Disney Head Honcho Questions Kevin Feige’s Marvel Sequel Strategy
Marvel hasn’t been able to recapture their massive Infinity Saga success. Disney’s CEO has some ideas on how to change that.
At a recent conference, current Disney CEO, Bob Iger, said what a lot of us have been thinking when it comes to the MCU. The churn of multiple sequels about the same characters isn’t working. It’s time to diversify.
“… there are 7,000 characters, there are a lot more stories to tell. What we have to look at Marvel is not necessarily the volume of Marvel stories we’re telling but how many times we go back to the well on certain characters. Sequels typically work well for us. Do you need a third and a fourth, for instance, or is it time to turn to other characters?”
Saying goodbye to the characters we’ve followed through over thirty movies is a good move. It’s time for new heroes, new villains, and new big bads (hi, Kang). The characters that were a part of the Infinity Saga were terrific, but so many others in the Marvel universe have interesting stories to tell. And they don’t all need a trilogy or more of solo movies each.
Just because the formula worked for this crew of heroes doesn’t mean it will continue to work forever.
via Marvel
How about some non-event level team-ups? Not everything needs or can be stretched into a run of movies. How about some stories than can be covered in a single two-hour movie? Maybe some stand-alone projects that aren’t connected to anything? I’d love to get some villain-focused projects like the planned Agatha: Coven of Chaos.
It has been fun to follow easter eggs and story threads over the years, but the MCU doesn’t have to be this big interconnected thing all the time. Moon Knight told a contained story without the promise of a second season or linking to anything else – and got decent ratings. More, please.
Marvel is All About Newness
Iger’s statement comes after the disappointing response to Antman 3 and Marvel head Kevin Feige’s comments about slowing down the rate at which projects are released. The CEO seems to realize that fan burnout has set in but isn’t worried about audiences walking away from the franchise. He’s promising a that new things are on the way in hopes that folks get excited again.
“There’s nothing in any way inherently off in terms of the Marvel brand. I think we just have to look at what characters and stories we’re mining. If you look at the trajectory of Marvel in the next five years, there will be a lot of newness. We’re going to turn back to the Avengers franchise with a whole new set of Avengers, for example.”
Remember when Marvel movies were novel? I do and I miss that feeling. It’s beyond time for Marvel Studios to ditch the formula, make changes, and bring in new and exciting ideas. It’s nice to hear that the higher-ups agree.
via Marvel
