Are Superhero films dying?

[fluffybunbunkittens]

For example, I would love some context about the blip itself. Show me a little bit more grit, where people were really struggling, some of the crazy things that happened during that time. That is such a crazy time to think about, there has to be 100s of stories you could write.

Falcon and Winter Soldier would've been a great opportunity for at least covering the fallout after... the unblippening? Because our terrorist plot revolves around people being back from the blip, who everyone hates because now there's too many people again why'd you have to come back there's no room or jobs for you here anyway, but... it's barely touched upon, and what there is half the time doesn't make sense.

 

[Kaodi]

I am not sure how well the X-Men actually work as an allegory for discrimination these days. The zeitgeist seems to revolve around power, or the perception of it, and power is precisely one of the reasons mutants were supposed to be feared (though the question of whether that ever really made sense given all of the other superpowered beings lingers). It is really hard to quantify punching down at a guy who can vapourize you with his eyeballs.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I am not sure how well the X-Men actually work as an allegory for discrimination these days. The zeitgeist seems to revolve around power, or the perception of it, and power is precisely one of the reasons mutants were supposed to be feared (though the question of whether that ever really made sense given all of the other superpowered beings lingers). It is really hard to quantify punching down at a guy who can vapourize you with his eyeballs.

Part of that allegory was always about power in the control of minorities and how much the majority and authorities don't like it. That's still an issue.

 

[Stalker0]

I am not sure how well the X-Men actually work as an allegory for discrimination these days. The zeitgeist seems to revolve around power, or the perception of it, and power is precisely one of the reasons mutants were supposed to be feared (though the question of whether that ever really made sense given all of the other superpowered beings lingers). It is really hard to quantify punching down at a guy who can vapourize you with his eyeballs.

Hehe its the classic "Magneto was right".

You could argue principals all day long, but if there is a person in the world that can set off the equivalent of a nuclear explosion anytime their feelings are hurt....I'm sorry but there is no such thing as peaceful coexistence with that person. There is a level of power difference that humanity simply would not accept....and for damn good reason. Has nothing to do with racism, its down to survival at that point.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Hehe its the classic "Magneto was right".

You could argue principals all day long, but if there is a person in the world that can set off the equivalent of a nuclear explosion anytime their feelings are hurt....I'm sorry but there is no such thing as peaceful coexistence with that person. There is a level of power difference that humanity simply would not accept....and for damn good reason. Has nothing to do with racism, its down to survival at that point.

On the other hand, if you have that view, maybe picking the fight in the first place isn't the best plan.

 

[Umbran]

One of the problems with the MCU (and superhero shows in general) isn't fatigue, per se, but oversaturation.

Problem?

Not counting The Marvels, as its run is so new, MCU movies have grossed $7.2 billion since 2021. Some do better than others, but out of the 9 films, only two of them weren't in the top 10 for gross ticket sales in their years, and all were in the top 15 for their years. And the weakest of them got $379 million dollars gross sales worldwide.

That's $7 billion even with the admittedly and agreed tough environment. I am not sure that counts as a "problem".

Sony, of course, is making their own MCU movies. The Spiderman (and characters) movies. And the animated Spiderverse movies.

The Spider-Man movies are only nominally (as in, in name only) made by Sony. And the Spiderverse films are the ones actually made by Sony, and are specifically not in the MCU.

All of it ... it's a lot.

Yes. We felt unseen when the only content out there was Star Wars, Trek, and pirated anime. Now, we have a plethora, and we complain it is too much! We are a hard bunch to satisfy.

And it's really hard to get that kind of "event" feeling for most of it that makes people want to get to the theater.

Look, I've only been to the movies three times this year, three times in 2022, and four times in 2021. It is hard for it to not be an event, for me. I think I have been out to see more live theater than movies this year. I just cannot relate to this "not an event" assertion.

 

[Zardnaar]

Problem?

Not counting The Marvels, as its run is so new, MCU movies have grossed $7.2 billion since 2021. Some do better than others, but out of the 9 films, only two of them weren't in the top 10 for gross ticket sales in their years, and all were in the top 15 for their years. And the weakest of them got $379 million dollars gross sales worldwide.

That's $7 billion even with the admittedly and agreed tough environment. I am not sure that counts as a "problem".





The Spider-Man movies are only nominally (as in, in name only) made by Sony. And the Spiderverse films are the ones actually made by Sony, and are specifically not in the MCU.



Yes. We felt unseen when the only content out there was Star Wars, Trek, and pirated anime. Now, we have a plethora, and we complain it is too much! We are a hard bunch to satisfy.



Look, I've only been to the movies three times this year, three times in 2022, and four times in 2021. It is hard for it to not be an event, for me. I think I have been out to see more live theater than movies this year. I just cannot relate to this "not an event" assertion.

How much did they spend though?

They're spending over 300 million for these movies with marketing.

That's not sustainable if you're only getting around 400-500 million (recently) and mixed before that.

Marvel Studios Taking Stock of Strategy Amid ‘The Marvels’ Meltdown

 

[Scribe]

How much did they spend though?

They're spending over 300 million for these movies with marketing.

That's not sustainable if you're only getting around 400-500 million (recently) and mixed before that.

Marvel Studios Taking Stock of Strategy Amid ‘The Marvels’ Meltdown

Scrolling through with passing interest as I've been completely un-inspired by much of what Marvel is putting out (I did see the Dr. Strange movie, liked it well enough) but I'll be there for Wolverine and Deadpool.

 

[Zardnaar]

Scrolling through with passing interest as I've been completely un-inspired by much of what Marvel is putting out (I did see the Dr. Strange movie, liked it well enough) but I'll be there for Wolverine and Deadpool.

I'll probably watch Deadpool and see what happens with Zmen.

I gave up after Eternals and the first 3 MCU shows.

 

[Gammadoodler]

How much did they spend though?

They're spending over 300 million for these movies with marketing.

That's not sustainable if you're only getting around 400-500 million (recently) and mixed before that.

Marvel Studios Taking Stock of Strategy Amid ‘The Marvels’ Meltdown

Huh?

Is there some collection of unspoken factors that supports this?

Because it looks like you're saying 20-40% profit for middling to low performing films isn't sustainable..and that seems a pretty strange assertion to make.

Like if you extend out your $300M/movie (with marketing) × the 9 movies Umbran referred to, you get to $2.7B in costs vs. $7.2B in gross box office. This is good for $4.5B (or 62%) worth of contribution margin before allocating fixed costs.

Maybe their fixed costs are just completely out of control, and the remaining margin is slim, nil, or worse, but if that's the case, it sounds more like a business problem than a movie problem.