For more than a decade, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has made a name for itself in the hearts of audiences with epic stories and beloved superhero characters. From the MCU, a series of actors “step into the clouds” and become superstars.
However, in the last few years, Marvel’s superhero movies seem to be slowly losing their appeal. Many fans worry about the future of this Cinematic Universe when the movies no longer win the hearts of the masses. Could it be that the golden age of Marvel has really ended with Avengers: Endgame like a few previous predictions?
Box office failure – The first sign of the MCU’s decline
After more than a decade of dominating cinematic culture, superhero studio Marvel has encountered incredibly difficult challenges that they probably never expected. Starts with Black Widow Released in 2020 did not meet expectations, Marvel repeatedly failed at the box office with the films of phase 4 of the MCU Cinematic Universe.
The latest movie is Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania completely “lost” at the box office. After more than a month of release, the film brought in only $463 million worldwide. Film sales plummeted after the first week of release. Not only did it have bad sales, the film was also badly criticized with a low Rotten Tomatoes score Eternals (47% of the reviews are positive).
“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” flopped at the box office. (Photo: Marvel Studios)
This is a huge failure with previous stages in the Cinematic Universe that Marvel created. In the golden age (before Avengers: Endgame), its superhero films regularly break box office records. The fact that these films reach the dream revenue of 1 billion USD has become so familiar that audiences are no longer surprised by these news. Therefore, it can be seen that the interest of the mass audience in Marvel movies is also declining, decreasing according to box office revenue.
Superhero movies are no longer new
When the Marvel Cinematic Universe first came out to the public, it was an incredibly novel idea for the superhero genre. Audiences are curious about how the concept of the cinematic universe when linked will work, because this is something that has never been done before. The MCU has thus become a well-known concept, rapidly evolving due to its uniqueness and cohesiveness.
However, after more than 10 years, this novelty is gone. Attracting audiences with new and unexpected content is becoming more and more difficult because they used to watch the same content… many years ago. The movie formula in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is also predictable and falls into a certain pattern, making the audience increasingly bored.
MCU connects with fans, but mass audiences don’t
The MCU actually has a clear strategy and vision for its movies, which is to allow for the creation of a unified and interconnected world. This makes it easy for viewers to follow and understand the main movie circuit.
With each phase, Marvel builds larger events (for example, The Avengers or Avengers: Infinity War) or a model for viewers to get involved and discuss what’s to come. As a result, Marvel often uses its films to reach fans – certain audiences. Most of the recent Marvel Cinematic Universe movies have focused on pleasing fans by bringing in some element, character, or comic reference. But, this makes Marvel forget that it needs to focus on content and develop a good plot. As a result, there is no connection between the Marvel movies and the public.
The characters are acting bland
For more than 10 years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has provided audiences with characters with depth and realism that have had a great deal of influence in Hollywood. From Iron Man to Thor are both engaging and dynamic, their stories easily engaging audiences as the characters are all well-developed throughout the series.
The leading actors of the MCU such as Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson… all bring depth and sophistication to their characters. It is this role-playing that enhances the quality of Marvel superhero movies. However, the departure of the former actors is an extremely painful attack on Marvel’s future.
Too many new characters and many storylines in “Eternals” make it difficult for the audience to focus on the main storyline. (Photo: Marvel Studios)
Due to the lack of attractive characters along with the not-so-stellar performance from the new cast, recent MCU movies have not been evaluated. It is difficult for the audience to immerse in the story if the characters lack authenticity or the actors lack charisma. Even many new characters appear to be bluntly criticized by the audience for being shallow.
Marvel lost its way
Thor: Love and Thunder, Eternals, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania... do not seem to have a clear connection in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. One thing that the studio needs to rethink, is that the MCU is not having a clear direction. This lack of direction makes the audience feel confused with all that is happening on the big screen.
Not stopping there, Victoria Alonso – Marvel’s chief executive officer – has officially quit. This is a “fatal” blow to Marvel at the moment when Ms. Alonso is one of the key “right-hand men” of boss Kevin Feige. She has also been with Marvel since its inception, joining the company in 2006, which was before the release of its first film – Iron Man (2008).
In general, the decline of Marvel is something that the audience can completely notice. Fans worry that the studio has run out of brains after 30 movies and eight TV series streamed over the past 15 years. However, Marvel can still turn the situation around with upcoming film projects if changes are made. The question here is how Marvel will regain the trust of fans when their rival – DC studio – is getting better and better in its films.
