Disney CEO Pushes Back Against Idea of Superhero Fatigue, Says Movies Just Weren't Good Enough

[Dead2009]

Disney CEO Pushes Back Against Idea Of Superhero Fatigue, Says Movies Just Weren't Good Enough

Disney has quietly canceled some movies, Bob Iger says.

www.gamespot.com

Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger has pushed back against the idea of "superhero fatigue" being to blame for some of the company's newest Marvel movies coming up short at the box office. Instead, Iger acknowledged that the company's movies simply weren't good enough to get people to spend money to go watch them in a theater.

"A lot of people think it's audience fatigue; it's not audience fatigue. They want great films. And if you build it great, they will come and there are countless examples of that," he said at a Morgan Stanley speaking event this week (via THR). "Some are ours and some are others. Oppenheimer is a perfect example of that. Just a fantastic film."

Iger went on to say that he believes Disney's ability to "focus" and make fewer, better movies and TV shows will make all the difference. "We reduced the output of Marvel, both number of films they make, and the number of TV shows, and that really becomes critical, but I feel good about the team," he said.

In 2024, Disney has just one Marvel movie coming--Deadpool & Wolverine. This is a marked change from previous years where Disney released multiple MCU films per year.

In an effort to improve quality, Iger said Disney is looking at "every part" of the filmmaking process, including the cast, director, and script. "I personally watch films three to five times with the team and just create a culture of excellence and respect which is really important with the creative community," he said.

With regard to quality, Iger said Disney has already quietly canceled some "projects" that "we just didn't feel were strong enough." He did not name these outright, however.

"You have to kill things you no longer believe in, and that's not easy in this business, because either you've gotten started, you have some sunk costs, or it's a relationship with either your employees or with the creative community," Iger said. "It's not an easy thing, but you got to make those tough calls."

Some of Marvel's movies in 2023 that did not exactly light up the box office included Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ($476 million) and The Marvels ($206 million). Those movies made hundreds of millions of dollars, but didn't reach the heights of many other MCU films. The biggest Marvel movie in 2023 was Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which made $845 million.

Disney is also slowing the pace on Star Wars theatrical releases, as the next film, The Mandalorian & Grogu, isn't coming until 2026.

 

[flyerhawk]

maybe stop making movies about the multiverse which eliminates all stakes in the movie

 

[calsnowskier]

maybe stop making movies about the multiverse which eliminates all stakes in the movie

Exactly. Why would anyone feel the true sacrifice of Tony Stark attempting to wear the gauntlet if an alternate version of him will just show up in the next movie. We don’t experience any loss in the sacrifice, so there is no sacrifice.

 

[Clayton]

Seen this type of stagnation with certain video game franchises. Final Fantasy XV made players watch an anime series and feature film on top of multiple DLCs just to understand the full story. It sold well, very polarizing reputation for abandoning the style of gameplay people loved from the first ten Final Fantasies so the extra work to put everything together left a sour taste in everyone mouth. The next game by that developer was called Forspoken, it released last year, and totally bombed. To me, that would point more towards the quality of the product than saturation but if you have both then its a really big issue.

Anyone remember the TV show Heroes? First season was interesting despite having some really crazy powers. Eventually having characters with time travel erasing previous stuff and people switching sides it all just turned to crap.

As far as Star Wars is concerned, label your f'ing products right. There is so much overlap with their Disney+ shows that they all blur together in a bad way after the first two seasons of the Mandalorian.

 

[Sparhawk]

Seen this type of stagnation with certain video game franchises. Final Fantasy XV made players watch an anime series and feature film on top of multiple DLCs just to understand the full story. It sold well, very polarizing reputation for abandoning the style of gameplay people loved from the first ten Final Fantasies so the extra work to put everything together left a sour taste in everyone mouth. The next game by that developer was called Forspoken, it released last year, and totally bombed. To me, that would point more towards the quality of the product than saturation but if you have both then its a really big issue.

Anyone remember the TV show Heroes? First season was interesting despite having some really crazy powers. Eventually having characters with time travel erasing previous stuff and people switching sides it all just turned to crap.

As far as Star Wars is concerned, label your f'ing products right. There is so much overlap with their Disney+ shows that they all blur together in a bad way after the first two seasons of the Mandalorian.

