MCU is expected to have its lowest opening performance to date. CinemaScore recorded a B-grade satisfaction rating, significantly lower than other Marvel films. The series received a barely passing report card, struggling to cover production costs with theater audiences alone. Marvel Studios is revising its strategies to reduce costs and delay projects. The reboot in 2025 is facing several challenges, including multiple director and screenwriter replacements. Adding to the turmoil, actor Jonathan Majors, the main villain, was arrested for assaulting a woman. Due to low box office performance, a plan to replace the main character is being considered. There is speculation about bringing back original members to rejuvenate the franchise.
The overabundance of Marvel content has led to audience fatigue, with concerns about the quality of the rapidly increasing production. This content overload, coupled with content streaming, has caused a shift in audience habits. Disney CEO Bob Iger admitted to Marvel’s oversaturation in the market, resulting in a decrease in quality and attention. The VFX department also expressed dissatisfaction over low wages and excessive workload, affecting the franchise’s production quality. The cross-media storytelling approach, while immersive, poses challenges for audience engagement and understanding.
Marvel’s aggressive content release schedule has been likened to a TV show with frequent episodes, causing disruption to the flow of the story. The strategy to convert future MCU works into series in response to the crisis faced by Disney+ may not be the most profitable model. The unfocused approach to content creation and catering to diverse audiences has resulted in a decline in quality and audience satisfaction. The overemphasis on volume over quality has led to a decrease in content appeal to existing and new fans.
In a market with an abundance of superhero content, simply featuring diverse characters or races may not guarantee audience satisfaction. Marvel needs to focus on creating quality content that resonates with audiences and drives innovation in media. The recent actions of Marvel Studios reflect a flat and uninspired strategy, raising concerns about the future of the franchise.
<더 마블스>it is expected to record the lowest opening performance in MCU history. CinemaScore, which measures actual viewer satisfaction, also recorded a B grade, which was significantly lower than other Marvel films, making it difficult to rebound in word of mouth. <캡틴 마블> It’s not just the failure of the series. New faces should have been successfully introduced to the Marvel brand. <샹치와 텐 링즈의 전설>received a disappointing report card, barely above the break-even point. <이터널스> <앤트맨과 와스프: 퀀텀매니아>unable to recover costs with theater audiences alone. Disney+, with an estimated production cost of $25 million per episode <변호사 쉬헐크>As excessive budget spending has been identified, including receiving lukewarm reviews in the marketplace, Marvel Studios has recently been revising its strategy to delay projects in preparation or reduce costs. It is planned to be released in 2025 <캡틴 아메리카: 브레이브 뉴 월드>is about to be heavily remade and the director and screenwriter have been replaced several times. <블레이드> The reboot is expected to be produced at a production cost of $100 million. To make matters worse, actor Jonathan Majors, who plays Kang the Conqueror, introduced as the main villain of the new era following Thanos, was arrested on charges of assaulting a woman and faces his first trial at the end of the month of November. Marvel Studios has launched Kang the Conqueror in earnest. <앤트맨과 와스프: 퀀텀매니아>Considering the poor performance of the box office <어벤져스: 캉 다이너스티>(filmed in 2025, scheduled for release in 2026) is considering a plan to completely replace the main character. There is also a rather absurd scenario floating around that would bring in original members such as Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johansson’s return to the Marvel franchise.
Consequences of Content Overload
There is no such thing as an eternal strong man. but <어벤져스: 엔드게임>When it set the second-highest worldwide box office record, it seemed that Marvel’s golden age would last at least another five years. However, the key was settling the next project. As original members such as Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) say goodbye, Marvel continues the Infinity Saga which n focus on the Infinity Stones. We were faced with the task of launching an expandable worldview and characters that would make up the next Avengers. In addition, there must be an incentive to stimulate the nostalgia of existing fans and retain them. The strategy chosen by Marvel Studios to continue immersing fandom was very offensive linking theaters and Disney +. An in-depth analysis article entitled ‘Marvel’s Crisis’ was recently published. <버라이어티>Back in 2020, Marvel Studios was tasked with raising Disney’s stock price by providing an endless supply of interconnected Marvel content to Disney+. Marvel has four movies scheduled for 2021 (<블랙 위도우> <샹치와 텐 링즈의 전설> <이터널스> <스파이더맨: 노 웨이 홈>) and 4 series (<완다비전> <팔콘과 윈터 솔져> <로키> Season 1 <호크아이>) was released. There will be less than 3 films in 2022 (<닥터 스트레인지: 대혼돈의 멀티버스> <토르: 러브 앤 썬더> <블랙 팬서: 와칸다 포에버>) and 3 series (<문나이트> <미즈 마블> <변호사 쉬헐크>) was released, but he only met audiences once every two months. And the new works released this year are three films (<앤트맨과 와스프: 퀀텀매니아> <가디언즈 오브 갤럭시: Volume 3> <더 마블스>) and two series (<시크릿 인베이젼> <로키> Season 2).
