Summary
AsThe Marvels’box office run winds down, Disney CEO Bob Iger has seemingly isolated one significant reason behind its abysmal performance in a likely effort to avoid a repeat incident.
Despite adding Iman Vellani and Teyonah Parris to the lead roles alongside Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers,Captain Marvel 2was never going to live up to the billion-dollar box office of its predecessor,Captain Marvel,which was released in 2019 at arguably the most auspicious time in the franchise’s 15-year history. However, the sequel would start to show worrying signs of underperformance right from the reaction to its first trailer.The Marvelsbox office debut set an all-time lowfor the MCU despite last-minute efforts by the cast to bring attention to its premiere as soon as the actors' strike was lifted.
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The prognosis on the sequel’s theatrical run didn’t get any better asThe Marvelsfaced a second-weekend dropworse thanMorbius, seemingly dooming the film to fail with no recourse and starting a firestorm of discussion externally and internally. As a result, Disney CEO Iger seems to have formed his conclusions on why the film performed so poorly, a sentiment he briefly touched on in a recent interview. As reported byThe Verge, Iger would comment on the film’s poor performance in a talk at The New York Times' DealBook Summit 2023, saying, “The Marvelswas shot during Covid. There wasn’t as much supervision on the set, so to speak, where we have executives [that are] really looking over what’s being done day after day after day.”
This diagnosis seems in line with common knowledge aboutThe Marvels' production, which was troubled by several factors and cumulated in an extended production schedule with extensive reshoots that filmmaker Nia DaCosta wasn’t even in the country to oversee due to a schedule conflict. While it was initially counted against her, DaCosta has since come to her own defense and laid the blame for the film’s performance on bigotry of multiple sorts, notably sexism and racism. Her implied distance from the film’s failure seems to be the norm, as more so than anyone else, the issue is a problem for Disney’s CEO, as highlighted whenVellani spoke more onThe Marvels' box office woes, stating that the film’s performance at the box office was not in her control and was a matter for Iger.
Iger’s reckoning might be accurate, but it also doesn’t paint a complete picture of how the MCU’s latest outing flopped, withThe Marvelsneeding much more at the box office to break even, let alone turn a profit for the studio. The MCU faces a more uncertain and risky situation than whenCaptain Marvelpremiered. In 2019, the franchise could do no wrong, and fans were rabid for any potential tie-in toAvengers: Endgame.It’s also difficult to argue that there wasn’t some online hate directed at the movie and those involved, which might have contributed to the low turnout alongside the lack of promotion the film received in the lead-up to its premiere.
While there’s a lot to address in the wake ofThe Marvels,more supervision is a good starting point, one way or another. The film might also get a break online before the year is done, asAquaman 2’s box-office debut could be worse thanThe Marvels. Marvel fans must wait and see whether an even bigger flop from the competition will take the heat off and if Iger’s analysis of the situation is sufficient to fix the MCU’s issues.
The Marvelsis currently available in theaters.
The Marvels
Carol Danvers teams up with Monica Rambeau and Kamala Khan in The Marvels. As the three heroes find their powers entangled, they must work together to stop Dar-Benn from enacting her evil plan.
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