Earlier today, our own Michael Weyer talked about just how bad things are going for Marvel these days and now, it appears the once highly-anticipated The Marvels may not be able to save the floundering "universe."
According to new box-office presale tickets for the next big Marvel movie, The Marvels, it may not be a sign of good things. Deadline is reporting that the soon-to-be released follow-up Captain Marvel isn't going well.
Deadline is saying that current pre-sale tickets are trailing Black Adam and The Flash, two major box-office duds for DC Studios. Deadline further predicts that the opening weekend haul could be the lowest in the MCU, yes, below The Eternals.
This goes in line with what Weyer was talking about earlier in his Marvel article.
Have fans run their course on the MCU or is this a byproduct of the Hollywood strikes? Many theater goers are struggling to meet monthly goals and even week-to-week needs. The theater and movies always provided an escape but when you realize the millions actors make for a single film, then a strike to get more (at least the surface perception) will people go to theater?
The Marvels opens next weekend and another issue with the film is that it is trying to unite the MCU to the television world. Instead of this being a return of Captain Marvel, it is is pulling characters from the Disney + series, Ms. Marvel and WandaVision.
This could be a big problem for the MCU. There are many fans who don't watch the Disney+ television series. Some don't have a subscription and others find the cheaper option with ads to be a turnoff.
All of this together combines for lower expectations and it isn't like the MCU has been knocking it out of the park since the end of, well, Avengers Endgame.
Another part of this could be attributed to the villain, Kang. The next iteration of MCU films will center on the Kang Dynasty. This new direction comes from the Multiverse that fans haven't really grasped collectively.
Working against the next wave also will include losing the casual fans. It was easy to fall in love and take an interest in Tony Stark and Steve Rogers along with Thor. Those movies worked indepentantly and the casual Marvel fans got wrapped up and had an interest in the outcome. They grew through the series of films knowing that Thanos was probably the worst villain they would deal with.
After saving the world and universes from Thanos, what else could possibly be as bad? Subsequent films that introduced new characters from the comic books haven't brought the same attraction to the casual moviegoer and fan.
All of this adds up to a problem for Marvel and as a result Disney. It's a great property that is mired in internal issues, again as Weyer pointed out.
I have personally been a fan of the MCU movies but once series began to popup on Disney+ I found my interest waning. It came with a feeling that if I didn't watch the series I would have no idea what was going on and that is what will keep a lot of others out of the theater.
Frankly, the transition from the Thanos pictures to this new line hasn't been all that clear and as a result, many have turned their attentions to something else.