At the height of the superhero boom several years ago, Disney pushed the Marvel assembly line to drive faster and faster. After a while, quality declined and ticket sales fell.
So Disney slowed down the pace. Last year, Marvel released one film (Megasuccessful “Deadpool & Wolverine”) and two Disney+ series. By comparison, in 2021, Marvel cut 4 films (with mixed results) and 5 Disney+ series.
Has the factory problem been fixed?
Maybe: Marvel's “Captain America: Brave New World” was number one in the global box office over the weekend. The film cost at least $300 million worldwide and was at a pace to sell around $84 million tickets in the US and Canada from Thursday through Sunday. Foreign film fans were poised to win another $100 million in chips.
Probably not: “Brave New World” received the lowest grade of Marvel Cinematic Universe (B-Minus) from a Cinemascore Exit Polls ticket buyer. According to Rotten Tomatoes, the site received a “Rotten” rating, as only 50% of the reviews were positive. Two Marvel movies ranked low on rotten tomatometer, and after the number one start driven by stubborn fans and a marketing bomb, both quickly ran out of box office steam.
These films were “forever,” with 47% positive, and after adjusting for inflation, they had $86 million on weekend sales in 2021. “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” 46% arrived at $113 million in 2023 over three days.
“Quantumania” was directed by Marvel veteran Payton Reed. In all other instances where Marvel films have struggled critically or commercially (or both), the director has little or no experience with vast franchise films, let alone superheroes. Julius Ona directed “The Brave New World.” His previous feature film resume consisted of two low-budget thrillers and “The Cloverfield Paradox.” This is a $45 million Netflix movie.
“Brave New World” stars Anthony Mackie as Captain America. This is the role Chris Evans played in numerous Marvel films from 2011 to 2019. McKee joined what is known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2014. Falcon from Captain America: Winter Soldier. In 2021, his character took over as Captain America in the final episode of the Disney+ series “Falcon and the Winter Soldier.”
Harrison Ford is appearing in “The Brave New World” as the US president who has been robbed of power that has caused chaos in government and society and transformed into the Red Hulk.
