The Marvel Cinematic Universe has certainly seen better days. Just five years ago, each film was almost a guaranteed billion-dollar smash for Disney and Marvel Studios. Now, in an era where the entertainment industry has been oversaturated by steaming, people seem less and less interested in the franchise.
In the early days of Disney+, shows like Loki and The Falcon and The Winter Solder were must watch television. Now, shows like Secret Invasion, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Ms. Marvel are plummeting in viewership. Not to mention the recent box office failures of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels at the 2023 box office. 
Not only has Marvel been losing it big in the once popular superhero genre, but SONY is also dropping with their Spider-Verse spin-off films like Morbius and Madame Web, and Warner Bros. Discovery with their DC Universe films like The Flash and Blue Beetle.
More and more people seem to be getting tired of the theaters being flooded with lesser-quality superhero films, leading to the term “superhero fatigue” being tossed around. But two prominent figures don’t necessarily believe in that.
In a recent interview, Joe and Anthony Russo, the brother-directing duo behind Captain America 2 & 3, along with Avengers 3 & 4, gave their thoughts on the whole situation. Anthony started off by saying:
“I think it’s fatigue in general. The superhero fatigue question was around long before the work we were doing. So, it’s sort of an eternal complaint, like we always used to cite this back in our early days with superhero work. People used to complain about westerns in the same way but they lasted for decades and decades and decades. They were continually reinvented and brought to new heights as they went on.“
Joe then chimed in and said:
“I think it’s a reflection of the current state of everything. It’s difficult right now, it’s an interesting time. I think we’re in a transitional period and people don’t know quite yet how they’re going to receive stories moving forward, or what kinds of stories they’re going to want. There’s a big generational divide about how you consume media. There’s a generation that’s used to appointment viewing and going to a theater on a certain date to see something, but it’s aging out.“
“Meanwhile the new generation are ‘I want it now, I want to process it now’, then moving onto the next thing, which they process whilst doing two other things at the same time. You know, it’s a very different moment in time than it’s ever been. And so I think everyone, including Marvel, is experiencing the same thing, this transition. And I think that really is probably what’s at play more than anything else.“
Whether you agree with their thoughts or not, there is no arguing that audiences have become less interested in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole, be it film or streaming. The overall decline in the quality of the storytelling has been quite apparent in Phases 4 and 5, with Phase 6 seeing more delays.
If the MCU is to survive beyond the Multiverse Saga they may have to do something drastic to put butts in seats again.
What do you think? Do you agree with their assessment? Or do you think superhero fatigue is real? Let us know.
Source: comicbook.com
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