The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) was an unstoppable blockbuster producing force as they continuously shattered expectations around the world with constant financial and critical successes. However, things seem to have taken quite the drastic turn within the past few years. Marvel had built up three phases of superhero movies which all built on each other to create the wildly successful one two punch of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. After these two massive hits, they seemed to be on top of the world with money pouring in and the seemingly lucrative route of making TV shows for the new streaming app Disney plus on the horizon. From there, problems began to arise and while some thought it may have been a fluke, it became clear that there were much larger issues going on, and that these financial and critical failures weren’t just a couple of bad eggs.
After the Endgame and Infinity war era of superhero movies, every studio naturally wanted their own successful franchises, as well as the heaps of money that came along with it. Within three quick years, the entertainment industry was completely oversaturated with superhero content which began to pierce the previously invincible MCU giant. With tons of franchises pumping superhero movies of their own and the MCU with their Disney plus tv shows, it became too much for people.
This also ties into the other problem that Marvel faced which was themselves. At their height they released three movies in one year. Just a couple years later they released three movies, three tv shows and two holiday specials within the span of 365 days. This then created a new problem: people just couldn’t keep up. There became so much content to watch that it began to feel like a chore to keep up with the MCU so these once avid MCU viewers started to just skip projects that they didn’t think were important enough to watch. This led to loss of money and loss of attention. The large amount of projects also led to the buzz surrounding each one being diluted, as it felt like one project after another. The big draw to the MCU in its height was that each project was an event and you would get a fear of missing out (FOMO) if you didn’t watch. This oversaturation of MCU content led to a loss of that feeling and that you didn’t necessarily have to watch every project in order to be in the loop.
The oversaturation and overproduction of MCU content has also led to a dip in the quality of the projects. When there are such a large amount of projects being made it is difficult for someone like Kevin Feige (who practically runs the MCU) to be able to oversee so many projects. A main issue when it comes to quality is the writing on the projects. It was reported that the upper management at Marvel ordered over 30 rewrites on Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness. They kept asking for changes to the script, altering the creative visions of the writers which seems to have led to a dip in the writing quality. Things like CGI and special effects have had problems as well, as there are only so many people working in special effects and when they’re flooded with so many new projects, they don’t have time to make them at the high standards that MCU fans have come to expect over the past decade.
A lot of these issues may seem to be Marvel’s fault but there are certain things out of their control that have definitely afflicted these projects. A lot of the movies and shows released in the past couple years were shot during the pandemic which led to forced changes throughout all aspects of the movie. The actor Jonathan Majors who was supposed to play the MCU’s new main villain Kang the Conqueror was caught up in legal trouble with a trial still ongoing which also gave him a very tainted public image. This likely led to Marvel having to come up with various plans as to what they would do in case the trial didn’t go Major’s way. The writers and actors strikes also delayed a multitude of projects and had them yet again reshuffle their entire production and release schedule.
In my opinion, while a lot of this may seem quite worrying to most people out there, I believe that the bulk of the trouble has passed. The media giant has released multiple claims from upper management, including the reinstated Disney CEO Bob Iger, that they are aware of the issues and actively working in ways to fix them. They have specifically highlighted issues such as oversaturation and seem to have a good plan in place. While Marvel may have reached their peak, I believe that they can bounce back from these difficult times and that they have the full capability to capture Marvel fans around the world once again.
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