In all other cases, they are lowercased. (See Chicago 8.18 and 8.22) President Ellis; the president Secretary Ross; the secretary of state Governor Hancock; the governor King T’Chaka; the king of Wakanda
8.4 Ethnic, Socioeconomic, and Other Groups Names of ethnic and national groups are capitalized, and so are the adjectives associated with such groups. Sokovians; a Sokovian; Sokovian cities Wakandans; a Wakandan; Wakandan metal 8.5 Names of Places Continents, cities, countries, and any other place-names should be capitalized. Points on the compass should not be capitalized unless they are part of the names of regions of the world. (See Chicago 8.44, 8.45, and 8.46) America; American Sokovia; Sokovian Wakanda; Wakandan Washington, D.C. New York City Southern California A northern climate 8.6 Names of Governmental Bodies Legislative and deliberative bodies are all capitalized, but the adjectives derived from them are usually lowercased, as well as the general names for such bodies when they are used alone. (See Chicago 8.61) the United Nations General Assembly; the UN General Assembly; the assembly; the League of Nations; the league the United Nations Security Council; the Security Council; the council 8.7 Names of Ships and Other Vehicles The names of makes and classes of aircraft, names of automobiles, names of trains or train runs, and names of space programs are capitalized, though not italicized. (See Chicago 8.116) Audi Q5 Chevrolet Silverado USS Arizona Boeing 747 Air Force One 8.8 Brand Names and Trademarks If they must be used, brand names that are trademarks should be capitalized. Coca-Cola Kleenex
Marvel NOT coca-cola kleenex marvel 8.9 Capitalizing Titles of Works Titles are usually capitalized headline-style, which means the first and last words of the title are capitalized, and the articles a, an, and the are lowercased, as are prepositions (regardless of length), conjunctions, parts of proper names that would be lowercased in text, and the second part of a species name. (See Chicago 8.155 and 8.157) The Avengers Iron Man X-Men: Days of Future Past NOT The avengers Iron Man X-Men: Days Of Future Past 8.10 Capitalizing Series and Editions Chicago 8.174 says that the titles of book series and editions are capitalized but not italicized. The words series and edition are capitalized only if they are part of the title. The Bitter March series The Captain America series The Hawkeye series NOT The Bitter March Series The Captain American Series The Hawkeye Series 8.11 Titles of Movies and Television Programs These titles are capitalized per headline style, but they are italicized. (See Chicago 8.185) Captain America: The Winter Soldier Thor Iron Man 3 X-Men: Apocalypse The Amazing Spider-Man 2
9 Numbers 9.1 Numbers versus Words Chicago’s general rule, as found in Chicago 9.2, is to spell out whole numbers zero through one hundred, as long as the writing is nontechnical. It is also a rule not to start a sentence with a numeral of any size. 9.2 Money According to Chicago 9.21, “isolated references to amounts of money are spelled out for whole numbers of one hundred or less.” Comic books cost seventy-five cents. The scalper charged $125 for each ticket. NOT Comic books cost 75 cents. The scalper charged a hundred and twenty-five dollars for each ticket.
10 Quotations and Dialogue 10.1 Ellipses When omitting words in a quotation, use ellipses instead of three periods. This means spacing out the periods, as well as adding space before and after the periods. “The comics are the root . . . the source of the story.” NOT “The comics are the root…the source of the story.”