Marvel Is Revealing Itself To Be Creatively Dying
Marvel was once king of the box office, and each and every one of its projects was considered appointment theatergoing or streaming. The comic book studio hit its true peak when it culminated years of set-up with the fantastic one-two punch of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. The hype for these films and the Avengers taking on the seemingly unstoppable Thanos had everyone lining up to buy tickets — so what happened?
Secret Invasion Flops Hard
Marvel’s most recent project, the Samuel L Jackson-starring Secret Invasion, has widely been considered a disappointment from both a critical and viewership standpoint, drawing in less than 1 million viewers within the first five days of release (via The Telegraph). In theory, the series should have been an incredibly taut and entertaining entry to the MCU.
There was a time when fans would theorize that the Skrull invasion was going to be the next big Avengers-level threat after Thanos.
Not only would Samuel L Jackson’s Nick Fury finally get to be front and center in a Cold War-style spy thriller, but the series was also adapting one of the most famous storylines from the comics.
There was a time when fans would theorize that the Skrull invasion was going to be the next big Avengers-level threat after Thanos (before Loki revealed that Kang the Conquerer would be taking that honor). At the very least, you would assume that Marvel would have given such an integral actor like Jackson his chance to shine in a movie about one of the biggest events from the comic books, but the story was relegated to the small screen instead.
In the comics, there were shocking reveals about what heroes were Skrulls in disguise, while the Secret Invasion Disney+ series only included one Avenger from the beginning, making it painfully obvious which of our favorite heroes would turn out to be a Skrull.
Of course, this makes sense because outside of Captain Marvel and a brief scene in Spider-Man: Far From Home, the Skrulls have gone pretty much unmentioned until Secret Invasion.
The series could have been a suspense-laden spy classic for Marvel, with Fury unable to trust anyone — including the Avengers – and the audience being in the dark about who was who as well. Instead, the series telegraphed every possible twist.
In the comics, there were shocking reveals about what heroes were Skrulls in disguise, while the Secret Invasion Disney+ series only included one Avenger from the beginning, making it painfully obvious which of our favorite heroes would turn out to be a Skrull.
This is the franchise that has four entries in the top ten highest-grossing movies of all time list, and right now, it’s hard to see how they’ll get another film up to that level.
While Marvel’s post-Endgame theatrical run has had a few standouts like Spider-Man: No Way Home, Shang-Chi, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, it has had just as many misses.
Some of the Disney+ efforts have been solid too, but they just haven’t generated the same level of interest and hype that the MCU used to generate. This is the franchise that has four entries in the top ten highest-grossing movies of all time list, and right now, it’s hard to see how they’ll get another film up to that level.
While there is undoubtedly some quality Marvel projects coming our way in the future, it’s hard to say that the franchise isn’t hitting a point of oversaturation. While the studio itself has made the decision to dial back the content, the average person just doesn’t have time or interest to dedicate to multiple movies and TV shows to keep up — especially if some of those efforts are mediocre.
Unless the MCU is able to pull it together and get back on track soon, it’s not hard to imagine a world where James Gunn’s upcoming DCU takes over the comic book film dominance crown.
