Wow, great job! Thank you to the USC band, to Alan Silvestri for composing that amazing theme, great work. This is remarkable. There’s been a lot of remarkable people up here, but now you have me. Thank you, President Folt, Board of Trustees, faculty, family and friends. And congratulations to the USC graduating class of 2023. This is no small accomplishment. You should feel incredibly proud that you made it to this day. And graduates, if it’s all right with you, because I didn’t attend my own in 1995, I’m going to pretend that this is my official USC graduation as well. This is the first time my parents, who are right over there, have seen me in a USC graduation gown. And the fun thing about waiting 30 years to do it is people like your boss, who’s here for me — thank you — and my wife and my kids can be here as well. So I’m incredibly thrilled to be here with all of you celebrating with my family. And with yours. I would not be here or anywhere today, if it were not for the USC School of Cinematic Arts. So I want to thank Dean Daley for her friendship and acknowledge her tremendous superpowers of persuasion. She somehow convinced me that it would be a good idea for me to be your commencement speaker.
Now, as a producer, I work best behind the scenes far, far, far off stage. And when I do speak in front of large crowds, it’s usually in a place like San Diego Comic-Con, surrounded by fans in some sort of cosplay. Not today. Today, you guys really are graduates, and I’m the one up here in cosplay pretending to be a doctor. As a filmmaker, storytelling is the language I know best. Stories help us process the world and connect with others and ourselves. It’s great to get advice like follow your dreams. It’s a nice motto. But it’s stories that are the roadmaps for making those dreams come true.
So today, I thought I’d share a few stories, things I’ve learned since my time here at USC that might serve you well as you embark on your own journey beyond this campus. But to be honest, I’m not up here because I was a kid who grew up in New Jersey and loved Star Wars and collected movie tickets for every, every, every movie I saw like a big nerd. I’m here because I’m an adult who’s a big nerd and gets to hang out with superheroes every day. So let’s talk about them, too. But let’s talk about you. Because at Marvel Studios, we love a good origin story. And graduates, yours has now been written. Your years at USC prepared you well for what comes next. You’ve learned to work with others, when to step forward and be a leader. Also when to step back and just be another pair of helpful hands. You’ve learned how to complete large projects over the span of a semester. You’ve also probably learned how to cram all of that work into one all-nighter before the deadline. Yes, yes. That sounds familiar. They’re all important skills that you will continue to need in your personal and your professional lives. You may have struggled with adversity, many of you have experienced grief, loss, heartbreak, maybe you failed a class. Maybe you failed in a relationship, but you survived. And the knowledge that you can weather a setback and emerge stronger will help you to navigate the ups and downs life will throw your way. You’ve learned to adapt to college, to the dorms, to living with roommates or to living alone. You even adapted through a global frickin’ pandemic. Well done. The ability to be flexible, to pivot as needed, will help you succeed. And the humanity you foster here will always set you apart from your challengers, especially the artificially intelligent kind that we heard about earlier today. You’ve put in the time. You’ve done the work. You’re ready.
To put that in the context of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, now it’s time to take your powers out of the lab and into the real world. You suit up, you take flight, you swing from a web, you get the idea, whatever you want to do. Now, some of you have job offers, or acceptance letters to graduate programs. You may have found your passion and are prepared to confidently take that next step. That was my story. I was very lucky, and discovered my path early on. As a kid, movies were my escape, my joy, my refuge. So naturally, I was devastated when I found out that hoverboards were not real, that E.T. would never be in the front of my bicycle, that all of the heroes I admired were just performers with stunt people. But I was around 10 years old when I had this profound realization. If those things weren’t real, somebody had to create them. And whoever that someone was had the greatest job in the world. And from that point on, all I wanted to do was make movies. And here’s what I believe the Hollywood dream was. It seemed very simple. You get accepted to USC. You get accepted to the School of Cinematic Arts. You make a student film that gets turned into a major motion picture. You make Star Wars, and then you become George Lucas. It didn’t … it didn’t … it didn’t work out that way. I did not graduate with a five-picture deal from a major studio. No, my first glamorous job was as a production assistant, where I picked up hundreds of lunch orders, washed dozens of cars, walked people’s dogs, chauffeured people to meetings, chauffeured people’s dogs, not … not a joke. 100% true. So if you’re looking for tangible takeaways from this speech, here they are: Do not wreck the car. Don’t screw up the lunch order. Don’t lose the dog, or nobody’s going to ask you to do much more. So if your story is similar to mine, and you know what you want to do, great, that’s fantastic. If you’re unsure of your next chapter, if you’re still figuring it out, guess what? That’s also fantastic. If you only have this degree and a few scraps and an idea, that’s OK. For any Marvel fans in the audience, remember what Tony Stark was able to do in a cave with a box of scraps. You’ve got time; you’re on the right path. But remember, a good story always moves forward. And that requires action.
And graduates, success comes from doing. It comes from trying new things, by taking risks, by leading with yes instead of no. That’s one of the defining traits of the superheroes in our movies. Steve Rogers said yes to the super soldier serum. Captain America was born. Shuri said yes to taking the mantle of Black Panther, and Wakanda had a new hero. Peter Quill said yes to teaming up with a bunch of idiots, and the Guardians of the Galaxy were formed. Thanos said yes to collecting all six Infinity Stones. Look what he accomplished. Incredible! While it may be easier and more comfortable to say no, and some of the characters do at first, ultimately they all take the leap. And most of the time, the world is better off for it. But sometimes our heroes fail. Maybe in small ways, or maybe in truly spectacular fashion. What’s important is that their failure is never the end of their story. They get up; they keep going. I did that right here. I became a Trojan when I was 18 ready to follow in the footsteps of my idols like George Lucas and Robert Zemeckis, Ron Howard and John Singleton. There was one problem. I had been accepted to USC, but I had been rejected by the film school. Now, I started taking the required courses, and I applied a second time, and I was rejected again. And luckily, third time’s the charm, except for me, because then I was rejected again. And then one more time, and then another time after that, and it turned out the sixth time was the charm. Now, six times.