Best thing that happened to Star Wars was Rogue One and Andor.
When the writing is there, the goodness follows.

Stop catering to fan service and hire quality writers.

 

[Fish]

I'll watch all the marvel stuff they put out, and any science fiction I can find.

Not going to a theater though, it has nothing to do with the quality of the show it's just that I'm not going to pay to sit in a theater when I can just wait and then watch it at home.
I don't like going to the movie theater.

 

[redskinsfan1963]

disney has gone from decent movies to total shit ones.

 

[Battlelyon]

Deadpool 3 is going to be a killer for them, surprisingly they didn't get in the way of this one.

 

[calsnowskier]

Deadpool 3 is going to be a killer for them, surprisingly they didn't get in the way of this one.

I trust Reynolds, but still…. I will believe it when I see it.

 

[Niner Outlaw]

I trust Reynolds, but still…. I will believe it when I see it.

Yep. The multiverse/time-travel angle really worries me about the new Deadpool movie.

 

[Battlelyon]

I trust Reynolds, but still…. I will believe it when I see it.

Of course, you could be right. But the trailer looks in line with the first two movies.

 

[calsnowskier]

Of course, you could be right. But the trailer looks in line with the first two movies.

I am not making a statement about what the movie will be to be right about. I am just reserving my expectations. That’s all.

 

[The Q]

I'll watch all the marvel stuff they put out, and any science fiction I can find.

Not going to a theater though, it has nothing to do with the quality of the show it's just that I'm not going to pay to sit in a theater when I can just wait and then watch it at home.
I don't like going to the movie theater.

Yeah Disney+ is not only somehow losing money, but it’s costing them a ton in the theatres on top of that

 

[ill]

maybe stop making movies about the multiverse which eliminates all stakes in the movie

even with the comics...once you introduce the idea of the multiverse things get overly complicated and confusing and that is likely too much for a lot of fans to keep up with.

prior to Thanos is was much more straight forward.

 

[flyerhawk]

even with the comics...once you introduce the idea of the multiverse things get overly complicated and confusing and that is likely too much for a lot of fans to keep up with.

prior to Thanos is was much more straight forward.

And the multiverse made sense with IW/Endgame. But you can't go back to the week after that ending

 

[ill]

And the multiverse made sense with IW/Endgame. But you can't go back to the week after that ending

evil doesn't rest for anyone.

I also think they just flooded the market too much...there is too much content to keep up with all of it.

I can follow Spiderman right now and that's about it...and I enjoy Spiderman.

 

[MilkSpiller22]

And the multiverse made sense with IW/Endgame. But you can't go back to the week after that ending

the problem with the multiverse is that it was never needed in the marvel universe... the whole point of them in comics was so they didnt have to explain why something was true in one comic and not true in the other... especially when you compare a team comic like the avengers or Justice league to the individual superhero...

but the marvel universe was created to co-exist with all the movies, and stories... so bringing in the multiverse just hurts...

 

[The Q]

the problem with the multiverse is that it was never needed in the marvel universe... the whole point of them in comics was so they didnt have to explain why something was true in one comic and not true in the other... especially when you compare a team comic like the avengers or Justice league to the individual superhero...

but the marvel universe was created to co-exist with all the movies, and stories... so bringing in the multiverse just hurts...

It was also needed if you wanted to use ultimate universe stuff

Like sjw spidey miles morales

 

[ill]

It was also needed if you wanted to use ultimate universe stuff

Like sjw spidey miles morales

I personally love the idea of "what if someone else had gotten these superpowers" and hearing how that story unfolds.

Miles Morales is pretty much the opposite of Peter Parker and I think it's an interesting story.

would you rather hear another story about a privileged white dude getting super powers and how great it is?

 

[MilkSpiller22]

I personally love the idea of "what if someone else had gotten these superpowers" and hearing how that story unfolds.

Miles Morales is pretty much the opposite of Peter Parker and I think it's an interesting story.

would you rather hear another story about a privileged white dude getting super powers and how great it is?

i know you are not talking about else-worlds... but i hate else-worlds... dont think they ever do the job that they were intended to do...