Superhero fatigue is a word in Hollywood, as superhero films perform poorly. Marvel is at the forefront of the superhero genre. However, their recent lack of compelling films is causing a downfall of the genre itself.
The origin story
Towards the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Superhero fatigue started to make its way in Hollywood. This is when Marvel began to push out more content to Disney Plus and then eventually to theaters. The decline in product distribution faced many critiques and led to bad reviews on the company. Included in those critiques were poor CGI, poor stories and too much humor while trying to focus on a larger picture. What doesn’t help is that Marvel has been releasing three-to-four projects a year with almost no breaks in between. Projects like “Thor: Love and Thunder,” “Dr. Strange: Multiverse of Madness” and “She-Hulk” have been the main targets.
Marvel isn’t the only company getting heat from critics, DC has also been experiencing this. Critics and fans alike have slammed films such as “Wonder Woman 1984,” “Shazam: Fury of the Gods” and “Black Adam.” Only certain superhero/comic book adaptations in recent years have escaped these criticisms because they are different from the “Marvel norm.” Adaptations of “Umbrella Academy,” “The Boys” and “Invincible” have stood out through products that are different from Marvel and DC.
Adaption
With recent announcements, Marvel has taken notice of the backlash by announcing delays of upcoming projects. Marvel President Kevin Feige, behind the scenes, according to sources, has been pushing for more of a ‘quality over quantity theme within the company. Even going as far as to fire the President of physical and post-production effects, Victoria Alonso. As mentioned earlier, the next two phases Marvel announced have had their release dates pushed back multiple times. This allows projects to have time to prosper in all aspects, which should help.
Is there hope?
The question on all Marvel fans’ minds is whether there is hope for the franchise to improve. There is always room for it to get better, but there is a chance that it can take years to recover. If fans are looking for an alternative, there are other projects out there. “The Boys” and “Invincible” are on Amazon and are more for fans of violence and satire. DC seems to be on the up with adding James Gunn as the head executive of their movies and taking a different approach. All and all, even if Marvel continues their decline, there are alternatives for superhero stories that tell great stories.