The problem is that the studio’s aggressive investment has actually increased public fatigue and made audiences question why they should enjoy Marvel movies in theaters. Eric Handler, a Wall Street analyst who covers Disney, said, “Maybe Marvel has been pumping out so much content that people can’t handle superhero movies anymore.” <어벤져스: 엔드게임>is a major event that must be experienced in theaters, but now audiences do not consider Marvel’s new works, which come too often, as must-see events. Because they have developed the habit of watching movies on OTT during the pandemic, some people are waiting for new releases to be released on streaming platforms instead of going to the theater.
As the number of products increases, quality control becomes more difficult. Bob Iger, CEO of Disney
Easy planning, ambiguous results
2016
The short-sighted approach of Marvel Studios, which believed it could generate more revenue by combining theater audiences and OTT subscribers, became a self-help strategy that satisfied neither party. Combining A and B does not result in A+B. The future can be predicted by considering the effect that A and B will have on each other when they meet. This is not irrelevant to recent projects that seem to believe that users can simply be summed up. Parrot-like claims by anti-feminists and discrimination that Marvel has gone into decline because of its obsession with ‘political correctness’ that promotes women, sexual minorities and non-white characters hides the essence of what Marvel is really missing . The problem is not ‘PC’, but the complacency of simply calculating that if a female character is introduced, the female audience can be absorbed, and if an Asian actor appears, the Chinese and Korean markets can be targeted. (<어벤져스: 엔드게임> Do you remember the action sequence in the second half, where female heroes assembled in one frame without context? If they show a complacent attitude that this is enough, they can seriously disappoint the audience they were trying to attract.) Furthermore, the MCU’s excessive offensive in terms of volume has reduced the quality of individual content, and the decision that this enough to drive away the existing fan base and potential newcomers. Superheroes and Amazon Prime Video abound <더 보이즈>shows the audacity to ‘criticize’ Marvel and DC, Sony Pictures’ <스파이더맨 유니버스> The series continues its innovative media experiments. In a market like this, how many audiences would be easily satisfied just because someone of my race appears in a successful film?
After releasing the superheroes’ individual films one by one, they are coming together. <어벤져스> When a team movie came up as the series came out, it created a tremendous synergy. And it had a trickle down effect to the sequel that was produced again. However, the recent actions of Marvel Studios show a flat strategy that makes one wonder if the reason for their success is focusing only on the act of combining rather than the individual elements that make up’ the team. Marvel’s seemingly unchallenged dominance is slowly coming to an end as rival studios battle and lose the battle against themselves. Just like that, another era ends.
What if it wasn’t a pandemic?
The MCU Phase 4 plan announced by Kevin Feige at San Diego Comic Con in July 2019 was different from the current one. If all goes as planned, Marvel Studios will release two films in 2020 (<블랙 위도우> <이터널스>) and series 1 (<팔콘과 윈터 솔져>), 3 films in 2021 (<샹치와 텐 링즈의 전설> <닥터 스트레인지: 대혼돈의 멀티버스> <토르: 러브 앤 썬더>) and series 3 (<완다비전> <로키> <호크아이>) has been revealed. COVID-19 created a gap for Marvel, which used to release theatricals from time to time, and at the same time forced them to release new works faster than previously planned.
MCU box office success story
Kim Hyun-soo, film columnist
※ Data source: Mojo Box Office, Movie Theater Ticketing Integrated Network
We summarized the reactions that films after Phase 4 of the MCU, which began the ‘Multimedia Saga’, have emerged in theaters around the world. Audiences still want large-scale events that only Marvel can deliver.
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