Because the movie that made 44 million dollars in its opening weekend also cost less than half as much to produce as The Marvels. I pointed it out last week too; if The Marvels had cost a fraction to make of what it ultimately did, people wouldn’t have called it a failure (although having the second lowest opening…

Even if you factor in superhero fatigue or growing doubts about the MCU’s quality, this is a shocking collapse. Quantumania — a movie that, like The Marvels, had middling reviews and starred a hero that public had not embraced — came out just this year. It was seen as a disappointment when it made only $104 million…

You’re right, they should have put Colossus in that movie.

Agreed. The MCU is turning into Star Wars at this point - it’s so big that there is an appetite to keep going to the well that works, but also a desire to let new creative visions in and bring in new audience members (and perhaps keep some who are finding the whole thing a bit stale after 15 years). They think they…

The MCU doesn’t even need someone as idiosyncratic as Matt Reeves or Martin Scorsese. They just need to trust the directors and screenwriters they hire. Quantumania boasted a writer who’s a Rick and Morty alum, and the only thing Rick and Morty-ish in the movie was a few jokes from William Jackson Harper’s character.…

The director thing confuses me too. It’s like the MCU wants the recognition of the director, but without any of the vision that director brings that makes it their own. The closest the MCU has come lately was Thor 3 (which was Waititi’s refreshing take on Thor, though with arguably diminishing returns) and Dr Strange…

If you don’t watch then you’ll maybe miss a few Easter eggs in whatever MCU movie you see next.

It’s not hard. Audiences are bored with seeing the samw movie over and over again. We know how these movies will go. Lots of CGI punching and energy blasts, some quips, green screen sets, boring villains who want the same old boring villain things, reluctant heroes who either are weary of the responsibility of being a…

Release dates are scheduled long in advance, and studios frequently schedule their movies based on when other studios put their movies to either avoid them or to attract a different demographic. I know Marvel kept pushing the release date for The Marvels back, but analysts were initially predicting a $90 million…

Blaming this on critics is so fanboyish it’s ridiculous. Worse-reviewed Marvel movies have done better box office. Your straw man is imaginary.

If you don’t need to see Ms. Marvel / Wandavision / Secret Invasion then call it Captain Marvel 2, not The Marvels. The title (and the marketing) implies the homework, not the critics.

Hopefully the lesson Disney/Marvel take from this is “make better movies and tv shows” and not “don’t have women lead our movies.”  The three stars and their chemistry was by far the best thing about it.

It’s not a mystery. It’s a sequel to a movie that is nobody’s favortie, featuring three characters that are nobody’s favorites, with the implict need to have watched two TV series which even the biggest Marvel fans are getting burned out on. The first Captain Marvel movie was a much easier sell since it was an origin…

It really depends. If you’re a haunted Chuck E. Cheese movie with a relatively low budget of $20 million, then it’s very much a win. If you’re a historical epic or a big budget comic book extravaganza with a $200 million budget minimum, then it’s an empty victory.

Sometimes, I feel like being number 1 is mostly a symbolic win than anything.

Wow, you really covered every possible fantasy land excuse as to why this film will tank. How do you explain Black Panther 2's box office success? A woman of color, post Covid, and still made a massive amount of money. Covid is no longer an excuse for when a film poorly performs. Films like Barbie, Oppenheimer,…

When you say mid-tier, do you mean budget? Because The Marvels cost almost three times as much as Birds of Prey (which was delightful and wasn’t given a fair shot by audiences) and $60 million more than Captain Marvel.

I’m at the point where I blame ardent defenders for the poor discourse more than the bigots themselves. There’s no debate to be had with bigots because bigotry is indefensible. But no one was rushing to defend Blue Beetle, a movie that stars an almost-entirely POC cast and was directed by a Puerto Rican filmmaker,…

It would affect actors going on shows to promote it, but Disney could still have bought commercial space, no? For most Marvel movies, seems like we get blanketed with trailer ads, promotional material (for example, “This sports replay is brought to you by The Marvels, in theaters...”), and such for months before the…

It’s incredibly annoying that the discourse has devolved to the point where it’s impossible to criticize Marvel Studios or any of their projects without the presumption that you’re a bigot.