Disney CEO Bob Iger has admitted that Marvel’s batting average has been lackluster in recent years, but thinks we are at the start of a resurgence. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is 17 years old now and it has seen the release of 36 movies and a handful of TV shows like WandaVision and Loki. There was a fairly steady ramp up with the MCU, going from about one movie every year to two movies annually in the 2010s. However, since Avenger: Endgame, it feels like we have been absolutely spoiled with Marvel content and not always for the better. Not only has there been an onslaught of MCU content with Disney+, but recent years saw the release of as many as three or even four Marvel movies in a 12 month period on top of TV shows.
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Reports recently indicated that Marvel boss Kevin Feige was stretched very thin in the early 2020s as he was trying to juggle so many different projects and as a result, it seems like the quality suffered. Although Marvel has been criticized for being a bit formulaic for years, things were really rough post-Endgame with multiple movies like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Captain America: Brave New World failing to impress audiences and critics alike.
A part of that could also be attributed to ex-Disney CEO Bob Chapek, who seemingly had a quantity over quality approach to the MCU and Disney’s other brands. Thankfully, that may be coming to an end as the last Marvel movie that was made under Chapek was Brave New World. It’s no surprise then to see that the first movie after that has been a glowing success and has inspired hope among tired fans.
Thunderbolts* Is the Start of Marvel’s New Movie Strategy
Disney CEO Bob Iger seems to think that Thunderbolts* AKA The New Avengers is the start of a new era of Marvel, one that will focus on quality over quantity. Although it seems like Marvel will continue to release about three movies a year for the foreseeable future, they may be pulling back on the Disney+ experiment. While there will still be Marvel shows like Daredevil: Born Again, there seemingly won’t be as much of an emphasis on massive projects that connect back to the movies in a huge way like Loki.
“We all know that in our zeal to flood our streaming platform with more content, that we turned to all of our creative engines, including Marvel, and had them produce a lot more,” Iger said during an investors call. “We’ve also learned over over time that quantity does not necessarily beget quality. And frankly, we’ve all admitted to ourselves that we lost a little focus by making too much. By consolidating a bit and having Marvel focus much more on their films, we believe that will result in better quality. I think the first and best example is ‘Thunderbolts*.’ I feel very good about that.”
Thunderbolts* was a big win for Marvel as it was praised for its very human story that deals with real world issues in a larger than life way while still giving fans the summer blockbuster thrills they expect from an MCU movie. Whether it was a one-off or a sign of things to come remains to be seen, but Iger suggests fans can expect that level of quality going forward. Fantastic Four: The First Steps looks to be another winner, but we still have a few months ago before fans can come to their own verdict.
This all comes as Avengers: Doomsday races into production, reportedly without a finished script. Fans are concerned that the upcoming Avengers movie will be a rushed mess due to a short turn around for VFX teams and a story that hasn’t had enough time in the oven. However, we’ll just have to wait and see if that is true.
Are you optimistic about Marvel’s future? Let me know in the comments.
