The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the most successful film series in cinema history in terms of box office results. The large, coherent superhero narrative is now being continued on Disney with streaming series such as “Secret Invasion” or “Loki”. In view of the oversupply of films and series and a noticeably declining quality of the publications, however, Marvel viewers and fans have increasingly begun to feel a certain tiredness in recent years.
In the meantime, the decision-makers at Marvel Studios and the Disney Group are even openly addressing this fact in public – sometimes more, sometimes less directly. For example, the returned Disney boss Bob Iger (72) only explained this month that Marvel “not only increased its film output, but also produced a number of TV series”. As a result, “frankly, focus and attention was weakened”. The result is “some disappointments” among the releases of the Disney group, according to Iger.
In fact, the Marvel Cinematic Universe reached its peak so far in 2019, when “Avengers: Endgame” brought in the incredible sum of almost 2.8 billion US dollars (equivalent to almost 2.5 billion euros) worldwide, and that’s just the – behind “Avatar” – the second most successful film in cinema history to date.
But it was precisely at this point of greatest success, it seems in retrospect, that the first problems set in. Popular cast members like Robert Downey Jr. (played superhero Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America) and – with a little delay – Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) left the MCU. Marvel has not yet been able to build adequate successors.
Chadwick Boseman (1976-2020), who had just thrilled in “Black Panther” (2018) and “Endgame”, died of cancer in August 2020 at the age of only 43. The charismatic actor could certainly have been an anchor in the currently ongoing so-called fifth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
As it is, Marvel not only lacks new leader heroes for fans to rally around, it also seems to lack an overarching vision and a recognizable common thread. Because the newer Marvel films and series have not yet been able to do exactly that. Only superheroes already established before “Avengers: Endgame” such as Spider-Man (in “Spider-Man: No Way Home”, 2021), the Guardians of the Galaxy (in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”, 2023) or with On the downside, Doctor Strange (in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’, 2022) and Thor (in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’, 2022) still seem able to invoke the old, familiar Marvel excitement in audiences.
In addition, there is a not only subjectively noticeable oversupply of series and film releases. In a very typical Marvel year in the past, such as 2016, only two blockbuster films had started in cinemas, “The First Avenger: Civil War” and “Doctor Strange”. The year 2022, on the other hand, brought the release of three cinema films and the streaming series “Moon Knight”, “Ms. Marvel” and “She-Hulk: The Lawyer”.
So it’s not surprising that Marvel mastermind Kevin Feige (50) announced at the beginning of this year that the release rhythm of the series on Disney would be stretched to a certain extent so that, in his words, each show “gets its chance to shine”.
Nevertheless, there seems to be a downward trend on the series side as well and the quality of the publications is noticeably declining. While the first streaming shows from Marvel Studios such as “WandaVision” (2021) or “Loki” (2021) were still causing storms of enthusiasm among critics and viewers (and in the coming months with the second “Loki” season and the “WandaVision” offshoot “Agatha: Coven of Chaos” continued), recently released shows like “Moon Knight”, “She-Hulk: The Lawyer” or “Secret Invasion” left the audience rather cold.
For example, the mini-series “Secret Invasion”, in which fan favorite and Nick Fury actor Samuel L. Jackson (74) can finally be the center of attention, is currently on the “Rotten Tomatoes” review collection page (as of April 26, 2019). . July) with a not very convincing rating of only 59 percent positive reviews.
Critics have described the show as either “repetitive and slow” or “suspense-free”, and called the series’ numerous dialogue scenes “lethargic”. For a Marvel project that, in addition to Jackson, also features the famous character actor Ben Mendelsohn (54), “Game of Thrones” star Emilia Clarke (36) and Oscar winner Olivia Colman (49), a highly questionable assessment.
Of course, you shouldn’t write off the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Marvel Studios entirely, despite the rather disappointing recent releases mentioned. Because with the streaming series “Daredevil: Born Again”, the first “Deadpool” film with superstar Ryan Reynolds (46) under the aegis of Marvel Studios and the “Blade” reboot with two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali (49) in starring some of what is likely to be the coolest and most exciting Marvel titles to come in years to come.
Unfortunately, the double strike by screenwriters and actors in Hollywood is currently thwarting the plans for these eagerly awaited MCU projects. The shooting of the “Daredevil” reboot series and “Deadpool 3” that had already started had to be interrupted, while “Blade” is only to start production after the end of the strike.
The already announced new “Avengers” films “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” and “Avengers: Secret Wars” were also postponed by Disney in June of this year. They are now scheduled to be released in cinemas in 2026 and 2027 – and thus a whopping seven years after the previously mentioned last “Avengers” title “Endgame”.