My wish for you graduates is that you get comfortable with failure, with rejection, accept that it’s a possibility, but never let it define you. And never let it hold you back. There was a time about 15 years ago when Marvel Studios wasn’t Marvel Studios. We were a scrappy group sitting in a dingy building on top of a car dealership. We didn’t have control of some of our most well-known characters, like Spider-Man and the X-Men. But we did have an idea that maybe, possibly, we could make movies with some of our lesser-known heroes. And we had a spark of an idea that if it all worked, we could create something much bigger. Many in Hollywood thought we were doomed to fail. There were some times when we were close to agreeing with them. But you know what you have to lose when you’re an underdog? Nothing. I truly, truly relish that underdog spirit. It’s ingrained in me from our earliest days as a studio. Even today, with 32 films and 10 series under our belt, we never forget where we came from. It pushes to keep challenging ourselves, and try new things, to work with new filmmakers and try new types of stories. Even after you’ve established yourself, having that mentality can really serve you well. And it can keep pushing you to keep striving. Now, for some of you here today, the underdog spirit that I’m describing likely sounds familiar. You’re Peter Parker. Others of you might identify with the abundant confidence of a Black Widow, or the genius of a Reed Richards or a wisecracking anthropomorphic cartoon for some reason, doesn’t matter. What is important is that you know who you are.
To be successful, you must understand your strengths and your weaknesses, whatever they may be. I noticed that people like to include quotes from famous world leaders in their commencement speeches, so here’s one. A quote from a member of an ancient royal family that I think exemplifies this perfectly. “The measure of a person, of a hero, is how well they succeed at being who they are.” You know who said that? Thor’s mom. Thor’s mom says that in Avengers: Endgame. I love it. Because not even superheroes are perfect. Sure, they have magic and next-level tech and godlike powers, the ability to fight with a bow and arrow against Thanos’ army and somehow emerge victorious. That is what makes them super. But it’s everything else — the flaws, the moments of doubt — that make them heroes. Graduates, whatever lies ahead, enjoy every step on your hero’s journey. Lean into your flaws. Make them your strengths. Embrace failure. Persevere. Pick yourself back up when you fall, and keep fighting, and lead with yes. And remember the lessons you learned right here at USC. Adapt, overcome and collaborate. Because it helps to have a team you can rely on. Very rarely is filmmaking the result of a divine stroke of inspiration. It’s about grinding it out, banging your head against the wall with a group of collaborators to take something from bad to OK to good to maybe great to maybe something people want to watch again and again. I like to think humans are naturally collaborative, and collaboration has certainly been the key to Marvel’s success. So stay in touch with your team of collaborators from USC, continue to bounce ideas off one another. But also look for new collaborators who will challenge you as you begin your journey. There’s a fun Tony Stark story I’d like to leave you with. You can say … yea, I can say embrace your flaws. Be persistent, surround yourself with an amazing group of collaborators. But there are always elements that will be out of your control.
One of those elements is luck. You can have the best ideas, the best plans, the best intentions. But unless life aligns just right, they may never come to pass. And that’s not a bad thing. Sometimes it can be a positive. When we were casting the role of Iron Man, we looked at so many different actors. We had to find the perfect mix of heart and strength and charisma. Being our first Marvel film out of the gate, the stakes could not have been higher. The success of the film and the future of our entire studio rested on the shoulders of this one person. And it was not an easy task. But together with my team and our casting directors and our director, Jon Favreau, we culled down our list, we pinpointed the right guy and we extended an offer to our top choice. An actor who checked all of those boxes, and who we were confident would be a huge hit. And his name, of course, was Clive Owen. He … he passed. He was not interested. And that is the unwritten rule of luck. Not getting your first choice might just be the greatest thing that can happen to you. Because you know what’s better than getting your first choice? Getting the right choice. And in our case, of course, that was Robert Downey Jr. And the first movie we ever made as a studio ended up being one of the best reviewed and highest grossing movies of the year. So like Tony Stark, and Robert Downey Jr., your greatness will be called upon. Be ready. Graduates as you write the next chapters of your story, choose to do something good in the world. Remember the line between a superhero and a supervillain is surprisingly thin. And I think this is where I’m legally obligated to say, with great power comes great responsibility.
Be a part of projects you’ll be proud of in 10 years, in 50 years. Projects you will want to share with your grandchildren. And always start with yes. Even when someone asks you to do something you’re scared to do, something outside of your comfort zone. Something like delivering a commencement address in front of 50,000 people. Now, when I’m at Comic-Con in front of crowds of fans, we like to leave the audience with one more thing. And for you today, that one more thing is to embrace the power of the catchphrase. Every superhero has one. Helps them get through challenging times and celebrate the big moments. We have a lot at Marvel. I love you 3000. Higher, further, faster. I am Groot, which has a lot of different meanings. Wakanda Forever. USC alum Ryan Coogler, nice enough to be joining us here today. So, what will your catchphrase be? And I’ve got a little pitch: Trojan graduating class of 2023, assemble. Congratulations, and fight on! Fight on. Thank you very much. Thank you.
