Watchmen’s Damon Lindelof Wishes for Fewer Marvel Movies So Each Is “More Special”

Between movies and TV shows, we are now getting more than half a dozen Marvel Cinematic Universe projects each and every year. 2022 alone is responsible for four new MCU movies to go along with three television shows (four if you count I Am Groot). There’s a lot of Marvel Studios out there, and it’s not going to scale back any time soon. That said, some believe that scaling back might actually be better in the long run.

Damon Lindelof, the mind behind The Leftovers, Lost, and HBO’s Watchmen, thinks there needs to be less Marvel movies and shows every year. While he’s a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, watching each of the franchise’s new titles, he’s also a fan of endings. While appearing on Vulture‘s Into It podcast, Lindelof talked about bringing things you love to an end, and how perhaps less Marvel would make the films feel more special.

“It’s always going to be hard because once you’ve got someone’s attention, you want to keep it,” Lindelof said. “And so the idea of letting it go and not knowing if you’re ever going to get it back again is sort of like, it’s antithetical to the way that we’re wired.”

“From a slightly sort of more cynical standpoint, this is a business,” he continued. “It’s an industry. And if you make a couple of great Marvel movies, the instinct is, ‘We need to make more Marvel movies, and we need to expand this.’ And I have this sort of interior feeling of like, ‘Wow, I wish they made less because it would make each one that came out a little bit more special. But I watch all of them. … People don’t want things to end. I do.”

Lindelof went on to explain why it makes sense for all of these franchises to continue, even if it doesn’t always feel like the best creative decision.

“I don’t begrudge them the right to keep it going,” Lindelof added. “I’ve made prequels and sequels and reboots, so I can’t be a hypocrite and say, ‘God, come up with an original idea.’ Meanwhile, I’m making two Star Trek movies and Prometheus.”