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.
