Box Office bomb? The Marvels still made more than you

HOLLYWOOD, Ca. – Marvel Studios next chapter in its Marvel Cinematic Universe dropped this past weekend without the expected fanfare the studio has come to expect from its never-ending blockbuster machine. The Marvels was number 1 at the box office this weekend but only grossed $47 million dollars, the lowest opening weekend for any MCU project.

While critics of the MCU and Disney’s handing of the franchise since the conclusion of the Infinity War Saga in The Avengers: Endgame were quick to use this underwhelming performance as proof the company is incapable of producing good Marvel movies anymore, studio executives dismissed the negative feedback as they’re confident the movie still made more money in two days than all those keyboard warriors make in a year, combined.

“Look, you can’t please everyone,” said Tony Starr, a spokesman for Disney. “Did we cut corners? Maybe. Did we create a situation where fans have to spend more of their pathetic little paychecks to watch movies and television shows they wouldn’t normally want to watch in order to obtain valuable storyline information to understand the movies and shows they do want to watch? Perhaps. But we’re making money and, let’s be honest, that’s all anyone really cares about at the top.”

Marvel revolutionized the concept of a cinematic universe, a series of interconnected movies and television shows, with the launch of Iron Man in 2008. Cinematic universes are not a new concept, however. Universal Monsters is considered the first with franchise crossovers from Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, Dracula, and other classic monster. Aliens and Predators, Freddy and Jason, Star Trek the original series and Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Quentin Tarantino’s entire filmography are examples of cinematic universes that existed before the MCU.

While these universes existed and cross-pollinated characters with the occasional cameo or standalone movie, the MCU pushed the boundaries of what was possible with multiple franchises coming together in a series of culminating events which spanned more than a decade. And many fans of the MCU were prepared to say goodbye to the characters they’d grown up with on the screen after Endgame, feeling the story was complete.

“I remember crying in the theater when Tony Stark snapped his fingers at the end of the movie,” said Dan Jones, an independent comic book artist and Marvel fan. “It was a beautiful way to wrap up the story, to bring it full circle. We also lost Black Widow in the movie and Cap [Captain America] was old, found his resolution. It was just the perfect way to end the story.”

The Avengers: End Game is one of the highest grossing films of all time, raking in more than $2.8 billion worldwide. So, from a business perspective, it’s easy to understand why Disney and Marvel wouldn’t stop making superhero movies. However, from the fans’ perspective, the studios are putting too much emphasis on tying things together into one intertwined story as opposed to allowing the characters to move on and grow away from the war with Thanos.

“I’ve liked some things Marvel has put out recently,” said Jones. “The scene in End Game when all the portals opened and all the blipped superheroes returned for the final battle was epic, and I really like how they used Falcon and the Winter Soldier to take a more intricate look at the long-term consequences of that action. Loki has also been an incredible show that brought Tom Hiddleston’s character full circle. But everything else just feels like it’s another chapter to the same story instead of a standalone franchise we can enjoy without needing an encyclopedia of lore to understand.”

Jones also said he brought his eight-year-old nephew to see The Marvels this weekend and, while he enjoyed it, his nephew spent the whole movie asking questions.

“I thought it was a fun movie,” said Jones,” but [my nephew] hasn’t seen any of the other MCU movies except for Spiderman, he loves spiderman. So, he didn’t really understand who Carol Danvers, Monica Rambeau, or Kamala Khan were or what their connections to each other were. I was happy to answer his questions, but it did take away from the experience, I think. I just couldn’t spend the time to watch 10 years of movies with him before we went to go see this one.”

When asked if Disney and Marvel would shift their movie formula to take fans like Jones’ nephew into account, Starr pretended to wipe away tears from his eyes with wads of hundred-dollar bills and said, “All those movies are on Disney+ and they’re free to watch with subscription that’s only $19.99 a month—or $9.99 a month if your poor and are okay with watching ads. I don’t really see what’s stopping them from watching our movies and keeping up with the cinematic universe we’ve painstakingly put together for their entertainment over the past 15 years.”

Of course, with most things, the movie’s lack of success in its opening weekend can’t be tied to just one thing. Overall, the movie did garner some praise from fans who enjoyed the collaboration and chemistry between the movie’s stars, Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani. However, the movie’s release came only a couple weeks following the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike, meaning no one involved with the movie could promote it as they normally would. It was also competing against other movie powerhouses like Five Night at Freddy’s, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, and Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.

So, is The Marvels worth seeing in theaters? You can find out for yourself; it’s currently playing at a theater near you and may also be available for streaming on Disney+ as early as February 2024.

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