1135: The Obvious Secret of Business Storytelling

Three days ago, I literally jumped with joy ... but I'll get to why in a moment.

First, I want to talk about Iron Man.

In 2008, Jon Favreau's superhero-spy movie exploded into cinemas and lit the fuse on the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

How?

With the exception of Sam Rami's Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 – the superhero genre had been patchy at best.

But Favreau represented a different approach.

He wasn't just a director for hire. He was a fan.

He worked for Marvel, not just for some studio who'd optioned the character rights.

He consulted legendary comic book writers.

He created inside jokes and Easter eggs.

He polled comic book fans on who should play Pepper Potts.

(Full disclosure. I voted for Jewel Staite from Firefly ... who would have KILLED it.)

The insight is ... actually ... this leads back to me jumping for joy three days ago.

I was playing Cyberpunk 2077 on the Playstation, fighting a rogue AI. (Yes. Just an ordinary Wednesday.)

And then it spoke ... with the voice of an angel.

Actually, it wasn't an angel, it was sing-song voice of GLaDOS ... the psychopathic and hilarious antagonist from Portal (2007) and Portal 2 (2011) talking about cake.

A moment of pure surprise, recognition and joy.

Perhaps, this means nothing to you.

That's fine.

Focus on the lesson beneath.

Because the creators of Cyberpunk 2077 share the (obvious) secret of great storytelling with Jon Favreau.

They KNOW and CARE about their audience.

Deeply.

Nick

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Notes:

I'm playing the patched PS5 game ... which doesn't suck ... so I'm giving CD Projekt Red a little latitude on the whole 'caring' thing. The point stands.

This is Business Storytelling essay 9/30. Please SHARE this this follow me to get the whole series.

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The Stories Mean Business podcast with Nick Warren.
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