Credit – Statista
It looks like audiences are getting bored of formulaic superhero movies from Kevin Feige and the MCU. Phase Four has started off with a whimper and the latest installment, ‘The Eternals’, has given the once indestructible Kevin Feige, its lowest rated film ever of any MCU movie. The storytelling is predictable and the agenda messaging is so blatant, Kevin Feige is practically shouting from the rooftops at all the “firsts” in diversity and representation he has in his movies and TV content. To add to the destruction of the once glorious MCU, Marvel and Feige have also insisted on hiring diverse talent to write and direct their movies and TV shows based on the color of their skin and ethnicity, regardless of experience or knowledge of the characters. It would also seem, that Kevin Feige is bent on making sure there is no more male representation in the MCU. All of the male Avengers characters have essentially been replaced with either a comic book failing lead, or have been replaced to appease a race or gender. From Thor, Ironman, Captain America and Dr. Strange, to Ant-Man, Hawkeye, Black Panther, and the Hulk, everyone of those characters is being replaced with a failed character from the comic books or race and gender swapped to appease a really specific audience. It didn’t take long, but the audiences are quickly getting bored of Marvel’s agenda, evidenced by poor box office returns on their last three MCU installments, a lackluster Disney earnings report, and lower than expected Disney Plus subscription rates. Bob Chapek has another Kathleen Kennedy on his hands with Kevin Feige, and if Bob Chapek doesn’t get a handle on it soon, it might be years, or never, before we see anything profitable from the MCU.
Marvel’s Ability to Draw an Audience is Dropping
‘The Eternals’ saw a 61% drop in week two, giving it a $118,115,383 domestic total and a worldwide gross of $265,765,232. The 61% drop is comparative to other Marvel movies, but with a current critics score of 47 and an audience score of 80 on Rotten Tomatoes, ‘The Eternals’ has a long way to get to $500 million plus gross to even try and make a profit. It’s not going to get there, and if the recent drop of over 7% in Disney’s stock is any indication, investors are not happy with what’s coming out of the MCU, Star Wars, and Disney Plus. From an article on Deadline by Jill Goldsmith, and according to MoffettNathanson media research, Disney Plus’ offerings might not be able to rely on Star Wars, or the MCU to get additional subscribers.
“We wonder if Disney+ is too narrow a product and requires much greater investment in non-Disney content to widen out the product’s appeal.”
This opinion was also confirmed by Doug Creutz of Cowen, an American multinational independent investment bank and financial services company, in which he stated that they remained skeptical of what Disney Plus had to offer.
“We remain somewhat skeptical that more Star Wars/Marvel/animated/family content will be sufficient to grow the Disney+ audience out to parity with Netflix.”
With Marvel not being able to add subscribers to Disney Plus with the releases of ‘Black Widow’ and ‘What…If’ on the platform along with ‘Shang-Chi’ this past Friday, it would imply there’s a problem with the stories being told rather than the brand itself. Although the two might coincide eventually, as Marvel becomes the brand associated with divisive political content in their superhero storylines that frankly, the audience is expecting and is tired of seeing.
Let’s Hire Based on Experience Rather Than if You Can Check Off a Box
Another of the MCU’s problems are the way they are trying to create a story. Their storytelling, from ‘WandaVision’, ‘Falcon and the Winter Soldier’, and ‘Loki’, to ‘Hawkeye’, ‘Black Widow’, ‘Shang-Chi’, and ‘The Eternals’, have been written by people who care more about the representation in the story and making a statement for their cause, rather than just telling a cool epic about characters that already have a solid foundation in the comic books. And, while these writers are telling “their” story, they manage to blame the white guy for all of their troubles. This is not great storytelling, this is activism in a medium that used to be about escapism and fun. For example, (spoiler alerts ahead!) in ‘The Eternals’, Ikaris, a white superhero kills Ajak, a now hispanic female(Ajak was originally a white male in the comic book), and becomes the villain. Why? Ikaris was a humanitarian in the comic books and was never portrayed as a villain. Ikaris and the rest of the Eternals often sacrificed for the betterment of humanity. It’s because we can’t have a white superhero anymore, because that would be too divisive. It’s absolutely ridiculous. ‘Black Widow’ was directed by a woman, ‘Shang-Chi’ was directed by a male asian, and ‘The Eternals’ was directed by a female asian. These are all very talented directors in their own right, but have no experience in directing a typical big budget movie that the MCU is used to delivering. And the results speak for itself. Again, no offense to the directors of those movies, but the lack of experience is becoming apparent with failure after failure. In addition, you can’t hire writers that feel the need to use these well established superheroes as their personal political platforms. I could show you article after article, where the writers on these films and TV shows expressed how grateful they were, for having the opportunity to bring their political points of views to the forefront through these beloved characters. I’m all for one expressing their political point of view, just keep it out of the fandom…it was never meant to be there. Stop reimagining well established characters through your political platform. Create something new and original and express yourselves there.
Bob Chapek Wants to Make Money…I Think
Marvel and the MCU aren’t exclusive to propagandizing a social justice agenda through their characters, but they are quickly becoming the poster child of how it’s done. Star Wars and Marvel were initially bought by Disney to attract a lacking boys audience. But, right out of the gate, Disney abandoned that audience to make Marvel and Star Wars a vehicle of alienation and scorn of the very fanbase they wanted to attract. Marvel has all but abandoned their male superheroes, in favor of an all female representation. By the time ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ comes out next year, there will be no more male superheroes in the MCU. If Disney and Marvel are in the business of not making money, then they have found the perfect recipe, because that is exactly what is going to happen. The last three installments of phase four, and all of the Disney Plus Marvel TV series’ thus far, have proved that. Disney is not seeing repeat business or additional subscribers on Disney Plus, and their box office is lackluster at best. But, the light at the end of the tunnel might be in the fact that Bob Chapek might see the writing on the wall. Chapek might be unpopular, and might have been handed a cluster you-know-what by Bob Eiger, but in the end, Chapek is a numbers guy, and wants to see profitability. All of Kathleen Kennedy’s Star Wars projects have been effectively scrapped. The only Star Wars projects that are still in production, are Jon Favreau’s and Dave Filoni’s ‘Ashoka’, ‘Book of Boba Fett’, and season 3 of ‘The Mandalorian’. In addition, there are now going to be 6 weeks or more worth of reshoots at 6 days a week, for the new Dr. Strange movie. That seems a little excessive. Maybe having Wanda Maximoff as the main character, in a Dr. Strange movie, didn’t sit well with Mr. Chapek. Maybe Bob Chapek wants to get the majority fanbase of these two franchises back in theater seats.
Related: Kevin Feige Fails With The Eternals
