We all know good things have to end eventually; just look at Roger Federer’s career, Taylor Swift’s North American concert tour, orSuccessionconcluding with season fourthis year for proof. This November, it seems like it’s Marvel’s turn for its unbelievable streak of box office hits to finally conclude, not with a bang, but a whimper.
The box-office numbers are in forThe Marvels, and they aren’t good. TheCaptain Marvelsequel pulled in a paltry $47 million this weekend, making it the lowest opening in the 15-year history of Marvel Studios. That’s a distinction that the company surely wanted to avoid. There’s simply no denying the fact that the MCU is less popular than before — we just have to determine why.
Unfortunately, there’s no shortage of reasons. For starters, the Multiverse Saga has lacked direction from the start, the special effects haven’t been very special, the quality control has fallen off, and casual Marvel fans feel overwhelmed by both the movies and theDisney+shows. It also didn’t help that the Marvel series on Disney+ have largely played it safe rather than taking any narrative risks.
But there are more fundamental issues at play in Marvel’s rapid decline. And that’s why we need to go over the five reasons why the MCU is less popular than before.
Marvel has lost touch with what viewers want to see
By all accounts, Marvel Studios executives were shocked by the way that audiences rejectedAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniaearlier this year. After opening to $120 million over a holiday weekend,Quantumanialimped toward a $214.5 million domestic total.The Marvelswill be lucky to get even half of that total, especially after this weekend’s disastrous opening.
Both films have failed to connect in a way that many MCU movies before them have, and it’s a truly worrying sign about the Marvel brand. Moviegoers no longer have faith in Marvel to deliver on its reputation alone, and Marvel badly miscalculated what fans wanted to see in these movies.
Not enough A-list heroes
Avengers: Endgamemarked a true end of an era for Marvel by finishing up the stories of Iron Man, Black Widow, and the first Captain America, Steve Rogers. Those characters have been sorely missed in Phase 4 and 5, and none of the solo movies exceptSpider-Man: Far From Home,Spider-Man: No Way Home, andBlack Panther: Wakanda Foreverhave reproduced the blockbuster numbers that the MCU is accustomed to.
This underscores the importance of Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow, three of Marvel’s most popular Avengers. SinceEndgame, Thor’s luster fell off inThor: Love and Thunder, Hulk has been relegated to guest star or cameo appearances inShe-Hulk: Attorney At Law, and Hawkeye’s future is in doubt after Jeremy Renner’s accident. Spider-Man can do a lot, but he can’t carry the MCU by himself. The other headliners need to return and the ones who remain need to step up.
The creative risks haven’t paid off
Apparently, Marvel learned the wrong lesson fromGuardians of the Galaxy. That movie was widely predicted to be Marvel’s first flop nearly a decade ago, but fans embraced it and the Guardians eventually had their own sequels, video games, theme park attractions, and more. Yet, instead of examining whyGuardians of the Galaxyworked, Marvel’s creative executives apparently believe that they can make movies foranyMarvel heroes and get blockbuster results.
No one can say that Marvel didn’t try to expand its character roster in Phase 4.Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten RingsandEternalswere big swings with characters who had never appeared in live-action. Yet, neither film managed to elevate their leading characters to the forefront at Marvel. And while a Shang-Chi sequel has been announced, it’s unknown if any of the Eternals will pop up again to resolve their lingering plotlines.
Too much corny humor
No film is more emblematic of Marvel’s steep descent into farcical comedy thanThor: Love and Thunder. Early Marvel movies likeIron ManandThe Avengerswere action movies with some comedy, not comedies with some action. The mixture of comedy and action is tilting far too heavily toward the comedic, and that’s become a turnoff in Marvel’s recent pics.
The Marvelsis another example of that. That movie can’t seem to go more than a few minutes without throwing its characters into one farce after another. Getting some good jokes in a script is fine, but Marvel fans don’t want more comedy. They want more character and action.
Superhero fatigue is real … to a certain extent
Regardless of whetherThe Marvelsturns out to have legs at the box office, this film is destined to be the poster child of superhero fatigue. No one was shocked whenThe Flash,Blue Beetle, andShazam! Fury of the Godshad disappointing box office returns. DC movies have been struggling for years. And all three of this year’s DC movies were terrible.
For a long time, Marvel seemed immune to any superhero fatigue, even when the films weren’t that great. But betweenQuantumaniaand nowThe Marvels, there’s no denying that Marvel is more vulnerable than ever. The only ray of hope that Marvel has is that movies likeGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3andSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Versehad terrific numbers at the summer box office. Those movies prove that people still love Marvel characters and that they will watch superhero movies again and again if they’re good. Until Marvel rediscovers how to consistently hit that mark, it’s going to continue to struggle.
