Disney's CEO downplays superhero fatigue by essentially admitting Marvel movies just aren't good now
I mean, we all already knew they aren't very good these days.
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Bob Iger, long-time CEO of Disney, has commented on the growing trend of superhero movie fatigue, though he doesn't think it's actually what's going on.
Ever since Marvel wrapped up its decade-long storytelling project with Avengers: Endgame, it hasn't quite managed to capture the same energy with its more recent slate of projects. Many have wondered if this is because of superhero fatigue, that audiences have had enough of superhero films - I know I mostly am, but don't take an anecdotal piece of evidence to paint the whole picture. There's also the issue that many countries' economy is down the toilet at the minute, so the general public has less money, and with many recent Marvel films being poorly received by fans, why would they go see the next one? It's that quality issue that Iger thinks is the problem, by the sounds of it.
As reported by Deadline, Iger recently spoke at an investor conference Q&A, where on the topic of superhero fatigue, the CEO said "A lot of people think it’s audience [superhero] fatigue. It’s not audience fatigue. They want great films. And if you build it great, they will come." Referencing how across 33 (presumably Marvel) films, Disney has made nearly $30 billion. "We got to return to something akin to that," Iger continued. "And I actually am confident that we will.
"As a studio, that was number one at the box office for seven out of eight years, that was not an accident. That's a combination of both, obviously, the IP that we have, but also the execution - both the management execution, the execution from the creative side."
Quality is definitely an issue for superhero movies in general. Last year's Ant Man 3 and The Marvels were both disappointments, and DC has had years of critical failures - not to mention Sony's massive flops like Morbius and Madame Web (though I think those are special cases).
It's still a bit unclear as to whether Marvel can bounce back, but possibly a big name like the Fantastic Four might help things out, especially given its recent casting announcement.