Between 1984 and 1985, the history of superhero comics changed forever. Its history as a genre and that of the stories themselves that made up what have always been its two main hallmarks. Marvel and DC started almost simultaneously in those years the first two mega-events that involved most, if not all, of their personnel: The Secret Wars from Marvel and Crisis on Infinite Earths in D.C.
Those enormous limited series (whose titles and influence have been seen on the big and small screen, but without ever being adapted) changed both universes forever. Spider-man returned, for example, from those pages with the first sign of the Venom symbiote.
However, It is curious that the name of DC’s first major event is more appropriate for Marvel’s situation today.
Last September, a group of Marvel creatives, including studio head Kevin Feige, gathered in Palm Springs for the studio’s annual meeting. In a normal year, the atmosphere would have been trusting, even arrogant, given the way The leading superhero brand, owned by Disney since 2009, has reshaped the entertainment industry in its image.
It is not for less. For a decade, Marvel has placed at least 2 of its films in the TOP-10 highest-grossing films of the year. Since 2012, with The Avengersfive of his films have in fact been the highest grossers.
But now they have 4 that is not like that. This course will be Barbie. And that was by no means the biggest worrying factor at that meeting.
Marvel faces a series of crises that it doesn’t really know how to tackle. Some fortuitous and others perhaps fruits of poor planning.
- The modest critical and reception success of Phase 5
- The scandal over mistreatment of Jonathan Majors, an actor who was playing Kang, the villain of this phase
- And the doubts, extendable to all of Disney, about the transfer of its business model from the big screen to the small screen and streaming, where it has focused in recent years
Variety has been able to have access to what was discussed at that meeting. This is a kind of compilation of the crises and catastrophic misfortunes suffered by the, until now, successful Marvel and the options that it has on the table to address them.
Majors and the future of Kang: Looking for a new villain on the fly?
Of course, the most pressing issue discussed at the meeting was what to do with Jonathan Majors, the actor who was destined to lead the next phase of the Cinematic Universe Marvel as Villain, Thanos’s heir, but is instead headed to trial in New York later this month on several charges of domestic violence.
The actor insists that he is the victim and that he has received a false complaint, but the damage to his reputation and the possibility of losing the case have led Marvel to reconsider its plans to focus the next phase of its films, always interconnected and where Majors’ character Kang the Conqueror had a lot to say.
At the meeting in Palm Springs, executives discussed contingency plans, including the possibility of switching to another mythical comic book antagonist, such as Doctor Doom.
But making any changes comes with its own headaches: Majors has already appeared in addition to in Loki in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in February and everything was sown for him to be the antagonist star in a new movie The Avengers in 2026.
In addition to the bad press for Majors, Marvel officials are also dealing with the current release of The Marvelswhich is known to have had many reshoots and which now seems likely to disappoint at the box office.
After reaching the top… Is Marvel facing its fall?
All this occurs for a brand, a studio and characters that have enjoyed an almost uninterrupted series of successes since it began to independently produce its films with Iron Man in 2008 and later with the purchase of Disney.
A hugely profitable career culminated in the $2.8 billion-grossing success of Avengers: Endgame in 2019, the highest-grossing film in history and the icing on the cake for a studio that has raised nearly 30 billion with 32 films. Marvel is synonymous with success in today’s cinema, for better or worse.
But of course replicating that type of phenomenon is not easy. And even more so with a new generation of characters who no longer have the connection to comics that is so present for many.
Marvel’s success since 2008 is largely attributed to it becoming generational. Comic readers from the 80s and 90s who went to the movies, liked it, and instilled that love in their children. But now these new generations must take root in the consumption of series and movies almost on an industrial level. And there it seems that something is wrong.
The bet on Disney Plus: A golden cage for Marvel?
If we had to set a date, the source of Marvel’s current problems dates back to 2020. The COVID pandemic drove and imposed the need to exploit Disney Plus at all costs. The streaming premiere of Black Widowand it seems that despite the many tests, Neither Marvel nor Disney have managed to find a profitability threshold as good in streaming as they had in theaters.
Under Marvel’s plan, there would never be a shortage of superheroes, with a movie in theaters or a new TV series airing at any given time. Did no one think that perhaps some oversaturation and fatigue could be given to the viewer?
It’s possible that the need to weave an interconnected plot across so many different shows, movies, and platforms created a confusing narrative that baffled viewers.
Certain signs of abuse in the calendar that have been marked are also evident, such as the fact of delays in The Marvels or changes to your calendar.
CGI specialists working 14 hours a day
Last February, when it premiered Quantumaniathere was criticism for the low level of visual effects in some scenes. Especially those related to the new version of MODOK
“There were at least 10 scenes where the visual effects were added at the last minute and were out of focus,” an industry veteran present at the premiere told Variety.
Then we find out the origin. Fed up with 14-hour workdays with no overtime, Marvel’s VFX workers voted unanimously to unionize in September, setting off an industry-wide trend.
“The year 2023 was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” said Anna George, former assistant VFX coordinator at Marvel Studios as she appeared before US Congress to testify about the studio’s unsustainable deadlines and working conditions. “The pay and long hours at Marvel were the reason we had to begin our unionization process there. The conditions were completely unsustainable.”
A month after the disastrous premiere of Quantumania, the guillotine fell on Victoria Alonso, who supervised the studio’s production, post-production, VFX and animation. Although the reason cited for her sudden firing was her unauthorized role as executive producer on the Oscar-nominated film Argentina 1985it soon became known that it was not the only reason.
The plug in visual effects had already become evident, with some final effects for Disney+ series such as WandaVision and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law inserted after its streaming debut due to criticism.
Many costs, and now less income
Marvel movies have mostly turned out to be perfect products on an economic level, often returning their investment by 4 times, not counting the sale of merchandising or access to Disney theme parks.
But the series seem not to be so.
For example, a single episode of She-Hulk costs about 25 million dollarsexceeding the budget of an episode of the last season of game of Thronesbut without a similar impact.
The solution: A return of the original Avengers?
Some sources already indicate a drastic solution that is beginning to be discussed: bring back to The Avengers originals.
That would include reviving Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow. It wouldn’t be cheap, but maybe it would be some kind of deux ex machina in which, as many times in comics, some characters were revived and Kang disappeared with hardly any further explanations.
Also on the table is the option of recasting Kang and leaving Majors aside, as Feige did when he replaced Terrence Howard in Iron Man 2 with Don Cheadle. In fact, Marvel isn’t afraid to change course, even after making splashy announcements.
Waiting for the X-Men and the Fantastic Four
The key to revitalizing Marvel could be in the arsenal of superheroes that Disney acquired during its purchase of 21st Century Fox in 2019. That deal brought in several A-list heroes, just the ones now missing, like the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, again under the control of the studio.
Fans are already excited about the next one Deadpool 3which unites Ryan Reynolds’ mercenary with a mouth with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, and the reboot of The fantastic four scheduled for 2025.
It’s difficult to imagine Marvel falling yet, but it can certainly be said that its current point is very similar to the classic definition of crisis: a crucial moment that forces decisions to be made, and that should not necessarily lead to a worse point.