The reason(s) The Marvels flopped at the box office

Superhero / Marvel fatigue

Three years ago, Marvel fans balked at the idea of superhero fatigue. I know, I was one of them. Why would people get sick of something that has been so universally enjoyed for so long, and was only now in the prime of its life? Well, unfortunately, and I hate to say it, we might have finally entered that era.

First thing’s first, I really don’t believe in the general idea of superhero fatigue, but I do think that superhero fans are fatigued by both the Marvel and DC franchises right now. The DCEU evolved into a mismatching mess, full of inconsistencies and dull movies – resulting in a string of recent DC films flopping at the box office.

While Marvel’s standard has remained generally stronger, the expansion of the franchise into streaming television – after its most interesting era came to an end – has diluted the audience. Focusing on too many new characters at once while releasing too many TV shows and movies in one year alienated a portion of the general audience who may have gotten confused and / or struggled to keep up with all the titles.

What’s more is that the standard of MCU outings has decreased compared to Phase Three. While there are gems like WandaVision, Loki, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, there are critical failures like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Thor: Love and Thunder. And you can bet all of that has gone a long way in alienating fans further – all you have to do is look at how Ant-Man 3 underperformed significantly at the box office.

While general superhero fatigue isn’t a thing, there is no doubt that an element of it has crept into the MCU. If The Marvels was released during Phase Three, it would have been a huge success. And that is not The Marvels‘ fault as much as it is the decline of the franchise standard as a whole.