Marvel Executive Team Acknowledges 2023 as Less Than Favorable Year
For Marvel Studios, a mega-corp accustomed to reigning supreme at the box office and setting pop culture trends, 2023 was a bit of a bust. Whispers of "superhero exhaustion" buzzed around, and Marvel's movies – particularly Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels, and Secret Invasion on Disney+ – didn't exactly set the world on fire like they used to. Behind-the-scenes drama also required some major tweaks to future plans.
However, there's a silver lining. Deadpool and Wolverine are expected to get things back on track this summer, while upcoming ventures like another Fantastic Four reboot have folks holding their breath with cautious excitement. Marvel's now fessing up to its stumbles. Earlier this week, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced a revamped Marvel strategy: "two TV series a year instead of what had become four, and reduce our film output from maybe four a year to two, or a maximum of three." This might raise some eyebrows since Marvel's got four films lined up for 2025: Captain America: Brave New World, Blade, Thunderbolts, and Fantastic Four.
There might be some adjustments to that "maximum of three" film rule, but with a new dose of caution. In a recent chat with Empire Magazine, Marvel Studios co-president Louis D'Esposito (colluding with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige) admitted, "It's been a rough time," but also expressed optimism for what's coming up, stating, "If we just stayed on top, that would have been the worst thing that could have happened to us. We took a little hit, we're coming back strong."
Clearly, they've been on the same page, because then D'Esposito added, "Maybe when you do too much, you dilute yourself a little bit ... We learned our lesson. Maybe two to three films a year and one or two shows, as opposed to doing four films and four shows."
Feige echoes the same sentiments, telling Empire, "It's nice to be able to rally behind one feature project this year. I'm much more comfortable being the underdog ... So it does seem like the last year, which has not been ideal, has set us up well for that."
Deadpool and Wolverine – the only Marvel film scheduled for 2024, thanks to Hollywood strike delays, not by design – hits theaters July 26. So far, Echo is the only new live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series to debut on Disney+ in 2024, though a WandaVision spin-off centered on breakout character Agatha Harkness is also in the works for later this year.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Doctor Who releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and all the details about the future of Marvel's "Multiverse Saga."
Insights:
- This new strategy aims for quality over quantity, reducing the number of films and TV series released yearly while focusing on investing more into each project to make them stand out.
- This shift towards fewer releases could lead to improvements in content quality, help avoid overextension, and make storyline management simpler.
- The focus on quality content aligns with Disney's broader efforts to streamline content production and costs, ensuring each project contributes significantly to the brand's success.
- Marvel Studios, acknowledging their shortcomings, is implementing a new strategy that focuses on quality over quantity, planning to release two to three films a year and one or two shows, in contrast to their previous four films and four shows.
- The reduction in the number of releases is intended to improve the content quality, avoid overextension, and streamline storyline management, aligning with Disney's broader efforts to streamline content production and costs.
- In 2024, only Deadpool and Wolverine will be released as Marvel films, while Echo and a potential WandaVision spin-off centered on Agatha Harkness are expected to debut on Disney+.
- The upcoming movies in 2025, such as Captain America: Brave New World, Blade, Thunderbolts, and Fantastic Four, might see adjustments to adhere to the new "quality over quantity" approach, as indicated by the new Marvel strategy outlined by Disney CEO Bob Iger.
