Marvel Could Stand to Pump the Brakes Just a Bit

I never thought I’d be sitting here writing this piece, but here we are. What I have to say might not be popular, but it might be important. Who am I kidding? No one is going to care about one 36-year-old man shaking his fist at the sky on the internet. I’m definitely going to come off as a hater in this post, and I’ll let you all hurl your tomatoes at me later. But, if I can just write to Kevin Feige for a minute…if you’re reading this, please know that it comes from a place of great respect and admiration. I saw Thor: Love and Thunder a couple of weeks ago, and I was disappointed as many a critic was. Hell, as many a casual moviegoer was.

The latest installment of our favorite Asgardian’s adventure took a nose dive in its 2nd week in theaters, dropping 68% from opening weekend. It’s currently sitting at 68% on Rotten Tomatoes, ahead of only The Incredible Hulk, Thor: The Dark World, and Eternals in terms of critics scores among MCU movies. It’s still going to make a mountain of money (nearing $500M globally), so I’m not trying to suggest that Thor: Love and Thunder has been a flop by any stretch of the imagination. But, these issues could indicate some cracks in what was not too long ago impenetrable Marvel Studios armor. If you read the IGN article linked above, you’ll see they point out that second weekend drops like this have become the norm for the MCU in the last year or so.

But, I didn’t have much time to marinate in Thor: Love and Thunder because I had to cleanse my palate and get ready for that week’s episode of Ms. Marvel. It was a great series – I have no complaints. I loved the style and cinematography. I loved the introduction of so many wonderful new characters. Iman Vellani was spectacular as Kamala Khan. But, even in enjoying it so much, it felt like a lot to keep up with on top of everything else that has been released this year. Some weeks, it was Friday before I got to the new episode, treating it like more of a box to check on my weekly to-do list than an immersive cinematic experience. And, that’s a shame – unlike Thor: Love and Thunder, Ms. Marvel was beloved by critics. It currently sits atop the MCU with a whopping 98% on the Tomatometer. It’s getting great reviews, but “no one” is watching it. Once again, cracks in the armor.

I think these indicate a sort of “Marvel fatigue” that is slowly developing outside of the diehard fandom, who will go see whatever Marvel puts out and however much of it they put out. We drone out to see the movies. We watch the series on Disney+. But, it doesn’t quite feel like the impactful event a new MCU release was two years ago. As great as Ms. Marvel was, I didn’t notice the discourse online that would normally accomplish a Marvel release. Thor: Love and Thunder has been all over social media for the wrong reasons. I don’t know about you guys, but I feel like I’m catching myself wanting a little breathing room…some time to take to really look forward to something new and get excited about before She-Hulk: Attorney at Law drops in August. But, like everything this past year, it’ll be here before you know it.

To me, I look at this feeling (within myself – I’m not going to project on “everyone” the way some writers are these days) and think it boils down to two things. The other day, my buddy John tweeted at me, “the whole Infinity Gauntlet gave a definite path and destination for all of the movies to head to. Now the overall story feels just like “vaguely multiverse.”” John nailed it. The other thing for me is, quite simply, the content saturation. It used to be that Marvel put out a couple movies a year and that was it. You had plenty of time to look forward to its release and dive down any subsequent Reddit rabbit holes because of it! Now, you really have to stay on top of your schedule to keep up with everything. And, that’s not even mentioning the constant barrage of news that all of these movies and series have created between rumors, casting announcements, etc..

So, maybe we start tying some of these properties together and spark the interest the Phase 1 run had. Or, maybe we just dial back the content saturation. I don’t know, but for the first time…probably ever…I’m starting to think that if Marvel doesn’t get ahead of these issues, it could mean they start burning their fans out, slowly but surely.

If you haven’t already, subscribe to The Vick’s Flicks Podcast on Apple Podcasts, follow us on Spotify, or wherever you take in your podcasts! To check out our latest episode, on which our resident film critic, Brandon Vick, and I review Thor: Love and Thunder in detail and with spoilers galore, smash that play button on the embed below!

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley

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