Disney's Bob Iger Has A Theory On Why The Marvels Bombed - And It Makes No Sense
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is straight up not having a good time. While the series was soaring high with the release of the billion-dollar grossing "Avengers: Endgame," the franchise's clout began to dip after the COVID-19 pandemic. With an emphasis on quantity, Marvel Studios sent a number of television shows over to Disney+ with mostly mixed results. On the cinematic front, Marvel continued to diversify, debuting films like "Eternals" and "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" to box office indifference. In mid-November 2023, Marvel Studios saw its biggest dud to date: Nia DaCosta's "The Marvels."
A follow-up to 2019's billion-dollar juggernaut "Captain Marvel," the sequel debuted to $46 million domestically and has, as of this writing, grossed just shy of $80 million. Worldwide, it boasts an extremely disappointing $187 million haul, making it a bomb against its $220 million budget. For the once prosperous Marvel Studios, the film's poor box office receipts and mixed fan reception — it has a less-than-stellar B CinemaScore from fans — should be a wake-up call.
While speaking with journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin at the Dealbook Summit in New York (via NBC News), Disney CEO Bob Iger offered up an interesting reason as to why the picture bombed. "Quality needs attention. ... It doesn't happen by accident. Quantity, in our case, diluted quality," Iger said, implying the film didn't receive the oversight it needed. The boss continued by explicitly blaming how the film was shot during the COVID-19 pandemic. "There wasn't as much supervision on the set ... where we have executives there really looking over what's being done," Iger noted.
Dig a bit deeper into Iger's reasoning and you'll realize it falls apart like a house of cards.
Why Bob Iger's Marvels theory makes no sense
There are a myriad of reasons why "The Marvels" failed at the box office, and one of them is that Marvel Studios emphasized quantity over quality, thus diminishing the brand. However, it's somewhat dishonest to blame the COVID-19 pandemic for the project's shortcomings. Several blockbusters were shot and produced during the COVID-19 pandemic and they didn't fail at the box office due to a lack of on-set supervision.
Take Marvel Studios' very own "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," which debuted in early May 2022 to box office glory, grossing over $955 million worldwide. That film didn't start production until November 2020, months after the COVID-19 pandemic began. The "Doctor Strange" sequel managed to successfully handle pandemic restrictions and emerged as a hit for Marvel. Even rival studio DC found a winner with "The Batman," which was also shot during the pandemic. The Robert Pattison-starring film managed to bring in over $765 million for Warner Bros in 2022.
"The Marvels" didn't start production until Summer 2021, which means Disney and Marvel Studios had enough time to learn how to handle filming during the restriction-heavy period. While it is completely fair for Iger to suggest that quantity began to trump quality, it doesn't seem practical to blame the film's woes on the pandemic when precedent suggests that quality blockbusters were produced during that era. Iger should instead consider just how potent superhero fatigue currently is, which more than likely led to the box office failure of "The Marvels."
Why The Marvels bombed at the box office
Across the board, superhero projects are seeing significant dips. DC has had a dreadful year with back-to-back flops in "Shazam! Fury of the Gods," "The Flash," and "Blue Beetle." Marvel Studios, meanwhile, is facing critical woes on Disney+. The studio's miniseries, "Secret Invasion," emerged as one of the most maligned projects in the franchise. Over on the big screen, Disney and Marvel have had to reckon with "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," which has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score for any Marvel flick ever. Yes, they had a winner this year in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," which stole both the box office and the hearts of fans, but that's one rose in a sea of thorns.
With existential worries about the future of the franchise, "The Marvels" was released at an unfortunate time. The consistent churn of Marvel projects seems to have left a sour taste for audiences. Superhero interest seems to be nonexistent if something new isn't presented; that's why this year's "Spider-Verse" sequel made waves with a nearly $685 million total. For what it's worth, "The Marvels" was no doubt marketed, but the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike left its lead stars (Brie Larson, Iman Vellani, Teyonah Parris) mute, not allowing the trio to market the film in junkets or on late-night.
"The Marvels" is an obvious box office disappointment but it's clear that Marvel and Disney aren't shifting the blame to audiences. While Bob Iger's response regarding the pandemic is interesting, it's clear that he knows quality — not quantity — will bring back Marvel fans.