The first step, they say, is admitting you have a problem. And at the very least, Marvel Studios has done that. The company responsible for the most commercially successful film franchise of all time (the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU) is now half a decade deep into – depending who you ask – either a gluey creative slump or terminal decline. Their latest film, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, follows a run of films that either floundered at the box office (this year’s well-received Thunderbolts*), received a drubbing from critics (Thor: Love and Thunder), or, in several cases, both (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania; Captain America: Brave New World). The franchise that had spent years printing its own money now finds itself running out of ink cartridges.
Such is the obviousness of Marvel’s woes that the company has no choice but to address them. Over the weekend, Kevin Feige – the studio’s head honcho and perhaps the most famous working producer in Hollywood – spoke with The Hollywood Reporter, offering fresh details about Marvel’s trajectory, and the reasons for its lapse. Much of what he says is, broadly speaking, true. But the real problem lies in what remains unacknowledged.
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